This One Is Personal...

It’s my birthday weekend.

As an aside, this is what 54 looks like on me. No make-up on yet, and early in the morning! I don’t pole dance like Jennifer Lopez and you wouldn’t want to watch me perform at the Super Bowl halftime show (ha!). I do some basic weights and lots of walking. I appreciate and love all the variations and choices of other women for them. Personally, I choose not to colour my hair or use botox. I like to be on Team Natural and my favourite add-ons are perfume and fun rings.

(You do you! Love it! I’ll do me! Love it!) I find all women’s choices inspiring and intriguing.

But the real point of my photo is this: I am at a cross roads. This is my year to make a simple decision.

Do I go all in and back myself, or not?

Advance with what I love, or retreat?

Can you relate to this? It would be so easy — so natural — to slow down now and live in my world of what has always been.

• To stay settled into the same career and same routines.

• To drift into next year.

• To believe it’s too hard to create something new.

• To stop learning.

But we have so much life left. We do! Look back at the last five years, from 2015 until now, and think about all you’ve done in those 1,825 days.

In the next five years, we will get 43,800 hours.

Is it time for all of us to get a whole lot louder, and take up more space?

Yes, I have a million voices arguing in my head about my lack of expertise, my imperfect work, my faults (many), my blind spots (also many). Do you have those voices, too?

But I have new things I want to do.

Next weekend I’m going to share a surprise — something new I’ve been working on. I’m really hoping for your support.

I wish you were here to chat about it, and we could all encourage each other to step out into our Great Unknowns.

So there you have it: happy birthday to me.

This year, I’m giving myself the gift of backing myself and being my own best friend. I hope you will, too.

Let’s love our age (together),

Catherine x

PS.

• Beautiful flowers from my mother-in-law and sister-in-law! Pearl necklace from my dear friend and blog reader, Jen. Lovely cake from my stylish friend, Jules. Thank you all for spoiling me rotten this year. I loved every second.

• A reader asked for my gluten free, no bake brownie recipe. These are so delicious. Cut into tiny squares and enjoy a small sweet treat!

A List Of Simple Pleasures

If I’ve learned only one thing from a global pandemic, it’s this: I can’t face the news every day. When it all gets too much, I turn inward for some comfort. I hope you do, too.

Last night I remembered that I can direct my mind toward simple pleasures. At any moment, I can stop and think about what I love.

I’m learning what my simple pleasures are. Do you know yours?

If you had to write (imagine) a little list of what you love, could you do it now? Here’s mine:

• fire pit

• homemade pizza

• fresh sheets drying in the sun

• face cream

• hot coffee

• night walks

It’s an important question. A walk at night when the trees are lace against the sky, kneading pizza dough until it’s silky, an unexpected heart-to-heart with a teen about a broken skateboard, watching the embers burn — these simple pleasures make me feel loved.

Today, if the news is too hard, pause a moment.

What lights you up? What simple pleasures are your own? Can you do one of them this weekend?

Give yourself some love. You deserve it.

Enjoy your weekend. It’s a fun one for me…celebrating another year around the sun!

Love Catherine x

ps.

• This cake of mine — so easy and so delicious. Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil cake (or you can use oranges). If you love rosemary, you will be grateful you know me :) It’s healthy-ish, not too much sugar, one bowl easy and delicious. Recipe is here, my friends. Enjoy!

A Tip To Relax Now...

This weekend has felt a little scary to me. I had a conversation with a friend about her community’s response to COVID in her country and it worried me.

Some days I feel okay — my world honestly hasn’t changed that much, or not enough to complain. And some days I feel worried for other people, especially for those who can’t care for themselves.

Worst of all is when I think about the people who choose not to take care of themselves or others, and actually risk spreading this illness through recklessness. That’s when my thoughts spiral down.

I feel better when I’m productive, but every now and then during this crazy pandemic I’ve just sort of stopped — shut down.

So today I’m sharing a thought from Claire, a personal friend who is also an amazing coach and RTT practitioner (hypnotherapy) here in Sydney. You can find Claire at Authentic Empowerment. She does online coaching and hypnotherapy worldwide via zoom for everything from anxiety and depression to quitting smoking to trauma recovery. If you’d like to work with Claire, she’s a wonderful human.

