Author: queenbee (Page 4 of 7)

Zumba Rumba!

April 30, 2023 / / 0 Comments

We are now on the last hobby post and why not dance with joy at the prospect of completing a challenge, the A-Z Blogging Challenge 2023!

Let’s start some music and enjoy dancing Zumba!

So, for Z it is Zumba Dancing!

Compared to all the other hobbies in the hobby posts, Zumba dancing is the youngest! Zumba was invented in 1990s, by a Columbian dancer and choreographer Beto Pérez. It is a fitness program developed using cardio exercises and Latin based dance moves.

Did you know that Zumba dancing is trade marked by a gym?

Well, Zumba is popular around the world, thanks to it being a full body aerobic and cardio workout. It combines the dance styles of  salsa, flamenco, chachacha, hip hop music and tango.

A Zumba dancer can burn 300 to 900 calories, which is a good number, considering we take in more than 2200 calories with just a single 14 inch pizza! Although it is advisable to eat only 2 slices of pizza in one sitting!

Thanks to the popularity of Zumba, we can enjoy the workout from the safety of our own homes through Youtube videos or can even subscribe to the Zumba DVDs, if you are up to it.

It is a good thing to take up Zumba, because, not only will it be a good hobby with the added advantage of fitness, but also reduces the chances of heart diseases.

Incidentally, Zumba is also banned in Iran and Israel! If you stay out of both Iran and Israel, why not go ahead and learn Zumba dancing? You will be both fit and happy! Give it a go, chalo Zumba!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with Z are Zip Lining, Zulu Dancing and Zoology. (We already saw two hobbies related to Zoology, entomology and ornithology. So I have refrained from Zoology in this post).
  2. Zombie Hunting comes under hobby with a Z, if it really was a thing!!
  3. Rumba roughly translates to Party!
  4. So, today on April 30th, we have come to an end of the Blogging Challenge. I will be back within the week with my regular posts. Do watch out.

Till the next post, adios amigos!

Yodel – Ay – EEE – Oooo!

April 30, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Once you try saying out the post name out loud, you will surely understand, what this post is about!

Today’s post is about Y for Yodelling!

Yodelling is a form of singing, which involves rapid change of pitch, mostly famous in Europe and highly popularized and immortalized in Bollywood music by singer Kishore Kumar da.

Yodelling is mostly associated and used by people in wilderness and is a shout to make themselves heard, over a long distance, mostly on mountains.

Even cow boys have their own signals in the Wild West, similar to Yodelling! The cow boys had huge herds of cattle which grazed on wide areas and which needed to be taken care of, were  controlled by yodelling. The cowboys sang yodels for their cattle as a signal.

These signal like cries later crept into music and folk songs in the Europe and America.  Once yodelling became a part of music, there were stage shows and theater performances of yodellers and  slowly found a place in Indian music too!

In the 1940s and 1950s, yodelling was popular kind of music, around the world, but has faded, with time. Yodelling was never as popular in India as it was in Europe and USA.

Are you interested in singing and play an occasional guitar? Why not strum a few strings along with flexing your vocal chords and yodel away!

Yodel – Ay – EEE – Oooo!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with a Y are Yoga, Yachting, Yo- Yoing and Yarn Spinning.
  2. Go through the song, to learn what yodelling is all about. Thanks to Kishore Kumar da, for such beautiful rendition. The original song had Super Star Rajesh Khanna and Tanuja in the lead. Sadly, the video can’t be copied, so I have attached the audio link here.

3. Sometimes, old really seems like gold. Olden days are always better!

Till the last hobby post, cheerio!

Eco Friendly Xeriscaping!

April 30, 2023 / / 1 Comment

We have already been through Gardening as a hobby idea. But if you are a lazy bum, who hates watering the plants and you prefer minimum maintenance as far as plants are concerned, then Xeriscaping is best for you.

For X, let’s go with Xeriscaping!

Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping and maintaining a lawn with little or no water at all.’

Little or no water was utilized here.

Xeriscaping is mostly practiced in places where drought is a common factor.

If you thought Xeriscaping is all about using native plants, then you are wrong. It is all about using plants which need less water to survive.

