on your own. How do you occupy yourselves

When I retired 4 years ago, my daughter bought me an adult colouring book and pencils. I couldn't understand why adults would want to colour but I gave it a go and I have been grateful to her ever since. I am not particularly arty but I love colouring and have really improved. It is relaxing and the time goes so quickly. I have the radio on in the background or the tv on my laptop.
I also read, watch tv dramas at 9pm, do family history on laptop, go for coffee with friends and sit on my patio in the sun watching the birds and reading or colouring. Great life.

I’m 77 and don’t do anything at breakneck speed. I care for a 5 year old from 6.50am. School is half an hour walk away downhill, 45 minutes back uphill. I have a vegetable garden that never gets enough attention, washing to do, meals to make, food shopping, sometimes a swim at the gym. All to soon I am off back to school and the walk home is slow as he and I are tired by then. Perhaps 10 minutes at the playground which is unfortunately on the route home.
More of the same, mostly in the garden when he has had his snack. Digging potatoes is just his favourite thing. He may still be eating tea when mum arrives about 6pm and sets me free. I go online from time to time to admin a health group, read emails, peruse Gransnet and so on. I watch TV while I eat, do a crossword puzzle perhaps, then lots of sorting with a view to downsizing. I am also involved in the school Christmas fair - there are never enough helpers. Then it’s tidying up the kitchen, sorting my medication etc and usually I am in bed just before midnight.

Not what I expected when I retired but that’s the way the cookie crumbled.

Mischief, I love colouring in with my grandchild. Find it relaxing in a strange way.

Mischief - you are the only person who has mentioned adult colouring. I have been doing it for about 3 years since my DIL bought a book for me one Christmas. I love it, it's so relaxing. I look at all the pictures people post on Pinterest, and try to copy them. Have you seen the beautiful books by Tomislav Tomic, Klara Markova and Eleri Fowler? You can see 'flip throughs' of them on YouTube. Some are available from Amazon, which is where I buy my books from now, as most seem to have disappeared from the shops.
Apart from that, I swim 3 times a week, read, gardening, crossword puzzles, research family history.
Housework comes very low on the list of priorities!
We occasionally go to the theatre, we saw Joe Brown last week as my husband is a fan. We are going to see Blood Brothers in a few weeks time.
There just aren't enough hours in the day.

Blood Brothers is fantastic!
I'm not a fan of musicals at all, but I really enjoyed it.

After catching up on Gransnet, cleaning the house, walking around the garden, working in said garden, reading and knitting, I often turn on the TV and watch British gardening shows! We have very few gardening shows in the US. Actually, I can't even think of one. I'm thankful for your love of gardening! It brightens my day.

I've spent the first four days of this week manning a stall at the local museum's open house week for schoolchildren on holiday.

It has poured every day, necessitating a lot of rainwear when cycling forward and back.

I try to go out at least once a day and this leads to various encounters with interesting people. I'm fortunate enough to do a good regular lunches with different companions. I'm a member of a couple of different organisations which offer various social gatherings and I do a little volunteering with a university. If the weather is just too awful I get on with my house renovation stuff. Just one public room left to do and a horrid cupboard and cloakroom then house completed from top to toe (3 years). I'm also fortunate enough to have family and friends coming to stay/visit. I think if I didn't keep myself active I could easily become very lazy. Having said this, I am eternally grateful for my reasonable health. It makes such a difference. I fully understand that.

Living on my own now after DH passed away ten months ago. Kept myself pretty busy at first with a lot of "sorting out stuff" but have found Gransnet a boon when I'm thinking about things and wondering how other widows cope. Luckily I don't have to move house as we had already down-sized and I have lived in the same area for all my life (73yrs). I have 3 friends from way back whose DHs have all passed away and we get together for a coffee or lunch quite often but I actually quite like my own company - think this comes from being an only child - and read a lot, newspapers and books. I love my garden, mainly for sitting out in, but don't mind being stuck in house if weather is bad as I feel DH is still with me there. Like many others above, if I haven't anything arranged, I make sure I go out mainly walking but also use local transport and have met many sociable people and I find myself being sociable back which is new for me. I am lucky to see my DGS regularly and he talks about his adored/adoring DG a lot and I find that lifts my spirits which can take a dip sometimes. I also find that my day seems to pass very quick but I do admit that it is definitely because I take life at a more leisurely pace!!

