News from the hibernaculum

 Life is rather more indoors now, especially as I have caught a cold.  That wasn't my best idea of the season but as has often been said, stuff happens.

I've been staying in since Sunday and really haven't felt like doing much.  My birthday cards are still up and I feel that the cards and the candles make for a cheery note in my sitting room.  I shall soon fringe the scarves which you can see piled up, and then they can go off to the Salvation Army in Grimsby.  I don't feel up to card making or sewing but I'm picking up my knitting occasionally.

The only thing I feel like eating is toast and Marmite.  And, sad to say, instant soups.  Getting soup out of the freezer has felt too much like hard work but may happen today or tomorrow.  

And I'm compiling an order for some roses, including one called "The Country Parson" which is a gift from Jack.  Thank you Jack but don't think that is the only one you will be planting.  

A day together

 My cousin S has an elderly uncle who lives in North Norfolk about a hundred miles from here.  Every month S drives to Norfolk to visit him, a routine which takes a whole day.  Yesterday was Uncle William's 91st birthday so S wanted to see him and she invited me along for the ride.  

Wells next the Sea

We left home at around 8am and got back at about 6pm.  We had a coffee stop along the way and then S left me in Wells next the Sea while she went to the care home to spend some time with her uncle.  The plan had been that I would wander around Wells but the weather drove me into a cafe overlooking the haven to drink a very nice hot chocolate and watch the world go by.

On our way home we had a late lunch at Walsingham, sometimes known as England's Nazareth and then she paid a brief visit to the shrine (my feet couldn't manage that) while I had a second coffee.  Then home with another coffee stop on the way.

Walsingham

That sounds like a pretty boring day, just sitting in a car with brief stops for coffee but I really enjoyed it.  There is something very conducive to conversation about sitting together in a car.  I rarely spend a whole day with just one person.  Satnav meant we didn't have to worry about the route most of which S knows well anyway.  We just chatted and enjoyed each other's company.

Birthday flowers

 One of the lovely things at the start of my hibernaculum time is the glorious flowers I get for my birthday.  Here's a few of them.

Even the bee couldn't resist these

And these beauties arrived in the post too.

A pretty good birthday

A prayer for the quiet times (maybe for the hibernaculum)

 Loving God,

Teach me to slow down in a world that is always rushing.

Help me to lay aside the things that can wait,

to stop striving,

to quiet my busy mind,

and to breathe in the peace of your presence.

May I learn to move at the pace of grace,

to find joy in the quiet moments,

and to trust that the world will keep turning

even when I stop pedalling.

For you are my refuge and my rest,

my peace in the busyness,

and my companion in the stillness.

Help me, Lord, to do less, to be more,

and to rest in the knowledge that I am held in your love.

Amen.

 

Hibernaculum

 Yesterday my hibernaculum period began.    

I want it to be a distinct period with a definite beginning and end.  I suppose the end and beginning of British Summer time would do but I start on my birthday (75 if you want to know) and it will finish on Easter Sunday.  I chose these dates because both are celebrations for me.  Invariably I receive a lot of flowers for my birthday so that makes a joyful start, and I am often treated to various meals too.  

Yesterday I met up with an old schoolfriend and had a lovely meal.  For those old Roman soldiers hibernaculum (winter quarters) were the time when they could socialise more than in the campaigning season and I think they knew a thing or two.  

Today I am sorting out my LED candles.   I knew where they were but can I find the charging cables?!  Tonight the clocks will "go back" and the gentle glow of quite a lot of candles will be delightful.  

Treats

 Once my hibernaculum time starts I shall want a few treats.  I’ve had a few ideas of luxury on a budget but all suggestions gratefully accepted!

Retirement has taught me that luxury is not necessarily about having lots of money. It is about enjoying what you have, taking your time, and occasionally treating yourself.  

During the winter I often buy myself a cheap bunch of flowers at the supermarket.  I think my favourites are alstroemeria.  They are so pretty and they always last at least two weeks.  Spray carnations are another good buy  Flowers do not inspect their containers before agreeing to look pretty. A clean jam jar will do perfectly well.

A day with nothing in the diary is a favourite luxury of mine.  A comfortable chair, a cosy throw, an audiobook and a little knitting or sewing is a real treat.  There is a difference between being lazy and deliberately making room for rest. Retirement should surely allow us to enjoy a little more of the latter.

I really enjoy a properly set tray with coffee and a cup and saucer and maybe a small cake or biscuit.  Mugs are fine but when I use my pretty cups and saucers I feel as if I am spoiling myself. 

Sadly I can no longer take long hot baths but a hot shower, fresh bedding and nightwear and some lovely hand cream to use before bed makes an ordinary evening feel positively luxurious.

The secret is not to buy more things. It is often to make better use of the things we already own.  None of these things requires a large bank balance. Some require nothing at all.

Luxury is not about how much we spend. It is about how much pleasure we allow ourselves.  We have spent enough years saving things for best. In retirement, perhaps it is time to make ordinary days a little more special.

 

 

Immorality in the kitchen

 

Gradually, slowly, bit by bit, I am decluttering the kitchen.  It's not easy because I have to enlist the help of friends to reach some places but I am getting the feeling that I am winning.

However, there is one cupboard which still has to be tackled.  In that cupboard is a hotbed of iniquity and immorality.  It is the cupboard where I store my storage tubs. 

I save all sorts of recyclables to reuse as freezer and fridge containers.  I wash them carefully and put them away but tubs breed.  What’s more, because they are creatures of no restraint, the resultant offspring are totally unpredictable and lids and tubs are produced which bear little relationship to each other.

Whilst my views on many things are liberal, I find this sort of activity in my kitchen cupboards totally unacceptable and I have therefore decided to come the heavy and impose restraints.  No longer are unmarried tubs and lids allowed into the cupboard.  They have to be stored complete or not at all.

What's ahead?

I had a bit of a shock last month when Annie-the-home-enhancer told me she will soon be taking six months off from cleaning as she is expecting a baby (her fourth).  To be honest I'd noticed she had gained weight but the reason had never occured to me.  Bless her heart, she says she wants to continue doing my ironing (which she does at home) as she doesn't want to sit around getting bored.  My observation is that mums have very little time for sitting around!  We shall see.  

But how to keep my house clean, that is the question.  Step forward Jack.  He's helped me before.  Don't tell him that I said this, but he's actually quite good.  I shall get him to push the vacuum cleaner around the house but I shall do what I can.  I've also told him that we are going to clean out various cupboards while he's here.  I think he's hoping to "help" me clean out the freezer as he has his eye on my supply of home-made soups.