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Becoming a Grandparent: Finding Your Place in This Beautiful New Chapter
Friendships in Retirement: Why Strong Relationships Matter More Than Ever
Retirement Wardrobe: How to Dress for the Life You’re Living Now
Health in Retirement: How One Simple Change Made Me Stronger and More Confident
Why Creating a Home You Love Could Be the Best Retirement Decision You Ever Make
Retirement: Who Are You Without Your Job? Create a Life You Truly Love
Retirement: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life
Travel Planning Without Overplanning: The Simple Way to Happier Holidays

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Well… I really didn’t have a choice, did I? 🤷‍♀️

Well… I really didn’t have a choice, did I? 🤷‍♀️

One of my favourite finds from our weekend away was this beautiful collection of vintage plates and bowls. I was happily choosing a few favourites when the lovely lady selling them convinced me that I really should take all of them.

Obviously, I’m very easily influenced when vintage china is involved. 😂

Now that they’re home and tucked into my kitchen hutch alongside some of my old silver pieces, I’m so glad she did. I absolutely love the mix of the soft country scenes, aged silver and warm timber — and somehow they look as though they’ve always belonged there.

This is exactly why I love vintage shopping. You never quite know what you’re going to find… or apparently, how much of it you’re going to bring home! 🤎

Tell me — would you have bought the whole set too, or shown considerably more restraint than I did? 😂

#vintagehomedécor #VintageChina #CollectedHomevintage #VintageDecor #CountryKitchendecor

vintage home decor, vintage china, vintage plates, vintage kitchen decor, collected home, English country style, country kitchen, vintage silver, antique finds, op shopping finds, vintage shopping Australia, cosy home styling

One recipe. Two completely different dinners. 🙌 A

One recipe. Two completely different dinners. 🙌

After a weekend away, I came home to very few groceries, a mountain of washing and absolutely NO desire to head straight back out to the supermarket. 😂

What I did have was some mince in the freezer, half a bottle of passata, a few lasagne sheets and some slightly questionable carrots hiding in the fridge.

So I made what I had work a little harder.

Night One: Homemade lasagne
Night Two: Meat & vegetable pie

The trick? Make a big batch of meat sauce, set some aside BEFORE assembling your lasagne (very important! 😂), then turn the leftovers into a completely different meal the following night.

It's not really batch cooking — you're not eating the same dinner over and over again. You're simply doing the time-consuming part once and giving yourself a head start on tomorrow.

And sometimes knowing tomorrow night's dinner is already halfway done feels like a tiny gift to yourself. 🤍

The full idea, along with my lasagne recipe, is now on the blog:

"One Recipe Two Meals: How to Make Dinner Easier This Week"

Save this one for the next time you need dinner to work a little harder for you.

#OneRecipeTwoMeals #EasyFamilyDinners #FamilyDinnerIdeas #easydinnerideas🍴😋 #MakeAheadMeals

Thankful Thursday 🤍 Love this pic of my bestie an

Thankful Thursday 🤍

Love this pic of my bestie and me having a laugh inside the Big Thermometer in Stanthorpe! 😂

We had such a fun few days away, followed by a couple of much quieter ones at home — a pretty good balance really!

This week I’m grateful for:

1. A fun long weekend away. I can highly recommend a visit to the Tenterfield/Stanthorpe region. There’s so much to see and do, and we had the best time exploring.

2. A really great night of stargazing at @ridgemillestate. Such a fun experience and definitely one of the highlights of our weekend. ✨

3. Eating a slice of Dutch Apple cheesecake at @suttonsfarm — and bringing home the most amazing apple pie. Honestly, I’m drooling just thinking about it! 🍎🥧

4. Having the flexibility to take Monday and Tuesday to chill while I caught up on all the washing and unpacking. I’m so grateful that these days I can work around the things I want to do rather than the other way around.

5. A wonderful morning with my two favourite girls, doing a little spot of shopping. Always time well spent. 🤍

I hope you’ve all had a fantastic week too.

What are you grateful for today? xx

#thankfulthursdays❤️ #feelingblessed❤️ #feelingblessed❤️ #gratefuleveryday❤️
#thankfulthursday🙏

Gratitude • Thankful Thursday • Joyful living • Everyday moments • Finding joy in everyday life

One of the things I hadn't really thought about be

One of the things I hadn't really thought about before retirement was how much our friendships can change.

For years, many of our relationships are woven into the routines of work, raising families and busy everyday life. Then retirement arrives and suddenly those routines look very different.

Some friendships naturally become closer. Others drift away. And sometimes you realise that making and maintaining friendships at this stage of life takes a little more intention than it once did.

But I also think retirement gives us something we haven't always had enough of — "time".

Time for the long lunch that turns into an afternoon.
Time to send the message and actually organise the catch-up.
Time to reconnect with someone we've lost touch with.
And time to make room for new friendships too.

In my latest retirement article, I'm sharing my thoughts on friendship in retirement, why those connections matter and why I think nurturing them deserves a place in the retirement plans we make.

