Friends and Fun in the Country

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What do you all do for fun? What are your hobbies and interests? What is the last book or magazine you read; the last movie you saw; the last community event you attended? What do you do when you get together with friends - or do you have time to get together?!

My work schedule precludes any activity with a regular schedule since I work opposite days each week, and the fact that I work night shift rules out anything that goes past about 5:30 pm on the days I do work. I spend a lot of time at school functions - football, basketball, etc... because my daughter is a cheerleader, and I also go to cheer on her friends and boyfriends in other various sports. I like to read (murder mysteries and action/adventure), crochet in a straight line, piece quilt blocks, sew and garden - all relatively solitary activities - at least at my house!! I like to attend plays, but my hubby doesn't, and I dislike driving in the cities around here at night, so I usually don't go. I almost never watch TV, although I do watch Frazier and JAG on the nights that I am home at that time.

As to friends, I like to have my Dad's extended family over for holidays or cookouts, and my daughter ususally has a friend (or several) over on the weekends that I don't work. I have one close friend who reads almost as much as I do, works nights, and isn't afraid to drive in the city (6' 2", martial arts, gun nut - any single ladies interested?!), so we run around to used book stores, gun stores, military surplus shops and Chinese restaurants every week or so, and have coffee and gossip on the off week. I have lots of female associates at work, but don't do the hair, nail, shop for clothes thing, so don't see them socially. The ex and I used to have folks over to play pinochle or other card games, but current spouse is somewhat antisocial and addicted to TV, so ...

One last question - anyone else read the Yearbook of Agriculture series of books? The ones from the 50's, 60's and 70's are pretty interesting!

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), May 07, 2000

Answers 1. What do you all do for fun? Hike, bike, run rivers, canoe, go to used bookstores, old hardware stores...plus other things!

2. What are your hobbies and interests?

Besides homesteading, see #1 above

3. What is the last book or magazine you read?

Text books!(daily) And of course, Countryside for the magazine (only one I read, period)(every two months, cover to cover)

4. The last movie you saw:

Fourth of July...second run at a small town cinema.(3 years ago?)

5. The last community event you attended?

"The Foreigner"; play put on by local theater group (Jan this year?)

What do you do when you get together with friends - or do you have time to get together?!

Right now we are booking for June 17! Ha. See number 1 above. If we stay home, we have friends over for barbecue this time of year, good wine tasting, lots of conversation into the wee hours, and hot tubbing (goes with wee hours). We are also installing the horseshoe pit this week. We often have bonfires and sit around them. Mostly we just love to talk, and talk, and talk*.

*Just like on here....

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), May 07, 2000.

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Hi Polly I have 2 teenagers and a 5 year old so I spend a lot of the day playing with my little one. I love to garden and take care of the livestock. I love to read, books, magazines, you name it.

A group of us from church gets together every Thursday night for bible study and fellowship (great desserts).

Hubby and I love to target practice (I got a shotgun for Mother's day!) and throw knives and tomahawks. We enjoy rides way out in the country when we get the chance, fishing and hunting in season. Usually wait for the movies to come out on video! And we try to get out for dinner (chinese) 2 or 3 times a month.

My daughter is in 4H with her Aussie Shepherd so we do that twice a month. I really look forward to the county fair every year and the whole family takes the week off and we enter our animals and agricultural stuff.

I'm really sorry your spouse is somewhat anti-social and addicted to TV. My hubby AND my kids aren't really into gardening and livestock so I pretty much do that stuff alone. Bless you. - Kathy

-- Kathy (jubilant@ncweb.com), May 08, 2000.

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Hi Polly, I read alot, Favorite books are historical like The writings of Thomas Jefferson. My most favorite is The Book of Virtues by William Bennet. I am an avid bear and wild boar hunter and I like to trout fish. Last Movie was -Entrapment with Sean Connory. I consider my home a sanctuary from the world so no ones comes here without an invitation or calling first. Once a year I like to take the children to an historical site and than for a week at the beach. I find solice in the ocean ! I have one dream unfullfilled--I would like someday to see the Indy 500 in person. I play softball for the City of Roanoke employee's team. From a 47 acre homestead, I manage to lease over 1500 acres to farm. I grow wheat,oats,alpalpha,corn,tobacco,hay and children. I find peace in my garden. I have a large gun collection but never find much time to enjoy them. I still qualify once a year to keep my expert marksman badge. Well, thats me and the best part of life is my family !

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), May 08, 2000.

