In 1988 Mum and Dad retired to their bungalow in the Woodthorpe on the outskirts of York.
Mum started Scottish country dancing. She loved this but had to give up in 1998 when she fell (read 'was pulled over by her partner'!) and damaged her left leg. This injury resulted in not only a hip replacement but also a pacemaker after the pre-surgery checks revealed a problem. (She's now on her fourth pacemaker!)
The hip problem also put an end to her Exercise in Water classes.
Mum was always a knitter but in retirement she also learned lace making, and you would sometimes find her over a piece of work, on a 'pillow', with dozens of bobbins impossibly laid out around it.
She also worked on her German.
Mum loves to have a nice hat.
She would have a matching
bag, and shoes too whenever
she could.
Mum and Dad both joined the U3A in York and were part of the music group. Dad joined a choir. Although Mum loved to sing - e.g.in church or when watching Songs of Praise on TV - she wasn't interested in a choir.
They worshipped at the St James the Deacon church in Woodthorpe, just along the road from their bungalow.
Mum also began volunteering for Age Concern and visited elderly people who needed the company. She continued to do this until she was herself an elderly lady, over 15 years.
She went to a U3A class to learn British Sign Language and eventually passed BSL Level 1. In 2005 her group signed in York Minster for a concert by the choir of the York Unified Multicultural Initiative (YUMI). (see picture, left)