La Dolce Vita 2026

helensbiggestfan

Hello Everyone

Long time no see, hope you are all well and "in the pink". Time to resurrect this thread and kick start my Dolce Vita. I have been a bit of a hermit over the winter but now it's finally spring and I'm ready……

Just back from my Easter Holiday with the family. A super luxurious air B&B in a cute little village in the lovely Peak District. Had a great time, even the weather was kind.

Today has been rather momentous. My little car has finally given up the ghost, so she was taken away today. She's been in the family for 18 years, so owes me nothing. RIP my four wheeled friend.

I am going to go car free for a while, see how I go. I really dislike driving nowadays and for the past year or so I have confined my motoring to short local trips. We have a good bus service, taxis and Uber won't break the bank. And of course I can do most of my shopping, banking etc on online so I don't think I'll have any real issues going car free.

Still not sorted out my tax situation, HRMC owe me a small fortune. I better get on it this week.

Lashing down with rain at the moment. ☔️☔️. Time somebody turned the taps off…..

Wednesday2000

Nice to see you again. I was going to write "Hello Lovely" as that is something I keep hearing people saying to me living in Essex now.😂

It has been quite nice weather here. I had a pedicure the other day for the first time in a year, haha.

helensbiggestfan

"Hello Lovely" is fab. It's funny how every region has its own pet names or endearments. I hope this tradition never dies out.

I don't know what possessed me but whilst on holiday, instead of saying good morning, I absent mindedly greeted my 7 year old grandson one morning in Broad Derbyshire dialect saying "Ey up". Quick as a flash he shot back with "Ey up, me duck", the correct response. His parents were astonished as they had no idea he knew Derbyshire dialect. My eldest son never uses it and my DIL is Venezuelan so it's all Greek to her. Lol. He's obviously picked it up from school. So of course I taught him some more……..

Of course we all want people to "talk proper" and be able to express themselves clearly and we do children no favours by allowing them to use vulgar and slovenly speech but at the same time I think we can't let dialects and regional words die. It's part of our rich cultural heritage ……

I love accents and have always had a good ear for them. My youngest son is a brilliant mimic and can do just about any accent. He creates comic characters around them…..his Russian Gangster and his Gay German engineer are hilarious.

Our family, I'm guessing like many others, has a habit of making up words or phrases. Gobbledegook to outsiders but we know what we mean. Tonight we had a storm and my son texted me to ask if it was "thunderificating" in my neck of the woods. A word he made up as a child and which has just stuck.

The storm was quite fierce, thunder, lightening, hail, high wind - the lot. 10 minutes later - brilliant sunshine. 😂🤣

helensbiggestfan

Hello everyone. Time for a quick catch up. Hope this finds you all well.

I'm happy, content and serene. Still living a quiet simple life. It's been about three weeks now being car free. Not quite sure how I feel yet. I don't miss driving. Tbh I was beginning to find it somewhat stressful - but I do occasionally miss the spontaneity of being able to just "nip out". It is just "different".

Bit cheesed off with the cold weather, looking forward to it warming up soon. Keeping busy, have started tackling the paperwork backlog. The shredder has been working overtime. Lol.

Next few weeks are looking busy, various family birthdays and anniversaries.

Hope you are all well. 🥂 here's to a nice long warm summer. 🤞

helensbiggestfan

Good Morning My Lovely Friends.

Cooler now here and some much needed rain. But wasn't the sunshine lovely whilst it lasted. It will be back soon enough no doubt,

Life is treating me well - apart from the usual aches and pains which I do my best to ignore.,As Bette Davis said "Aging ain't for cissies" lol. How right she was…….but I try to view aging as just another season in life. One to be enjoyed. For me La DolceVita is all about accepting what we can't change with good grace and making sure I extract every last scrap of joy from every day.

I've been doing just that, loving the summer weather, pottering about, and just enjoying "La Dolce Far Niente" - the sweetness of doing nothing. I do so love being retired, I don't miss the daily grind and I certainly don't miss the stress and exhaustion that came with being Corporate Woman.

We celebrated my youngest baby's 40th birthday yesterday with a slap up meal in one of those American Style Smokehouse Family restaurants. Not the kind of place we would usually choose for a celebration but with four young children in tow it was a brilliant choice. The food was delicious and the helpings were very generous. It was "food with theatre" and the children loved it. I bought my son one of those Red Letter Day experiences. He has chosen to drive some performance cars. He is so excited…it's lovely when you buy them something that really lights up their face.

As for me, my driving days are definitely behind me now. I wont be replacing my car. I am perfectly happy without it. I have pretty much cracked the online grocery shopping. So much easier, and I am even saving money because I am better organised.