Because perhaps planning for retirement shouldn't only be about our finances and what we're going to do with our days.

We should also think about "who we want beside us while we're living them."❤️

The full article is now on A Joyful Ordinary Life.

#FriendshipsInRetirement #retirementlife❤️ #ʀᴇᴛɪʀᴇᴍᴇɴᴛᴘʟᴀɴɴɪɴɢ #retiredliving #lifeafterretirement😍

I know so many of you have been wanting to visit @

I know so many of you have been wanting to visit @springview_farm_… and I can now officially say — GO!!! 🤎

We absolutely loved our visit and, of course, came away with a few treasures. Although next time we’ve decided we may need to take wo cars so we can fit more in! 😂

Gayle and Matt are both so lovely, and the donkeys… well, you know how much I love a good animal cuddle. 🫏🤎 Honestly, they’re worth the visit alone.

And there were chooks!!! 🐓

Oldwares, animals and beautiful people — what more could you want? (Except perhaps a bigger car. 😂)

I’m going to share a little more from our weekend because this whole region is such a fabulous spot for a weekend away from the Goldie or Brisbane. We found some gorgeous places that I think you’ll love too.

But @springview_farm_? Definitely one for the list. 🤎

#SpringviewFarm #oldwares #countrystyledecor #ajoyfulordinarylife #gratefuleveryday❤️

Springview Farm | Stanthorpe | Granite Belt | vintage shopping | oldwares | country style decor | Queensland weekend getaway | things to do in Stanthorpe | weekend away from Brisbane | weekend away from the Gold Coast | Queensland road trip | country shopping | A Joyful Ordinary Life

This is one of those DIY projects that has definit

This is one of those DIY projects that has definitely earned its keep around our home! 🤍

We originally built this "DIY outdoor TV cabinet" for our pool deck because I wanted a way to hide the television when it wasn't being used and give it a little extra protection from the elements.

Tony built the simple cabinet and then added the decorative cross detail to the doors — because if we're going to have a big TV outside, I at least want it to look pretty when it's turned off! 😂

Since then, our outdoor spaces have changed and the cabinet has moved with them. It now lives in our outdoor bar area, where it fits in beautifully and continues to do exactly what we built it for.

I love when a DIY project can be repurposed rather than replaced.

I've shared the full step-by-step process for building our outdoor TV cabinet on the blog.

#DIYOutdoorTVCabinet #OutdoorTVCabinet #HomeDIYprojects #backyardrenovations #backyardtransformations

Thankful Thursday 🤍 We’ve had such a wonderful, b

Thankful Thursday 🤍

We’ve had such a wonderful, busy week filled with family, celebrations and lots of very special Hazel time. This week I’m grateful for:

1. 💍 Celebrating a beautiful wedding for my niece and her new husband. Such a lovely day filled with so much happiness, family and fun.

2. 🎂 The wedding cake arriving in one piece! Honestly, every time I make a wedding cake I say, “That’s it, this is the last one!” 😂 There’s nothing quite like the stress of transporting a cake you’ve spent hours making — but thankfully it made it safely and I could finally relax!

3. 🥰 Lots of time with Mitch, Em and especially Hazel.With Mum on Matron of Honour duties, Hazel had a wonderful time socialising with the bridal party and charming plenty of the other wedding guests too. She certainly knows how to work a room already!

4. 🤍 Looking after our sweet girl while Mum and Dad attended another wedding. The venue was absolutely beautiful, but I have to say, having some lovely quiet time with Hazel was definitely the best part for me.

5. 🥐 A much-needed slow Sunday. Croissants, a quiet day at home and doing very little after such a busy week felt pretty perfect.

And now the bags are being packed again! This time we’re heading away for a little weekend of vintage and op shopping — which sounds like a very good weekend to me. 🤎

Hope you’ve all had a wonderful day and found a few little things to be grateful for this week. xx

#thankfulthursdays❤️ #feelingblessed❤️ #feelingblessed❤️ #gratefuleveryday❤️
#thankfulthursday🙏

Gratitude • Thankful Thursday • Joyful living • Everyday moments • Finding joy in everyday life

Retirement has made me think about my wardrobe in

Retirement has made me think about my wardrobe in a completely different way.

For so many years, part of getting dressed was dictated by work. Now I'm finding that my clothes need to suit a very different life — one that includes lunches with friends, time with family, travel, days at home, going out for dinner and everything in between.

But I've realised something else too.

I don't want a whole new "retirement wardrobe". I still want to look and feel like me. ❤️

So I've been looking at what I already own, the pieces I reach for again and again, where I think it's worth spending a little more and where I'm perfectly happy to hunt down a bargain.

And yes, there are definitely a few favourite brands that have earned their place in my wardrobe over the years!

I'm sharing my thoughts — and my real clothes — in the latest article on "A Joyful Ordinary Life".

Because retirement might change how we spend our days, but it certainly doesn't mean we have to stop enjoying getting dressed.

#RetirementStyle #RetirementWardrobe #retiredliving #retirementlifestyle💗 #lifeafterwork❤️

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