Cacti – Important part of Xeriscaping

By dividing the landscape area into zones, like the cacti zone, succulent zone, turf zone etc it is easier to plan the watering or the irrigation system, to reduce wastage.

Cacti is not the only variety used in Xeriscaping. The Bee Blossom plant is one such option.

Bee Blossom – Xeriscaping plant

Organic Mulch can be used in Xeriscaping to retain water in the soil. After some years, the organic mulch decomposes and is useful as a natural compost. Wood chippings , wood grindings, saw dust, coconut fibre etc come under organic mulch.

Sand and gravel come under inorganic mulch and they should be used in Xeriscaping sparingly because, they have the tendency to increase the temperature by retaining heat from Sunlight! It is advisable to use more of organic mulch than inorganic one.

The other Xeriscaping plants are different types of Sage, Lavender, Rosemary, Poppy tree and Shamrock.

Low maintenance , edible purple Shamrock

Our very own desi Gulmohar tree, tamarind tree and the colourful Bougainvillea (my favourite of all, since the flowers look like they have been made from paper) can be used in desi Xeriscaping projects. Watering the plants can be done through Drip Irrigation and it is advised to not water the plants during the day, to avoid evaporation losses!

So what are you waiting for? Go to the nearest nursery, buy the required plants for your home and get started in the art of Xeriscaping!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with X are X-Box gaming, X– Ray Art ( art form depicting animals and humans by drawing or painting the skeletal frame and internal organs), Xylophone playing.
  2. Did you know that some cacti can be cooked and eaten like a normal vegetables? They produce slime while being cooked, just like Okra (Bhindi/ Ladies Finger).

In Avatar: The Last Air Bender series, Avatar Aing’s brother in law,  Sokka drinks Cactus Juice and begins to hallucinate! In reality, the cacti can be slightly acidic in nature. So, consume only those which are edible after careful inspection.

4. Not only is Xeriscaping eco-friendly, but you will be helping the planet by being lazy! Too lazy to water the plants, but hero of the planet!

Ciao!

Weld Away!

April 28, 2023 / / 1 Comment

I don’t know how many of my readers are engineering graduates, from Telangana, but we have a Workshop Lab in our first year Engineering, where we are taught Carpentry, House Wiring, Tin Cutting, Welding, Fitting (Iron Work) and also Foundry Work.

So, W for Welding!

Welding is the process of joining materials, using high heat, where the metal melts and joins after cooling. Welding is mostly done in metals, but thermoplastics can also be welded together.

Welding in Progress

In olden days, welding was done only through Forge Welding. It is the process of heating the metals to high temperature and then hammering them together to form a joint!

Hammering the metal when hot – Forge Welding

Thanks to the advance in technology, many different technologies are available. Welding through gas flame, electric arc, ultra sound and laser are some of the newer methods.

Welding is a hazardous work, so proper precautions are necessary.  There is a high chance of burns, vision damage, exposure to ultra violet radiation and exposure to some poisonous gases.

So how come it gets a place in the A-Z Hobbies post?

Well, welding can also be used to create sculptures, using scraps and automobile wastes or even e-wastes.

Fish made from scrap materials – Recycled Art

 

‘Metal’ Black Beauty

So, what is stopping you? Go ahead and get welding (with proper precautions, that is!) and recycling.  Who knows? You may end up resigning your job and start an environment crusade through recycled art, like this guy!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with W are Weaving, Wood Carving, Web Designing, Weight Training, Writing , Wrestling and Water Colour Painting.
  2. I remember watching such recycled art in the POGO program called MAD, where Rob would teach new stuff. I and sis made art by joining metal parts of an old clock using powerful adhesive, instead of welding! Those were fun days. We still have the miniature sculpture somewhere. I will surely find it (we have down sized the shelves and stored some of the stuff away like Marie Kondo!) and post the pic soon!
  3. If at all there is a welding scene in a movie, almost always, Forge Welding is shown! Like how Thor, the God of Thunder helps Eitri forge the StormBreaker! I really enjoyed watching the scene from the Avengers: The Infinity War.

Till the next post, cheerio!

