dabbling

今日覚えたい単語はReader's Digest １０月号の記事 Kindness of Strangers に出てきたものです。
Adeline Jean, 42, lives in Queensland, Australia. She enjoys bushwalking, country drives, British murder mysteries and has recently started dabbling in gardening.
"dabbling" は知らない単語です。文脈からすると、ガーデニングを始めたと "dabbling" を無視しても意味は通じますが、気になるので辞書を見ます。
・Collins Dictionary: the fact of being involved in an activity in a frivolous or superficial way: There is an immense amount of dabbling in occultism going on to-day.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a superficial or intermittent interest, investigation, or experiment: his dabblings in philosophy and art
職業としてではなく趣味として手を付けるような時に使うのですね。例によってVocabulary.comの説明も読みます。
You dabble when you are a little bit involved in an activity, such as an art form or a hobby. Maybe you only dabble in mystery novels, but you are very knowledgeable about comic books.
The word dabble can also often relate to water. It can mean “to splash playfully,” or “to get just a little wet.” A bird can also dabble in water by dipping its bill into it. Each of these meanings of dabble is often followed by the word in. For example, a duck may dabble in the water (and then dribble a few drops afterward from its bill), and you may dabble in shrubbery art.
鳥の水浴びをイメージするとよいのですね。