Can you get romantic?

Hello, friends around the world…I’m dropping by to send you a weekly dose of positivity and happiness!

Today, here’s a question: do you need a little “leading lady” energy?

If you’re feeling off or a tiny bit blah, could it be because it’s time to shift focus away from all the worries and concerns, and into a perspective of WOW?

I know that sounds simplistic, and yes, life is hard, but can you take a moment to bring your Leading Lady out for a stroll? NYT Bestselling author Gregg Braden wrote this, and it struck me.

It is so easy to forget that our life is ours.

That we are driving our attitude.

That in every second — in the commute, in the cup of coffee, in the conversation — we have a choice:

  • mundane or fun

  • worried or hopeful

  • bitter or sweet

As you know, my family’s gone through a difficult time, but also — the sun still shines, the morning dawns, we have today to enjoy or dismiss as if it’s nothing.

Choose.

It was a key word in my first novel for young adults, and I’m thinking of it again this morning. Today I choose sweet (not bitter). I choose Leading Lady energy. I hope you join me in getting out there and having some fun.

I hope something WONDERFUL happens to you today.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

Focus on the sweet

Hello, friends, and welcome to all the new people this week!

I’m Catherine Greer, living in Sydney, writer and mother of two young adult sons (one on the verge of graduating from high school…yay!), wife of a guy who loves to read as much as I do, baker of cakes and macarons, lover of little dogs, and expert at celebrating everything. Honestly, if any little good thing happens to you, call me: I’ll be there to cheer you on.

It’s finally feeling like summer in Australia, and though the weather’s been heating up, I’ve been tired and worried.

If you’ve been struggling a little like I have, here’s a quick tip for BOTH of us today.

Let’s look for some joy. Here’s how:

The sweetness is always there. (So are the flaws.)

Today I choose to focus on the sweet.

Happy Sunday, everyone. In case you haven’t been told today, remember three important things:

  • You’re probably doing a better job than you think you are.

  • You have a beautiful heart.

  • Today is all yours to enjoy and savour. How? By searching for the sweet.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

Have a gentle Sunday...

Hi friends. Thank you for all the beautiful emails this past week after my sad news. I appreciate you all, even though I didn’t have the emotional energy to respond and be present for my family. Thank you for your virtual (((hugs))) and thoughtfulness, flowers and cards. It meant the world to me.

For your Sunday, here’s something I read worth sharing. It’s a reminder from Dr Caroline Leaf on our desire to control the future.

That last line struck me as true: you need to trust your future self to handle future problems.

That’s why, right now, we can relax. Our future self will handle future problems. And also—perhaps even more importantly—that’s why we need to take our shot, and do the thing that scares us.

  • Make the call.

  • Send out the book proposal.

  • Reach out to a potential new friend (new partner?)

  • Sign up for the class.

  • Step outside the comfort zone that your mind has built for yourself, where you are safe, and the same, and you’re trying so hard to control your security.

It’s a cliche because it’s true: all the magic and growth happens outside our comfort zone.

Your future self will take care of you, no matter what happens: if you’re rejected, if you feel embarrassed or ashamed…and even if, like my beautiful sister and her family, you experience loss that seems too devastating to face.

Your future self will be wiser, stronger, and there for you.

I hope you have a beautiful Sunday.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

  • For sisters everywhere: this made me laugh so much, and I needed it.

  • I told you I’d report back on these shoes. The verdict? I love them for summer. They’re a bit narrow, so I used my shoe stretcher and it worked so well. Why are they good? Because they’re flats that look like wedges. You could walk for days…

  • But I also love these stacked wedge sandals available in Australia—brilliant for wide feet—and so, so comfortable. The photos don’t do them justice. Affordable, not leather, but so comfortable and cute.

  • If you want a fun middle grade novel for a Christmas present, my English writer-friend Susie Bower just released her third book and it’s fabulous. Find it here — also pictured with our beautiful Violin & Cello on sale today for $19.99. (If you could rate and review, that really helps authors!)

