Permission for joy

Hi everyone. It’s Catherine Greer writing to you, author of The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, lover of this beach above, mum of adult sons, believer in early mornings, hot coffee, small dogs and long walks.

If this week has been tricky for you I have something to share today.

Honestly, truly, give yourself permission to let in some joy.

Without even realising it, our lives can become so full of what we should be doing—or even what we should love.

Instead, just for this day, think about what honestly gives you joy.

And do a bit of that.

For me, here’s a quick list:

  • First-thing-in-the-morning coffee in my favourite chair, laptop on my lap, writing.

  • Planning a family Sunday dinner and deciding which dessert I’ll make.

  • Setting the table with candles, and clivias from the garden. The orange blooms look gorgeous in a vase (no arranging required, see above).

  • A dog walk and a phone call with a favourite cousin.

It’s the simple things, right?

It’s always the simple things.

I hope you find a way to take charge of this day and make yourself happy. You deserve it. We all do.

Love Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Happy Sunday!

Hello friends,

I hope you’re having a relaxing weekend. Mine has been so interesting—mainly due to a walking tour I did on Friday in Sydney. During the tour, we visited this gorgeous sculpture above by Japanese artist Kimio Tsuchiya.

It’s called ‘Memory is Creation Without End.’ Tsuchiya has taken relics from demolished buildings in Sydney, salvaging and reconfiguring them. When you walk up this hill, you see the past with a backdrop of the present and future: the huge skycrapers and pieces of buildings in Sydney’s past.

My photo absolutely doesn’t do it justice, but if you’re in the city soon, it’s so beautiful in person.

My “life lesson” from the week absolutely has to be this:

One day, Sunday 7th September 2025 will be a long time ago.

We’re the youngest we’re going to be going forward.

Today’s a beautiful day to appreciate life and savour it. I’m not sure what that looks like for you, but for me it’s this:

  • I’ve planned a special Father’s Day dinner at home, which will start with my husband’s favourite crab cakes and finish with the best chocolate-covered strawberries.

  • I got up early to write.

  • The sun is shining, so that means breakfast on the patio.

I hope you enjoy YOUR beautiful day, too….and that you love all the people you’ve been given to love.

Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • Chocolate dipped strawberries recipe is here!

  • We watched The Thursday Murder Club last night…and though the cast is absolutely stellar, the book is funnier than the movie. Of course it is. It always is! Having said that, it would be the best thing ever to see a Netflix movie of my book. What an accomplishment!

  • Something else I truly love: if you have apple air pods on the way out (they tend to get super static-filled if you ever drop one), I ordered these new ear buds and they’re fabulous and so reasonable. 100% recommend. I got them in white, not orange. The case lets you adjust the volume — brilliant.

  • Got a beautiful shout-out this week on Canadian television (CTV News) for The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe. 🇨🇦

  • If you haven’t read it yet, you can pick up a copy The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe at Indigo in Canada, Amazon worldwide, and all the Aussie bookshops. Link is here. Thank you so, so much for reading and reviewing and sharing.

Strawberry Shortcake 🍓 & what you're loving...

Hello, my friends!

Welcome to all the new people this week. Thanks for your ongoing messages about The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe! What a fun year this has been so far…

Tomorrow is officially the first day of spring in Australia, so that means one thing: strawberries!

In case you’re interested in making the easiest and best Strawberry Shortcake (the old-fashioned way), I thought I’d share my recipe with you here. Loads of strawberries, a very easy-to-make short, biscuity base, and sweetened cream.

So delicious. Just 15 minutes to bake!

Strawberry Shortcake

For the filling:

  • 5 cups sliced strawberries

  • 1/4 cup white sugar

To decorate the top:

  • 1 cup halved strawberries

  • 2 cups heavy cream, whipped, sweetened with sugar to taste

For the cake:

  • 2 cups plain flour

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 1/2 cup butter (125 grams)

  • 1 beaten egg

  • 2/3 cup milk

Method:

  1. Mix the sliced strawberries and sugar in a bowl and set aside.

  2. Preheat oven to 220 C or 450 F. Line a 20 cm round cake tin with baking paper.

  3. For the cake, stir together the flour, baking powder and sugar. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine egg and milk, then add to flour mixture Stir just to moisten.

  4. Spread the dough in the tin.

  5. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Watch it carefully — your oven is hot. Cool in a pan for 10 minutes. Remove.