We've done our turn of rushing around multitasking and being a bona fide busy focussed person, Now we can be unfocussed, and stand still with a tea-towel in our hands watching a bee collect nectar from the flowers to take back to the hive. The dishes will drip-dry. We can spend our time as we want, not as we must spend it for someone else's convenience - except for those of us who are still doing childcare another time around.

Your turn will come * Bbbface*, don't grudge us that ours is now.

"LEISURE"

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

By Wm. Henry Davies.
(Wm. Henry Davies (1871-1940)

Dog walking, library volunteer, reading, TV, word games, GN, the list goes on. Always housework, one of our dogs is 14 now and has a bit of a continence problem so extra work there.

Days I don’t have to be somewhere I have a cup of tea in bed and take my time getting up. When breakfasted and showered I might go out for a look around the shops /garden centre or just a walk. This is after I have fed the cat and tidied up. Main cleaning day for me is Friday so just do bits of stuff in between.

I like to read and knit and do crosswords and I do like to watch catch up tv sometimes in the day, rarely ever watch “real time” tv. I work 2 days a week, volunteer another morning and watch grandchildren’s sport every Wed afternoon so always something to do

Occupy myself!! I look after my disabled husband (23 years).... I care for two grandchildren for 16 of my waking hours ....I work part-time 16 hours....i do ALL the shopping,washing,cleaning,ironing,gardening,house maintenance, decorating when needed. The tool box is no mystery to me or the paint brush, or the spirit level, or the mower, spade,yard broom , if you can name a job I do it. !!! I occupy my spare time sleeping !!

I am not often on my own but treasure the times I am.I try not to do the ordinary every day things, but always start with GN, check e mails answer them.Have a book on the go and catch up with that.Have two days a week when I go to different clubs.Lunch with old work friends occasionally. Just being at home alone at times is a luxury.

Very well said Elegran I love that poem too.

All that you lovely ladies manage to fit into your day makes me feel exhausted. Seven weeks since I finished 12 weeks of chemotherapy and I am still feeling very tired and nauseous most of the time. I have so many things I could be doing but just dont have the energy. So mostly I spend my time on the internet reading GN, catching up with the news or looking up the latest cancer treatments. Part of me accepts that this is how it is at the moment but the other half of me feels I am wasting what's left of my life. I would just like some energy to do a little more. I am very lucky because there is very little I need to do around the house as my lovely DH is covering that.

Mondays I do Zumba and Flex and Tone, Tuesdays is Zumba and Barre, Wednesdays is aerobics and Pilates and Thursdays, Zumba, Barre and yoga. In the afternoons I do housework, potter round the shops, go out with friends sometimes, mess about on my iPad, read, watch TV, knit or cross stitch.

I cycle ; it's been a challenge but I do coffee and lunches on route so it's enjoyable and also ticks the healthy box. I'm no size zero and I started with a Halford bike and have progressed.
I think where you live has a huge impact on access to social interaction ; bit obvious I guess..
I think it's probably harder to make new networks as we get older. I like the idea of long standing friendships with history and lots of reminiscing but other side of coin perhaps we should embrace new friendships with equal enthusiasm.

I cycle, but not so much now. I got too short for the bike I'd ridden for years and my replacement one just doesn't feel the same. It's harder to pedal. Should keep it up though.

jaxie

I have thought about this....but never actually begun.
Have to decide how much truth to tell.

i used to love listening to my nan and my greatgrandmother talking about their younger days.
perhaps I will try again

I can't stand staying in for long - just have to get out. I take the dog on long walks and spend ages gardening.

I do decorating, knitting, reading, cooking, sometimes housework (if it's raining), chat with friends or kids.

Sometimes I have an afternoon nap and there's loads of tea/snack breaks when I check forums including this one!

Gosh , glad to hear somebody visits the Bar 2 mornings a week.

That is one of my favourite pastimes, along with pickling, toyboys and a weekly art class.

I make jewellery, have an allotment, paint botanical watercolours, sew, knit and gardening.

Oh Saggi you make me feel ashamed now. I hope you find time to do something for yourself too.

I think the point of the question is getting lost now. It wasn't just "How do single people spend their days?" The OP asked how those who live alone spend a grey, wet day in the house on their own, with the implication that we're talking about a day with nothing in the social calendar. So saying that you care for family members, or go out walking or gardening or shopping, or spend your time out socialising, isn't quite the point. The question - and it's an interesting one - is about how you spend your time when you have a day on your own, when none of those other things are happening (for me, that's typically a weekend), and the weather prevents outdoor activities.

It's interesting to read how others balance useful and necessary activities with leisure pursuits or generally slobbing about and being self-indulgent.