what do single over 60s do for entertainment and holidays

[Deleted User]

There are always women who have been adventurous when travelling, I don`t have that mindset, nor do I have a stomach that could cope with all sorts of dodgy food. I remember the roma gyp*** who scarily targeted and surrounded us, another time my bag and contents were stolen from our car in front of me, the time I got a stomach bug, all in foreign lands. Going on holiday isn`t always sweetness and light hence me considering escorted group travel

Flying a kite, thats nice

you made me have a flashback to my beetle chugging steadily up a hill which was covered in ice, when other cars just slithered. Or my green morris minor estate car, bought for £100 and sold 2 years later for £100. I still remember that smell.

I am making no more decisions just now, all too easy to suddenly get involved in too much

[Deleted User]

Jennifer_Jane wrote: »

U3A ("University of the third Age") is wonderful and has many activities.

I agree the U3A is brilliant Our local one has over 40 different interest groups including pub quizzes,outings oh the list is endless I pay £15 00 per year and could be out 7 days a week if I had the time .I go to knitting ,book club ,history ,sociology pub quiz,coffee mornings.I have met so many lovely people there and our monthly meeting is great as you can get to chat to other like mided folk with a cuppa and a biscuit afterwards.
Great cheap way of finding good things to do.
I also look after three of my grandsons as well which takes up a lot of time,plus I read,knit ,swim (free in my area ) go for bus rides when I don't fancy using my car,belong to English Heritage .museums,galleries all sorts of brilliant things to do.My problem is I could do with a 36 hour day and a 10 day week to get them all in :):)

Errata

Good luck with U3A, my local one is absolute rubbish (unless I fancy cake decorating or making furniture for dolls houses!).
I suppose the $64k question is what's missing: something to pass the hours; something that will be interesting; something that will entertain.
I'm currently a bit immobile so Ive restarted online Latin lessons which only passes a little time but is interesting. When I'm back up on my feet the local history society is a mine of entertainment - both the 'stuff' and the members. One thing I've sorely missed since I retired is decent and knowledgeable conversation and discussion.
I've also been delving back into my family history and writing it up for the youngest generation - they're amazed to learn that not only sweets were rationed, but so was bread - long after WW2 finished. I also write about all the naughty things family members 3 - 4 generations ago got up to . The youngsters are quite impressed with what aunt Gertie got up to in the roaring 20's, she was a bit of a goer, and of course kids always think nobody had sex before they discovered it
This is the kind of stuff that gets lost over generations, what life was really like and how it was lived. The National Archives were very grateful to receive my stepdad's written memories of nearly 4 years as a POW in North Africa, Italy and Germany. The first German camp he was put in was an extermination camp which he was moved from once the Germans got their organising sorted out. Horrible tales of what he and his fellow POW's cooked up and ate; not quite Charlie Chaplin's boot soles, but not far away and he knew what body lice tasted like.
Most people's families have interesting stories, but they often get lost when people die.

Farway

Errata wrote: »

I've also been delving back into my family history and writing it up for the youngest generation - they're amazed to learn that not only sweets were rationed, but so was bread - long after WW2 finished. I also write about all the naughty things family members 3 - 4 generations ago got up to . The youngsters are quite impressed with what aunt Gertie got up to in the roaring 20's, she was a bit of a goer, and of course kids always think nobody had sex before they discovered it
.

I volunteer help with Family History at local Age Concern

One of our clients had always been told her auntie was friend with and helped fishermen, assuming this involved making tea & cakes etc

Further reseach showed she had 9 children, fathers unknown & unmarried, and was basically a prostitute

The client did not take this badly, some do

margaretclare

kittie wrote: »

I intend to embrace being alone. I loved my marriage and my husband of 45 years and now have absolutely no intention of marrying again. I already had an invitation to supper by a man who said he was `lonely`. Yes right! I am not lonely and have no intention of ever being a domestic carer, I would have done it willingly for my husband but he had earned it. Needless to say I turned the invitation down I am happy in my own skin and am just looking for nice new things to do

Had to smile at this. Reminds me of the guy I met in a pub for a drink. Before he'd even asked me what I'd like to drink, he informed me that his wife had died 5 years before and in that 5 years he'd had to learn to cook. The tone of voice in which this was said, and the facial expression, left no doubt of what he was hoping for. I was out of there so fast you wouldn't believe. I never thought that I was put on this earth to be the cook/housekeeper for any bloke.

Nevertheless, being widowed in my late 50s wasn't a case of how to fill my time, what entertainments/excursions/leisure activities to take up. It was a matter of survival, keeping the roof over my head, because I'd also been made redundant - coincidentally with widowhood - and was left with a mortgage. I did all kinds of jobs just to earn a little money, and that was my main focus during those years.

It was the biggest surprise when DH and I stumbled across each other, very accidentally. I had had no thought of remarriage, but I fell in love just like any daft teenager. Two lonely people - the rest is history.

margaretclare

What that guy said was that in 35 years of marriage he'd never so much as made a cup of tea. He'd had to learn to cook since she died...I felt so sorry for his late wife but no sympathy for him, none at all!

Then there was the guy who volunteered to act as my escort at my daughter's wedding - nice of him, but he confessed to being a 60 year old virgin and, knowing I was a widow, wanted me to 'teach him what it was all about'. Again, I made an extremely quick exit.

Then there was the bloke who said that Sunday was the most boring day of the week, 'let's buy a couple of bottles of wine, go round to yours and get smashed'.

I never so much as invited a man across my doorstep for a cup of tea. That was why it was so surprising when I was talking to DH and I heard myself say 'if it gets really unbearable you could always move in with me'. 3 weeks later that was what happened. It was the last thing I'd ever have thought of, foreseen, planned for.

SeniorSam

How about working in a Charity shop. There are lot of charities looking for helpers. You get to meet lots of people and feel that you are putting 'something back' to help. My wife has been helping at the British Heart Foundation for several years now and really love the job. She gets some help with car parking charges, but no pay. There are lots of opportunities for just a few hours to a few days a week if you wish. She also sings in a choir where there are many retired single ladies.
Good luck in whatever you do.

Errata

margaretclare wrote: »

What that guy said was that in 35 years of marriage he'd never so much as made a cup of tea. He'd had to learn to cook since she died...I felt so sorry for his late wife but no sympathy for him, none at all!

Then there was the guy who volunteered to act as my escort at my daughter's wedding - nice of him, but he confessed to being a 60 year old virgin and, knowing I was a widow, wanted me to 'teach him what it was all about'. Again, I made an extremely quick exit.

Then there was the bloke who said that Sunday was the most boring day of the week, 'let's buy a couple of bottles of wine, go round to yours and get smashed'.

I never so much as invited a man across my doorstep for a cup of tea. That was why it was so surprising when I was talking to DH and I heard myself say 'if it gets really unbearable you could always move in with me'. 3 weeks later that was what happened. It was the last thing I'd ever have thought of, foreseen, planned for.

Aye, those dating websites have a lot to answer for

margaretclare

Never been to a dating website. There was no such thing back then.

Errata

margaretclare wrote: »

Never been to a dating website. There was no such thing back then.

Back when? They've been around for years.