  6. Split into two layers. Add sliced berries, then a generous layer of whipped cream. Place the other layer on top. Spread on more cream and decorate with halved strawberries. Serve immediately to all the people who will love you for it.🍓🍓🍓

I hope you have a beautiful Sunday. Have some fun out there if you can…

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

What readers have been loving lately:

  • From Pat: “I signed up to your newsletter because I absolutely loved your novel, The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe. I couldn't put it down but I didn't want it to finish!”

  • Victoria is loving “letting myself take a B this summer instead of an A plus. It was HARD. For example, I had to write a wedding ceremony for a long time special relationship. I didn’t have the bandwidth for “the most amazing ceremony in the world.” I could do a very good one. B energy is hard hard hard for me. I’m home now and that B energy has left me room to get my life together in a way I want to start the fall—cleaning my house, writing to you, reading my book.  Everything was beautiful being really good. It didn’t need to be the best ever.”

  • Becca said she’s loving the chance to have “a warm and delicious potluck dinner with five friends from her church 💗.”

  • Tanya is “on a watercolor kick right now—so relaxing, and I’m finally brave enough to frame one of my own paintings!”

  • Sarah is “Currently loving slow weekends with a big pot of soup simmering on the stove and a good book in hand.”

  • Joyce is loving “Board games nights with friends. We’ve rediscovered Scrabble and it’s way more competitive (and hilarious) than I remembered.”

  • Emma – “Cold swims in the ocean! Never thought I’d say that, but I swear it’s the best mood booster.”

  • And some fun links from me: more on the soleus push-up (do it seated!), an artist who makes realistic tiny replicas of pets from needle felt, and for my Canadians and Americans, Maggie Smith’s beautiful poem ‘First Fall’ about introducing a child to autumn.

  • And if you want to kitchen dance and love Australia, try this song with Missy Higgins from Bran Nue Dae — such a fun film.

Here's What I've Been Loving Lately...

Hi everyone, and hello to all the new people who have joined us this week! It’s Catherine Greer writing to you from finally-sunny-Sydney, and the pups were out in full force at the shopping centre yesterday.

What a beautiful country we live in! If you haven’t been to Australia yet, please put us on your bucket list.

It’s time for a few Sunday Funday things for you! Here’s what I’ve been loving lately…

  1. A totally tidy closet—it was time, my friends, to say farewell to the clothes that didn’t fit my life and share them with someone else who could use them. The reorganisation feels so fantastic.

  2. Teeny, tiny workouts—I’ve been going really, really tiny to get some activity in throughout my day (and workday). Here are my top tips:

    • I take the internal stairs up a level to visit the ladies’ room in the office. At home, walk to the furthest option.

    • To reduce blood sugar after a meal, calf raises (soleus push-ups) are so easy while sitting. Article below.

    • 12 minutes in the garage gym as soon as I get home from work at 7pm. Once through with my weights and done for the day.

  3. A bedtime ritual that feels like love—to me, from me! My favourite is washing my face and putting on face cream (links below to my favourite simple chemist-shop brands), hopping into bed in a cute and comfy nightie and reading a fabulous book. It’s a beautiful way to feel grateful for my life.

Over to you! If you feel like telling me what you’ve been loving lately, I’m ready to hear it…and I’ll share some of your ideas next week.

Take good care today, and I hope you have the most beautiful, uplifting Sunday.

Love Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Full disclosure for you to keep it real 🩷 Just a note about shopping links…I don’t have an affiliate relationship (or earn money from links) from any retailers, but if I link to Amazon, a couple of times a year I may receive a $15 gift voucher. I’m just providing links as a community service so you can see what I love.

Flat Tires and Pushing Through

Hi everyone!

Sunday morning is a perfect time for a reset, and what I’ve been thinking about this week is pushing through.

You know what this is like, right? Something’s wrong, but you keep on going…and going. It’s a little like trying to drive with one flat tire. It’s terrible for the car, the tire, and your prospects of getting where you need to go.

When life feels like you might be driving with one flat tire — one thing you’re ignoring when you know it really needs to be fixed — it’s time to stop and confront it.

(Today, I’m talking to myself here…and asking myself the question…What is my flat tire?)

If you feel like joining me, you could ask yourself the same question: what is yours?

  • What would life look like if that flat tire were fixed?

  • What needs to happen so it can be fixed?

  • What could you achieve or do, and — most important of all — how much easier would you breathe if the flat tire was patched up and working well again?

