Never Say Never, But..

 

In my blogpost on September 8th, I described the challenge of undertaking an online course in Health and Nutrition. I am pleased to report that the final assignment was completed and submitted on Friday. Whilst I did my best to spread the workload over the time allowed, there was so much to complete that I still felt under pressure and far removed from the carefree retirement state I now consider normality. On the plus side, it felt like a new experience and I do feel far more knowledgeable than previously; I also appreciate the practical implications of what I have learnt and am already conscious of making changes as a result. However, I would like to think that even wild horses will not drag me back to the classroom. I do so much prefer the stimulation of active practical learning and creativity.

So it was that during September I also undertook the restoration of an old Ercol rocking chair that my grandmother had given me when I was only a toddler. It was a dark, stained finish and I think she had used it in her own home for several years before it was passed over for me to take pleasure from, making it perhaps 75 years old. In recent years it would be fair to say it had been abused rather than used and the time had come either to renovate or dump it. An idle surf through YouTube convinced me to give restoration a try and although, if I had the time again, I might organise for the chair to be dip stripped rather than trying to remove the old stain and lacquer by hand, the final result is a big improvement on what went before. Moreover and unlike academic studies, it is something that I shall willingly try again, time allowing!

I refer to the constraints of time because September has been a busy month, not least because we decided we really had better get stuck into decorating bedrooms at our own house whilst the weather was warm enough to survive without heating, not knowing if we will be returning with our furniture in the dead of winter or maybe (ever the optimist) even before. With the present state of the property (no heating, no running water and the excavation activity taking place downstairs) there is of course no chance of getting professionals in to do the job, so why limit yourself to one challenge when you can have multiple endeavours on the go at once?

On which theme I've also been exploring Laughter Yoga further! A little positivity goes a long, long way when you have so many balls in the air and that's before all the arts, crafts and studies.

Fortunately one of the benefits of temporarily living on the edge of town are the on hand facilities we've normally had to travel to participate in, so this month we  have taken advantage of the local theatre with its beautiful terrace overlooking the river, for some light relief. Moreover when neither that nor the gym work have been quite sufficient we've gone onto the moors to walk with friends, dodging the rain clouds with a remote pub and late lunch.

I'm not sure what October is going to bring, other than once again a beehive of activity but definitely no scholastic pressure.