Claire said this in an Instagram video post:

For now, while things are tough, sometimes it’s a good idea to give ourselves a break. You can watch Claire talk about lowering the bar here.

Yes, we’re comfort eating.

Yes, we’re less productive.

Yes, we’re worried or scared or overly emotional or out of work or struggling.

This means it’s time to lower the bar, and do what we can.

Wishing you all a peaceful weekend.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Claire is offering a 40% discount for May 2020 on a hypnotherapy session or 40% off Coaching packages. You can learn more if you're interested.

• Looking for a little fun inspiration? Bake some sourdough or easy gluten-free brownies, consider what you can control, do a five second de-stress to feel better now.

Roll Up Your Sleeves, Girls

This week, I listened to Cheryl Strayed speak with Margaret Atwood, my favourite Canadian author. (My dream came true when Margaret wrote to me about my novel, Love Lie Repeat…you can read about that here if you’re interested.)

On the podcast, Margaret explained that her mother used to say, “Roll up your sleeves, girls!”

It’s a little bit old-fashioned, but I love the sentiment. How does it strike you?

As I said a while ago, I’m a do-er during quarantine, not a pause-r. Both responses and everything in between are absolutely valid, but for me, doing really helps me feel better. So while everyone else on the Internet made sourdough, I did, too.

And actually, it’s easy.

First you make a starter, which is just equal parts flour and water exposed to the air for a few days so you catch natural yeast. You keep it on the bench top and feed it more flour and water every day until you get around one cup. That’s the minimum amount of starter you’ll need to make a loaf of bread. You can save the rest in your fridge and feed it weekly if you want to make more loaves.

The truly interesting part of the process was how complicated writers and foodies are making this whole sourdough thing sound. Search around the Internet and you’ll find complex videos and blog posts galore. A zillion of them.

But I’m a woman who had a “Roll up your sleeves, girls” mother — just like Margaret Atwood did. And I spent my whole childhood on the farm, watching her routinely take four loaves of bread out of the oven AT A TIME every Saturday morning. For me, a total beginner, baking ONE loaf of bread felt like no big deal.

So I just did it. Found a recipe, cut out the complicated parts, made a starter with flour and water, fed it for a couple of days and then made a loaf of bread.

And this is the power of example.

I watched some one do it, so I could do it, too.

It’s a really important reminder. It’s easy to see someone else doing something and think it’s too hard, rarified, only for experts, impossible for us to do. Or we can feel jealous — as if the person we’re watching has superpowers that we don’t.

But if we roll up our sleeves, we can do so much.

Figure it out.

Give it a go (or give it a shot, if you live in North America).

Baking bread, writing a book, starting a business, making a tough phone call, healing a relationship…the first steps are all the same.

Baby steps.

If someone else has done it before us, we can too.

Time to roll up your sleeves, girls. Today might be the perfect day to tackle something you’ve always wanted to start.

Sending love to you and yours on this beautiful weekend. I hope everyone is keeping well and safe…and I’m thinking of you.

Catherine x

PS.

• Want the recipe I used for sourdough? Let me know!

• And if you want to read my first novel, a YA thriller, you can find it here. My first picture book is here. Currently working on a new non-fiction book and I’m excited to share that with you :) It’s very different from my novel. Stay tuned!

A Quick, Free Beauty Hack I Love!

If you need a free, fast pick-me-up, this idea is for you…

Today I’m bringing you my favourite beauty hack!

Obviously it’s lovely to have beautiful facial products and loads of dough to spend on them, but long ago I learned a trick that works wonders.

And it’s free.

Every night, AFTER I wash off my makeup with cleanser, I wet a facecloth with hot water, wring it out and use it to exfoliate my face. Scrub gently in circular motions. I do this in the morning, too. If your skin is super sensitive, adjust the pressure accordingly. I love using a very soft, thin facecloth — less bulky to wring out, and easier to handle.

It feels fabulous and you’ll be shocked by how soft and smooth your skin becomes. Trust me. Facecloth exfoliation on a regular basis makes a huge difference to skin.

