Retirement ideas. So one thing is absolutely clear, no more health-related retirement blogs, at least not unless something very good or very bad happens. There that really is clear. Only one small problem then what shall I write about? Not so easy.
As per usual when I’m stuck I often read the Sunday papers (in this case, The Observer) with a view to getting some inspiration. And so it was, the colour supplement to be precise. The first article I came across was about Ozzy Osborne (was never a fan of Heavy Metal btw) and his impending return to the UK after 20 years in California. He’s an interesting guy and just one year younger than myself and he has got Parkinson’s. I hadn’t got very far when it occurred to me that this particular article was not getting me away from health issues. Albeit his but too close to mine for comfort. So no
Next I found an article about living full-time on a boat. Not tied up at some marina but out there on the high seas. There was a time when this kind of life would have appealed a great deal. Even at the point of retirement I quite fancied the notion.
But in many ways this particular ship has left the harbour. Apparently while it was once the case that the age group most prone to buying a serious boat and shipping out was us retirees, now the age group is 35 to 55. General state of the world I suppose. In other ways partly with my health (sorry back to that) and partly because my desire for adventure has waned, I don’t fancy it. Oh and Mrs Summerhouse does not like being on the water, that might be relevant?
So on through the mag. I alight on a strange page or two of interest. Surprised me. It was their section on interior design. The particular house in the article was that of Lucinda Chambers (ex-editor of Vogue I think) and the article was called Shades of Glory as you can see in the photo above.
Hmm, I thought that looks a bit like our house and I don’t think I’m labouring under a false assumption here . And then I had one of my ideas. I almost thought I‘d stopped having them but no, there it was. We could start one of those interior design websites focusing on the retirement angle, what we old people get up to when we’re allowed free reign possibly financially (you won’t be surprised to read that none of the arrangements cost a lot of money) but certainly, imaginatively.
Of course, setting up a website is the easy part but then if we want to be influencers (only kidding, Mrs Summerhouse thought this very amusing) then we need to get it out there. This might be where we need some help from younger social media savvy type people. Specifically our daughter and son in law. I hadn’t realised until I took a look at the response to our 50th wedding anniversary how many Facebook ‘friends’ she has. Well it’s a start isn’t it?
Retirement ideas summary
I’m not quite sure what this blog ‘proves’. I did get away from health issues which was my main intention but where I got to instead, well not sure. Could it be that, through all our retirement difficulties, it is still possible to continue to be creative and in my book that’s a good thing even if the ideas themselves become both more conservative, or even irrelevant. It’s a short blog that’s for sure but maybe that’s all I need to make the point. Anyway here’s a few pictorial examples to be going on with until we get that website up and running.
