Our indoor hobbies

Many people, like us, are stuck indoors because of Covid-19.  And many places we might go are closed (restaurants, theaters, etc.).  In addition, it is too hot during the summer in Arizona to be outside for very long during the day.

So we have adapted.  And are quite happy. 

We do our cycling (14+ miles/day) and walking (4+ miles/day) and are home before the sun comes up.  Thus we catch the "cool" part (ha ha) of the day to be active and outside.  Sometimes that "cool" part of the day is in the low 90s.  And, surprisingly, it is relatively humid at night around here.

But that leaves a good part of the day when we are inside. 

Our two main indoor hobbies are knitting (for Vicky) and assembling models and dioramas (for me). 

Vicky has been a knitter since she was a child.  Everyone we know has a blanket, a felted purse or backpack, and/or a hat that she has made for them.  I have several hats, blankets, and some sweater vests.  And I treasure every one of them.

She has knitted a blanket for each of our grandchildren and children and for our sisters and brother and for Tonia, our niece.  The blankets are cuddly and soft and large enough to be used on a bed or couch.  Each blanket takes 3-4 months to knit.  Vicky enjoys making things for those we love because the entire time she is working on the project she says that she thinks about that person and all the joy they bring into our life.

And now that we have a new granddaughter in Iowa Vicky has become a knitting queen for--little Aryana. 

For the past four months, since we went into isolation early in March we have stayed away from where people are.

In that time Vicky has completed many knitting projects and each one is a piece of art.

This is me working on the "Ian" project, a desert diorama.  This example of model making is different in that instead of building one I was "unbuilding" it.  I took a finished example of the car and made it look old.

The original.  You buy them this way from a company, no assembly required.  (boring!)

The fun is making it look old and rusted:

Here is a photo in the Mojave National Preserve with Ian inspecting this rusted-out 1957 Mercury. 

And here is the finished diorama of that scene:

I also build "Entex" model car kits.  Their kits are larger scale than average, and generally have 200+ pieces.  They are also unique in that they don't have the standard knob and hole feature, where pieces snap together easily for gluing.

I have always favored these model kits, selling many in my antiques/collectibles business over the years..  They were made by a famous Japanese company Bandai.  They are extremely difficult to build, which is why you can get many of them on eBay.  Generally all that was done was that the person started on them, said "this is impossible," stored them in the garage, lost some pieces over the next 40 years, and finally sold them. 

What I do is always purchase two of the kits I am building, so I have extra parts to use.  There are some 200-250 parts in each of these kits, and some of the parts, and I kid you not, are less than 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch.  The instructions are are terrible which is another reason one can often find partially built ones. 

Here are two totally cool vintage vehicles that Dan finished painting and building recently....

(Vicky wrote that sentence!)

A 1986 Daimler-Benz:

Ford Model T Stake Truck.

We have already started on our next projects.  I am building a 1/12 scale 1937 Cord and Vicky is knitting a colorful green blanket for our bed.