Sunday 9 June 2013

Retirement Paradise





People often ask us if we will go back to live in Australia. The answer is maybe, but maybe not. As with most people it depends a lot of finances and family. There are very few places in Australia that we feel we would enjoy living. This is one of them, and our friends who do actually live here know how lucky they are.
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Orchard Update (sort of): The annual production of dolmades has begun. Sadly, not with our own grape leaves, which are struggling, but with those plundered from friends' vines.
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Welcome: Today we are expecting our friends from England, Megan and Bryan, for an overnight stay as they head off to the Alps for a camping holiday. Megan is a heritage professional, originally from New Zealand and an ex-colleague of mine. Bryan is an artist. The dishwasher was returned from the repair shop just in time! Along with the dolmades I have made (yes, made, not purchased...) céleri rémoulade, carottes rapées and guacamole.
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Renovations: Bricolage has recommenced, with Simon constructing a wood storage area under the stairs. It doubles as a means of hiding all the ugly electrical cabling coming from the fuse box and gives us a neat storage space for the vacuum cleaner and a shelf as well. He is sporting a quite impressive bruise on his hand, where he bashed himself in the process of putting the piece together.

He has also installed a new temporary plug in our bedroom. Up to now, power in the bedroom has been via an extension cable run from a power point in the office. So now we can do away with the cable across the landing (although we still have a cable across the door way of the bedroom).

10 comments:

GaynorB said...

Whereabouts (region, as opposed to exact location)is the retirement haven? On second thoughts if it is good then you might not want everyone knowing where it is!!

Simon said...

Gaynor - just outside Cardiff, honest. :¬)

Or the Australian equivalent thereof. The new version of southern Old South Wales.

Jean said...

It looks a lovely place to be but a happy retirement depends on so many things as well as nice scenery.
I suppose those of us who anguish over it should think ourselves very lucky that we have a choice.

Tim said...

Simon...
it IS the nail in the wood you are meant to hit...
.
.
.
isn't it?

Niall & Antoinette said...

We get asked the same question: will we go back to NL or UK or ... and the honest answer is we have no idea!

Where ever that is in Australia it does look great.

Susan said...

Jean: with this place it's more about general ambience, scale and pace than scenery. The scenery is nice, but not drop dead gorgeous -- kind of like here.

Tim: he did hit the nail. Unfortunately his hand was between it and the hammer.

Antoinette: exactly. Like us, you have complicated pension possibilities, that could change everything because the rules change.

Leon Sims said...

Launceston looking over the Tamar river, Tasmania for us is looking good.
History, wine, food, not too many people but just enough to make friends with.

Tim said...

Had his hand between the nail and the hammer...
was he...
[a] trying to soften the blow
[b] trying not to disturb you
[c] both?

Susan said...

Leon: Tasmania was suggested to us as the sort of place we would like too.

Simon said...

It wanst a nail, or a hammer. it was a screw* and an american screwdriver.

I was working upside down and the "screwdriver" skated off the head of the screw onto the hand I waas bracing myself with.

*one of those masonary screws you hammer in

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