I'm heartbroken...and hope-filled.

Friends, this past Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, my prairie family walked through the loss of an irreplaceable, joyful boy in a tragic, tragic accident. Hearts are absolutely shattered, and yet…we breathe, we draw close, we wake up in the morning to love the people we’ve been given to love.

This week, I watched my sister become heroic.

Women carry the sorrows of the world. Men, too, but women…women put all the pain and grief of families in a heavy handbag and sling it onto a sagging shoulder. And we keep walking.

I guess that’s why we need each other like we do, to talk and comfort and be sisters (even when we’re not related). I feel like that about so many of you, around the world, reading this now. We’re like-minded, like-hearted, and together.

I’ll be back next week with more uplifting news. But for now, a little comfort for me and mine in the shape of a poem. If you’ve ever grieved or lost someone, maybe you’ll like it, too.

Thank you for listening.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy your beautiful, ordinary day.

Love, Catherine x

Well, she's a bit much...

Happy Sunday, my friends (and all the new friends this week!) I’m Catherine, up early in the rain writing to you while my family sleeps in. I’ve lit the candles and made hot coffee. So far, the day has been beautiful, and this week should be fun. I’m celebrating 25 years of marriage to this guy on Tuesday. A bit about my family: we have an 18 year old sitting his final exams for high school next week (gahh!) and heading to uni in February, and a 22 year old finishing up his Law-Commerce double degree. We live in Sydney, and the photo above was taken at my favourite beach in the world, Hyams Beach in New South Wales.

Here’s what I want to share this weekend—for you, if you’ve ever had someone roll their eyes and call you a “bit much.”

We need you to be as much of yourself as you want to be.

Your contribution to the world—your brand of JOY—is why you’re here. I love these words from Lindsay Rush:

Aren’t we so lucky to have YOU?

Yes. Yes, we are.

Enjoy your Sunday. I hope you have a brilliant one.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

Remember This For Later...

Hi everyone. Jasmine’s out in Sydney, and the world smells like perfume. It’s a beautiful day to feel like everything’s just fine, but sometimes…life hands us a challenge we weren’t expecting.

For me…my internet friend in California is fighting a terrible, swift, unexpected cancer.

We’re up to our eyeballs in helping our son study for his year twelve exams.

Other things — hard things — we all have them, don’t we? (Just insert your hard things here, my friend, the things we don’t share…that sadness that feels like a cobra around your heart.)

If today you are worried or sad, if someone has hurt you or worse, I have this to offer. I love the work of The New Happy Co!

Remember that thoughts are temporary.

Treat yourself and your thoughts with kindness.

Look at YOURSELF with compassion.

Then…

Consider the last time your hands helped, your words comforted, your face lit up, and you loved the people you’ve been given to love.

Your life, your contribution and mine, our gifts…they matter. Our thoughts are temporary, but our service to other people can live on in ways we don’t even know. Our place in the world matters, however huge and famous and flashy, however quiet and unknown.

Happy Sunday, everyone. Enjoy your beautiful day.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

But should you?

Hi everyone, and hello new people this week! Just a quick photo of me to remind you who is sending you this weekly Love Our Age newsletter. I’m Catherine, writer, mother of two young adult sons, wife, and Aussie-Canadian living in Sydney.

Twilight is my favourite time of day…as you can see from this snapshot outside our home. There’s something so lovely about turning the lights on where you live and looking inside your nest. You notice all the warmth there, the chaos and the love.

The people and things you treasure, the safety and warmth you create…

As women, we do so much. I often think we’re the beating heart of our families, our group of friends.

Why, then, is it easy to overlook all the good in us, to zero in on the ways we should be improving?

All the external messages (media, celebrities) and even the internal messages (our own minds) tell us we should be faster, better organised, more patient, better at self-care.

We should be more confident, energetic, and work harder.

We should rest! We should know how to take care of ourselves! And at the same time, we should make sure we’re loving all the people we’ve been given to love.