Now might be a really good time to take a little extra care of yourself, and I hope this tip helps whatever your current circumstances. I know how hard job loss can be (having lived through it in the past), and I understand fear and worry about the future all too well. Sending you lots of positive vibes during this tricky time. I hope you and yours are keeping well.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Welcome to all the new women this week! Love having you here at Love Our Age! You can take a peek around my website here: www.loveourage.com. I’m exploring what it means to live beautifully in the middle of my life…a little happiness and mindset, a little beauty, a little Age Positive thinking, a little food, a lot of celebration.

• Mamas of teens, this is an amazing beauty tip for them as well.

Happy Easter!

Yay, holidays!

The world may be a little scary right now, but I’m trying to pause and practise gratitude.

Holidays give me — a compulsive, committed baker — a chance to whip up delicious treats. This year for Easter I decided to make cinnamon buns with cream cheese frosting.

So decadent!

Later we’ll walk the dog and share a meal together. The sun is out here in Sydney, and my eldest son has planned to do most of the cooking. My youngest cleaned up the garage without being asked.

Every one of these things — sunshine, a dog we love, a meal together, family, a safe home with no one unwell, a garage to clean — go on my gratitude list. As a family, we also have the capacity to help out with COVID care for others, and I’m grateful for that.

Wishing you and yours a beautiful weekend, with lots of small things to be thankful for…

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Want the recipe for these Cinnabon copy-cat cinnamon buns with frosting? Let me know!

• My favourite reader comments from Friday’s post about creating a ‘secret zone’ in your home: on Vancouver Island, Elizabeth and her husband have turned their living room into a temporary gym. Near New York, Colleen is having nightly ‘private’ dance parties with DJ Questlove on YouTube. So many other great ideas, too: kitchen table turned mask-sewing studio, starting a new podcast in a closet-studio :), growing herbs in a cut-open bag of soil on a balcony. Love your ingenuity!! Read about my secret zone here.

Find a Secret Zone In Your Home

I am a do-er, and I’m trying everything right now. You?

We’re all different, of course, but for me, being productive and getting my mind interested in new things just works better. I feel happier, more like myself, and more able to help others.

Hello, yoga.

I tried it when I was nineteen, and spent the whole class literally tapping my fingers on the ground impatiently waiting to get out of the little room filled with flexible people.

Now I’m 53.

I’ve been meaning to try yoga for a zillion years because I’m not flexible enough. So in this time of world pandemic, where everything is going crazy and we’re all worried, I decided to carve out a little space to get started.

Have you done this yet? Re-evaluated your home looking for small zones where you can try something new?

Please try! No matter how tiny your living space, it’s exciting to look at it with fresh eyes and wonder what you can make of it.

It reminds me of two things — when you have a dream that your house has an extra room, and you get to explore it. Remember how amazing this is?

It also reminds me of a favourite picture book I found when I was a girl. It was first published in 1967 and reprinted in 1993. Evan’s Corner is about a little boy in New York City, youngest of six like me, who lived in an apartment. (I lived in a big old farmhouse on a sprawling Canadian wheat farm.) Evan didn’t have his own space, so his Mum let him have a corner of the apartment. And in his corner, he made a beautiful creative ‘room’. He taped pictures to the wall, found a milk crate, a tiny rug, a stack of books, and a pet turtle. As a kid, I admired his spirit and ingenuity.

As an adult in “shelter at home” mode, I’ve found these zones:

• Pulled a chair and footstool into a sunny corner, opened the blinds, and created a ‘reading nook’

• Parked the car outside the garage to have ‘a gym’

• Enjoyed a facial in my ‘spa’ — a freshly cleaned bathroom, with a newly laundered set of towels

And yesterday, I shifted over my son’s cello and found a mat-sized space on the floor that I now call My Yoga Studio. My family finds it hilarious every time I say My Yoga Studio and walk to the side of a room, but I feel WAY more motivated when I create a space for myself and talk about it.

A mat, a candle, a laptop. Free classes online at YouTube.

Really, we are so lucky.

While we worry about the world, we can also learn and grow.

What are you doing during this time? Let me know — inspire me!

Love Catherine x

PS. If you, like me, are trying to find ways to help, this mask effort is amazing. It was spearheaded by four people who are getting masks from a Mexican factory FedExed to New York City, minus any red tape or delays. Learn more here.

