It has been another busy pre-early retirement week in our household. With just over two weeks of work now left, things are really hotting up. In this weeks blog we look at the importance of finding a vibrant community to early retire to, we think in more detail about our house renovation plans, start to clear the loft of 20+ years of clutter and look towards the next academic year knowing that we will not be returning in September.
Social connections
We had a lovely call at the start of the week from the owner of the house we are purchasing in Yorkshire. Regular readers of the blog will also recall that she is going to be our immediate neighbour when we move. She wanted to inform us of the village community website and some of the community events that are coming up in the next few months. She also wanted to let us know about the monthly community Sunday lunch that is prepared by the local farmers wives and is served up in the old village school. Needless to say, we are heading up there on Sunday! We are not even living in the community and yet we are already feeling such a part of it. For people in different circumstances, it may feel a little claustrophobic, but for us that are relocating and wanting a vibrant community to retire into, it is ideal.
One of our key worries about retiring so early was the loss of the community we currently have. We both need those external connections that employment currently provides. When we are retired, we are going to have a void to fill- and we both think that we have found just the thing to fill it.
Kitchen/bathroom design ideas
We took the opportunity of some rare free time at a weekend to dare to start looking at kitchens and bathrooms for the new house. We see this as a good sign as previously we have never dared temp fate by looking too far into the future. We have a very clear vision for how we want the cottage to look, traditional on the out side, cosy and minimalist on the inside. In our less is more vision, we want to keep the kitchen simple and functional- an L shaped run that meets the basic needs of a kitchen- if we can live in a van with a 2 burner hob, a mini sink and a fridge, we don’t need an elaborate kitchen at home.
In terms of the bathroom, we are going to miss our rainfall power shower that we currently have. We rarely use the bath at home, but if we are going to use the house as an Air B&B, we know that we need to keep a bath in the house for visitors. In our minds a bathroom is a bathroom- we are going to go for simple, white and cheap, and then dress it with quality fitting and tiling. Jackie is most insistent that we can do the tiling ourselves- I am not so sure of my abilities in that direction!
A busy run in to the end of term.
This week at work has been another odd one. I guess that as we only ever retire once in our careers, there is no opportunity to learn the skills to deal with it. We had a big transition week this week for our new students for next year and it really struck home to me that I will not be there in September to welcome them into the school.
This week was defiantly the beginning of the new guard- which is perfectly fine and expected, but no easier to deal with. I never expected the emotional attachment that I am feeling towards my job. Don’t get me wrong, I am soooo looking forward to September when I no longer need to go to work, but it is definitely tinged with sadness with the people that I will miss. I obviously won’t miss the daily stress and confrontations, but I will miss the people and the community.
Loft clearance- nostalgia and minimalism
We have worked every night this week getting stuck into the bottomless storage pit that is the loft. 20+ years in one house is not great for a minimalist loft, and we are a prime example of that. Boy we have accumulated some shit! On a more positive note, it has also been a lovely nostalgic experience, looking back at some of the great times we have had in the past. Going through the endless boxes of kids stuff has actually been really fun. It is all piled up for when they next return to make the decision keep or bin. If they choose keep- it is at their house, not ours.
For us, the process has really tested how far we are willing to go down the minimalist rabbit hole. It has not been easy, but we know that we need to keep to our less is more mantra and also to value and treasure the memories that the stuff evokes. It is the memories that are the important thing, not the stuff. The memories will remain, even when we discard the stuff, leaving more space for new memories. (Jackie does however love stuff!)
Make everyday a holiday
Even though we are up to our necks in the plans for early retirement, we didn’t miss the opportunity to get away and have a weekend adventure. We know for our own mental health and wellbeing that we need these micro-adventures in our lives, so we decided to shoot off to the Lakes to bag some more Wainwright’s on Friday night. The forecast was pretty poor for Friday night and sure enough it hammered it down all night, however we woke up to a beautiful day to get up on the fells. The overnight downpour meant it was very wet underfoot and resulted in another blue-feet day for Jackie and her Scarpa approach shoes!!! We planned a reasonably tough day, as we hadn’t done one for a while. 14km and 1000m+ of elevation later and we were comfortably cooked. There is a warm, satisfied feeling of fatigue and accomplishment after a big day in the mountains. Three new Wainwright’s bagged and a cheeky additional visit to the summit of Helvellyn to top off a fantastic day.
So that’s it, another week gone and we are not really sure of where the time has gone? We both feel entirely comfortable with how things are progressing in our early retirement plans, but there remains the trepidation of stepping into the great unknown. Next week sees more evenings of clearing the clutter as well as our final leavers prom, school show and sports day…a whole series of “last evers” to contend with.
Have a great week,
Richard & Jackie
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