Handbags. I will not say how many I own. Some are designer. I love the look and feel of Chanel. Most are soft leather. I dislike woven fabric bags for some odd reason. They are just so appealing to me. I love re-organizing them and changing out wallets to co-ordinate. I am sure AmyLou could appreciate my pink ones. They get the most compliments. I bought two today.

Reading, or audiobooks or podcasts when I'm busy cleaning and gardening.

Gardening. I hate shopping except when I'm plant shopping. I drove 75 miles each way today to buy a tree because I don't like the local selection (small town, rural area). I have Britbox for Gardener's World. I give away excess seedlings and divisions on Facebook every year. People ask me for advise at the garden center because I have gray hair and I'm usually kind of grubby when I go there, like I've been gardening.

Also knowing the best little places to eat in this corner of my state.

Daylilies. I have over 200 in different colors, shapes and sizes.

I really don't collect anything. I do have quite a few pieces of Fostoria, but I use them. I don't consider it a collection. I guess what I am known for is my love of Halloween. The loft of my shed is all Halloween decorations and costumes.

Literature, either print or audiobooks. I have hundreds of books that I really should get rid of, but it's hard to choose which to let go! lol!

Horses. Nearly every decision I make includes the impact of horses on my life. Having the ability to spend time with horses got me through the pandemic. Bless my new barn family for making this possible. The way I schedule my time, where I put my money (this meal out could pay extra ride time), the vehicles I will purchase, my sleeping schedule, the list goes on. I love trail riding. I wanted to get into endurance but the lockdowns changed all that. But this, the year I turn 71, will be the year I start reining. Hoping to do some back country mule work too. I am so excited. Space we've set aside for indoor laundry will become a tack room. The saddle racks are going up where the washer/dryer would be. ;-)

Halloween was also my thing before Covid. I loved planning events and I love thinking up costumes and different themes. Hopefully those days will return, but if not, I have the horses.

Paper. Not collecting, but gathering (hoarding?) for gluebooking and junk journaling ;o) Vintage, scrapbook, tags, ledger paper, used books - any kind will work its way into my stash. There's just something about the texture and design of paper. I also love to color so I have a small collection of nice coloring books. And, of course, reading - physical books and audiobooks.

Roses, I have over a thousand, they are in 3 gardens over 3 properties. This spring I will try to move a few hundreds from one garden to another.

Scooters, I have 6 of them, I am a rider.

Coats, I have just over 100 winter coats. Living in an ice hole 6 months of the winter, the lowest temp is around -10 F.

Fur hats and straw hats, I have been collecting them. Can’t soak up the sun during the warm weather, get sun rash easily. That’s the reason for straw hats.

Lamps, I have been collecting them. I love lights.

Garden pruners, shovels. I use them all the time.

Cookbooks. Baking, Italian, and Southern (in that order) are my favorites.

Restaurant supply stores. Maybe because I've never worked in one but I can wander around it for hours. I have bought lots of supplies from there.

Gardening. I love to grow things more than use them. I really need to do better about eating it or giving it away. I just love to watch it all grow and the smell of tomato plants might be my favorite smell in the world. I always grow 4xs what I need.

Okay, I’m a bit odd for my age, but my favorite hobby is whitewater kayaking. I don’t do ias often as I would like anymore, but my goal is to introduce my DGS to the sport. I’m a lawyer by profession, but was a certified whitewater kayak instructor until a few years ago and loved to teach on a volunteer basis. My boating skills (and willingness to accept risk) have declined a bit with age, but with good health, I should be able to kayak easy whitwater with DGS when he is old enough — maybe by the time he is 8 and I am 70! Me last summer:

Professionally, although I have now gone to an ’of counsel’ or’ emeritus’ type possition with my firm, I really enjoy a certain type of primarily big business practice that involves bankruptcy law, working with excel spreadseets and data analysis. Honestly, that’s probably the only reason I haven’t already fully retired. I like it and at present we don’t have anyone with that particular skill set. I really need to teach one of our younger lawyers this particular skill, but it only comes up a few times a year.