Because here’s the truth: it’s never, ever too late to make some changes. Start small, and keep on going.

Love Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Farewell, Canada 🇨🇦 and hello Sydney!

Hello friends, and hello to new friends who’ve signed up to my newsletter in the past two weeks. I’ve just got back from a whirlwind trip to Canada to celebrate my mother’s 93rd birthday. I had plans to write to you while I was away, but wobbly internet connections and busy times got in the way.

How have you been? (How have you been really?)

While I was in Canada, I felt my own heart stretching…towards love, reconciliation, repair and growth. Towards giving up my childhood impressions of things and people, and moving into a new way of looking at the world.

I stayed in the city where I left home to go to boarding school at age fifteen. I saw high school friends I hadn’t seen in 40 years.

Like American author Anne Lamott, I had this moment of imagining that I was gently letting people off the hook.

(It was the image above: a row of hooks at a front door, with people and hurts and hung there by the scruff of their jackets. I began to gently lift them down).

If Life has been extra Life-y for you, letting someone off the hook might be just what you need to do, too. A beautiful friend in the aftermath of a tough divorce told me, “Not ever knowing the truth IS my truth.” She took her ex off the hook so she could heal.

While sitting at Vancouver airport for a long four-hour layover on my way back to Sydney, I read a simple thought from an American poet, Andrea Gibson.

I feel the same.

Hearts are meant to be stretched. It’s never easy, but it’s worth it. And letting people off the hook just might be part of that.

Thank you for being here with me. I’m hoping that something unexpectedly good happens to you today — a surprise, a kind word, or a new way of looking at your world.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • Sydney friends - join me on Friday for an author chat at The Baytree in Greenwich! Details below. Call 1800 723 723.

  • Wowwwww, $8. Aussies, my book, The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, is on a fabulous sale both at Amazon and BigW. Makes a great gift! Thank you for sharing the love.

  • Favourite Canadian earrings: definitely at Hillberg and Berk. Wherever I go, people stop me to ask about these. Literally EVERY time. H&B will Fedex worldwide. (Photo isn’t great but the earrings are absolutely beautiful).

  • Made the best lasagne on Friday night.

  • Summer in Canada…I want to try this method of cooking corn to perfection!

Here's One Way to Breathe a Little Easier

Hi friends, and hello if you’re new. How has your week been? And how are you really?

I’ve been tearing around town, trying to fit in work and family and prepping for a very quick trip to Canada, while being on a panel at a writer’s festival on the weekend and having lunch with my publisher.

Life is busy.

But—we all have the ability to take a pause and a deep breath wherever we are.

Right now, today, we can give ourselves this little gift.

A quiet coffee? A walk outside and a deep breath? Using what you already have and love to make life sweeter…light a fire in the fire pit, re-read a beloved novel, make a Sunday dessert?

If only I could, I’d gather all of you up at my kitchen table and serve you a beautiful cold drink…and for my savoury-loving friends, one of these sausage rolls I made for my son and his friends to take on their ski trip. Recipe below, and it’s a winner. Just had to share!

I hope someone lifts your spirits today.

I hope you give yourself a little room and space to breathe easier.

Next week I’ll be waving to you from the home of my heart in the Canadian prairies.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • Bahaha - it feels little odd to share this shot, but if you’ve never been to a “natural” bodybuilding competition (which means drug-tested and no steroids) , it is SO interesting. That’s my LITTLE BOY in the blue swimmers, and he’s 21 and won his first silver and bronze medals. I realised quickly that they’re athletes, and so disciplined. It’s a sport, and we were very proud (if bewildered) parents last Sunday.

  • Sausage roll recipe is so worth it. Best fresh from the oven but amazing (and nice that you’ll know all the ingredients are healthy and top-quality).

  • Favourite fun new product is this little lip and cheek glow up from Kind Collective, an Aussie company.

  • I’m seeing the pricey Vavaia sandals everywhere and they look cute, but also tried on the Skecher ones for holiday sightseeing and they’re comfy. Thoughts? I like to walk a million miles.

  • This flattering shorts set is worth it for summer travel.

Is it Time to Fall in Love?

Happy Sunday, everyone! It’s Catherine Greer writing to you at 6am from a lovely and clean Maccas in Sydney. (That’s McDonald’s for anyone overseas!)

