This is a new style of Post for me and I’ve been thinking about it too much without actually writing anything, I realise I’m a bit late to talk about what I did in July and August but as the saying goes better late than never! I hope to make this a regular monthly feature to encapsulate the joys of my new found freedom in retirement. Taking to time to enjoy life – seeing it from a new relaxed perspective.
Where Did I Go:
In July I was very fortunate to enjoy a day at Wimbledon. I was invited as a guest of my friend who had won a day out courtesy of Robinson’s and Subway with seats on Court 1 and hospitality in The Wimbledon Experience Included. We visited as a day trip travelling by train from Manchester. This was my second visit, I too won a day out a couple of years ago. For anyone who hasn’t been, I cannot recommend it highly enough. A fabulous event that is so well organised and the best that Britain has to offer. This is a topic for a full post on it’s own.
A Day at Wimbledon
Also as it was my birthday in July Mr Fitz treated me to lunch with James Martin at his Manchester Restaurant. I lunched with my friend and it was a fabulous afternoon. Great venue, food, wine and of course the company of the one and only James himself!
Lunch with James Martin
In August I had a couple of lovely lunches out both with my husband and my comping friends – these are friends I have become close to through our hobby of entering competitions. We see each other quite regularly, not only discussing our competition entries, sharing hints and tips and also prizes.
My husband and I enjoy days out for lunch and drinks on what we now call Freedom Fridays, I’m retired and John is part time, winding down into retirement. Friday is his day off and on one of our Freedom Fridays we visited Abode Brasserie Manchester – read the review on my sister blog.
Finally I can’t let this time of the year pass without saying that I have spent some quality time with my much loved younger family members, my brother and Sister in law and my nephew and nieces children, who were enjoying their school holidays. This is precious fun times.
Books
I used to be an avid reader but am ashamed to say that now I supposedly have more free time I seem to read less. I also have to confess to having a Kindle, I do not want to see the demise of the paper versions, however it is so much more convenient to carry, either on holidays or whilst travelling on public transport, which is something I do much more of now in retirement. But I only managed to read one book in July/August.
What Happened That Night by Sheila O’Flanagan – Not only is this a lovely storyline with a romantic theme but it gives a fabulous insight into the world of Jewellery design and Jewel merchants. As a fan of jewellery I was fascinated by the descriptions of the pieces designed and discussed in the novel. Oh to have had illustrations or photographs and my joy would have been complete.
Film
I struggle to find contemporary films to watch. I am not a fan of Sci Fi, Dystopian movies, Vampire, Futuristic genre’s or anything similar. You will discover that I am a huge fan of Vintage Black and White movies and tend to chose to re-watch one of my old favourites if I cannot find anything current that takes my fancy. However I did watch 2 good films in July and August.
The Mountain Between Us starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba made in 2017. John found this whilst browsing Sky Movies, we have a full subscription, along with our Sports Package. It is an action drama about a Surgeon, a Journalist, oh and a dog that survive a plane crash in a severe snow storm. It is the story of their efforts to survive and reach safety. It was our sort of film, and even though some of the story is unbelievable it was a good watch.
Bridesmaids this was released in 2011 but as usual I was late to the party. I watched this whilst tackling a pile of ironing. I have to say I really enjoyed it and laughed out loud at some of the antics of this group of women.
What I watched on TV
I started to watch How To Get Away with Murder after I downloaded a couple of episodes to my tablet from Google Playfor a flight earlier this year. In July I watched some more – A good watch even though there are a lot of flashbacks to one event that runs through all the episodes. I’m very disappointed though to find it’s not available on Sky. I do not have Netflix but have just started a subscription to Amazon Prime. I appreciate that it is about to air for Series 5, another case of me being late to the party. It is a Shonda Rhimes production and having watched every episode of Greys Anatomy, I can say I enjoy her shows. I have not quite completed the 1 st series but I am already ‘into’ the characters, particularly Alfred Enoch as Wes Ginbbins and the magnificent and mesmerising Annalise Keating played by current favourite actress Viola Davies.
What I Purchased
I focused my purchases on items for our forthcoming cruise holiday. Being a clothesaholic, if there is such a word I have a wardrobe full of suitable clothes, that I have bought in the past ‘Just in Case’. This means that my purchases were mostly for Mr Fitz or packaging solutions. At this point I must give a huge shout out to all the fabulous youtubers out there who blog about cruising – 3 of my favourites are: Planet Cruise TV, EECC travels, I love their music! and Cruise Tips TV.
So back to purchases Mr Fitz loves shirts and T shirts as much as I love shoes and handbags so I purchased a fab check shirt that I saw in Debenhams – as I walked past it in the store I knew it would be great for him, he loves checks and it contains all his favourite colours.
I purchased lot of travel accessories including some new packing cubes, I love these and have one set already but as we are taking a suitcase each I thought I’d purchase another set. My present set is blue so naturally this set had to be pink!
Also as I received an Argos gift card as part of a competition prize I used it to purchase a new carry on wheeled suitcase in their July sale. I do not intend to use it for this holiday but for future trips. It is a fabulous rose gold colour.
Planning
I’m in the middle of planning our first cruise holiday to Greece in September. We’re sailing on Oceana with P&O. I chose this cruise line after talking to friends and by my own research. The cruise is my present to my husband for his upcoming 60th Birthday on October. We chose a 7 night Cruise in the Mediterranean for our first attempt at cruising rather than sailing for further and longer as we are not sure whether it is our ‘thing’. However we have chosen a Balcony cabin as a treat so that we can sit and watch the sunrise and sunset. I hope to bring you much more content around this holiday.
I am also planning some home improvements for later in the year- a refitted en suite bathroom and new wooden flooring in the downstairs rooms.
Thank you for stopping by to read let me know what you did over these 2 summer months? I’d love to hear from you, also any suggestions for good travel youtube channels.
Elaine
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