I've always spent my time at home by doing something that kept my mind busy, because my mind is a constant whirlwind and it needs to express itself to feel satisfied.
My favourite hobby is reading. It's always been a dear hobby of mine. I was a kid and constantly asking my older relatives to read me this or that story. I loved my books and my mother always tells me that I was just a toddler and would spend hours leafing through the pages of my children books. Soon my family got fed up of reading to me (I surprisingly come from a family where books aren't appreciated as much as they deserve) and I had to learn my alphabet on my own so as to read my favourite stories to my little self. I was 4 and I remember my granny showing off with her friends that her only (at that time) niece would read a magazine without any help! I think I've never spent a day without reading a single page ever since.
In the years I met books that made me grow up, that I don't feel ashamed of calling my best friends: "Anne Frank: diary of a young girl" was one of them books. I got my first copy of that book at age 11 and at first I couldn't really fall for it, when I read it again one year later I couldn't put it down and re-read it other tens of times! I would also think of Anne as a friend, because back then she was my age.
I can't avoid mentioning "A child called it" as a book that made me grow aware of the sad situation of some abused children. And I think it's after reading it that I wanted to be a social worker involved in children advocacy.
But there are many more books that fashinated me and that I still think of with a big affection: the whole Harry Potter series, that I was too sad when it came to an end, "A tree grows in Brooklyn", "A Christmas Carol", "Pride and Prejudice", "Gone with the wind"...
As technology became an essential in our lives I wanted to own a Kindle reader and my beloved husband got me a first generation Kindle. I was touching the sky with one finger! It still was a flash in the pan though... I must have read two or three novels on it before turning back to real paper books. I need to hold a book in my hand to feel really happy with myself, I want to smell the book's parfume, I want to live my books. And a Kindle, as smart and userfriendly as it can be, can't replace the joy a real book can give to a reader. I am not saying that I regret having gotten it as a Christmas gift: it still follows me on my holidays and it's really handy now that we haven't got too much space at home to fit all of our many books in!
Writing is another hobby I love to indulge in my spare time. Mind you, I am all but a talented writer. I write for myself mainly and for my dear pals, who are so patient and lovely to read my letters.
I began as a penpaller when I was still a teenager. I used to love stationery and had a special inclination for asian stickers. I would write tens of letters every month and had pals spread all over the globe. As years passed by I grew up and so did my pals, our paths in life grew different and with many of them the friendship faded. I am still writing to a few selected people who are so dear to me. My letters are handwritten most of the times and I like to think I am talking to my pals as if they were there with me and not miles away.
Recently I started blogging. I am still looking for my own blogging style. I have always liked to write about what I like and esepecially about my life and my cooking and reading adventures. I started with a blog that I kept going for a couple years first, but then it grew sterile and I quit writing there. I am now on these pages since March 2013, so it's nearly been a year. I am slowly finding my way on the blogosphere. For this year I've put "blogging on a regular basis" among my top ten list of resolutions and I am thrilled that my Bloglovin followers number has now grown to 9!
Cooking. I definitely love to cook and especially bake. Again I come from a family that hasn't a big cooking tradition. My grandmothers initially were pretty good at cooking, but as we grew up they grew tired of cooking big meals for the entire family and they soon forgot how to properly cook any decent meal. I live in a country where we have some of the best (in my opinion) meals of the Italian cuisine and I decided it was my task to bring on some traditional cooking in my family. And that's how I grew fond of homemaking pasta or baking traditional pies and cakes. And I love it. My ability to cook decent meals has saved my life when I was diagnosed with lactose intolerance. Being able to cook my meals has preserved me from nasty side effects.
And you, dear reader, how do you like to engage you spare time with?
Reading and writing! :-)
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