The reason I’m here is something I’ve never done before — my second son has his first Natural Bodybuilding Competition at the University of New South Wales. Hilarious and SO FUN…as we dropped him off for his early morning tanning session, we walked by all the beautiful people.

Let’s just say it was obvious who has abs of steel and who has abs of chocolate (me!).

The only thing open at this hour is a Maccas, so Luther and I are sipping long blacks, bopping to the surprisingly great early-morning soundtrack while delivery drivers doze in booths all around us….and I write to you 🩷.

What I’m asking MYSELF is this:

Is it time to fall in love with your life?

And the answer is yes, it is.

Because this is what we’ve got — lemon trees in the grocery store, a kid who’s spent at least 12 months eating mince and chicken and broccoli while hitting the gym, two long blacks from Maccas, not some fabulous cafe.

We’ve got life, beautiful and imperfect.

Are there things i would change? Yes, in a heartbeat. All of us carry the worry and fear, the pain and the challenges that seem as slippery as an icy mountain.

But is there fodder for love?

Is there a reason to fall in love with the lives we’ve got?

Yes.

And I hope you’re in that camp with me, the camp that says we can do this, we can fall in love with what we’ve got, because what else is there, anyway?

Have a beautiful Sunday, friends. I hope something fun happens in your world today.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • Everyone loves my luxe white fake fur jacket — it’s a previous season from the Rachel Parcell collection, and she hasn’t released anything for a while. I grabbed mine on a super deep discount a couple of years ago for $50. Found you a link to one pre-loved one here.

  • Sorry, underwear chat: these bras. I ordered one and loved it so much I have ordered multiples in other colours and binned all my old ones. Try it to see if it works for you? Wide band, no underwire, wide straps, great support. SO COMFORTABLE. (I’m a size 14C and ordered a L). I feel like a crazy lady because I want to tell everyone about these bras and make all the women in the world feel better NOW.

  • Aussie friends: runnnnn for these linen pants from Sussan in their clearance sale. I sized up. The cut is fantastic. They come in white, black and cream. The cream ones are just $19. Online might be your best bet for sizes. SO GOOD.

  • Today all the young adults and friends are back at ours for lunch, so I’m making the best Moroccan Chicken Salad in the world.

  • Your thoughts? So many readers have asked if my next novel could have all my savoury recipes?! Let me know what you think??? Please weigh in! Thank you!

  • My books 🩷 if you’re interested in a little more Catherine.

This Kitchen is for Dancing

Hello, friends! Welcome to the weekend.

Today I woke up to the gentle rumble of thunder, and is there anything better? I was able to snuggle back in for a sleep instead of jumping up in the dark to have a quick walk before work. So here I am, refreshed and ready to share a little story about cleaning the kitchen.

I’d been walking by the fridge for a few months, thinking I needed to get help pulling it out to do a thorough clean beside and behind it.

You know the drill — think about your own fridge for a moment. It’s either clean or it isn’t…and if you live with other people, it’s likely that you’re the only one who notices the fuzz and the dust.

I finally got my bodybuilding son to pull it out for me and help me out. And just like I wrote about in The 10 Minute Fix way back in 2020, it took ten minutes to vacuum, then scrub the floors and walls. When it was time to push it back in, my son had already left for the gym so I gave it a tiny shove.

And guess what? Anyone can move a fridge backwards and forwards alone.

ALL. THIS. TIME. I. DIDN’T. NEED. HELP.

I just needed myself.

It’s a little lesson I need to relearn over and over. So often, youngest ducking of six kids, I look around for direction and permission.

The fridge was such a good reminder for me — and maybe for you, too — that some things are possible to do on our own and they’re easy.

I hope you have a gentle Sunday, with lots of love and care sent your way.

Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • My ‘This Kitchen is for Dancing’ sign was a gift from a friend, but I found the link for you.

  • Two Emily Dickinson lines i love: “I am out with lanterns, looking for myself” and “Hope is the thing with feathers.”

  • I tried the denim blazer from last week and here’s my verdict: if you’re petite on top (and I’m not), I think it would be great. Otherwise, it feels and looks a little bulky.

  • Did you know that the second edition of my best-loved nonfiction book, The 10 Minute Fix, is available now? (Important — the intro has changed, and the cover — but if you have the original with the feather cover it’s essentially the same as this one. A million disclaimers: you don’t need to have them both.) This is the little feel good nonfiction book that so many women love. If you need a thoughtful gift for girlfriends, everyone always loves The 10 Minute Fix. Here in Canada, and here in Australia and here in The UK and here in America.

