Three Things I Enjoy Doing

What kind of activities bring you the most pleasure and satisfaction? 

One physical act I find quite satisfying is cleaning out flower beds and disposing of the year's-worth of fallen leaves something  I was able to do just this past weekend. My home is surrounded by trees, both deciduous and evergreen, which gives us a healthy harvest of leaves every year. Once I've collected all I possibly can for composting, because I live beyond city limits, I'm free to burn the remainder of this bounteous harvest. I thoroughly enjoy the smell of burning leaves.

Another time-filling occupation that relaxes me is piecing together patchwork quilts. I'm not much for designing a work of art with intricate stitching. My joy comes from the combining of colors and prints to create a pleasing whole. Once the pieces are assembled into a quilt top, I use the least time-consuming means to attach the three layers together into a whole...my sewing machine. I've been know to use buttons scattered across the top to hold the layers together. Or, a stitch of knotted yarn here and there. The finished product is not anything to brag about, but when passed along to one of the homeless people I send them to, I know the warmth they provide is appreciated.

Since the prompt suggesting this blog was 'three of something', I need to include one other activity I find satisfying...and that is painting with oils. It's something I've only begun to do again in the past year after my brushes had remained retired since the birth of my second son some forty-odd years ago. I've never had any formal lessons; something I hope to remedy sometime in the future. But again, I think it's the occupation of playing around with the oils and mixing colors to fill my needs for just that exactly right color which gives me the most relaxation.

What distracts you from the stresses of everyday life and helps you set aside those nagging problems? I'd really like to know.