Female weekend hobbies

[sillysmiles]

Frequently men having "hobbies" that take them away from their family/house at the weekends is frowned upon.
But surely what we should be doing is encouraging women to also maintain a sense of self and own interests away from the family? IMO it's good for the family and for the individual.

So wise MNetters - hit me up with your weekend hobbies where you make your husbands/partners/SO weekend widowers.

@PositiveLife

Well I'm a single parent and this probably outs me but here goes:

Caving
Rock climbing
Scuba diving
Wild swimming
Archery
Pole
Hoop
Silks
Hiking
Camping
Kayaking

Are you Pink?

Horses. They take up every spare moment you have 🤣🤣

If you think you’d like an activity that takes up every pound you make, every spare minute of your time, and every ounce of sanity you possess I can also suggest horses. I spent 5 hours at my yard today after work doing... nothing special. And I currently only have one (well two, but the other is loaned out).

I can also say that if you want to definitely ride and not just stare at them lovingly while they eat through all your savings you probably need at least 3 (or more) in order ensure one is always sound and able to be ridden at any given time. But then you have no time to ride as caring for them becomes overwhelming. It’s a viscous cycle, really.

Swimming and jacuzzi
Zumba
Yoga classes
Charity shop trawling
Brunch out with friends
Theatre
DD pony club, I enjoy taking her and watching her ride.

Horses are definitely the one although it's more like a family replacement then a hobby. Sadly I made the mistake of prioritising DC's interest so given up my own life to ponies, don't have the time or money to actually ride myself and will remain single forever there is no spare time to meet anyone and anyway I'm generally dirty and smell much of the day 😆

@Confrontayshunme omg PLEASE share pics of the lolly stick herringbone cabinet!! 🙏🙏🙏

I’ve got a season ticket to a football club that’s 1.5 hours away by train. Takes up a fair amount of time.

[quote backinthebox]**@countrygirl99* I was looking to go up to 3, love POR but we were rubbish at the PTV and MA* We are terrible at PTV! Horse sees no reason why he should either stand still or shuffle through poles half way round a cross country course. But you can get far enough ahead in the POR that the PTV is less important. I am a complete map fiend. You should have a go, there are not enough L3ers, especially pairs. The step up to L4 was a real eye-opener though! Much learning still to be done there for me! I am aiming for higher walk marks in the MA this year. We are good at canter, but horse's walk is sooo slow after years shepherding DCs around on tiny ponies. Both kids are on horses now though, so he is learning to walk a bit faster![/quote]
I would live 2 but my horse is too old and creaky now 😔. He still loves a hoon when the ground is good but makes it clear hard ground is walk only.

I spend my weekends cooking/cleaning/washing, and getting ready for the next week.

@CaptainThe95thRifles

Wanders in to wave my (multiple) perfect score 100/150 PTV sheets at previous posters.

Shame my map reading is bloody awful

Impressive. My horse drives me nuts when their is a hole punch obstacle. Will stand perfectly for a ticket on the POR, but on a PTV it's a monster in disguise. And cross country tracks are definitely for galloping, not stopping and starting let alone going into reverse.

Just like to add my support for the horsey suggestions if you want something that will completely take over your life, not just weekends.
It's why I'm still single as I'd rather spend time with my horse quite frankly, and don't let them getting old and retiring fool you either, I spent about 6 hours yesterday repairing fencing because my hooligan decided that the fences needed some adjustments equine style. Wanker.
Just try to avoid the kids getting involved, that rather ruins things tbh

glares in direction of fence breaking horse that is actually the adult child's

My DH does the odd golf trip but how do people find the time to plan and do endless outdoor activities with people outside of immediate family?

Things like swimming and zumba is like gym, an hour off.

Horse aside there's nothing quite like cricket or golf

Boxing

Horses here too. Takes up pretty much all mine and DD weekend (not to mention the weekdays).

DH loves the peace, and considers it fair trade off for all of our money going on them.

I'd really love to try open/wild swimming, I love swimming but I'm not a fan of our local pools.

@Squeejit @Adventureswith @coldswimmer88 @Xiaoxiong @NotQuiteUsual @PositiveLife @hilariousnamehere @mindutopia

Sorry to spam you all, but how did you get started, do you do it solo/in a group and how fit were you when you started? I'm in Cheshire if anyone happens to be local and has recommendations.

For weekends away I recommend being involved in a relatively small sport that is played at a national level - relatively small so it is "easy" to get to national level - things like tennis and badminton can be done to a similar level of commitment at county or regional level.

