Things that make me tick!

I was just reading Lynn's weekly blog, this week it's a bit of an insight into what makes her tick.  Well at least in three catgeories:

• Hobbies - Things i actively take part in, That i actually do in real life. 
• Interests - These are things i think about often, but haven't put into action (yet!). 
• Dis-Interests - Things that i used to do, but now i either don't do, or i don't enjoy. Dare i say these are 'Hates?' 

So I thought I'd taker her up on the challenge to do a bit about me.  Sorry :)

Hobbies:

Cooking

I love cooking!  From baking to trying to come up with new variations on meals to make life a bit more interesting.  Christmas is my busiest time - I make my own mincemeat, and of course the pies to put them into and my own Christmas cake.

Sometimes I can get quite creative, and sometimes it's just trying to come up with a healthy variant on something we have eaten before.  One thing that I try to do is work out what goes into herb mixes for various dishes (TexMex or Nasi are ones that allude me!) to try and get the same flavour without the shovel of salt that is normally in the sachets.

Reading

We both love reading, and in the spare room we have somewhere close to 500 books (and have even read most of them!) and generally add 30 or so a year; one of my excuses of changing the V50 to a V70 :)

The mix is a bit eclectic, with all types of fiction in there from chic lit to classics to every adult Discworld (and most of the younger ones too).

Photography

Hmm...  Should this go in interests or hobbies.  That was a difficult choice, but as I have the camera, lenses, tripod and the camera bag to break my back when I leave the house I thought I'd include it here even though I don't do as much as I would like to.


I love interesting shots, whether of people, objects or the world in general doesn't matter.  Sometimes I try to make nice shots (and fail :p) and sometimes I'm just lucky.


One thing that we have managed to do is ensue that we have a photo each year to use as a Christmas card the next. We've done this for the last few years, it's fun to do, Mrs Stace gets involved as she can do the DTP far better than I can and in the end it feels something really special to send out.


And of course I have more shots from Assen TT races than I care to think about! :)

Listening to Music

Quite how music manages to bring about so many changes in mood I don't know.  When I'm sad I can retreat inside myself with some mellow Crowded House, when the sun is out and you have reverse flu some Zoe, Texas or Will Smith can bring a smile to your face.

And when you want to relax nothing beats 'Air on a G String' for me (Cliche I know).

We have a few hundred CD's, and are still growing the collection and we have a Spotify Premium subscription to search what they have to offer too!  It's great discovering new artists or songs!

Interests:

Playing Music

I always wanted to play the guitar, piano and learn to sing.  I never quite got around to it.  We have a piano in home, and Mrs Stace plays wonderfully! Me, I love playing it but haven't had the patience to sit down and learn to play it properly yet...

Writing

I have some amazing stories in my head.  And that is where they will stay because I useless at trying to get it out of my head and onto the paper...

Disinterests:

Fanbois-ism of any kind

Ug...  Nothing is worse than a fanboi.  I don't care where from.  Android, Apple, MS, Linux.  They are all tools to do a job, not the job itself.

Gardening

Er, we have just a few square meters of garden that is not patio.  And it's too much.  Sitting in the garden, great.  Spending time removing weeds and trying to make sure the plants don't die again...  Not so much :)

Fashion

I like clothes, and clothes shopping.  I like web sites where you can put together an outfit and try to see what you like. I don't like someone telling me what to wear just because...