Lynda's Blog

  Money is handy. You cannot dispute it. It’s handy to buy food and clothes, to pay bills, to buy or rent a home or to buy a car (then pay for its upkeep, fuel, warrants, registration and so on). In fact, sometimes the more money you have the more you need for upkeep or repairs on the things you bought with your money! But money does not make you wealthy, it simply makes life a little easier. How many times have I wondered what to wear today? For some people they don’t have a choice. When I think of those who have little or no money, I realise how spoilt I actually am. Now that we are retired we have to tighten our belts but are very aware how blessed we are that taxes (sometimes paid by people who might themselves be struggling) support us. Money is also useful to keep us healthy although there is much we can do that costs little or nothing to stay healthy. Even if you have a vegetable garden you have to pay for seeds or plants, as well as fruit trees or bushes. Then they ne...

  Yesterday I had a significant birthday. I have reached my three score years and ten! I was rather bemused as to how that happened so fast—I mean really, where have the years gone. I feel like I’m barely out of my forties. It is true I don’t have quite the same energy, it is true my hearing and sight are not as good as they used to be, it is true that I have aches and pains I never used to have. But seventy? Really? To make me feel really old, my son turned forty years old this week. Unbelievable. Then of course my sister, who is three years older than me, talked about Zimmer frames and not looking too bad for an old lady and wondered if we should have a wake rather than a celebration. Then I felt really, really old. But never fear, I will get back at her when she turns seventy five. After all, that is three quarters of a century and let’s face it she will only have another twenty five years before she gets a telegram from the King. But truthfully? Seventy is just a number. I ...

  It’s a funny thing but public holidays don’t feel like holidays to us now that we are retired. So King’s birthday (it still sounds funny saying that) and the other public holidays our country celebrates (around eleven in total) seem just like any other day to us. I suppose that is because we are ‘home’ every day anyway. Well, I am out four days a week usually but it feels different because it isn’t to go to a job. Basically, even though those days are fairly locked in I could choose to go different days and do different things. However, I like to know what I am doing every week and tend to do certain things on certain days. My days are full and enjoyable (except for housework day!). Any spare moment I might have I enjoy a good read. I do work hard at being flexible and am able to do this if something comes up—my mother’s long hospital stay is a case in point and occasionally I am asked for some extra volunteer work. But my personality is task-orientated and organized so this wo...