Ventriloquism

April 27, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I remember the good old days of Doordarshan, where we had interesting shows, like talented people showing off their skills at magic, puppetry and ventriloquism.

Let’s go with Ventriloquism for V!

Ventriloquism is the art of speaking in such a way that the sound seems to be coming from another source. A ventriloquist creates the illusion that the doll or puppet in his hand is the one actually speaking.

Ventriloquist with his puppet

Ventriloquism means speaking through the belly! Since the voice is muffled and seems distant, this helps in fooling people that the source of the sound is not the speaker, but is farther away!

Ventriloquists have also featured in movies.  Edgar Bergen, the American Ventriloquist performed on radio and acted in movies, along with his dummy, Charlie McCarthy. He was also awarded a Honorary Oscar for his creation of the character called CharlieMcCarthy. He was also inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (I know very little about the other famous ventriloquists.)

In India too, ventriloquist Ramdas Padhye, second ventriloquist popularized ventriloquism through t.v. shows. His famous puppet Bunny the Funny is part of the Lijjat Papad Ad.

Do you know that a puppet played the villain in a Marathi movie? ( I remember watching a scene or two of this movie, but since Marathi is NOT a language I know, I didn’t watch the full movie. I continued surfing the channels!)

Tatya Vinchu – from the movie Zapatlela

If having a puppet as a villain is creepy, did you know that a ventriloquist once used his own son’s body as his puppet, in his acts of ventriloquism?  (Yes, the post suddenly turned creepy and chilly, isn’t it?)

Do you like playing with puppets and surprising people with different voices? Then, ventriloquism is for you. Go ahead and do it for fun. (And try not to scare people or creep them away!)

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with a V are Volleyball, Playing Violin, Video games, Vaulting (ornamental work on ceiling and roof), Pole Vaulting, Vacuuming (if a husband has this hobby, he will have a happy wifey!) and Videography (art of making videos, similar to ‘tik-tok’ers and ‘reel’ers!)

Till the next post! Ciao!

Playing the Ukelele!

April 27, 2023 / / 0 Comments

We have seen all kinds of hobbies, except the ones using musical instruments!

For U, let’s learn more about playing a Ukelele!

Have you seen the highly popular Hawaii dolls, which are the ‘go-to’ toys for the car dashboard?  The instrument they hold in their hand is the good old Ukelele!

Ukelele is the musical instrument originating from Portugal, but has been popularized by the Hawaiians. It comes under the Lute musical instrument family, which means, instruments with strings with a thin neck and a body, like Guitar, Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass,  Sitar, Tanbura, Veena, Banjo and Lute.

Ukelele vs Guitar – Difference in sizes

Ukelele is a smaller version of the guitar and produces softer tones than the former. The guitar strings are made of steel, but the strings of Ukelele are made of nylon thread! Apparently, the ukelele is almost half the size of guitar. So that is an added advantage for people who like carrying light weight instruments.

Playing a ukelele is lot more easier than guitar, since, playing the steel strings take time getting used to, where as nylon strings are easy to handle and require little effort.

So, if you want to get your kids to learn a musical instrument, get them hooked to ukelele first. Some day they may progress to guitar too! Who knows, they may even fall in love with the ukelele and never leave it too!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with U are Uni cycling, Underwater photography and Umpiring!
  2. You can even start learning to play ukelele by going through the basics from the following book

Get started, friends!

Tanjore Painting

April 26, 2023 / / 1 Comment

We are already coming closer to the end of hobby posts and why not include our very own, Desi hobby, of Tanjore/Thanjavur Painting!

So, for T , let’s learn more about Thanjavur Painting.

The Thanjavur painting originated from the temple town rather city of Thanjavur of Tamil Nadu and the name was anglicized as Tanjore. This is one such art , which has originated in India, (Pukka Local!) and is the only art form to use gold foil in the designs.

Tanjore Painting of Ganesha with an Umbrella

Tanjore Paintings mostly comprise of Hindu deities and scenes out of important incidences in Hindu Mythology. Gold foil is generally used to enhance the paintings.

Radha Krishna

As you can see in the above image, precious and semi precious stones are used in Tanjore painting, which makes the paintings a costly affair, for the buyers of art, that is!

