What would you do with time?

I have no complaints- I am very lucky to have the time that I do, but many of the folks here seem to have the same sort of urge to create/learn stuff. If you had no job at all- what would you do with your time (I know- lots of "more time with the family"- I understand that, but not what I'm getting at)? There's too much to learn/do. On my short list-

-take a blacksmith class
-build a ball mill
-build my wood fired pizza oven/smoker
-double my garden, plant more flowers for the wife
-get back to hunting/camping

How about your list?

If I could quit my day job I could easily be fulfilled just doing my hobbies full time, and learning a few new ones.

I do all of these I can do fairly well now, and wish I could do more of:

Deer Hunting
Turkey Hunting
General home improvement stuff
Gardening / Landscaping
Mountain Biking
Four-Wheeling
Fishing
Camping
Cooking

Things I'd like to learn, or learn more about:


Cooking
Welding/machining/metal fabrication
Masonry
Raise a few animals (the eatin' kind)
Gunsmith
Rock climbing
Boating/Sailing

I love the outdoors, I love learning new trades, etc. I'm into the following....

- hunting and fishing (my favorite is spring turkey hunting and fishing for native trout in the cold mountain springs around here)
- mountain biking and road cycling
- weight lifting. gonna get back into that this summer. I miss that the most (took time off of that to redo the house)
- home improvement (don't get me started on that one)
- stone masonry. absolutely LOVE doing this. Pizza oven coming next year.
- cutting trees down. going to start doing the rope climbing (even though I'm a bit big to be doing it at 210 lbs)
- carpentry (see home improvement above)
- blacksmithing (have a small forge that needs to be put back together, took it apart to restore it a couple years back and got sidetracked...)
- tinkering with small engines. I built almost all the chainsaws I use for cutting from scratch. Good skill to have doing what I do....
- tinkering with old cars. Someday my Willys Overland wagon will grace the roads again....
- spending time with my wife and kids.....one of my favorite pastimes.....
- welding. I have three welders and also cutting torches and I use them quite often.....
lots more items, too numerous to mention. I am also into collecting antique hand forged tomahawks (have around 70 of them), and antique raised pillar fly fishing reels (i have around a hundred of them), antique guns (I have around a dozen of them), collecting chainsaws (ain't gonna tell you how many of those I have.....boxes and boxes full of parts saws!).

Things I want to do 'down the road'......

- build that damm woodshed I've been wanting for years now
- build my pizza oven out back
- build a wood-fired boiler for heating my domestic hot water and for heating my garage floor
- buy ground on the mountain and build a log hunting cabin. One of my bigger dreams...
- get some chickens for laying eggs.....
- help my wife start up a craft business. Its a dream of hers, and she deserves to have it come true. She's a great gal.....

OK, I'm starting to ramble.......sorry about that....

Good thread. If I had the money to go with time:

More woodworking.
Get a band saw mill and work trees up to build a post and beam workshop.
Make sick furniture such as farm banquet tables, deacon benches and milled live edge tables, etc.
Build a cedar-strip Maine guide canoe with steamed ribs and all.
Build a sneak boat for fly fishing the local salt marshes for striped bass.
Blacksmithing would be up there somewhere near the top. (Gears are already spinning on this one.)
Stay up late doing the above.
Volunteer at a local nature preserve fixing old buildings and trail work.

I feel I could unleash a fury of creativity if I had the time/cash.

Fury of creativity- exactly

I'd do all the stuff I try to do now. I'd just be able to do them better.
Improve the house
Restore the old flatbedford
Restore the old tractor
Help Mrs. Flatbed with a bigger and more productive veggie garden
I'd also get back into model truck building
Pick an interesting, curse of study without worrying about whether or not it will help me get a job and finish college after dropping out 23 years ago.

I'm mostly retired and can't make time for my hobbies.
I'm too busy.

hmmmm more free time...................

pizza oven DONE
outdoor kitchen DONE
paver driveway DONE
stone on house DONE
all my projects are DONE
build more Halloween stuff to scare the little buggers
drink beer and make pizza, smoke some ribs, bbq some chicken
oh and build my modified Scotty Overkill keyhole firepit

organic farm
build a jeep
more home improvement projects
volunteer
study history
become a financial advisor(volunteer)
spend more time with the wife
get ahead 4-5 years w/the firewood


I could do most of those now if I really wanted to........

I'm gonna be retired from the .mil in a couple weeks, thinking about just getting caught up on stuff and cutting a chit load of wood before I start another job or go to school.

Cook. Then feed people. I enjoy making a meal or some other creation and watching other people enjoy eating it. For some reason that just makes me feel good.

If I had the time, that would mean I was financially sound forever. Sounds good to me. And so...
-Learn to sand-cast for prototyping molds required for ideas.
-Invest in larger and better equipment, and have time to be taught how to use them.
-Get certified on 90% of the welding apps. out there-(and there are a lot of them)
-Build my own private 1000yrd. range.
-Build a 4-seat snow mobile.
-Build my own rifle barrels (hence the better equipment thingy)
-Design an affordable stove mover (1 person operation)
-Build a LandCruiser FJ-45 from the ground up.

-........Design the ultimate wood stove.

Just to name a few.

Seems like a lot of us have similar stuff on the short list.

I got a book yesterday that gives details on building all sorts of interesting machinery for pottery- pug mills, rock crushers, ball mills, blungers, vibrating sieves- and it gives details on simplified ways to cut metal, make wooden pulleys... I am entirely distracted by this now.

Does that book have a title?

I would like to say I would do some very productive, stimulating activities like write a book, build a nuclear fusion reactor, solve world peace . . .

But the truth is I would probably just screw around and waste the time like I do currently.

The

The Potter's Alternative by Harry Davis
I also recommend Pioneer Pottery by Michael Cardew

The Davis book is really heavy on the equipment end of things, with info on building a wheel, plus what rocks to try etc. Good stuff, but a bit dry if it's not your thing (I love it)
The Cardew book is a damn masterpiece, with all sorts of pottery basics as well as ball mill and other equipment building info.

Both books were written by Brits that went off and started potteries in places that they'd have to do it all- Cardew went to Africa, Davis went to S.America

learn conjuration, and then maybe piano....maybe piano first.

Yep, Jags beat me to it.
Conjurationing could be gooder for all kinds of stuff.

Actually, I'd bottle it and sell it like snake oil. I'd be a kajillionair. Or, at least like da Donald.
"If I could save time in a bottle,
The first thing that I'd like to do"........

Travel to every continent.
Make exactly what I want every day, regardless of income.
Join Jags at the CIA.
Ride a bike across the US several times.
Ride a bike across China.
Get a few more degrees, archaeology, biology.

Improve the Landscaping at our home.....build walls, patio with a Firepit, and a small pond with a fountain. Build a small Log Cabin to hide out in and get away from it all. Hook up the camper and go when I feel the urge.....and stop whenever...destination nowhere/anywhere