But here are two important, introspective questions.

Who are we when we stop performing?

Who are we when we stop ‘shoulding’ all over ourselves?

We’re valuable. We matter. What we love matters, too. So does rest, which we all deserve.

That’s all — and it’s enough to remember on this beautiful weekend in September.

I hope you have a relaxing Sunday.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

  • It’s Spring in Australia, and Fall in the northern hemisphere. Time to reread my favourite poem by G.M. Hopkins. Remember? “Margaret, are you grieving / Over Goldengrove unleaving?”

  • Favourite mascara (people keep asking me…this one looks so natural!).

  • Twilight in Iceland — the sky!

  • I write books! You might have read my nonfiction for women (The 10 Minute Fix and Small Steps are Perfect.) Violin & Cello is my new picture book with illustrator Joanna Bartel (busy with a new baby!) and Alex Lau, composer (busy at uni!). Out now in Australia in bookshops and at Amazon and Booktopia. Pre-order in Canada, America and here in the UK.

Try this happiness tip...

Good morning from Australia, where the blossoms are out and we’re enjoying spring! This week I’ve been thinking of an idea I heard about and loved.

It’s not self-care. It’s exquisite care.

Before you tell me, yes, yes, but I have so much on my plate…take a second, please, and think about yourself.

What if we took exquisite care of ourselves — what would that look like?

Exquisite care.

Let me tell you a quick story. I was driving home in the rain from a long day of errands, and I thought about exquisite care. What did it mean? How could I do it when I was stuck in traffic? Then I remembered I love peaceful music in the rain. So I put on This is Goldmund and drove and listened.

That’s exquisite care. (For me.)

Today, how would you take exquisite care of you?

It’s the little things, baby.

Quick — think of what YOU love. Your special list. Here’s mine:

  • Baking something.

  • Hot coffee. Even better, in an English bone china cup, with a saucer.

  • Being in nature and not hearing traffic.

  • Reading before bed. (Ohhhhh, getting into an already-warm bed!)

  • Perfume.

  • Dressing up to show my respect for someone’s event, or to respect what I love to do. (Example: I always dress up for my Thursday night dance class. I’ve turned it into ‘date night’ even if it’s only the class and the drive home with my husband. I have the clothes anyway. I love the class. Exquisite care, for me, is loving the entire experience and showing that I value it.)

You get the idea. Exquisite care doesn’t need to be self-care (bubble baths, all that time, etc etc). It means thinking about what matters to you. Maybe it’s not dressing up or hot coffee, but it’s something.

Do you even know what it is? What is your exquisite self-care?

Thinking of you all around the world today, and sending you love.

Catherine xx

PS. The fun stuff!

How To Write a Picture Book ❤️

Hi everyone!

Today I want to share my new picture book, VIOLIN & CELLO, with you. I’d also like to tell you about the process, in case you’ve always wanted to give it a whirl…and why not? Why not you?

Here’s what happens:

  1. You write a story (no more than 500 words in total). But here’s the trick — it has to be compelling, unique, and fun for kids, with a child-centred hero who solves their own problem. And yes, even a children’s story has to focus on a problem because that’s what story is: conflict. Whether you’re writing a novel or a picture book, your hero has to want something they don’t have.

    Five hundred words sounds so easy, but often a story can take months to create!

  2. Email your manuscript to a publisher who is accepting submissions (check their websites). How to find a publisher? Look at picture books you love — who published it? Also, if you don’t know which picture books are doing well in the current market, that’s the place to start! Go to a good bookshop to browse and buy books you love.

  3. Success! Let’s talk about this, because so much information around writing is about dealing with rejection. (And let’s be real: rejection happens A LOT.) But if a publisher loves your manuscript, they’ll call you — so exciting — and say they’re taking your story to an acquisitions meeting! This is usually a monthly meeting where editors take a short list of perhaps eight great titles and decide whose books will be selected to be published. Publishing houses can’t publish every worthy manuscript…

  4. The publisher then pairs you with an illustrator of their choice. Look who I was paired with for VIOLIN & CELLO…the exceptional Joanna Bartel from South Australia! (It’s rare to be an author who is able to illustrate, but many illustrators go on to write and illustrate their own stories.)

