Gathering Up Courage

On this rainy Sunday morning in winter in Sydney, here’s a story for you.

Seven years ago, we were thinking about getting a dog for our son who has just turned 16. I’ve written about him here. I was okay with dogs—didn’t adore pets, but I am always game to do what I think will be best for my kids, so…we started looking.

Then one day, magically, Holly’s “older” sister from a previous litter bounced up the street toward me. I stopped the owner and asked what breed of dog she had (a Shih Tzu) and where she got it. I called the breeder, and miraculously there was a new litter of pups being born in a month.

We ended up with this fur baby sister, and we’ve loved Holly ever since.

It makes me think of Tim Ferriss’ truly important question:

“How will you know if you don’t experiment?”

— Tim Ferriss

Today, about other things, like business and work and a new venture I’m undertaking, I’m asking myself Tim’s question.

It was the same question we asked when we decided to get a dog.

It’s the question we ALL have to ask ourselves every time we gather up courage and begin.

How will you know if you don’t experiment?

There is no other way but try.

So whatever you’re dreaming about starting, or whatever you’re thinking of doing (going out on that first date, writing down that story, making a new friend, pitching your idea), here’s a little sign today to keep going. I’m encouraging you to try.

You won’t know if you don’t experiment. Neither will I.

Wishing all of us the best of everything today — with a side order of courage and strength!

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Next weekend, sharing my news! Stay tuned!

Can We Talk About Weight?

The world is a little crazy right now, I know, and there are so many important issues to talk about. So please forgive me if this seems shallow or isn’t on your mind.

I’ve been worrying about my weight.

There. I said it right out loud.

In the middle of my life, for the first time ever, I feel a little out of control about some new soft places — more body fat than I’d like to carry. And though I look okay, and haven’t put on the “Quarantine 15” that everyone is joking about, I feel less like myself than I want to.

I’m exercising just as much, but my body is edging into midlife. Things are changing.

How are you doing? How are you feeling?

For me, weight is about how I feel physically — like if I’m sitting in the car and I feel uncomfortable — then I know it’s time to cut back on the cinnamon buns and dance in the kitchen.

The way I like to think of it is this:

What can I add in, instead of take away?

Can I add in more vegetables?

More walking?

More water?

For me, restriction makes me crazy. I have to start with mindset first. I need a good reason to change my habits.

I’m curious — what do you do when you’re thinking about your weight?

If you have any tips at all, send me an email. Love to hear what you’re up to and how you’re sorting this out in your own mind during COVID.

Wishing you safety and peaceful thoughts. If I can help somehow, let me know.

Thinking of you this morning and sending love.

Catherine x

PS.

• 16 years ago today, I had a baby boy. His name is Elijah Windsor (named in honour of his Grandpapa in Canada who passed away). This kid is quiet and hilarious and has the kind of magnetic smile that makes you grin back at him and shake your head. He’s a powerful friend and incredibly loyal. A story: when EJ was 8, I walked to the gym to pick him up from Tae Kwon Do. I heard the kids chanting, “EJ, EJ, EJ.” They were carrying him on their shoulders through the halls…just for fun, because they loved him. Everyone who meets him loves him. It’s his quiet spirit. (I have a sister who is just the same!). People like this are rare, and they’re treasures.

  Of all the things I’ve ever done, I’m proudest of being a mum. We are 100% reliable. Always there, when it’s tough and easy. A rock and a cheerleader. Am I right, mums?

How To Make Today Better

Oh, my friends, here’s a simple recipe.

How To Make Today Better

1. Choose one person in your world.

2. Love them well.

3. Repeat.

That is all, and it is everything.

(There’s so much more I could write here—and I want to keep on writing—but really, I’ve said enough. This little tip will help all of us.)

Enjoy your beautiful day,

Love Catherine x

PS.

Today, I’d love to share my talented friend and cousin, Jean McCarthy, with you. Jean is so good at loving people. She’s just released a new book of poetry on rediscovery and recovery, The Ember Ever There. In Jean’s words, it’s about “leaving the past behind and embracing all we are meant to be.”

