It is true that the Hubby has taken over the kitchen, sort of. He has not done so in the sense that has taken on the jobs of meal planning, prep, and cooking, although he is the breakfast cook and the dishwasher. He has established himself at the kitchen table for large parts of the day. His laptop is there so he is listening to his news sources, reading up on and reviewing his stocks, playing solitaire, and looking at “cars”. I had thought about moving him into the dining room and creating a home office space at one end of the dining room table for him, but truth be told, I have taken over the dining room table with my sewing projects especially the quilting efforts. Plus one cannot arbitrarily move one’s spouse from room to room without his expressed consent.

For myself, I have the sunroom set up as my sewing room and utilize the dining room table for cutting out and assembling larger projects. I have made a sitting room of the smaller upstairs bedroom. It will also function as a guest room as it has a futon that converts from sofa to bed. It is a quiet place to relax and read or have phone conversations. But until we turn the thermostat up to more livable heating, it lacks warmth. So the reading and relaxing and such is done in the living room where there is a gas fireplace that makes the room very cozy. It is also where the TV is situated for our evening sojourn in front of the “boob tube”, or “idiot box” as my father used to say.

In retirement we must make space for each other as well as share spaces. We also are finding that our appetites have decreased and we eat less. My plan was that we would have our main meal in the middle of the day but this has not worked out. As mentioned above Hubby is the breakfast cook. If we have our lazy coffee mornings until 9 o’clock or 10 or so, then a nice breakfast of eggs and bacon and cheese in wraps or with toast, we do not find ourselves hungry for a big meal at midday. Lunch is substituted by a yogurt cup (me) or cheese and crackers (him). And because it has been grilling weather, supper has been some piece of grilled meat with a salad and/or frozen veggies cooked on top of the stove.

I am hoping to try some new recipes for the holidays.

Thanks for reading.