  • Kitchen dancing: this one and Little Bitty Pretty One.

It's a Feel-Good Sunday

Hello, friends — and hello if you’re new. It’s Catherine Greer, author of The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, writing to you on this gorgeous winter morning in Sydney.

I’m up early and about to drive in a zillion directions today, so I’ll pop some Sunday dinner in the slow cooker and hope for the best when we all land back home.

Today’s a beautiful day to ask yourself a question that we often forget to ask:

Whether it’s an expected surprise, a compliment you didn’t know you were getting or even just an insight or a new way of looking at an old problem, it might be time to ask yourself, “What’s the best that can happen?”

We are so wired to think immediately of the worst.

We try to prepare ourselves sometimes by rehearsing for disaster in advance, to steel ourselves against a future that — actually — may never happen.

Today, I want to plan for the best, imagine the best, focus on it and even expect it.

I hope you’ll join me, and I also hope that something wonderful happens in your world.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Today's Quick Tip

Hello, my friends! The news from this morning is real and raw — I know this is true. Forgive me if I don’t write about it in this small and uplifting corner of the internet. Thank you for your understanding.

And thank you for being here with me this morning. Last night was the longest night of the year, and I was lucky enough to be a beautiful backyard celebration under the stars enjoying it. Fresh air, a fire, lovely company: nothing is better than the simple things.

That celebration made me think about what I wanted to share with you today.

We have a back patio (above) and it can be the prettiest space with fairy lights. The lights, when we put them up, create what feels like an outdoor room…and it’s beautiful. It takes time and it’s a bit fiddly, but all it requires are cup hooks, fairy lights and an electrical outlet.

From something ordinary, it’s so easy to create ritual and even peace. It’s about living intentionally. The fairy lights are in the garage already, those hooks are in place on the patio. To make the magic, it’s just me…getting up on a chair, hanging the lights, and doing something intentional that I know I’m going to enjoy. (And then the beauty is there for everyone).

Being intentional always feels good.

It’s the weekend — but it’s also YOUR weekend. This is your time and mine to enjoy our lives a little. It can be simple.

Here’s my top list:

  1. Care for my face: wash it and put on face cream.

  2. Make sure the electric blanket has heated the bed before I hop in to read.

  3. Get a stack of books! I use the library, sometimes kindle, and buying books is important to me.

  4. Stand outside at night under that shower of stars. Look up.

  5. Use the physiological sigh anytime to release stress (link below).

We’re going to live this day anyway, and we have the gift of being able to do that with some intention. It’s good to ask ourselves:

  • What makes me happy?

  • What can I do this Sunday that I enjoy? Night skies, face cream, pot of tea, walk, fairy lights? (What is it for you? You already know the answer.)

I hope you have a beautiful, intentional Sunday. Time to rest, appreciate yourself, and do a few things you love to do.

Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Missing you! Here's why....

Hello friends, and hello new friends! I’m Catherine Greer, lover of waking up early, hot coffee, girlfriend chats, writing and baking. Sharing the gorgeous photo of my new book taken by the talented American photographer, Karen Pavone — link below. (Karen truly captures soul pictures and portraits!)

This morning I’m writing to you at 5:30am and I’m missing everybody. You! Myself! Girlfriends and sisters and family. My son who’s off travelling for work.

Winter has been a time of introspection for me. I feel like I’m pulling everything apart, looking at it, and trying to fit it back together. I’ve got more questions than answers.

In case no one has asked you this weekend, how are you? (How are you REALLY?)

When things feel overwhelming for me, I try to get a bird’s eye view of my life. This always starts with my One Piece of Paper solution. I grab a sheet of A3, and write everything down in categories:

  • Family?

  • Work?

  • Home / House?

  • Writing?

  • Health?

Then I list all the bullet points of what’s going on. Getting it all down on one sheet of paper always helps me figure out my next steps.

We’re half way through the year…so what else do we want 2025 to hold? It’s so important to take stock and realise who’s driving this Formula One car around the track! Ha!

It’s me: I’m driving.

It’s you.

And to extend the metaphor a bit, we’re all mature enough to know that there are circumstances like the road and the weather and how well the car continues to work. But nonetheless, some of where we end up is definitely up to us.

Let’s do what we can to make this second half of the year shine.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Sunday Things

Hello, friends!

