Retirement Ain't Wot it used t'be!

You're in for a shock if you think you'll one day be sailing away on a slow boat to nowhere when you finally say goodbye to formal employment!

According to the younger generation, retirees have way more hours in the day, so chores like fetching grandkids from school, helping them with homework and doing chores like little maintenance jobs, and picking up stuff, now fall on my generation.

Some of us got cold feet when we heard stories from Granpops, and Grandmas, telling us how they run around all day since retiring!
We are the ones who are still very much active in some kind of paying work or side hustle; many of us stepped out of our comfort zone, doing the things we always wanted to do, but were afraid to!

I now run our BnB, as most of my friends know, and love this new job, even though it was quite a challenge and a load of work setting it up as a registered business. We initially only ran it as an Airbnb, which was much easier, but a local BnB owner 'kindly' warned me that we could be fined if we were not registered with our local authority! She unknowingly did me a favour as we're now busier than ever.

Now that everything is in place, and our staff is well trained, we do take short breaks from time to time.

However, our upcoming trip to our son in the Netherlands is going to be a much, much longer break.
We finally picked up our Visas today, and can't wait, although we're already worried about our adopted 'grandchild' Poe, who is becoming very attached to us.
Our staff is very good with him, so I imagine when we do get back, Poe is going to be very aloof for quite a while! He's usually fast asleep in front of the TV, just like we two silvers sometimes do:)

Poe often sleeps with his one little paw covering his eye, just like a human being!

Today was a hectic day; despite many physio sessions, my shoulder's still VERY painful at night.
Our first stop was at a well-recommended orthopedic surgeon who suspects a rotator cuff problem. He assured me he will not do any surgery before our trip, but will be able to help with other treatment options.
We've been trying to get fit and walked quite a bit today! The walk to the radiologists was quite stiff, I had x-rays, but tomorrow afternoon it's back for an ultrasound, so I'll likely only know the verdict on Monday.

The views of the harbour when riding to the hospital is just amazing, my poor cell phone simply does not do justice to it!

Durban in winter still is very green, with many leafy suburbs, nothing like the inner city that's become a real dump!

Then it was off to pick up the much-wanted Visa, after which we were both starving as we literally had to run out of the house to get to my early appointment.

We discovered a laidback little coffee shop, The Coffee Tree, where we sat under the trees inside a pergola of Jasmine. I can just imagine the scent when it's in full bloom!
The Aloes are real show-offs during the winter months; the plant itself has many healing properties.

Their small menu had some really divine simple offerings.
The hubs went for a Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese & Scrambled Egg on a Bagle, while I chose a Brie & Fig Croissant topped with caramelized Pecan Nuts; both absolutely yum!

Days like this make me wonder how we got everything done when we were stuck in the office, back in the days before retirement!