A Retirement Blog by Caree Risover

  Here we are: no blog entry on my part for over 3 weeks and now two in quick succession. Yes, I know, it's just like those proverbial double decker buses where, after waiting goodness knows how long, two arrive  at once. I suspect I could be turning into the blogging world's version of a fair weather friend/sailor/walker/gardener (take your pick). In my case, however, a bad weather blogger might be a more apt description. A spell of balmy days is always an excuse for avoiding chores and administrative tasks. Apologies, I'm overwhelmed by proverbs today which is why "Make hay whilst the sun shines," comes to mind. I do tend to take that saying a little too literally in retirement but it is fantastic to not only have a choice as to when to do something but to be able to select the right weather for it too. Of course, I'm not sure how my house and paper work would ever get done were I to inhabit warmer climes but, living in the north of England, I know we are ge...

I always know it's March when the hares begin to entertain in the field beyond our garden. Courtship rituals seem to involve madcap chases and boxing matches. "Hare today; spring tomorrow," is the message of the month. Of course, so much time has elapsed since I last posted an entry here that I've not only been watching the hares for several weeks but spring has actually arrived. My healing process has proceeded apace and fortunately enabled me to get into the garden with a spade, just in time to enjoy some wonderful warm spring weather. Snow is now forecast for Wednesday but it was good whilst it lasted.  Spring is regarded as the season for rebirth and it is so enjoyable to watch the bulbs blooming and buds bursting into blossom.  After an absence of over 2 years, we also got to visit our retirement project, six hours away at Crinan. That has to be another renaissance to add to the month's total. Moreover the weather there was magnificent, enabling us once again...

Hot, hot, hot. The lady (that's me) is hot! Forgive me, I honestly mean this literally.  I've been wondering for a longtime what a hot flush feels like. Now I know! I have always been able to sleep soundly. So much so, that it would never have surprised me if a representative from the English Sleep Team (were such a thing to exist) had knocked on my door inviting me to participate in the next Olympic Games.  Indeed one of the aspects of the fitbit app that has always intrigued me is where it gets its data for sleep patterns from. It insists that the benchmark for women of my age is to be awake from 15% to 27% of the night. Honestly that sounds so painful when, even with this sudden radiant heat I've started to generate, I'm still sleeping at least 90% of the time although perhaps the slumbering does now lack the quality I've been used to enjoying in the past. Obviously it's something of a shock to the system, but then I've become accustomed to those over the...