It’s winter in Sydney and I was out this morning walking in the sunshine. I’d had one of those nights where I woke up at 3am (Hello, 3am Club — we should be texting each other!) and my brain went bananas.

So I got up and walked first thing…even before coffee.

And I had a little talk to my own brain — a kind and patient conversation. You see, it’s so easy to let our brains boss us around (especially during life stages that involve hormonal change). My brain can easily run headfirst into worry, negativity and even shame.

But my thoughts are not necessarily true — they’re just what I happen to be thinking. And sometimes, oh man, my brain gets way, way off-base.

So when that happens, I have a little talk and I ask two favourite questions:

  1. What’s going on?

  2. Why is that a problem for you?

Then I listen to myself talk. I become my own wise friend, instead of rocking in that rocking chair of worry and never getting anywhere.

For me, the magic is both at once: talking and walking (just pop in your ear buds and any passers-by will think you’re talking on the phone).

Give it a try, and remember to have a kind and patient conversation with yourself.

You’re working so hard, you do so much, and you deserve a little TLC this weekend. We all do.

I hope something beautiful and unexpected happens to you today.

Love Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Make It Beautiful

Hello, friends! Hello to the new people. If we haven’t met in real life or via my new book, The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, you can take a peek at my life online here.

So happy you found me.

My aim on a Sunday morning is to make life a little sweeter, and today I have the best idea for myself…and maybe for you, too.

When I’m tired, overwhelmed or stressed, I always feel better if i make my surroundings as beautiful as I can. Here’s my easy list:

  1. Wipe off the kitchen bench top and put everything away.

  2. Light a scented candle. Cliche, I know, but it makes me feel better.

  3. Cut something green from outside and bring it inside. A branch, some blooms, whatever i can find.

  4. Cleanse and moisturise my face, and use my makeup.

  5. Spritz on perfume.

  6. Do something for the people I love: this is me and might not be YOU, but I bake. Apple pie, but make it pretty! Chocolate chip cookies (my favourite tip: roll and freeze, then bake some warm as dessert anytime).

  7. Solvitur ambulando — for me, anything and everything is always solved by walking.

If you’re feeling that Life is extra Lifey lately, maybe pick one of these ideas and give it a try.

My simple mantra has always been ‘Make it beautiful.’ We can’t change a lot of circumstances, but we have the power to change our environment, our mood and our minds.

I hope you have a beautiful Sunday — sending big hugs to you around the world, and especially to the women who have reached out this week saying life feels heavy.

I see you, I get it, and I know we can all make it through.

Love,

Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Just snapped this photo of Evie who wants me to HURRY UP. She might be the world’s cutest shih tzu but she’s looking at me for a walk right now, so I’m going to make this quick!

Sunday Morning Love

Hi everyone. It’s Catherine Greer, author of The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, writing to you. Hello to all the new people today!

A little story for you: this week has been filled with downpours in Sydney, and I’ve been rushing around all week. Into the city for work, trains that were not running, broken umbrellas, long days. On the way into the office tower in Sydney, I stepped in the biggest puddle and had one sopping pant leg by 7:25am.

I stopped in at a nearby cafe, bought a flat white and said “Thank you.”

And the barista smiled at me and said this:

My head snapped up and I looked at her.

She grinned back at me.

No, I hadn’t.

I’m probably a lot like you — pretty good at thanking others, and not remembering to thank myself for all I’m doing to keep my little corner of the world spinning.

The check-ins with friends. Remembering birthdays. Family dinners. Delivering on time at work. Contributing to the bake off in the office. Walking the dog and buying her fresh bones. Calling my mum.

So today, here’s my question for you: Have you thanked YOURSELF lately?

For everything you’ve done to come this far, today’s a great day to say thank you to yourself. You’re keeping your world spinning, and it’s time to step back and notice that.

I hope you have a brilliant Sunday filled with at least one fun thing…and I hope you notice everything beautiful around you (including you).

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

An Easy Way to Get Closer

Hello my friends! It’s Catherine Greer, author of The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, writing to you from Sydney Australia.

I don’t know about you, but I love everything about making a home wherever we are. The latest for us was carving out a spot in the back garden for a simple firepit, and spending hours out there with a bag of wood.

We have two young adult sons, one just finishing uni now, one who flies home on weekends with a suitcase of laundry and a desire to be in a kitchen (instead of living in a hotel with his a corporate job). And I’ve found this magical question to ask to make us feel a little closer.

