Be Creative with Boredom Busters

Being Creative with Boredom Busters

Gardening up to date, freezer full, looking for something to do to fill the odd day of rain when touring our fabulous region is not as easy? Here are a few boredom busters you might like to try!

Write that book!

There are countless websites out there aimed at perfecting your writing and finding a publisher. Read all those books that you have in the back of the cupboard, or that you haven’t read for years for inspiration. Grab a pen or a keyboard and just let your thoughts run free. Once you have started, give yourself headers to maintain the flow and make a chart with the names of the characters (and their personalities).

Learn a language!

As well as brushing up on your French, think positively about your life going forward, such as your next holiday destination for instance, and learn a few essential words and phrases. If you speak French already, think about the gaps in your everyday usage and plug them with useful expressions.

Who knows, you may have one of these in your loft!

Paint!

Who doesn’t have old paint in the shed? You could use them, with a variety of brushes, to try your hand at modernist or contemporary art. Who knows you may find yourself exhibiting at Tate Modern! No canvas? Try an old sheet or some MDF. How about brightening up the inside of the garage, the wine cellar, the shed or garden wall? You could also give your plant pots a make-over, as well as that aging swing-seat.

Have fun with food

Now’s the time to delve deep into your store cupboards. We bet you have a few ingredients that have been bought but are unlikely to be used. That chilli sauce that you couldn’t resist in Morocco, those corn husks for the next Mexican night, tins of raspberries bought for Christmas but not used. Let your imagination run riot and take time to enjoy cooking the most extraordinary meal.

Let your imagination take over

More ways to be creative with boredom busters.

Gardening for Deco

Try your hand at drying flowers by hanging bunches upside down in a warm place. Hydrangeas work particularly well, as do roses, delphiniums, statice sinuatum, lavender and various grasses such as phalaris. Once dried, be creative and make door wreaths, fireplace swags or add scent and turn them into your own pot pourri!

Exercise

Zumba, yoga, dancing, stepping and exercise machines/bikes are all great ways to keep fit at home. If the restrictions allow, there are lots of sports you can do alone and away from crowds such as Nordic Walking and running (which you can read about in our previous issues and in these articles pages).

All sorts of flowers and grasses can be dried

Music

Sort those CD’s, take up guitar, practice the piano, learn to play a recorder, belt out a number on those drums. They are all great relaxers and minutes can turn into hours before you know it. You could also download all your CDs, giving you hours of playlists on your phone, etc!

Make-over

Make-up and toiletries have a habit of building up and some can actually be harmful to health. A pot of gel eyeliner, for instance, soon traps bacteria and should only be used for a couple of months. Powder eye shadow harbours germs too, as do old lipsticks and mascaras. How many bottles of near empty shower gel, bubble bath, shampoo and conditioners do you actually need? Combine them to make a cocktail for that leisurely bath which, now, you can sink into every day!

Time to take stock

Sewing is a great skill to have

Save your memories

How do you store your photos? We bet you have prints, slides, videos, hard discs, phones, laptops and memory sticks full of them. Back up all your media in one place and put those photos into an album. If you make notes on each to record who’s in the photo and when and where they were taken, you can ensure happy memories for the next generation.

Go Blogging

Share your experiences and thoughts with an online blog. You could even start writing for us if you want to talk about your life here in SW France. Find out more and read some of the existing blogs

Teach New Tricks

Take a break from the board games and and home school learning and teach a child some real-life tricks like how to sew, load the washing machine, boil an egg, clean the car, make the bed, etc. We don’t have to be in a classroom to learn new things and it can be really enjoyable too.

First published online at The Local Buzz in April 2020

Images: Shutterstock and as shown