Maturing Well
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This blog is all about staying in good shape through the different seasons of life. By staying in good shape I mean physical and mental good health, plus getting the life-style right and managing the progression through life. I will be bringing articles and blog posts about making sure we stay healthy.
Maturing Well
3d ago
Lake Windermere, earlier this year
“Chin up, Doug” said one of my friends when she knew how the week was not going well. Even with my normal cheery outlook, perhaps I need bringing back down to Earth now and again?
By Wednesday this week things were not looking good. At church this morning (on Sunday) a friend of mine thought it was hilarious.
A lens had fallen out of my snazzy new glasses and I damaged the frame by trying to snap it back in. I have been ticked off by the ladies in the optician shop. Expecting the worse, I ordered a new frame but happily they took pity ..read more
Maturing Well
1w ago
Yes I do feel as if I have been dashing here, there and everywhere; but it’s all good fun. This little update includes a freedom of information request, a trip to Cumbria and car troubles.
As usual I am spinning too many plates with too many tabs open in my mind. I have a few books which I am supposedly reading, producing another and I haven’t been to the gym for yonks. How did I ever find the time to work before I retired? I’m not complaining, moreover expressing a self-inflicted grumble.
Freedom of information
As our village and the surrounding area is relatively larg ..read more
Maturing Well
1M ago
Do you ever go on holiday to the same place? Some folk we know go to the same resort every year and I’d always thought that was terribly dull and boring. Now we have been back to Barcelona, I’m changing my mind.
I guess the reason why I’ve always resisted the idea of returning to a place where we have already been is that it’s a bit boring, especially when there are so many other compelling places to explore.
So are you one of those people who value the security of knowing what to expect? Knowing the weather, what food to expect and having already become familiar with a holid ..read more
Maturing Well
2M ago
This blog post about being a reluctant landlord has been swirling in my mind for quite some time now. I have mixed feelings about being a landlord and I’ll try to explain why in this post. Are you in a similar situation or have a view? Please comment below.
Here in the UK we have a housing crisis
This issue doesn’t get a great deal of air time because it simply rolls along with little changing and society almost seems to accept the status quo as an unavoidable reality.
If people try and explain why we are in this mess, they often point to the numbers of immigrants and disrega ..read more
Maturing Well
2M ago
February has been busy but also a month where we have been knocked-for-six by a virus. Usual optimism continues in this round up of things going on.
Yes, thankfully negative for Covid, although we were both pretty sure we had caught it. We had all of the symptoms including (and worst of all) a really horrible cough which has lingered for a couple of weeks afterwards and now more-or-less gone.
What made things worse was being away on holiday and to compound this even further, the holiday was really a Christmas present from me to Rachel. We were both pretty groggy as we left ho ..read more
Maturing Well
3M ago
My Seville marmalade
Things are looking up, seriously. Monday evening was a hectic evening, including a trip to the airport and a phone call from my favourite hospital consultant and I’ve been making marmalade.
I remember being told in 2018 that I would always be in the renal system for life. They expected my kidneys to recover a little over a few months and then level off before the normal ageing process takes over with a slow, natural decline. Back then my kidney performance had dropped well into stage 4 (out of 5, with 5 involving transplant, dialysis and grim stuff).
It w ..read more
Maturing Well
3M ago
This last Monday was my body MOT time. In particular presenting my teeth and eyes to the dentist and optician. It seems my denial of being 62 continues to be challenged as I kick and scream against it.
The dentist was fairly straightforward, it was time for my regular check up. I know the patter used by my young dentist. She knows I know, so without any kind of a pause, she opens her door and says “Please come in how are you nice to see you please sit in the chair when you’re ready and tell me if you have any dental issues”. This is all without taking a breath, in ..read more
Maturing Well
3M ago
Seems ages since I’ve reviewed anything, so here goes. Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Kenyan ground coffee.
This pre-ground coffee from Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference range which means it is their premium, upmarket range. It is sold in the normal pack size of 227g and costs £3.90. The pack tells me it is Fairtrade, so that’s always a good sign.
The pack also informs me that it is 100% Arabica coffee and medium strength (3 out of 5). It is a single crop coffee, so no blending with other coffees, either good coffee or floor sweepings. It is from the “High Platea ..read more
Maturing Well
3M ago
Millennium Bridge towards St Paul’s Cathedral on a very BLUE day!
Getting back to normal is very welcome. Let me explain, as much as I enjoyed the celebrations over Christmas and the New Year, there is something so comforting about settling back into normal life. Why?
More than ever I think I need my little routines and I do like to have some space to think. Thinking includes daydreaming, mulling things over and weighing things up with Rachel. It brings security and balance to life.
Last week saw January 1st and the celebrations concluding. On January 2nd Becky an ..read more
Maturing Well
3M ago
Me at 61.8 years old
Funnily enough, judging by the number of hits an older blog post gets, many people search Google wanting to what being 58 is really like. My blog post told them and the link is in the footnote below. Now it’s my turn to be 62 and this is what it is like.
They say we significantly age every seven years. Well, 62 can’t be exactly divided by the number 7. Does being in my 63rd year count? Do I believe all that anyway? Nah. Surely we all ‘age’ and get older all the time?
That said, I feel as if I have aged a lot of the last year.   ..read more