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I have donned my pinny and greeted the locals with what I hope is a welcoming smile.

I have taken deliveries from the butcher and the baker, but am still awaiting the chandler. I have used the till, coffee machine & dishwasher, but not yet the oven or the hob. As a result I have almost completely forgotten what I used to think of as real work.

Just before starting the Third Age, I went along to an evening at the WSET school in Bermondsey where the Academy of Cheese was hosting an event entitled 'Tipsy Cheeses'. This was a tasting illustrating a range of cheeses that involve alcohol in either their make or post-make stages. (The Academy of Cheese uses the 'make/post-make' model to define how stages in the development of any given cheese allow it to be broadly classified.)

This was a great evening and it has spurred on my enthusiasm for my own artisan micro-dairy, such that last week I made two cheeses and this morning waxed the latest batch of Chiltern Crumbler.  I say batch but this is really one 850gm wheel which will need a few months to develop before I will know if it is any better or worse than previous attempts. The other cheese is experimental and much smaller, weighing in at only 140gm.  The difference between the two, apart from the size, is that the smaller (unnamed until I eat it) cheese was made by putting the curds into a mould and allowing it to drain under its own weight, whereas the Chiltern Crumbler was put into a cheese press for more than 12 hours. I am hoping that the smaller, unpressed cheese will be softer and creamier, but only time will tell.

Today, apart from trying to find the discipline to pay attention to the Christmas shopping, I will be learning how to use my pH meter that The One kindly gave me too long ago. I am very grateful for such a generous gift and feel guilty that I have yet to learn how to use it but, as with other potentially complicated things, I have been a little too cautious and not have enough courage to make mistakes.

The same is true of my digital audio interface, but more of that on another day.

Safe with food

I have not even made the transition from full-time wage-slavery, yet, but have already picked up my first third age qualification.

I am delighted to report that I can now be trusted with food, as I am the proud possessor of a Level 2 Award in Food Safety and Hygiene for Catering.  To achieve this Herculean success I had to endure three hours of well-intentioned lecture, which reminded me so much of the episode of The Office where Gareth explained to a new female recruit how to correctly lift a box, and ninety minutes of on-line instruction from a robotic Northern lass who I imagine had been briefed to speak kindly to the educationally challenged folk wrongly anticipated to making up the majority of her audience, followed by 30 multiple choice questions, two of which I got wrong. One of these was about blue sticking plasters and the other about the effect water has on bacterial pathogens when heated to 82 degrees. On the former, I have no idea what the question actually asked and on the latter I was too optimistic about the power of wet heat.

All of the above will be put into practice for the first time next Tuesday. What larks.

Time for the Late Harvest?

I fell out of the bloggersphere a little while ago, but have a sudden urge to splurge as it were.

Today is 1st November 2018 and I have just entered what looks like it will be the last month of my 40 years of proper jobs.

What to do? Well, I am looking forward to embracing 'the Third Age' and building what some people call a portfolio career. This means that I no longer have to answer tedious questions, such as 'what do you do?' with a reference to my means of making ends meet.  I find it curious that this exchange is a social norm, implying that the most interesting detail we expect to learn about  each other is how we make money, or that this is the characteristic that most clearly defines who a person is.

The first item in my third age portfolio will be participation in a community endeavour to establish and staff a shop in our home village. I will be trained before the month is over and will don my apron in December to undertake whatever duties may come my way. Making coffee? Selling bread? Cleaning the toilet? Probably all of that and more. I will let you know.

I plan to restart my golfing career. I last held a CONGU recognised handicap in 2003 and am keen to pick up the challenge again. My last handicap was 22 and I had spent ten years trying, but failing, to get it down into the teens; I still think I can do it which is a perfect example of the triumph of optimism over experience.

November 2003 was also the month in which I retired from the Royal Borough Band after 25 years very enjoyable service. I am both proud of my bandmates for still performing 15 years later, but also rather irritated that the whole thing didn't collapse in response to my departure. Perhaps they never needed a banjo player in the first place? But then, who would?  I have had some musical activity since those days, but almost none since late 2008. First step on this road is to find local venues and go, as audience, to those. The Blues Bar, Tring, is high on my agenda.

So, what of wine? I am still keen and still exploring. A part time role in retail? Some further efforts towards delivering tastings and even education, perhaps? I had a minor setback when I was dropped as an associate at the IWC, but it's their party and they can invite whosoever they wish and it has not diminished my enthusiasm. (See the theme?)

Holidays, gardening, exercise, bees and cheese all offer opportunities that I will relish, as will spending more time with those that I love, both near and far.

Keep safe.