What Hobbies

[Grandma Helen]

Many of us have hobbies.  Some of us have had the same ones all our lives, some of us have found new ones as we got older.  I love to grow flowers outside and houseplants inside all year long.  What are some of your hobbies

[Julia A Knaake]

Cooking and BBQ

Photography

writing...here is a story I wrote called 

harry and HARRY

Stained glass

creative card making

trying to save the earth

LOL and many more little things

[Julia A Knaake]

harry and HARRY

 

"Ladies and Gentlemen let me have the pleasure of introducing you to : harry & HARRY."

This was the same introduction we used for years. Starting out in grade school we performed free.

Then on to high school we were hired for children's parties, school and functions ,weddings and other private parties.

In college we pulled in extra monies at local bars by using fake Id's and then asking our pay in cash. The old metal tips can was always out and harry made sure it was used it well.

He had the spiel "Poor HARRY needs a new brace or an operation almost always the tips doubled or tripled the wages.

Old harry and I have been together since third grade. He came to my rescue one day when the school yard bullies had me cornered up on the monkey bars.

They had placed me up on the highest bar with no way my short legs could get me down and if I jumped I would have broken bones or possibly died on the spot.

You see I am a midget and barely 30 inches tall but harry was a big eight year old not only in tallness but heavy too.

He jumped right in and gave it good to those bullies and told them if they ever lay hands on me again he'd give em more... then he said "What's your name" and I said "Hebert !...Hebert Jackson...wadda gonna do about it?"... He laughs and says "I'm gonna change it to HARRY that's what... now jump down and I'll catch ya."

I jumped and he caught. We have been pals through thick and thin times and it will always be so.

No one ever bothered me again and harry and HARRY became a comedy team. He got the idea by watching the Howdy Doody show on television and decided that we might make some spending money.

He hated doing chores and mowing lawns and I was too small for this work. Since my big asset was my mind I thought he had a great idea and went along with him.

I never in my wildest dreams thought we would be a team for fifty years !

I was the one who could talk with his mouth nearly shut but harry, because of his greater size, had to be the ventriloquist while I was to be the puppet.

This was no easy task so we actually both talked and I inserted a mouthpiece under both my lips with an actual hinge to make me look like a real puppet.

We learned the proper mouth positions for both of us by trial and error.

We of course did not need to learn different voices or learn to throw our voices because we were actually two talking people made to look like one real human and one puppet.

The earlier years we slicked down my dark hair with Vaseline and I had a goofy Western outfit and hat. I really looked like a puppet to the audiences.

Old harry was a natural at the jokes but he taught me wise cracks and how to look sad when he put the fake brace on my leg. We had a Western routine about me falling off a horse and stunting my growth. We had the audiences in stitches every time we performed.

We impressed and amazed the audiences all right. He played the human harry and I the smart wise cracking dummy HARRY. we really had our craft down good by the time we left college.

I became a business adviser and harry ,well harry became a jack of all trades. He went in for chef work but goofed around too much and never made it to the big hotels.

He was a good cook and if applied himself an excellent cook but his heart wasn't in the cooking industry.

He wanted to play...so we did and I kept the books straight and the bookings in order plus invested part of our earnings. We were in great shape.

Well until harry got afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.

He started forgetting his lines and the hand moves. then one day he just sat there and stares at me and says: "Who are you?"... I thought he was adding to the act without telling me. Then I saw other changes at home. So I got him to get into the van and thankful that we had adapted it for my small stature I took him to our doctor and a few weeks later he was diagnosed.

I am glad we had me to save and invest our monies earlier because now harry will have all the care he needs.

We did have one last show... I was the ventriloquist and harry the puppet. He performed well and his last words were "Goodbye HARRY ...we did well."

