Retirement has crept
up on us, unnoticed in the busy days and months of relocation. We have become
used to our strange new rhythm of life, conducted in harmony, together, one smoothly
oiled unit again.
Today
is different. Parted for once, to follow diverse pursuits – he to explore the
new world of outdoor painting with a newly discovered group of kindred spirits
and me at home, armed with pastry, a rolling pin and the best of local Welsh
ingredients to try my hand at home baking in my new Welsh kitchen.
The
hub of the home! That’s what the kitchen has again become in many people’s
minds. A 21st century ‘back to the country’ phenomenon, reinventing
what, for centuries past, has been normal, traditional and so ordinary as not
to be noticed. Now, however, it is all the rage.
The
cottage seems empty today. I saunter about, enjoying my new little ‘kingdom’ –
queendom, perhaps. I can do what I please today. Hard to get used to after
days, weeks, months with a newly retired husband. I can do nothing... or I can
do anything I want to. But I have been shopping in readiness for this day, buying
fresh peppers, cheese, mushrooms; I have extracted meat from the freezer,
prepared my ground well. So my course is set. It is a strange choice, maybe – a
day of baking in the kitchen: in traditional ‘women’s territory’! But it’s my
choice and I am relishing the luxury of an uninterrupted day with time to ‘get
on’. Today I am safe to be left at home alone; next time, maybe, who knows? I
may get up to mischief...