You can see Jean reading in the mountains (apparently there’s a BEAR nearby — I love Canada!)

A Secret...

Hello and wow, haven’t we all been learning and growing lately?

2020 has been a lot to process. So I thought I’d pop by this morning and tell you a little story about my world here in Sydney. (It’s not a BIG story, but I thought you might need a breather from all the news, so if you do, please read on!)

In the last few months, my side of the bed slowly turned from refuge into war zone.

Why? Mid-life, waking up in the night, feeling too hot…just uncomfortable.

Really, between the poor sleep and the nightly waking up and the blankets I just didn’t love and the floppy duvet cover, I was feeling awful in the mornings. In fact, I was feeling so awful that I dreaded getting into bed at night because I thought I was going to have another poor sleep.

This went on for months. Literally months.

So this is what I did—and it’s GENIUS. And it’s so simple that I’m surprised I didn’t see this earlier. I realised an important truth:

To change things, I have to CHANGE things. (I know, basic, right? But why did I overlook this?)

• I stripped off all the blankets from our bed.

• I washed the duvet cover and got it ready for the donation pile.

• Then I drove to the mall, walked into my favourite bedding shop (still open as an essential business during COVID), and bought the softest, snuggliest grey winter blanket I could find. See it up there?? That one. It was surprisingly inexpensive.

I came home, laundered everything and remade my bed. The duvet that had been driving me crazy is gone. In its place is a very affordable new blanket—so soft, so big, so warm-but-not-hot. And I have slept so much better every night since.

Such a small fix to such a huge problem, but the change had to start with me.

The fix: to change things, we actually have to CHANGE things.

We have to say ENOUGH, make a decision and activate ourselves.

We have to decide, then do.

Is there a small change you need to make to feel better now? Or a bigger change? You can do it. (Decide, then do.)

Sending you love today from my home to yours.

Catherine x

PS.

• Still excited to share my special project with you—coming soon!

• New people, I’m so happy to see you here. Take a look at what you’ve missed so far!

Simple Food: Mussels

Here’s what I have for you today: simple food, made with love.

Mussels always look fantastic, but they are the easiest to cook.

Trust me! 6-8 minutes and about 5 minutes of prep.

Here is my beautiful recipe from Canada. It’s perfectly okay to buy mussels in the seafood section of the grocery store, vacuum packed in 1 kilo bags. Check the date for freshness.

The rest is easy!

You’ll need this:

• cream (1 cup)

• bacon and onion

• white wine (or sparkling apple juice if you’re not drinking)

• mussels (1 kg per pan with lid). For 6 people, I make 2 kg so I have two pans like this.)

• fresh parsley

• dijon mustard

Then do this:

• Saute 6 strips of bacon (chopped) and one diced onion in a pan with a lid.

• Add 1/3 of a bottle white wine (or sparkling apple juice). Increase heat to high and reduce liquid (4-5 minutes).

• Add 1 cup of cream and cook for 4 minutes.

• Stir in 1 cup of chopped Continental parsley and 1 tablespoon dijon mustard.

• Add 1 kg fresh mussels.

• Put the lid on the pan and steam for 6-8 minutes. Discard unopened mussels! 

Serve immediately to mussel-lovers who will also love you.

Enjoy!

Happy Sunday. I hope you get to relax a little this weekend. It’s a long one in Australia. Lots has been happening worldwide, and I know we are all here, all in this together. Thank you for accepting my little bit of cooking love today :) I hope you are doing okay.

Love Catherine x

How are you?

In case you haven’t been asked, I’m asking.

How are you?

You may be feeling like I am: overwhelmed, sickened, sad.

But also this—I have hope. I believe people can choose to be decent and learn. We can offer grace to each other.

We can support with our money, our focused listening, our words, our silence, and our care. There is so much we can do: seek out businesses to buy from in America (here is a fantastic list of women business owners and their lovely products on Instagram via @younghouselove—go to the Make Change button), get curious, buy books, question our assumptions, talk to our kids and grow. March. Ponder. Listen. Donate. Think deeply. Change.

We can be kind, right now, right this second, to the person in front of us.

