Day 826 & Day 827

Day 826...Thursday

And another early morning walk to start the day in the glorious sunshine and clear blue skies. Two miles completed in 38 minutes.

And while Simon started his working day I nipped down the road to our local Lidl to stock up on some fresh bits and pieces. Having got all that I needed and everything put away I thought I would take a few minutes with a coffee to sit outside and read a book. I think I lasted five minutes before I gave it up as a bad job; neighbours were all out and about chit chatting away and then the electric saw started...mood killed!

Typically though within a few minutes of retreating indoors to start a different task it all went quiet! Most of my day was spent online chasing a few things as well as re-organising a stack of paperwork. I am moving things from one place to another and using that as an excuse to go through and get rid of all the old stuff. And clearly I don't do that often enough going by the dates on some of the things I came across!

But I also did get a little reading time in as well throughout the day.

Late afternoon I popped to my dad's house to meet up with my brother. He had a friend stop by who manages a charity shop and she was able to take away a good amount of stuff that neither of us want or need and will now go and be of use to someone else.

I was there a little longer than expected and didn't get back home till late, hence why no published blog post!

Day 827...Friday

And we started with another walk over the fields and although it was rather grey and a tad cooler we still managed 1.9 miles in 38 minutes.

I'd had a rubbish nights sleep last night as my brain kept drifting off to all the stuff that we need to get done at my dads house; more stuff to sort, garden to weed and tidy, whole house needs a clean to make it presentable for estate agent photos and then figure out what items I can Ebay or take to an auction house. And having to co-ordinate all of that with my brother and never mind that Simon is unable to help with his broken wrist!

Consequently my morning was spent looking at the three estate agents who have valued the house and putting together a list of pros and cons so that my brother and I could make a decision as to which one we felt happiest using.

Yesterday had also been the day for the inquest into my dads death. We had decided not to attend either in person or virtually. I think both my brother and I had been satisfied with the report received from the coroner and didn't feel hearing it spoken out loud would make much difference. This morning I received a phone call from the registrar's office wanting to double check details so that they could issue the official death certificate. So although I have not received any official word around the inquest this at least tells me that a judgement was made and that the case is now closed. Finally we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel and be in a position to get some closure.

By the end of the afternoon my brother and I were in agreement as to which estate agent to use (Ewemove won out for their personalised approach so fingers crossed we've made the right decision!) and we now have a date in the diary for having photos taken of the house. This does mean that we have a focus over the next week to get things tidy, presentable and the garden tamed!

Over the course of the day I managed to find a little time for reading some more of my current book; I am trying to find time to indulge in the things that previously I would not have been able to, after all that's what this retirement malarkey is supposed to be all about! I also made more progress on sorting out my filing system!! And more old paperwork headed the way of the shredder.

I was able to have a lovely conversation with my good friend, and podcast co-host, Michelle as she made her way home from work. It was great to keep her company while we chatted about life and our plans for recording a couple of podcast shows next week.

And that was pretty much my day today.

See you again...hopefully tomorrow if I find the time to post!
xx

Day 819 & Day 820

I thought I would join another couple of days together...

Day 819...Thursday

The day started with our early morning walk and we stuck to the same hilly route as has become the norm and we completed 2.3 miles in 46 mins.

With the day underway I spent the majority of the morning at my dads house as we had an estate agent visiting to value the property. We have one more agent valuing the property next week but I have to say I was very impressed with Ewemove, especially as their valuation was more to my liking! But I was more impressed with their approach and their customer service focus. Next weeks agent will have to do a lot to impress me!

I took the time while at my dads to go through some more stuff! We have lots still to go through and as I have said before it is a matter of deciding what we want to keep, what can be donated to charity and what needs to be sold on to find a home where they will be appreciated. Today I went through all my mum's Christmas decorations to see if there was anything that would work with my decorations or anything that I wanted to keep for sentimental reasons. I was hoping to find some old baubles from way back but I couldn't find any at all so I can only assume that over the years my mum had gradually thrown them away or, as most of them would have been glass, they had simply broken.

I did discover an interesting collection of very old records although I don't think Max Bygraves and Val Doonican are my 'cup of tea', in fact I think these probably belonged to my grandma and grandad!

I made sure I was back home by lunchtime as this is when Simon and I now have the first meal of our day and I have to say I am loving this way of starting the day and not eating till later. Plus I still get to have my favourite meal; 'breakfast' - sausage, bacon and mushrooms followed by what we call a sweet omelette (eggs, cream, cinnamon, cloves and a little dark (74%) chocolate!!) with a few raspberries on the side.

I then inadvertently hoovered the garage...I'd gone into the garage to get some weedkiller out and to put the car back but in doing so I'd had to move a ladder which meant I saw all the cobwebs gathering around our gym equipment. And that became my motivating factor to get everywhere hoovered...I lost count of the number of spiders I managed to suck up!

As the weather forecast for Friday was looking rather toasty I decided that I really ought to get the pile of ironing sorted in the slightly cooler weather of today. It was still a hot day today but not to the extreme that the weather was forecast for tomorrow.

With the ironing done I did manage a short while outside in the sunshine with a coffee although it didn't last long as I was beginning to melt. I then managed some online research as I am still trying to figure out what some of the bits and pieces are that we have at my dads; not necessarily the value of the items but more the history and description of them to discover what they actually are.

In lieu of our usual Thursday gym workout as this has been curtailed because of Simon's broken wrist we decided to go for a walk instead. We completed the same walk as this morning although it took us a couple of minutes longer which I think was due to the heat.

Day 820...Friday

Well the weather forecast was correct for a change and we have had another, very hot and sticky day today. In fact as we headed out for our morning walk I did remark to Simon it was like being on holiday as it's not very often here in the UK it's suitable to be out in short, shorts and a sleeveless top at 8.00am! 

It was a glorious morning and we were rather glad that the walk was rather hilly as it meant there was a lovely refreshing breeze the higher we got. Another 2.3 miles in 47 minutes done.

It was then time to head down to my local Lidl for some fresh items. I'd hoped that I could have avoided a shop until next week but the fridge had other ideas. Although I must remember not to shop on a Friday as it would appear that a lot of our older generation still stick to Friday as grocery shopping day!

My day has then been filled with trying to keep cool as we hit temperatures of 31C along with more internet research. It's a slow and painful job but I do feel like I'm making progress and I think that once we have a valuation for the house that we are happy with it will be a motivating factor to make decisions about what we 'do' with everything.

I had hoped to be recording a podcast later this afternoon with my co-host Michelle but we decided it was simply too hot and have decided to leave recording till next week.

Simon and I had hoped to go out for another evening walk today but it was simply too hot, instead we opted for dinner and feet up. 

And there we have the end of the week, let's see what tomorrow shall bring.
xx