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Need a new hobby

Antje77

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,002
Location
Friesland (the Netherlands)
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
In 2016 I learned to spin wool and learned to knit socks with the wool for my neighbors' sheep. I started a second pair, but I already knew how it worked and never finished the pair or spun again. Boring.
In 2017 I learned to shoot insulin and guess insulin to food, work, exercize and every other variable. Hba1c should be below 40 now (last one was 42, and I've gotten better at this game). Still a lot more to learn, especially in the combination of eating and working, but I'm afraid I'll start to get bored by the whole thing sometime next year. I'm rather afraid of that moment. Very small problem compared to the problem of other posters on this forum, especially as it hasn't happened yet, but I still hope you guys will give me a kick in the whatever body-part is most appropiate in your part of the world when the time comes.
 
I went back to my childhood hobbies:
  • Amateur radio: building my own radio sets and communicating with other "hams" worldwide using Morse code.
  • Building "plastic models." My latest was a Spitfire jet (picture below).
  • Reading!
  • Music (specifically, singing in choirs). This is in abeyance.
  • Anything Other Than Worrying About Diabetes.
All extremely "retro" to compensate for spending my working day doing boring high-tech stuff.

Best wishes.

 
My hobby is taking macro photography of flowers. I am a lifetime member of the National Trust, so I visit a lot of their gardens such as Sissinghurst in the Spring and Summer with my wife. I am also a member of the RHS and we go to their main garden in Wisley a lot.
 
My young children are my hobby as I had my children late in life as ivf didn't work so immersed myself in fun and I.T and Law but not together.
I haven't time for hobbies now as my partner is ill and needs a chaperone most days. He chaperones me too.
 

@Art Of Flowers 2 gardens that I've never visited. I used to love wandering around gardens and was lucky to see some v good private ones before their owners/designers/gardeners died. Never forget my first sighting of a fully out in flower Kiftsgate at Kiftsgate.
 
I do a knitting project about once a year so you could try a cardigan rather than socks? Family history? Quilting? Car maintenance?
 
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I climb. And I know I climb at my best when my BG is under control. So whilst my hobby is honing my climbing technique my diabetes will not be ignored - diabetes is not the hobby: climbing is. But one depends on the other.
 
Diabeticliberty said:
I make these:





































This collection was done for a client who recently went tarpon fishing in South America.
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How talented you are so very colourful, expect that's to attract the species of fish. I know absolutely nothing about fishing let me say,just admire people with a talent.K
 
Granny_grump_ said:
How talented you are so very colourful, expect that's to attract the species of fish. I know absolutely nothing about fishing let me say,just admire people with a talent.K
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You should hear me sing. My neighbours all say that I'm absolutely terrible in the shower but they have absolutely no ear for raw unadulterated talent. I have been threatened with an ASBO and my next door neighbour came around with a baseball bat. I don't even play baseball
 
What you like!K
 
Hi, I read your post as hoping to stay in control of your diabetes long term. How about combining the two with a bucket list full of things you want to achieve in both long and short term? From cleaning out the gutters to skydiving - should help to keep you on your toes.
 
I play chess, piano, modern boardgames, solve Rubik's cubes and related twisty puzzles, listen to classical music, go birdwatching, and obsess over the Harry Potter books. I used to like walking around my neighbourhood but with diabetes it's just too dangerous. At least I've got a million other things to keep me occupied!
 
Antje77 said:
In 2016 I learned to knit socks with the wool for my neighbors' sheep.
Click to expand...
Sock knitting for sheep ? Who knew ? That's quite a niche market. I'm surprised you gave it up.
Perhaps look into something for pigs ? They're always getting their feet muddy.
Geoff
 
phdiabetic said:
I used to like walking around my neighbourhood but with diabetes it's just too dangerous.
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As someone who loves walking/exploring, birdwatching, and listening to classical music, I find these can be combined by taking the dog for a walk and using a pair of earphones.
I hear that, for you, this is not possible, but it's not due to diabetes. It may be due to potential hypos, but that's not the same thing.
I wouldn't want someone reading your statement, and thinking diabetes was THAT restricting.
You must miss those walks !
Geoff
 

I do miss walking, but it's just not fun for me if I spend the entire time worrying that I will drop dead. I thought I would be able to do a lot more exercise, safely, with a CGM, but it wasn't true. I got a freestyle (now using dexcom) and it was very inaccurate during a walk one day, I ended up at 3.4, having eaten all the hypo treats I took with me (a whole pack of lollies), and at the end of my street. Luckily I made it home and my blood sugar went back up immediately, but I have never been out walking since. I do all my walking on a treadmill now, because it's only a few metres to my kitchen full of sugar!

I certainly agree that walking can be a safe and enjoyable activity for many diabetics. People who aren't on insulin would not have to worry about hypos at all!
 
librarising said:
Sock knitting for sheep ? Who knew ? That's quite a niche market. I'm surprised you gave it up.
Perhaps look into something for pigs ? They're always getting their feet muddy.
Geoff
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Oh wow! Difference between from and for make a wonderful new hobby! My neighbors' sheep actually have sore feet from walking around on the soggy ground with all the rain we had lately, so they might love knitted socks!
 
Do you have a friend you can walk with to give you the confidence to start again ... and carry a huge bag of hypo treats for you?
Before I had diabetes, I was very active. Then I stopped going to the gym and stopped climbing because I was afraid what others would think about me when I had a hypo. With support from my friends, I gradually started back again after a few months doing more each time. Now I am probably doing more exercise than I did before I had diabetes. I don't need my friends to look after me (apart from t0 hold the other end of the rope when I am climbing). And I have built up a set of techniques for maintaining my BG throughout different exercises such as making sure my BG is above 6.0 before I start a gym workout and putting a few squirts of squash in my water bottle to stop my BG dropping.
 
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