Joanna created concept drawings, and we discussed them. Her vision was perfect for my beautiful story set in a big city about two young mystery musicians who’d never met…

Then Joanna spent many, many months creating beautiful illustrations for the book, while my editor and I perfected the story.

And…VIOLIN & CELLO is a world-first…because this is the first picture book worldwide featuring violinists and cellists. The talented young Australian composer, Alexander Lau, composed The Mystery Friends duet for young cellists and violinists to play. The music is part of the story.

5. Publication happens about a year after signing a contract. Authors and illustrators split a 10% royalty from every book sold, which is around $1 per book sold for each creator.

If writing a picture book is something you’ve always wanted to do, now is the perfect time to get started!

And if you’d like to cheer us along with our beautiful new picture book, here’s how:

  • VIOLIN & CELLO is out now in Australia! Ask at bookshops or order online.

  • Spread the word — if you know any child musicians, this is the first picture book worldwide featuring violinists and cellists. Please tell your school library, your child’s music teacher, and musical friends. ❤️

  • Pre-order in Canada, America and here in the UK — coming in early November!

  • You can gift a book to a little musician, to a local school or to your library.

Thank you, my friends, for sharing. It means the world, truly. Enjoy your weekend.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

Happy Father's Day, Australia!

Hi everyone — this guy, this is the father of our sons. He is, above all, a good sport. Ready to be silly when required by a fun-loving wife like me, ready to be stable when we need that (all the time). I can’t thank him enough…and one of the things I value the most is his willingness to have fun, and be fun.

It’s Father’s Day in Australia, which brings up so much for so many people. Thankfulness, gratitude, disappointment. Worry, regret, love. Wherever you land when you consider your relationship with your father (or the father of your children), I hope you can find wisdom and resolution.

We’re all so very human, and so flawed.

We’re all brilliant at some things. Terrible at others.

When I wrote The 10 Minute Fix, I asked a question. It’s an important one.

When I’m in the tumble dryer of worry and fear, or tiredness or disappointment, I stop and ask myself that question.

Am I being fun?

Could I be a little more fun?

What would that take?

Usually, it’s as simple as getting out of my own head, and thinking for a second about what might delight someone else. Then doing that thing. It can be so tiny:

  • an unexpected chocolate bar for my teen who is studying

  • a text saying, “I’m thinking about you today!”

  • NOT SAYING something (you left the kitchen in a mess / the lights on / the dog unwalked…)

I value FUN, but here’s the trick: fun starts with us being fun.

With us bringing the joy.

(I imagine all of you around the globe doing this, and the ripples of happiness extending to the people you love. What a difference we’ll make today.)

Love, Catherine x

PS. The Fun Stuff

A Sneaky Bit of Happiness...

Hello everyone! Writing a little newsletter to you is something I look forward to every week. Thanks for being here. If you’re new, I’m Catherine — behold me here walking the dog. (I share photos of myself every so often so internet friends know who’s writing…)

I had to force myself on this cold afternoon, so on went my favourite boots. (For some reason, shoes have always motivated me! Is this weird? Are you the same? Like putting on cute runners makes you more likely to exercise? Heels make you feel confident? Strappy sandals yell, Let’s have fun!!??)

Today, I’m sharing a happiness hack.

It can seem impossible some days, but it’s true.

We’re all icebergs, right? It’s a cliche but it’s true. We show the top 1/8 to most people (the tip above water), and some of our closest friends get maybe our iceberg’s top half. But deep beneath the waterline, there is so much going on.

Pain. Disappointment. Worry. Fear. Stress. Maybe a diagnosis. Or fear of a diagnosis for someone you love. A failure. A hope so big that you’ve carried so long and it feels heavy, like pain, instead of promised joy. For every person (you, me, the stranger walking the dog), the pain is sitting under the waterline.

