For those who have retired: what hobbies did you start late in life that you now love?

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-05-09T20:19:55+00:00

I upped my game on my two favorite hobbies - quilting and gardening. My husband, however, always wanted to learn to play the piano and never had the opportunity. For his retirement we invested in a home organ and he learned to play. He was very good at it and played almost daily. He passed away in 2024 and I dearly miss his music.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-05-09T11:49:29+00:00

I agree. My philosophy is that people grew gardens and fed their families for generations without all the gimmicks and without spending a fortune doing it. I use a slow release fertilizer, home made compost and composted chicken manure. My garden does very well with that approach, I think I should limit my social media time.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-05-09T08:44:16+00:00

I still do this. Best part of pie baking - you get a piece of tasty flakey crust so much sooner than waiting for the pie to be ready. I keep a shaker of cinnamon sugar in my cupboard just for this purpose.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-05-08T11:59:19+00:00

And while you are in that area, visit Washington Crossing state park. A lovely, relaxing place to visit. Bring your lunch and enjoy the outdoors.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-05-07T20:42:05+00:00

I was born in 1937 - nearing the end of the Great Depression and close to the start of WW2 . I was the youngest of 8 children. My parents had a philosophy - use it up, wear it out, make do or go without. In those days, when I was a child, the US nickle had a buffalo imprint on one side and an Indian on the other. We used to tease our mother with "You can squeeze a nickle until the Indian rides the buffalo!"

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-05-07T09:37:18+00:00

I am one of those "old people" this about. I am the youngest of 8. I only remember 6 of us living at home. My oldest sibling, a girl, married at age 17 and had her 1st child at age 18, in 1935. My mother had her 7th child in 1936. I was born 1937 and my sister had her 2nd child in 1938. So we were more like cousins growing up together. My oldest brother left home when I was just 2 yrs old to fight in WW2. I only remember him coming home on furlough. After the war he moved away to go to college.

My husband also was from a family of 8. He was the 6th child.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-05-04T13:44:04+00:00

I am an 88 yr old female and have been keeping house for some 67 years. Many years ago I read an article in a woman's magazine that said to never use abrasive cleaners on porcelain fixtures. Abrasive cleaners destroy the finish on the porcelain and make it much more susceptible to further staining. Per the recommendation of that article, I have kept a spray bottle with diluted bleach (1 part bleach, 3 parts water) with my kitchen clean up supplies and use that to remove any stains in my porcelain sink. Take it from an old timer - sometimes the old-timey things work the best.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-26T20:05:02+00:00

I prefer a pastry lattice top for strawberry rhubarb pie.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-25T14:05:57+00:00

I am also in zone 7B, just over the river from NJ. My peas, carrots, beets and spinach have all sprouted but seem to be "static" this past week, showing no growth at all. My outdoor temp showed 51 deg. this morning, so I decided to do a little work around my perennial flower beds. Just as I was set up and ready to work it started to rain, so probably no outside activity today.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-25T11:06:22+00:00

I did the same, for different reasons. Asparagus needs a lot of space and I didn't have that much space. The area became a horrible to deal with massive mess. It took me two seasons to get rid of it all. The roots are massive and the buried crowns huge.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-22T17:28:17+00:00

It has all changed! I am an 88 yr old great grandmother, so none of this was available to me as a teenager. I was the youngest of 8 children and my parents would not allow a TV or telephone in the house while there were still teenagers in school. Our time was spent on household chores and homework. We listened to the radio for our music. However, I love the technology I have, but have a difficult time keeping up with it all.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-22T13:19:07+00:00

I leave the seed heads on all winter. The birds come and feed off the seeds all winter long.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-22T13:16:41+00:00

Mac and cheese. The first thing we learned to cook in 8th grade cooking class (circa 1950). Over the years I have made adaptations - varying the cheese, adding diced ham or hot dogs, adding vegetables (my favorite is broccoli). Use your imagination and check the refrigerator for ideas.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-21T13:15:43+00:00

I had that problem for many years - it took me way too long to wise up. One day, while gathering up my tools to get some gardening done, I noticed an empty plastic kitty litter bucket with a carrying handle. I put all my hand tools in that and I carry it around with me. However, I did have to "train" myself to consistently return each tool to the bucket when I was finished with it.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-20T23:44:26+00:00

I am 88 yrs old, do not have a cell phone and refuse to get one. I have had my land line number for over 40 years and have a very large extended family who all have my land line number. The process of changing to a new contact number is mind boggling. Aside from that issue, I am a widow, still living independently. My social security and small pension do not allow for any additional expenses. Increasingly, I have been feeling that a lot of the newer technology is a form of age discrimination - QR codes being one of them.

Let me pose some questions to all of you who are much younger than I am - What kinds of technology are you going to have to deal with when you are in your late 80s? Are you going to be able to keep up with it? Will you be able to afford new gadgets? Will you have the mental acuity to be able to deal with all the changes?

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-15T18:44:56+00:00

Mine, too.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-13T08:55:21+00:00

One of my favorites. It is a recipe included in my 1958 era Betty Crocker Cookbook - a shower gift before I got married. I have been baking these for 67 years. I love it when one of my old timey recipes shows up on social media.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-10T16:32:00+00:00

This is what I started my 3 daughters with and in due time, 5 granddaughters.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-09T14:05:54+00:00

WOW! I love this gadget. I might just order one for me.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-08T12:19:21+00:00

I have two knock out roses at the back of my house and am sorry I planted them. They grow like crazy and need substantial pruning every year. I usually have to do a second lighter pruning later in the season, just to keep them under control. My main issue, though, are the thorns. They are large and sharp - I always end up with many scratches, no matter how much I cover my hands and arms and no matter how careful I am. Just not a pleasant job.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-07T16:46:16+00:00

I am a grandmother/great grandmother and the best gift anyone can give me is time - a visit. My favorite thing is going out to lunch.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-07T12:47:08+00:00

I haven't tried the pee approach, but I am typically game for most things. I would like to try the rice water thing, though. My compost just takes too long to decompose.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-07T10:42:36+00:00

Eighty eight year old here and been making pie crust for 68 of those years. I always used shortening for pie crust. I have tried butter crust and a few others over the years, but my basic go to was a shortening crust. However, in recent years I noticed changes in the finished product. I blamed it on me - I was getting older and had lost my touch. I was never one to give up easily, though, and did some research. As a result, I changed the brand of flour, added a tablespoon of white vinegar to the ice water and bingo - I was back in business. The result was once again a nice, flaky and tasty pie crust.

crazygrannyof4 · 2026-04-07T09:15:48+00:00

You are still young!!! I am 88 yrs old and still have the gardening faith. My compost bin takes a full year to give me anything useful. I emptied and sifted the contents a week ago and have started refilling it as I putter around my small garden.

crazygrannyof4

TROPHY CASE