Pre kids I could easily have filled every weekend with fencing stuff, plus a couple of nights a week. Now (outside the pandemic) I will try to keep it to 1 weekend and 1 local event a month, plus once a week specific training...

OK now I'm getting motivated to start doing stuff.....particularly as we come out of lockdown

@hobbyhearse there is a bank of a river near me, where very official looking wild swimmers go out regularly - I've seen them for years walking by, but wasn't bothered until pools closed in the first lockdown and I had nowhere else to swim (and it was gorgeous weather). I just went down one day in a swimsuit, had a bit of a chat to a woman who was just getting out about the current and where was best to swim, left my towel on the bank and jumped in! Don't know how to assess how fit I was but I'm a pretty confident swimmer - was regularly swimming 60 lengths in 30 mins or so and occasionally pushing it to 80 lengths in 40-45 mins. Wild swimming is totally different though, I can rarely do anything near so much in the river as the current is strong and I can't zone out like I do in the pool.

@hobbyhearse

I'd really love to try open/wild swimming, I love swimming but I'm not a fan of our local pools.

@Squeejit @Adventureswith @coldswimmer88 @Xiaoxiong @NotQuiteUsual @PositiveLife @hilariousnamehere @mindutopia

Sorry to spam you all, but how did you get started, do you do it solo/in a group and how fit were you when you started? I'm in Cheshire if anyone happens to be local and has recommendations.

I ended up signing up for my first open water swim after a night in the pub with mates!

First we went to the local (unheated!) lido so I could get used to swimming in a wetsuit.

I've not done wild swimming, only at regulated/organised lakes.
Those places often have beginner sessions which are really useful - some will insist on attended an induction. Look online.

I'm quite fit, but not a particularly strong swimmer. All my open water swims have been with a wet suit which gives you a bit of buoyancy.

It's so different to pool swimming. Try it!

For open water swimming, see if there is a Bluetits group near you.
Also have a look at the Outdoor Swimming Society, and an FB group called Slow Swimming.

Ah, @countrygirl99, I had the opposite issue - not that I've done any TREC in years and years - I moved into working eq because there was a local group and TREC involved too much travelling out of my area. But my big mare always understood PTV fine, but thought POR should be done as fast as possible, and not at somebody else's idea of an optimum speed. We racked up some hefty penalties that way, and I always missed any tickets because we were shifting too bloody fast.

I blame the mare of course... It's not like I'm much better! No patience at all.

'hobbyhearse

I'd really love to try open/wild swimming, I love swimming but I'm not a fan of our local pools.

@Squeejit @Adventureswith @coldswimmer88 @Xiaoxiong @NotQuiteUsual @PositiveLife @hilariousnamehere @mindutopia

Sorry to spam you all, but how did you get started, do you do it solo/in a group and how fit were you when you started? I'm in Cheshire if anyone happens to be local and has recommendations.'

@hobbyhearse. I started on my own at the beginning of the first lock down. Just got on the sea earlier than normal as the pools were shut! I'd go to the beach on my own but noticed there were lots of groups of women swimming and it turned out that they were all loosely part of a swimming grp that has started.
Friends and family swan and dipped throughout summer but I kept going on autumn. By then I was evangelical about how good I felt after dipping in the cold water and a friend or two joined me.
Now I have a go to bunch of friends who will come with me, in pairs or more and I've joined that grp of women on FB who have regular meet times several times a week with anyone welcome.
It's great!
I swim in 'skins' i.e. only in a bathing suit but I did wear gloves and booties in January/Feb when the water was around 2/3 degrees. Most of my swim buddies wear wetsuits, gloves and boots.
The main thing is to make sure it's safe to get in and out of the water. Which is why I use the Magic seaweed app as a guide to the waves, tides etc.But I alos know our own beach inside out now, where to go, what the waves tend to be like in certain conditions etc.
Local FB grps are great for that - there's lots of good advice about your area and people posting about any issues or about the days when it's going to be perfect to get in.
You won't regret it. Just get IN!

I love it because you don't need a lot of gear, just a swim suit. Although for Xmas I got given a Dry Robe ( other brands are available!) and it is amazing, really made the difference on the cold, cold days on the beach.

@Adventureswith
I had some friends that already did it so I went with them. In my area (West Yorkshire) there's quite a few groups on Facebook that discuss locations. Lots of people are willing to meet first timers.

Sorry tagged the wrong one
@hobbyhearse