How Are You Today?

Wondering about you…

And sending love from Sydney.

Today I have simple plans and simple pleasures: a family dinner, a zoom call with girlfriends, coffee in the sun on the patio. I’ll probably make a special dessert.

A little writing. A little worry.

I’m thinking of everyone who is reading this today — about job interruption and finances, about close quarters and strained relationships, about kids and stress and fear. But I’m also trying to remember the other side of this hard time: we are all here now, everyone in the world, together.

We will find out together how this turns out.

If you have any extra time, tell me how you’re doing today. Cheer me up :) I’m thinking of you.

Love Catherine x

PS.

If you don’t already know her, consider following Morgan Harper Nichols on Instagram. Her work is lovely. You can find her here.

Slowly Does It...

Welcome to Friday. For everyone new this week, I had my husband snap this photo of me over morning coffee so I could say hi. Here’s the ‘up and dressed during a pandemic’ Catherine behind Love Our Age. It’s easy to sign up for lots of stuff and forget who is creating the content. So here’s a big Canadian-Australian hello from me to you!

So many thoughts this morning…all random. Let’s go!

First up, are you doing okay? (Really?) There’s so much advice floating around, but I want to tell you I’m thinking of so many of you — friends and family and complete strangers — who are reading my Love Our Age blog posts. If you need to chat, I’m here.

Second…this is just about the way we look, and I don’t mean to diminish all the worries during this difficult time, but in case you’re wondering (or scared about it), going grey is totally fine. I’m on the other side, and it’s okay. You can always go back to your version of ‘normal’. Now might be a time to pull your hair back and see if you love your silver roots. You may find — like I did — that you like the way you look. Or not. But it’s an option.

And last of all, however we’re feeling — productive or scared, accomplishing stuff or watching Netflix in trackies — it’s all okay. I’m seeing two camps emerge on the internet: the do-ers and the pause-rs. We can be either or both.

Busy or pausing.

I’m heading inward to pause and think. For me right now, slowly does it. And that’s okay.

Thinking of you all today. Stay safe out there.

Love Catherine x

Delicious (Healthy-ish) Raw Brownies

Craving sweets?

I hear you! This has been a crazy time for trying to keep healthy, so I thought I’d share my favourite no bake brownies.

Welcome to my kitchen! If you’re new, you need to know that I’m an author and a baker. My comfort zone is standing at this bench top creating delicious treats for family and friends. I’ve had to stop myself from baking every day during this pandemic.

Yesterday, I caved and made these to share with you. They’re delicious, easy and a little bit healthy (no sugar, but one cup of dates).

Raw Brownie Bites

• 1 1/2 cups walnuts

• 1 cup pitted dates

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• pinch of salt

Chop the nuts finely in a food processor. Remove. Chop the dates roughly with a knife — you may want to warm them a little in the microwave to make this easier — and then whiz in a food processor. (I’m not gonna lie…this can be a pain in the backside! Persevere. It’s worth it.)

Combine cocoa, dates, nuts, salt and vanilla together. Mix by hand or in a food processor. You’ll get a sticky ball of delicious mixture.

Wrap in baking paper and refrigerate. Slice. Serve.

These brownies will be PERFECT when things are back to normal and you invite that gluten-free, dairy-free vegan friend over for lunch.

Also PERFECT during a global pandemic when you want to be a little bit healthy while having a tiny sweet treat.

Easy. You might have everything in your pantry now…

Enjoy your Sunday. Together, we’ll get through this to the other side.

Catherine x

PS. Hello, new friends. Thanks for joining us! Read more fun posts here!

An Antidote to Worry

Hello — dropping in to see how everyone is today.

Doing okay? Worried? A mix of both? (I don’t know about you, but I don’t normally scrub my beans in hot water and soap. Except now I do. Welcome to the new normal…)

During this time of physical distancing, when we’re all taking extra care to keep each other healthy, it’s easy to worry.

A dear American friend and coach, Victoria, mentioned something on Instagram that I loved. When we have a worry thought, Vic said, we should test it.

The word that got me is “actionable”.

