Ended Official BYC Mini Contest - "WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY?"

[PouleChick]

Um, you’ve accomplished what all of BYC has hoped for for years....you’ve left Blooie without a thing to say - totally speechless!! Thank you so much for the kind words and the generous gifting of your prize! I Just don’t know what else to say.....

(In reality I’m a grumpy old lady who sits on my porch with a bottle of cheap whiskey and a shotgun across my lap, yelling at little kids to get away from my property!)

Awwww bless you! i do love to accomplish the 'impossible' Ahhhhh now see that sounds like the perfect grumpy old lady life . you are very, very welcome - I hope you really enjoy it and i would like vicarious living of the soap please - what gorgeous one you choose and pics when you get it!

I did the same. The postage is silly money.

I know such a shame - and sadly not enough 'Europeans' to run comps I'm guessing (although would gladly learn chicken juggling to win one of your lamps ).

 

[Hope Hughes]

Oh boy....hobbies! Lost them with having 2 kids back to back!

1st Photography. Not very good at it but i still love it for some reason!

2nd Hobby:
GARDENING!! I love plants. All types. I love bringing things up from seed or buying the pnes that are in rough shape and bring them to their full, beautiful healthy plants they are.

3rd: Hunting
Being able to feed my family the freshest and tastiest meat you can have, is rewarding. Being able to take care of ourselves and not have to rely of people to feed our family. And est the stuff they put into the meat. Not to mention the way theu treat those animals before they butchered them is heartbreaking.

Oh and how could i EVER forget these fluff Butts!

 

[Hardknockshomestead]

Oh boy....hobbies! Lost them with having 2 kids back to back!

1st Photography. Not very good at it but i still love it for some reason!
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2nd Hobby:
GARDENING!! I love plants. All types. I love bringing things up from seed or buying the pnes that are in rough shape and bring them to their full, beautiful healthy plants they are.
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3rd: Hunting
Being able to feed my family the freshest and tastiest meat you can have, is rewarding. Being able to take care of ourselves and not have to rely of people to feed our family. And est the stuff they put into the meat. Not to mention the way theu treat those animals before they butchered them is heartbreaking.
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Oh and how could i EVER forget these fluff Butts!
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Beautiful photos!

 

[LozzyR]

I have a number of other hobbies, Aikido and music held my interest for many years. Then there is this.
I did a second degree in my thirties through The Open University and became very interested in affordable environmentally friendly housing, particularly for single people.
As society changes, in the UK at least, there are more people choosing to live outside the nuclear family model that has dominated housing design since the sixties. Also given the increase in the post retirement population, many of whome find the conventional two story, three bedroom house with a postage stamp garden unmanageable and unfordable, I became interested in alternative dwelling design and I produced a few designs more as a hobby than anything else which make better use of the available land and have less environmental impact.
A few of these designs were built in the UK with some modifications.
The price of land in the UK and the inflexibility of the building regulations meant I was unable to build one of these designs for myself.

Here in Catalonia building regulations are somewhat different and I was eventually able to build one of my designs which I now live in.
The basis of all the designs are the earth bermed construction (three walls and the roof covered in earth)
While such designs are slightly more common now, they still tend to be high tech and more expensive than conventional builds. The design I live in is low tech (gravity fed water, partial solar heat hot water system, wood burning stove and standard electricity supply. You have to pay to go off grid here!
Some local builders and I built the shell. If I had been a few years younger I might have done this myself. Once the shell was built I did all the woodwork (roof, handbuilt windows, door, and all the interior)
Anyway, I won’t bore you with further details. I thought some might like to see what I built. It would make a great chicken coop.

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Hi Shad, I love your house! I really like watching conventional houses being built so when I get to see an unconventional one, I’m fascinated! It looks like a lot of thoughtful creativity went into it and given the footprint is quite small, it doesn’t look like it would be too big a chore cleaning up after your chooks each night.

Re chickens on the roof; is that how Fat Bird got her name?

