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We're moving to our retirement home in a couple of months. 1.6 acres, after swearing that we will have no more large yards. The front yard's okay. Back yard has been inhabited by 2 beagles & is totally bare except for an ugly tool barn. After I'm finished using all the HGTV whimsy (hate that word now)I can muster, it'll be adorable. We have to kill the weeds & START ALL OVER. I'm excited about being able to create a garden from scratch. So that will be my biggest hobby. Will also see the USA & visit grandkids who are too far away.

For all you folks who said your twins are your hobby, I raised a set & they turned out to be our best creation so far.

Ich verstehe. Aber, Sie mussen denken, dass Leben aber lang ist und wir haben ja viele Zeit viele Dinge zu tun. Auch denken Sie, dass Sie sich ueber Musik freuen. Es ist so schade, dass zuviele Leute kein Lust dafuer haben.

Wo in Deutschland wohnen Sie?

Bitte Entschuldigung Sie, dass mein deutsch so schlecht ist...ich habe diese Sprache nur seit zwei Jarhren gesprochen.

(For everyone:

I understand. But, you must think that life is long and we really have a lot of time to do many things. Also think about how music pleases you. It is so unfortunate that too many people have no interest in it.

Where do you live in Germany?

Please forgive my horrible German...I've only spoken this language for two years)

My hobbies:
Deutsch
(Just started learning Japanese also to accomodate the missus...SO HARD)

Computers - hardware, assembly, some light programming

I just started a regular workout program back in September also (even though it has waned a little in the past month :D)

Traveling - going to spend about a month in Italy this summer and then maybe some time in Japan afterwards.

Reading - Kurt Vonnegut, Oscar Wilde, Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, and music-geek stuff such as composer bios and analytical works.

Brendan and all,

first let me say that your German is rather good especially if you've spoken the language for two years only! My English was still a complete mess after the first two years of learning the language
Ah, and you can say DU zu mir

Yes sure, life is long and there is still a lot of time to do all the things one likes to do later. It's just that I could do with a bit more outdoor activities. Sitting in front of a computer day in day out is not that kind of thing that keeps you healthy and fit
But when I have to decide between piano playing and sports I always choose piano playing. Making music has, especially since I work full-time, become the most comforting and relaxing activity in my life.

I live on the edge of the Ruhrgebiet (That's the region along the river Ruhr. Cities in this area you may have heard of are Essen, Dortmund and Bochum). The city where I actually live is rather medium sized, it's called Wuppertal.
[If anyone finds this name funny he/she is herewith invited to a good laugh because everybody does laugh about it, though I can't figure out why ]

Brendan, if you like to use your German more often, feel free to email me privately.

what an interesting group of people! fritz, how do you get in those long hikes with five kids at home? i see that you are accustomed to the type of backpacking trip that you have planned for montana. good luck! conditions are a little different out here.... mostly due to elevation and extreme weather any time of year, not to mention some very rugged terrain. but hey, sometimes the most memorable trips are the most arduous ones.

what i spend my time doing when i'm not hanging out on piano world (and i'm definitely thinking i need to take some cold turkey time off):

walking, grooming, training my dog
looking for puppies
cuddling the cat
talking to the vet or the breeder
fixing up this old house from the '30s--i renovated the living room before the piano got here.
gardening--we have a huge yard filled with roses and tulips and native plants and a dozen mature lilac trees, and i got my master gardener certification a few years ago.
cross country skiing
backpacking (the mountains are my life)
listening to music
reading--currently reading "fearless creating" but also read good fiction and junky magazines. this is an antidote to the TONS of reading i have to do for work.
surfing the 'net
working out at the health club
long walks with friends
potluck suppers with friends
piano parties with my fellow piano students
road trips and movies and date nights with the hubster
vacations to warm places with nice coral reefs!
mentoring the young people in my life

whew. no wonder i am always behind on my work!

Hi,
Horses, horses and more horses. However, I have down-sized considerably....to just 4 from a high of 16. Also, when there's time, I love reading, tennis, movies, swimming and boating. And won of my biggest hobbies (yes, I do it regularly) is to daydream of Arizona. I love visiting there; plus I have some of my relatives there. (I've got 54 first cousins!)
I do have a new litter of puppies in the barn. A stray came and had eight! Boy are they ever CUTE! BTW Jodi, when will she come in heat...like how much time do I have before spaying her? She's a neat dog; and I've decided to keep her. None of my neighbors knew anything about her. She must have been dumped. I'm keeping one puppy. I'm also going to breed my paint mare next month. I'm going to use cool shipped semen. Wish me luck. Bye....

Ich studierte Deutsch and die Universitaet, aber habe ich fast alles vergessen.

[ March 08, 2002: Message edited by: T2 ]

Eldon, Eldon - I SLEPT through small animal medicine and surgery. I remember next to NOTHING about small animal reproduction. But I'll look it up for you. Good luck with your mare - are you breeding her to a Paint? There is a lovely warmblood stallion in North Idaho (he stands at Kruger Ranch in Rathdrum) that gets bred to lots of paints - He is huge - 17-2 hands, jet black with chrome. His babies are really nice. Jodi

in general, bitches come into heat every six months, though individuals do vary in this.
dog gestation is 63 days, give or take, so you can extrapolate from her whelping date when she was last in heat.

ask your vet to be sure, but you can probably spay your new friend as soon as the pups have gone to their new homes (which should not be any sooner than when they are six weeks old, and seven or eight weeks old is even better).