Lord Shiva, with his wife Parvathi and sons, Ganesha and Karthikeya

Tanjore paintings are all for extravagance and vibrant colours. Chalk powder is used in the painting, for 3-D effect, which are later covered with gold foil and semi precious stones. The gold foil not only brings a radiance to the painting but also makes it more durable!

Sri Rama Pattabhishekam – 58 x 82 inch

For example the above Tanjore Painting of Sree Rama Pattabhishekam costs nearly Ten Lakh Indian Rupees! A 10 x 8 inch painting may range from Rs.3000 to Rs. 3,00,000! The variation in pricing is mostly due to the usage of gold foil. If 22 or 24 carat gold foil is used, the pricing is high. If the price is less, then you should know the foil is fake! Infact the authentic and duplicates can be differentiated mainly through the gold foil that has been used!

If you are a perfectionist, who likes to make a simple hobby into a business, Tanjore Painting is a good option, since perfection is appreciated in such arts! So what are you waiting for? Get started!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with a T are Table Tennis, Tattooing, Taxidermy(Preserving animal bodies, by stuffing them and mounting on walls), Tennis, Thrifting, Theater and Topiary(cutting trees and bushes into various shapes). 
  2. Tanjore Painting reminds me of Dasavatharam movie and particularly the Mukunda Mukunda song. Why? Because the puppets used in the song look so much like the ones from tanjore paintings! (May be just my wild imagination!)

Did you know Himesh Reshammiya is the music composer for the Dasavatharam movie? Surprising isn’t it? How can the nasal voiced singer with haunting songs, give out such amazing ‘South’ sounding tunes? It remains a wonder till date!  I say haunting because, I have seen news about people in Andhra and Hyderabad, where his songs were used by people to stay away from ghosts! (Whatever that means!)

Till the next post, cheerio!

Sketch Please!

April 24, 2023 / / 1 Comment

If all you have with you are different pencils, a couple of white papers and time to kill, then , sketching is a good hobby for you! I started to sketch during my class 8 summer vacation and continued it well into my early twenties. But then, life happened and my hobby took a back seat!

For S, let’s go with Sketching!

According to the great internet God, Wikipedia, Sketching is the process of drawing of a rough outline  of a final piece of art.

Drawing a rough outline of fighter figures! – Basics of Sketching

Sketching is also about using different strokes to complete the drawing. The different strokes of sketching are..

A sketch made with basic pencil strokes…

Tree during the Fall

One fine day, Mr.Bee and I decided to see who was better at sketching and the winner is obviously not me! Mr.Bee and I decided to sketch Marilyn Monroe and see who was better, but mine sucks. I have refrained from showing my piece. This one is Mr.Bee’s sketch.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Marilyn Monroe! – by Mr.Bee

While I am not posting my Marilyn Monroe sketch, to save my face, I would like to post, something else…

Girl in a Flower Crown – by QB

The easiest of all the sketches are the ones of nature, landscapes and hills. I have loads of those in my sketch book. Will post more of my sketches in later posts.

Sketch of a Hill Station – Probably Ooty! – by QB

All you need to start sketching are H and B pencils. H is the hardest pencil and so lighter in drawing, whereas, B is for darker shading, since they are softer.

Graphite Drawing Pencil guide

If you want to start sketching, why not start with a simple one like this …

Fallen leaves – Best beginner’s sketch for learning to shade

Go ahead, get sketching!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with S are Sky Diving, Soap Making, Star Gazing (or Amateur Astronomy) and Snorkelling.

Mr.Bee tried his hand at Sky Diving, in Charlotte,NC,USA and enjoyed it thoroughly. You can watch the video here.

2. The images which don’t have my logo on them have been freely copied from the internet. Thanks to all the sources.

3. During our stay in USA, when Mr.Bee was busy in his office working, I would either go and make dozens of pottery or sit and watch movies.That is how I ended watching some of the movies of Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant,  Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, from Netflix. I loved watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the Seven Year Itch, Roman Proposal, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Good, Bad and the Ugly,to name a few. (I need more time to refresh my memory to remember the other movie names!)

