It’s time for a cuppa and a catch up to chat about What’s Been On Your Calendar? during March. I love reading everyone’s post in the #WBOYC linkup and it is so lovely to have you join Debbie, Donna ,Jo and myself to share what you’ve been up to during the month.
What’s Been On My Calendar in March?
March didn’t start well for me as I came down with a heavy cold, sore throat and a nasty cough. It took a week of rest and twiddling my thumbs before I started to feel human again. It wasn’t COVID but it gave me some enforced time out. I’m not one to sit still but I did read quite a few books. I reflected on the first week of March in my post, The importance of taking TIME out , listening to your body and acceptance.
First fun run of the year – International Women’s Day
The aim of the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme is to get the world talking about Why equal opportunities aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action. Read more about this here.
The 8th of March was International Women’s Day and although I wasn’t well I did manage to recover in time to take part in the International Women’s Day Fun Run on Sunday the 12th, with my daughter and a friend. This year the focus was #EmbraceEquity.
The International Women’s Day run is our first official run of the year as we build up to longer distance runs later in the running calendar. This year, the week leading up to the run, I was down with a heavy cold and nasty cough. I wasn’t sure I would be able to run but the human body can be so amazing. By the Friday I was feeling better and was able to run with my daughter and my running friend and we did a PB as well!
Kitchen Renos continued with new benchtops
The next reno to be done was the kitchen and we decided that it really just needed new benchtops and some re-tiling. Mike isn’t a fan of the darker tile grout so will be changing that out. I’ll be writing a post about out renos but Mike has certainly saved us $$$s by doing some of the work himself and it has given him a purpose and project to work on.
Making TIME to remember…..My Dad
March 11 was the 42 year anniversary since my Dad died. I was pregnant with Rachel, my first child at the time and she was born a month after he died. Dad was a likeable chap, with a ready smile and ‘hello’ for everyone. No one likes to lose a parent but losing Dad at that time felt unfair. He had worked hard all his life and was looking forward to spending time in retirement with my Mum who had been battling breast cancer for 5 years at that stage.
As I said, life isn’t fair sometimes and six months after retiring he was diagnosed with bowel cancer and died within the next six months. We all thought Mum would pass first but she battled on for another 5 years after his death. They say one door opens as another closes and that was the case with us. We lost Dad but my beautiful, daughter Rachel was born which brought bitter/sweet joy to us all.
Making TIME to learn
During March I signed up for a iphone photography course, a pilates course and a 5 day Wardrobe Bootcamp with Adore Your Wardrobe. All of the courses were on line. I’ve finished the 5 day Wardrobe Bootcamp and will be writing a post about it over the next few weeks.
As a result of the Wardrobe Bootcamp I re-evaluated my wardrobe and removed everything that I didn’t wear. Some items have never fit properly and others were impulse buys. I’ve learned my body shape and over time will be investing in clothing that fits well and is my style. I don’t want a lot of clothes but I do want to wear everything that I have rather than having lots of clothes just taking up space.
I also took the opportunity of going through my makeup bags and decluttering.
My friend, Debbie from Deb’s World, gave me the idea of the photography course as she recently joined one in her local community. Her course is designed for her to use her camera but I don’t own one so the iphone course was ideal. It is quite comprehensive and had a small investment but I’m working my way through. Hopefully I will be a better photographer for my Instagram shots and also my upcoming cruise to New Guinea in June.
In the Kitchen
During March, I spent some time in the kitchen, making recipes from this month’s Confidential Book Club suggestion and also my home date nights. On the menu during March were:
- Slow Cooker Italian Beef with Gnocchi
- Chocolate Rum & Raisin Cake
- Apricot & Almond Bread
- Stuffed Eggplant with Rosemary & Olive Foccacia – recipe coming soon
The Women Living Well After 50 Podcast Season 5
During last week February & the month of March, Episodes 3, 4 & 5 of Season 5 of the WLWA50 Podcast were released. In Episode 3, I had the pleasure of chatting with another three inspirational women who are all sharing their knowledge to help Women Over 50 Live Well. I was delighted to meet and chat with Susie Pettit from Strength: Mind & Body, Deb Johnstone from Transformational Pathways and Julie Cates from Muscle Activation Schaumburg. You can catch the podcast through the link in the image below, on Youtube or on major platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music.