More traditionally, I have always been a good and inventive cook and cook almost everyday for us and DD and her family (they live next door). I enjoy decorating and architecture, but I have run out of projects for now, And I am a great pet mom, with very spoiled dogs and granddogs:

My other things are crosswords — usually six a day, sports on tv, primarily my college basketball (we beat Kentucky today!) and football teams, I am a news junkie (CNN, some local news, the weather channel sometimes and occasionally CNBC).

Elizabeth, I never had thought to coordinate my wallet and handbag. What have I been missing? And I say this as a dinosaur who still mostly matches shoes, belt and handbag!

I too love Chanel bags, though I have only a few. My favorite handbag is my mother's Hermes from two years before I was born, 1966. Not an H or logo in sight, a thing of beauty to my eyes. And still in perfect condition after decades and decades of use (real use, not special occasion use.)

My things:

Books and stationery, pens and pencils are irresistible to me.

My hobbies are taking classes, playing tennis, the piano.

I used to spend a lot of time volunteering in my community, since the plague, I just support those organizations with money.

I have a huge weakness for porcelain and silver too.

I spend my time regretting the 40 plus years I attended country auctions every week year-round and hitting every antique show that came to my area. This obsession resulted in ten rooms filled to the brim with mostly 19th century PA German antiques.

Another obsession is plants. I have two big greenhouse windows in this old farmhouse filled with plants and I even have the plant my mother-in-law sent me when my daughter was born many decades ago. In the summer I have annuals growing in antique urns and pots all over. And I collect koi. Well, they did that themselves by reproducing, and although they are beautiful and tame ,they cause great angst like last week when we lost power.

I am festive. My favorite days are the end of the month, load in day, when I swap dibs and dabs around my home, mostly inside but outside too, that remind me the month/season is changing. Today I took down the miniature pine trees from the front milk cans--going into Lent time to live with less...

Here they are set for Easter--looking forward to that!

Then there is my gardens. People seem to think I have a greener than most thumb--I do not. I plop things in the ground and they grow--or don't...

Here's one tiny spot...I have surrounded my house thusly.

Then there are the collections--I have a few but the one that causes the greatest stir are my nativities. From the first Sunday of Advent until Epiphany I have 65 representations of the Nativity on display. Many are full sets...but not all.

I've taken to putting some on a shelving unit because I ran out of places...there's a tik tock out there on them I am told, daughters, what can I say.

My garden art tends to attract attention: The molecule, Snow whites house, bird houses, etc.

My "thing" is reading--a lifelong habit. It has gotten me through life's adversities by letting me leave them behind for a while. This habit transitions into collecting books; however, I have purged 5 boxes of them and have kept only my favorites.

I am also an avid gardener. I'd rather be outside digging than almost anything--I have to have a break from all the reading. A friend who also has the "plant disease" and I swap plants and revel in collecting hostas--I have more than 100.

Also, I make all-occasion cards for friends, family and church members, my nod at creativity.

My thing is nature as in animals, birds, bugs...even snakes. I have a huge collection of figurines of such. At age 80, I am realizing that these collections that I love are a going to be a problem to get rid of when I am gone. I would be okay with putting a sign in the front yard inviting anyone to come inside and take what you want.

Gardening was a thing for me in the past, but it has been 20 years or more since I was able to really get into it. I must use a wheelchair or scooter in the yard, so the best I can do is pull a weed if I can reach it. I do spend a lot of time outside just cruising on my scooter and it hurts that I cannot do anything about the condition of my once beautiful, well kept flower beds.

In the outdoors these days, my thing is hunting down bugs. I always have a camera with me in the yard. Never know when an opportunity to get a good picture will present itself.

And then there is my thing with jigsaw puzzles. It would be rare to not find me working on one if you stopped by for a visit. So far I have completed 6 this year.

