Retirement Life in the Week Ended 12 January 2025
We’ll start with something I missed out from last week’s post. I scheduled too early before a major event. Here’s what has happened in a week where my wings have been clipped even further!
What Happened Between This Week and Last Week

After I scheduled last week’s post on Sunday morning things kicked off. I accompanied my mum to hospital in an ambulance. It was a bit like this one inside, full of gadgetry. I had a lot of time to inspect it because we sat in a queue outside A&E for five hours. I’m truly grateful though for all the NHS staff who treated Mum with so much compassion and skill under such difficult circumstances. Her treatment, for dangerously low sodium levels, was started before she got into the building. How she got so poorly is another story that I’m not prepared to tell. ‘We need to get her salty’ said the paramedic.
Mum’s still in hospital but the ward has been closed to visitors due to a bug and isn’t going to open until next week. If I am perfectly honest I’d say it is a bit of a relief. Although Mum and Dad are disappointed about not seeing each other I’ve desperately needed a rest. After all I’ve been caring pretty much non stop for nearly a month. I’ve spent a lot of my freed up afternoons dozing.
What I’ve Bought

One of the things that I’ve been thinking about buying for Mum is a Radar Key so she can access disabled toilets easily. It’s gone down the list because I thought it would be a bit of a faff to get hold of. Not so. You can get them free delivered next day from Amazon if you have Prime membership. Thanks to my friend Kay for passing on this piece of wisdom. I was so pleased that I thought that I’d pass this on. There’s been a new wheelchair too from Angel Mobility which I’m dead impressed with. Such good quality for the money. I’ve provided the link in case anyone’s in the market for one for a small person.
Dad has just realised the power of next day Amazon deliveries too. He treats it like he’s discovered a genie in a lamp. ‘Can you do that thing on your phone to get me some cotton handkerchiefs’. ‘Your wish is my command, Dad’ I said!
What I Learnt

With Mum in hospital my physical world has contracted. I’m reluctant to leave Dad on his own for more than a hour or two as he gets up to mischief and isn’t always safe. I try to get out for some fresh air every day but on the two occasions that I accompanied Dad at visiting time my daily walks were replaced by bus rides. . So much for my step count.
It means that, until I have much more exciting adventures to report, little things take on much more significance. For example I was quite enamoured with the levitating man in a business suit emoji that I’ve just discovered, via a crossword clue of all things. Isn’t he lovely? With my eyesight as it is I hadn’t clocked him on my phone. I might be using him in future to signify jumping for joy.
Apparently he’s based on the logo of Two Tone records who released ska and reggae back in the day when I was in senior school. It’s rumoured he could be a little caricature of the reggae star Peter Tosh who played with Bob Marley.
What’s New on My Phone

I’m on a couple of spiritual courses at the moment where the facilitators are telling me to keep a journal. Now, aside from my gratefulness practice I don’t do very much handwriting at all. I find using a pen for any length of time uncomfortable and what’s more my writing is horrible. It’s much easy to get my thoughts down on my phone or laptop.
I thought that it would be useful to share the Day One app that I’ve downloaded to my Android phone. It’s available on Apple and their is a web version too. The free version seems to meet my needs but I do have a 30 day free trial of the Premium version to see if it adds anything to my experience. Unlike some of the other journaling apps that I tried first this one is simple and ad-free.
What I Found

The job of clearing out my Dad’s shed in preparation for my parent’s house move continues. I’m making good progress and have also contacted the local Men’s Shed group to see if they want any of his old tools. There’s been some odd stuff in there too including two ‘vintage’ Fray Bentos pies tucked in a drawer. My dad loves these but I couldn’t fathom why he might have been squirreling them away in his workshop. Check out the best before date on this one!

I was semi-tempted to open it. Both Dad and Paul thought it was worth a shot. I even think that that they would have tasted it. But I veto-ed their plans and out it went with the rubbish. I didn’t fancy a twenty year old pie explosion or dealing with botulism!
Where I’ve Been

I’m going to admit to being a bit homesick now. As well as missing my household and friends who live nearby I miss the ready access to the countryside that I have at home which is just a stone’s throw from the coast. Most walks from my parent’s house involve walking through endless housing estates before I get to somewhere with a sense of space.

However about five minutes walk away there is a public footpath that runs under an A road. It’s normally really muddy and, as I’ve only got one pair of boots with me, I’d normally avoid it. However the days have been frosty so I thought I’d give it a chance. I’m so glad I did. I enjoyed the cosy intimacy of the wooded path which then opened up onto big sky scenes.
What I’ve Tried

On one of my train journeys I watched an intriguing YouTube video by Antje Howard introducing Neurographia, It’s a drawing technique that aims to allow you to access your sub-conscious. I thought that I’d give it a go and followed the video to do so. Here’s what I came up with.
Before you start drawing you think about something that you’d like to have a different perspective on. I thought about the blocks that stop me starting the book that I’d like to write. Then you do the exercise mindfully taking into account your emotions, thoughts and your physical state while you’re drawing. The idea is that by the end of the exercise or in the subsequent time afterwards you’ll have a different perspective on the question that you posed.
Well I haven’t come up with anything terribly deep at the moment. I’m aware that the colours that I picked at random were different from my usual palette. I also felt guided to view the drawing upside down. I’m keeping an open mind and keep looking at what I produced to see if I get any delayed insights. I’m open to those. If nothing transpires at least I spent an enjoyable hour or so producing my masterpiece.
On the subject of writing that book, I’ve just signed up to the Hay House Writer’s Boot Camp. It runs for four days later on this month. I’ve done this useful little course before so it’s a refresher that will focus my energy. Maybe I didn’t understand that drawing but could it have been the catalyst that I needed to kickstart my project?
Disclaimer
This post contains links to companies and organisations just because I’m happy with the products or services that they supply or I’m spreading the word about what they do. There may also be affiliate links to Amazon for books and other items that I am personally recommending. If you decide to make a purchase from them, I might get a little bit of commission at no cost to you.