Making

Retirement Life

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

If you had told me a few years ago, before I retired myself, that retirement life could be so busy that you don’t have enough time, I would have scoffed and mumbled under my breath, “right, you just don’t manage your time well.” Now that I am retired, I realize that the beauty of it is… I don’t have to manage my time well. Such as it has been these past couple weeks. When I started this blog, I committed to publish a post every week. I love to write. It helps me breathe. However, these past couple weeks have left me with little extra time to write a blog post. What could keep this retired person so busy? Well, quite a lot really.

Spring cleaning and decorating

The sunshine shows all of the dust and smudge prints that have accumulated over the long, dark winter, so it was time to do a little spring cleaning. Chores do not go away once you are retired, unless you hire out to have them done, which I have a hard time doing because, well…I am retired after all. Besides, it always feels good to take down the winter decorations and freshen the house up a bit for spring.

I found the beehive last year and decided to it was worth a little roadsidea decorating.

Grandkids

It is wonderful to have relaxed time to be a grandparent. When we were raising our own kids, it felt like I was always rushing or multitasking. Now I can enjoy uninterrupted time with my grands. I have been watching our new grandbaby for a few hours every week while my DIL returns to work. Precious time where I just focus on her.

Just a fun bundle of cuddles and play.

My other granddaughter turned eight last week. We celebrated with a grandma nana date. I took her out for a high tea. We both dressed up and enjoyed tea with cream and sugar, little tea sandwiches and scones with clotted cream and jam. We learned a little bit about the history of high tea. Precious uninterrupted time together.

Of course, we had to try on every hat at the tearoom but settled on the ones we brought with us. We practiced drinking tea with our pinkie finger extended.

We have been able to attend several of my grandson’s wrestling matches, which can be all-day events. I am glad we have the time to do this – we missed too many when we spent the month of February in Florida. It is so fun to watch him enjoy and compete at the same sport his dad excelled at.

He is a beast on the wrestling mat but has a heart of gold and still gives hugs to grandma.

Travel

The weather has been sketchy at home and Scottsdale promised to be sunny and in the 80’s last week. We are retired, so why not make a quick trip down there to enjoy the sunshine? On a last-minute whim we packed up and made the short 2 1/2-hour flight. So glad we did. We have been hiking, riding bikes, enjoying the sunshine and pool all week. I spent a few hours in a bookstore, just nosing around the stacks without an agenda. This is a pretty cheap trip for us because we stayed at my son’s condo, since it was available for the week, and we used our free fly miles to travel back and forth. Our biggest expense was a car rental, which we got for a surprising $18.00/day.

This hike nearly killed us, but it was worth the view.

“Once she stopped rushing through life, she was amazed how much more life she had time for.”

Filling the Jars

So, there you have it. Life has been too chock full of fun stuff to write a real blog post this week. I had to settle for this quick recap of the last few weeks in the life of a retiree. I hope that you are able to NOT manage some of your time this week as well. It opens doors for the fun stuff.

The Upcycled Life

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

In keeping with my word(s) of the year, “the upcycled life.” I decided to share some of my favorite upcycled items I have created.  In my household decorating, I prefer a mix of new, upcycled and do it yourself (DIY) items.  When done well, it can be a perfect combination.  I think that the key is knowing your style.  Knowing what brings you pleasure to look at and makes you feel comfortable and at home.   If you only choose things that you love, they will typically work well together. 

I have made way too many decorating mistakes by picking something because it was the latest style, or I was in a hurry and did not want to look any further, or I was trying to save money and bought something I did not really love.  I can’t unsee that pink floral couch and loveseat that I bought years ago.  Ugh. The cover photo is a cabinet that we inherited over 30 years ago. I painted it white and sanded the edges afterwards to give it a distressed look, long before I even knew what chalk paint was. It has been my craft cabinet ever since. Mr. U added the dowel so I could hang rolls of ribbon on it. Unfortunately, I do not have before pics to show you.

I thrifted the old coat hanger and painted over the dated oak. Perfect for bathroom towels. I found the shelf at a garage sale years ago. It was a dark, ugly mess, but I loved the towel holder that hung below it, so I picked it up for $2.00. After a little sanding and giving it a coat of paint, it was as good as new. It has hung in my bathrooms ever since.

