You spend loads of time sharing tips, experiences, and stories about your furry friends, but I’m curious… what hobbies do you all enjoy when you’re not pet-sitting or spending time with your own pets? Do you have a hobby that you can enjoy anywhere in the world?
Whether you’re into gardening, painting, hiking, reading, crafting, or anything else, we’d love to hear about it! Pet parents and pet sitters alike - please share what keeps you entertained and happy in your downtime.
Feel free to share pictures, too, if you have any!
I’m really looking forward to learning more about everyone’s passions and maybe even finding some new hobbies to try out.
I’m a volunteer Tudor Tour guide, we had Mary Queen of Scots in Sheffield for 14 years as a ‘guest’ of Bess of Hardwick and the Earl of Shrewsbury. We have lots of school visits and run history education sessions as well as well-being sessions among our wildflower meadows.
So on my house sits, I love to explore historic houses and gardens. I have been to most of Mary’s homes and castles during stays in Scotland and the Borders
One of my top passions in addition to pet sitting and having my own kitty in my lap is tending to the birds and wildlife on my property by planting native plants, trees and shrubs, providing plenty of birdseed and water in various containers, and leaving flower stalks through winter and spring as well as leaves from deciduous trees on my lawn and in my gardens to allow beneficial insects to hatch. Extending further afoot, I am a lifelong environmental activist and do what I can continually to educate people and volunteer for organizations. I also love reading, listening to music (classical and rock mostly), and look for house sits with tons of books as I’m most at home when there are lots of bookcases! Oh and I especially love being in water when it’s warm enough out - ocean, pond, lake, river stream, or creek!
I did lots of crochet during lockdowns to keep occupied, not done so much recently but will probably pick up again over the winter when it too miz to venture far and hibernating instead.
Thanks for sharing your hobbies so far - I love what I’m seeing!
@Chrissy - I’m guessing you’ll have been to Mary, Queen of Scots House in Jedburgh? I grew up in the area, and my Mum used to work in the shop there, so I spent a lot of time around there in the summer. Did you find it quite spooky?
@Uneekchick - welcome to the Forum! What are your favourite board games, and what kind of lego models do you enjoy best?
@Treeandcathugger - I love this! What kind of wildlife have you seen as a result of the work you’re doing with your garden?
@Shannon - these are amazing, you’re so talented! Do you have any plans for what you might crochet over the winter, or do people ever ask you for a specific design?
I was asked to do these for my nieces graduation. With her boyfriend. Hardest part was getting the correct colours without letting the cat out of the bag.
My hobby/passion is dance and I’m a Zumba addict which I’ve been doing for 15 years. I attend many classes a week at home but always search out classes when I’m doing sits. I’ve done some wonderful classes in Ireland, Australia and Cambodia. It’s a great way to meet people who have a like-minded interest while in another city or country. It’s always great when I can find a class that just allows me to drop in and everyone is so welcoming!
I also volunteer at special events (usually dances) in my own city. I also recently became a “Greencoats” volunteer at the Vancouver International Airport. For those of you who have ever been to the airport, we’re the volunteers who wear the green jackets and are basically customer service ambassadors fielding questions from passengers.
My hubby and I play Saxophone- we’ve been learning to play with weekly lessons for 4 years now. We started during Covid aged 62 having no musical experience at all. I play Alto and Baritone and he plays Tenor Sax. Hubby loves improv but I prefer sight reading and enjoy playing 1940s swing music. We play in a 29 Saxophones orchestra, which is great fun.
I’m a retired chef and I still enjoy cooking. I volunteer cooking for non-profits when I’m away. I usually cook for my hosts as well. Everyone enjoys a home cooked meal after a long day of travel.
I recently took up quilting so now I’m toting a sewing machine, fabric and all the odds and ends required on my trips. I made this one on one of my sits early this fall.
I get tons of birds here in Connecticut, USA year-round. This year I had lots of finch families and still see plenty of house, purple and gold finches at my feeders. Lots of red-tailed hawks, various sparrows, evening grosbeaks, tufted titmice, cardinals, blue jays, wrens, juncos, chickadees, mourning doves, assorted woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, and some beautiful warblers. At night I often hear barred owls outside my bedroom window and see them on occasion during the day. I know I’m forgetting some of the birds in my yard, but there’s start!
I am happy to say that over the years as I’ve left brush and leaves for wildlife and have planted native plants, shrubs and trees, I am always seeing more rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, groundhogs and coyotes and foxes. I have had skunks, raccoons and opossums living around me as well. I hear fishers often in the woods and fields behind my house.
I replenish water bowls and trays and bird baths daily and especially enjoy seeing squirrels and chipmunks taking a drink!
The only time I take down my bird feeders is when there have been reports of black bears roaming my neighborhood. I have only seen one bear in my yard but know that they’ve come through by the damage they’ve done to my feeders.
I am as devoted to the wild creatures who share my property as I am to my cats!
I created a craft business around stuffed animals, from my home in Tucson, Arizona, USA. I visited a friend in Australia, and her seamstress made a chair from stuffed animals. I wanted to do the same. I’ve begun small, using the Etsy store to get noticed:
Lately, I’ve decided to upcycle stuffed animals, and make them into cushions. It’s labor intensive, but I love it.
I do cross stitch - this is an older one, nearly complete. Right now I’m working on a beagle that looks like the one I’ve been taking care of all summer. (I don’t seem to have a pic, only short videos, and currently, it’s packed away.)
I started art about three years ago after a lifetime of thinking I was no good at it as a result of getting 31% in an exam when I was 12. I follow online workshops with a few different artists using mainly graphite, colour and pastel pencils but dabbling with other mediums as well. The drawings attached are from tutorials by Bonny Snowdon using colour pencils. On sits I catch up with graphite pencil tutorials as these are easier to take with me.