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What do you do for fun -- since we got the computer, I've been playing with it!! Before that I sewed, read books, went for walks (we still go for walks!). In the summer we go swimming at one of the lakes quite a bit, in winter we snowshoe. My lifetime hobby is designing houses, but it's kind of a waste of time, since they never get built. Books I read -- for relaxation I read Regency romances (preferably the old ones), books by Grace Livingston Hill, and OLD childrens books; my all-time favorite is Swiss Family Robinson. The last movies I saw (on video, checked out from the library) were the three Jane Austen novels, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma. (Even my husband enjoyed them!!) The last community event I attended was Election Day (I voted!!). Other than that, we usually turn out to watch the fireworks on the 4th of July. When I get together with friends outside of church it is usually for a picnic at one of the local lakes on a hot summers day. We see each other at least three times a week at church, and usually more often than that, with other church-related activities going on and various work efforts (starting to get the new land ready to build our own church building, for one thing), and most have full-time jobs, so we don't have time to get together outside of church very often. I don't enjoy shopping, but once in a while make the rounds of the local thrift shops hunting for something -- if I don't find what I'm looking for I have to start going around to the regular stores and possibly pay full price -- I try very hard not to do that!! Last summer the historical society in Concord had a series of free concerts by historically correct (mostly reenactors) bands or groups - - we went to several of those, and really enjoyed them. I have looked at some of the Yearbook of Agriculture books -- we used to have one or two of them, as they sometimes show up in used book stores. It's been a while, though, and I can't remember that the ones we had were very useful (we would have kept them if they were!). We don't eat out very often -- it's too expensive, for one thing, and my daughter and I both have celiac disease and have to be really careful not to eat anything with gluten in it. That usually means intensive reading of labels, as most people don't have a clue, and that lets the restaurants out most of the time. One of my sisters is coming for a visit, and I'm hoping while she's here we'll have time to get to the ocean, as I haven't been for about three years.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), May 08, 2000.

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Here, I mostly do the gardening, and animal care, hubby helps out with the tilling and tractor work. We are raising our 8 year old granddaughter and about once a month her half-brother, 4 years old, comes and spends a few days, so that is our entertainment when he is here. Took them both to DisneyWorld this spring, which was a delight for them, but is has become very commercialized, so disappointing to me, except to see the wonder in their eyes. I love to go to farm sales/auctions, even if I'm not in the market for anything, just to see the old things that are usually there. I guess I was born 100 years too late! Went to one recently where there were several new, unused canvas bags that folks used to use to cool their cars before air conditioning. Filled with water and I believe hung on the front of the radiator, so the cool air passing through the wet bag cooled the radiator down? Hadn't thought about them since I was a child.

Don't see many neighbors here, as everyone works in the city, and folks keep to themselves doing their chores, etc. Do see some at the sales or at school functions.

Don't have much time to read, although I try to listen to books on tape while working outside or driving to the city. Currently am devouring Carla Emery's book Country Living, though. Lots of good info in it. Watched Grapes of Wrath, borrowed from the Library this weekend.

We try to attend old time celebrations in the surrounding towns and at my husbands' home town, as well as the Balloon Glow in Colorado Springs, which is a hot air balloon display. Neat for the kids, as the balloons are tethered on the ground and lit up at night.

We go to the National Western Stock show once a year, the county and state fairs and rodeos.

And, Joel, you old softy! I knew there was a soft heart inside you! It is nice to hear a man say his family is the most important thing to him. Good for you! Jan

-- Jan B (Janice12@aol.com), May 08, 2000.

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Polly, My fun is my mini-farm,I have baby goats,bunnies,chicks,kittens, and puppies right now. My flowers are blooming, my fruit trees are still alive and life is good. Where Joel reads Thomas Jefferson and watches Sean Connery, I read Tad Williams and see StarWars Episode 1 three times! usually I don't go to the movies or watch t.v. The best book(s) in the world is The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R.Tolkien. When life gets too much I go out in the goat pasture and commune with the girls. My spare time is spent with my boys(okay so they are men) and the grandkids. We went on a camping trip my last week-end off. Call that a busmans holiday, but had geat fun, might even fish the next time. I love to read, I read all kinds of books, newspapers, and magazines, but since I got this computer I seem to spend a lot of time on it, been trying to cut down,been deleteing all the junk mail instead of reading it. Have met some really great people here on the forum, and it gives me great joy to know there are so many people who still live the homestead life. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), May 08, 2000.

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Hi, Polly. My hobbies and interests: gardening, raising animals, sewing, crocheting, learning to spin on my new spinning wheel. Last book: I just finished "Jewish Literacy" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, it took me a year to read, and last night I started another of his books, "Jewish Wisdom". Last movie: "Sixth Sense" . I don't get together with friends. My kids have never been to daycare, and I don't date. But my sister-in-law came last weekend with her two kids, and we all got super-soakers and had an enormous water fight.

I have four kids under the age of 10, so nearly all day is centered around the homestead and the children. The six yr old is a pianist and we take her to lessons, and we go to the big public library once a week.

No, sorry, haven't read those books.

-- Rachel (rldk@hotmail.com), May 08, 2000.

