A Retirement Blog by Caree Risover

We are unable to resist the beauty of the English Lake District, regularly staying in the same lodge in the Langdale Valley twice a year. We have once again returned from such a trip where our days were spent walking on the fells, enjoying the scenery and just being in the great outdoors. It's that joy of nature effect that I have mentioned before but am only just beginning to realise the full impact of. When I was working, the Lake District served as a bolt hole; a release from the stresses and strains of every day living; the indulgent delights of a well-needed holiday, albeit in a scenic location.  Now the narrative is different. Staying in such surroundings is an extension of the life we have chosen to live in retirement; an opportunity to be at peace with nature and enjoy the simple pace of life whilst breathing in the country air, revelling in the views and sleeping deeply after those long, long walks. No longer do we need that break for a period of refreshm...

Well it is said that retirement is a journey and also that it is full of surprises. Certainly I had never expected to be embroiled in so much physical activity in retirement, becoming, if I am allowed to quote from the urban dictionary, something of a "gym bunny." Mind, you would never think it to look at me, but bit by bit the abs and glutes are developing. So the natural progression from all the exercise has to be to think in terms of general healthy living and, of course, that old chestnut: what we eat and drink. I thought I had tackled that a few weeks ago with My Fitness Pal but no, in the true spirit of moving on a stage in the journey, I have now started another Future Learn Course , this time from the University of Aberdeen on Nutrition and Well-Being. So far I have been absorbing some fairly basic facts about carbohydrates, protein, fats and micro-nutrients but do not have a clue where this trip is leading, especially when I have completed the course...

Last night we stayed at the Orchard Hotel on the University of Nottingham campus. It was a convenient spot, coinciding with dropping the eldest off after a sailing trip and prior to another of our history tour days, this time to Derbyshire and the Peak District. The hotel was built using eco-friendly principles but what I really love about it is how it is so light and airy, appearing to bring the green space from outside to the interior. Indeed it even takes this principle to extremes in the bedrooms which have a woodland mural on the wall. Perhaps its designers anticipated the research I have referred to recently confirming the health benefits of nature and we certainly, as on previous occasions, enjoyed our stay which proved a fitting prequel for a journey through the Peak District, taking in Ashbourne and Buxton before heading for Castleton and Edale. Buxton has been undergoing rejuvenation since I last visited (some thirty years ago) with the restoration of the...

It's been a funny old week. There's something about work that keeps you very much rooted in routine and the day to day. In my previous career driven life I do not think I ever awoke thinking "Whoopee it's Saturday," only to find that it was really Monday (or any other weekday come to that) and that I had an office to go to when I was actually relishing a day out with the family. Here in retirement and, as I have alluded to before in this blog , with no fixed routine ,  it is, I confess, easy to become disoriented with time. So I have had a friend to stay but somewhere, deep in the recesses of my mind, friends only stay at weekends; that's right isn't it, because midweek we are always working? More than a year in and the rhythms of retirement still conspire to defeat me on occasions, because it was actually Tuesday and Wednesday that she stayed. That was great because mentally Monday did not then arrive until Thursday and by then it was almost the e...

A short while ago I blogged about the pleasure derived from the sunflower ; a plant which, when in bloom, always makes us smile. Now one has mysteriously appeared amongst the crop in the field adjacent to our garden. Everyone who has visited us during the last few days had been enraptured and generally laughed out loud, especially as there must be some suspicion that it has grown from a stray seed carried by the wind or a bird from my garden.  I trust the farmer finds it equally as jolly. As someone who still works hard for his living, he may not even notice when he moves in with his combine harvester. It is those of us who are retired and relaxed who now have the time to find the fun in simple objects.

There have been a variety of studies that demonstrate the beneficial effects of nature and in particular living in or experiencing a rural environment with its trees, plants and other wildlife. In essence getting back to nature is good for you.  A recent study from Stanford University suggests that strolling through grass and trees is advantageous for our mental health. Another paper from the University of Chicago has even found that the health benefits of the natural environment is such that living in an area with 10 more trees is equivalent to being 7 years younger. No wonder then that, following on from our outings earlier in the week , Mister E and I yesterday went on an eight mile walk through forest, across fields, uphill and then over moorland. I guess we should have been feeling several years younger when we returned home. In truth, however, and until my hot bath to ease the aches and pains, I felt like a ninety year old! 

Despite the weather forecast with its warning of ground frost and chilly nights, Mister E and I know that it is really July. Unfortunately in what has been the windiest summer we can remember, we have all but given up any chance of a spell of settled weather for some longer distance sailing. This week, therefore, found us determined still to enjoy the outdoor life despite the bouts of heavy rain. We may have waterproof gear but there really is no fun (or we don't think so) of trudging up and down hills hidden behind peaked hoods and seeking shelter beyond a dry stone wall to eat our lunchtime sandwiches, the view all but obliterated by low cloud and raindrops. So yesterday and today, our walks shared a common theme of conservation as we walked first to a local wetlands area, small but of scientific interest as it dates back to prehistoric times when a lake formed after the last Ice Age. It is close enough to home that when the rain clouds began to congregate again, t...