The Retirement Thread

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Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
Don’t talk football….the once mighty Foxes have fallen on hard times in the Midlands 🫣

More work on the patio project today….been collecting marketplace/free slabs for some time, & with my crazy “soil stabilisation” technique (no hard core, just rotavate about £80 of cement directly into the soil), we have built this so far:
View attachment 806060

Obviously time will tell whether it rocks and rolls or works, but 🤞
Still the gaps to fill and front steps for figure out, but getting there.
Back/knees/hands/legs/everything aches 😱

Yes, hard to believe they were champions 10 years ago and have fallen so far.
I like what you have done so far. TBH even when I was fit I would not have had the patience.
 

Mo1959

Legendary Member
A slightly modified Willy Walk done this morning. It was really chilly when I set off but we have blue sky and sunshine now and the house is warming up.



Screenshot 2026-04-24 at 08.47.00.png
 

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
Yes - lovely house

The cowboys that pu tout first slabs down used that sort fo stuff
only lasted a few years and needed doing in bits
it was a right pain and seem to attract seeds and help them groW

Bloke who re-did it was "not very complimentary" about it and said the stuff he uses will last for many many years longer

It is only a couple of years but it has already done a damn sight better than the previous lot!!!

I had a patio done by a guy that was a general builder. It was OK at first but after a couple of years started to 'move' and became uneven. He was a genuine guy and I still use him for general work but as someone said to me later "if you want a patio, get a patio specialist not a Jack of all trades".
Had it redone last year and am very pleased with it.
 

Paulus

Started young, and still going.
Location
Barnet,
:hello:Morning......I've walked from the bedroom to the bathroom and on to the kitchen.

Might need a Sanatogen tonic wine after all that exercise. 🍷
 

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
Not usually unless it's going to be a long walk in really warm weather and I would just carry a bottle.

Right.
I used to do 6-10 miles and had a rucksack with water and snacks but for short walks have not bothered. However yesterday I really wanted water.... but that was a hard walk.
I am about to have a naughty breakfast of blueberry pancake with honey and ice cream.... then I am off for a walk which will only be about 1.5 miles.
 

Tenkaykev

Guru
Location
Poole
@Mo1959 a quick question. Not about elephants or Willie's so relax.
When you walk do you take water? If so, where/how do you carry it.
I dont want to have a rucksack but carrying even a small bottle of water is a nuisance.

Mrs Tkk has some small ( 300 ml ) squishy bottles that are designed to be carried in the front pockets of a running waistcoat tyle of thing. They're great for holding snacks etc. I have a cross shoulder foldup manbag, made of lightweight waterproop nylon with a couple of zipped compartments. It has a mesh pocket at the side and this is the perfect size for a 330ml water bottle. We buy the small fizzy water multipacks from the supermarket. Once I've drunk the fizzy water ( at home ) I then reuse the bottles when heading out on a walk. The fizzy waer bottles tend to be more robust than the still water variety and last an age before I recycle them.
 

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
Mrs Tkk has some small ( 300 ml ) squishy bottles that are designed to be carried in the front pockets of a running waistcoat tyle of thing. They're great for holding snacks etc. I have a cross shoulder foldup manbag, made of lightweight waterproop nylon with a couple of zipped compartments. It has a mesh pocket at the side and this is the perfect size for a 330ml water bottle. We buy the small fizzy water multipacks from the supermarket. Once I've drunk the fizzy water ( at home ) I then reuse the bottles when heading out on a walk. The fizzy waer bottles tend to be more robust than the still water variety and last an age before I recycle them.

They sound ideal. May I ask where you got them from ?
 
Location
Widnes
I had a patio done by a guy that was a general builder. It was OK at first but after a couple of years started to 'move' and became uneven. He was a genuine guy and I still use him for general work but as someone said to me later "if you want a patio, get a patio specialist not a Jack of all trades".
Had it redone last year and am very pleased with it.

Guy who did mine was a proper patio person

or so I thought
I was told about him by people I worked with ( a Primary School" and I taught his son at the time

I reckon he was OK - but he had just taken on a big contract in Warrington and spent all his time there
thus leaving 2 blokes who had worked for him for years to do the job for me
He did come round every evening to check where they were up to and with 20:20 hindsight I reckon he knew they were not doing it as well as they would if he had been here

The lawn - which he also "fixed" was a right mess and he did come back a few time after to try to restore it - with his wife actually and they seemed genuine
They also said they he had stopped working with the people he had grown up round as he had found he couldn;t trust them
Basically he grew up in the area (the local Counsel Estate) and tried to give those people jobs
but they took the whatsit and screwed him up so he dumped the

but then he stopped bothering coming round at all in spite of there still being problems

I heard that his company that did the landscaping and garden maintenance folded
and he started another one doing "property maintenance" and I have seen a few smart looking vans with his name on around from time to time

So I reckon he dumped the people the had been taking him for a mug when his back was turned and started up something else

He did seem like a decent bloke

but I am in 2 minds about whether he was and was screwed by people he thought would not screw him
or whetehr he was just a cowboy
 
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