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We don't get out of the house very much, because my husband doesn't drive, and I am trying to learn but have to have a licensed driver in the car in order to practice, so how am I supposed to learn!!? Have a few friends,most of which are homesteaders or goatkeepers, once in a while we visit. A week ago, I had a plant swapping party, where everybody was to bring any volunteer or extra plants to my place and we all traded, and dug up some of the plants here. We had a little potluck type lunch. It was kind of fun, maybe we'll do it again next spring!When I go to town, I like to go to the thrift stores- they have sales sometimes where you can cram a bag full of stuff ,$1.00 a bag! I like to look for fabric scraps for quilting, have found some nice fabric, some of it was antique! I usually have several quilts going at once, especially hand pieced and quilted ones. When I get tired of one, I switch to one of the others. We do a lot of reading,I like to read old agriculture books from before the "green revolution",and have been reading about Luther Burbank. We subscribe to several magazines, two of them are dairy goat periodicals,which are devoured immediately!, also,Smithsonian,the Utne reader,Harpers,Newsweek(which only makes me mad,lately!),Acres USA,which is an organic farming magazine, and Quilter's newsletter magazine.I do a lot of gardening,like to try something new every year, and preserving heirloom varieties,and doing a little amateur plant breeding. I spend an awful lot of time with the goats,milking, doing chores, buying more goats,or just out visiting with them.I would like to show them more, but most of the shows are on Saturday,which is my Sabbath,so for now just show at the county fair,which is not an official goat show. The fair is a lot of fun,we camp out for a week there, exhibit all kinds of things.It is a lot of fun to get things made and ready for the fair- veggies,artwork,quilts,etc,and we get to see friends who we sometimes don't see at any other time.We also go to a bible study,and church, for the social part,even though I don't agree with 85-90% of what they teach, it is nice to discuss things, and the pastor is open to discusssion and doesn't mind if you disagree. A lot of my social life and visiting is done here,which seems to have become an addction as bad as TV!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), May 08, 2000.

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Husband and I are Civil War re-enactors..we get all gussied up and hang out at Living History events as well as "battles" great fun except in the very hot Summertime.We are "strict" re-enactors, meaning my hairstyle is accurate (how flattering),and I wear a corset..yuck...as well as reproduction undies..those are funny..anybody want to know why, e-mail me ! We garden and I make quilts in the Winter..we LOVE making homemade wine..last book was yesterday,"Women of the War" a book published in 1867 about the contributions of Northern women in the Civil War. Magazines??? I'm afraid all I read lately is medical journals trying to keep up with everything and boy, is there alot of new stuff out there !!!We do not go to the movies, but wait to see what comes out on videos because it is so much cheaper.We play chess and I always lose..sigh..we also spend a great deal of time at gun shows looking for Colt Navy pistols..anybody have a good one for sale????In my non-existant spare time,I counsel inmates at the jail and write Christian praise music as well as children's stories.We watch classic movies on TV and are addicted to Seinfeld & Frasier re-runs.Up until last July we had a house full of foster children and did all this plus took them fishing, camping and hiking, etc..We visit our friend's farms and sit on the porch and sing with everybody pretty much every Friday night..it's alot of fun!!!!! When they want a good laugh, they invite me to milk the cows or goats....They cannot understand how I can diagnose appendicitis,or suture up one of their cuts, yet screech if the cow even looks at me funny...city girl, city girl....ah well!Now our house is full of moving boxes, and dust bunnies....two more weeks and I will be forced to be offline until I can plug in in Alabama.I tried to get hubby to buy a laptop for me...just for the move!!!! I cannot be away from the forum for that long !!!!!ARGGGH!

-- lesley chasko (martchas@gateway.net), May 08, 2000.

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What do we do for fun? Chris, my wife, is into needlework and dolls as well as the garden. We like eating out and have our two favorite places, one a chinese buffet and the other a place where I get my pound of flesh as Chris says, a 24oz t-bone for $9.95. Once in a while we'll rent a movie. She likes romantic comedy or comedy. I like drama or suspense. I read alot, alternating between novels--- historical fiction, fantasy or sci-fi---and non-fiction. The non- fiction is mostly religion related, currently have several books going about hinduism and buddhism. Of course theres countryside and homepower mag as well as other homesteading related stuff. An old girlfriend told me once that the socialization process got screwed up with me and I think shes right. I've been the neighborhood eccentric for as long as I've lived in this area, 30+yrs. We don't do much socializing, preferring just to hang out here at home, tho we do have a few friends we see once in a while, their place or ours.

In my next incarnation i'm hoping to be an engineer. (I like to plan ahead!) I really enjoy dreaming and scheming---translate that to design work and I enjoy the building of stuff around here. I don't claim to be a carpenter but the stuff gets up and it serves its intended purpose. We went to a theatre production jast winter in Green Bay called spirit dance. A first for me and I hope to do that again.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), May 12, 2000.



-- ducky (duxinarow@yahoo.com), June 29, 2001


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