A Disorderly Retirement
The standard advice given to people who move somewhere new is to throw themselves into local life. You’re supposed to join things, volunteer and generally get involved. I have interpreted this advice quite narrowly and am seeking out all local activities that are food related. I went to three markets last week alone. In addition…
Many British people dream of retiring and living by the sea, some make the practical decision to move closer to family and friends, but not many decide that the home of Vodafone UK would be their ideal destination. It has occurred to me before that we’re not most people. But, in its defence, the town…
Moving house forces you to cast a critical eye over all the stuff you have accumulated throughout your life. How much of it do you need or want? Looking back over our various pandemic lockdowns (which, oddly, seem so long ago now), I seem to have divided my time between walking, doing jigsaw puzzles and…
It’s hard to believe, but it’s three years since I started my blog. I paid a company a modest amount of money to host my website for three years, although I suspected that the web-hosting business was like any other – they give you a great rate at the beginning, then offer you a renewal…
Well, it’s actually happening. We’re really leaving the house we’ve lived in for 30 years. So far it’s all felt a bit unreal, but now that we’re talking about moving dates, the reality has sunk in: we don’t know where we’re going. There’s not much on the market at the moment and we haven’t found…
Here we go again – I’ve been overcome by a fit of self-improvement. It’s what happens when I don’t have a trip to plan and my mind is looking for something else to occupy it. I’m on another of those endless and fruitless quests to improve my French. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy these…
I can’t believe that it’s nearly a month since I wrote my last blog. I had got into such good habits during lockdown. Back then, with oceans of time available, it was no problem finding a few hours a week in order to write a short piece based on whatever thoughts happened to be flitting…
I wonder if everyone is still madly doing Wordle? After conducting a brief and highly unscientific survey of half a dozen people I would guess not as much as they were. We love novelty, but only while it’s still novel and then we get bored and move on. I think the man who invented Wordle…
It all started when I got lost in the woods. This is particularly embarrassing because the woods are directly across the road from our house and I have been walking in them for 30 years. Everything was fine until I decided to be adventurous and head off down a new path. On the whole, I…
This week we have been clearing out the loft. It would have been much more exciting if we’d had an attic to clear out instead. Lofts are so dreary – forgotten spaces in the eaves, smelling of old suitcases and mouldering clothes – but attics are so much more glamorous, containing the promise of adventure…