A Retirement Blog by Caree Risover

  New Year's Eve, a night for reflection when, as you may have gathered from my blog post here yesterday I am hardly in the party mood; instead I am full of cold and sick of people! Well the latter isn't qute true but you get my drift. Once upon a time when I was relatively young, staying in at New Year would have resulted in the initiation of a full medical examination. These days I don't even suffer from that relatively new disease known as the Fear of Missing Out. In fact, looking at posts by friends on my Facebook Timeline not to mention WhatsApp messages, staying in could even be the new normal. It seems I have reached the age when people wish you a Happy New Year at 8pm before disappearing to bed with a good book and a yawn. That's retired living for you; a few days of merriment at Christmas and it's enough partying for the rest of the year. Before I jump on the bandwagon and head up the stairs myself, I thought I really should take a moment to reflect on 202...

  Christmas comes just once a year but when it does it lasts a long time! At least that's how it feels after hosting the family for 8 days. Of course it was great to be back together once more but having 5 adults in the house for that long, increased by day visitors and on one night an additional overnight guest, is something neither Mister E nor I are used to anymore. Retirement has given us the house to ourselves, day and night, week after week. Sharing our space with others is somewhat strange, as well as tiring (or maybe that's just the thought of all the bed linen and towels that now need washing!). Lolling with a post-Christmas fatigue, normality is slowly being restored, or it  would be if I wasn't suffering from a running nose and sneezing. Typical Christmas guests, they may have gone but they always leave something behind and this year it was their colds. Proud of our potential Covid immunity after succumbing in October, we thought we'd  breeze through the ind...

  It's sometimes very easy in retirement to relax and lose track of time. Add that recent sunshine trip   into the mix and some might say I've reclined so far back into my metaphorical deck chair that I've entered a world of denial. Were you to ask me today's date I might struggle a little, save to say that I'm aware it is just before Christmas. How do I even know that? Well picking up the eldest and Dilly from the railway station this morning with a similar rendezvous arranged for the youngest later this evening might have something to do with it. Christmas visitors are here. There is no obvious stress permeating my being. Could everything be so well organised and planned that I'm ahead of myself? Sadly not, denial it definitely is and a feeling of floating on a higher plane, looking down and thinking no day in the year is ever worth getting frazzled over. Hence, this week I've been back into the gym, adding on a swim and spa; I've had a morning of stre...

 We managed to squeeze in another week away, this time making the excuse of dark winter days to snatch a quick stay on to La Gomera in the Canary Isles. Prior to the pandemic we had frequently taken a long haul trip at some point between November and January most years, after discovering that a quick burst of sunshine really does help us cope with the short days and cold temperatures that haunt the upper reaches of the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year. I guess you could call it a Vitamin D replenishment/Serotonin boosting visit. Just what the doctor might have ordered if we had thought to ask him.  As you can imagine with blue skies for most of the week and temperatures in the high 20's, it was somewhat difficult not to feel relieved, smug even, to discover that our travels just happened to coincide with a sub-zero Arctic blitz at home. Moreover we hadn't flown half way round the world to find it and in fact hadn't even strayed out of our customary time zone. With i...

  The weather has been a little tricky this year in the garden. The vegetable plot got off to a late start with frost persisting into May. It was mid-June before we began to detect any real warmth in the weather. Before we knew it, and despite a lack of sustained sunshine, drought conditions persisted and by August a hose-pipe ban was instated which, despite now weeks of wet conditions, I understand was finally lifted this week. Of most concern to me, however, is the rapidity with which we have suddenly moved from constant rain or drizzle to cold temperatures. Fair weather gardener that I am, I've been avoiding a soaking by seeking out activities more pleasurable than undertaking an autumn clear up. Obviously this means that now we have limited hours of daylight, grey skies and damp miserable conditions, I've been crawling around in the mud planting bulbs and clearing dead foliage.  What did I say in my last blog entry about letting go of anything that doesn't spark joy? Ex...