Upcycling takes a discarded object that may end up in the landfill and gives it new life. It is a reinvention of sorts. It requires a vision and creativity to upcycle something and give it a second existence. But why upcycle and DIY when it so much easier and quicker to buy an item readymade?

  • It is typically less expensive. We all know that the cost of things has gone up exponentially, particularly in the past couple of years. A few cans of paint and sheets of sandpaper are a whole lot cheaper than buying a new piece of furniture.
  • It is satisfying to complete a project yourself. It is satisfying to know that you revived something that would go to the landfill or gave beauty to something that was an eyesore.
  • It builds confidence and independence. Maybe it goes back to the frontier days when people had to get creative and make do with what they had. Think of all the women that picked up a needle and thread to make beautiful, one-of-a-kind quilts out of old worn-out shirts and dresses.
  • It is more unique and can be tailored to your specific colors and style. Amazon and Walmart have made us into cookie cutter consumers. Shopping online with a simple click of a button lacks imagination and creativity. Don’t get me wrong. I love the convenience of online shopping and I do my share to feed the pig. But when you upcycle something, no one else is going to have the exact same thing. It puts your own unique stamp on it.
  • It is good for the environment. This one goes without saying. According to Environment America the average American throws out 4.9 pounds of trash per day. That is almost 1,800 pounds of material/year. Well above our body weight! Of course, a lot of this waste is organic material, but it still gives us pause to consider how we can help decrease this waste in our little corner of the world.
  • I can’t really put my finger on it, but it just feels cozier. More homey. It brings me joy to use and look at items I have upcycled. It contributes to my unique style. It can be something I thrifted or something I did myself. Either way, it just feels good and cozier to surround yourself with a few of these items.

How you upcycle may depend on what is available to you. Most people have unique opportunities for upcycling, based on where they live or people they know. We are very fortunate in that son #2 is part owner of a wood mill. He supplies us with left over wood ends that we use for projects, or as firewood. Every year we also get a couple bags of sawdust from his mill to put around our rose bushes to protect them the winter freeze. Mr. U has upcycled the wood ends in multiple ways.

Mr. U made the rotating cutting board and the red Adirondack chairs mostly from left over scrap wood.

Upcycling does not necessarily require remaking something, it can simply be reusing items in a new, creative, and different way. An old teapot becomes a planter. Tattered maps or sheet music can be framed, made into cards or used as wrapping paper. I have used the light tissue that old sewing patterns are stamped on as tissue for a gift basket instead of store bought. It makes a fun, unique way to wrap items, particularly if the gift is for someone else that sews. My sister-in-law gets old candles from the thrift store and melts them down. Then she pours them into cardboard egg cartons to use as fire starters. I think of Roadsidea as a form of upcycling. You are using objects from nature in new, creative ways. And don’t forget all of that leftover food sitting in your fridge that can be upcycled into a soup, salad or stir fry.

Thrifting as a form of upcycling

Thrifting (aka: buying something at a secondhand store) is a great way to reuse items that may eventually be discarded. When I see beautiful items that someone has thrifted and/or upcycled it stirs my creative juices. It is infectious, in a good way. We feed off of each other’s creativity. I am inspired every time I eat at Sorella’s restaurant. The young owner thrifted frames and gave them all a coat of bronze paint. Then she scoured secondhand and vintage shops for unique Italian pictures to put in them and they became the gallery wall that you see as soon as you enter the restaurant. She also thrifted mismatched pieces of china, serving dishes and glassware to use at the tables. Who says thrifting can’t be beautiful and elegant.

The gallery wall and upcycled wine glasses (left) and serving dishes used at Sorella’s Restaurant.

We are a throw away society. Just stop in at a secondhand store and you will find all kinds of treasures, waiting to be given new life. My good friend rummages through thrift shops for quality wool and leather clothes that she transforms into one-of-a-kind bags. She recently opened an Etsy shop, LoLo Upcycled, to sell her beautiful, unique bags. If you want some thrifting inspo, check out Liz Marie Galvan’s IG page or her recent book, Create Your Own Cozy. She has curated a lovely home with upcycled and thrifted items.

A bag made from a men’s wool shirt and pumpkins made from thrifted sweaters.

While I enjoy upcycling, I am not a purist. I do it when I see a fun and interesting project I want to try, or when I don’t want to spend the money on something new. It is a great creative outlet and is satisfying to see something transform by the work of your own hands. Have you upcycled anything lately?