So much of the time, my worry is me rocking faster in a rocking chair — going nowhere. Got the visual?? My mind just zooms off into the worry without asking, what is actionable? What can I do?

If the worry thought is none of these things — actionable, useful, accurate — we need to drop it.

When the worry is real, we need to make a decision, figure out one tiny step forward and act. I’m going to take Vic’s advice and give it a try. I need to remember the Worry Test.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Want some coaching from Victoria? You can find her here! Thank you for being a bright light in the world, Vic!

• Want some of my surplus mum-love, now that my teens are tired of it and just want to do school work and watch YouTube videos in peace? Ha! Send me an email if you need encouragement during this tough time. I’m here, girlfriend.

Outside or In?

It’s Sunday, and in Australia we’re still able to be outside and move around (responsibly). How are you?

None of us could have imagined where we are now, worldwide, and I’m encouraged to see all the love and help floating around the internet.

People are offering their talents and keeping us entertained.

People are giving and sharing.

Yesterday, I gave away clean new moving boxes stored in our garage, and also a copy of my novel.

Today, I’ll quickly share two things I’ve done online and loved. Free classes:

1. Tap Dancing for beginners — with @sourtaps (Sarah Reich)

2. Brioche and bread making — with @zoebakes (Zoe Francois)

Whether you’re outside or in, take care and share.

We’re in this together.

Love, Catherine x

Something Pretty

Welcome to my neighbourhood in the evening.

Gum trees.

Sunset.

Fruit bats.

My husband and I love to do our garage workout and take a six kilometre walk in the evening. It’s not as productive as running, but it’s slow and pretty and a great way to catch up on each other’s day.

It’s the little things.

During these wild times — when there is so much advice and fear floating around — I wanted to drop into your inbox with something pretty.

So for you, today, an Australian sunset, and the wise words of Julian of Norwich (1342-1416). This poster is available on Etsy for $3, and now’s a perfect time to support small business! You can download and print immediately. The sellers are South Pacific Prints and they seem like a lovely young couple.

I hope you and yours are okay.

Love Catherine x

Call Yourself A Beginner

It’s Sunday morning coffee time, and the world is filled with COVID-19 news. So while we’re all thinking about staying in more and keeping everyone safe, it’s the perfect time to try something new.

We live in the best time in history for being in our homes during a global pandemic — for so many reasons!

Everything single thing you might want to learn is on YouTube or Khan Academy.

I want to learn to make burrata, which is made from fresh mozzarella. So on my list is cheese making! I also want to learn to sew a cape. And I’ve looked at our untouched piano for years, so it would be nice to play a simple song.

The hard part about learning something new as an adult is that we don’t like to be terrible! And we know what looks terrible (bad art), tastes terrible (a failed cake), sounds terrible (my piano playing).

Here’s the trick: call yourself a beginner. Literally say those words to yourself. As in…

• “I’m a beginner at sewing.”

• “I’m a beginner at writing books.”

• “I’m a beginner at piano.”

Give yourself the beautiful luxury of being a beginner.

Just start. You might fall in love. And you’ll definitely get better.

Enjoy your Sunday and love your age!

Catherine x

PS. Always wanted to write a picture book? I’ve published Jacaranda Snow with a traditional publisher. Then I had a million friends asking to go for coffee to tell them how I did it, and I ran out of time! So I created an e-book with EVERYTHING you need to write a picture book that you could send to a publisher. (If you want to get out of the slush pile and get a deal, these basics are critical.) Available here, on my author’s website. You can download & start now. Happy writing!

10 Ways To Get Unstuck

If you’re curious to read more, I’m guessing you’ve been stuck yourself. You know the feeling, right? It’s an ugly cocktail of confusion / doubt / worry with a big dash of lack of motivation.

For the past couple of months, this was my reality — and I needed to get through to the other side. And I have, just recently.

So if you’re also stuck, these tips might help.

1. Get dressed up. Putting on something that makes you look and feel good always helps. Always. My first boss told me this: the worse I feel, the better I need to dress. It’s actually good advice. So if you’ve recently gained a little weight (hello, this always happens when I’m stuck!), find something to put on that still feels good and looks good. You may not even realise you haven’t dressed your best for a while.