That’s how we begin.

Thinking of you today. I hope you are okay.

Love, Catherine x

ps. Please notice that the world is still a beautiful place. The moon rises, the oceans swell and surge, the trees are lace at twilight. We can change together.

Little Girl Blue

Today I’d planned to share some news with you.

But across America, hearts are breaking.

My heart is breaking.

More than 50% of you, my blog readers, live in the United States.

So today — please listen to Nina Simone, singing “Little Girl Blue” from her debut album, Little Girl Blue. Nina recorded the album in her 20s in 1959, when she was still trying to become a classical pianist. She was paid $3,000 for the contract, a terrible royalty deal that cost her more than a million dollars in profits. Her album was largely unpromoted.

Nina Simone had the most breathtaking contralto voice.

Please listen to Little Girl Blue here.

I am thinking of you all and sending love,

Catherine

Exciting News!

I’m walking into this week like a puppy on a mission!

You guys, I have something SO GOOD to share with you on Sunday and I can hardly wait. In the meantime, I’m pulling long days with lots of fun planning — so please open those emails on Sunday morning.

(Did you know — I blog every Friday and Sunday morning at 11am, Sydney time?) This past week, I had a tech problem but other than that, I’m as dependable as they come.

See you Sunday at 11am (that’s Saturday night in North America).

Big news. Cannot wait!

Love Catherine x

PS.

• I’m Facebooking, and I feel ilke the Facebook monster under my bed is actually kind of…fun? You can join our private Love Our Age group here.

• Did anyone buy the orange jumper? I’ve had 10,000 compliments on it.

Something special is coming soon...

Right now: hot black coffee and a beautiful cool autumn, a teen at a sleepover and a goodie bag of homemade rocky road given to us after a dinner with friends.

It’s a dog on lap kind of morning.

And this is what I’m thinking.

We can be who we ARE right this second.

Let’s let our shoulders drop and be imperfect.

Be the one who has a hard time when she tries to change herself. The one who still criticises, or overeats, or drinks. The one who meant to start working out three months ago and has done it twice. The one who said the wrong thing and didn’t get the project finished (or even started).

It’s okay.

We are loveable right now, like we are: imperfect and trying. Human, like everyone else.

Yes, yes, we can do better, and we will keep on trying.

But for today — hugs to you right where you are.

This is where we begin.

Love, Catherine x

• Stay tuned — next Sunday, there’s something special coming for you! Yayyyyyyy!

• Thank you for joining my Facebook Group. Now I need to figure out how to throw a party in there?! Yes, I’ll still blog here twice a week—every Friday and Sunday, Sydney time. Everyone is welcome to join.

Tell Me - Do You Love Facebook?

Well, hello.

I have a confession: I am probably the only person you know who doesn’t use Facebook.

Facebook started in 2004.

My reasons for avoiding it for the past 16 years are varied and too personal to share, but this week, a friend came over and convinced me that I’d like it. She thought I’d love starting my own Love Our Age Facebook Group, and then she rummaged around on my laptop for a moment and said this:

“Wait — the group name ‘Love Our Age’ is available on Facebook! It’s a miracle. ”

— -Sophia, who is lovely and talented at all things techie

Now, I love a good miracle as much as the next guy…so here’s a story for you about Love Our Age, why I started it and what has happened since then.

I wanted to start a blog with a name, instead of blogging at my author’s website and explaining to people that they had to go to www.catherinegreer.com.au and then sign up for my happiness blog. I’d been thinking a lot about the age positive movement and about how I planned to enjoy the middle of my life, and I wanted an easy name for a blog about being inspiring, starting something new, living life beautifully, enjoying every moment. Something for all of us, for everybody.

“What’s your blog called?”

“Love Our Age dot com.”

That’s what I wanted to say. When I searched for the website URL, LoveOurAge.com was available for ten bucks a year. Good dot com URLs can cost thousands of dollars a year.

It felt like a miracle. A $10 miracle.

So I checked on Instagram: @loveourage was available. Another miracle.

And now on Facebook….also available?

That’s my third Love Our Age miracle, you guys. I see good things coming our way!

