How do you occupy your time when you are retired?

Is it just me??? My garden more or less looks after itself because I planned it for my climate ... and retirement Consequently there is not a lot to do.

T'other Half does the watering because I am not up to it yet! ... and today has been working on his irrigation system which went assunder many years ago! He is currently doing what the system should be and not happy about it in 24c with no breeze.

I am tired of crime and nature programmes (everything is so repeat) and can only take reading for an hour or less. I don't crochet in the Summer. Listening to music (preferably country) on the TV so videos also but I have to have something to do with my hands. I sit outside for a few hours a day in several sessions, late morning and late afternoon. I have children's books to finish writing but can't get my head around it at the moment.

I exercise every morning, including static cycling I get fidgety.

If there is no gardening to do, what do you do to occupy your mind and soul?

 

Just to add, T'other Half has a hobby buying/selling musical instruments which takes up most of his day. But we do play games, Backgammon and Skip-Bo every day taking an hour or two.

 

Not retired, but I have a couple of friends who get bored very easily. I scratch my head and feel frustrated when I hear them say that because the older I get, the fewer hours there seem to be in the day to do what I want to!

I adore Horticulture most but also have many other hobbies and interests. My other main passions are menswear, enjoying most genres of music and studying/collecting antiquities, mainly Greek South Italian and Cypriot pottery. I also have an interest in horology and collect wristwatches. I really enjoy exercise although I haven't been doing it anywhere as often as I should as of late. My favourite forms of exercise are HIIT training in the form of sprinting and Tai Chi, the latter does wonders for my anxiety disorder if I just do 15-30 minutes of it a week, believe it or not! I also enjoy studying New Age beliefs and Astrology but oddly enough don't believe most of it, I just think it's a really interesting way of looking at the world! Another thing that has fascinated me since childhood is different subcultures and I spend a lot of time finding out about them, I particularly enjoy the programmes/books of Jon Ronson and Louis Theroux. Oh, and I love watching/listening to stand up comedy! I also thoroughly enjoy sending people to sleep by writing really long posts about my interests on online gardening forums!

Nick

 

I've always enjoyed gardening since I was a child and should have made a career of it instead of being a social worker, which was a very frustrating job and I'd never do it again.
I remember having to go to work on a summer day and wishing I could give it up and spend my time in the garden.
However, I am not good at coping with cold weather so in the winter I concentrate more on my art, I enjoy painting old buildings and in the summer Beryl (late partner) and I would go places and I'd take photos of things to paint the following winter.

I also have a pottery wheel and kiln which I haven't been able to use for several years due to caring for Beryl who became severely disabled ... and that took up most of my time for a few years.
I am now trying to get my pottery hobby up and running again for the coming winter.

I have also been digging into my ancestry because I was fascinated by old stories people would tell when I was little, some of which were supposed to be secrets ... and I spend time during the winter visiting various archive repositories to see what else I can discover.
So far in my roots I have found two 'Sirs', someone who murdered two people, a wealthy lady who ran away with someone 'beneath' her family and was disowned, several gentleman farmers and many paupers and a few people who were sent to the County Asylum.
It's interesting to visit the places where they lived and worked. I have even been known to spend hours wandering around old graveyards looking at memorial stones
And I discovered in my grandfather's house a Book of Shadows, which is a thing witches used to keep in olden days with spells written in it, so there were witches in my family too

 

Blimey! The posts above have given me a smile There are some great characters in G.C.
The wife and i retired last year and the first priority was an allotment which has provided a very pleasant pastime both growing veg and meeting other allotmenteers.
Mrs Ewing volunteers with the local cat charity in which she is very involved.
On wet days i like a good book or film..particularly stuff based on true history.
I've found as the years have gone by that i have less tolerance for fiction (blokes jumping from one aircraft to another etc)
Though i did like that kind of nonsense as a kid.
I guess if a garden is so up together that you need something else, then volunteer work is quite appealing. I've got a friend that gives one day a week to a nearby National Trust house and gardens which he enjoys.
Hopefully all gardeners should have a fulfilling retirement.
I was very busy back in the spring, and didn't see the very sad post from Armandll until a bit later. That was a shock.
I always valued his posts as I'm sure everyone else did.
His contributions were always bright and cheerful and i had no idea that his time was nearly up.
I hope everyone here enjoys their long awaited retirement and for younger members just keep safe and well and enjoy everything

 

Hmmm good question ....Since lockdown I've forgotten some of the things I use to do!!