2. Figure out what you need to feel more like yourself. For me, this includes drinking LOTS more water, going for walks and getting to bed earlier. It also includes smelling lovely when I get into bed, so that means a nice shower or bath and favourite pjs.

3. Get an objective opinion from someone you trust. If you’re currently beating yourself up about being stuck, and hating all the confusion about where to go next, tell a person you trust. Admit that you need some wisdom. People are so smart! And generally everyone loves to provide advice.

4. Remind yourself you’re doing the best you can. Wow, we can be so hard on ourselves.

5. Start something new. Anything! Drop the heavy thing you’re worried about for today, and do something fun. But make sure it’s actually fun for you. You’d be surprised how many times we think we’re doing something fun, but it’s not really our type of fun. Example: I don’t love to travel. But travel is fun, right?? Except honestly, it’s not fun for me. Buying new books is my kind of fun.

6. Zig where you used to zag. If you get up early, try sleeping in a little. If you run, try doing a massive walk instead. Get a coffee from a different cafe. Listen to country instead of pop, or jazz instead of classical. Drive a different route.

7. Be productive in another way. If you’re stuck about a relationship decision or with your career, clean your kitchen drawers. Weed out your closet. Get your hair trimmed. Clean the barbecue.

8. Ask five whys. Ask yourself why you’re stuck. Then continue with “And why is that?” Do it five times to drill down and get to the heart of what’s happening.

9. Admit you’re afraid. Being stuck is always about fear. So announce that you’re afraid and tell yourself that you’ll try your best to be brave.

10. Practice being hopeful. Oh, this is big. Sometimes when I’m stuck, though I know I should be grateful, I really want to whack the person who reminds me to count my blessings. So I try to practice being hopeful instead. Ask yourself this important question:

And there you have it. My top ten ways to get unstuck.

Sending heaps of good vibes from sunny Australia!

Love Catherine x

PS. New people — you’re so welcome here! Thanks for signing up. I blog twice a week as I’m learning to love my age. If you have any ideas you’d like to share, email me!

Be Fun To Live With

Well, here’s a big question for us all.

Ready?

It’s confronting.

We lose sight of this so easily. Every single day, we have the choice to approach our worlds with joy, and often we’re lost in our worries.

This week, heading out to wine and cheese on a friend’s deck overlooking the Aussie bush at dusk, it would have been just as easy NOT to be fun. Instead, another friend suggested we wear our pink wigs to the door.

Such a tiny thing, and it brought so much laughter.

It makes me wonder this: why do we default into little lives? Why — when it takes hardly any planning, and very little money and almost no extra effort — do we forget to be FUN?

It’s almost as if we’ve forgotten that fun is an option. But there it is, waiting for us to get creative.

Fun transforms us into better versions of ourselves. Oh, yes, there will be teens rolling their eyes and maybe grumbling, but it’s a risk worth taking.

Being fun is not just ‘having fun.’ There’s a difference.

It’s Friday in Australia. The weekend is calling to us all. Can we be more fun to live with today?

Let’s live in joy…and love our age.

Catherine x

PS. Celebrities, pole dancing, comparison, being fifty, authenticity, building businesses and more — I had a fun conversation with Merilyn on her podcast, Lead Your Day. You can listen here!

Add In (Don't Take Away)

Every morning this summer, I’ve picked a few fresh raspberries from my garden.

In Australia, this is a big deal because raspberries are so expensive and people don’t really plant raspberries in suburban gardens.

This tiny ritual reminds me of my Canadian childhood on the farm, and the endless row of raspberries that my mum, my three sisters and I would pick in the summer.

Talking, two sisters per side picking slowly up the row, wearing long sleeved men’s shirts to save our arms from scratches, and the pails tied into the shirttails around our waists…that was being a sister. I learned a lot about life in the raspberry patch.

When my sister visited Sydney last year, as a surprise for me she bought and planted two raspberry canes in my garden. It was a perfect spot for them, and I was shocked: I’d overlooked even the possibility that raspberries could grow here, or that I could have them.

She added in raspberries to my life.

She added in a little unexpected gardening, too — and I was a person who always said she did not want to garden. But honestly, I’ve enjoyed it.

Adding in can be so good for us.