But…you know how I always write about life being 50-50?

• 50% AMAZING, and

• 50% hard and tricky and tiring and just ALL the things we don’t necessarily want to tackle?

Well, I have a MIRACULOUS and EMPTY Facebook Group right here -- step up and take a look!. As I said, life is 50-50.

This is how I feel looking around Facebook: I am the 15 year old girl, standing in the cafeteria on Fish and Chip day with nowhere to sit because every table is full. So…if you have time, and if you would please teach me how Facebook Groups work and sign up for mine, I would be so thankful!

I’m pretty sure you guys have been Facebook partying without me for about 16 years now, so — please help if you can.

Thank you. I appreciate you! Enjoy your Friday, and let’s Love Our Age together.

Catherine x

PS.

• How are you doing out there? I keep reading the news and worrying about friends and family. Are you okay?

• My bright orange jumper is now in grey.

Back By Popular Demand - Spinach Dip

Hello! Swinging by with a little food inspiration on sunny Sunday morning.

If you’re up for some comfort, everyone loves old fashioned dips. Remember this one?

Spinach Dip straight from the 1980s. So many people have been asking me for this classic recipe, so here you go, my friends. I aim to please. And during a crazy time, sometimes old fashioned comfort food is just what we’re craving.

Oh, stay well out there! Take care of yourselves and the ones you love.

I’m thinking of you today, and I wish I could do more than give you a recipe from my kitchen to yours…but we do what we can.

Sending love and good vibes,

Catherine x

PS.

• Love that you loved my bright orange jumper from Friday. Let’s be brave in little ways.

• And if you want to see something beautiful, take a peek at this photo from my walk. Australia, you are SO PRETTY.

Bring Your Own Weather To The Picnic

On Mother’s Day, I’m thinking about my own mum. Here’s she is in her spry late 80s, stepping out at a beautiful barn dance wedding. She’s never too old to give things a whirl.

She enjoys JOY.

Wherever she goes, she brings her own weather to the picnic.

There’s probably not a greater compliment we can pay anyone.

When I think about all the people I am crazy in love with and admire — the friends I choose, the family I love, the family I’m raising — they always share that quality. They decide how the day will be.

Wherever they go, they bring their own good weather.

It’s so important to remember.

Sending you love as you celebrate your own mothers today.

Catherine x

PS.

• Exciting new is coming…please stay tuned!

• Remember these? Want the recipe? Let me know!

Back To Basics

Friends, if you’re not an egg person, look away now.

But if you are, do you remember these little gems that graced buffet tables in the 1960s and 70s when I was a kid? If you’re looking for a protein-packed snack for you or your family during lockdown — which feels a lot like “Snackdown” in our house — maybe it’s time to get back to basics.

Devilled eggs are super easy to make. I’m also aware that many families are watching their spending just now, so I hope this simple recipe helps you. You’re on my mind…and in my heart, too.

• Boil eggs.

• Cool, then peel.

• Slice in half. Put yolks in a bowl.

• Use a hand blender to mix yolks with mayonnaise and mustard, salt and pepper.

• I add finely chopped red onion and top with a sprig of coriander.

There are so many fancy recipes on the internet, and I’m not claiming mine is the best. I don’t measure anything but just kind of guesstimate the ingredients.

But here’s the best tip for filling.

Use a ziplock bag to pipe filling into the eggs. It’s disposable, easy to use, and gives a perfectly fine result. In fact, I think mine look better than those frilly piped eggs. More appetising and fresh, somehow, and less like they were made seven hours prior.

Just scoop all the filling into a ziplock, clip a wide corner from the bag and fill up those eggs. Don’t bother with a pastry bag and piping ends. Too hard to clean.

Imperfection is okay! Today I’m inviting you to just give it a whirl…whatever that “it” is.

Happy Friday, everyone.

The weekend is on the way! Hope you and yours are doing okay. I’m thinking of you.

Love, Catherine x

PS.

• Can’t wait to see you again on Sunday with some news I’ve wanted to share! I blog twice a week at Love Our Age. You are welcome to come see what I’ve been up to.

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.