Resin craft

April 20, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Today’s hobby has wide range of uses across various fields. Not only is it used in jewellery making and furniture industries, but also in Dentistry! Yes, that’s right!

Today’s hobby idea with R is Resin Craft!

Resin Table Top – Sea shells, Conches and Star fishes used as decoration

Resin Crafting is the process of pouring synthetic liquid resin into moulds and letting it harden. The surface is then finished off with a varnish.

Resin crafting has uses in making prototypes in industrial settings as well as in dentistry. Composite Resin is used in the place of decayed tooth or portion. Even base of dentures is made with resin.

Thankfully, resin is mostly used by hobbyists and artists for other purposes like, resin jewellery.

Mixed Dry flower Resin bangles

If you want to preserve some article or items with sentimental value, resin craft is the way to go. Some people make jewellery to preserve the flowers that have been used on their wedding day, as a souvenir of their memories.

Move over gem cabochons, resin cabochons are here!

Some new mothers even preserve breast milk through resin craft . (Go ahead and read it)

Bookworms like me would rather prefer resin bookmarks, more than anything. Don’t they look beautiful?

Beautiful Resin Bookmarks, make reading worthwhile!

If you have two naughty kids like I do, you will surely have loads of colour pencils lying around the house! So why not use them to make a fruit bowl?

Resin Bowl made with used colour pencils

Is the cell phone your life companion? Not after you see the beautiful resin chess board, which encourages us to stay away from online chess games and concentrate on the physical one. Take a look. This particular chess set can also be used as a table lamp too!

Wood and Resin Chess set

What are you waiting for? Go ahead and get busy with resin crafting!

P.S:

  1. The new fad of making resin based table tops is the best one. Thanks to all the youtube videos, we now know how they are done. Although resin crafting is fun, protective goggles,  appropriate clothing and respirator are necessary for ones safety. If you don’t want to use a respirator, well ventilated places are best to resin craft.
  2. Mr.Bee bought me dry flower resin bangles from etsy.com some years ago. I really love them.
  3. The other hobbies starting with R are Reading, Racing, Roller Skating, Riding Horses and Rafting.
  4. I tried my hand at rafting at White Water Rafting, Charlotte. I nearly poked a fellow rafter with my paddle! That was scary, for her!
  5. I dream of reading, on and on, with a never ending supply of wonderful snacks to make my life blissful. Let’s see!

Till the next hobby post, Sayonara!

Paper Quilling

April 20, 2023 / / 0 Comments

If you are artistic and nothing but highly creative and colourful art can satisfy your creative juices, then paper quilling is the perfect hobby for you.

Let’s see what Q for Quilling is all about.

Beautiful horse head – pic courtesy – internet

Quilling is the beautiful art of rolling strips of paper, glued together to make art. Quilling can be used to create greeting cards, wall hangings or for making personalized gifts.

Personalized gift – pic courtesy – internet

The tools required for quilling are,

  1. Slotted tool to curl the strips of quilling paper.
  2. Curling coach, which makes curling faster and easy, mostly used for 3 D miniature quilling projects.
  3. Tweezers, used to avoid warping and also during placement of coils as per the design. Easy handling is possible with tweezers.

Quilling Tool Set

How can we forget the most important part of quilling, the quilling paper.

Quilling Paper Strips – available as is

If you are up for it, you can even shred your own paper into strips to use in quilling, using a shredder.

Paper Shredder

With summer around the corner, what is a better pass time than, quilling?  Kids can make simple greeting cards with this technique.

Simple Greeting cards

Lastly, make your own artsy jewellery. You are bound to get compliments!

Rainbow themed earrings -Artsy Jewellery

Go ahead, get quilling!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with a Q are Quilting and Quizzing!
  2. People who are interested in recycling and think about the planet once in a while, better get into quilting. It is such a useful art.  One mom had DIYed a quilt with all her baby’s clothes and gifted them to her daughter. Such an interesting gift idea. Though I love quilting and never tried it, this hobby post is about quilling, since, even kids can start doing simple quilling.
  3. I received quilling jewellery as gifts from S (sis) and M (distant relative). Don’t wear quilling jewellery during rainy season, if you want them to be safe!

Till the next hobby post, ciao!

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