The seventh anniversary of my retirement

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while might remember that each year I celebrate my retirement date. It also happens to be my mother's birthday and if she were still alive she would be ninety-nine this year. I think she would be amused at my blog, but also pleased with all the travel I have done over those seven years.

Doing this blog on the same date every year shows how the weather varies here from year to year. Today has actually been relatively warm (40's) compared to other years when it has been much colder with snow on the ground. I met a few people out on my daily walk and we all commented on how nice today was, particularly compared to the bitterly cold weather yesterday.

Marianne feeds the birds in winter and I have erected a tripod made of left over copper pipes for each of our two feeders.

The other feeder.

The pipes were supposed to make it more difficult for the squirrels to get to the sunflower seeds. As you can see, that idea really worked well.

I must admit that last year was not the best of years with stuff going wrong or not working on too many occasions. No doubt we all have those kind of years every now and then. However, I can't complain too much since I am still alive and walking around and we did some wonderful trips. My health seems to be fine and though I suspect I will never quite fully get back to what I was before the triple bypass of a year ago,  I feel good and my doctor is pleased with my blood-work.

So what adventures are planned for this year? On February 13 I leave for India where I will join a tour starting February 15. The tour lasts for 22 days and you can read about it here. My family feels much better that I will be taking a tour rather than wandering around by myself on the trains. At least when I topple over, there should be somebody who notices and can do something about it before I get trampled by a wandering cow. From what I hear, it all should be quite an experience, even being squashed by the cow

We also have arranged to do a house exchange near Worcester UK in June. It will be a great opportunity to see the west of England and Wales, though I suspect we will do a day trip to London at least once.

Each year I will leave you with a piece of music that somehow got my attention during the past year. This Passcaille by Ravel is doleful but beautiful.