All posts tagged: over 50

Me Monday: The big reveal, for our one year anniversary

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So, regular folk round here know I’ve been dating ‘H’ for a while, with both of us shuttling back and forth between Melbourne and home (near Byron Bay, Australia) once a month. We chanced across each other online, then spent three months emailing or texting, plus exchanging stories and hand drawn comics; we never spoke on the phone. Finally, we met at noon outside Flinders St train station, an iconic Melbourne landmark. And the rest, as they say, ladies and gentlemen, is Herstory. If you’re really keen, you could revisit or explore these past posts: Episode 2: ‘Yes Lets’ Episode 4: Multiple choice Episode 8: Best thirty bucks I ever spent We’ve just had our one year anniversary, where we recreated our first date exactly, meeting at the train station, going for Japanese lunch, wandering the streets of downtown Melbourne, then returning to the dusty second hand bookshop where we had our first shy kiss. So cute. And we agreed it was time for the big reveal, so here we are, standing at Flinders twelve …

Fiction Friday: Part Two of short story “Roadside”

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  Hello All, time for Part Two, yay. It’s Fiction, so feel free to skip this post if that’s not yer thing! This piece won tiny accolades in several small writing competitions here in Australia, although it’s a few years old now. PART ONE is here, so please read it first. Then let me know what you think, G xO    “Roadside”- Part Two ‘Don’t touch him! And don’t touch me! I hate you!’ Blowing the lid off her temper, Lucy pushes past Eris. She shoves open the kitchen screen door, and slams out into the garden. Her exit seems trailed by black vapour that sucks energy out of her husband. ‘I can’t fucking believe you’re hassling me about this. Isn’t it hard enough already?’ she yells from the lawn. He can hear the tears catching round her words, and hurries with arthritic knees toward the door. ‘Stay away from me, Eris, I mean it. Leave me alone.’ Her command whips between strands of hair as she runs out the garden gate. ‘I’m a nightmare.’ …

My top five tips for getting 500 WordPress blog Followers

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This significant milestone just happened: 500 Followers (it’s actually zoomed up to 525 already 😃). It feels great, of course, as well as humbling, and thrilling. Thank you all! What delights me the most, by far, are the comments; I can’t believe how engaged, generous, funny, observant, and honest everyone is; thank you again. I love that we all share our experiences and stories here; it feels like a genuine community or tribe. Bless you. As I wandered round in a happy glow, with the screenshot of my official ‘500 Followers’ notification on my phone, I remembered the old days of having only 50 or so readers, back in 2015, before I decided to take this whole blogging thing more seriously in February 2016. What tips could I have given myself? What could I have read, and put into immediate practice? Here they are: Take the time to be genuine; to really ‘be yourself’. This means articulating your opinion, in both posts, and your replies to comments. Actually answer comments! I have un-followed nearly a dozen …

Remember our 3 Dwarves of relationship attachment? Meet the 4th: ‘Diffy’

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I’m not a relationship guru by any means. Aged 51 now, and still never married, nor wanting to be. The longest relationship I’ve had is approx 3 years, with a whole bunch of quick romances and much solo time in the mix. But this last year has eased change into many of those old patterns like a soft new thread, specifically after reading Levine’s ‘Attached’, and ‘The Course of Love’ by Alain de Botton. Plus meeting ‘H’ too. (If you’re new round here, you probably need to read THIS to catch up). I’ve been studying relationship dynamics, specifically Attachment Theory, as it casts so much light into dark corners I’ve been hiding from since being a young girl, which I’m also exploring in therapy and other reading material. One of my favourite posts on bone&silver is The 3 Dwarves of Attachment: Grumpy, Stressy & Happy ; well worth reading to get you up to speed on our three main attachment styles (Avoidant/Anxious/Secure), with clues as to which one is yours. I believe I’ve done an honest job …

Spectacular self care fail

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Remember that blogging expert I had a meeting with a while back? Gave me all those tips and hints HERE? She also suggested I use lots of hashtags around ‘self care’ and ‘positive ageing’, as I’m over 50, and that is apparently the current trend I need to ride. I can do that. I’m definitely a health-orientated person, becoming a vegetarian at 21, and jumping on and off that wagon over the years. As most of you know, I dance, do Pilates, walk, don’t really drink, and love a good night’s sleep more than anything. (Side note: Years ago, in a flash of inspiration, I asked my then-six year old son to describe me in a few words, as I was planning to use them for my first online dating profile on OkCupid… “Health food Drama Queen” didn’t sound as good as I hoped though). Anyway, I’ve relaxed a bit in my old age, and after the stressful challenge of learning all those lines for our show a fortnight ago HERE, but having nailed it HERE, …

Living with teenage son No.6

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Him: Mum, can my friend Elly pop over and borrow some muffin tins? She’s made the batter already, and just realised she doesn’t have any. Me: Sure [feeling smug that I’m such a domestic goddess]. But I need them back in a couple of days… ONE MONTH LATER Me: [Texting ’17’ at his Dad’s] Hey where are my muffin tins? Him: Oh yeah. Hang on… [Multiple teenage communication apps launched simultaneously] They’re at her Mum’s. But she’s at her Dad’s. Me: Well I need them back ASAP [Subtext “Before I forget for another month”] Him: Hang on… [Apps flurry & beep]… Can you get them yourself? She won’t be back till after weekend. Me: [*sigh]. Sure. What’s address? And her Mum’s name? We’ve never met. Him: [Flurry & beep] Address is ******. Me: [In Blue]   Me: Wait- so I have to let myself into her Mum’s dark house, ‘cos no one’s home? Him: Yup. Back door always open. It’s cool Mum.   30 MINUTES LATER  

Our final show rocked

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We did it! And here’s the ubiquitous backstage half-made-up ‘selfie’ [with apologies to the other awesome performer, but I’m protecting her privacy]. It took us 4 shows to get it perfect, but oh boy, did we soar with the last one; utterly worth all the stress, anxiety, rehearsal, and planning. I’d stressed about learning my lines in the last post HERE, and we did get last minute changes [waaaaaaaahhhhhh], but all coped. The sound guy turned up on time (always a good omen), and learnt the multiple technical cues fast. We had full houses (mind you, because it travelled through 4 rooms underneath a heritage building which had no aircon- I’m in Australia remember), we had to limit them to maximum of 50. It was officially ‘ an immersive & interactive colour adventure for 5-8 year olds’, and the cast of four did an amazing job; I’m so proud and grateful to be part of the team. Our Director was delighted, and industry professionals and promoters came to see the last show (hurray), so there is …

Hello Pinterest. Goodbye Pinterest.

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BLOGGING TIPS-  About a month ago, I met with a ‘blogging expert.’ I’ve really enjoyed the last 9 months of taking this blog more seriously, which to me meant posting and commenting regularly. So I thought I’d check in to make sure I wasn’t making any terribly dumb mistakes. I’ve absolutely loved getting more readers, and more importantly, such fabulous interactions and comments from my ‘tribe’. For you all feel like my tribe out there. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve deleted followers who suddenly appear, and have no perceived connection, input, profile pic, or even actual blog! I’m not interested in fake ‘numbers’ (and as an aside, my dear reader ‘T’ over at No Love for Fatties who started to check her own followers deleted over 100- we had a cyber laugh about that!) JOINING MORE SOCIAL MEDIA-  Anyway, along with 10 scrawled pages of tips and hints (which cost me $120/hr, half of which I can’t decipher now), I was told I HAD to join Twitter and Pinterest, to increase my reach. OK. Done. …