Try with anyone and you’ll see them light up.

At work “What was the best thing about your weekend?”

In general: “What’s been the best thing about being at uni / a new mum / starting your job / moving house / traveling to Portugal / getting up earlier?”

It’s an easy way to get a little closer to the heart of the people you love.

Happy Sunday!

I hope something unexpected and absolutely lovely happens to you today. (If life’s been wobbly, I’m here in Sydney cheering for you. Nothing’s ever easy, but we’ll get there, my friend…)

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Hello, new people. Here’s where I list what I’ve been loving. 🩷 Disclosure: I don’t earn a commission, except every few months I might get a $5 Amazon voucher. So this is just the stuff I love…for fun…for you.

  • Gourmet Safaris: SO FABULOUS. Founder Maeve O’Meara is a beautiful reader who loved The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe and she invited me to be her blind date on a food safari in Marrickville. Maeve runs Gourmet Safaris…Sydney, Australian and International foodie tours. You guys, AMAZING. Better than amazing. It was a full day of meeting the artisans, sourdough English muffin bakers, Italian cheesemakers (burrata!), butchers, coffee roasters. Honestly, BRILLIANT. Please go! If you want to meet new friends, take a solo trip (worldwide) or learn more about Sydney, Australia or the world. I LOVED IT.

  • Get the sourdough English muffins from This is Us at Harris Farm. NO preservatives. Baked originally in a kitchen, now in a factory in Marrickville. Like eating HEAVEN. There is zero comparison between the grocery store ones and these. 10/10 recommend.

  • The travel duffle bag - everyone’s talking about this.

  • The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe is now in Indigo. Also here in Canada. In Australia, in all bookshops, at BigW and Amazon. Here in America and here in The UK. THANK YOU - your support means the world!

  • Finally, today, leaving you with a favourite Mary Oliver poem. Joy is not made to be a crumb.

Hello, Happy Sunday!

New friends — so excited you could join us this week! I’m Catherine Greer, author of The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, and I’m so glad you’re here. Every Sunday I share what I’ve learned during the week…and I hope it helps you, too.

I had a thought yesterday…a bit of worry around all the things.

You can fill in the blanks, but my thoughts ran away with “During this time of when your new book is launching, why haven’t you done MORE exercise, writing, walks, meal planning….” and on and on it went.

And then I thought this.

I won’t, and neither will you.

If today is the day you’re celebrating mothering of any kind…or even if you’re not, maybe it should be a celebration Sunday.

You’ll never look back on your life and wish you celebrated less.

I hope you have a brilliant day, and that you take the time to love all the people you’ve been given to love.

Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • If you’re mothering in any way—pups or kids or friends or friends’ kids—I hope someone makes you feel like Mother’s Day is for all of us.

  • New friends, can I tell you about my book? Women are LOVING it, so that’s keeping me happy. Canadians 🇨🇦 - The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe is now in Indigo. Also here in Canada. In Australia, in all bookshops, at BigW and Amazon. Here in America and here in The UK. THANK YOU - your support means the world!

  • You know how much I adore our beautiful Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. Here’s a quick and fabulous history tour.

  • I love this slim, super handy rolling cart. Japanese design. So useful!

  • And this collagen balm stick - think moisture stick for your face, but kind of like the loveliest lip balm you’ve ever smelled. But for your face, and not sticky. It’s wild. I love it.

  • The most useful iridescent YAY sign - perfect for all your celebrations. It’s so pretty in real life. Trust me. (Photo is a bit awful, really, but this sign is perfection).

The Best Question To Ask Yourself

Hello, my friends. For all the new people, welcome! I’m Catherine Greer, Canadian-Australian author of The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, mum of grown sons, lover of baking, big believer in the Sunday dinners with all the trimmings. (And yes, I am the crazy lady who will jump out of the car in the ugly concrete carpark to take a picture with a rainbow.) You’re receiving my Sunday newsletter because you signed up for it. Thank you for being here!

Every week I share something I’ve learned. This week is a real winner. Are you ready?

A few years ago, when I had a son who had just started high school (that’s year 7 in Australia), a friend with much younger kids said that her boys really wanted a tadpole.

We were having coffee together, and we decided, spur of the moment, to go get two tadpoles. Reflecting on it now, I realise this was probably slightly illegal…but I’m a farm kid, and I was born in the sixties, so it didn’t occur to me at the time.

