Another Day Out In Town

My wife and I spent another nice sunny day out in the town center as we had to run a few errands. I wanted to send a few letters to my brother and sister and had to make a trip to the post office, while we also wanted to get some more food for our emptying fridge. I also had to get a fresh pack of fertilizer as they were running out at home, and thought that perhaps I could pick up a fresh pot of flowers as well along the way. I love flowers and my garden is all the better for it since they really liven up the whole house and garden and look really pleasant. My friends who have dropped by have always complimented me on my gardening skills and how the small space actually looks so much larger, and that perhaps I could get a job as the Queen's royal gardener in England. Now wouldn't that be just amazing if I was one since I really like it as a hobby and it would be nice to get paid in pounds. But I would rather spend the rest of my life tending to my own now and having a good retirement with my lovely wife.

I have not been able to write as much in my online diary since I get bored sometimes and I am not sure if anyone might get bored reading what I do each day. Sometimes I also get so engrossed with what I am doing each day that I forget to go online and write anything but I would like to learn more about online diaries and maybe I can make some new friends on the Internet as well since that appears to be very popular nowadays. Maybe I can also find people who enjoy the same hobbies as I do and that would be a great way to meet new people who share the same interests. But I also get lazy and would prefer to just watch a dvd with my wife. Anyway, back to my trip to town, and after waiting in queue at the post office for half an hour, I finally got my letters posted and went to the gardening shop. I had to pay $49.99 for the fertilizer and was surprised how prices had risen. I thought only food seemed to be affected but looks like I could be wrong. My wife had earlier gone to the supermarket first and that was my next destination. I decided not to pick up any new flowers since the fertilizer already cost so much.

When I got to the supermarket, my wife had already done most of the shopping and it was then that I hit upon the idea of trying out our luck of having lobster pasta again tonight. It happened to be our lucky day and they still had lobsters when we got there. Our way back home was filled with talk of how we would prepare our pasta and just thinking how great a meal and delicious it would be when it was finally done. A few more hours later, we were sitting at the dinner table enjoying the lobster pasta and feeling oh so satisfied. It was our lucky day and we had a great dinner as a result.

Having Hobbies At My Age

As you might know by now, I am over 50 and a retiree, and am not that outgoing, spending most of my time at home or in my garden, which is still considered indoors to me. This might be a problem for most people my age or older, as it can really get quite lonely at times when you are old and have no children like we do. What I do to make sure my brain remains alert and working, as well as occupying my time, is to catch up on all the hobbies I love but never quite had the time for when I was younger, due to work and other commitments in trying to ensure my wife and I would enjoy a good retirement. My hobbies are mostly simple things which do not require much money and can be enjoyed with my wife as well. I have the good fortune of having a wife that also delights in spending time on the same activities, and it probably explains why we are still together and love each other so much even at this age, when many couples might actually find their partnership dull and boring. We both love to read, watch TV and movies, and enjoy each other's company tremendously. Making a simple trip to the town center for our groceries are very enjoyable in its own right, and it could be said that we are husband and wife, but also best of friends.

As I said, I love to read and fix my eyes on the TV as well. I also enjoy spending a nice afternoon in my garden and doing basic gardening chores. Sometimes I help out my wife with cleaning the house, and one thing I did not realize is that we both also love to cook, so our time in the kitchen is always filled with laughter and delight at preparing our meals. It also goes without saying that we enjoy eating, so sometimes we try our hands at preparing new dishes and test them on ourselves or any friends who come over for a visit. I think it is good for a couple to do things together at home, as it really helps to develop the bond between the two individuals and make them grow together as a pair. That has always been how my wife and I grew together. Even simple and seemingly boring stuff like playing Scrabble together also helps in one way or another. We have always been good natured, but doing things together has also helped to improve us in that aspect. We rarely fight or quarrel, and most times when we do, they are resolved within minutes since we usually realize they were just misunderstandings and that as long as we understand each other, there is really no need for either of us to get angry with one another or over anything.

I would say that perhaps in that respect we are both greatly blessed to have found each other and to have grown old together and still be so much in love with each other. The absence of kids has not been too great a problem since we enjoy each other's company so much, and friends who pay us a visit from time to time also help to liven things up occasionally. We also never get tired of doing the same things together, such as watching movies, sometimes two or three in a row. Perhaps it has partly to do with a subconscious realization that we are also catching up on things we wanted to do but had put on the backburner till now. It is something akin to having a second lease of life, and one that is very exciting in its own right even at our age. Throughout the whole process it has gone on to cement our relationship and made our bond so much stronger and loving.

Clearing My Garden

I have said time and again how much I enjoy my gardening as a hobby and today was no different. I do not spend time in the garden everyday, but today was one of those days that I did, and it was tiring, but very satisfying. My wife decided to make a trip to the town center with her friend Joyce and so I was all alone at home and planned to tidy up my garden once again. I had not pulled out the weeds for almost two weeks and they were starting to invade my garden once again, so out came my gloves and I spent a good half hour exercising my legs squatting down and pulling out the pesky little greens. Then I tended to my potted plants which lined my garden wall and watered them well. Some I added fertilizer as I saw that they were not looking as bright as they used to be. I have always wondered whether those stories of people talking to plants and making them grow better were true. I was so tempted to try that out today since I was alone there and my wife would not be around to see her husband becoming crazy or senile at his age after talking to his plants. In the end I could not bring myself to do it, what if one of them actually spoke back to me? I might have fainted there and nobody would have been around to save me.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon just browsing the Internet and catching up on news around the world. It is interesting how powerful this medium is, and I find myself fortunate to be able to have the chance to be in a time when there are virtually no boundaries left between countries and men and women, and we can all find out more about everything and each other through this medium. But I was more interested in reading the news and after that, since my wife had not returned home yet, I popped in another dvd and caught another movie. This time, it was the Shawshank Redemption, based on a book by Stephen King. Believe it or not I have never seen it as I was really busy back then and never had much time to watch anything. I really enjoyed this movie and thought Morgan Freeman was excellent in it. I was quite moved by the story as well, and made a note to pick up a copy of the book. You know how it is with movies, they seldom follow strictly to the book if they are based on one, and the book often provides more substance to the characters and really draw out the plots and storylines really well. That is one reason why I enjoy reading so much, because authors always have the artistic freedom to flesh out their characters and stories.

My wife soon returned home not long after I completed the movie and I decided to help her out in the kitchen with the dinner, as I felt that she must have been tired after spending the afternoon out in town with Joyce. My wife does not get as much exercise as I do, except with her chores at home and in the kitchen. Most women would say that is a lot of exercise, but I always feel that she should also spend some time with outdoor activities as the fresh air and sun would do wonders for her. She told me she had a good afternoon tea with Joyce and they then spent time window shopping and doing the usual housewives thing. We decided to prepare a light meal for the evening since we had pretty much had a long tiring day and it might not have made for a good night's sleep on too heavy a stomach after physical activities like gardening and walking around town. It was a light fish fillet for each of us, some fresh greens, and a glass of white wine each. We believe in having a bit of wine from time to time, not overdone, but good enough for a health heart like many of those scientific reports seem to suggest. Before turning in, I am just finishing this little diary entry and we also had a nice little turn on Scrabble. Good night!

My Friend Hans Came To Visit

One of the fringe benefits of being a retiree and just staying at home most of the time is that your friends actually take the time to come visit you. Today, my good friend Hans came over to pay me a visit and we had a nice long chat in the afternoon before having a great dinner together, prepared by my lovely wife. Hans is also a fellow retiree like me, and we pretty much have the same mentality and beliefs in life, which is to work hard, save, invest and then enjoy life when we retire. The only difference between us is that my wife is more beautiful haha! My wife will love me for saying that, but the truth is, the difference between Hans and myself is that he is more outgoing whereas I prefer to spend most of my time indoors and doing stuff like reading, watching tv, tending to my garden, and philosophizing with my wife. Of course, that might not include the time we spend in bed haha! Oh my I am feeling a bit naughty today but well it is all in the name of good fun and I am not sure who really reads my online diary anyway, except my wife who would be delighted that I still find her attractive after all these years hahaha!!

So Hans made the effort to come visit us bless him! And we had a nice chat talking about the good old times, not that we aren't having any good times now! In fact, we could perhaps be having one of the best retirements anyone has ever had, since we get to do what we like, anytime we like, and as much as we life. There are many others who are spending their retirement years wondering what might have been and regretting what they have done in their youth and wishing they had the chance to turn things around or turn back the clock. Not for me and Hans. We know we have done the right thing in terms of building a rock solid foundation for a comfortable retirement and also because we are simple men, we can derive much pleasure from the simple things in life that God has given us. Most men might be bored to death just going through the same routine everyday, but not us. We savor every second of our lives that God has given us the privilege to spend in good health and also the ability to still enjoy our hobbies at this age. Many people might suffer from backache if they were to even squat down in the garden pulling out weeds, but not me. I get a good workout from my gardening activities, and it keeps me healthy at this age since I do not really enjoy going to the gym or sports.

Our dinner with Hans was a nice spread prepared by my wife and included our favorite pasta dish (this time it was good old beef bolognese), a nice bowl of fresh salad, delicious tiramisu made by my wife as well (yes! she's really good at baking as well I am a lucky man!) and we each had a glass of red wine to wash it all down at the end of it. Not too there, since Hans had to drive back home and we would not want our good friend to get into trouble there. We spent another hour and a half enjoying our meal and discussing how we could perhaps make a holiday trip to Australia with Hans and his wife, and they could perhaps bring their kids too. Hans has two sons and a daughter, and they are all lovely and bright children. All very well taught and great manners, which is increasingly rare with youth of today. Too many of them have been brought up wanting to be successful fast and taught that to get what you want you basically have to be aggressive, selfish and rude. It is not the right way to do things and more of them should learn that nice guys do not always finish last. But no such problems with Hans' kids. They are all really nice people and we always enjoy ourselves spending time with them. It would be a great holiday if we could all go together and having children around would also make the trip much more enjoyable I believe.