A Handmade Christmas

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

There is just something about the Christmas season that brings out the urge to hunker down and create something by hand.  The holidays make me want to heat up the oven, pull out the sewing machine and fire up the knitting needles. Maybe it is from reading too many Laura Ingalls Wilder books when I was a kid. Or maybe it takes me back to my roots when my mom instilled in me an appreciation for gifts made with loving hands. Or perhaps it stems from the earlier years when we had very little extra income and we handcrafted gifts to save money.  But whatever the reason, my heart or my muse, I want to spend the Christmas season creating profuse. (A very poor and loosely translated quote from Dr. Suess’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”) Despite my very pathetic rhyme, the gift of a homemade item definitely feels cozier and more thoughtful than store bought.  It speaks of thought, time, effort and love.

The problem is that I typically get this urge just a mere five or six weeks before Christmas. After all, it is difficult to get inspired to make Christmas gifts in July. This delayed inspiration does not leave a lot of time to complete projects prior to Christmas. Matter of fact, it usually puts me in a frantic tailspin to get it completed and wrapped in time and then I fail to enjoy the process or the season. For several years, I deliberately chose not to make any gifts because I wanted to avoid the last-minute rush and stress.

But about a month ago, I broke my resolve when my friend and I went to an evening Outdoor European Christmas Market. It is based on the traditional, festive open-air markets that spring up in Germany and Austria during the Advent season. There are pop up tents with sparkling white lights, gas fire pits, food trucks and vendors selling homemade candy, pastries and craft items. As we were strolling through the market, sipping hot spiced wine, she casually mentioned that she needed a Christmas tree skirt. This is the same friend that takes the time and effort to knit me a beautiful pair of wool socks every year. How could I NOT make her a tree skirt? Besides, I am retired and have the time now, right?

The vendor booths at the night market were decorated in the festive spirit.
My friend warming up by the fire before we see the rest of the market.

Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, as the tree skirt ended up being a much more time-consuming project than I expected. It started out great, as I enthusiastically perused the bolts of Christmas fabric at the quilt store to find a little more material to compliment what I already had in my fabric stash. I spent some luxurious days in my office/craft room with a fir scented candle burning and Christmas music playing while I stitched the afternoon away. The snow was gently falling while I was tucked away inside sewing.

Having a little fun with the holly and berries before I appliqued them on
(while I was still relaxed and enjoying the process).

But then life got in the way, and my project was set aside. Honestly, I thought I would create more handmade items once I retired, but time seems to get taken up with other things.  I don’t know if any other retirees feel this way, but many of the things I thought I would do in retirement, I don’t seem to make time for after all.   But that is another post for another time. Meanwhile, the dust collected, the wash piled up and fast food became the norm, while I pushed to finish the project in time.

My friend and I share early December birthdays and we always spend a day together celebrating “us” and being healthy and alive for another year. I planned to give her gift to her when we got together on December 8th. The tree skirt would be part of her birthday/Christmas gift basket I was putting together. The time crunch was on. While creating by hand is enjoyable when you are not rushed, it becomes agony when you are on a short timeline and need to use every available minute to get it completed in time.

The morning of December 7th, I found myself stitching the binding on by hand and cussing every time I pricked my finger with the needle. Which is more often than not, when you are in a hurry. Not very holiday spiritish. But I got it finished that evening and safely tucked it into her gift basket to give her the next day. Nothing like rising to the occasion at the very last minute. It was well worth every stitch and finger prick when she opened it up and gently fingered it with eyes shining in appreciation. Some people just “get” what all goes into a homemade gift. BTW, I loved my hand knitted pair of comfy wool socks too.

Finished tree skirt.
Gift basket is ready.
Handmade wool socks.

Last year Mr. U and I made Christmas wreaths to hang on our front door and give as gifts to a few people. We prepared and started early so it was fun and relaxing to create them. In the next few weeks, I will be baking some cookies and making my traditional spiced pecans. The nuts are delicious, easy to do, and they make the house smell wonderful while they are baking. When you put them in decorative cellophane bags and tie with a colorful ribbon, they make great hostess gifts or stocking stuffers. But other than that, I will be doing a lot of sitting by the fire, soaking in the warmth of the season. I hope that you are taking the time to enjoy the Christmas season and not putting yourself under pressure to accomplish too much. Instead, let’s relax, enjoy our loved ones and celebrate the reason for the season!