We’re often consumed with the idea of taking away: getting rid of bad habits, stopping the chocolate, denying ourselves.

Today, is there something you can add in to your world?

Something that gives you unexpected pleasure?

Something that isn’t too much work, but is filled with beautiful memories?

Take a moment to think. You deserve these little bursts of happiness.

I hope you find something special that you can add in.

Love Catherine x

PS. Welcome this week to everyone whose joined us lately! Want to have a look around my new website, Love Our Age?

Ever Made a Worry Cake?

Last week, I hit a bump of worry with one of my teens, so I did what mothers do: I stayed up half the night trying to sleep, woke up tired and tear-y, and hoped that everything would blow over with the new day.

It did.

But while my kid was out slaying dragons, I was at home working.

(For all you beautiful strangers who don’t know me very well yet: I’m an author and a copywriter, which means I write books for love and write copy for large corporates for my daily bread. Often I work from home and go to meetings in the city.)

That day, I wrote and walked from outside back inside. I worried about my son and I didn’t text. I tried to wait.

Then I noticed we had rosemary growing and a lemon in the fruit bowl, so I caved and made my favourite cake. Because what is better than a kitchen smelling of lemon and rosemary cake?

In my world, nothing says love like baking.

This cake takes away your worry. Imagine yourself combining the fresh rosemary, lemon zest and a little sugar in the bottom of a bowl. Imagine rolling it through your fingers until the sugar mixture is damp and fragrant.

That is love. Love smells like rosemary and lemon.

You’ll need a few things:

• sugar (1 cup)

• self-raising flour (2 cups)

• fresh rosemary (2 tablespoons, chopped)

• lemons (zest and juice of 2 is best)

• Greek yogurt (1 cup)

• olive oil (1 cup)

• eggs (2)

If you have this on hand, let’s start. Line a pan with baking paper. Preheat your oven to 325F or 170C. In a bowl, mix the rosemary, lemon zest and sugar. Do this with your hands.

Inhale. Everything’s going to be okay.

Add eggs and beat until pale and thick. Use a whisk. It won’t take long.

Mix in the yogurt, lemon juice and olive oil.

Finally, sift in the flour. Gently fold it all together. Know in your heart that you are a good person. Pour the batter into the pan. It looks professional, like a cake in a cafe.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Cool in the pan.

Share with the people you love.

Enjoy your day, and love your age (and yourself). We’re all out here in the wilderness, doing the best we can.

Catherine x

Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale and Me

Imagine a 24 year old Catherine in an emerald green dress.

It was the 90s and I was young, and I was in a competition to win a job teaching English at a beautiful private high school on Vancouver Island in Canada. Six other teachers applied, and we were asked to teach a sample lesson to a year 12 class with members from the English Department judging our performance from the back of the room.

I taught an excerpt from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

Out of seven of us, I got the job.

Then glance back, ten years earlier, in Saskatchewan: Catherine at 14. Long brown hair, sitting by myself in a tiny country school library, figuring out love. I’d found a book of poetry, with one line that read:

“You fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye”

— Margaret Atwood

And for some reason, my heart connected with Margaret Atwood’s words. Over the years I’ve read every book Atwood has written. I’ve taught her poems.

We share a publisher — Penguin Books. I wrote my own novel inspired by my favourite Atwood poem, “Siren Song.”

Last week, I listened to her speak in Sydney, my home for the past 23 years. The week before that, on a rainy Tuesday, I found a letter from her in my mailbox, soaking wet, encouraging me in my writing career.

I dried it carefully and framed it on my study wall.

I’m writing all of this to say we have no idea what will become of us.

If I could tell that 14 year old girl in the country school that I would be Australian, she wouldn’t have believed me. Or an author? She would have wanted that, but probably not had any idea how she would do such a thing.

But let’s get to the interesting part: you.

What wonderful thing don’t you know about your own future?

Though my worried mind often turns otherwise, I like to ask myself this:

To you, to me.

What is the best thing?

The best is possible. Life brings us unbelievable gifts, and pain, and lessons…and joy. If we’re lucky, we even fulfil a dream or two.

I like to believe the best is yet to come. I hope you do, too.

Let’s love our age,

Catherine x