Month: August 2020

It was one year ago today that overnight, I went from maybe 300 followers to over 1000. I don’t know what happened, other than I got lucky with the algorithms.

I’d been looking for accounts to follow which embraced ageing, provided inspiration and positivity towards ageing.

There were lots of women trying to look younger – ‘how to take 10 years off etc’, but that wasn’t what I needed to see. I needed to see silver hair, wrinkles, wobbly bits, funky fashion for over 50 and most of all women feeling fabulous.

Do you feel fabulous? I do. I feel happy with the saggy baggy skin, the wrinkles, crinkles and all. I don’t care that my face is melting and my skin is scarred from stretching, incidents and accidents.

I want to scream from the rooftops how awesome ageing is. We are the blessed ones, we are the lucky ones.

I shall be the old lady with a silver messy bun, wearing Doc Martens, bright colours and still taking photos to show how cool ageing can be. That will be me!

Stay fabulous!

Eyebrows courtesy of a brand new @elfcosmetics eyebrow pencil – I love a new pencil!

Lipstick @thrivecausemetics ‘Chihiro’

Highlighter @venicsorganic

Popping white hair – using dry shampoo.

#aginggracefully #agepositive #aging #midlife #midlifecrisis #ageless #over50bloggers #50pluswomen #50plusstyle #50plus #50plusblogger #matureskin #matureskinmakeup #silverhair #grombre #pelogris #grayhairtransition #greyhair #over40women #whitehair

his morning I checked on a local photographer’s nature cam video post on Facebook. A super start to the day with 5 fledgling Kingfisher’s sitting in front of the camera on a branch across a stream. What a perfect start to the day……..until….

The next clip (which played automatically) tells me that women with grey hair have ‘let themselves go’ they are ‘scruffy’, ‘will lose their jobs because of their appearance’ and *exact wording* ‘are flawed’. Well I was certainly floored when I read this. Apparently women with grey hair look 20 years older and are very unattractive. Women should dye their hair until the day they die was the gist of the video, or risk looking dead already.

This was a mood wrecker for sure.

How can grey hair be a ‘flaw’? It’s totally natural. It’s nature’s way of telling us we’ve seen many sunrises and sunsets. That we’ve laughed, lived and loved. That we’ve cried, fought battles and many (rather too many sometimes) crisis.

Silver hair doesn’t age me, it’s given me magical powers. The first and most important one being the ‘I don’t give a f**k’ power!

You wanna know what ages us? Attitude and our sense of adventure and fun. Remain inquisitive, never stop learning. Find something to smile and laugh about every day. If you are having a bad day, remember laugh out loud moments and make plans for more, arranging dates with friends and family. Also visit the kid’s playground after dark – so much fun to be had on the zip wire and swings!

I feel completely liberated from the chore of hair colouring. I only wish I had embraced my sparkles sooner.

Is anyone thinking about setting their sparkles free?

Dye or no dye – do what makes you happy!

x

Lipstick ‘Kaisa’ @thrivecausemetics

Highlighter @venicsorganic

Black brow pencil @elfcosmetics

T shirt – my own design https://shopfiftysister.com/product/cloudy-camo-kiss/

#silverhair #grayhair #pelogris #greyhair #goinggray #silversister #silversisters #silversistersinternational #aging #ageing #midlife #middleage #over50 #over40 #lifeafter50 #lifeafter40 #midlifeblogger #over50blogger #matureskin #maturemakeup #liberated #goinggray #grombre

#silverhair #grayhair #pelogris #greyhair #goinggray #silversister #silversisters #silversistersinternational #aging #ageing #midlife #middleage #over50 #over40 #lifeafter50 #lifeafter40 #midlifeblogger #over50blogger #matureskin #maturemakeup #liberated #goinggray #grombre

Each day I scramble down a steep cliff to enjoy some quiet time away from the tourists who are visiting my little cove. It’s quite a tricky descent and I’ve already taken a tumble once, but I’m determined to have some space and tranquility, no matter what!

Yesterday Karen @theorganisinglady posted a question about books – ‘How many books do you own?’ My answer ‘none!’. Believe it or not, I donated all my books when I downsized my life. I only have a hat box filled with photos, the rest burned. I donated/sold/gave away 95% of my belongings and it felt so good. In my former large family home, I had 22 rooms filled with ‘stuff’, 2 garages, 2 storage rooms, 1 loft, 1 shed, filled with ‘stuff’.

Stuff I really didn’t need.

Karen asked me if I had heard of the art of Swedish death cleaning ‘Döstädning’ – how to free yourself and your family from a lifetime of clutter. I learned about this late last year, 2 years after I had undertaken a massive declutter project. It makes complete sense, my ambition is to leave my son with only a suitcase of clothes (or less!) to donate when I am gone. Everything else gifted, re-homed, passed on to start a life with someone else.