Pizza Oven Bread & Cheap Sunshine

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

I don’t know about you, but the colder days prompt me to hunker down at home to nest and create things by hand.  Mr. U and I have always talked about trying to make a loaf of bread in our pizza oven. So, one cool autumn afternoon a few weeks ago, we decided it was the perfect day to give it a try.  We did a little google research to learn how hot to have the oven, where to place the bread and how long to let it bake. (How did we ever try our hand at anything new prior to google and YouTube?)   I threw together a vegetable beef stew to simmer in the crockpot for the day and then pulled out my old stained and tattered cookbook that we got as a wedding gift and found the french bread recipe.  There is something deep and soul satisfying about making bread, waiting for it to rise, punching it down, shaping it and letting it rise once again before baking. 

The bread rose beautifully & is ready to go in the pizza oven.

It turned out pretty darn good for our first try, other than the cuts on the top were not as aesthetic as I would have liked.  The research we did warned us that the biggest rookie mistake in baking bread in a pizza oven is not getting it fully cooked in the middle, so Mr. U was careful to cook it slowly and turn it frequently. Our loaf cooked through, but next time we will let it bake a little longer to crisp the outside more.   It tasted so good with garlic butter slathered on top.  A perfect complement to a bowl of soup on a crisp fall day.

The finished loaf.

Cheap sunshine

I absolutely love that, in retirement, our weeks can be as diverse as we want them to be. The day we made bread in the pizza oven was one of the last beautiful fall days we had. So glad we got outside and enjoyed it. Now the pizza oven is put to bed for the winter, and I am lighting candles and ordering Christmas presents online (before things are no longer available). We are already dreaming of warmer weather, so Mr. U and I made a quick cheap inexpensive get-a-way to enjoy some sunshine before the dark gray days of winter set in.

Some travels are the big macro trips that you save up for and plan months in advance. And others are wonderful, little last-minute delights that you do on a shoestring. Since we are retired, we can quickly throw our bags together on a weekday and make a run for the airport. No having to request time off weeks in advance. Son #4 has a condo in Scottsdale, and he had an opening last week, so we leveraged our parental rights and spent a week basking in the sunshine, laying by the pool, eating al fresco and riding cruiser bikes around. I have to admit that it was a little hard to come back to cloudy 30-degree weather. Still considering the snowbird thing…hum.

The diversity of weather and vegetation are a couple of the delights of travel.
Cheers to the Diamondbacks.

It just so happened that the World Series game was in Phoenix while we were there. We did not want to dish out the money for tickets. After all, this was supposed to be our low-cost trip. So, we decided just to head down to the stadium and enjoy the festivities and fans. The funny thing about sports is that it gives you a common bond with complete strangers. Well….that is, if you are rooting for the same team. We enjoyed watching the game outside the stadium with a couple we met that afternoon.

Travel doesn’t always have to be a big expense, if you are willing to look at your options. Over a year ago we decided to switch to the Southwest credit card and use it for almost all of our purchases. I am not a big fan of using credit and it was hard for me to see the credit card bill rack up over the month. But, as long as you pay it off on time, there really is no reason not to take advantage of the benefits. After using the card almost exclusively for a few months, we were eligible for the SW companion pass. If you time it right, for a year and a half you can travel anywhere Southwest flys and only pay for one person. Your designated companion travels for free. (Lucky for Mr. U that I chose him as my travel companion.) This has saved us a lot of money on flights. So, between the companion pass and staying at our son’s place, this was a pretty inexpensive trip.

And last, but most definitely not least, thank you to all of our veterans. We enjoy the privilege of living here because of what they gave.

Land of the free because of the brave.

Upcycling

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

Is there anything more satisfying than making something with your own hands?  Why yes, as a matter of fact there is.  And that is making something with upcycled materials.  Taking old, discarded items and transforming them into something beautiful or useful brings a sense of delight and gratification that you don’t get from purchasing materials off of the store shelf.  How many times have I bought expensive supplies for a craft project, only to find it would have been cheaper to buy it readymade?   Of course, there is always the satisfaction of making it yourself, and it adds a unique stamp on the finished piece, but more often than not, it is equally or more expensive.  Particularly if you include your time.  I know.  I know.  I am retired, but my time is still valuable.

