Continued thoughts ref gardening & retirement
By dungy
11 comments
Once again a big thank you to those who’ve given their thoughts on how they found retirement,
The idea ref putting this topic up was to help those who are getting near to that big day when they no longer have to go to work,
No more clock watching and as far as shift the worker go’s !!!!!!
“Well”
if you do the 3 x shifts ie 6am until 2pm or 2pm until 10pm and the dreaded grave yard shift 10pm until 6am
or better known as night shift you’ll know what im talking about when i say your on one shift getting up half way through the night to get to work for 6am ,
Or if on the 2-10pm your more or less waiting to go to work,
And the night shift "well "
during the summer and any nice week days we may get you have to try and sleep during the day through the sound of lawn mowers, or kids playing (and who can blame them for being kids) during the winter you dont see much daylight as you go to work in the dark sleep when its light and get up in the dark,
It’s a wonder night shift workers dont have “Owl’s” as their best mates (they do the same hours)
So if you worked shift work im sure when you do retire you’ll not miss any of it.
But not everyone likes digging or the outside of gardening life, not everyone wants to grow their own food,
But gardening is in verious sections, ie Greenhouse gardening,
you can be in the greenhouse growing both from seed or if you like the hot house greenhouse then you can grow all kinds of plants and even grow for hanging baskets, troughs etc without even owning a spade,
People who have a need to use a wheelchair or can’t stand for long can really have a field day by doing this kind of gardening,
So its not all outside work or even the back breaking digging side of gardening,
The same can be said for the fruit cage gardening,
this is we’re you have a frame covered with a netting and inside is for the fruit growing both in containers or the ground,
This form of gardening is ideal for keeping animals off the fruit,
the size of these cages is up to you, they can be as small or as large as you want and they have a door so it’s simular to a greenhouse except the rain can get in and the plants can see the sun etc.
So if your getting near to the retirement day and like to keep active, have a think about the verious gardening that may just be what your looking for as ive talked about.
9 Feb, 2014
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Comments
Oooo I have lots of garden tasks lined up for OH when he retires, hopefully this year, he's not much into gardening except for grass cutting but does enjoy any hard landscaping jobs, he's also going to have a go at hedge laying we have a 200ft by 80ft native hedge, that'll keep him busy for a while lol.
Totally agree with you about shift work my hubbys worked shifts for 36 years in the power industry, its awful now he's older,nods off after days so can't sleep at night, can't relax after evenings so has to sit up for a couple of hours and well best not to even mention nights!!!!
10 Feb, 2014
i worked all sorts of shift patterns from when i was a teenager and up to my retirement at 70. hated the nights as i always struggled with getting enough sleep during the day and the trouble with a 2 till 10 shift is that it left you wide awake when you got home. everybody else is in bed trying to sleep and you are downstairs, sat around, doing nothing and trying not to wake the household.
shortly before i retired got maisie, because of her dependancy on us because of near blindness and deafness she kept me occupied even if just giving her cuddles. she has now no longer with us and it is getting a bit boring because the foul weather is stopping me getting out onto my garden.
watching football creates a diversion, but really want to get on my garden. think i will go up to my local builders yard and order those sandstone slabs for my wildflower meadow. oh bugger its raining.............
10 Feb, 2014
Hello to you all,
Like Maisie's dad,
Ive done my share of the shift work " all for the extra shift allowance" and ive seen people change so much by doing those shifts,
Devorces, temper problems and getting so you depend on the shift extra pay,
This is why im pointing the finger at those who are about to retire or even for no fault of their own people who find they're out of work,
Get a hobby and if you want one thats never completed and changes daily?
Then gardening is a good one plus if you like eating fresh food!!! Then you'll not do your self any harm by growing your own, even in tubs and containers,
Not all of us can have a big garden.
Now ref true friendship, im again like "Maisie's dad except ive 4 dogs,
All rescued from lifes of hell, but one is a little bit different to the other 3,
she's a sheep dog and she suffers from fits,
Anyone who's seen a dog having a fit will tell you it looks worse than it actualy is, the dog shakes and the teeth are all shown, and sometimes they scream,
The fits our little one has last for a few minutes and then she's back with us and after a rest and drink of water she comes round and looks at you as if nothing's happend,
These fits are once a month / somtimes the space between is longer (6 weeks)
Im afraid no real cure is available but we do get pills to help, and when she's in a fit ive found if i call her name she comes out of them quicker,
(who said retirement was a bore)
Im only glad i got this little unwanted dog after i'd retired and have the time to give something back in life,
The animals and the garden keeps me happy "very happy"
I can't honestly say the dogs help in the garden even if they do insist on eating the apples and the plums but all in all they make for a nice life and never stop giving me a welcome every morning.