My main love is and always will be gardening.I especially love growing and nurturing plants from seed, so in addition to all the perennials I like to grow extra bedding plants to ring the changes each year + plus it's another great source of exercise too.

I love walking.. I'll be able to enjoy this again soon.

NT visiting is great and I love researching into the history of the properties and their past owners befkre our visit.

Cinema ...at least a couple of times a month...with friends as hubs isn't too keen.
Coffee, cake and chat in cafes with friends.
Hoping to start Aquazise classes in the not too distant future with a friend.

I've researched and compiled our family tree.....back to the 1600's, and now keep it topped up with new arrivals and sad departures. It's so easy to fall behind and I want it to be a live and current record of our family status.
My uncle who sadly died earlier this year did the other side of the family....he delved back even further 1400's!! So this too will be kept in check as well.

I adore reading....more so on dismal days or in winter, but I always have a couple of books ' on the go ' in the summer months as well.

During winter ( or dismal days ) I like to knit. These days I just make small things as my boys don't really go for the homemade knitted jumper or socks look anymore!! I make Christmas Tree decorations, flowers and for myself I add to my collection of snood scarves every year!. I also knit little figures /items to complement some famous children's books. I did this originally as a work aid but now to share with my great nephews...and maybe one day grandkiddies.
I also make knitted cuddly toys too.

I find the adult colouring-in books a great way to chill and I've now got quite a few sets of lovely pens and pencils ..these are strictly out of bounds to all others!!

Again in during winter ( or dare I say on dismal days) jigsaw puzzles are enjoyable too. I currently have one that's almost finished lurking under the sofa!!

I did use to cook....honestly....when all our brood were living in the nest too and before hubs retired.....always fresh, no pre packed shop meals here either, but now admit it's mostly done by hubs these days..although I do occasionally shock him!!

In the evenings I do online Suduko and Mahjong and occasionally Word Search...but that tends to make my eyes go wonky!!

I don't really watch that much tv normally, but have done so recently due to health restrictions leading to boredom!!
What I do always like to watch are the Walter Presents programmes....these are all international crime thrillers and are subtitled.
I avoid the darker more grisly ones.

I'll stop waffling on now.....

 

Hardly sleeps and is incredibly analytical... OMG I've just figured it out, Shiney's clearly a reconnaissance cyborg from an alien civilisation!

Didn't realise you were a goth, Michael...



On a serious note, I have really enjoyed reading this thread, feel like I know you all a little more as people as well as gardeners!

Well said JR, still miss his wit, reflectiveness, knowledge and kindness daily.

I thought the fact that members of this forum who even only had a couple of conversations with him felt moved enough to post on his tribute thread said an awful lot about the kind of gentleman he was!

Nick

 

I've just realised how, compared to you lot, I'm pretty boring.

 

Nick, you beat me on commenting, I meant to exclude Shiney from this as we are all aware he is a 24/7 person.

I thought all the responses enlightening. We know each other as avid gardeners but it is nice to know the other side of folk.

I love all Arts & Crafts (a bit like Mrs Shiney). I paint on stretched canvas with acrylics (even giant wall paintings), crochet for charity, write, but with my current limited mobility I find it difficult sitting on my derriere so much ... and it is not good for my rehabilitation anyway. I love criminology and forensics, photography, but ... I can't seem to fill 15 hours a day.

This is the current mural on our shed wall in the lower dining area ...

 

I think you may be being a bit modest and mischievous there but not boring at all Pete, your breadth of horticultural knowledge and brilliant sense of humour are a big part of why I visit this forum daily!

Nick

 

You reminded me of another pastime too Nick - I do Tai Chi , I try to do some every day but sometimes don't get around to it. It has helped me a lot with anxiety and panic attacks

How can you have finished your family tree @Upsydaisy, I've been delving into mine since 1975 and haven't finished yet. The more questions I can answer the more seem to come up. It's never ending.
But maybe it's because of yet two other pastimes I have - local history and social history, and I am interested in the history of the farms and villages where my ancestors lived so that takes a lot of my time researching too. For me it's more than just a list of names, in includes the way people lived and how their environment affected them etc, and looking at old maps and other documents too.
I am also looking into Beryl (late partner) 's family tree ...

Of course I haven't been able to do much for a few years because I became a 24hr carer for Beryl but now I'm free (so to speak) and I can devote more time to my hobbies again