Retirement Life in The Week Ended 26th January

Oh boy! I’ve been busy. But it’s a shorter post than usual because I haven’t got a huge amount to report. A carer’s life is not an exciting one. But a bungalow completion is on the horizon and then some other arrangements will be put in place. I’ve just got to hang in there for a little while more.

I did tried to finish a mini craft project but there’s been a hiccup delayed completion. Be prepared for a showing and tell session with my handiwork next week.

Where I’ve Been

Home at last! We left Southend with my parents in tow. Dad had his first commercially produced burger at a service station, a Burger King, which all the family agree produce the best of the chain offerings.

I don’t know quite how quite how Dad’s missed out on visiting this type of fast food chain. I know that we visited KFC, maybe forty years ago, as a family when my parents were taking me back to university. They were not impressed with the ‘finger lickin’ good’ nature of their meal. I seem to remember that they were very unhappy about the lack of knives and forks.

Mum and Dad need more care than they used to and Mum still hasn’t recovered fully from her hospital stay. Due to her personal care needs there’s a lot that the boys can’t do. Plans for emptying their old house now involve the two Pauls, my partner and my brother as I can’t leave home. It looks like I won’t be going back to Essex for the foreseeable future. Now I wasn’t expecting that last week!

What I’ve Been Cooking

I’m preparing meals for a houseful at the moment including a mother who has coeliac disease, a serious autoimmune condition and not a fad. This very big ragu took about two and a half hours at a slow simmer to concentrate the flavours. It will do us all for a couple of meals. You can tell this is one of my own photos and not a carefully choreographed shot by a food photographer. Look at the state of that pan and hob!

Don’t ask me what went into my concoction. I know that there was mince and about seven different types of veg. I kept tasting during the cookery process and found stuff in the cupboards and freezer to put into it. At one point I used up the remnants of a pot of red currant jelly in the fridge.

So first up was a pasta bake, gluten free of course so I don’t poison Mum. I’m not sure what the second batch will make; cottage pie, spag bol, a rice dish. There’s a myriad of possibilities but it’s always great to have something in the freezer that I can knock up a quick meal with.

What I’ve Been Up To

Among a myriad of chores I’ve been changing my parent’s GP practice on the GOV.UK website. You’ll know it if you live in the UK. It’s the site that we all use to speak to the health service, file our tax returns, pay for our road tax and all manner of other things.

The site has a clear and crisp design which I always appreciate and I’m not the only one who’s a fan. Way back in 2013 it won the Design of the Year award, a prestigious accolade that’s included the UK’s Olympic torch, the iPhone and that lovely poster of Barack Obama with HOPE written under his portrait. It’s stood the test of time as it looks pretty much like it did twelve years ago.

What I Forgot To Show You

Southend Central Museum is a real hodgepodge of a place, just like this type of municipal establishment should be. Among the things on display there’s the internationally important artifacts from the tomb of the Saxon King. He’s Essex’s answer to Tutankhamun. Here’s where he was buried on the edge of a busy road near Aldi. I went to see him as part of last week’s wander. Something told me that you’re not going to get a throng of tourists making a detour to see it. However one lone Guardian reporter did this week!

The reason I like a peep around the museum is to see this dolls house that depicts a typical guest house. I reckon it was made around the end of the 70s as there’s a punk rocker in one of the room. I’ve been back several times and there’s always something else to stop. I wonder if this ‘lady of the night’ rented her room by the hour or whether she was a permanent resident there.

I’ll think I’ll bring this post to the attention of my friend and fellow blogger, Aril of Gnat Bottomed Towers. She’s a sucker for an interesting doll’s house..

Who I’ve Been Sleeping With

Here is Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon that I snapped when it visited Taunton a couple of years ago. It’ll serve nicely to illustrate this bit of the post. I’m sadly going to disappoint anyone who is expecting lurid confessions here.

For the last five nights I’ve been sleeping with my partner. Now many of you might think that this was normal given that I’m now back home and am happily civilly partnered. But those who know me will be familiar with the fact that I eulogise about sleeping separately. I l may well do a full post that expands upon the reasons for this soon.

However I’ve had to give up the room that I sleep in to my parents so Paul and I have been forced to sleep together. Murder nearly happened on the grounds of snoring, duvet hogging, fidgeting and farting. It took until us night four until we could settle down, behave nicely and have a decent night’s kip.

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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *