I swear I am going to stop describing things as ironic. I said I would and now I really must. So all I’m going to say is that these are ironic times, get over it. The events that have prompted my even being tempted to use the ‘i’ word is connected to my recent blog…
Category: Learning new skills
Retirement blog from my ‘new’ garage
The picture above is of our garage as it currently stands. Before you pass judgement along the lines of what a messy old place it is, let me just say that it’s a lot tidier than it was a few months ago. That’s because before Christmas, remember that, we had the roof repaired, removed and…
Retirement blog about technology, should I be using it more?
There’s been a hell of a lot, in the last few weeks with the virus thing, about how our lives are working on the internet and that social media thing. Except from me. I’ve never been a fan of social media. Maybe until now, maybe not. Mrs Summerhouse says I think too much. Stop it,…
Retirement blog about staying in – piece of cake
It’s funny, in my working days, I spent a lot of time talking to teachers and parents about the importance of something called positive reinforcement and / or motivation. It was, I told them, a big part of getting the kids to change their behaviour. I have even written chapters in books about it. I…
Retirement blog: wellness at home, somebody else’s version
Just a short retirement blog to keep the wheels turning in these challenging times. It’s a bit of a cheat but as I say, challenging times call for devious measures and it’s one way to ramp up my output. There’s a bit of irony in all this and nothing wrong with a bit of irony….
Retirement blog: advice from a fashion psychologist
The trouble is with this virus thingy that everything I write is rapidly out of date and in some sense irrelevant. But then again, in the spirit of carrying on, I’m sending out this previously written blog. I have no doubt that there will be further virus-related blogs but, for now, here’s one I made…
Retirement blog about the sound of music
My retirement is all very musical at the moment so I thought I would write a short Friday blog to bring you all up to date with what has happened and what is yet to happen. No wonder I get emoji red, unhappy faces on WordPress for my sentence length, with one like that to…
A retirement blog about my first guitar gig since Ireland*
Was it only last week I was writing about comfort zones and their associated twin, risk-taking? Yes, I believe it was. I wrote then that most of the risk-taking section of my retirement was tied up in my musical activities. Never truer than this last Saturday morning, and then some. Where was my comfort zone…
A retirement blog about more (musical) challenges*
I like challenges now I’m retired. Many of them, unlike in my working days, are self-set but that’s OK. It means I have some control as to how many and the degree of challenge in the challenges. I suppose what I should say is I like challenges that aren’t too challenging. I have something of…
Jazz summer-school – a sensible challenge or simply a stupidly anxiety-provoking experience?
Let’s begin this retirement blog at the end. In an effort to build a relationship with my nemesis as we stood on stage together, prior to the gig, I said, in an open and honest fashion, I’m nervous. I could have bitten my tongue off, but it was out there now. I had shown myself…