winding down from a full-time job
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:58 PM
Only 4 days to go and I have finished working full-time after a non-stop run of 24 years! Since my youngest was 3 years old I have done the 40+ hours per week that has 'brought in the bacon' and it feels really good to be stopping. I left school at 16 and though I have had spells of travelling and motherhood and studying, I have earned my pension. The last 10 years in the NHS has been immensely rewarding (intellectually as much as financially) but it has also taken everything I had left to give. Public service takes it all, but the sense of achievement is huge too. I have some real 'trophies' to hold up from time to time...real improvements to people's lives, things that I am proud of. We all need to leave a faint footprint in the sands of time, before we go.
Our footprint will look remarkably like a tyre tread! Steve was out today in the sunshine on the Guzzi. He just had to nip off to Sudbury, a mere 60 miles away, to collect a book worth £1.99...and on Sunday we met our friends Bob and Vee for a picnic in North Norfolk, sitting in the sunshine enjoying early spring warmth and Vee's excellent beef sandwiches. We are encouraging them to come and visit us in the Alpujarras and will lend them the Suzuki GS500 to go sightseeing on - unless they bring their own Honda Deauville. They have never visited Spain and are longing to see the Alhambra, Cordoba's mezquita and the wonderful urban mysteries of Sevilla. We need to revisit them too.
That chocolate brownie ...go shopping and I'll pass on the full recipe next time...250g of black chocolate, at least 70% real cocoa and the same quantities of caster sugar and unsalted butter (or at least 2/3 salt- free), and you'll need a few drops of vanilla essence, 200g of walnuts and 3 eggs. Oh, and some grease-proof paper or a non-stick baking tray. More anon.
I hope the house in the mountains has stayed watertight through all the rain. It was dry in January, but you have had a lot of 'watter' since then. We will find out more in May! If anyone in the Alpujarras wants to comment on the rainfall, please do so!