But. But! We’ve also been around long enough to know that the day goes better when we focus our attention on joy.

Yes, I have to walk the dog, and I can do it in boots.

Yes, we have to face the hard thing, but we can make a very hot coffee and sip it while we read the email.

We can squeeze the heck out of someone’s hand during the diagnosis. Or send a text if we’re alone.

You know. I know.

There are two ways to live: one, head down. The other, head up, looking for little bits of joy.

Here’s my wish: that something so special, so fun, even tiny, happens for you today. That you choose to see it. That you savour it. Or that you give a tiny piece of happiness to someone you love.

Enjoy your Sunday,

Love Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

  • Aussie friends, this is what donuts are in Canada. 🇨🇦 Please, please can someone open a chain of donut shops here?

  • Shoes! I’ve tried everything this year to recover from a foot injury, and these cute sneakers work so well for me. If you have wide feet, worth a try. Also these ones are great.

  • Cute jelly sandals — summer’s coming in Australia! And pearl studded strappy flats.

  • Fluffy slippers that would make morning coffee so much happier! :)

  • Song I’m loving: Crash and Burn and surprise…it’s country music. Never thought I’d say that! (Hey, MUM…you’ll like this one.) Best-ever Canadian memory: with my 90 year old mum, taking turns playing songs we love on Spotify, and dancing in our matching pjs.

,

Three Things Worth Enjoying

,

Hello, everyone, and hi to all the new people this week. Look what’s happening in Sydney…tulips! Spring is here on 1 September and I can’t wait!

This week I wanted to share three things worth enjoying. Let’s go!

1. Consider making bread. Gluten and carbs, I know, I know, but this is so fun. I’ve written about this easy focaccia before, and if you want to feel domestic and successful, you can make it.

2. Dust off your beautiful dishes and use them. When our beloved ‘adopted’ Australian grandmother died, we inherited her set of Royal Crown Derby. Her real family was kind enough to ask if we’d like them (before they went in the Op Shop box - gah!)…and I use them on the weekends. I’m guessing there are pretty things in your cupboards, too.

3. Share some gratitude. Not just be grateful. Share “grateful.” Spread some heartfelt compliments. Tell the people you love that you see what they’re doing. Say something fun and appreciative today to a person who might not expect it. It’s an old, tired cliche because it’s true:

Everyone, everyone, everyone needs a kind word. You can give it.

Enjoy your weekend, and have fun loving all the people you’ve been given to love.

Catherine xx

PS. The fun stuff!

I share links here to things I’m enjoying. Sometimes it’s a product I’ve bought, sometimes a poem or a recipe, a quote or a thought or an activity. Or a book I’ve written. No pressure, just for fun.

Hi, I'm back!

Friends, I had the best time in my beloved Canada!

Hugged my mum a million times, celebrated her 90th birthday (we wore yellow…from The 10 Minute Fix, remember?), met up with blog readers (a treat!), saw my best friend from high school — we’ve known each other 41 years — and finished off with four days in Vancouver with my favourite cousin, who’s like a bonus sister to me. The laughing dude above is one of several in Morton Park, Vancouver.

And you?? In case you haven’t been asked today, how are you?

Where’s your heart at?

Have the winds of change been blowing your way?

Wish I could gather all of you up and invite you to my kitchen table. I’d make you lunch, probably this most delicious salad in the world, and ask you how you are.

Then I’d sit back and listen.

I’m feeling so contemplative, like I’m birthing a change but I’m not sure what it is yet.

So this is what I’m doing:

  1. Walking a lot.

  2. Putting myself to bed early.

  3. Eating leafy greens at every meal. Ridiculous, but greens make me feel happier. Kinder to myself.

  4. Wondering about my life….

Because this is true for all of us:

For me, it’s time to sit down and think about what I love and where I’m heading.

Sending so much joy your way today. I hope something unexpected and wonderful happens to you.

Love Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!





