Retirement, Pensions And Happiness

 I had a brilliant time on Saturday night with my old school friends out on the South Bank. We talked and laughed non stop for hours. Reminiscing, talking about what we are doing, talking about families. We didn't stop. One thing that we talked about a lot was out plans for retirement which is fast approaching. We all have taken very different career paths and some of the group are much better off financially than others. I have never, ever bothered about whether people have more money than me. I am very happy with my lot in life so I don't care. The wealthiest most "successful" man there, who works in banking, was horrified at some of our retirement plans. I'm not retiring until I'm 65 he said "Can't afford to I've got too many outgoings and need to earn more for my pension pot." He looked pale, grey and old. I felt sad for him remembering the fun, bright youngster at school. He was advising some of the other men on ways to invest money for the best possible income. I could catch bits of the conversation "risky but high returns" kept cropping up. I felt like saying "Are you mad?".but felt it was far to rude to say to someone I only see a couple of times a year.
  At the end of the night, one of the men, who is probably one of the most cheerful people you could meet, and I caught the train home together as we live close by. He was full of his family, his grandson, his life and how happy he is. He told me he kept quiet in the pension conversation as he doesn't have a private pension. He laughed, as long as I pay off  my mortgage and I have my family I will be happy. Some people may think I have done things wrong but never mind. I looked at him and thought how could anyone think he has done things wrong.
  I know we all need to be able to survive, and poverty in old age is no fun, but will all that extra money above what we need to live realatively comfortably really bring that much more happiness? I suppose time will tell!
  It was a really lovely day yesterday and I took Tess to the park to clear my head after such a late night. It was a beautiful autumn day and I thought no amount of money could buy this sort of day.

   I know lots of people may disagree with me but sometimes I think it's easy to be always striving for happiness in the future and not noticing it when it is right there every day. I hope everyone has a lovely day with a bit of brightness in it. xx

Who Remembers 1961?

   A few weeks ago I bought a pile of old negatives and some old cine films from our local charity saleroom. I often buy old negatives at car boot sales as they are very cheap and I have a light box to copy them and a programme to publish them as photographs again. I can't tell you what an exciting moment it is when a picture, that has been forgotten for years, jumps into life again and I have made some fantastic finds this way. I have two websites one about the First World War and one social history site where I store all the photos I find for people to view. I always try to reunite these photos with family members. I had often thought about adding videos made from old cine films and decided with these very cheap films it was worth a try. I sent the film with March-May 1961 written on it to a company who transfers the film onto DVD, they only charges £7.99 for any length of film which seemed very reasonable. It was worth every penny.
   I spent the afternoon watching the old films. It was so evocative of when I was a young child I couldn't believe it. It brought back memories so clearly of my sister and I playing when we were young and I remembered images that were somewhere in the back of my mind but forgotten. I'm gradually editing all the films and adding them to my website. Every little scene on their tricycles and scooters and running along with Grandma and Grandad will be saved. There are old cars, buses and even film taken hanging out of trains as they travel along. When it is all completed I will add a link so anyone who loves a little bit of social history can enjoy them too. The saddest feeling for me is that they have ended up out of the family and just lying in a box in a charity shop. I would be so happy if I could reunite them with family. Here is a short clip of the children with their grandparents at the fair. I hope anyone else who feels nostalgic about the 1960s enjoys it.

Eco Travelling And Some Pretty Cottages

   My Mum is out of hospital again but they still need me to go and visit most days. Unfortunately there is no direct train route from our station to theirs and I usually have to change twice. It means that there is always a lot of waiting around but to be honest I don't really mind. It gives me time to read the paper and gather my thoughts which there never seems to be time at home for! I can also indulge in a bit of people watching which I love doing. I build up little scenarios in my mind of where they are going and why. I'm sure nine times out of ten I'm wrong but I always do it, I can't help myself. Today I watched this Mum with her lovely little daughter waiting for the train. The little girl was happily ringing her bicycle bell as they waited. What a fantastic eco friendly Mum she must be. Instilling all the right values on her daughter I'm sure. Just seeing them made me smile for the rest of my journey.

    I also just had to share these photos of pretty cottages I took on the way. I love little cottages and always have to stop and admire them. I like to think how the area around them must have changed over the years. I bet their early residents wouldn't recognise how it all looked.