Author: fgrtommo

I’m Outta Here!

/ fgrtommo / 2 Comments

It’s been a happy couple of weeks, and momentous ones. I have been weaning myself off London living. Last week was spent clearing the Barbican flat ready for ES and his partners’ occupation. This week I returned to just be a comfortable tourist. Now I am back in Gloucestershire with a bunch of tourist photos and ticket stubs. ES moves into the flat today and it is the end of an era for me.

Recently LSW and I have established a pattern of doing things around the flat that should have been done years ago and which are now too late for me to benefit from; for example, putting up decent curtains, fixing the thermostat on the kitchen sink water supply, and affixing a metal panel that has been loosely dangling from the wall. All should have been done 10 years ago!

I continued that pattern this week by finally going on one of the popular Barbican Architectural Tours on my last day of living there. It underlined how interesting the estate and its history is and pointed out a lot of things I didn’t know. The great weather allowed some decent shots of the site, its mix of Roman, Medieval, and brutalist architecture, the latter softened by uniquely populated window boxes. I’m glad I did the tour, even so late in my time there; my experience of living in Ben Jonson House (pictures below) felt rounded out.

New Curtains!
Ben Johnson House
London Barbican – Many Architectural Ages

I will miss London loads though. In the last two weeks I have seen friends and family there, been to informal but excellent restaurants, and sampled the sights and culture of what might currently be the greatest city in the world. The British Museum was impressive, wandering around Greenwich was fun and the Fahrelnissa Zeid exhibition at the Tate Modern was uplifting.

Inside The British Museum
Cutty Sark
Fahrelnissa Zeid (Untitled)
Greenwich and Canary Wharf

But the highlight was probably a (final?) visit to the Lantern Society – a folk club in Farringdon (http://www.thelanternsociety.co.uk/). I love the intimate atmosphere and that about 50% of the audience are the performers. I recommend it to everyone.

The Lantern Society (2016)
The Lantern Society (Peter Levics)
The Lantern Society (Gitta de Ridder)

The availability of all these sources of culture and pleasure in and so close to the Barbican has been wonderful for me in recent years. I’ll just have to search and plan harder in Gloucestershire to find things to fill the gap that leaving London has created. I’ll keep you informed of the discoveries I make.

Clearing Away The Past

/ fgrtommo / 1 Comment

LSW and I spent most of the week clearing and cleaning the Barbican flat ready for ES to move in next weekend.  Fortunately the Barbican Estate has great facilities for re-cycling and waste collection.  With LSW’s eye for de-cluttering and minimalism, we got rid of a huge amount of stuff – from threadbare clothes, to cups that don’t match our Gloucestershire décor, to soil.  The flat has been a rather grubby bolt hole for me to sleep in and to go to work from. Now it is fresh, almost sparkling, and ready to live in properly.

Some things we did will definitely round out the experience of living there.  The window boxes – an original and intrinsic part of the overall Barbican design – are now ready for planting.  They are on the way to being transformed from the barren dirt bowls that have stared back at me for 18 years. Goodness knows why I didn’t put the effort in to fix them up years ago and then use them for herbs.

It’s the same with storage.  It was only this week that we got around to adding decent bedside tables and a chest of drawers instead of living out of a suitcase during the week as I have effectively done for almost two decades.

There are some important, common experiences that have come to me late in life.  Constructing furniture from IKEA flat packs is one of them.  This is something that, prior to retirement I would have avoided or rushed (and botched as a result). Now I had plenty of time and relaxation to apply to the task, and my first attempt was successful.  Admittedly, the bedside table was the simplest item I could have done but it was a start!  No worries about me taking up DIY though – the memories of the collapsible shelves I made in our first house in 1986 are still too laughable.

IKEA Bedside Table In Progress
Complete IKEA Bedside Table

I remembered to update LinkedIn with my new retired status this week; I’m cleaning and clearing away the past and moving on…… with flat pack construction my first new skill!

The First Day

/ fgrtommo / 2 Comments

Thank you to all the very early followers who have signed up to this rather unpredictable blog. I hope your expectations are low but I can exceed them.

Today was the first day, proper, of my retirement. Ok, it was a bit like just another a Bank Holiday Monday for me, but it was the first weekday since I left work; the first weekday for many years that wasn’t holiday or off moaning about an illness.

I did shave this morning. When I got up, I wasn’t sure I would but some habits die hard. Anyway, my Long Suffering Wife (LSW) doesn’t particularly like scruffy, scraping stubble. She is going to have to put up with a lot more of me, so it’s probably better to oblige her on this and start the way I mean to carry on.

LSW and I have spent the bulk of the day preparing for our Eldest Son (ES) to rent our London flat. The main task has been to bring up a bed from Gloucestershire to London that doesn’t collapse in the middle when it is moved – as the current one does. The novelty of the collapse wears thin after a couple of times and I don’t want to impose it on others. We also had a trip to Ikea so tomorrow is flat pack assembly day!

I shall miss London – probably more than I shall miss work – and I shall miss the flat in the Barbican. It’s central, near the ever-changing delights of the North-East quarter of London, and is comfortable while having the having the vibrancy of urban London just outside the window. I regret not using the balcony more than I did but here are the views from it. I suspect the next couple of weeks while we get the flat sorted for ES and I wean myself off London may see me sitting out and enjoying them.

More soon….

I’m About To Retire!

/ fgrtommo / Leave a comment

In a week, I will have retired.  I want to share my experience of retirement.  I have no clear plan other than to take some time to plan.  I have had lots of advice but little has been based on experience of retirement.  I think there is a gap in knowledge for those retiring that I want to help to fill that.  Watch this space for my thoughts on the process of retirement, what I do, how I feel and where I end up.

I hope you enjoy the journey with me!