5 mn read Have you tackled ‘de-cluttering’ your life yet? It seems to be something many of us face up to in later life. Those precious mementoes from holidays with the dear departed that we’ve treasured for years in the hope of leaving as a legacy to a grateful offspring … suddenly don’t seem as desirable to the […]
5 mn read Siobhan Daniels was shortlisted in the Advantages of Age Awards 2023 in the Non-Fiction with Pro-Ageing Message category for her book Retirement Rebel. Here she lets know about her big adventure. Following a 30-year career as a reporter, producer and presenter for the BBC, I retired, bought a motorhome and embarked on a solo trip […]
8 mn read Mala Brinsden I have always loved travelling. It runs in the family, I watched my older brother go on his adventures in the 60s to the US with his long hippy hair. He was even refused entry in some states and ended up having to buy a short wig. Then it was my older sister’s […]
7 mn read Mountain life The northern French Alps in September is one of my favourite places anywhere. Ten years ago, we were able to buy a little old chalet in a village on the route de La Plagne and I didn’t imagine just how much I would come to adore autumn here in themountains. The sun is still […]
8 mn read Michael Ward is 70. He lives in a cottage in Dorset. This is his story. I was born in Ireland in 1952. We were a nice middle-class family: two parents, two children, living in a pleasant cul de sac named Ardmore Drive, on the outskirts of Belfast. On the surface, everything seemed fine. As the […]
4 mn read Not long ago, I was discussing my 70th birthday celebrations with a male friend and I declared that I was old as part of the conversation. I didn’t mean it in that British understating-slightly-funny-because-I’m-embarrassed way, I meant it in a quietly proud way. He didn’t get it. He thought I was being self-effacing. No, you’re […]
9 mn read A few years ago, I started writing books. I write under the name, Annie Cook. I’ve written six (soon to be seven) in a series of connected novels centred around a ‘magic’ holiday cottage in the Lake District. Discombobulated people are unwittingly drawn there to heal from life traumas. The books centre loosely around vibrational […]
8 mn read Fiona: ‘Let’s cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats,’ I said to my partner, shortly before retiring from full-time work at age 65, ‘we need a retirement project’. ‘No way! Not a chance! You must be mad!’ came the swift reply from Owen (66). A few weeks later, we were loading our bikes on to […]
24 mn read On Sundays, when I was growing up, we ate dessert with either cream or custard served out of a jug bearing the legend No road is long with good company. I used to wonder what that phrase meant, not appreciating the truth of these words until I was well into adulthood and, even then, often […]
6 mn read For the last eight years, I’ve been doing a-just-before-bed poo-walk with Leonard, my dog. I’m in my PJs smelling of toothpaste. There is the short circuit, medium and the long. I cross my fingers for the short. It goes how it goes. I make a practice out of saying good evening to everyone I encounter. […]
