A Retirement Blog by Caree Risover

  Oh my. I really am disaster prone at present. I am now a regular traveller to London in order to spend time with Grandotty who celebrated her first birthday at the end of February.  I have never been a fan of city living but sacrifices have to be made when the immediate family are all in the capital. Transferring at King's Cross onto the underground and then again onto an overland train are now normality for me and all changes are generally conducted without mishap, or so I thought. Last week changed everything when the small leather hold-all I was carrying was stolen from my shoulder as I boarded the overland train. Perhaps I looked like a vulnerable country cousin come to town and was specifically targeted. Hats off to the thief (or more likely gang who crowded around me as I prepared to enter the train), I certainly didn't notice until the moment it disappeared and by which time I was being carried forward by the throng of people also accessing through the doors with me. I

  We spent a week over Christmas in London at the home of the Eldest and Dilly. It was brilliant to spend so much time with our family (the youngest stayed too), especially with our granddaughter who reached the dizzy age of 10 months on Christmas Eve. As she's already becoming a confident walker after taking her first steps somewhat precociously over 2 months ago now, she was into everything. The ladies, however, chose to escape on the Saturday before Christmas, making our way to Pudding Hill Lane and the ABBA Arena for a performance of ABBA:Voyage. I'm not sure that I was fully prepared (platform shoes aside) for what to expect and confess to finding the whole experience somewhat surreal. It honestly felt as though we were at a live concert with ABBA on stage. Just how authentic are those virtual reality avatars? Forget botox and cosmetic surgery, this has to be the obvious route to eternal youth. Trouble is, with my singing voice, I doubt anybody would be interested in prese

  Yesterday I had one of my regular monthly meet-ups with a very dear friend. In the summer months, we normally include a long walk in our itinerary; in the winter we tend to fequent museums and art galleries. There was no mistaking what time of year it was on this occasion, not least when we had a mince pie each with our coffee. I set off in the dark and returned in the dark, there was a definite chill to the air and the trains I used to reach our rendezvous were crowded with Christmas shoppers and charity fund raisers dressed as elves! It is often said that, in the words of TS Eliot, "The journey, not the destination matters." In so far as I enjoyed the thrill of the train ride, I agree. I used a newly downloaded app to be guided to the correct platform for train changes and daringly managed the whole trip with only digital barcodes on my phone; both novel experiences for this retired traveller who normally likes to err on the side of caution with everything printed out in

  We had our regular annual review with our Financial Advisor this week. The investments that sustain our pension funds remain stagnant as we were already aware, but the good news is that, regardless, he recommends spending them on exploring Planet Retirement. Money matters but so does fulfilment. Obviously, first Covid and then this year the requirement for our presence to resolve the leaking oil issue, have both intervened to curtail our travels and experiences. Consequently, he echoed our concern that we don't want to miss out for too long, ending up in frail health and unable to realise lifetime ambitions.  We are so conscious of this and whilst vague plans are frustrated at present, it's good to have ratification from a third party. How easy it must be in retirement to slip into sitting at home in splendid isolation adopting the attitude that venturing out is only hassle. There may be a time in the future when we have to embrace that restricted lifestyle but for the moment

  Somebody recently told me that they'd enjoyed modelling, participating as a favour at a charitable event for the first time this summer. Handbags, sunglasses and high heels with quick changes in between each outfit. In retirement I'm keen to try many things but I'm definitely not glamorous enough to ever consider stepping onto a catwalk, so felt in no way tempted to give it a go. Earlier in the month , however, I referred to my need for active diversions to the ongoing headache caused by the oil leak. Last week, I too found it in modelling. In my case, however, it was of the clay variety when I signed up for a Highland Cow Sculpting workshop. Didn't I just love it. A far cry from the plasticine of my childhood, clay is altogether more malleable if somewhat messier too. I even got to play with an extruder in order to create all that long hair. My piece has now gone to be fired and although there's every probability that it will have crumbled before we're reunit

    Life has a habit of throwing misfortune our way. Retirement is no exception to that rule and indeed as we age we are more likely to encounter and face the demise of loved ones, health issues and increasing frailty of body and even mind. There are also those day to day issues that we might find harder to deal with, not to mention the unexpected shocks and surprises ready to leap out when we least expect them. The main advantage we have in retirement is a lifetime of experience in dealing with adverse circumstances. We are now in the advantageous position of building on that experience and developing still further our resilience.  Action for Happiness identifies resilience as one of the 10 keys to a happy life. Resilience doesn't mean that we are no longer impacted by awful situations but instead that we can overcome both the crisis and the stress and anxiety it brings to us, enabling us to move on positively, build on our fortitude and learn from the ordeal. Sinc

   A few weeks ago I bought a singing bowl whilst visiting a Nepalese craft fair. There's a certain skill to inducing a sound but once perfected the effect is a harmonious reverberation that lingers for several minutes. Sitting cross-legged which is never easy with my unstable right knee, the bowl induces a feeling of calm and self-compassion.  It's another stopping place on my path of discovery in the world of retirement. So much so that two weekends ago I attended a Sound and Meditation workshop which left me tingling with the vibrations for 24 hours afterwards. Buoyed by the experience, last night I went to a soundbath in a village church some 15 miles away. Lying down in the darkness of the aisle, atop a yoga mat and huddled in layers and a blanket, I closed my eyes and let the oscillations take over. The sound, generated by various singing bowls, bells,  rattles  and  gongs , was complemented by the acoustics of the stone building and I pulsed from within. Sound baths are

