The Perpetrator

I was born when Debbie Reynold’s Tammy was riding high in the charts (so I am told) and Harry Belafonte was in his prime. Elvis was just getting going and about to be drafted. Shortly after my birth Harold Macmillan told the British people they’d never had it so good. I’m sure the events were connected. And every Prime Minister since has probably repeated this lie in some shape or form. The winds of change were probably blowing through my nappies as much as they were across Africa.

In November 2011 I opted for earlyish retirement. This was derailed in 2018 when I answered a call for help.  Office work aside my favourite occupation is babysitting our granddaughter.

My retirement aim was and remains to devote more time to photography and writing. I dabble at investing. I have a strong interest in natural history but my photography is broadly based. Retirement is a journey without a route map. Who knows where it will lead?

55 thoughts on “The Perpetrator”

  2. Now the ‘lady of the salon’ has ceased to blog I have missed your astute comments so I thought I’d pop along and see what you are up to! Quel surprise to find you are back in the UK, and Hampshire I see. A beautiful, if somewhat expensive, county to live in. I had a brief encounter with Hampshire. Most enjoyable apart from the teaching bit. Hope you are enjoying being back 😀
    Jude xx

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  4. I don’t think you follow Claire Fuller http://clairefuller.co.uk. Her debut novel Our Endless Numbered Days, has just been published to national press fanfare. I have read it (in about 48 hours) and it is excellent. I see that she has two events in Winchester 9th March – Winchester Discovery Centre
    17th March – University of Winchester, in case you are tempted to sample Winchester’s intellectual life.

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    • We will be out of town on the 9th but I may just sneak back in time for the 17th but I fear I may be jet-lagged. The Discovery Centre is where the Winchester Photographic Society meets.

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  5. Actually, if you have a wife and if your wife has a garden and a penchant for renovating an old house you would know that “retirement” means to be “tired” all over again.

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  6. I’ve no idea what WP is playing at.
    I’ve been following you for months, then suddenly your posts dried up, I thought, like me, you’d slowed down on posting…..but no, WP decided to stop me following you.
    Anyway, I’m following again now 😀

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  7. Hello! I’ve just been informed by our mutual friend, M-R, that I am “in danger of becoming as bad as Andrew.” Well, naturally I had to pop over and see what’s what. Ummm, I think I’m very flattered to be in such “dangerous” company!

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  9. Hi,

    I just found your blog and want to invite you to provide a guest post for our site, Retirement And Good Living, about life/living/retirement in Sai Kung.

    We launched our retirement site at http://retirementandgoodliving.com The site provides information on a variety of topics including life, health, volunteering, finances, travel, retirement locations, hobbies, part time work and much more to boomers, recent retirees and others thinking about or planning for retirement.

    Currently the blog section of our site is comprised entirely of posts by guests on a variety of topics. To date over 150 guests from around the globe provided posts for our blog.

    Please let me know if you are interested and I will forward additional information.

    Thanks,

    Simone Harrison

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  11. Good Morning , nice to meet You and Your blog 🙂 Great posts, great ideas , pleasure to be here , i wish You the best,in free time see my little place too, Regards from Poland , EM

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  12. Hi Andrew,
    Just thought I would pop by and say a huge thank you for being involved in The Paperbook Collective this past year. It has been quite an adventure, so thank you kindly for your support along the way. Your photography is truly incredible, and I feel grateful for the opportunity I had to publish your work.
    Have a wonderful holiday season!
    Cheers,
    Jayde.

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  14. Hi Andrew. Look, I couldn’t help myself, I nominated you for another award. I nominated you for this one not just because of how good your blog is, (and it is amazing) but because of how supportive you have been of both my blogs. Of course you have no need to pass this on, I know it’s time consuming, but feel free to pop over if you like and check it out anyway 🙂

    Fan-friggin-tabulous.

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    • Thank you Jayde. I am truly grateful. I am working in Bangkok at the moment but as soon as I get home and have a little more time I’ll go over and have a look. I feel exhausted today – I am out of the habit of working! I have a lot of catching up to do on the blogging front.

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  17. It must be so nice to be out of the rat race and just be open to chart new destinations and surprises. And of course, pursue the things you love like writing and photography. 😉

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  19. I’ve only gone hiking in Cheung Chau, Lantau Island (Tai O-Tung Chung) and around the Peak. Would certainly like to check out other parts of Hong Kong, and no problem with having to take the public bus / minibus – this is one of the things that I enjoy when travelling! Thank you for your advice and I hope to visit Sai Kung before it is too late.