 

[Shadrach]

Hi Shad, I love your house! I really like watching conventional houses being built so when I get to see an unconventional one, I’m fascinated! It looks like a lot of thoughtful creativity went into it and given the footprint is quite small, it doesn’t look like it would be too big a chore cleaning up after your chooks each night.

Re chickens on the roof; is that how Fat Bird got her name?

I moan about the cleaning but it's pretty easy with the concrete floor.
Fat bird got named in 2011 so well before I built the house.
But, yes I can hear her when she runs across the roof.

 

[Rocking Sunflower 2]

Entry #3 - Ceramics

I spent some time on a contract in the middle of the pacific. WHile there I was able to partake in many activities. I spent a lot of time bowling, drinking, painting fantasy & scifi miniatures, learned to sail, and got my PADI open water dive card. But my fondest memories were in the ceramics shop where as a complete novice I taught the instructor a thing or two.

On the island (Johnston Island) we had some old worn plaster molds for slip casting. One set in particular was for a classic set of chessmen. Detail was worn and the greenware needed to be re-sculpted for the most part to add back the fine detail.

Note the use of 'washes' and 'dry brushing', as well as 'outlining', 'stippling', and 'mottling' - surprised the heck outta that art instructor - She said it'd never turn out. I just wish that the board hadn't exploded in the kiln.

I don't have the 'work in progress' shots available at the moment, but here is what I do have (the original set is safely in a box in the basement). I really want to get a kiln.

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These are beautiful! Ok, so you might be the right person to ask. I have over 500 old, unusable ceramic molds I have acquired. They sat out in the weather LONG before I got them. Then, they still sat out, like tormenting hopes and dreams of ONE day. That day will never happen. My kilns that were also weather worn just got taken to scrap. I'm still left with all the molds. I can't lift most of them without any slip, as it is. Here's my question. I'm trying to figure out if I can use these as decorative walls around my Fowl. I have chickens, ducks and geese. Someone mentioned composting, well that's my hens favorite place to be. That would be way too much calcium. Any suggestions, besides my "rock walls" I keep thinking about? Is ceramic molds safe for the Fowl? I understand it will break down over time. What about the garden? I have so many questions and no answers. Just a bunch of unusable molds taking up precious realty and and just sitting there.

 

[Awaytome]

I'd like to share my hobby: pottery.

I started working with clay when I lived in the desert. I have fond memories of sweat dripping down my nose, temperature hovering near 110, while throwing pots in the cool water and clay. I'm in the PNW now where I need to use hot water when throwing in winter! I have a workshop at home with kiln, etc. and try to fit in an hour of work every day, but life gets in the way too often, so months go by that I don't make anything. This year I've been making some holiday things, ornaments, gnomes, bells. Pictures of a few follow:

Two gnomes, greenware with underglaze. Still need bisque firing, glazing and final firing.



Another gnome.



I love making boxes. This is a special slab technique that emphasizes texture.



And a pair of porcelain slab built boxes.



These are two fence post toppers...

 

[R2elk]

I'd like to share my hobby: pottery.

I started working with clay when I lived in the desert. I have fond memories of sweat dripping down my nose, temperature hovering near 110, while throwing pots in the cool water and clay. I'm in the PNW now where I need to use hot water when throwing in winter! I have a workshop at home with kiln, etc. and try to fit in an hour of work every day, but life gets in the way too often, so months go by that I don't make anything. This year I've been making some holiday things, ornaments, gnomes, bells. Pictures of a few follow:

Two gnomes, greenware with underglaze. Still need bisque firing, glazing and final firing.

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Another gnome.

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I love making boxes. This is a special slab technique that emphasizes texture.

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And a pair of porcelain slab built boxes.

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These are two fence post toppers...

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This contest was in 2018. I recommend you enter the current contest.

Official BYC Mini-Contest Series—What's Your Hobby?

 

[Awaytome]

This contest was in 2018. I recommend you enter the current contest.

Official BYC Mini-Contest Series—What's Your Hobby?

Thanks. I had no idea.

 

[casportpony]

Thanks. I had no idea.

I made a copy of your post here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...series—whats-your-hobby.1603255/post-27334198
You are entered in the open contest.