    Yesterday was the pits. At least that was what the email I received implied.   "I shall be arriving at 10 am to start digging trial pits," wrote the contamination expert. I'm not sure quite what I was expecting; some kind of lunar landscape interspersed with deep craters perhaps. Oh well if we haven't been able to get away and fly to the moon or indeed anywhere, creating the effect in your back garden might just have the same impact and without all the hassle of airport check-ins. In the end, however, the work was far less intrusive. Fear the worst and hope for the best they say.  Directly attributable to a month or more of detection work by Mister E and me, as well as too much time spent on hands and knees sniffing in strange corners, I'm pleased to say that we were able to direct the expert and his shovel to within a couple of feet of striking oil. It wasn't quite a spout bursting from the core of the earth but, drilling down and scraping away, he found

 I don't know how anybody else copes with domestic chores but I find them a real grind . When I was working I generally paid somebody to assist with the cleaning and ironing but even then tidying up in readiness for their visit was a burden in itself. In retirement I chose to relieve myself of that load by endeavouring to keep on top of the inevitable crumbs, dust and muck personally. I can't say I'm successful in doing so. Although after 9 years of retirement I am at least more accomplished in that sphere than when I set out. Adapting from a career that called out for an element of perfectionism to a dust and do mentality has not been easy. If anything is going to force us to downsize it will inevitably be the hours of my time spent on mundane household tasks, only to have to repeat them again a week or two later. What is it about dirt that it reappears as soon as you turn your head? Last week, however, I decided to try a new technique and downloaded a couple of cleaning a

  I know that as you age it is considered common to have issues with your urinary tract or prostate. Mister E and I however seem fated to have problems with a different kind of plumbing. The central heating has been a headache on occasions with a blocked radiator and more recently a screw through a pipe.  We currently have an issue with the heads on the Retirement Project too. However all this pales into insignificance when compared to events of the past 3 weeks. I've moved from a state of shocked paralysis, through panic to waking up in the night attempting to logically solve the problem at 3.30am (it never works and just leads to continuing insomnia). If I ever thought I'd left the world of stress behind me the day I retired, I could not have been proved further wrong. Hot sweaty palms, a fast beating heart and bouts of sudden nausea have all made their inevitable appearance. It started a few days after we returned from our Baltic trip (and believe me, I could now do with a

  We have just returned from a 2 week trip to the Baltic. It had been our intention to visit it as part of our Adieu tour prior to the end of the Brexit transition period. The hope had been to make use of the railway and ferry connections with a view to ticking off the member states adjoining the Baltic Sea from here to Finland and back again. If only, but unfortunately that nasty pandemic interrupted all our travel plans.  I'm not sure whether we are just being slow to recover our confidence after Covid and clearly catching it whilst travelling last October hasn't helped. There again it could be an age related issue. Either way, whereas the idea of all those transport connections back in 2020 invoked excitement, this year they just seemed something of a complex hassle and we had parked the whole idea. Of course, the last time we were ocean bound it was on our ill-fated cruise to the Azores . The company offered us compensation in the form of an acceptable level of discount bu

  Here in the north of the country we are suffering from a typically miserable (weather-wise) Bank Holiday weekend. Temperatures have struggled to make even double digits and it has rained almost continuously. Pretty much what I was trained to expect whilst working but, despite the flexibility that retirement brings, when you are conscious as to how far behind the garden is this season, it is potentially frustrating all the same. Moreover, I say that as somebody who, in retirement, claims not to "do frustration." Mid week it was a very different picture, the sun shone brightly, we had blue sky and although it was certainly not warm, it brought spring into the step as well as confirmation of the season. I've spent all winter looking forward to such days. They certainly impact upon behaviour as the need to nest-build and declutter strikes. This last fortnight we've been seriously affected, deciding to redecorate our bedroom from floor to ceiling. Is it just me or do ste

  What I really love about retirement are the opportunities to take up so many new challenges. Today was no exception when I participated in my first session of Tai Chi. It may be classed as a martial art but judo it is not. When the instructor asked if anyone had any previous experience, a friend volunteered that she had watched Kung Fu Panda. Unsurprisingly he told her that would not help! Instead it was an hour of weight shifting, stroking sparrows' tails and turning large imaginary balls between our hands, all to a soundtrack of birds singing.  I entered the studio with no preconceptions (I didn't even know if we were meant to wear shoes or not) and left it calm but enthused.  Lesson 2 is on Friday. Somehow I doubt if we shall progress to exercising with weapons which I understand can include spears, sabres and fans. Instead the emphasis is on learning a set sequence of moves, working with internal energy whilst slowing the mind, breath and movement of limbs. As we get olde

  I am about to go through a second retirement. When the eldest and Dilly told us last autumn that, all being well, we were scheduled to become grandparents at the end of this month, I decided to relinquish my role as Parish Clerk. I have been in post since October 2015 and whilst a small salary is paid, it is very much a voluntary position in so far as hours worked and tasks undertaken double those contracted to be delivered. I have, however, enjoyed contributing to the community in this way and been able to put the skills learnt from my decades of legal practice to good use.  However, having been a working Mum for most of my career, I have absolutely no intention of being a working Grandma and so my notice of resignation was duly delivered. Sadly, there have been no enquiries from anyone interested in taking over the role and, honour bound, I have continued in position on the strict understanding that, replaced or not, I would not work beyond my grandchild's due date of 28th Febr

  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

  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 then have

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 bus

 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