Slightly cracked.

Have a look at this photo, especially the two glasses.



Today is my last day of paid employment and so is rather special. We celebrated my last teaching day, but today is another excuse for some revelry. When we knew we had jobs at the end of college days,(Long, long ago!) I bought two rummer glasses from Dartington as a celebration, I remember ringing my husband to be and telling him about them. Sadly one was broken by a rather vicious knife which sliced into it, and this one has a tiny crack in the rim, but I have kept it for sentimental reasons.

The other day I was shopping in Newport and found a new shop selling fun pottery and glass, so I went in. (Of course!) They were selling Dartington glass and so I ordered another pair of Rummers to be paid for out of my last salary from teaching. I was so pleased they still made them, the only difference being in the base which is thinner and narrower. So now I have some glasses with which to celebrate a different future. Can you tell which is which?!!

The wine? Ah, well that was also bought with the first salary cheque, heaven knows if it is any good now, but I was determined to keep one bottle to see. It was bought for 'putting down' so we shall see. I think I had better find some good steak to go with all this excellence.

Cheers folks, here's to a new life doing other things.

Thank you so much DLG!!

The instructions were quite clear - sort out your cupboards woman!! Yes, alright, I have been ignoring them for some time, but I did as I was told and started the marathon. Well, it has been wonderful!

I am rich in many things - you know about the tomato puree, but how about pine nuts, vanilla pods, almonds and green licquorish! Mmmm, I had forgotten that I had hidden it in a tin and I am so glad! It will be a reward for finishing each cupboard - providing it lasts that long of course. It is so moreish I have to resort to these ploys of hiding any evidence of it to prevent myself from eating it all in one go.

Do you think I should sort out two cupboards today?!

What a fabulous site!

Thank you Pewari!
Your helpful comment about my crossword trials has proved to be incredibly helpful. This is the site :
www.morewords.com that is helping. It is wonderful! I also like to do the polygon exercise whre you have make words out of a group of letters, with each word using a central letter. There is nothing so annoying as being able to make enough words to score a 'good' judgement, but to fail to work out the word from which the letters were originally selected. This site does it for you. (or me!) So I use this as a last resort, but at least I now know which words are used without haaving to wait for the answer in the next day's paper. (Oh, doesn't that sound so impatient!)

Tonight's menu.

On the basis that I can use, no, have(let's be honest) a lot of tomato resources to eat, tonight I shall combine them with some of the truly lovely Greek butter beans that I brought back from holiday this spring, to make a warming meal. It will also remind me of the food we ate in the spring and the people in the group. Some space will also appear in the newly cleaned out cupboard. But not much! So tomorrow I might make a pizza, then spag bol, soup with some of the dried pulses...
I wonder if overdosing on tomatoes changes the colour of your skin as do carrots!!

The same mantra to be said when shopping: I do not need any chopped tomatoes, sun dried tomato paste or any passatta.

I do not need to buy....

It is the last Bank Holiday of my paid working life and at 5.45 am, yes that early, I was woken by a text message from DLG who is back in Saudi. Hmmmph!
OK I forgive her, I snuggled down to read it and realised that she was organising me from a distance - what are my short term and long term aims for this part of my life?

Errr...

So I promised to write a list. The first thing is to sort such a list out and to keep it where I can add to it as I think of suitable ideas.

The list of long term aims starts with travel while I can to places that are distant. Very vague but also very definite. I am going to learn how to speak another language too, so I have started with Spanish. Shirley and I had little conversations in the Yoirkshire Dales in Spanish, mostly followed by peals of laughter because I kept saying 'men' instead of 'I am hungry', so then of course I adapted that... you can probably guess how the silliness went!! (I just hope that no other walkers were listening.)

The short term aims are mostly to do with sorting out my little home. I have made a start by emptying all the school bags of their contents, which has led to a pile of books that need to be taken to a book bank. Before I even do that or start on the bookshelves in the spare bedroom, I am going to sort out the cupboards in the kitchen.
I have realised over the last few weeks that I am still hidebound in my habits by thinking that I am buying for a full family. Hence my shelves full of food - and also my fear that the electricity will cut off in the winter (as it used to frequently in our family home, and sometines for several days at a time.). However, that is in the past and I need to live in the present, so I am going to learn a new mantra.

I do not need to buy any tomato paste, chopped tomatoes or sun dried tamato paste. Repeat again: I do not need to buy any tomato paste, chopped tomatoes or sun dried tamato paste.

I am not going to admit how many tubes or tins of those commodities I have turned out of the cupboard. Now I need a resipe or two that will use them all up in the next few days as they are NOT being put back into the cupboard!

Laughter is the best medicine.

In amongst all the newspaper articles I have read this week, was one about laughter being excellent medicine. I agree with this, having always found a good laugh makes me feel so much more positive about life.

I am not in need of any medicine at the moment, but in amongst all the other things I have been doing (To avoid the sorting out of many years' junk) is reading Kate Adie's book, 'The Kindness of Strangers'. This book has made me roar with laughter at the oddest occasions that she writes about. DLG - if you can get hold of a copy of this, do read it. Especially page 204 where she describes buying some shoes in Beirut. There is an experience for you!
What a life she has led, I envy her the wide circle of acquaintances she has made in her work. Perhaps this is something that I could add to my list of changes to my lifestyle since retiring. The wilds of Shropshire will not make that very easy, but it is something I can work on!