  Over the years I have adopted the habit of reading the Booker prize short-list. As a consequence I often find myself immersed in a tremendous book.  Long reservation times at the library mean that I am still waiting for some of the novels that were so accoladed this year to become available. To date, however, I can only express my disappointment, especially as the last specimen took me 3 weeks of hard graft and dedication to complete. I confess, tholokuti (is that enough to tell you which book it was?), I could easily have been persuaded to cease reading it altogether except, without skipping to the final page and despite it being an allegory and political satire where I surely knew the ending, I did want confirmation of what happened next. I was inevitably disappointed by my chore of endurance. In fact, I almost convinced myself that I had just forgotten how to enjoy a book when my usual pattern is to become so absorbed that I complete any novel within 2 to 3 sessions and t...

Did I really give my last blog entry the title Unscathed? Tempting fate and living dangerously might spice up retirement but aren't necessarily to be recommended. Of course the portent of doom was obviously already floating in the stars on Tuesday night when at 6pm and on the coldest day of the winter so far, there was a power outage across the village. Now you may not recall, but Tuesday evening, 7pm was, of course, the kick-off time for the England v Wales World Cup match. I can't imagine how awful it must have been for the poor souls on the other end of the customer helpline that evening, who would inevitably have been inundated with angry would-be TV viewers. After all I felt aggrieved and am hardly a die-hard follower. Electricity was restored by 7.30pm but not after the customer care personnel had presumably received short shrift from disappointed football supporters. Even if the fans were spared the agony of a first half that by all acounts was made up of back passing an...

  We have recently returned from another little foray. On this occasion we went to Malta and what can I say? Flying again after all this time- it was almost a new experience but bit by bit the memories return: the queues; the waiting; the cramped airline seats; the appalling range of  over priced and undertasting snacks; those passengers at the various airport checks with the wrong documentation. I could go on but, discomfort and all, it was quite simply great to be able to do it again. Malta too was a new to us destination. Another place that we had cancelled our planned visit to, back in 2020. A home from home in ways that I had not expected; well it always makes crossing the road easier when the traffic drives on the left, not to mention finding a post box when it's red! Staying in Valletta, we wandered to our limits finding the light, history and architecture very much to our pleasing; an urban photographer's paradise, even in the rain. We also had easy access to local bu...

  In the early days of this blog, one of my post popular posts mulled over what I then considered to be a smartphone dilemma. On retiring I was obliged to return the iPhone issued to me for work and was trying to decide whether or not I would actually need one solely for personal use. That's definitely not a blog entry that has stood the test of time. I  did resolve the issue by purchasing an android smartphone and have, of course, never looked back and to the extent that I have recently updated it for a second time.  Keeping in touch with friends and family via WhatsApp, especially the eldest when he was living in New Zealand, is an imperative and with the opportunity for group chats it's so much more useful than text messaging with of course the option for video calls too. Then there's the app I use to book gym classes and one to synchronise with the Fitbit on my wrist. It carries my electronic calendar and To Do List as well as my contacts' telephone numbers and add...

 What is it about Covid ? I've been testing negative for a week now and still the irritating coughing lingers. It feels like it should be productive but there honestly isn't anything for it to produce unless somehow barking can clear blocked ears. Doctor Google provides all kinds of medical explanations and theories but none are of any great use in unravelling a solution. Initially I thought I'd been given an early dispensation when only 5 days after that initial positive result, my lateral flow test was clear. Enthusiastically I returned to the gym 2 days later, albeit starting with a light weights and stretching class rather than something too strenuous. It got rid of all the stiffness in the joints and I felt a certain levity of spirit returning home, convinced I was cured and that the fourth vaccination really had delivered the immune response promised and in record time. How wrong can you be? It could have been a relapse or a false result but next morning, testing to j...

 There are occasions in exploring retirement that I feel I am sampling things so that others don't have to. An example arose this week when I decided to read "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying," by Marie Kondo. The KonMari Method and decluttering are now synonymous. Whilst we've probably all heard about her strategy of holding an object to see if it sparks joy, I decided it was time to see if there was anything more that I could learn. Into my 9th year of retirement and, regardless of the progress made, I still wonder if I shall ever reduce possessions to the point where I can give myself a well-deserved "Job Done" and accompanying pat on the back. Turning the pages, I quickly learnt that the preferred strategy is to get stuck in and aim to complete the task as quickly as possible and in any event in no more than 6 months. Whatever have I been doing for the past 8 and a half years, I wondered? Obviously not putting our house in order once and forever, as sh...