Prima! Es gibt viele Leute heir, die deutsch sprechen!

Hast du deutsch studiert oder nur gelernt?

Pique
Thanks the info. I knew the gestation period; and when you said every 6 months, it all came back to me. Yes, I will spay her as soon as the puppies are weaned. She's a neat dog and great mother. The puppies are now just 4 weeks old. I gave them some baked chicken tonight. They sounded like this rowdy bunch of tuffys. I just don't know how ANYONE can drop a dog off in the country. I think it happens more than anyone realizes. BTW, what breed is your LARGE dog?

Jodi,
I'm breeding to The Two Timing Kid, he's a quarter in Alabama.

Eldon:

Funny, I spend my time dreaming of Illinois :rolleyes: (just kidding). Actually hubby was being recruited for a job at UofI-Champaign/Urbana but pulled his name out just a few weeks ago. If you're ever visiting in Arizona let me know and we can go on a piano jaunt!

I'd have to say my hobbies now are: gardening, birdwatching, native desert plants and goofing around with the kids. If we had more land, my hobbies would absolutely include horses and dogs. As a kid (still in Arizona, a MUCH different place then!) I had my own horse and spent hours riding every day, 4H clubs, etc. My favorite was endurance trail riding. My dad was and is an amateur obedience dog trainer, so we also had several impeccably behaved dogs hanging around. A great childhood!

I'm jealous of Jodi and Pique...

Nina

my dog's an english mastiff. i don't know how to insert one of my own pictures so i'll try inserting a web picture of a mastiff:



this is a very famous mastiff named hollesley medicine man. i hope it comes out.

ha ha! it worked. fyi: mastiffs are the grotrians of the dog world

[ March 10, 2002: Message edited by: pique ]

I was born and raised in Champaign/Urbana. Cornfields. Soybeans. Papa Del's Pizza. Jodi

Hobbies, eh? I don't spend nearly as much time on them as I used to but here goes:

• Gardening, like lots of you folks (is there a connection with the piano?)
• Computers. Well, actually, that's my job, too, but I play around with 'em at home too.
• Languages. Yes, I'm a certifiable foreign language junkie. So far I'm passable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese and can fake my way through some Italian.
• Cooking. But few of my original creations will ever leave my kitchen. (For which fact gastronomes worldwide breathe a heavy sigh of relief!)

I also used to go hiking and camping when I was younger, but haven't been in so long, I can't remember if I enjoy it.

[ March 10, 2002: Message edited by: Matt G. ]

Pique:

Wow, mastiffs! I love large dogs, would love to live in a climate where we could own a Bernese Mountain Dog or two, get 'em to plow the lower 40...

My dad swears by Golden Retrievers and Labradors and I must admit, his dogs have always been delightful, if a little on the petite side.

Nina

Right now the hobby that is at the forefront is gardening. Roses, vegetables, citrus, and lately a meditation garden on the side of the house. Spring is here and there is lots to do. I just finished building some shade structures and the planting around them is almost complete. Tomatos are in and I got my first rose yesterday!

In the winter I like the desert. Time was when I would spend my whole time there riding dirtbikes as fast as I could. I still ride, but these days I am just as happy to sit around and chat. There is something about the desert that lifts my spirit. I used to roadrace streetbikes, but decided that is no sport for an old married guy like me.

I also cook - mostly bake - but not as much as I used to. Two kids fill up the rest of my time - watch for my son in the major league baseball draft this year. He is generating some interest from the pro scouts.

Reading is big with me, as are architecture and design. This house is done (finally!), although SWMBO might not agree with that statement. Before we had kids we used to buy houses for renovation and resale and may go back to that in a couple of years when they are both out of the house.

As usual, the only real limitation is time.....

Damn! Roses and tomatoes. It's still cold as heck here. I don't wanna hear anymore! :rolleyes:

Fact is, the ONLY heat outside at my house is in the manure pile. I scooped up several buckets with the tractor...for a guy's garden. It was sure steaming. :rolleyes:

it really seems that gardening and piano have a connection! Maybe both helps you to relax and give your brain a break.
I hardly can wait until the weather becomes warmer and I can start planting flowers for the summer. Last summer I built a small garden pond and I am looking forward to put in the first water lily.
Besides gardening and playing the piano I like travelling. Luckily my job sometimes gives me the opportunity to make short trips to different European countries.
In April I will be going to Vietnam for a holiday - anybody here who has already visited the country??
Gruss an Brendan und T2 - Nici und ich würden gerne einmal ein "Klavier-Treffen" in Deutschland machen - vielleicht gibt es noch mehr Leute im Forum, die Deutsch sprechen oder manchmal in Deutschland sind...

Ruth

Grusse an Ihnen auch!

Natuerlich wuerde es aber schoen sein, wenn wir alle treffen konnte. Im sommer fahre ich nach Italien (ungefaerlich fuenf Wochen von Juni bis Juli). Vielleicht ist es moeglich nach Deutschland zu fahren, sobald dass das Operfest fertig ist. In Avril oder Mai weiss ich mehr ueber die Reise.

Dann koennen Sie alle hoeren was fuer ein schlechtes Klavierspieler bin ich!