Retirement Week One

As Alison went back to work on Monday, I count last week as the first of my retirement. It has actually felt like taking a week off to catch up on all the jobs that need doing. Except for Monday, when I met my daughter and granddaughter at John Lewis in High Wycombe. The excuse was to order the carpet for my new study, but it was really to have coffee and cake in their cafe. That seemed to be what retirement was really about.

The week was so mild, it was good to get out in the garden on Monday and Tuesday. The downside was it meant carting a stack of engineering bricks (left over from when the conservatory was built a good few years ago) to the end of the garden to build a compost enclosure. And then bringing back compost from a heap built up over the last two years to lay down as mulch on the borders. I'm not sure when my back will recover.

And that was why my usual swim on Wednesday was so awful. I will have to remember to take it easy the day before the swim. Whilst I was at work, it was sitting at a desk most of the day. And as I usually went to the cinema on Wednesday afternoon, this week was no different. Although extremely violent, "Apocolypto" was riveting. I cannot think of a more bloody film that I have ever seen, and that includes all the horror films from "A Clockwork Orange", "Land of the Dead" to "Final Destination". So next Wednesday I am really looking forward to seeing "Miss Potter".

There was quite a bit to do to prepare the new study. The removal of the twin beds (that the children used when they came to stay in the little house in Wendover from 1985), dismantling an old wardrobe and taking to the tip. Choosing the paint and searching for a new desk. I thought Alison (who has always done all the decorations) would hand me the paintbrush as it is my study and I do have the time. But this weekend she has got stuck in with the emulsion, probably as it will take a few coats to cover the existing blue.

My contribution to her still working is to do the Tesco shop on Thursday morning, clean the house that afternoon and do some of the preparation for the evening meal. It is really so that she has less to do in the evenings and at weekends.

So I have crossed off a few of the jobs on what seems to be an increasing list. And these jobs are not to be confused with the various projects I have lined up for my retirement. I just hope that the list is much shorter by the time the study is ready, but that depends on the arrival of the carpet, a desk and some shelves and finally the new computer. Then I can actually start what I retired to do.