The Bodhi Tree kept me busy on a Friday afternoon, amused a few people, it may even have kept me in my job for a bit longer than was strictly justified, but mostly it was a butterfly net. Capturing fleeting gems that would otherwise just have fluttered on by.
These last three years though. Well I have kept a diary faithfully every single day, but looking at it, to be kind it's a useful reminder of when we turned the central heating on for the first time each autumn or was it in March or early April that my asparagus spears popped out to say hello. Fleeting gems.....not so much!
If you're new to this forgive me if I bore you at the outset with a brief catch up. When I left you Hen was living in the back of her van with Myrtle, the Spanish glago dog she had rescued from just outside Granada, working in vineyards in the southwest of France. Tiring of "Uncle" Robert's lewd intentions she upped sticks and drove east to the Drome valley finding work in the grape fields on the slopes of Les Trois Becs. It is an incredibly beautiful spot. She fell in love with Hubert, who owns the fields and she's been there ever since. Our youngest, Lottie, aka Miss Perse Upperself, has left school and started at Newcastle University with a bout of Covid. Her GAP year was meant to have been working on a riding safari in Kenya. Instead it was mostly spent doing Sudoku puzzles at our kitchen table. Number two daughter, Jimmy. She's cool. And then there's Bob. The local wildlife population around Gazeley has had little to worry about this last year. Bob's been in New Zealand since January 2020 currently working on a boat in the Milford Sound and there's little indication that he will be coming back here any time soon.
As for me? Well I pootled about for a bit on leaving Nomura, but then I was introduced to a private wealth management firm called Saltus. I liked the cut of their gib, so I put some of my own money into the business, moved my pension fund onto their DFM platform and took a series of exams to qualify with a diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. I've got lots of capacity and full of passion about what I do which is a joy after holding down such a gruesomely pointless job for so long! Brace yourself. I will not be shy asking you to introduce me to people I might be able to help. In fact why not be proactive and point them my way??! Thanks xxx
Apart from that well I suppose there must have been some other stuff going on, but talking about the cut of their gib got me thinking about sailing in Norway. It happened like this. Some thirteen years ago I was at the bar of the golf club I had just joined and to which I had taken a guest to play. Feeling a little bit like a fish out of water I was ordering a couple of glasses of port with which to wash down a large plate of egg and anchovy sandwiches when an elderly gentleman, a complete stranger to boot, came up to me and said he knew from the look of me that I was a "good sort". "And the fact you're having a large port at lunch absolutely confirms it" he said to me. "Do you sail, by any chance?" he continued. I said that I did, somewhat bemused by the course this encounter had taken. "Well" he replied, "I have a boat in Norway and it would be just marvellous if you ever felt like coming over. It's a beautiful yacht and the sailing is cracking. I'm sure you would love it." He wandered off across the clubroom floor calling back over his shoulder, "Please just let me know, but you're welcome anytime". Just a bit weird don't you think?
The years went by and as you might imagine a sailing holiday with a virtual stranger, albeit I would bump into him from time to time playing golf and the invitation was oft repeated, was not high on my wish list. But then the summer of 2018 arrived and with it a certain freedom of time. My elderly acquaintance, now on the other side of 80 years of age, approached me with fresh intent. He explained that he and his wife ( some relief there ) were planning a sailing trip in late August, but being much less mobile than they used to be, he really needed someone who could "jump around the boat a bit". I would be doing them a huge favour if I would join them. I hummed and harred, but eventually, decided to throw caution to the wind and accepted the invitation. I was going to write a blog and had even come up with a title. The Adventures of Roger the Cabin Boy. I never did though. Whilst I may have had some trepidation and certainly went feeling I was doing them a favour it was actually wonderful! I had such a good time that I went the next year with them aswell. My liver is still recuperating.
Throw caution to the wind. That's the moral of this one absent much of a conclusion otherwise and even it is very at odds with my new life in which planning is everything. If I still have you maybe you'll find our latest posting about retirement planning of interest.....three slightly offbeat questions your answers to which do feel free to send me.
https://www.saltus.co.uk/news/3-questions-to-help-you-rethink-retirement/