I have decided to put decorating projects on hold for now and just concentrate on getting the garden ship shape. It's been a while since I restocked a garden and I have been somewhat taken aback by the increased costs of trees and shrubs etc. so I have bought "baby"versions. I now have a little nursery of trees and plants in pots which I am nurturing until they are robust enough to be planted out. I shall also try and take lots of cuttings both from my existing plants and raiding the gardens of friends and family…..😉

Lots of nice things in the pipeline but first I need to book some "me maintenance" - getting my oven professionally cleaned, chiropodist, hairdresser, dentist.

Alas, getting older does seem to incur higher maintenance costs …….

Film recommendation……."Ladies First" on Netflix. One of those trading places stories. Set in the corporate world where a misogynist sustains a bump on the head and wakes up in an alternative reality where the women hold all the power. Both funny and thought provoking.

PollyWollyDoodle

Thank you for the film recommendation. I completely agree about the joy of retirement- I still work part time but I’m self employed so can be flexible, however I am looking forward to next year when I give up completely. Not that I will be sitting about much, I think I am busier than when I worked full time!

Good to hear about your garden plans. I have lost track of time- did you move in the end, is this your forever home’ or are you still thinking of looking for another house?

helensbiggestfan

Yes it's my forever home…….at least until I get itchy feet again. Lol.

I moved here in March of last year. Can't believe I've been here over a year. It's a cute little house, in a nice quiet cul de sac, with a wood opposite so very peaceful. Nice neighbours. The house was built in 2018, easy to heat and maintain. A bit bland still but I am gradually making it home. Aiming to get the garden sorted over the summer and then turn my attention to the inside over the winter. Decorating, some new furniture and accessories etc.

I know what you mean about being busier in retirement than when working. However did we find the time to both live and work. 😂

joedenise

Another who is enjoying retirement. I don't we really lived when we were working! It was get up, work, eat, sleep and then rinse and repeat. There wasn't really time for life!

helensbiggestfan

Good Afternoon Everyone

Joe Denise - I couldn't agree more with what you say about the work life balance. It's a crazy world out there.

I look at my eldest son and DIL and the way they live and frankly I shudder. Both in very demanding high powered jobs, two small children, and trying to renovate their house. They are like hamsters on a wheel. I've lost count of the times that they have visited me as a family and at least one them has fallen asleep. Same with my second son and his girlfriend. They don't have children but again both work long hours and they often look exhausted, especially his girlfriend who is a nurse and works gruelling 12 hr shifts - that's assuming she can get away on time, often she can't. I often look at her and think she is on the way to burn out.

Yes my babies are in their 40s and I still worry about them. Hey……..it's in a parents job description. 😂🤣

There is a stack of stuff that I should be doing but frankly I can't be bothered. Lol. So I thought I'd make myself a cuppa and while away some time on here whilst I take a breather. Then I will get stuck in……definitely. Haha It's stopped raining but too wet for gardening so I'm about to sort out a few cupboards. Son no 2 is bringing me a spare set of chest of drawers at the weekend….nothing fancy but it will come in handy. Then eventually I will probably replace it for something better and the drawers will probably go in the garage to house my bits and pieces.

I have been having a little spend. Some new planters and garden furniture. Still need to dig up some shrubs that aren't looking too good and then treat the soil with claybreaker. Typical new build poor soil that needs work. Hopefully after a few treatments I should be able to replant in the early autumn. In the meantime I am starting a small nursery of pot plants and cuttings.

As for the house, again still on hold although I have ordered some new paintings in readiness for when I start decorating etc around September/October time. I am debating whether to build a dividing wall between what is my kitchen/diner and turn it into two separate rooms, with double doors which could be left open or closed I could have the best of both worlds. I have lived with both open plan and two separate rooms in the past and although I like the spaciousness of my current kitchen/diner I do like being able to eat in a cosy dining room without the kitchen mess and clutter…..I'm a very messy cook!! Lol.

After a couple of quiet weeks my calendar is starting to fill up again, starting this weekend with a full house for a gathering of the clans. At least the weather is set to pick up so we can spill out into the garden. And July and August are starting to look pretty hectic.

Looks like my short spell of Dolce Far Niente (the sweetness of doing nothing) is coming to an end…….

Baileys_Babe

@helensbiggestfan said:

I am debating whether to build a dividing wall between what is my kitchen/diner and turn it into two separate rooms, with double doors which could be left open or closed I could have the best of both worlds. I have lived with both open plan and two separate rooms in the past and although I like the spaciousness of my current kitchen/diner I do like being able to eat in a cosy dining room without the kitchen mess and clutter…..I'm a very messy cook!! Lol.

Would pocket doors work to achieve what you are after?