What Vintagey things do you like doing?

[Marzena]

I have just realised that I do have two more skills not often seen any more. I wax and polish my wooden floors regularly . Also I make my own flavoured vodkas for truly festive occasions. Much appreciated by guests!

When it comes to dancing, that is a sore spot. I LOVE swing and tango, and a few years ago did a course and joined a club to keep it up, but, the old story, my man developed all kinds of joint complaints and we have been on a"not tonight" basis for a long time now. This is one of life disappointments I am finding very hard to pass over, but what's a girl to do.

 

[Caroline H]

I sew and knit a some, and would like to get better to be able to make most all of my clothes and socks. I would also like to learn to quilt. My mom has many of the quilts her mother made and I would like to continue that tradition. I play piano (another tradition continued in our family, all my aunts and cousins have pianos and play at least a little) and our daughter is now learning to play. I love to send and receive hand written letters. I have dabbled in a lot of different things, spinning, weaving, lacemaking (bobbin lace), netting (hair nets), if only there was more time to get really good at them all! I really admire the ladies and gentlemen who are excellent cooks and gardeners, these are skills that I have never really developed. (I kill all my outdoor plants and most of my indoor ones!)

 

[FraeuleinBerlin]

Well as a matter of principle I do all my cooking and cleaning in high-heels! Even if I was wearing sensible shoes or walking around the house barefoot, I put my heels on to cook or clean... keeps me in practise at walking in them and makes a boring task a lot more fun!

I am a good cook actually (my Mum is a chef), but I never think of it as being very vintagey because I'm vegetarian, so don't cook anything you might really think of as "traditional."

I write a LOT of letters and keep up with people much better by post than electronically...!

I like reading in a silk robe in front of our fire at home - I suppose that's very vintage, darling!

 

[rue]

I forgot to add that I read the newspaper everyday. Aside from people on the Lounge, I don't think many people do that anymore. The lady I called to order it from when I moved here was ecstatic.

 

[zombi]

I knit, crochet, play piano & flute, enjoy cleaning and making my own cleaners to try and save a buck, baking, listening to records. I'm trying to learn to sew. I enjoy writing by hand, though I'm writing my novel via computer. I like letters and such things.

I'd love to go dancing but as of right now, mr zombi and I have been hard-pressed to find the time to attend the swing lessons offered by the swing dancing club here. It's on the list, though!

And, of course, nursing is a very old profession

 

[LizzieMaine]

I beat my rugs. Twice a year I haul them out to the back yard, drape them over the clothesline, and whale away at them with a baseball bat. It raises a ferocious cloud of dust, and it's very cathartic.

 

[AdrianLvsRocky]

I beat my rugs. Twice a year I haul them out to the back yard, drape them over the clothesline, and whale away at them with a baseball bat. It raises a ferocious cloud of dust, and it's very cathartic.

I love a good rug beat as well! I usually whack them with whatever I can find but I'd love one of the proper rattan beaters:

http://www.summerillandbishop.com/carpet-rug-beater.html

 

[Retro_GI_Jane]

I like reading in a silk robe in front of our fire at home - I suppose that's very vintage, darling!

^ I love this! I saw a silk kimono from Occupied Japan in an antique mall where I live and it fit me...however it was beyond our budget at the time. I kept hoping it would still be there when we went browsing again but it was snatched up by that time. I harbor secret desires to lounge around in a silk robe reading and sipping tea like a failed Hollywood starlet!

 

[FraeuleinBerlin]

I was really lucky, got mine in a charity shop - a bargain... but it's not all glamour; the fire isn't real

 

[C-dot]

I forgot to add that I read the newspaper everyday. Aside from people on the Lounge, I don't think many people do that anymore. The lady I called to order it from when I moved here was ecstatic.

I read the paper every Saturday morning at the breakfast table with a hot cup of tea I love the paper, it beats the TV news any day.

And, of course, nursing is a very old profession

Good point! lol So is law, but as I'm not old Mr. Thackeray with white hair and a pinstripe suit, I guess it isn't too vintagey.

 

[Marla]

Taking care of my clothes. Seriously, when you wear vintage clothing every day all the handwashing, ironing, mending, and polishing becomes a hobby--what else would you call it? It's both conservation and upkeep.

 

[moonmatrix]

Hmmm, I bake, cook, of course, I have to I am on a major gluten free almost everything free diet. I do beadweaving, sewing, learning to crochet, book club, starting dance classes this winter, I also walk everywheres, no driving, plus both my jobs are very vintage, receptionist, and library clerk. ALso I consider my home my main hobby, It has taken many weekend estate sale shopping sales to furnish this place,

 

[Retro_GI_Jane]

I was really lucky, got mine in a charity shop - a bargain... but it's not all glamour; the fire isn't real

Well, you're still better off than me...no fireplace whatsoever. lol

 

[Swing Motorman]

I'll follow Yeps and scottyrocks' leads, and agree with both: Fixing stuff is an art, a science, and a big joy all at once. And swing dancing... wow, what a swell hobby!

I just got into one vintage activity that I didn't expect to: maintenance, repair, and use of oil lanterns. Discovering a stamped-metal "toy-like" lantern in the garage, I sealed its oil tank up, repainted it, filled it, lit it, and I've been hooked ever since! I suppose keeping up the pre-electric lighting was a task both men and women worked on back in the day, so that's my excuse for posting about it in the Powder Room! ;-)

Back to you, ladies. :yo:


-Steven

 

[Tempora et mores]

(Vintag-ey things? Why, hoarding them indiscriminately, of course!)
First and foremost, I am studying obsolete dead languages for living - that is pretty old-fashioned.
Otherwise I don't have such an impressive list of hobbies and achievements: I don't know if it can be classified as "Vintagey", but I used to horseback ride back in the middle and high school, but sadly I cannot afford it anymore (and do I wish I had a pair of ballooning jodhpurs back in the day). I trained myself to have a pretty curly-wurly handwriting, still impossible to read, but nice to look at, I think. I do not write handwritten letters (And who would give me their home address?), but when I write e-mails I stretch them out over pages and pages and try to use my entire power of rhetoric. I sometimes churn my own butter, by hand, with a whisk - you should see my biceps! I am a complete failure in the stove-top department, but I love baking for the fun of it, to the point that everyone I know complains about not being able to fit into their "fat pants" anymore.
Oh, and after doing all of the above and going through the daily share of household chores I drop from exhaustion, throw my arms at my forehead, scrunch up my eyebrows and loudly complain that I am about to die right there and then unless someone cures me with a Bloody Caesar as soon as possible.