Thanks to Amy for starting this thread. Such diverse and interesting answers. I love to read and spend way too much time each day with my nose in a book. My other interests include anything table setting related. I love dishes and table linens and have way too many of both. I live alone, eat in front of the tv and yet own at least 10 sets of dishes and lots of odd pieces just because. I also am drawn toward beautiful or interesting paper of all sorts.

I'm "known" for things....that are not what I want to be known for. :0) I am known in THIS neighborhood for not allowing a neighbor to abuse her dog. She says she was training it. Uh no...that was abuse. Another neighbor is telling everyone I flip houses for a living. No...I do not.

I like oriental rugs & own a "few". I do whole-house remodels, but only on homes WE own/purchase. Yes, I sometimes sell them...or keep them as rentals. I'm a landlord. Photography, mostly wildlife, hummingbirds. I trade on the stock market. I run 4-5 miles several times a week. I watch movies. Cooking. Upholstery. Growing lilies is MY THING. ♥

gaz...will ME your bug collection. I'm 62....I'd enjoy them for 20 more years at least! ♥

Satine , I think a love of table settings is akin to a love of still life paintings. It's finding beauty in the ordinary.

Satine, I’m with you. I love china, plates, and table settings. Flatware, crystal, serveware. Beautiful linens. But especially china. I would love a ”china room” like at the White House. However, I wouldn’t say I am known for it, and a good thing, too, because people might give me some and THEN where would I be? It’s hard enough not to buy things. I have accumulated enough already. I do have friends who text me when they see Danish plates ”out in the wild”, like at flea markets and estate sales.

I am, I’m afraid, known more for being a ”last-minute Lucy” and procrastinating. But, then, too, I’m known for being nice, and people will talk to me about anything.

People also call me when they want to go for a walk. I’m always up for a walk, long or short.

Things I am known for -- the dozen or so people in my dad's memory care unit recognize me as the red sweatshirt lady. The people in my neighborhood recognize me as the person who walks the young chocolate lab. I've trained Shasta to 'sit' when she wants to leave my side to investigate a smell, which is quite often -- but there are whole minutes that go by with her trotting by my side like a good, well behaved girl -- I hope they see that too!

People who can see into my backyard might know me as the lady who talks to her dogs while gardening, throwing the frisbee, or gazing up at the sky (bird or cloud watching). People who drive by know us as the house with all the flowers. Kids who walk by know us as the house with the toy dinosaurs (in summer) or wolves (in winter) they can play with in the front flowerbed.

Family knows me as the one who will try to bake any recipe, just for fun.

Another china and linens aficionado here. Any time we have a large gathering of family or friends, I'm tasked with the table setting. I have way too many dishes and table linens, but I just can't seem to make myself give away any of them.

I am totally into sewing, cooking and baking. Call me domestic, I guess. I sew every single day, it is my love. If I could, I would bake every day or cook. But I have to either throw some away or find someone to take off our hands. DH said I need to tone it down since the kids are now gone.

Friends and family know me for my love of bees....any kind of bee. Gifts often have a bee theme and I have pillows, paintings, dishes, ornaments, dish towels and various garden accoutrements all celebrating bees. When I still worked at the nursery, the gift buyer used to bring in all sorts of bee themed merchandise just for me (and they would celebrate my birthday with a bee decorated cake). My other "thing" is lemon verbena scented anything.

I used to collect but no longer feel the need :-) I had a huge collection of original Fiestaware but I sold it after my divorce and downsized. I still miss it but there wasn't much point to it as a single person and it was far too valuable to just have sitting around. I still have a collection of blue and white Chinese porcelain including some true antiques I inherited but no longer add to it.

My only active collecting these days is plants.....and even that has slowed down :-) I have a big collection of Japanese maples and dwarf conifers but only add a couple each season now.

