Friends who aren’t retired or who haven’t been to México will ask “what do you do all day?”
I think it’s a funny question because boredom has never ever been a problem for me. I usually have way too many things going on, and some days I even have trouble deciding what to do because of it!
Some days I just like to play in my office-workroom. Above is a picture of my main work table. I have bins below full of fabric and yarn. Mats for pinning things out on. On the right you’ll see a goofy felted purse I made. A friend had given me some random inherited yarn and two already knitted sleeves…I decided to felt them. To the left of that is some material, as I still have two more pillows to make for the daybed in our rental. It turned out great, I think.
The picture below is of my sewing area. All my machines have little cosies on them since the humidity even causes my sewing needles to rust! Beneath this table are a couple more bins of fabrics.
Next is a picture of my desk. Kind of messy, but that is the way I work. Under the cup is a felted coaster that really soaks of the drips from my glass. To the left of my MacBook is my Kindle, and a lot of the time you’ll find me reading. If you want to know what I’m reading, by the way, you can always click on the Books page, above. I would say that is my favorite retirement pastime of all! On the stack of Spanish homework left of the Kindle is my iPod touch, I use it a lot daily as I listen to audio books while I knit, or music while I exercise, or check my Twitter and Facebook and mail when away from my desk.
Below is my latest knitting project, a shrug that is working up pretty easily. I’m using some yarn that I bought inexpensively on eBay.
Of course we walk a lot. Pretty much every day you’ll see us walking the dogs on the malecón at Olas Altas. Below is a picture from this morning.
I’m always looking for birds. There are woodpeckers living in the trees in Plazuela Hidalgo (Lion Park) and I got a picture of him yesterday, below.
I’ve been lamenting my desire for a big cutting board so I headed to Casa del Campesino for one of these taco stand tree trunk ones. David of Pizza Moreno schlepped it home for me on his moto, and our neighbor Barry loaned me his sander, so I guess cutting my vegies is a community effort! I think it turned out great. Now I need to find some mineral oil and I’ll be good to go!
Sometimes I work in the garden. The other day I named the day “Dirty Day” and spent the day on gardening projects. I got a lot done – transplanted a bunch of plants and cleaned up the bougainvillea and passion fruit vine. The vine is very vigorous and barely blooms and I could hardly believe it when I saw it had made a passion fruit, below.
On dirty day I also planted my fennel. You just can’t get fennel here so I decided to see if I could sprout regular fennel seeds that I use in cooking. They sprouted, and I have my fingers crossed that they will thrive in the dirt and become a delicious fennel meal!
I recently made new curtains for our spare room, which has french door windows. We have shutter things inside the protections so people walking by don’t look in, but I didn’t like that the sun could blaze in through the top part in the afternoon. So I made a little half curtain that lets you block the top but the breeze still can come in. (Maybe you have to be here…)
Yesterday I made sourdough bread. Whole wheat starter, with half whole wheat, a quarter oat flour and a quarter white. It rose up beautifully and went into the fridge last night in two tortilla basket bowls that I use as bread proofing baskets. I pulled them out of the fridge to show you but I probably won’t bake them until late this afternoon so I’ll leave them in the fridge most of the day.
So don’t ever think that you’ll be bored when you retire, at least if you have a lot of interests and a zest for life.
jonna
May 13, 2011I loved the picture of your day and your home. That tree slice cutting board is fantastic!! I hadn’t thought about looking for what the taco stand guys use, I’ve no idea where they get them here either. It will look fabulous once it is oiled. wow! The bread looks wonderful too.
I have a maracuyá on the roof, it has bloomed but no fruit. Mine is in a pot though, so perhaps that is why. I so want some fruit, it’s my current favorite taste.
Nancy
May 13, 2011Hi Jonna, The guy who gave me the maracuyá start said that it needed another in the vicinity to make fruit. He was a block one direction and there is another a block the other way so I was hoping! But the flowers must have been hiding in there, I never saw them! xoxo
jonna
May 13, 2011That’s good info! I think I’ll plant another one on the other side of the roof, they can throw pollen at each other 🙂 I had blooms, but nothing came of them. No one on my block has plants on their roof, and not many in their gardens either. I’ll have to supply the pollen donor. At least I know what to try now.
Zoe
May 14, 2011And knowing you, these things were all before NOON!!!
I bemoan the fact that I cannot get ONE thing that I buy and plant to remain flourishing near the ocean. I had a rampage of petunias about a month ago and now only one is left, and let’s not talk about the plants I TRY to grow on the balcony and rooftop. Is it the ocean salt or is it this very black thumb?
Kim G
May 14, 2011I’ve always thought being bored was a lack of imagination. The world is so full of things to do and learn, even if I lived to 200, I’d still have new things to do and learn.
Thanks for sharing a window into your life.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we too have way too many things to do at any given time.
P.S. in that climate, your bread must rise super-fast, no?
mary klassen
May 14, 2011I too am always asked what I do all day…but never a dull moment on the Isla. Love love love your cutting board, must get one too. Your shrug will be very cute.
Contessa
May 14, 2011Great post Nancy and thanks for the tour. I knew you were a busy lady but ‘Super Woman’!!! I can only imagine what you did before you retired. Your new camera takes great photos!
Mic
May 14, 2011Loved the snapshots of your day. You live an interesting life ! It’s such fun reading about it.
Nancy
May 14, 2011Zoe, I think the salt spray makes it very hard to grow things. I notice all the restaurants along the malecon seem to have just a few types that survive, mostly palms. But the thing is, you have that view!
Kim, I’m with you, there are never enough hours in the day! Oh, and the weather is just starting to warm up – my kitchen is at about 76-78 degrees, so we are still in the good zone. In the summer, watch out! It can rise way too fast.
Mary, Thanks for stopping by! When do you head back to Stone Island?
Contessa, I do have a lot of interests… and have fun playing. Retirement is like summer camp for grown ups!
Nancy
May 14, 2011Thanks, Mic. Nothing compares to a moose walking through the yard, though!
Chris
May 14, 2011I love the idea of covering your needles because of the humidity. Do you need to do anything special with your electronics? A room with a dehumidifier?
Trinidad Garcia
May 14, 2011Hello Nancy
I just wanted to say that I love your desk and the mess just gives it more character! I am looking for one myself and hope I can find one as nice as yours down in Mexico.
Nancy
May 15, 2011Hi Chris, I have little cosies on our toaster, mixer, sewing machine, etc. We choose to only use air conditioning (on the dehumidify setting) at night in our bedroom so the house has to deal with humidity! Seldom worn belts and zippers rust, bags of safety pins rust, silverware in the drawers rust, ceiling fans rust…. it is just part of the deal. Although keeping the air moving helps a lot.
Trinidad, Thanks, I love my desk, too. We actually bought it through a woman here who brings it in from a guy who makes furniture in Puebla. I’m sure you can show a photo to any talented carpenter and have something made that you’ll love! When do you move down???
Barb
May 19, 2011I agree with Kim’s statement about boredom. So true. And I LOVE what you said about retirement being like summer camp for grown-ups. Now I’m looking even more forward to the day (March 1, 2015).
I was a stay-at-home-mom when our kids were small. When they were all in school, my friends told me I would be sooooo bored. Never happened. I always managed to find things to do.