 For a couple who have spent what seems an inordinate amount of their lives messing around on the sea in sailing vessels, it has always amused me that we have never taken to cruising. There are times when, despite our reservations, it is a very obvious way to travel to see somewhere. Having completed three of these affairs, all with different companies in ships of varying sizes, I might almost regard myself as an expert in reasons for trepidation when voyaging aboard one. On the last occasion, 4 years ago now, I listed many of the pitfalls. Give cruise companies their due though, their marketing is good and some of them do their very best to tempt you back. After all, it's not all bad, living on a floating hotel and going from port to port without breaking into a sweat lugging a suitcase. Next year, it will be 40 years since Mister E struck out into the Atlantic in his own little boat making it to and from the Azores, he and the yacht, in one piece. There's nothing like an anni...

    You know that saying? "Just like double decker buses. You wait ages and then two come along at once." Well I've been living the experience, and after waiting a whole twelve months, two arrived together. Mister E and I, however, managed to miss both. I am, of course, talking nuptials. It's a year now since the eldest and Dilly were married but marked on our calendar for the weekend just gone were the weddings of both a niece and a nephew, the first on Saturday and the other on Sunday. The consecutive scheduling may not have been perfect, especially as we were due to return from holiday only on the Friday afternoon, but hey you only live once and the busier the better! Except it was not to be. That nasty Coronavirus finally caught both of us simultaneously and we've been stuck at home, coughing and spluttering. I wouldn't care but I'd even had my 4th vaccination only 3 weeks before; invincible, we are clearly not. When I've devoted time of late on th...

    I am not sure that any of us likes change. Set in our ways, it can be experienced as extremely disruptive. Of late we have had several changes of occupant on our road and after years of being used to the rhythm of previous neighbours, it does take some getting used to. There are now people who park in the street where the residents before were accustomed to putting their cars on the drive. Then there are those who light up a barbecue at the slightest whiff of sunshine, adding a certain "je ne sais quoi" to the scent of my washing drying on the line. Grass mowing hours have altered and there are even owners' cats to contend with, as they seek to extend their territory into our garden.  I hope none of my readers likes garden gnomes. To be fair none of our new inhabitants have yet gone so far as to install any but we do find the lifesize model deer furnishing a nearby front porch something of a novelty. However, today a Christmas wreath has appeared on the front door so ...

  When visiting Anglesey as described in my last post , I called into the public conveniences located near to the beach where we ate our picnic. I was tickled to see this sign on the inside of the cubicle door. I imagine there are many ways to experience relief within the enclosure of a toilet stall. However, having a sign to indicate the exit has to rank highly especially, as you can see, it was not only written in Welsh but helpfully translated into English.  I know our mental alacrity purportedly declines with age but I am still unsure as to which demographic the notice was intended for. Nevertheless I am grateful for the information imparted. Who knows, without it I might still be sitting there and what a way to spend retirement that would be!    

  Yes we have been on our travels again visiting both Wales and Scotland in the course of just over a week. I'd like to say we travelled by car, but our journeys to both felt more like swimming as the rain swept down in torrents.  I confess the further I get on in retirement the more inclined I am to become a fair weather traveller. So much so that when I saw the forecast for our 4 day trip to Anglesey I did wonder whether that super dooper travel policy I had to pay millions for might enable cancellation on the grounds of soggy conditions. Of course it didn't. Hence Mister E, the youngest and I set off, expecting the worst and prepared for it with heavy duty waterproofs   But, as we all know, the British climate is fickle to say the least and although we very much floated there in some of the foulest conditions I have ever encountered on a motorway, the black clouds dispersed upon arrival and we were indulged with sunshine for the rest of our stay. So much so that we ev...

  A US study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine attracted widespread coverage today. Whilst my Fitbit congratulates me for exceeding 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week, it seems that this accolade now comes with the ringing endorsement that coupling 2.5 hours of moderate to vigorous physical exercise with muscle strengthening potentially extends life. That's good, as three times a week I combine a strength class with Zumba or HIIT, with swimmming and additional Pilates sessions thrown in for good measure. 150 minutes? Far, far more but then I am making up for lost time spent in an office or lounging on a sofa. Obviously I'd like to think that muscular and aerobic activity could be a prominent feature of the whole of my retirement but I'm not entirely convinced by the prospect of continuing this routine into my eighties or beyond. Endorphins or not, the idea of moving from zimmer frame to press-ups is strangely fascinating. A definite challeng...