Hi everyone. I had a quick trip down to Melbourne again this week, and I took this photo of a rower on the Yarra River.

Doesn’t it look like a Monet painting?

So beautiful!

While I was there, I received some great advice and I’m excited to share it with you. Here’s the context: life has been a little busy for me lately. You know what this is like, right? Too much to do and too little time, and loads and loads of meetings.

As I was floundering around trying to figure out where to begin, a friend said this:

So simple, right?

To much to do? Feeling overwhelmed and unable to figure out a plan?

Just start by starting, CATHERINE!!!

So here’s what I’m diving into this weekend.

• Copy edits on my new novel, The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe! Coming to you in March 2025.

• Finding concrete pavers for some outside renovations that we have to do.

• Family Dinner tonight, with a delicious dessert. I’m thinking of Sticky Date pudding.

• And all the things: bathrooms need cleaning, there’s shopping to do, I need to organise my work clothes…

Whew! I don’t know about you, but I’m going to just start by STARTING.

Sending you good vibes for tackling some of the items on your never-ending To Do List. (And asking you as a friend…How are you, really? Hope all is well.)

Love Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

• Love classical music? My son’s charity concert with Seraphim Strings is on Friday 11 October from 6:30pm at Trackdown Studios in Moore Park, Sydney. All proceeds will be donated to TOO GOOD, a women’s shelter and charity. Are you in America or the UK or Canada? Would you like to make a donation to the concert but can’t attend? You can buy tickets or donate here. Thank you, thank you.

• I’m finally reading Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites. Reminds me so much of Atwood’s Alias Grace, and I’m loving reading about Iceland. (Note: it’s literary fiction, beautifully nuanced and themes are upsetting. But worth it!)

• Dancing around my kitchen to this. So fun.

• Making Sticky Date Pudding for dessert. Yum.