So I am now down to only 21 working days before the big day, although in my head, having had THAT birthday I am thinking that I should be retired already. It's odd, how the approaching cut-off time has me seriously procrastinating about doing pretty much anything that's not driven by a work related dead-line. I find myself saying 'I'll do it when I retire' about everything from the garden to the ironing, from car servicing to the filing. I've been making mental lists of all the things I need to sort out when I stop work and that is a very long list indeed. I am still awaiting the final artwork from the designers for the new activity - actually selling the socks that I make (purely as an exercise in recouping the investment I have made in yarn over the years), something I am hoping will be done before the 7th July. I am mentally compartmentalising the before (mostly work-related tasks, like prep, delivery, travel and finance admin) with after (house, craft, holidays, garden, friends) tasks and projects even though for the last 42 years these have been (mostly) comfortably intertwined. I wonder whether I have been foolish in agreeing to do some small pieces of work for one of my clients over the next year and whether I should have made a clean break. Time will tell.
In the meantime there are a couple of nice things to look forward to - a visit to Stobo Castle spa, a long weekend in Lisbon and a couple of good films. And books, lots of books! Some of the good stuff started on my birthday with a delightful visit to the Edinburgh Botanical Garden. May is such a great month to have been born - I love rhododendrons and azaleas and the true blue Himalayan poppy.