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  20. Hello, thanks for visiting my blog & liking my posts on HK. I’ve yet to go to Sai Kung even though I’ve been to HK several times (it’s my favourite city in Asia, love the energy!) Perhaps someday I’ll get to try out some of the hiking trails in the area 🙂

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    • There are many good hiking trails around HK but it is advisable not to hike alone especially in the heat and humidity of summer. Sai Kung is a lovely little town but becoming more commercialised and touristy. Still worth a visit though. It is not on an MTR line so from the Island you need to combine public transport methods or use a taxi. Parking is a nightmare here! If you do visit I hope you enjoy it.

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    • Perhaps we’ve been blacklisted. Is there a secret meaning in Spanish behind “Jasmine”? Is it a code word for “Be ready for the invasion. We move at dawn”?

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      • Perhaps so. Or could be a Muslim one as they have lots of jasmine and it is a Muslim name as far as I recall.

        I’ve mailed you the last link and the full text in desperation.

    • This bit is pretty worrying:

      “Jasmine prefers well-drained fertile soil. It needs at least 4 hours of bright direct sun and can be grown in full sun outdoors. Water regularly during the growing season and fertilize every 2-3 weeks with a high phosphorous fertilizer (15-30-15) to encourage blooming.”

      Our soil has a clayish texture. And its certainly nor fertle Myrtle. I suspect most of it was builders rubble and a few yards of topsoil (maybe) dumped over it. It doesn’t get 4 hours of direct sun. Reading the IKEA assembly instructions for a successful jasmine plant I should say we are lucky it has survived so long. There is simply no way we can get it into direct sunlight but I do have another wall I can try. So, suggestions please for shade loving climbers to cover a wall – maybe 7-7′ 6″ high.

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      • Ivy? 😀 You are going to struggle with flowers in the shade. Maybe there is a clematis that will cope in little sunlight? Or that nice russety coloured virginia creeper stuff? We had that all over our halls of residence, and at least it provides colour. I wouldn’t give up on your jasmine straightaway though. If it was working before, it’s odd that it’s suddenly stopped. Stressed? If you move it, it may get even more stressed. Honeysuckle? Plumbago likes sun, but it is so hardy it may well grow in partial sun. Mine is totally rampant. Plus you get flowers virtually all year. There are loads of pix on mine of it.
        http://wp.me/s2c8OG-plumbago It will grow upwards as well as sideways though. If your soil is clayish then you do need to lighten it up a lot, it’s just going to hold the water. That’s more important than endless fertiliser. What about raising up the bed and putting some good quality soil on top, you don’t need too much. The whole issue is to make sure you have some good soil on top because that is the bit most used by plants. I’m talking more than a couple of inches though. I do tend to top most of my pots up from time to time with some fresh compost/soil to replenish the nutrients.

      • I think a raised bed is a good idea if we can do it without disturbing the other plants. I bought a honeysuckle and it did well in the sun. So well in fact it outgrew the garden and we moved it into the communal area. Strangely I have planted a small ivy to see what it does. Flowers are not essential although a bonus. I want it to cover a bare white wall and give the birds somewhere to forage.

      • BTW, I have 66 visits logged from Gib today. Are they all you?????? You are working very hard. Stefan Buczacki must be worried.

  23. Andrew, I am going to answer your reply to me that was made over on roughseas blog. Thank you for thinking that I am educated in some way. This is the deal: I am ediucated in one area of a professional field that has nothing to do with the the “arts” I consider myself as a person that studied in a technical field such as a welder, machinist, plumber, etc. When I refer to under educated I am referring to the fact that I know very little about classical lit, music, art and, politics. Aside from that I know a whole lot about a few things and very little about most things.

    But I enjoy reading about how the educated folks lead their lives. It helps me understand poeple in a different way and if one reads a blog long enough I can sort of tell what that person is iike. I find analyzing people a challenge and it is interesting that sooner or later that person’s real personality slips through in what and how they write on any given subject.

    So, I am glad that you have a blog for I have gained info here and there that is beneficial for my ittle ole brain. And, I definitely iike your photographs and enjoy your writing style. I beleive that you are quick witted or you would not not have gotten where you are today. I don’t mean where you live. 🙂 It is true that we learn from other bloggers and the connections that we make is priceless.

    While you are working maybe Mrs. Ha could carry on your blog? An idle idea perhaps but it could work if she might happen to be interested.

    And, I sure hope that you get that free bus pass if you should return to live in England. Frankly not getting the money that you deserve after paying into the system should be a given no matter where you choose to live.

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  26. Hi Andrew, Thanks for stopping by. I hope to opt for an earlyish retirement too. That sounds so amazing. Good luck on all of your new adventures. Sounds exciting. Cheers.

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