A Certain Age

So ..... I have now reached what used to be called “normal retirement age”. Except the government changed the rules a few years ago, so that date is now different for everyone and in my case has been pushed into next year.

And no one retires on their “normal” retirement date anyway.

But it’s definitely my birthday today. So we have done things differently.

The day involved an excellent breakfast, and then driving to Sandbanks, from where we took the short ferry trip to Brownsea Island. A relaxing place. We spent time on the Dorset Wildlife Trust reserve. Highlights - spoonbills over from Holland, Greenshank, and breeding common and sandwich terns. Then a good walk around the rest of the island. One of its claims to fame is its links to the scouting movement. Baden Powell held his first ever camp here in 1907, and scouts and guides still come here from all over the world to pitch their tents (extra).

In the evening we had an excellent meal at “La Perle”, a really nice little restaurant in Milford where we are staying. Our visit coincides with the Milford Music festival. “La Perle” sits opposite the Green, which is where the main stage is. We are therefore behind it. I popped out just after we had ordered to blip the stage - “ Toffees” were performing. They were succeeded by “Voodoo Room”, who focussed on Cream/ Clapton and Hendrix covers. And were really excellent. Fortunately my kind of rock, music, so a really good birthday evening