Wrong Blip

Well this is the wrong blip for Hobbs' widwed02 - or rather not the one I intended to take! This was taken on Portly Lucy's walk with friend this morning. Had expected a gentle shortish walk but friends energy levels and enthusiasm was greater than I had expected, and the short walk became a 2 hour one!! At first I was anxious, worried that her energy would suddenly become depleted and I would  have to find some way of getting her home, involving going back  for my car! But when it became obvious she is really feeling so much better and more capable than I thought, I relaxed and began doing more practise shots for the challenge. It was amazing to view the familiar scenes through the filter of Leading Lines, and I found myself taking shots I would otherwise not have considered - so thank you Hobbs! 
Once home I had a coffee and began to do mental preparation for the next trip out. Food -  what to cook over the next few days and therefore buy.  Recycling - visit the tip before or after shopping. Empty Espresso capsules - where had I put the labels for the bags that I can now deposit at the local garage/shop for collection. Blip - before or after the practical jobs?
Well none of that happened at all! Friend called and spent afternoon chatting! He has been in new Zealand and Australia the last 2 months, visiting friends and relations. He is a freelance cameraman by profession, used to do filming for Gardeners World. After 5 years off he is now looking to start work again, feeling what I described as "undefined." I had worried that I would feel the same having retired, no longer a teacher, who was I? As it happens this has not troubled me once! I am happy being a blipper and having the time to pursue all those things I previously squeezed into weekends and holidays when I found I  had the time, energy and enthusiasm. It worries me when I hear people  saying they don't know what they would do if they did not work, their lives are busy with work, family, housekeeping, socialising, but they have no interests to pursue. Maybe they will discover some when they do retire - after all my mum found Chinese painting, watercolours and  Scottish Dancing! 
 The notion of him being "undefined" rather amused him and he is going to try it on people when they ask how he is! He has a passion for plants, orchids in particular, and goes on trips just to find and photograph them.His desire to start work again for enjoyment rang a chord with me and my dilemma over the school resources taking up my spare rooms. What if somewhere down the line I wish to start doing things with the children I used to teach, the compulsion to just get rid of the lot is growing stronger, but a little voice in my head tells me not to be rash, not to do anything so final too soon. Maybe in just sorting and organising it I will feel happier at holding on to most of it for the moment. But that is not going to happen today anyway!

So - by the time he left the mizzle had descended once more, so hope of getting the blip I wanted vanished - plus I got a text from another  friend I have not seen in a long while, asking if she could drop in. Hence this wrong practise  blip!  Plus an early blip for me!! Just got enough time to eat something then an eve of fun and laughter awaits!