Top Ten Tuesday: Non-Bookish Hobbies

Well, I hope everyone voted today.  I would imagine there will be a big turn out.  I know early voting here was crazy busy.    I opted to skip all the mailing drama and am voting in person (with my mask).  We shall see….

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday has nothing to do with books.   We’re sharing “Non-Bookish Hobbies” so let’s get to know each other a bit better.

Let’s skip the politics and take a reprieve from election day and move on to happier things.  Here are the things (besides reading) that make me smile.

  1.  Blogging.  I’ve been at this pretty regularly since 2010.   Eliot’s Eats started out as a locavore blog but has now morphed into a hodge-podge with a lot of book reviews.  When I first started, I was blogging everyday and some of my thoughts were either totally inane or totally self-absorbed.  I like to think I’ve evolved…
  2. Cooking.  Obviously, this is related to blogging.   2020 is a weird year and although I’ve been preparing more meals at home (like 99% of them), I haven’t been blogging about a lot of them.
  3. Jelly making/preserving.  If I could make a living making jelly and jam, I would.  I love creating interesting combinations.
  4. Cooking contests.  I used to be obsessed with cooking and recipe contests.   I enter sporadically now.
  5. Yelping.  I am obsessed with Yelp.  2020 has put a cloud over my reviewing.
  6. Gardening.   Planting a garden was a nice reprieve during the pandemic.  Even if it wasn’t super productive, I still enjoyed puttering around.
  7. Cactus.  This is another obsession.  I don’t even know how many specimens I have.  Too many.  The greenhouse becomes more and more packed every winter.
  8. Jewelry making.  I dabble in this,  mostly in beaded bracelets and earrings.
  9. Words with Friends/Bananagrams.  I’m pretty good at Bananagrams and during family reunions and holidays my sister and I (and sometimes a nephew or two) have some tournaments.  When we’re not together, I manage with Words with Friends.
  10. Boating.  This is our most all-consuming hobby—every weekend.  Almost exactly a year ago, we bought a 41 foot, 1964, Hatteras Double-Cabin.  We have been fixing her up ever since.This was us a year ago, before we moved it from one state to our own.This is our big-beast-of-a-boat-baby on the water.

Someday will have to post before and after pictures of the cabin.  We’re doing a lot.  The good thing is it runs and we are able to enjoy her on warm weekends.  But, even if we’re at the slip, I still enjoy the time spent there, reading and just enjoying the quietude.

Next week’s TTT topic is “Books that would make great song titles.”  Not sure I’m that creative so I will probably skip out that week.  I will definitely participate in November 17’s “Characters I Would Name a Pet After.”  I wonder if authors are included in that particular list—like T.S. Eliot.  Then, there’s all the names from Book of Practical Cats.  But, I’m getting ahead of myself…

TTT is hosted by Artsy Reader Girl.

 

I have to throw one bookish thing in this post:

Hot off the press!  I am soooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!

13 comments to Top Ten Tuesday: Non-Bookish Hobbies

  • wow You have lots of hobbies. I know that you are a great gardener and pretty darn good in jam making and book hoarding, but didn’t know you make jewelry. That’s a very cool boat!

  • Mae

    Very impressive list! I don’t think I have many hobbies as such. I read, blog, cook, and did a lot of reviews on Yelp many years ago, then stopped — though I wouldn’t exactly call them hobbies. And I do own exactly one cactus, which I water every Tuesday… that’s today… think I’ll go give it the 2 ice cubes that it drinks every week!

    be well… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

  • Cacti are so cool! I love looking at them when I visited relatives who live in cactus-friendly areas (before this pandemic began, of course).

    My post.

  • Lex

    Beads, gardening, cactii, jellies, boats, wow. Just wow. And agree with you on Yelping — leaving reviews somehow makes me feel that maybe someone will read that review and benefit from it. Happy TTT

    • Yes on the Yelp. I do try my best to leave objective reviews. I hate it when I have to leave a two star (which doesn’t happen very often).

  • I have to say that one of my family’s favorite houseboating trips to Lake Powell was spent entirely in the slip. The boat was having engine trouble, so we stayed put and just launched our jet skiis from the slip. It rained a lot of the time, so we played games, watched movies, read books, and had a grand ole time anyway!

    We have tons of cacti here in Arizona, of course. In fact, they’re the only plants I can keep alive. LOL.

    It was fun to learn about your hobbies. I feel like I know you a little better now 🙂

    Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

    • It’s just relaxing, isn’t it? We rented a houseboat many years ago with some cousins. Even though we had some air conditioning problems, we didn’t car. I really liked this round of TTT, too.

  • Reading, cooking, eating, walking, and photography are pretty much my main hobbies. There’s my blog, of course, but that’s kind of an extension of cooking (and I originally started it to serve as kind of an elaborate recipe box). That’s a big boat! It’s a beauty — must be lots of fun.

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