It has been a long hard winter ❄ ❄ with lower temperatures than I can remember experiencing for years. Living on the South coast it’s fortunately not been all bad, having not been hit as hard as our friends in the North. However when the snow did hit us it came in really fast and really heavy, taking people by surprise. Cars were getting stuck as people were caught out by its rapid appearance. My daughter & I got caught out when a bus in front of us started sliding & struggling to get up the hill. Having lost our momentum we ended up pulling into the kerb & safely abandoning the car till the roads cleared a bit.

The country does grind to a halt when we get snow, but us Brits just love a good moan. It’s always someone else’s fault when we can’t get around. There are plenty of grit bins dotted around, we should all either get out, as they do in Europe, and clear the roads and pavements outside our own homes and businesses or just hunker down in the warm till it passes. Easy for me to say when I don’t have a boss on my back 🤣

It doesn’t happen very often so we, as a country, should just embrace it. The twins and their older brother have loved the odd days of snow we’ve had. Although their school remained open and some days the snow had cleared before they got home, the twins have managed to build their first ever snowman ⛄ and had their first sledging day. The snowman, which they named Geoff, was quite tiny & only lasted a few days but they all had such fun.

The garden is looking very sorry for itself. The lawn has been attacked by the younger boys digging it up & making mud pies on the new patio! The flower beds are too boggy to start weeding but the shrubs are starting to produce new buds, so we’ll need to get out soon to give them some tlc, although the possibility of more snow is forecast.

The winter weather has kept us indoors more than we would have liked over the past few months, and I am reminded of a recent conversation with a friend who is contemplating retirement, how to fill their days and what future winters might hold.

Apart from concerns about reduced income, we all have concerns about how we will fill our days once the routine of work is no longer in our lives. Many of us have been so busy bringing up children and working long hours that we haven’t had much time to acquire hobbies.

From my own experience, as discussed in a previous blog I am pleased we retired during the summer months. It gave us time outside in the sunshine to help with the transition into a work free life, before we needed to spend more time indoors. That is not to say that it is the correct way. It may be better for some easing into retirement by undertaking all those odd jobs around the house during the winter months, before lazy warm days take over your life 🌞🌻

We don’t really have any hobbies per se but lots of things we enjoy and have so far been pretty occupied since retirement. We spent the Summer months enjoying our new found freedom. Getting up at our leisure and seeing what the weather was doing before deciding on the day ahead. We have found making tentative plans at the beginning of the week with ideas for sunny days and wet days has helped prevent us becoming couch potatoes.

We have had the time to enjoy our garden and grew some vegetables for the first time in years. We have enjoyed quality time with the Grandkids during their school holidays, without having the pressure of needing to get things done at home before going back to work.

Our historic home town of Hastings has shown us what a vibrant and lively place it has become during the time we’ve been ensconced on the treadmill of work. It has opened our eyes to a whole new world. Embracing the parades, live music at various venues, the wonderful hostelleries and eateries together with the beautiful park, promenade, beach and award winning pier has kept us busy both day and night.

There have been quiz nights, charity walks, organising a charity lunch, country walks (usually with a pub at the end 🍻), gardening days and just days for chilling.

We have experienced our first festival, initially with mixed feelings but we’ve booked again for this year so it can’t have been all bad. Definite plans have been made about purchasing a camper van, we just need to find the right one and of course we bought the cycles, although they are still gathering dust in the garage!!

There has been time for just the two of us, time reconnecting with long standing friends and meeting new ones. Time with family and time spent separately with our individual friends.

As we welcome Spring we need to finish the jobs we have started inside the house so that we can open the doors and move into the great outside until the autumn.

Maybe that will be our plan going forward, spend days working hard in the house during the cold winter months, obviously intermixed with nice long walks, silver cinema afternoons, lunches or drinks with friends and family, and maybe the odd cheeky sun seeking holiday, which will give us more time in the warmer, drier months to enjoy the garden, finally get out on the cycles and explore further afield on sunny days out.

Our transition from work to retirement has been pretty seamless and we have enjoyed the journey so far. I am so happy to have you all on board and love reading your comments. I hope that as we move into Springtime you will continue to enjoy the ride.

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌼🌼🌼🌸🌸🌸🌸🌼🌼🌼🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