A Retirement Blog by Caree Risover

Even in retirement there are some things which do not change. Of these the most important remains my Friday evening glass of wine.  How else would I now know that the weekend has arrived?

We returned today from a brief trip to Dumfries and Galloway in South-West Scotland. It is an area of the country that I was not familiar with and we had promised ourselves that we would visit outside of the tourist season. With heavy rain, snow, hail and strong winds we could, however, have chosen our weather better. It seems that even in retirement the diary can get cluttered and fitting in last minute journeys to take advantage of the weather forecast does not always work out.  In fact I must make a note to try to free up committing myself quite as much, otherwise I am never going to be able to take advantage of one of those last minute bargain travel opportunities to an exotic tropical paradise. Incidentally if anyone knows where I find them, I shall be pleased to be enlightened. In the meantime, we saw what we could. We were disappointed by Gretna Green which has been turned into some kind of Disneyland for coach-trips but enjoyed both Nithsdale and the Gall...

My plans for retirement as recorded on this blog include de-cluttering our home and as recent blog entries have suggested I am on target with this. So much so that  this week  even Mister E has been inspired to tidy up his own area of our communal study. Many years ago I acquired a book entitled "How to Stay De-junked Forever" by Dawna Walter ( a well-meaning relative possibly gave it to me, I do not recall). It was based on a TV series by the BBC called The Life Laundry which must have aired some 12 years ago. The book emphasises that "de-junking is a way of life, not a one-time experience" and then seeks to prove the need to embrace its rallying call for change with a series of surveys on readers' shopping habits, state of their home, cleaning practices, their emotional responses and the effect on their relationships.  Interestingly, I perused the book this week with the aim of conjuring up a dose of motivation to move my de-cluttering proce...

"Patience is a virtue," according to the well known proverb. In retirement, time is more abundant and with it patience too. I certainly proved that yesterday when I visited the bank to close the account to which I referred in this blog last week. My visit took 1 hour and 10 minutes; so long that I was offered a chair! Unfortunately it seemed that not only did the Building Society with which I had originally opened the account no longer exist after being taken over by the bank which I was visiting, but also: staff were unfamiliar with the workings of their new computer system; my account had been branded as dormant; because the account was in the surname I was born with and have used professionally (as opposed to my married name which I use more frequently now), identity appeared to be a tricky issue notwithstanding production of my driving licence, passport, birth and marriage certificates together with proof of signature and my ability to hand over all paperwork r...

I have indicated before in this blog how much I am striving to avoid routine in retirement. I can also see how easy it must be to slip into such and to stick to: regular waking and rising times; a scheduled shopping day; a timetable of classes and appointments; a list of household chores; an unvarying weekly television menu; a usual bedtime. In fact I sometimes feel that I have to work really hard to avoid committing myself to the cycle. I enjoy my visits to the gym and fitness classes, but deliberately visit at different times and frequently pencil in alternative arrangements at the same times as the classes. Also and to avoid the humdrum of daily life, there is a need for planning; to book tickets for events and performances, trains or flights with or without accommodation. I scour the internet and magazines for details of what is on at my favourite venues and also at some that are unfamiliar to me. I am trying out an assortment of creative activities and endeavour to ...

As well as giving time for hobbies and travel, retirement is also an opportunity to pursue things you feel passionately about. On my part I now enjoy being able to play a fuller part in my roles as a school governor and charity trustee. I am conscious however that retirement also brings the potential to help to alter the world; to activate about and engage with the powers of change.  To date and for me this has probably amounted to little more than signing a few petitions and writing letters of protest. I hold certain ideals and principles dear and try to live my life in accordance with them but hardly anticipate whole-scale change as a result. Am I being defeatist before I start? This evening Mister E and I went to the cinema to see Selma , the story (or at least part of the tale) of Martin Luther King and the fight for equality for blacks in America. It was immensely powerful and a reminder of the need to activate and stand up for what we believe in. "If we know then we...

In retirement, as I have previously alluded to in this blog, there has been the opportunity to catch up with all manner of chores and administrative tasks that I allowed to build up over a period of time, not least in the last few months of working. It's not that I thought I would be bored, just that some things could wait until I had more time.  Tackling the ironing basket and cleaning nooks and crannies were relatively easy jobs but the piles of paper (most of which I have ended up shredding) were more tricky to sort. In the last few weeks, my excitement has grown as I  finally spotted the table top emerging from beneath a mound of potentially recyclable waste. Today however I am not sure if I should be hanging my head in shame or holding it high with pride for I have uncovered a letter and form from 2009. They relate to the closure of a postal savings account (opened prior to Internet banking) and now paying 0.01% interest. At the time the requirements of the ban...