I live in the city of Hamilton in the Wonderful Waikato region of New Zealand. It’s not a city I ever thought I’d live in, yet here I am – living life – hopefully! – to the fullest.

ABOUT MY ATTITUDE REGARDING: Gratitude & Resilience

From personal experience, I’ve realised that spending time each day looking for the good in life, ensures my head stays screwed on straight and tops up my Resilience Tank – one drop of positivity at a time. Unfortunately, we never know when life’s going to throw us a curve ball. It’s in those times that we sometimes have to start dipping into our paid-forward reserves of resilience to keep us going, when we have to dig deep.

ABOUT MY ATTITUDE REGARDING: Faith

Having Faith is also important to me. I wouldn’t say my journey was as profound as Saul’s along the road to Damascus, but nevertheless, still impactful and life-changing.

I grew up “spiritual” although not “religious”. Because of a certain Faithful man – and my reason for living in Hamilton – I realised if I wanted to keep the relationship, my one-fingered attitude around God needed to change. For purely intellectual reasons (so I told myself) I embarked on a journey of discovery. And here I am: Believing!

Along the early stages of my journey of discovery, the spiritual coat I used to wear started to no longer fit properly. I wore it for as long as possible until it just didn’t feel comfortable any more. Then I cast it aside – no longer required.

My Faith is strong but I won’t knock on your door.

SOME OF THE WAYS I ADD ‘EXTRA’ TO MAKE MY ORDINARY LIFE A LITTLE BIT EXTRAORDINARY…

I WALK…

Every day – yes! even in the rain and fog and even when I don’t feel like it.

Back in 2021 in that thing called “lockdown”, one beautiful Sunday morning I got up and went for a walk. I did the same on Monday morning. Then Tuesday and Wednesday.

One week led to two. Two weeks led to a month. One month led to two… then a quarter… winter turned into spring, which turned into summer.

One year turned into two… into three… into four and more…

Two very special friends celebrated 1,000 consecutive days with me – one bought me a special beanie (I’m into hats), the other travelled up from Taupo to spend the day with me – we walked around one of Hamilton’s arboretums – it was autumn – the colours were spectacular.

I CYCLE…

Back in the day I used to “event” – those endurance rides alongside thousands of others. Events like the 160km Great Lake Cycle Challenge, 150km Mt Taranaki, Duathlons and Tris.

And then I lost my roadie nerve. Too many close calls with milk tankers and motorists who had no cognisance cyclists were using the roads just like they were.

It took a few years (ahem, turns out it was a decade!?) to get back in the saddle again.

But not on the road – at least not in the way I used to ride.

Along with Alan, I’d like to cycle as many of New Zealand’s rail trails as possible – using our (soon to be purchased) motorhome as our base.

I SEW…

I’m creative – somewhat! One of my Happy Places is playing with beautiful fabric, cutting it up and then sewing it all back together again in a different order.

I’ve tried my hand at playing with beautiful beads and paper. I enjoy these textiles but it seems (hahaha, seams!) I always return to fabric.

HATS and SCARVES

Some women are into shoes, I’m a Hat and / or Scarf woman.

I know that sometimes my sisters would rather not be seen with me when I’m wearing a beanie … or a hat … but… I’m into keeping my head warm and decorating it at the same time – win-win!

So there’ll likely be lots of selfie-type photos where my head is covered.