Hobbies

Are dark cold winter days leaving you feeling cooped up inside your own home? While it might feel ‘off season,’ hiking during the winter actually offers you loads of physical and mental health benefits and best of all, gets you out of the house!

“You may not see me, but you’re damn well going to hear me!” My good friend, Anna, boomed out to a male server in a coffee shop who refused to “see” her waiting next in line to give her order. Anna, who is 72, is a theatre actor whose well-trained voice…

Have you ever had the urge to enter the wilderness with a backpack, but dismissed it as an impossibly silly dream, because you felt too old and out of shape? I am here to tell you that you can do it! You don’t need to be young, thin, athletic or tough…

In Part One, I highlighted three long books. Here, there is only one, but an important book, Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. If you have a serious reader friend, take up this book together and discuss the sections…

My dad had a La-Z-Boy recliner in green tweed fabric, likely purchased in the late 1960s or early ‘70s. If you’re picturing Archie Bunker’s chair from All in the Family or Martin Crane’s from Frasier, think worse. Much worse. By the time I came along, the seat had shed its tweed…

Exploring nature can be a restorative and empowering experience, especially for us women over 50 who are looking for meaningful ways to connect with the outdoors. Did you know that there are stunning trails around the globe tailored to varying skill levels? 

When was the last time you picked up a paintbrush, not to create a masterpiece, but simply to enjoy the flow of colors on paper? Or felt the urge to doodle on the back of a receipt while waiting for your coffee? That might be your inner artist calling…

There are three longish books in this first installment of my winter book comments. I finally got my hands on Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. It did not disappoint. The wait list at the library is short because it came out in 2022. Then I saw a new book by Hampton Sides…

I’m sure I’m not the only one to have started the year exploring new ways to improve my general wellbeing. As ever, a different exercise programme, tweaks to my diet and learning a new skill have all made it on to the list. But with each year…

“If only I had a greenhouse, a 1/2-acre English cottage, cutting garden and staff to assist with digging holes, my gardening life would be complete.” This is how I feel every time I finish scrolling through dreamy garden images on Instagram. And it’s not a good feeling…