A Retirement Blog by Caree Risover

Who would have thought that on the last day of September Mister E and I would be sitting outside at 6pm enjoying glasses of ginger beer. Mind I also picked some strawberries from the garden today too! We have certainly been fortunate in picking this summer to retire and not least when it seems to be going on and on. Although, I am beginning to become conscious of a pile of paperwork accumulating for me indoors I continue to stick to the old adage of "making hay whilst the sun shines." With temperatures just over 20 degrees, it has been great weather to start the autumn clear up in the garden. In addition I also took what might be best described as a "nature walk" the purpose of which was to carry out a wild flower count for the National Plant Monitoring Scheme. It's amazing how many species of plant you see when you look out for them. For instance this amazing Wild Teasel, which I walked right past initially without noticing. There's a

Thursday morning was a bit of a shock to the system. After 3 months of pretty much pleasing myself as to whether to get up bright and early or revel in some beauty sleep (my goodness looking in the mirror, I need it), I had no choice; I was working to someone else's timetable.  It was just how I remembered going to work to be. The alarm clock rang; I ignored it; it rang again and 15 minutes later I got out of bed, showered, dressed in  a suit and ate breakfast before applying make-up. Gracious, I had forgotten how good that stuff is for covering minor imperfections (perhaps I don't need beauty sleep after all). Then I was out of the door, driving away, all before 8.15 am. The hardest part other than an alarm clock ringing? Wearing shoes with a heel! It seems I have more or less escaped that habit for three months.  In case anyone wonders, I didn't go to an office but instead had a series of meetings to attend at two of the schools in the federation of whic

Despite waking up exhausted from the exertions of our trip to the South coast and back, it was business as normal today and time for some culture or at least a popular West End musical. Only on this occasion the venue was the Sunderland Empire and it was a matinee performance.  The production was wonderful; the music; the colours; the scenery and special effects. Whoever came up with the ideas for all those animals? They were delightful. I wish I could say the same for the audience. Young people and Southerners often get a bad press for rudeness but never in all my theatre visits have I been so appalled by the antics of what for the most part were people older than myself and, of course, all from the North. So many thought it acceptable to talk through the show, to push and shove their way to the seats, walking sticks brandished to good effect and elbows outstretched. Then, as the cast was taking its bow, it was like watching a tidal wave as people got up from their seats,

We returned yesterday from a journey that has taken us to the heart of London, Stockbridge, Southampton, rural Leicestershire and Nottingham.  It started with a need to convey the youngest and most of her worldly goods to University College London, where she begins her new life. Amazingly, with a little help from the unflappable SatNav our journey went very much as planned; at least there was no screeching at us to make a U-turn. Remarkably we were even able to find a car parking place, although at £9.30 an hour we didn't stay long. Back at home people have expressed disapproval at a parking charge of £0.60 per hour with the first half hour free, so goodness knows what they would make of London charges. Our parting was a mixture of excitement and sadness. To think the youngest is now so grown up that she is going to be living away from us in one of the biggest cities in the world, is, of course, difficult to believe. It is nevertheless a great opportunity for he

It was three months ago today that I last worked and it really does feel a lifetime away. In the last month we have managed another trip away when I was able to put my increased fitness to the test. Not working, it really is so much easier to be physically active and also eat more healthily. I still feel as though I'm taking baby steps towards pursuing my goals of creativity and adventure and at times as I seek to forge my new persona, there are moments of doubt as I can no longer identify myself with reference to my former career. As I have already mentioned in this blog, I am a complete and utter novice in my new way of living. Whilst most of the time that gives rise to complete hilarity, it also means that I have lost my safety net; I am a nobody, an infant with the whole world to explore and skills to learn in order to explore it. Delacroix said that "those who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything." I have been telling m

An old friend with whom I trained over 30 years ago and I have been comparing notes. Although she has just had a sabbatical between jobs, she has no intention of joining me in retirement just yet. She tells me that she gets intellectual stimulation from work that is missing from life at home. I understand and empathise with her decision but I have either gone gaga or else get sufficient stimulation from the newspaper crossword and my other activities to satisfy my mental needs. Everyone is different and whilst for years I thrived on the challenges thrown at me by my career, there came a point in time when I quite simply felt bored and exhausted with it. I realised that I did want to spend time with my family and achieve something else from life. Retirement as opposed to a change in career was the obvious option for me and I now find not just stimulation but also fulfilment in working towards the challenges that I am setting myself on my road to creativity and adventure.

We returned from a sailing trip in Scotland yesterday. In the quiet harbours of Kintyre there was muted evidence of the referendum that is about to take place. Indeed in East Loch Tarbert we spotted one man arriving in a motor-home to affix a pile of Yes notices to various lamp posts. Whilst one local yelled out, "No thanks," there was no other discernible reaction either in favour or against. I think, therefore, on the basis of our most unscientific experience, we could conclude (like the opinion polls) that the outcome may be very close to 50:50. The cruising grounds off the Scottish West Coast are incomparable and we again saw dolphins in abundance and seals. East Loch Tarbert itself is reminiscent of so many Cornish harbours but without the multitude of tourists or pasty shops. Instead we found a superb little restaurant where we ate out like kings on scallops (known locally as Queenies) and fresh fish from the fishing boats outside. Of cours