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THANKFUL THURSDAY 🤎 If there’s an animal nearby,

THANKFUL THURSDAY 🤎

If there’s an animal nearby, there’s a fairly good chance I’ll be trying to cuddle it. 😂

Being around animals has always made me happy. There’s just something about them that instantly lifts my mood — and this gorgeous donkey was certainly no exception. Honestly, give me an animal cuddle and I’m a very happy girl. 🫏🤎. Almost as good as a cuddle from little Hazelnut.

This week I’m grateful for:

1. 🏡 A weekend at home catching up on a few things and getting the house ready for our party this weekend.

2. ❤️ A lovely catch-up with my niece.

3. 📝 Having a few quieter days to get myself organised before a couple of BIG party-prep days. I suspect future me will be very grateful for this!

4. ☎️ A good chat with my bestie. Sometimes a proper catch-up is exactly what you need.

5. 🎂 And last, but most definitely not least…the best birthday I’ve had in ages. I spent the day with my two girls, got to spoil them both a little, had LOTS of gorgeous Hazel cuddles, and then met Tony for a late lunch. Nothing fancy or over-the-top — just a day filled with my favourite people, and I loved every minute of it. ❤️

Feeling very grateful after a week of simple things, lovely people and a very special birthday.

I hope you’ve had a lovely week too. What are you grateful for today?**

Becoming a grandparent has been one of the most be

Becoming a grandparent has been one of the most beautiful new chapters of my life. ❤️

When we found out our sweet Hazel was on the way, I thought about all the obvious things — the cuddles, the outings, the spoiling and simply getting to love this little person.

What I hadn’t really thought about was "boundaries".

I’m learning that being a grandparent today is also about finding your place. Being there when you’re needed, supporting the new little family without taking over, respecting the way they choose to parent — and remembering that it’s okay to keep living your own life too.

Tony and I want to be there for Hazel whenever we’re needed, but we also want to keep travelling, making plans and enjoying the life we’ve looked forward to in retirement. And we’re very lucky to share the grandparent role with another set of grandparents who adore her just as much as we do.

In my latest retirement post, "Becoming a Grandparent: Finding Your Place in This Beautiful New Chapter", I’m sharing what becoming Gigi has taught me so far — including a few things I really hadn’t expected.

And yes…I’m completely besotted with her. 🥰

Are you a grandparent? I’d love to know what you’ve learned about finding your place in this very special role.

#RetirementReflections #ʀᴇᴛɪʀᴇᴍᴇɴᴛᴘʟᴀɴɴɪɴɢ #retiredliving #grandparentingisthebest #grandparentlife❤️

Becoming a grandparent, how to be a great grandparent, retirement planning, retired living

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

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