I feel that everything we own is a burden. We need to take care of it, store it, protect it from damage, pack it – unpack it when we move. I need none of these things.

People I carry in my heart, wonderful memories in my mind. I travel light, and I love it.

Do you find it hard to let go?

#downsizeyourlife #minimalism #declutter #burden #simplifyyourlife #midlife #lifeafter50 #emptynest #emptynestor #middleagedwoman #over50style #minimalist #deathcleaning #clutter #happywithless #lessismore #silverhair #50pluswoman #lettinggo #feelingfree #free #fitover50 #döstädning #devon #declutteryourlife #decluttering #declutteryourhome

Seb is leaving for Greece today. He has a short term contract to move a vessel from Greece to the UK. He’s had a tough time since Covid struck. Having studied at University for 4 years and worked hard to obtain his Officer of the Watch Unlimited ticket, he secured a prized role as a Navigation Officer for a cruise line. But he now finds himself out of work with no further cruises scheduled until potentially 2021. He’s taken the decision to leave the cruise industry and look for other work as he couldn’t wait indefinitely for cruises to start again. There are no permanent jobs available so he’s picking up contract work here and there.

Covid has changed our lives in ways we could never have imagined. Even going out on the bike yesterday reminded me that my life has become very insular, only leaving the bay if I need to. Before, we travelled every weekend around Devon, hiking, eating out and enjoying all that the south west of England has to offer.

I hopped on the back of Seb’s bike yesterday for a ride to Slapton Sands via Dartmouth. When Seb announced he was taking his motorbike test, I can’t say I was thrilled, and when he went on to buy a motorbike, even less so. But we can’t stop fulfilling our dreams by not doing fun stuff just because of the negative outcomes we create in our imagination. Of course owning a motorbike is risky, but so is; horse riding, surfing, diving, climbing, cycling, running and so on. Let’s be honest, you can die walking along the side of the road or crossing the street. I cannot live a life of fear, we must enjoy each day to the max and do the things which make us happy to create lifelong memories.

I had a Vespa in Portugal (swipe left) which brought me great joy. Even though I got knocked off it and was left in the middle of the road with my dress around my neck, I enjoyed every minute…well except that one maybe!

Fear is so powerful, but doing things which scare us reminds us we are alive. Is there something you would love to do or try but you are too scared?

#devon #vespa #slaptonsands #motorbiking #fear #feelingalive #over50 #lifeafter50 #midlifestyle #kawasaki #oow #navigator #midlife #over50style #bikerchick

Yesterday, it was wonderful to read about where each person would choose to settle if they had the opportunity. I’ve added a few more places to my ‘must visit’ list and will definitely post about them when I get the opportunity to go.

Yesterday just kept getting better. My first walk was very wet, but I’d been swimming so it didn’t really matter. On returning home there was a crispy paper parcel waiting for me. You cannot imagine how happy I was to see that brown paper packaging! Inside was a pair of @willsveganstore Will’s Vegan Shoes, hiking shoes to be precise.. beautiful, vegan, soft, black, hiking shoes. I was so excited that I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed out again for another 3 hour hike to put them to the test.

Normally it takes me a few weeks of blisters to break in my new hiking boots but surprisingly no such problems with these.

I wore them with some bamboo socks (which have a magical little lip on the back which stops socks slipping under your heel) black & white bamboo leggings, and my Silver Siren T shirt. I felt like the best dressed hiker…ever!

I’d been on the hunt for a new pair of hiking shoes for some time. If you’ve been following me for a while you will know I have an annoying squeak in my old pair which drives me crazy when filming. I couldn’t find any vegan options until Will offered me a pair to try. I am very grateful to him and having looked through his online store have my Christmas list (yes I just mentioned Christmas – sorry!) all sorted …….he even sells cake…YES – CAKE!!!

Buying vegan friendly food and fashion has never been so easy.

Every day is a new opportunity to make a change. Would you consider switching to vegan shoes?

?‍♀️
Hiking shoes – gifted @willsveganstore

Bamboo clothing – gifted: @bamboo_clothing

Silver Siren T Shirt – my own design from my online shop: https://shopfiftysister.com/product/silver-siren/

#vegan #hiking #southwestcoastpath #devon #veganshoes #hikingshoes #bambooclothing #ethicalclothing #over50 #maturestyle #over50style #hikingstyle #happyhiker #vegancake #fitover50 #50plusstyle #hikemore #hikersofinstagram #hikemoreworryless #agepositive #plantbased #poweredbyplants