A Retirement Blog by Caree Risover

Despite the weather forecast with its warning of ground frost and chilly nights, Mister E and I know that it is really July. Unfortunately in what has been the windiest summer we can remember, we have all but given up any chance of a spell of settled weather for some longer distance sailing. This week, therefore, found us determined still to enjoy the outdoor life despite the bouts of heavy rain. We may have waterproof gear but there really is no fun (or we don't think so) of trudging up and down hills hidden behind peaked hoods and seeking shelter beyond a dry stone wall to eat our lunchtime sandwiches, the view all but obliterated by low cloud and raindrops. So yesterday and today, our walks shared a common theme of conservation as we walked first to a local wetlands area, small but of scientific interest as it dates back to prehistoric times when a lake formed after the last Ice Age. It is close enough to home that when the rain clouds began to congregate again, t...

Following on from my post about food, exercise and the paucity of weight loss in retirement, after I had somewhat overindulged in Whitby last weekend, I thought it was time to make amends. With all the exercise I now get in retirement and the healthy diet I follow, I decided that if I was not losing weight in any significant amounts then life needed to  be shaken up a bit. So I have found a new friend: My Fitness Pal . Yes it's a virtual friend, a wonderful app from Under Armour that records the calories you take on board and the calories you burn, producing graphs to show how balanced your day's food consumption has been, the nutrients you need and what you are likely to weigh in 5 weeks if you continue eating in that way. I have never calorie counted in my life before, failing to understand how some people, it seems almost intuitively, know just how many of them are in a slice of bread or chocolate biscuit. After almost a week I am still none the wiser in t...

Mister E and I took advantage of that window between birds nesting and the start of the shooting season this afternoon to exercise our right to roam. We walked around Black Hambleton on the North Yorkshire Moors starting on the Cleveland Way and then rough footing it across the heather. I have to confess that I was concerned lest I stumbled and fell only to be attacked by a poisonous adder hiding in the undergrowth, but that was truly a disaster of the imagination. Our real life misfortune luckily brought with it a moment of hilarity. The weather was not brilliant but we still had a reasonable view across towards the Dales over a patchwork of farm fields. Not too hot, not too cold; perfect walking weather and a splendid opportunity to continue walking our way to fitness . Storm clouds threatened but ultimately passed overhead and we returned to the car, somewhat stiff and tired in sunshine and short sleeves. As for our misfortune: after walking for miles surrou...

I am conscious that food has not played an enormous part in my commentary on this blog. I am unsure why, as I certainly eat a great deal of it! Perhaps it is because my nutritional need in retirement has not varied enormously from when I was working. If anything, I probably eat slightly healthier (although we have never been a family for fast food, ready meals or take-aways) and maybe less than when I was working. There are of course exceptions and I would be being disingenuous if I did not confess to partaking in a small sized (Yorkshire measurement) fish and chips when we were in Whitby on Saturday. We ate late to ensure we could get a seat in one of the renowned eateries without queuing; deliberately ate small breakfasts and then, in my case, nothing more for the rest of the day. We also prepared for the feast by a running pace up the 199 steps to St Mary's Church and I did an extra long work-out in the gym the next day too. The trouble is that one of the problems of...

Sometimes we are so busy with our day to day activities that there is little opportunity or even inclination to enjoy what is on our doorstep. Indeed, until the three years I worked part-time before retiring completely, any time off work was spent getting as far away from home as possible within the time constraints imposed in an effort to avoid household chores or worse still a temptation to call into the office. Nowadays the situation is very different and I frequently find myself visiting local destinations and beauty spots with the eye of a tourist and a camera in my hand. So it was that we found ourselves in Whitby on Saturday. An eclectic mix of Dracula, Gothic, steep cliffs, piers, screeching gulls, wide skies, an ancient abbey, 12th century Church, boats, old fishermen's cottages and a pervading scent of fish and chips. It has a history that stretches back to before the Synod of Whitby in the 7th century when the authority of Rome was recognised. ...

Back in 1972, when I was still a teenager, Alice Cooper had a hit with School's Out . Today our local schools broke up for their long summer holidays too and for once I found the lyrics of that song invading my thought processes as I was attempting to use up yet more of our gooseberry glut, baking muffins and crumbles. Yes I have stepped down as a School Governor after almost twenty years. I confess it was something of an impetuous decision as I have after all found the role over the last year perhaps more satisfying than during my working days when I sometimes struggled to give it the time that it deserved.  Visiting school and attending meetings have also provided an opportunity in retirement to wear those suits that continue to hang in my wardrobe. A desire to don heels and dress up, however, is hardly a legitimate reason for public service.  Yes theoretically I have more time, but, in practice and without the routine of a working week, I am less able to...

We have just had an overnight stay in Troon. We couldn't help but giggle at how we appear to be behaving like "old" people on a caravan holiday.  I have a vague childhood memory of visiting elderly relatives at their caravan. Their holiday (or certainly whilst we visited) seemed to involve drinking tea on or near the caravan steps, watching everyone else behave in similar fashion at the doors to their caravans. I was left with the deep impression that what old people did on holiday was sit around in a caravan, drinking tea.  Now it seems that my time has come. A little too chilly to sit out on deck, we hastened below upon arrival and put the kettle on. An inclement forecast kept us marina bound, secure in our floating but gated community, and the kettle went on again. This morning we were greeted by pouring rain and, you guessed it, another cup of tea!

Out in the garden my potato crop is growing well. Inside the house and for the duration of Wimbledon, one couch potato is also thriving! I have generally not watched sport for many years, making time whilst working only to watch the Eldest and Youngest participate in their various activities although I did make an exception in order to visit the 2012 Olympic Games in London. However spurred on by some wet and breezy days during the last week I have been swept up in watching Wimbledon. I recall in my teens and early adult life following the tennis in July quite closely but somehow there is a significant twenty years or so gap where I jump from the eras of Connors, Borg, McEnroe and Becker to Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray. Here I am retired, and it is as though I am back in my teenage years with the ability to follow the whole tournament, although I confess that I now need to wear spectacles in order to have any chance of seeing the ball. The great thing about majo...

As I indicated in my last post the British weather never fails to surprise. This time last week, the thermometer in my garden hit 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit); today it was 12 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit). Neither is what I would normally expect at this time of the year and, apart from the period spanning what was a very short-lived heat wave, it has been raining too! Well I suppose that really is normal for a British summer! When you are working, you can become quite disgruntled about rainstorms at weekends. In retirement, it is less frustrating as theoretically it is easier to rearrange your activities around the weather and what you may have planned for Sunday can now just as easily take place on Wednesday. Well that is the theory anyway but of course it all falls apart when you don't seem to get any periods of settled weather, as has been the case for most of this summer. Indeed when you have been banking on a week or longer period of g...