Linda has recently retired. She now has the time to embrace life, laugh a lot and do all that she loves. Discover what that looks like for her and let her adventures inspire you…
LIVE
In my first bought house, the trees were in the middle of the street. I lived in the Gardens in Low Fell. Two lines of terraces faced each other, separated by a line of tall trees, mostly sycamore and ash. They were always a joy to behold during each changing season. I hasten to add they were also a safety catch, when slipping and sliding downhill on the icy paths. In my present house, there stands a glorious beech tree. When my daughter moved into the attic, the crows noisily living in the top branches expressed their dissatisfaction and decamped. They took their nest apart branch by branch and moved into the trees further along. Obviously they felt overlooked or her loud music was not to their taste haha. Today I have filled six large sacks with leaves, which will rot down for compost. What a great workout that was, as I raked the grass and picked up the leaves. The nearby copper beech added its leaves too very considerately. The tree also provides branches for a swing, a very well-used swing. We are so blessed to be living near trees.
LAUGH
Old photos make me smile and laugh. This record of changing fashions and hairstyles is frankly hilarious. All parents have the photo to show future partners of their children an embarrassing picture of their child. Having lived through the 60’s with long hair, the 70’s perms followed – yes those heads of super curls worked on even my hair! They led to the 80’s and curly bobs. Fantastic or fantastically funny! Oh and yes, that is me on the right watching my son on sports day, sitting with Marj Ridley and Carol Anderson. Skirt lengths went from minis to maxis and midis and hairstyles matched them. Digital snaps are great and the ease of deleting rejected images is very useful, but I hope they last like hard copies of photos.
LOVE
As it was my turn to select a book for book club, I chose The Clearing by Tim Gautreaux. This is my all time favourite crime book. I decided to read it again after a friend from a former work book club facebooked me. She had kept it when she downsized house and after a few pages was hooked again by the language and imagery. It is about two brothers. Set in 1923 in a logging camp, Louisiana, one goes to bring his brother home. The setting echoes a saloon frontier town and its hardship life. As Byron tries to turn the fortunes of the sawmill around, he faces the often brutal realities of such a life. Life with the snakes, violence, whisky and rival gangsters is hard. One review mentioned ‘a slowly creeping sense of dread’ which I loved. I love the way his words made me feel as though I was there, sharing each disaster. Loved it!
I try to live, laugh and love each day xxx