To balance my TIME, I’ve decided to publish an interview fortnightly rather than weekly. It takes the pressure off as interviewing and producing the podcast can be tiring, especially when guests are in different time zones. I enjoy this project and want to maintain that enjoyment so finding the right balance is necessary.
Link ups I’ve participated in during January included:
- Wednesday Words & Pics hosted by Denyse Whelan
- What’s On Your Plate? Challenge hosted by Donna from Retirement Reflections and Deb from The Widow Badass
- What’s On Your Bookshelf? and What’s Been On Your Calendar? Hosted by Deb from Deb’s World, Donna from Retirement Reflections, Jo from And Anyways and myself
The 52 Book Club Reading challenge
I am enjoying this challenge which I discovered through my friend Jennifer Jones from Next Phase in Fitness. I can’t believe someone has finished the challenge already? Surely you can’t read 52 books in less than 3 months and appreciate the writing and the stories?
You can catch up on my progress and reviews in my What’s On Your Bookshelf March edition post. I think this graphic is pretty cool as I can update it when I’ve read a book using one of the prompts and it shows my progress. It also helps me to remember what books I’ve read!
Blog Posts in March you may have missed
Living the life you love by setting healthy boundaries
Making TIME for Mindful March – Action for Happiness
Cooking with Cookbook Confidential Book Club
The importance of taking TIME out , listening to your body and acceptance
Increase Vitality & Find New Direction to Thrive in Your Next Chapter
What’s On Your Bookshelf? March edition
Safely Building Strength After 50
Home Restaurant Date Night #3
Apricot & Almond Bread
Well, that’s what’s been on my calendar for March and I Iook forward hearing what you’ve been up to. I’m sharing my co-hosts’ links as well so remember to pop over and visit to see how their January progressed.
Debbie Harris
Donna Connolly
Jo Tracey
Enjoy your month!
What’s Been On Your Calendar? #WBOYC
What: 2023 Monthly Wrap-Up Link Party.
When: Last Thursday PM (Northern Hemisphere)/ Last Friday AM (Southern Hemisphere). The link will be open for 7 days
Why: A space to share highlights from your past month.
Where: Link Party, Blog, Blog Comments, Instagram or other social media.
Who: This linkup is open to everyone.
How: You can share in the comments, with a blog post, or on other social media of your choice. Include the hashtag so that we can find you and include your link in our posts.
The next #WBOYC will be Thursday April 27/Friday April 28. I’m looking forward to seeing and reading What’s Been on your Calendar? during the month.
37 Comments
Hi, Sue – Despite starting the month not feeling well, your March has been very rich, full and diverse. I especially love the food, your wardrobe decisions, your run, your podcasts and the lifelong learning. <3
Hi Donna, although they take me ages to write, I do enjoy our WBOYC posts. They are a great way to remember what we have done in the past and to reflect. x
A great recap on your month Sue! I’m impressed with all you manage to do and obviously it all makes you happy as you are looking terrific. The iPhone course sounds good and I’m glad I inspired you to look at doing a course as it can be fun to learn new skills. My photography course has finished and I learnt quite a bit about my camera, it’s just that my phone is always handy for snapping away! The wardrobe course also sounds very useful and i look forward to reading more. Thanks for all you do for us as co-host of this and our other linkups, it’s always a joy to read your posts and listen to your interviews. xx
Hi Deb, I enjoyed the wardrobe bootcamp and now trying to work on having a wardrobe full of clothes that I actually wear! The iphone course has about 6 modules with several lessons each so I’m taking my time with that. I’m sure you will use your camera when you are in the UK but I agree, the phone is always so handy and you can take good photos with them, these days x
Despite being unwell, you sure managed to find lots of time to pursue what you wanted to do, and to share what’s been happening with you and M, along with family memories. I loved seeing the images and I am so glad you (and blogging friends) make TIME for this link up which is a cool one. Happy day ahead wishes sent your way! Denyse
Hi Denyse, I enjoy these posts as I make the TIME to revisit and reflect what I’ve done during the month. It also shows me sometimes where I’m not finding joy or doing things for the wrong reasons. x
Glad you’re on the men and I think I’ve missed reading one of your date night at home posts – must go read that. Despite a rotten start, your March has turned out to be pretty cool…x
Hi Jo, you inspire me to keep cooking and I’m really enjoying planning and preparing (and eating) the special Date Night meals. x
You had a full and busy month. I’m sure interested in reading about your experience with 5 day Wardrobe Bootcamp. The thing I’m finding so difficult right now is how to re-evaluated my own wardrobe and pare it down so that I don’t continue to have lots of clothes that are just taking up space.