Farewell for a while...

Hello, friends!

This view is from Sydney’s beautiful Shangrila Hotel in the Blu Bar on Level 36. I recommend going before the sun sets —such a spectacular experience. Fun tip: family groups can take underage people and be seated on the right side of the venue before 6pm to watch Sydney become a fairyland.

Today I’m saying farewell to you, my family and our beautiful city for a month while I head to Canada to celebrate my mother’s 90th birthday. I’ll be taking a break from everything (including sending you notes on the weekend) until August. If you’re on summer holidays or school holidays here in Australia, I hope you’re having a relaxing time.

Just wanted to leave you with two bits of encouragement!

  1. We’re only half-way through 2022. If things haven’t gone to plan, we still have six months to take ACTION and do what we promised ourselves we’d do. It’s not too late. (It’s never too late to start!)

  2. How to take action? This reminder from the founder of @newhappyco — I love Stephanie’s work! You can find her here.

Thank you for being here on the journey with me! I plan to rest, rest, rest and come back refreshed and filled with new ideas. Then we keep going…

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff…

A little slice of peace...

Hello friends. The talented American artist, Morgan Harper Nichols, made this beautiful image. You can find her work and follow her here.

This morning, while my household sleeps, I’m up with a coffee thinking of you. Around the world there are upsets and worries, injustices and trials. In the midst of it all, I hope today you can stop for a moment and enjoy the life you’ve been so busy building.

If you’re struggling, my favourite quick meditation is this…

Anytime, anywhere, we can breathe, look down at our feet, and bring our awareness and busy brains into the present moment. NOW is where we live. Not in the past, or in the future. Always in NOW.

Today I’m wishing you strength and peace.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff…

  • Have you discovered the hidden space or room in your own home? This looks like turning a garden shed into a writing shed, parking the cars outside and making the garage a home office and gym (like we did!), adding shelves to a tall kitchen broom cabinet to store your most-used handbags, or even something simple like this: a little holder for plastic lids stuck on with 3M hangers. It’s a tiny life-changer.

  • Wow, the eye serum at Aldi. All of their beauty products are fabulous, including the lipstick.

  • The best baked spinach-artichoke dip I’ve ever made.

It's none of my business...

Hi friends.

I had a realisation last week, and it shook me.

Eighteen years ago today, I had my last baby. This beautiful kid is our son, and today he became a man. He was a smiley baby, then an absolutely Terrible Two. My oldest son was Easy Child (I blessed him with sushi and babycinos, and he blessed me back by behaving perfectly.) This kid was the one who would LAY DOWN IN THE GROCERY STORE and scream like I was torturing him because I said no to a chocolate bar at 9am.

This one is a skater (see the skateboard?) and he loves people. A memory: picking him up from Tae Kwon Do after school, and hearing the boys chanting his name: they were carrying him on their shoulders through the hall. He was 7.

This one I worry about: after this final year of high school, I want him to go to uni, find a great career, and be successful.

BUT…

It’s none of my business what he does. Not really.

He’s a man. He’s his own person. He has a life path that has nothing to do with pleasing his mother. I gave him breath so he could live his own life.

His birthday reminded me of this important truth.

It’s none of my business what anyone does. You, my neighbours, my friends, my family. (Exception: my husband. It is my business what he does..haha, just ask him…)

It’s also none of my business what you think of me.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember…

  • It doesn’t matter if your people (and your family) are wrong about you.

  • It doesn’t matter who your mother thought you should marry.

  • It doesn’t matter what people on the internet think of your posts.

It matters what YOU think of you. And it matters what I think of me.

Some things really are none of our business.

I look at my child and try to see the man. I have to squint to do it, because I remember all the little versions of him. But it’s none of my business to choose his path. It’s his business.

Byron Katie famously said: “There are three kinds of business: MY BUSINESS, YOUR BUSINESS and GOD’S BUSINESS.

I don’t know about you, but it’s something I need to remember. And now I’m off to make the cake!

