In My Retirement in 2015

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2015! The coming of the new year heralds the first anniversary of my offical retirement - but the second anniversary of my freedom to live life without the pressures of work!

Determined to live well in retirement the last two years have surpassed my wildest expectations!

So here's what I'm looking forward to in 2015!

1. Celebrating a Couple of Very Important Milestones

Married in 1975, John and I will celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary in March! What an amazing journey it has been - I am grateful for every minute! Later in the year John turns 70 years young! And I mean young! Just how we go about celebrating these momentous milestones is currently a work in progress!

2. Making Memories with our Children and Grandchildren

We do love spending time with these precious people! Now that the renovation of the beach house at Coffin Bay is complete - and we can comfortably accomodate all of us - we have reserved blocks of time to spend together! Shared adventures swimming, fishing, boating, climbing sandhills, walking beaches, beach cricket and football and keeping a count of the local wildlife - particularly the kangaroos and emus that frequent the back yard and nearby areas are greatly valued by us all!

3.Health and Fitness

Having had major surgery during 2014, and then more recently suffering a lower back problem, I am determined to regain my health and flexibility. There is nothing like a period of poor health to make one appreciate the value of bursting with energy and vitality!

4. Travel

The USA trip is planned and paid for! We can't wait to see and experience places we've only ever seen in movies and read about in books!

5. Refresh My Wardrobe

It's a girl thing! Having settled into a retirement lifestyle that suits us I'm looking forward to really refreshing my wardrobe! Out with the old and in the new, I say! The old power suits will make way for stylish, fun, more casual clothing plus gorgeous shoes and boots that reflect our active and engaged retirement lifestyle. It will be a whole new me!

6. Learning

Those of you who read this blog regularly will already know how much I value learning! My learning goal for 2015 is tackle an online learning course in photography. I am especially keen to learn more about landscape photography prior to our USA adventure. In doing so I will become a true 21st century learner - that thing I talked so much about as school leader!

7. Reaching out through Social Media

I really enjoy engaging with the world through social media! Currently I have 53,600 followers on Pinterest, 784 followers on Twitter, 52 followers on Instagram - which I have recently discovered and love, and 33 followers on Google+  - a platform I profess I really don't understand! Plus the blogs - The Living Well in Retirement Challenge, Apricot Tart, and Watching My Garden Grow - of course! I am keen to see by how much I can extend the reach of each of these.

8. Blogging

In 2015 I am aiming to blog more regularly - it's just that life gets in the way sometimes! I have good intentions so let's see how I go! Your encouragement and comments will help here - there is nothing more motivating than readers commenting on your blog posts! I thank you in advance!

9. Outdoor Design of the Coffin Bay Beach House

Having completed the renovation of the building at Coffin Bay our next project is redesign of the outdoor spaces. There are lots of challenges and a great deal of work to be done - placing a shed that will allow for the boat and trailer to be reversed into it, creating a modern, mediterranean style outdoor kitchen, and landscaping and planting to create a cooling micro climate - particularly during the heat of summer.

10. Living Life Well

Finally, I intend to make the most of every day and every week of this year - life is too short to be miserable, to procrastinate or to be apathetic!

Life in retirement is meant to be lived well!

What plans do you have for 2015?

Cheers!

Marian

Retirement Lifestyle ... this week

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It's been one of those 'birthday weeks' this week, with three family members - husband, mother-in-law and grandson - celebrating birthdays within five days! One of the new luxuries of our retirement lifestyle is that now we have the time to really enjoy these occasions.

As the family's CBC aka Chief Birthday Cakemaker the task fell to me to whip up 'a birthday cake worth sharing' for the three birthday celebrants aged from 7 to 88! I chose to make a 'Chocolate Torte Los Angeles' -  a recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks 'The Gretta Anna Recipes'. Moist and calorific it got a thumbs up from everyone!

John's was one of the three birthdays to be celebrated. Neither the 7 year old nor the 88 year old, all I can say is that next year it a very big and special birthday!!! I need to start planning soon!

We decided to go out for lunch on the day and headed for the recently opened Jamie's Italian Adelaide.

