So here we are back home again having a rest settling nicely into retirement. It’s Wednesday morning and I’m sitting in the garden room watching the queues of cars leaving the village full of people going to work. The heating is turned up, the garden room is very warm and I’m looking at the heavy frost on the trees outside and watching the people walk past the gate in their overcoats and anoraks. I’m sitting here contemplating a day spent with a new book, perhaps writing a new blog and generally whiling away the day. When suddenly my world is shattered, Christine appears with pots of paint, paintbrushes, rollers and step ladders.


Another room in need of decorating it appears. Why? I thought we have just finished completely redecorating the house following the addition of our West Wing. “Not quite” says Christine “three more rooms still to go”. My book goes back on the table and I wonder if joining the queue for work is a better option.


I don’t know about other old Togs like me who have retired maybe a couple or so years early but I am finding it very strange. You will remember that when I worked I was away from home Monday to Friday having only the week end at home to do things together and were not necessarily working around the house. Christine seemed to take care of everything so we had our quality time at a week end, then off away again on Monday morning


The point of this is that during the fourteen years or so that we lived like that DIY jobs at home still got done, decorating happened, the garden was always nice, our finances were always in order and we generally kept on top of everything. But now I am home 24:7 and I can’t remember the last time I had time to do nothing, if you get my drift. I don’t remember sitting here thinking what can I do today and I can’t really understand what has happened.


I know we are spending a lot of time abroad with Alex, Dave and the grandkids but that still leaves months on end when we are home all day every day.


So what’s gone wrong? When I was away from home everything got done, now I am at home we struggle to find time to fit anything at all in except working around the house. So what can it be? After much thought decide I there is only one conclusion, Christine and her obsession with decorating, design and room dressings which totally escaped me in the past as I never saw what went on behind the scenes, only the end product on a week end, if I noticed at all.


So I decide to raise this issue with her and over a coffee on the breakfast room I explain my problem that I never seem to have any time to do nothing and point out the bit about how these jobs got done while I was away but they seem a struggle now.


Christine of course immediately believes I am being critical and very quickly points out that whilst I was away she did the DIY, she did the decorating and makes the point that sometimes I didn’t even notice a room had been decorated. She also did the finances, the garden, the cooking, the cleaning, the ironing etc. etc. and Oh yes she makes the point that she also worked three days a week.


I know all this and of course I would have liked to have done more but I was too busy living in nice hotels having to make daily decisions on was it to be bacon and eggs with a sausage or wall paper paste for breakfast. Steak or fish on an evening and is that with salad or chips and did I want pudding or cheese and biscuits. Life was not all fun you know.


But as an ex project manager I have become accustomed to assessing situation quickly and drawing conclusions and very quickly the situation becomes clear to me, only one of us has retired and it’s not me, a point I make to Christine. I suggest that as she did all these jobs before then so long as she carries on doing them I should have lots of spare time. But the fact is that many of these jobs have come my way, possibly correctly so I hear you saying but that’s not the point, the fact is that Christine now must have less to do. She has in fact retired, a point I try to make delicately.


For some reason, and I have said this many times, I don’t understand women in general and Christine in particular she is not happy with my assessment and leaves me the paint pots and brushes as she very quickly changes her plans and goes of to Beverley to have coffee with her friend Vivien.


On reflection maybe I could have handled that whole situation better by getting out the Black Book and making a plan before approaching Christine but I couldn’t find the time.................! Much to busy! Must get on, I have a room to paint before she gets back that way she may start talking to me again.