ubendum (54) from Tyne and Wear

"Moving from barbarism to decadence and back within the space of one week, without the usual intervening periods of civilisation" That is how a flatmate described me 30 years ago, I do hope I have not changed too much.
Thank you for visiting.
I am a 50 year old single parent (widow of five years) living at the coast in Tyneside with two almost grown up daughters (one now at university, one still at home).
I am into any kind of outdoor activity, especially mountain walking. I celebrated my 50th birthday by climbing Mont Blanc, and I have developed a taste for Alpine climbing as a result. I love to find new caves and rock shelters to sleep in or just camp or bivvy under the stars. I have made a tipi, but have only used it a couple of times so far. I am just a big 12 year old at heart I guess. I also play music, mostly traditional Irish and pretty basic rock'n'roll on squeezebox and guitar, not particularly well, but with lots of enthusiasm.
I have been a factory worker, a technician, a carpenter, a fisherman, a busker, and a youth worker, not in that order. I have recently retired as a manager in social services, I have enough to live on, but I am busy looking for any odd jobs to fund family holidays, and my increasingly expensive mountain habit.
I always have at least ten more projects going on than I will ever be able to complete. Every time I finish something I find ten new things that need doing. It keeps life interesting.
I do not like dressing up, and have a particular dislike of ties, although I do wear one when it would be disrespectful not to. (I get to go to a lot of funerals in my line of work.) I am resolutely anti fashion, and buy as many of my clothes as possible from Oxfam.
I enjoy roughing it, getting extra value from the experience by doing it the hard way. (Is there any other way?) I am also fond of a bit of decadence good food, wine and conversation go down well, as does sitting by a open fire at home or in the wilds. I am not usually too keen on clubs and discos, but I can enjoy anything if I am with people who are having fun. My daughters are both vegetarian, so I rarely eat meat, but when I do I do so with enjoyment. I am a tactile and practical person I think with my hands, and like to get stuck into things and work out the details as I go along. I cannot pretend to be a detail person, (one look at my garage would tell you that). I am a people person, and value new ideas and perspectives above anything else (except perhaps new challenges), but while I have a fondness for the big idea I still seem to get things done even if it is not nearly as quickly as I would like to.

Well I seem to have met my match elsewhere. I have not taken down my profile, because there are people I need to thank for the support and friendship they have given me over the past couple of years.
Thank you all very much.