Love Catherine xx

PS. The fun stuff!

  • In The 10 Minute Fix, I talk about easy family celebrations. All it takes is a bit of bunting, napkins, glasses, balloons. The light up numerals are here, Aussies.

  • I love Australia. ❤️ Every time I run to my own garden to snip flowers like these camellias, I feel like I live in the most beautiful country in the world.

  • We can see a whale’s journey — how lucky are we? Technology is a beautiful thing.

  • An old poem, but a favourite (from the early 1600s): remember this?

The Easiest Focaccia Ever!

Hello, friends!

What is it about cold Aussie winters and wanting to cook and bake?? That’s me this weekend. Brrr, I’m freezing (relative, I know, and I remember my Canadian life and laugh at myself now)…but I’ve made this delicious focaccia and wanted to share.

Bread: yes, you can make it and it’s easy. Many of you already do (hi, family!) but in case you haven’t given it a whirl yet, please let me introduce you to the easiest and best focaccia recipe ever.

You make the dough the day before, but it only takes five minutes.

Ready? Let’s go.

The day before you want to pull freshly baked focaccia from your oven and have your family or guests eat the entire pan (YES, THEY WILL), make the dough and pop it in your fridge overnight.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups plain flour

  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast

  • 2 teaspoons salt

  • 2 cups lukewarm water (I combine 1/2 cup boiling water with 1 1/2 cups cold water)

  • olive oil

  • sea salt and rosemary (fresh or dried), optional, for the top of the focaccia

  1. Make the dough - this takes 5 minutes, max! Whisk the flour, salt and yeast. Add the water and mix into a sticky dough ball. Rub the surface with olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and pop the bowl in your fridge overnight (or for as long as 3 days).

  2. The next day: remove the dough from the fridge. Using two forks, deflate it by releasing it from the sides of the bowl and pulling the dough towards the centre.

  3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 3-4 hours on your kitchen bench top.

  4. Line a 9x13 pan with baking paper. Put the dough in the pan. Pull it into shape with your hands. Drizzle with olive oil.

Then comes the fun part!

5. Preheat the oven to 220C fan forced or 425 F.

6. Use your fingers to dimple the dough. Sprinkle with sea salt and lots of rosemary if you love it.

7. Bake. For my oven at 220 C fan forced, it takes around 16 minutes. It may take as long as 25 minutes to bake, depending on your oven. If this helps, the internal temp of the bread should be over 200F.

Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Make sure you have delicious dips or soups or cheese on hand. You can dip the focaccia in balsamic vinegar and olive oil, of course, or butter it. You can toast it or grill it for sandwiches, but ours never lasts that long.

Literally every time I’ve made this focaccia, all of it is gone within an hour.

It’s just SO DELICIOUS warm.

Enjoy your day, and I’ll be back next Sunday with a little more happiness in your inbox.

Love Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

Chat with Future You!

Hi everyone, and hello new people. I’m Catherine Greer, author and baker, mum of sons, wife for twenty-five years, living in Sydney, Australia. You’re here for a little weekly inspiration every Sunday.

Let’s get started!

This idea from @EmandFriends is GREAT if you’ve been helping yourself this year to do all the things (walk and work out, make good choices, be on your own side).

But if you haven’t, here’s the good news: you have 7 MONTHS LEFT IN 2022.

Try this quick exercise. I call it Future You.

I was lucky enough to share it with a dynamic group of women from Ireland last week in a journalling workshop, and wow, I loved them! Such fun, engaging, vibrant women—Ireland is now on my travel list!

  1. Imagine it’s December 31.

  2. Sit down and pull up a chair for Future You. Really. Imagine Future You is sitting across from you. (See the photo above? I’m imagining Future Me in that empty leather chair. Future Catherine’s feet are up. She’s wearing shorts because it’s summer…)

  3. What does Future You say to Today You? Is she grateful you didn’t give up? Is she thankful you started in June?

It helps me remember that I’m doing things now FOR ME.

