Author: peterb51

5th August 2017.

My cottage is situated on a never ending slope. On the way, you stumble across the remains of Sherpas who found the journey treacherous. Everything has go up or down this path, which is  great as a training schedule, but, although if you do it everyday, you still never get used to it.

Everything fitted into the rental van, and disappeared into the ravenous jaws of the giant crusher. In a thousand years time when archaeologists are digging in the landfill they will come across these carpets and believe that   humans were covered in dog hair.

On the way back I loaded the first batch of boxes  destined to be stored in the cottage. These boxes didn’t seem that heavy at the bottom, but at the top of the slope, with the thin air, they weighed a ton. After ten boxes I thought I was going to die, and this was just the start. Over the next few weeks everything I treasured would have to climb that hill.

4th August 2017

Now it’s down to the main dirty jobs, removing the carpets and getting the old bed downstairs.

I have given myself set tasks each day so I don’t get depressed.

I had already rolled up the rugs and other assorted floor coverings, so this was removing carpets in the bedrooms. I could not remember what the original colour was, except they were grey and matted. Even a new Dyson would have said “bugger! even my digital motor wouldn’t touch this”.

So I cut, rolled, and stacked the sad carpet rolls outside, awaiting a trip to the tip.

I ended the day with everything downstairs, feeling unwashed, and a desire to be hosed down with a power washer.

3rd August 2017

Spent the morning on the phone, cancelling insurances, arranging boiler maintenance, changing utilities, experiencing a selection of different call centres including Scotland.

I felt drained.

I had a dental appointment to have my crown fitted. A simple task, compared to the preparation. “How was your appointment with the hygienist ” he grinned “Hurt like hell” I replied. “Well this bit is easy, shouldn’t take long”

True to his word I was out in ten minutes. The really painful part was paying for it. The machine quickly sucked in my card. ” Gimme, gimme, gimme” seemed to be the sound it made, as it waited for my PIN. God that hurt, five hundred notes disappeared from my account, and all I had to show for it was a lump of porcelain and a bitter taste in my mouth. As I left the building, I thought to myself, “I wondered if they had a pentioners discount?”

In the afternoon I had arranged a meeting of some former school friends from the Bath Art School. I had arranged the meet at a local coffee shop in Bradford on Avon. I was there on the dot, waiting for people I hadn’t seen for over fifty years. A text came through “Where are you?” I replied and waited for a further message.

“We are here as instructed” I  looked around at the people sitting at tables. A motley collection of  walkers and day trippers that I hoped were not the ones I was expecting. Suddenly they burst in “We were in the wrong place” They giggled.

I hadn’t seen Carol and Glenda since our school days, but all that was forgotten in an instant as we talked about our personal journeys through life. Carol was the same energetic person I remembered, whilst Glenda the more reserved.

Whilst I was at school, I was a little intimidated by the girls and tended to shy away from any contact with them, so I was interested to hear what they remember about me. 

“You were really quiet” they both said “But that was a long time ago, we were all different then”

The conversations flowed, and we were later joined by Maggie and her husband, with another Pete being the last to arrive.

We had four hours of constant talking, and the unanimous agreement to do more, and often.

Physical exhausted, I drove back to the house, to recover.

2nd August 2017

Over the past seven months I have been battling to repossess my cottage in Bradford on Avon. Dispite giving the tenant over twelve months notice, it still involved a tough legal fight. At times it got really dirty, and it took me to think of desperate measures to get back the house I own.

I understood the rights of the tenant, and followed the advice of my solicitor, somethimes feeling uneasy at his bluntness.

However, yesterday I got my house back.

I went round in the late afternoon to inspect the condition of the place. I was prepared for the worst, and I was not disappointed. 

Seeing the place, was sad. I didn’t expect to find the place cleaned, I thought I’d find a steaming “dookie’ on the step, with the key in it, but I didn’t.

There were pieces of my old furniture that the tenant didn’t want, and reminders that other people don’t value the fixtures and fittings, and not having the inclination to keep things clean.

Even as I stood in this miserable site, I had a joy, and relief that now,I can turn it into a cosy place again.

This anticipation kept me awake all night, thinking about what order to do things, thank god, I have all this time on my hands, maybe that’s what retirement is all about.

Today I bought the basics, gloves and black bin bags, the task was to start de-clagging the place.

I called a local locksmith and arranged a time for him to change the lock barrel. This gave me enough time to roll up the various rugs left behind. The carpet in the living was matted with years of dog hair, this was giving the place it’s distinct aroma.

At the end of the afternoon I was £117 lighter, but assured that the place was now secured.

1st August 2017

For so many years I never thought about retirement, it was always far away. My job at Herman Miller consumed my time, because I allowed it to. Now that retirement has arrived, I will squeeze out every minute of the remaining years, and document what happens. From the other blogs I have kept, it has helped me unwind at the end of the day, and gives me the opportunity to let off steam.

I hope this will be of interest to those that follow this new journey.