Ah, the timelessly classic jigsaw puzzle. A pastime that screams “retirement home” and that I had always thought of as mind-numbingly boring. Yet lockdown did strange things to my young-ish brain and something about this gentle activity seemed like it may be a meditative outlet for all of the chaos in the world, and so…

As mentioned in previous posts, the search for an engaging pastime has been a lifelong pursuit. This search was no easier in my childhood than it is today. I was quite a solitary youngster, so in order to broaden my social skills I was encouraged to join a club or group activity. I was already…

So, what’s the deal with the mysterious acronym? AFOL stands for an Adult Fan Of Lego, a cohort that is an absolute gift for Danish plastic brick behemoth and creator of the “this will probably do for a tenner” gift for kid’s birthday parties, Lego. An AFOL has the time, space, and disposable income to…

A love of music has been one of my only constants in how I like to spend my spare time. Whilst any attempts at creating my own tunes have never really taken off (* future blog post klaxon *), I enjoyed putting together playlists for friends and my own enjoyment. This started in the era…

Being confined to my immediate environment at the beginning of the year limited my activities to the house and the garden.  Despite a general dislike for getting my hands dirty, it was time to return to the land and attempt to grow my own vegetables. After all, witnessing the supermarkets go into meltdown during the…

Most hobbies are about consciously filling the time and occupying the mind, but what if I tried something where the main objective was to do absolutely nothing ?  That’s got to be hard to fuck up, right? The idea of a flotation tank intrigued me for a few reasons, but for all the supposed scientific…

Chorizo. Chuh-ree-zow. Just the very sound of the word can set my mouth watering. This deep-red, paprika-infused meaty cylinder of joy holds the esteemed number one slot in my list of favourite cured meats (yes, I have a list). Just like it’s porcine cousin bacon, there are few foods that are not enhanced by the…

When hunting for a new hobby to try out, I tend to look beyond the traditional choices such as stamp-collecting and seek out something a little less…conventional. So after taking the lazy path to inspiration and entering “unusual hobbies” into Google, I stumbled across the idea of lock-picking for fun. After reading several articles about…

One reason I’m keen on finding an engaging pastime is that I’m hoping that the sense of enthusiasm I gain from it will rub off on the kids.  We have two boys, who are both fixated by YouTube, gaming, “memes” and effectively any pursuit that involves staring into a screen of one form factor or…

“So, what do you like to do for fun, do you have any hobbies?” “Erm….” This is a question I’ve been looking for answers to for most of my forty-something years on this planet.  When finding myself at a loose end over the years, I’ve tried out many different hobbies and pastimes, but nothing ever…