Retirement Life in the Week Ended 2 March 2025
It’s been quite a productive week on a number of counts. I’ve finished a big crafting project, gone out sea fishing for the first time ever and made good inroads at the allotment.
Most importantly we’ve made progress with Mum and Dad’s property transactions. They signed contracts for both the sale of their old home and the purchase of their bungalow this week. Mum is moving much better after a significant period of illness. The amount of personal care that I’m providing is now minimal. Here’s a little run through of the other things everything that I’ve done.
What I Planted
Allotment life is ramping up. Given that I was in Southend-on-Sea for nearly three months looking after Mum and Dad I’ve got a look of weeding to catch up on. When we took on allotment number two last year it was inundated with bindweed. This year I’m pleased to say that I’m finding very few of the tell-tale beige routes.
As a reward for clearing a wide strip on the plot in just one day I planted two blackberry bushes this week. They’re sitting alongside an existing wild bush that Paul thought he’d hacked to death last year. This was just before the neighbours told us that it produced the most tasty fruit ever. Happily it’ survived the mutilation and has put down runners. Fingers crossed for a bumper crop this year.
I also planted a loganberry cane in another spot and relocated a blackcurrant plant. It was kept as a spare in case any in one of the rows that I transplanted died. I must have had a premonition because one did. If everything goes to plan we’ll have a bumper soft fruit harvest for eating fresh and freezing in years to come.
What I Bought
I love the Cornish lifestyle sustainable lifestyle brand Liga and treated myself to some of their marine themed placemats a while ago. They’ve worn well and if they’re a bit grubby they response well to a wipe and they are as good as new.
I had a couple of their coasters that were bought as a birthday gift by my colleagues at work. I decided to add a few more to my collection. We’re always short of places to put out mugs. They arrived this week and I got one free as a special deal. All in the Lovely Grey residence are pretty pleased with them. The turtle is my particular favourite. I fight over it with my son’s girlfriend!
What I’ve Been Watching
On most days this week that allotment weeding continued. Little and often is my mantra and I make it more bearable by listening to podcasts on my sleep headband. It turns out that this recent buy is good for gardening too as it keeps my ears warm!
Can I recommend this particular YouTube video, an interview of Dr Rangan Chatterjee by Mel Robbins? It’s got me thinking about some more small steps that I can take to improve my health. In particular I’m wondering whether Dr Chatterjee’s ‘five minute coffee making workout’ can be incorporated into my fraught morning routine while I’m make Dad’s porridge.
What I’ve Completed
Remember that house number for my parent’s home that you’ve seen progressing. Well it’s done and dusted in spite of a very fiddly bee! Here it is. It’s the second one I’ve made for Mum and Dad, the other was bee themed too. Mum wanted me to take it off the wall at their old home but I dissuaded them. A ‘212’ wouldn’t be much use to the postie at their new place. We’ll leave it for the new owners.
All we need is the bungalow gate to put it on now but there’s news there too. Contacts and other paperwork have been signed and sent back to the solicitor. Not many sleeps until Mum and Dad move and we get our house back!
Where I’ve Been
On land I haven’t been out of the boundaries of our town this week. However I did head out to sea with my partner Paul on his friend’s little fishing boat. We caught about fifteen sardines which made a fine contribution to a family supper. On the way back into the marina we saw these guys hanging out on a pontoon.
What We Cooked
Those sardines were simply grilled and served with a side of diced potatoes. They were simply doused in olive oil with salt, pepper and garlic powder and roasted for about thirty minutes in a hot oven. What do you think of our homestyle version of fish and chips?
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.