Middle-aged, Free and Single

58 and Counting

‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where am I going with my life?’ and ‘What the hell happens next?’ – nothing forces you to answer those questions quite like a husband walking out on you when you’re 58. It’s 4 months ago today since he told me he was leaving, and it also happens to be our…

Why Should You Care for You? 5 ways to show that you do.

Your relationship with yourself is the longest-term relationship you will ever have. Here’s how to show yourself that you care. Real self-care is much, much more than taking time out for a spa day. It’s about really caring about yourself. Accepting yourself. Accepting that you matter. And not sabotaging yourself. It’s extra important if you’re…

Supernumerary in the South Pacific – Heading Home

We left Papua New Guinea, and we turned left. We were heading home, from about as far away from home as it is possible to be. My first husband was an officer in the Merchant Navy, and I travelled with him – 4 trips in 3 years. We’d joined the ship in Hull, sailed across…

Be Our Guest!!

I was recently invited to become a guest blogger for Sixty and Me, an online magazine aimed at helping women over 60 to live happy, healthy and financially secure lives. I wrote my first post for them a couple of weeks ago, and here it is!! Are You Financially Savvy? Do please have a look…

Proper Job

It’s not the first time I’ve had a job, obviously – but it’s the first time in a very long time that I’ve had a ‘normal’ job, and the first time that I’ve ever worked shifts. I’ve been just over three months in my new job as a kitchen designer for a major DIY chain….

Food Processing

Although I’m still Husbanding my Resources, I want to eat healthy food. I like to cook from scratch, using fresh ingredients. Nothing processed. Well, hardly anything processed – I like my pizza on a Friday night… But surely everything we eat has been processed in one way or another? My fresh chicken was killed and…

Cooking for One – 15 thoughts

If you live on your own, shopping and cooking can sometimes be tricky – supermarkets are geared towards families and couples. Chops and fillets of fish and baking potatoes come in packs of two – if not more. I sometimes find myself fancying a bit of coleslaw, or some hummous, or whatever – but I…

Still Just Vote

This is my 100th post – but enough about me. I’m aiming this post fairly and squarely at people in the UK – you have until midnight on 26th November to register to vote in the UK General Election on 12th December. That’s not long – but it’s long enough. If you haven’t already registered,…

What is a Blog?

We all live in our own bubble these days. The ads we see online are determined by an algorithm that knows what we like and shows us what we like. We no longer all watch the same TV programmes – there are so many channels and so many catch up options that we can avoid…

How Does Your Body Image Feel?

Body image. We’ve all got one. We’ve all got an image of what our body is like. Of how our body compares to the bodies of other people. Sometimes we compare our bodies to the bodies of people we don’t even know – people who we only see in magazines. People who have the full…

Scaffolding, silverfish and sponges

I spent yesterday and the day before taking guided tours around East Riddlseden Hall, and talking to visitors about the conservation work that we do over the winter. More happens in the house when it’s closed than when it’s open!! As you know, my husband left back in February. It’s meant that many things have…

Road trip

Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire. And back. A round trip of 464 miles in my lovely little black mini. 226 miles to my son’s, then back via my step-daughter’s and my parents’. I left the house at 07:50 on Sunday morning, and arrived at my son’s house at bob on 12:30. Not…