Housed in the old Westpac Bank building the proportions inside are enormous! Despite this the designers have done an amazing job of creating a warm and welcoming space. I loved being able to see the food being cooked and assembled!

Choosing from the menu we were pleasantly surprised to find that prices are very reasonable.

I chose Jamie's Italian Signature Porchetta - slow-cooked free-range Australian pork belly filled with herbs, garlic and spices with fennel crackling and a watercress salad.

It was amazing! The meat was meltingly tender, the crackling perfectly crunchy and the flavourful jus - I could have eaten a bowl full as a broth!

The Birthday Boy chose the Wild Boar and Porcini Lasagne - slow-cooked wild boar, porcini,
mascarpone, herbs and wine, baked in an oozy white sauce with tomatoes and parmesan.

Expecting strong flavours the tender shredded meat filling of the lasagne was surprising mild in flavour and was complimented beautifully by the richness of the tomato and mascapone cheese sauce. Unfortunately I didn't grab a photo before before the generous serving of parmesan was sprinkled over. It was luscious!

For dessert we couldn't go past sharing a serve of the Epic Brownie - a warm fudgy brownie with amaretto icecream and caramelised amaretti popcorn. Wow!

Did we like it! It was epic!!! We almost scraped the bottom off the serving dish! And, can I tell you that the flavour and crunch of caramelised amaretti popcorn transports this dish to heavenly!

Just inside the entrance walls are flanked by two display cupboards with enticing Jamie Oliver merchandise. I have a couple of these books in my cookbook collection but hadn't seen Jamie's America or Jamie Oliver Does ... Spain, Italy, Greece, Morroco, Sweden, France. I left thinking that I must check them out!

As we left I couldn't resist taking a 'selfie' in the mirror reflection of the main doors!

So, to summarise - for the atmosphere and vibe, attentive service, wonderful food and value for money it surpassed our expectations. We gave it 10/10! It is a dining destination worth visiting!
We'll be back!

PS: The toilets - located downstairs are worth visiting! I won't spoil the surprise for you - but you'll know what I mean when you get there!

*To be clear - this is not a sponsored post. We visited as 'walk ins' on a Monday for lunch, arriving early at about 11.45am because the online lunch bookings were filled. We were welcomed and seated with only a few minutes wait. Others we know have waited patiently for long periods of time for a seat during evening service.

Jamie Oliver, you've done Adelaide proud! I 'dips my lid to you!'.

Cheers!

Marian

Retirement Lifestyle ... this week

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Retirement is proving to be so much fun! I particularly treasure the opportunities I am afforded to develop and explore my creativity - and learning photography has been one of those opportunities.

Imagine then, my excitement - and equal measure of terror - at being nominated to participate in a five day Black and White Photography challenge on Facebook. My blogger friend, Liz, at Bizzy Lizzy's Good Things (a wonderful blog you really must visit) extended the challenge.

On the first day I resorted to rushing outside to photograph something - anything - that would look reasonably interesting in black and white! The photograph I posted received one Like and no comments! Not an auspicious start!

Having never dabbled in this area of photography, as I embraced the challenge, I was quickly struck by how different the world looks in black and white. I have now a huge appreciation, and am in awe of, the skills and artistic 'eye' displayed by those photographers who excel in this area!

So, this week - in my retirement - I learnt that embracing a challenge, throwing caution to the wind and 'having a go' are extremely energising and liberating.

I am less hung up these days about what other people think - so here are my first black and white photos for your appraisal! They are far from perfect - but I had fun!

My Black and White Photography Challenge Gallery

'Pebbles'  

My Day 1 post, these rocks in blacks and greys form the 'beach' of our garden pond.

'Willywagtail'

Street art, Torquay, Victoria

'Pylons'

These structures along the M80 Ring Road, Melbourne fascinate me - one day they are praying mantis, another two girls jiving ...  What do you see?

'Big Rig' 

The Longhorn Express photographed at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Now that's a truck!

'Smoke'

Bushfire smoke made visibility poor travelling this day through northern New South Wales.

'Evening Storm' 

Port Macquarie

'35' 

Street number photographed in rural Victoria.

'Aged' 

How my skin feels without moisturiser these days!

'Ripples in the Sand' 

Long Beach, Coffin Bay South Australia.