And off we went. We left that cafe, we found a plastic cup and drove to a pond where tadpoles were lurking and we caught two for our kids. It was hilarious, we got wet, and I honestly felt like I was eight years old again.

I brought the tadpole home, and my high schooler created a tadpole haven, grew that little guy into a frog, and released it back into the wild. A happy ending.

I often wonder why that memory — from all the coffees with girlfriends over the years — sticks with me. And it was this: life got interesting.

We run so often on auto-pilot, don’t we? And our days and weeks and months race by because of it. But novelty and doing different things is what makes time slow down.

There’s so much research that backs this up. I’ll link to a good article below.

So here’s the question — and it’s a bit confronting.

Not IS your life interesting? But are you MAKING it interesting?

No matter where we are, or what our resources are like (time, health, money, living in an exotic location, travel, fame) we all have the means to make our lives more interesting.

All we need is this: the desire to follow our curiosity, ask new questions, and alter our routines. Time will slow down, and our lives will feel more interesting.

Think: tadpoles. So simple, right?

Today, I hope you take a moment to ask this: how can I make my Sunday more interesting? That’s exactly what I’m going to do. It won’t involve illegal tadpoles, but it might just be a neighbourhood adventure.

I hope something unexpected and lovely happens to you today!

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Make it Easier

Hello, friends (and new friends). I’m Catherine Greer, author of The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe and a woman who has COMPLETELY fallen off the wagon with exercising.

I am so far off the wagon that I barely saw the wagon in April.

Help me.

Yes, I was extra busy trying to promote my new book, The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe. (Thank you if you’ve helped by reading it, buying for yourself and friends, reserving it at your local library, requesting it at your library….all the things…you are an amazing army of women and I am so thankful for you!)

And I was busy with full time work.

But tell my arteries and heart valves and quad muscles that. Tell my tighter jeans that. And tell my mental health that Catherine was TOO BUSY to take care of the important things.

Then…suddenly…I was so far off that wagon and it was way too hard to get back on. So this is how I coached myself.

I told myself this:

I walked out to the garage.

I put on the best music I could find. Links below. Hello, Jason Mraz. Hello Only the Good Die Young. Hello, Exs and Ohs.

I did the simplest 10 minute weights workout with my lightest weights.

And then I put a heart on my calendar because it is done.

Yes, there was a time for years when I did five weight workouts a week without fail. But in this season, all I’ve done is failed at those workouts. I’ve had some intentions, but I just couldn’t get back out there.

So I made it stupidly easy.

And I felt better about myself.

When everything is too hard, the last thing we need is even more hard. The last thing we need is a challenge or a higher bar or a ‘never miss a day’ mentality. We actually (sometimes) need to make it super easy.

And fun.

And done.

If you’re struggling today with getting back on track, maybe you need to make it easier.

Thank you for being here with me — a Canadian Australian living in Sydney, navigating midlife, trying to live and thrive and do what I can to enjoy what I’ve been given. (Arms and legs that move, a garage with a yoga mat, a pair of leggings from Kmart, a wish to age with some flexibility and grace).

Are you with me?

Then make it easy, Matie. 🩷 Do that thing today…and easy does it. Whatever that looks like for you.

Love, Catherine xx

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

One Little Reminder

Hi everyone and happy Easter long weekend! If you’re new, I’m Catherine Greer, author of The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, Canadian-Australian living in Sydney, crazy lady who just had a mama Mina bird swoop at me while I took a photo of her nest, above!

If you’re up for a little encouragement this weekend on top of the busy Easter plans, you’re in the right place.

I don’t know about you, but this week I’ve been up and down worrying. A big thing: my family is heading into a new life stage this year, where kids fly this nest and we need to make some huge decisions.

And then, for me, there are all the other things: I haven’t been exercising enough (or at all), I spend long days in the office sitting and working, I’m a little worried if I’m doing enough to promote my new book (a huge responsibility to get the word out).

I woke up worrying at 3am.

Then I thought of something Ann Patchett, American author, said recently:

I carry this worry in my head.

I could just as easily decide to carry hope, excitement, satisfaction and joy.

  • I raised my family and now they’re grown and independent.

  • I have a new book out in the world!

  • I have an interesting, challenging job I love. (And I can start to exercise again now, today…I am not unwell or unable).

When someone asks us, “How’s the weather?” we always have two choices of what to say. It’s just a little something i needed to remember today, and I hope it helps you, too.

Love Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!