Rena
http://www.finewhateverblog.com
Hello Rena, I will be writing a post about the 5 day Wardrobe Bootcamp. I did know some of the things we had to do but I certainly needed reminding. Re-evaluating our wardrobe is the most difficult part I feel – knowing what our style is now compared to say 10 years ago. xx
Hi Sue, condolences on the loss of your Dad. It must have been so hard losing him when you were just about to have your daughter. Your March seems to have started off a bit rough but it sounds like you rescued it with some beautiful meals, exercise and podcasts. Your forthcoming cruise to New Guinea sounds really interesting. Thanks for sharing g your March x
Thank you Janine, it was a terrible time as Mum had had breast cancer for 5 years by then and all Dad wanted to do was retire, look after her and spend time together. At least Rachel brought some sunshine into our lives during that dark period. I’m really looking forward to the cruise to PNG and life is certainly full at the moment that is for sure. xx
Despite starting the month off feeling sick you still managed to pack a lot into it! Well done on the PB – that’s so awesome especially considering you weren’t able to train as per your plan. Loving all your food photos and will look forward to seeing the end result in your kitchen. I am definitely going to listen to a couple of those pod casts as the topics are off great interest to me. Bernie
Hi Bernie, I’m not a good patient as I don’t get sick very often but when I do, I know my body is telling me to slow down. I was so happy with the run and really the whole month was full of things that I enjoy to do. My Podcast is something I really love and the bonus is meeting such interesting women from all over the world. x
I also am not sick often but unfortunately seem to hit the injured list far too often. You must be fairly techie to manage all the aspects of the podcasts. Heck I can not seem to find my way into Kindle to buy a book…🤪
Hi Bernie, I wouldn’t say I’m ‘techie’ but I do like a challenge and I just researched how to set up a podcast and off I went. LOL 🙂 x
I listened to the Julie weight, lifting one, and shared it with a whole bunch of friends my age. It really spoke to me, late to the game but there now. I was impressed with what you’ve accomplished in the fitness world; setting out a bit late as well! Kudos. Bernie
Thanks so much Bernie. We are never too old even if we aren’t as flexible as we once were we can certainly still achieve our goals. xx
Definitely not as flexible! We just need to make our goals manageable.
Hi Sue – despite the horrible cold at the beginning, it looks like you managed to have a pretty fabulous month. It was quite coincidental seeing Mike working on your kitchen benchtops. We’re planning on replacing ours – we’re tired of the dark colour that was very ‘contemporary’ but never really my taste. We’re also looking at new splashbacks – tossed a glass one around for awhile, but think we’ll go for big tiles instead. So much choice, but such long wait times for tradesmen!
HI Leanne, the first week was a write off but after that March turned out pretty well. I love our new benchtops and Mike is now working on the splashbacks. It is surprising how different and lighter the kitchen looks. I look forward to seeing what you decide to do with yours. x
Except being sick, March seems to have been a fabulous month for you! The fun run looks truly FUN and congrats to your PB! How nice to do some decluttering. I’ve cleaned out my wardrobe a few times recently and I’m happy with everything I’ve kept. I’ve changed body shape since I started strength training and I expect to keep changing for a while, so I won’t be buying much for a while now except maybe some sports tops.