© 2007  Julia A Knaake

[Dee Holland Eidson]

I have quite a few hobbies too. I guess I am a collector. My first love is sea shells,sea glass I love the ocean and its treasures. My daughter and I decorate many things with sea shells.We are actually trying to start a small business , We call it Sea Creations by Dee and Tee. We are doing the craft shows and Flea Markets. I also collect earrings. I have all sorts of odd ones mostly costume jewery a few good ones are there too.I have a hugh collection of cat figurines they range in size from 1/4 in. to two feet.They are amazing I think. I like to go fishing too.I spend a couple of hours on my p/c most every day also. Plus I have my cat Dixie who loves attention.Of course I read and watch tv too. No wonder I am tired. lol 

[Julia A Knaake]

Dee

sea glass is wonderful for making into jewelry

I also incorporated some into stepping stones

[Dee Holland Eidson]

I am looking into making jewelry out of sea glass.Have you done this ? It is something I have not tried yet.I just love everything that comes out of the ocean.It has so maney beautiful things. Sounds like the stepping stone  project most have been a bit hard to do. If you get a chance tell me about it Thanks for your comments.   Dee

[ozzieowl]

I really do enjoy changing themes around in my small garden 

near the front entrance of my unit these days,

and at the moment I have created a faerie land of sorts

with toad stools, dwarfs, butterflies and faeries

dotted in between my different colored Impatients flowers,

and I especially like taking cuttings, placing them in a small

container and watching them grow roots and forming a new plant.

[Julia A Knaake]

 ozzieowl they are gorgeous and full of vibrant colors

it is wonderful to recreate plants

[ozzieowl]

Thank you so much JULIA,

every morning as I go to switch the kettle on

to start a new day, those flowers and the garden

are the first thing I see directly through my

kitchen window - it is a happy thing.

I wish you a sun shiny day today!

[ozzieowl]

Thank you Phil, for me, gardening and God go hand in hand,

I think I must go into a transcendental meditation when 

I'm out there pottering around, lol!

[Grandma Helen]

Nice flowers, Ozzie.  I love growing them, but it's looking like I won't be able to plant Impatiens.  I saw sign where I sometime buy flowers that there's some kind of mildew killing them, so they're not selling them this year.

[ozzieowl]

Thanks Helen, and what you mention is very interesting,

when we have learned this year that all the Frangipani's

around here have been affected by something that

leaves branches drying out and withering away,

I hope they find out what is causing this.

[Kim]

I have always had hobbies. My parents always encouraged us to "have something to do" when we are by ourselves and have to entertain ourselves.

WRITING was my first hobby. I wrote poetry when I was 8 to entertain my little brother. By 10, I had a few penpals and by 11, I was writing stories so I STILL love to write, if only for the sake of writing to keep myself happy!

I have done ABOUT every craft but embroidery, Swedish Huck weaving, counted cross stitch., and scrapbooking have stayed throughout my life.I have had some numbness in my one hand so I have hung up the needlework for now but the scrapbooking I can still whip out a book a week when i need to. I dont make too many for myself anymore but I will take pictures of a special occassion I attend and take pix and make an album. Thought about making wedding albums for a business but not sure how well it would go over as people can those instant things now. When I worked at HOBBY LOBBY, people said they would LOVE to have someone scrapbook their photos but TALK is CHEAP...LOL!

I love reading and I do love ACTUAL books but my boyfriend bought me a NOOK a couple years ago, thinking I could stop carrying around 5 books everywhere I went. NOW I only carry 2 or 3 sometimes....LOL! and I have come to love it as I DONT need to take my reading glasses every where I go...I can read the NOOK fine WITHOUT them!!

I listen to music just about every moment I am home. I dont watch TV because I cant seem to EVER want to turn off the music...LOL!! When I DO watch TV, its usually an old movie I rent from the library.

I like to play computer games in between doing my homework. I am enrolled in an online  medical transcriptionist course. Sometimes I wonder if i will ever make it through. The long tough medical words are easy for me to spell and pronounce but memorizing some of the stuff isnt easy. Since the very first day I started school as a 5 year-old, i have struggled with memorizing things. So luckily I have no age related memory to worry about....I am maxed out....LOL!