10 Feb, 2014
Our lovely chocolate lab (Fudge), no longer with us, suffered from fits too Dungy, awful to see, he had his first when he was around two years old but luckily only had one a year so the vet didn't put him on medication then when he got older he started getting them much more frequently , he had two one day one after the other, during one he fell down the stairs through the banisters!!! so the vet tried lots of different tablets some didn't agree with him at all, but eventually he found the right combination of two different ones and he never had another fit.
Always remember one incident that always brings a smile to my face, the tablets increased his appetite, as if a lab isn't greedy enough!!!, on his walk he suddenly took off across a field wouldn't come back, not like him he was usually quite well behaved, I ran after him to find him sat in front of a group of builders who were having their lunch drool running from his mouth lol, how embarassing they must have thought I starved him!!!!
We don't have a dog now, but who knows maybe one day .
10 Feb, 2014
Hi Simbad,
Yes animals can make you smile ,laugh and cry,
The dog we have was we think involved with a ride-on mower,
I say this because she's scared stiff of them, even when i start ours up she runs into the house and wont come out,
Ive tried everything but i also have to think of her feelings and so we try to take her out while im cutting the lawns but its two acre's lawn and inbetween flower beds /trees etc so along with the edging it's a good 4 hours work,
But if its better for lottie then thats how its to be,
Now the other rescue "ROXANNE" she's a german shep, she spent two years in a cellar, and what a mess she was when we got her, we we're asked to foster her until a home could be found and to be honest i really didnt think she'd make it, she was so thin, dull eyes and her coat was like wire, her nails folded under her paws and she had little fur under her lower legs due to being on a concrete floor,
She couldn't walk properly and she just gulped her food and it passed through her,
I fed her on baby food and minced chicken for the first month and took it from that stage,
As the weeks went by she started to pick up but it was 6 month before she was walking better and her coat started to grow better,
One day we we're in my workshop (she followed me everywere) and i'd been doing some wood turning,
I didnt give much thought to the brush or "Roxanne" as i got hold of it to sweep the floor,
It was then i noticed her leaning away from me and her tail under her back end, "Fear" pure fear,
Im sure she'd been hit with a brush at some time in her life,
It's two years now she been with us and she will put up with the other three dogs but as she's older she's not interested in going after balls, she just likes being a mans dog and as i like the gardening and my car she'll be found near to what ever im up to,
But she really is one beautiful animal and no bad in her.
She's around 14 yrs now and im hoping she'll have a few years left in her, but one things for sure she "like myself" has a quality life until her time arrives.
And ref the brush !!
It's redundant, i use an old vacuume cleaner and "Roxanne" isn't bothered about that.
10 Feb, 2014
Oh Dungy that's awful it's so upsetting that people(if you can call them that) can treat poor defenceless animals like that, it's nice that your dogs have a happy ending though, well done in giving them such a loving home and I hope Roxanne has a few more happy years with you :-)
10 Feb, 2014
maisie was hit around so much that even when i touched her she would flinch. she was kept on a dogs farm in south wales and used as a breeding bitch. when that life ended maisie was dumped in a rehoming centre and from then in several homes. when her limitations became more apparent put up for rehoming. we stepped in as we thought she was georgeous. i was brought up on cocker spaniels. love them to bits. she had 18 wonderful months with us. we used to have loads of pillows in her "bedroom" next to my bed to stop her hurting herself as she "made her bed"
10 Feb, 2014
My hubby did terrible hours and has been retired from the lorries for just over a year, it was a horrible way to live as I had to work around his trying to sleep hours, plus we lost loads of holiday weekends as so many firms no longer recognize Bank Holidays, however he now drives for a local taxi firm, a lot less hours and less worrying for me as to whether he's going to get home safely, do I see more of him and does he help with the garden, NOPE!!! he still hates it, spends all his off time in the little room on his computer and has already sent for his fishing licence for when the season starts, when the weather improves I'm hoping I can get him to fix the wobbly fence and redo the shed roof before I lose him to the lake, lol..........
10 Feb, 2014
i tried fishing once lincslass and came to the conclusion that it was a boring waste of time. hated it. licience for this, permit for that.
10 Feb, 2014
Theres lots of quiet safe lanes, try cycling together !
Also a rambling club in most towns, see your local
area a different way round on public rights of way.
Everyone goes home feeling better.
11 Feb, 2014
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