Retirement Life In the Week Ended 2nd February 2025
Mum’s back in hospital and she spent the whole week there poor thing. Fingers crossed that they find out what’s wrong with her this time around. So I’ve been to-ing and fro-ing for visiting time with Dad. But have I managed to conjure up a little excitement in a very quiet life? Find out below!
What I’ve Made
I’m determined to up my crafting to improve my sense of wellbeing. I looked through all last year’s photos and my creativity activity was at an all time low. There’s just been too much going on with my parents.
So on Monday I put the finishing touches to this lampshade. It’s a new to me craft. I bought the kit on eBay and the fabric at a very reasonable price from Brixham Sewing Box, a lovely little shop in town that was closed for a couple of years due to a flood. Thankfully it’s re-opened again and its a godsend. Last year I scored a blank in town when I went out to buy some pins.
To be honest I didn’t have high hopes with this one. I’m a bit of a klutz and glue and sticky tape brings out the worst in me. But there was a good set of instructions with the kit and Louis, my son, was on hand at the assembling stage to help me roll the stiffened fabric onto the frame. I’m pleased with it.
The only problem was that the material had frayed a bit so it was hard to tuck into the hoops. I used some PVA glue to neaten it up and its done the trick. With hindsight I’d have left a wider piece of fabric around the edge of the plastic inner. I bought a roll of white insulation tape to neaten the inner seam.
What I Bought
Louis smashed my gravy boat, an occupational hazard that comes with his dyspraxia. I was pleased as I didn’t really like it. It was boringly white and the spoon slipped down its spout after I’d finished stirring. So while I was in town picking up Dad’s prescriptions I nipped around the charity shops and found this retro beauty as the replacement. It’s from the Meakin pottery and was a bargain £3.50.
What I’ve Cooked
On a cold wintry day who wouldn’t turn down a big bowl of soup? I made my son Louis’ favourite baked bean version this week. It’s a recipe from this book, Good Soup by Lindsay Bareham, which comes from a time when Sainsburys used to do paperback recipe books and I used to pick up one or two during my week’s shop for 99p. Most have been discarded over the years but this one has been a keeper.
So back to that recipe. I’ll cobble it today. You fry a chopped onion with some bacon rashers, add chicken stock and a can of beans and season the whole lot with salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce. The whole is greater than the some of its parts especially when served with homemade sausage rolls!
What Mr Lovely Grey Restored
There’s that lamp again! But do you remember the pair of Stressless chairs that we got on Facebook Marketplace for £200? While I’ve had my extended ‘holiday’ in Southend my partner Paul has been busy restoring them. We bought a leather recolouring kit online from Scratch Doctor. It contains a very spaint that bends This is necessary as a pair of bit fat arses probably stretch that leather substantially. We chose a very traditional mid brown shade but there’s a fair few colours to choose from including more funky ones.
Now this was a labour of love. Bless him, it took Paul about a month to restore our recliners and stools. He reckons it would have been about a week’s work if he’d been going at it full time. But even if we take into account labour costs we got a bargain. Each of the chairs would have cost about £3,000 if we’d bought them new.
What I’ve Been Watching
Now I’ve done a bit of pottery in my time. I went to evening classes and, of course, it was part and parcel of any occupational therapy course back in the time that I trained. The photo shows one of my makes from that era. I loved the decorative work but wasn’t the best at construction. Even though I had many attempts I never successfully threw anything on the wheel. And yes I know my clock has only got one hand but I’m loathe to fix it and start it up again. The loud ticking was unbearable!
Bless my Paul for, while I was away, he recorded episodes from the new series of ‘The Great Pottery Throw Down’ for me. I don’t watch much telly these days but I do make an effort to catch the crafting competitions. This show has to be my favourite. It is such a gentle inspiring programme and I’m so in awe of the talent of the people involved. How they manage to have mastered the myriad of techniques involved with working with clay blows my mind.
Where We’ve Been
I’d like to say we’ve been somewhere exotic and exciting for a change but we’ve been stuck firmly in the Bay. Oh well. Things have been moving on with my parent’s bungalow purchase though. On Thursday we took Dad there for a viewing. It was the first time that he has seen what is going to be his new home. I think that he liked it! Fingers crossed we’ll be able to take Mum there next week.
What’s Been On My Mind
Being an Essex girl by upbringing I am a passionate fan of Maldon Sea Salt. It’s produced in a town where I have fond memories of spending time as a child. It also tastes so much better than any other salt have ever sampled and those distinctive large grains. I buy it in great big tubs like this one.
However salt has been on my mind for another reason this week. Mum has been back in hospital for the second time in a month after her sodium levels have dropped dangerously low again. That’s why she didn’t see the bungalow with Dad. She’s a bit peeved about that.
We recognised the signs of hyponatremia this time around. That’s a posh medical term for lack of salt in the blood. Mum got grumpier, more confused and less mobile. Being her main carer I was her particular enemy as I was forcing her to do things that she didn’t want to do like eat and drink. Now she’s discharged and back to her chirpy self we’re friends again. We’re currently playing a slightly tricky game of keeping her sodium levels up with nasty tasty tablets and her liquid consumption down.
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.