This post has been so fun to read. I am with a few of you who say you don't have hobbies, you have obsessions...definitely describes me. I have so many interests that I can never do all of them so rotate through them (not intentionally, I just get bored and have to move to the next interest frequently). am usually active in 3-4 of them at a time. I have been told more than once that I was born in the wrong century. Some that have always been with me and I regular go back too: Gardening- all of it. I can't remember any time not having some level of garden from the time I was big enough to walk. I love daylilies, roses, iris, herbs, veggies, hybridizing, flowering shrubs, landscaping, annuals, houseplants, native plants. I helped my parents plant & weed their veggie gardens when I was 3 yr old, helped my mom start her tomatoes & squash in the window, and at 15 taught her to enjoy growing flowers instead of only food. I take breaks from it sometimes cutting back to just a few things for several years and then..wham...I'm in it 10 times more than last time. Knitting, crochet, spinning & dying yarns. another one that has been a lifetimer. My mom taught me to knit when I was 4 and grandmother taught me to crochet at 6. I taught myself how to design my own sweaters and eventually took classes to learn how to spin/dye. Garden Photography- another life long love. I picked up my first camera at age 5 and my first picture was of my dog sitting in front of my bed of nasturtiums. I've been published a few times. Most notable the cover of a book about the history of an island my great-grandparents helped to settle. Scrapbooking- this is an on-again-off-again love. Obsessive when its on. Ditto with all kinds of other arts & crafts. Reading- I love historical fiction, especially by Christian authors. I also love "how too" and research subjects- learning is a passion. Church- Well maybe not a hobby but it leads to some. I've been active in my church even preaching a sermon to two and singing on the worship team. Geneology & historical research. This is really my mom's hobby but I'm her chief backup archivist & research assistant. Tech- well I do this for a living but I explore online communities on my own time. Cooking- this is also a necessity because I have children with food allergies. I bake all our breads, make my own mixes, and cook from scratch a lot. I make a lot of my own recipes. I also can & freeze our fruits & veggies. Outdoors- I love camping, fishing, hiking, travel to new places, exploring nature & manmade wonders, native plants. a lot of these are on hietus while the kids get a little bigger and able to join. In years past I was an expert seamstress, marksman on a rifle team, raised rabbits & ducks, and a number of other things that have not lasted the test of time.

We used the top half of the china cabinet I inherited in the library of our former house. I had a plain box base made to hold it, stained it to the same color, and put it behind the small end of an L-shaped sofa, because with its own base, it was too tall to fit in our 8' rooms. It actually started life as a secretary-bookcase, but my great-grandfather, who bought it at auction, only bought the top half, and had a nice but distinctly inferior bottom made for it then. I've tried to find the other half, but with no success. Sigh. So much for its potential value. But I digress ... I put a few groups of nice old books, a couple of pewter pitchers, a plate or two, and some other attractive things in it. I also lined the back wall with a piece of cream jacquard fabric to lighten the whole business. Not sure how well you can see, but here it was: It was traditional in old houses to line the doors of large secretary-bookcases like this one with gathered green cloth to protect the books from sunlight, so you'd be in good company if you decided to put fabric in yours.

Rose.....keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Life is difficult at times. In 1994 both my kids called within a week of each other to tell me they were moving far away. DD was moving to Oahu and DS was moving to Tokyo. They left within a month of each other. It was so hard but knowing I had raised them to be independent adults helped. My son moved back to NYC in 2000 and DD moved back to California the year before. Then DS and wife moved back to Tokyo. We recently got together in Oahu for a week. It was so good to see him and to meet our granddaughter for the first time. Seeing DDIL again made me appreciate her even more. My grandson, whom I hadn't seen for a year, was a delight and we had so much fun. They are moving back to NYC within the next month or two. I am happy for me but sad for DDIL who has family in Japan but will be far away from both families in NYC. Life is filled with challenges and facing them will make us stronger, even though it is painful to endure. Look for the rainbow thru your tears.

Thanks fot the ideas and pics. Now that I know about remote control extenders (thanks, Natal) I may have more options. I plan to hit a couple of antique shops this weekend to see what I see. The real issue is the width of the space (meaning how wide the console/whatever can be). Ideally it would be around 48" so while I like the idea of a sideboard type of piece, most will be too big. OTOH, I did find a regular ol' console at Room & Board that I like a lot, so I could always go that route. Still holding out for a while to see if I find something cool, though!