How do you fill your days?

Some good news today came with a phone call giving a surgery date. My final appearance on my NHS tour will be October 8th. My first knockout, anesthetically speaking, appearance was October 16th 2013 and my final tour date will once again be at Watford after which we will get back to....well you know what retired boaters do all day.

That brings up the question that`s been asked a few times "how do you fill your days"?
Most mornings over breakfast Jaq will go on line and check the news both sides of the pond. This takes us half way through the morning, we are not early risers as our day ends usually with conversation or a read at about 1am. Sometimes something in the news will generate some interesting conversation and this leads to our first coffee of the day. Cruising is not usually a daily thing and when it occurs a long day will be about 5 hours but is normally three. Mooring up for 3 days is not uncommon but neither is cruising three days running. Take it as it comes, no fixed plans just some idea of a destination.

Well a lunchtime walk to the village pub gives Jaq a chance to experience her first Ploughman`s lunch.

She has the roast beef and cheese with the standard crusty bread,salad and pickle, nice extra touch are the grapes. Jaq had heard of a ploughmans when back in the states and was keen to try it along with a pear cider.

Another time consumer is gathering wood. This time it`s Oak that once cut needs to be split and stacked on the roof.

Bananagrams is our latest game. The captain has beaten the Admiral 3 times so far.

These have to be picked

to produce this. It all takes time.

The sun sets on the bridge that will be the starting point of another two hours of my day. On this occasion our once a week newspaper that also includes Jaq`s favourite TV mag means a walk across several fields to a lane that leads into a small village some 2/3 miles away. Back in the days of living on land it would be a two minute walk with not so much as a glimpse of open spaces.

Then quite unexpectedly blog readers, Arthur and Jennifer on Nb Dabchick moor up for a cup of tea and home made fudge.

Then time is taken up seeking out and photographing places like this. It will be in a future blog. All I can say is it`s not what it was.

So the day takes many forms but nothing in anyway like a working life that so many of you experience daily. The only thing I can say to cheer you up each working day is that retirement is fun and I hope you all stay healthy to enjoy many years not working. I feel like i`ve been given an extension and savour every day with a wonderful partner.