I’m looking forward to seeing the results of your iPhone course!
HI Susanne, I am indeed blessed to have a full life and March was another fun month. At this time of life I want it all – to be challenged, to enjoy the things I like to do, to have time for reading, to just have time to relax. I’m slowly working through the iPhone course but it really is about using what you learn and putting it into practice. I hope my upcoming trip in June will provide some photo opportunities. xx
Well done on the first fun run of the year, particularly as you were recovering from illness. My husband has been suffering this month and it’s frustrating for him as he’s normally very active and wants to be out cycling. Your recipes for Date Night always look delicious. I’d love to do the same but J doesn’t rate my cooking I’m afraid. I’m going to catch up with your podcast, the topics sound interesting. Have a good weekend x
Thank you, Gail, I always enjoy getting into the running season with fun runs. As an active person, I can understand your husband’s frustration – we don’t like to sit still for too long, do we? I have had such interesting women on the Podcast and I’m very proud of how it has progressed. I hope you have a lovely week – you are into Spring now so hopefully warmer weather. xx
Sue, great summary of how you spent time in March and beautiful tribute to your dad. It’s great that Mike is a DIY kind of guy. You two seem to balance each other out beautifully. I don’t know how you manage to get things done and publish so many posts each month. As always, you make my life look like I am absolutely standing still. Take care and keep on….
Hi Suzanne, March developed into another enjoyable month apart from being sick. Mike enjoys a project and doing these DIY projects is helping him especially with his PTSD. Sometimes, I underestimate all that I do and then realise I need to take it easy to recharge – that is my personality so it might be difficult to change now at almost 66 LOL 🙂 xx
Your life since you moved is still as busy as ever. Your running is important to you so it was good to hear you felt well enough to take part in the special event. I’ve often wondered if we’ve urged ourselves to get better for a special day or if it would have happened just the same without something happening.
Thanks for the opportunity to join in with your link up – I’ve not been one to reflect publicly on a whole month before and this is giving me the impetus to do so.
Hi Cathy, yes life is always busy but enjoyable most of the time. I think we do try harder to get better if we have something we are looking forward to doing, although that always doesn’t happen. The mind is certainly stronger than the body. I hope you had a lovely Easter, we had beautiful weather here in Brisbane. x
Your dad seems like he was a very wonderful man.
You made good use of your time in March!
My Dad was wonderful to me and it was sad we lost him just before my daughter was born. March was busy and fun though. Thanks for visiting and I hope you are enjoying your April x
Hello Sue. I’m glad to hear that you are feeling better and were able to participate in the run. Great work on your wardrobe overall. I’ll be curious to hear what you think of the iPhone photography course. That sounds like something I could benefit from. Happy April to you!
Hi Christie, yes I was very happy to be well enough to run and surprise myself with a better than expected result. I’m working through the iPhone photography course and will be writing about that and the Wardrobe Bootcamp (when I have time!). Happy April to you and thanks for visiting. xx
I so need a wardrobe boot camp! Or, really, I need a personal shopper, because I’m so clueless about what will look good on me. It’s all trial and error. Mostly error.
Glad you got feeling well enough to do the fun run!
Hi Janet, I found the Wardrobe Bootcamp interesting and useful. I did know what to do previously but just needed a reminder and focus to declutter my wardrobe and really think about what I needed rather than just having a wardrobe full of clothes that I never wear. x
What an interesting month you had, despite it starting out with a cold. I love #EmbraceEquity. It’s an issue here in the U.S. although far too many like to deny it. I can’t wait to see more of your kitchen remodel. I’m working on my wardrobe too – but it is a work in progress. My iPhone is my only camera too. The course in using it sounds great. And now we’re on to April!
Hi Michelle, I love writing these posts as it gives me time to actually revisit what I’ve done during the month. We are moving forward with more kitchen renos so watch this space! xx