Reading, knitting and baking, in that order. My big vice is live theater. I haven't seen a movie in years, but I love to go to plays and musicals everywhere--Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, community theater groups, opera anywhere. I am most embarrassed by what I collect. I have had three dachshunds in my life and have had quite the "wiener art" collection. When we downsized, I had to get rid of most of it, and I donated to a rescue group that sold the stuff at one of their dachshund get-togethers. I kept some small things, most notably the brooches. I have continued collecting these, and I am coming up to the 200 mark. All of them fit in a medium storage box that I keep in my closet and enjoy . Most of them cost only a dollar or two. I don't gravitate toward the fine; rather, toward the "previously loved". I have a vision of my kids going to a wiener fest after I die, and allowing everyone there to choose one to keep.

My "thing" is camping...tent camping to be exact! My husband and I did it for 35 years, but he passed away 4 years ago and I still continue! At 73 i find great joy of traveling to our favorite campground and setting up the tent and kicking back and enjoying nature.

Thinking about what people associate with me, it would be art, both pictures and performing, and entertaining well. With four children and a good amount of communiy involvement, I have lots of occasions to host events at my house, which I love to do. As for the arts I like pictures, theater, symphony and opera, not much of a ballet fan.

Gardening, read books all the time, having exchange students (no more though), and traveling.

I too, have daylilies, but only about 44 different ones. Also have lots of iris, and hostas. Flower beds are my fun thing. I also must collect hardback books. Even if I listen to an audio book, if is exceptionally good, I want the hardback. There is just something about having hardback books. I used to collect dishes, like many others, but finally ran out of room and donated all but a few sets. I had all dishes in my pantry and no food!

i'm known far and wide and the great dane whisperer. i've been rescuing danes for 14 years now, currently have 2 (not rescues).

i also love wild birds and my yard is ever so colorful all summer. orioles, indigo buntings, woodpeckers, grosbeaks, dozens of hummingbirds, to name a few. i also have a couple of bluebird nest boxes and have been hosting them for 24 years now.

When I posted above about my hobbies of antique collecting , plant collection, and my koi, I have three more passions I completely forgot at that moment. Growing up as an only child I was allowed no pets except the parakeet I bought at age 12 with my own money. I told my mother when I got married I would have many many pets and I have. I've had a beloved African Grey parrot and four dogs but my greatest love is cats and I have had 18 over the decades. The most were six at a time and presently I have three. Yes , I AM a cat lady!

The next hobby is reading and I read at least two books a week and always have five or six library ones waiting.

And the last hobby is running/walking/hiking. I started running in the 70's and ran a few 5Ks but that was it . Nothing like my daughter who has run 18 marathons and her son will do his first Boston in April , one she ran five times. When I got older I switched off running to speed walking around my town for 3-4 miles a day but my greatest love is hiking the Appalachian trail every day for two years since Covid started. I have "done" the trail since I've hiked 2448 miles and the whole course is 2175 miles. That's what I tell the thru hikers kiddingly. Not fair since my stretch isn't nearly as strenuous as some they encounter. And yesterday I stood near a herd of 38 deer. I counted them.

I used to have lots of things. I'm trying to be more minimal. Past things: depression glass (pink only), hat pins, perfume bottles, decorative pillows, scarves, books, vintage bone china teacups--I think that's it.

This is an interesting thread! I've read only a portion of it, but I'll be back. Summersrhythm, I have no closets. Your 100 winter coats would smother me. :-)

Teaching classes at the library. As a volunteer, I've taught classes on eBay, memoir writing, rug hooking, buying and using a digital camera, frame drumming. creative book covering, and (going way back) how to use the internet.

Breastfeeding! It's been 40 years since I founded a La Leche League group in our small town, but I made so many friends that way that some people make the connection even to this day. My veterinarian still calls me The Big Boob--and he's not referring to my figure. LOL

Photography. With a camera. Or cameras.

Animal advocacy. I've been rescuing and/or aiding the rescue of animals most of my adult life, in addition to supporting legislation that benefits animals, both domestic and wild.

I wish I could say I'm still known for my flower gardens and singing voice, but I've had to give up both.