My good friend is the queen of upcycling.  She makes gorgeous bags out of discarded sweaters, leather jackets and wool skirts.  So, I was all in when she suggested that we make stuffed pumpkins for fall out of upcycled materials.  My friend googled some directions, and we gathered our materials:

  • Old, worn fall-colored sweaters that we thrifted.
  • A half bag of stuffing I had in my closet, as well as stuffing from some pillow forms that I was no longer using.
  • Brown, gold, tan, green and cream colored jute and thread that I had on hand.
  • Thin copper, green and gray wire that I dug out of the bottom of my craft box.
  • I took a walk out on our property and collected some sticks.  Mr. U helped me to cut them into various short lengths for the stems.   
  • I found some cinnamon sticks in the back of my cupboard that were left over from making cider last winter that would be perfect fragrant stems for the smaller pumpkins.

My friend came over and I poured us each a hot cup of coffee, lit a pumpkin scented candle, put on some Michael Buble music and we spent a lovely afternoon transforming sweaters into a pumpkin patch.  I have to admit that it felt a little odd cutting up the worn sweaters, but I reminded myself that they would be given new life.  Our little pumpkins were fun to make and turned out full of puffy character. They came to life when I displayed them next to a small dish of acorns that I picked up via Roadsidea. While everyone on social media is showing Christmas decorations, I prefer to completely indulge in fall until Thanksgiving. But the day after Thanksgiving, it is full on Christmas for me.

The transformation begins.
My friend working intently on a pumpkin.

Meet Simon, the 1st

Probably the very first fall decoration I ever made was Simon the scarecrow. His cloths were made from old materials I had on hand from previous projects, long before upcycled was trendy. He is well over 25 years old and not in too bad of shape. Most likely, that is due to the fact that he spends most of the year in the fall decoration box. Looking back, I can’t believe that I took the time between raising young children, work and caring for a home to sew a scarecrow that is set out for 2 months of the year. Not only that, but my mom loved him so much that I made her one…and my sister…and my friend. Hense, Simon the 2nd, 3rd and 4th. What can I say, the need to create is strong. I still smile every September when I pull him out. He adorns the entry table until Thanksgiving and then he returns to his coffin box for the rest of the year. He will definitely make the move when we downsize.

LOLO Bags

As I mentioned, my friend puts her creativity, thrift and imagination into motion to transform old forgotten and discarded items into something beautiful and useful again. I have been with her on a few of her thrifting jaunts and her eye for seeing beauty in the ugly and worn is never ending. I see an ugly, outdated leather coat or wool skirt and she sees a trendy new bag. When possible, she uses belts or straps from worn out bags as the handles. Each item is unique and has a tag that explains what the material was in its previous life. Below is a sampling of some of her upcycled bags.

The bag on the right was a pair of men’s wool pants (the bottom was a leather jacket) in its previous life.
This bag was a men’s wool shirt.
These charming little bucket bags were a women’s wool skirt in their previous life.

An upcyled life

Retirement is the perfect opportunity to upcycle our lives. The Oxford Dictionary defines the term upcycle as the “reuse of discarded objects or material in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.” Now that we are retired, we have the time, freedom and opportunity to transform our lives. We can sit in front of the TV and let our retirement years slip away unnoticed or we can upcycle our lives. We are discarding our careers in order to have more free time for the things we love. It might be upcycling our health by getting out and walking every day or eating more fresh, real food. It might be taking old interests and upcycling them into something fun and useful again. Below are a few examples of people I know of that have upcycled their lives in retirement.

  • A retired schoolteacher/coach and his wife upcycle items to sell at a local vintage marketplace.
  • A retired physician now creates beautiful watercolor paintings and glass art that he sells in an art gallery in their coastal town.
  • A retired college professor takes treks out in nature equipped with his large lens camera and captures risky action shots of bears, moose, elk, and bald eagles in their natural habitat. He sells these astounding pictures online.
  • A retired graphic designer became a home interior content creator and Instagram influencer.
  • I know of several retirees that have started blogs and written books.
  • A recently retired nurse starts selling her upcycled LoLo bags online.

The opportunities to upcycle and recreate our lives in retirement are endless and it sure beats letting our days slop into each other unnoticed. I hope you take time in the colder months ahead to enjoy nesting, creating and maybe upcycling something… even if it is ourselves.  I would love to hear what others are making from scratch or how you have upcycled your life in retirement. Creativity breeds creativity.