Change of direction

The time comes for all of us to say good-bye

MOvember

Yes once again it is that month when we endeavour to remind all men to check for prostrate and testicular cancer. Some of us do that by growing a "Mo" or rather a moustache. Any donations or sponsorship money raised goes towards research into these two major killers. The current status of my Mo on Movember 16 is:

If you would like to sponsor me then please click HERE!

The Pregnant Lady of Ilfracombe

We managed to spend a week at the lodge in Devon. We bought a fabulous picture by David Chambers, the Devon artist, which is now hanging over the front room mantlepiece. We have re-arranged the mantlepiece since taking the photo.

Hauling in the life-boat

We spent a day in Ilfracombe which is a fabulous seaside town. We will have to return in the summer. The reason for going was to look at the Damien Hirst sculpture of the pregnant lady. i am not sure what it "means'. It is certainly an impressive work and is the best Hirst piece of art that I have seen. It is also one of the few that I like.

 

Pregnant lady - they are still completing the ground works

 It is still a working harbour with a small fishing fleet

Sad Times

One of the reasons for our hectic life of late has been the three funerals that we have recently attended. It is a sign of our time of life that the number of funerals you go to increases.
The first funeral was that of Auntie Grace, aged 98. She never really recovered from the loss of her husband of 72 years my Uncle Gordon. This marked the end of the "older generation" on my dad's side of the family. We are now the "old ones". Thanks to road works and a road accident on the motorway we were late arriving at the crematorium in Worthing, some folk never made it. It was a lovely service with some touching tributes to her.
The second funeral was that of Margaret Morris in Manchester. She was a very close friend of Julia's parents. I spent my last night of "freedom"  with Margaret and her late husband Ken on the 23 July 1971. She was a lovely lady and we were lucky to have been with her  a couple of weeks before she died. She was in good form, Helena was with her and we talked about the plans for the forthcoming wedding. She was at our Ruby Wedding celebrations last year and really enjoyed herself. It is good to have recent happy memories of her.
The third funeral, in Birmingham,  was that of "Nana" Reynard who was Emma's paternal grandmother. We had met Nana a few times and she was a lovely lady who was much loved and will be sorely missed.

Retirement is Hectic

I thought that once I retired I would have ample opportunity to write deep meaningful Blogs on current affairs and the issues that interest me. How wrong can you get! So far all I have done is rush about. Two trips up north, wedding planning with very little time to sit and do nothing. Hopefully this will come in the next few weeks.

Do my children love me?

Is getting the old man a gift certificate fro a tandem sky dive a sign of love? Answers please!

First Day of Retirement!

Helena had come down for a few days, and Lawrie and Emma came down on the Friday evening. They had said that as the weather was nice we should go to the beach and so Saturday found us at Whitstable much to our surprise. The suggestion had been made partly in jest; but the weather was nice so off we went and we had a great time.

Emma, Barry and Helena

Barry and Lawrie

Lunch of fish and chips sat by the harbour wall, wondering along the sea shore then back through the high street looking at various art galleries and antique shops. In the evening we all, Barry, Julia, David, Andrew, Gaew, Lawrie, Emma and Helena (sadly Sam had to work) went off to our local Chinese, Ginny's Kitchen,  for a banquet. A really great evening was had by all.

 

Farewell to IBM

The past few days have been rather hectic to say the least. Wednesday 3 October I had my farewell drinks session at the Kings Arms, Roupell Street.  They only had nine different cask conditioned beers. I did my best to get through the card, but jad to admit defeat. I seemed to get stuck on one that was 6.6% ABV!

Thursday was my birthday, 65! We celebrated by going to Chapter One, the local one star Michelin Restaurant. I must confess that it thoroughly deserves its star. The food is fantastic and it has vegetarian menu which met Julia's expectations. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Friday was my last day at work, badge, phone, credit card and laptop were all handed in and I left the building. My manger Andy bought me lunch and we had a couple of beers together with a couple of colleagues. Then it was on the train home to start the rest of my life.