'Scorched Earth 1'

Burnt bushland in the Coffin Bay National Park

'Scorched Earth 2'

Vertical view of the shot above.

'Black Magic'

A stunning viola in my garden.

'Can I Tempt You?'

Straight from the oven - a fresh scone for morning tea!

'Just a Small Serve'

Lemon Meringue Pie - yum! I must put this up on Apricot Tart soon!

'Time to Eat'

Eating outside again! I love summer!

Finally .....

'It's Five O'clock Somewhere'

Wine on the deck at Coffin Bay!

What an interesting and enjoyable experience the challenge has been! Thanks so much, Liz, for the nomination - you have sent me off on an adventure I might otherwise not have taken!

Do you have a favourite amongst these photos? I'd love to hear from you - be brave and let me know in the comments box!

Cheers!

Marian

A Postcard ... from Mykonos

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It's been a while since I've posted here - my apologies - but this retirement lifestyle certainly is busy! 

Planning some more overseas travel got me reminiscing about our trip to Greece and so I thought I might share some of our adventure on the beautiful island of Mykonos.

We arrived by ferry from Santorini on a beautiful May day. The harbour was glorious.

Without accomodation organised we were so fortunate to meet someone who directed us to this amazing place.

As it was just days before the opening of the summer season we paid a very reduced rate for our luxury accomodation and had the resort virtually to ourselves! It was so fabulous that we organised to stay a further two days!

The view from our terrace looking over the sea to more of those beautiful Greek islands! Those sunbeds had our name on them for several days!

We had the infinity pool to ourselves. The service was amazing - each time we used the pool a staff member rushed out with the biggest, whitest, fluffiest towels I have ever seen!

Breakfast, included in the price of the room, was a highlight of each day! It included champagne, smoked salmon and everything in between! As much as you wanted, served whenever you requested it!

We enjoyed breakfast each day served overlooking the infinity pool! I just loved these water glasses and still covet a set of my own! Does anyone know where I can get some?

A feature of any trip to Greece is the food! And any meal is nothing without traditional 'patates' - that are a bit similar to our chips. I loved that everywhere we went you could order a range of dishes to share. Every meal was a feast!

Yes, those streets in Mykonos really are narrow and windy - and those pirates in olden days would surely have got lost! It's hard to show just how narrow the streets are - so check out John's feet. This little path is as wide as two feet placed one in front of the other.

We kept stumbling across this tile which is located on one of the narrow streets between the main square on the beach front and Little Venice. After a couple of days it became a 'marker' and we knew where we were!

Beautiful little churches like this one near Little Venice are one of the features of Greece. And that sky - it must be the most beautiful blue in the world!

NB These photos were taken with my iphone 4! No filters, no tricks - this is how it was!

The Little Venice section of town is a 'must see'! The beach is a bit pebbly for suntanning on however!

No visit to Mykonos is complete without visiting the iconic windmills. Did you know that they were built by the Venetians in the 16th Century!

I found the beauty of the windmills very hard to capture in a photo on my iphone 4. I have a new appreciation of those beautiful shots taken by skilled photographers!

Beautiful Mykonos - I can't wait to visit you again!

Have you been to Mykonos? Do leave a comment - I'd love to hear of your experiences!

Cheers!

Marian

Retirement Lifestyle ... this week!

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We are back in beautiful Coffin Bay this week. I wish you could be here!

I discovered the Pano setting on my iPhone and was pretty pleased with this image. It is taken from the top of the Big Sand Dune on an evening walk along Long Beach.

I loved the colours of the evening sky reflected in the tidal sand flats of Long Beach.

The long and short of it! John on the dune, my shadow in the foreground.

The colours of the sky were amazing - I wish this truly captured the beauty of what we were seeing!

Spring is in the air - the bush is blooming!

The beach at Crinoline Point looking towards Yangie on the right. That's the Big Sand Dune in the centre.

You know you are in Australia when an emu and it's chicks are foraging in your backyard!

I bravely donned my bathing suit for the first time this season and caught up on some Vitamin D! The privacy screen we put on the windows really works - this is my reflection.

Have a great week wherever you are!

Cheers!

Marian