One of the joys of early retirement is...

having the time to read about local events. Ludlow is holding its annual food festival in September and strangely enough we are spending that week-end nearby in Bishops Castle. Having found that 21 miles in one day was killer, I am not about to propose that we walk the 17 miles to Ludlow, but I think I may well go early on the Friday via Ludlow so to speak. (I haven't looked a tthe ap yet, so even if this is all the wrong way round, I think I shall go!)

They have all sorts of delicious things to do - sausage and ale tasting, local foods are also available on a nibbling basis and the town intself is very attractive. Lots of lovely shops - antiques, clothes etc etc. Better hide the plastic! The castle holds all sorts of atractions, like an enormous food hall, talks, demonstrations etc.

I think a day finding out about mushrooms, pork, slow food and a taste of Italy might well be a good precursor to a week-end's walking, eating and drinking around Bishops Castle. Afer all, they have their own brewery there which needs to be visited. They also have some good shops... (Perhaps I had better chop up the plastic!)

Yummy!

11 across - Of one form of tin

Ok, this is another admission that I still do anything but the stuff I ought to be doing. Retirement has not yet taken away the secretive joy of dawdling and doing things I ought not to be doing. I did visit the recycling centre this morning DLG, with bags of 'stuff', and I have started to throw away shoes (again in to the shoe recycling box) that I shall not need. Those ones that are comfy and slightly smart for work. The really glitzy ones that I know I will never wear I simply can't bear to get rid of. (Such a sad person...)

However, I have almost achieved completion of a crossword, on my own, for the first time ever. All I need is the answer to the clue above. The answer has 7 letters and is s-a-n-e Any offers of help will be gratefully received. I learnt what the work eructation means today too - great fun!

The solar recharger for batteries works wonderfully, I put the little box outside on the garden table every morning, then I have 4 AA batteries already charged by the evening. That is going to be really useful in the winter - I will explain that comment at a later date!

Now I also have time to dawdle in the shops and find all those things that I kept forgetting: like sticky hooks to hang my San Fransiscan oven mats up tidily in my kitchen. I love buying things for the kitchen when I go away on holiday so that cooking becomes an almost sentimental experience.

All of these experiences which I have not allowed myself for years, so I think I need to go and make myself another cup of tea so that I can dawdle over something else on the list of jobs to do!!

Firends

As Lynne has written, we met up again recently for the first time in years. My goodness, it has been a long time, but it felt like we had met as usual at the week-end for a meal and a drink.

It was very special for me that she and Phil were there to celebrate my last day of teaching. We had worked together for many years and had such a lot of fun. The champagne moment was a good celebration.

One of the things we always seemed to be doing, was making lists - our 10 points to survival. Well, we have started again and already the point about not drinking so much alcohol has been a complete failure... we are hopeless!!

However, I am using the list strategy to try to organise my days. I have a leisurely breakfast and make a list of things to do during the day. So far, things have been fairly successful - all three compost heaps have been turned out and spread over the garden, the bags of trimmings have all been emptied into the empty bins so all my sacks of rubbish have disappeared. Poor toad has been so confused, he hasn't known which heap to live in because I cannot communicate with him and tell him where I am going to be working next!! Can anyone speak toad? If so, please send me a translation for, "I am digging out the compost heaps this week!"

The slugs and snails have also had a battering - many of them have been tipped into a salt bath, others have been allowed a reprieve if they were willing to stay in the compost bin. The displays under the windows seem to be especially attractive to them, as I turf out at least five slugs or snails every day. I am on their case, there is no daily target number, but I need a satisfied feeling at the end of each day!

One point I transfer from Lynne's 10 point list to my daily list, is to treat myself to something special each day. It might well be some real coffee, time to read a book, or even some chocolate. Whatever it is, a daily treat is part of my life now. Thanks firend!

Swallows and Amazons.

On Sunday I experienced another 'first' - sailing. So far I have assumed I would be very sea sick on board any small boat, so quite simply I have avoided it. However, I was dragged off to Rutland Water, introduced to a cute little catamaran and bundled on board before I could suggest it might be lovely to sit on the edge of the lake and just watch.

Let me just explain the 'on board' part - it consisted of a net stretched between the two torpedo shaped parts that actually floated in the water. There were no seats or anything solid or stable like that, which was OK until I sat at the rear end and the water soaked me from underneath. Mmmm, wet nappies come to mind!!! ( Contrast this with Lynne's experience of sailing on a huge yacht in Egypt. She and I often find ourselves experiencing similar things, but somehow she always bags the luxury end of the experiences!!)

Well, I have to say that I enjoyed it from the start, after I was bribed with the promise of an ice cream from the other side of the lake (It works everytime!). I even learnt how to steer the creature, to gib -jib gyb ??? and to tack, but don't ask me the difference between the two. The funniest part came when we were becalmed and had to lie down on the two torpedo bits and paddle the boat toward shore! Thank goodness there were no sharks or crocs... I don't remember that happening to the children in Swallows and Amazons. Perhaps I shall have to read those books again?

By the way, the yellow bath ducks are turning up again all over the world, there is a lot of interest in their travels as the experts are using them to track the sea currents. Next time you are sitting at the harbour restaurant DLG keep an eye out for yellow bath ducks bobbing in the harbour. If you see them, alert the authorities!

The sun is shining again so the work can start again.

I thought the summer had disappeared with DLG, off to CYprus. However, it has come back today and I have started to work on my garden again. The slugs have eaten three quarters of my lettuce plants, so I am on the warpath - again!
The snails that were snuggling up to my clematis have had a nasty shock, so I am feeling a little more in control of my life!!

Now all I have to do is to clear the floor of my study and then start on the rest of the piles - yes its the piles in my life again! Is there anyone else out there who has such problems with themselves?