# Life After Death *…better known as the About page.* A new life after dealing with the dead and dying, the harsh reality of frontline emergency medicine. Retirement is a major life changer for anyone; I managed to escape the NHS a little earlier than expected. Life is certainly quieter and I don't miss the job one bit - burnout? Quite possibly.  Still seeking a passion, my [Ikigai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai), and simpler times. This website provides an outlet for my need to be creative, nothing earth-shattering, just a minor itch being scratched. [[Why Gwailo?]]? I'll publish whatever I'm interested in at the time: [[Photography]], [[Home Brewing]], small-web........ retired life......... and the occasional ill-informed moan.  Sometimes I can be found on [Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@RetiredParamedic) and then there's always [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/retiredparamedic/). [[Welcome|Home]] [[Disclaimer|Site Disclaimer]] --- # A bit of background - [Home Brewing](#Home%20Brewing) - [In the beginning](#In%20the%20beginning) - [A gap in proceedings](#A%20gap%20in%20proceedings) - [Three years later](#Three%20years%20later) - [Photography](#Photography) --- ## Home Brewing  ### In the beginning I first started with home brewing, with exposure to my parent’s wine-making, about half a century ago. The early married years saw wine making again, until an unfortunate incident involving a demijohn and a ceramic sink. Moving forwards to 2013 and a casual chat over the garden fence with a neighbour got me thinking again; he’d just started with a beer kit and I thought it worthy of investigation. I was soon into the kits, modifying kits, extract brewing and then all-grain full-day brews. Mead House – I needed a name for my home brewery, just for a bit of fun, and came up with the name. ### A gap in proceedings The arrival of the pandemic put paid to my brewing. Although I continued working frontline, just about everyone else seemed to be furloughed – short of a hobby. My regular supplier appeared to be perpetually out of stock of main items, and what was in stock had extortionate pricing. I’d reached the point where I had been considering kegging my brews, but CO2 couldn’t be sourced locally. I continued until early 2021 with a couple of small brews until my reserve ingredients ran out. Retirement arrived and with all the brewing equipment packed away in the shed, I never got around to starting again. ### Three years later A friend who had started dabbling in the ancient art, started me thinking again. The fire was finally ignited whilst on holiday in Northumberland; talking to the brewer at the Ship Inn – I still had half an idea of what to do, and his enthusiasm rubbed off on me. Time to tidy out the garage and find a new supplier (the one that I had used for many years had disappeared, I guess another victim of the pandemic). ![[Ship Inn-1.JPG]] [Ship Inn](http://www.shipinnnewton.co.uk/the-ship-inn-brewery.html) , Low Newton. Brewing inspiration. --- ## Photography I first got into photography back in the 1980s, whilst working in the Far East, my first camera being a Canon AE-1 Program. I regret not taking more photographs back in the day.  As a [GAS](https://digital-photography-school.com/eight-ways-get-rid-gas-gear-acquisition-syndrome/) sufferer the equipment has been swapped and changed quite a few times over the years. Currently using a Canon G5X and a Sony RX10 IV. I loved the X100 (x 2), but the Canon provides more flexibility as a walkabout. The Sony is my main camera when I set out on a shoot.