Because Future Catherine will walk around the corner seven months from now. Future AnnaMarie and Adele and Carolyn and Katie and Leslie and Faith and Francis and Annette and Corinne and Maura will, too.

It’s ME who’s going to be there in seven months’ time, and I will benefit so much from what Today Me does. Or not.

Future You will be waiting for you.

Happy Sunday, everyone. I hope you love this little Future You exercise. Even my husband likes it, and he’s a hard-core logical guy…

Love Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff! And a favour, please!

Hope is the thing with feathers…

Hi, my friends.

I know so many of you are American, and the events of this past week are horrific. I keep imagining a circle of mothers standing with other mothers from around the globe, protecting children. I know, too, that thoughts and prayers aren’t enough. Please know that we’re here taking deep, slow breaths with you. 💔

Emily Dickinson, beloved American poet, wrote this line: “I am out with lanterns, looking for myself.”

It sounds dramatic and metaphorical, but in real life she was writing a funny letter about moving and losing some of her possessions.

Still, what a brilliant line.

I often feel like Emily, as if I need a lantern to go out into the world and look for myself.

I keep changing over the years, reinventing myself and growing. I know you do, too.

  • Have you ever imagined introducing 16-Year-Old-You to your Present Self?

  • Do you remember yourself as you walked into the first day on your first job? (Mine was in a shoe store, and I was fifteen.)

  • What would the conversation be like if Pandemic You had tea and chatted with you right now?

We change.

And yet, as wise women we continue to grab lanterns and look for ourselves.

At the end of my life, which I hope won’t come for decades yet, I want to be a person who always looked for joy. For growth.

My promise to myself this year, at 56, is to gain skills in all the little things:

  • I want to learn how to bake croissants.

  • I want to make a painting that’s beautiful. (Hard for me!)

  • I want to learn an instrument. (Gah! Scared of this one!)

  • I want to dance and sing more. Plan a family holiday. Write another book. Make a friend from one of my unexpected, unusual, new pursuits: a new dancing friend?

We have this beautiful day, and it’s good to have simple dreams.

What are yours? What do you love? Who do you want to become?

It’s all waiting for you, with your very next YES.

Enjoy your Sunday. Sending my love all around the world. I cannot stop thinking of those little American faces, and I hope you and your loved ones find peace.

Love Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff…

It's Always Best To Say...

Hi friends! Happy weekend!

You guys know I love to dance, right? I come from a family of kitchen-dancers. My Dad was an excellent dancer and so is my mum; we were all twirled and two-stepped around the kitchen dance floor as kids and all six of us (only five now…) have the moves. We can two-step anywhere, to anything!

Recently I started line dancing, which is so much fun. But midweek I noticed in-person Zumba was back on at my local community centre.

I wanted to go! And yet, I was a little scared to go. Did I really want to try a new class in the morning, and sweat and not know anyone and mess up all the steps?

But then I was chatting with my sis-in-law and she reminded me of this important truth:

I went.

Did I love the class? No, not really. It surprised me that I didn’t love it. The music was Egyptian-bellydance-techno-pop and the songs went on for an eternity. In the end, I decided I probably wouldn’t go back.

But now I know.

Seems incredibly simple, but is there something you can say YES to this week?

You might find you love it. It may open a door for you.

Happy Sunday, everyone. I hope you snuggle up, or get out there and SHINE.

Love Catherine x

  • Oh! Read this twelve-part story on @humansofny if you believe listening and speaking can change the lives of underserved kids. Way back when I was a teacher, I was a debating coach! Debating programmes in schools have the power to change a country.

  • For our rainy Sydney day—the most beautiful, evocative poem!

  • Is it always you who sighs and gets out the vacuum cleaner? Me too. But I finally got a robot-vacuum. I’m such a huge fan of this one—great price and quiet! Thin enough to fit under furniture. Even the dog likes it. Every morning I run around the house thinking, “Someone is vacuuming and it’s NOT ME.” Brilliant. It picks up everything.