Inspirational women

Which women have inspired you - and particularly which women over 60?  In my case there are two, who sadly are no longer with me, but I still have many great memories of them both.

The first was my mother, Joy.  She certainly lived up to her name, and even when she was in her eighties she managed to enjoy life to the full. We took her to New England for her 80th birthday treat, as I knew it had long been a dream of hers to go there.  My family emigrated to Canada when I was a child, and my mother had caught her first glimpse of New England from the ship.  She had always wanted to go there and achieved her wish over fifty years later!

Mum enjoying herself on the Cape Cod ferry

Mum had a good sense of humour and was the life and soul of any party that she went to.  As a child, I cannot remember ever hearing her complain, though as an adult I found out that she hadn't always had an easy life. She enjoyed sport and was very proud of being the oldest member of her badminton club, and the fact that she was still playing in her eighties.  I remember foolishly suggesting that she should get herself a shopping trolley. "Don't be ridiculous! They're for old people!" retorted my mother, who was over eighty at the time.  My children used to say that they had two very different grandmothers: one normal one and Gran.

My friend Beryl wasn't a lot younger than my mother and she was another feisty woman.  We met when I first started running in Hyde Park: we discovered that we had a similar sense of humour and soon became great friends.  Beryl was the first to admit that she wasn't the fastest of runners, but she was determined to run the London Marathon to raise money for charity.  I didn't doubt that Beryl would succeed (I had done a lot of long runs with her and was amazed by her stamina) and when I saw her at the finish she looked as fresh as a daisy.  Not only that, but when I went round to her house later on with her other friends for a celebration party, Beryl was dashing around looking after everybody as if she had only run 10k.  Did I mention that Beryl was in her sixties when she achieved this?

Beryl sharing a joke with me and my daughter

Two amazing, inspiring women: do you know of any inspirational women? Please leave your comments below.

Touch wood

I'm not really superstitious, probably because nothing bad has happened to me (fingers crossed!) on Friday 13th or when walking under ladders.  I use my common sense: if there is a man up the ladder with a pot of paint that might drip onto me, or handling tools that could be painful if they fell on my head, well it makes sense not to walk underneath.  However there is one superstition handed down by my mother that I still observe - bad things come in threes and the only way to break the chain is to break a match.  Today I broke a match.

It all started yesterday.  I don't know whether it was a result of me being absent-minded, a rare "senior moment", or just because it was a hot day and I wasn't able to concentrate.  I was cooking on our touch control hob, stirring some onions and red peppers in a large pan on the front ring, with a small pan behind that was going to contain green beans.  I pressed the + button to increase the temperature of the back ring, and continued stirring.  When I realised the water for the green beans wasn't boiling, I glanced down at the controls and realised the back ring was still on zero.  Had I increased the temperature of the front ring by mistake? Maybe.  Then I saw the glow of the large ring on the left and realised too late that the edge of our electric kettle was sitting on it and the kettle was slowly melting.

Ironically, the recipe I was using was a new one from one of my collection of cookery books: Dinner in a Dash.  The recipes are designed to help you prepare several dishes at once, and the first instruction for this particular dish was "Boil the kettle".  Somehow I don't think the writer meant to boil it on the hob!

Today my husband John was pouring water into his cafetière and somehow (he doesn't know how) he managed to catch a wine glass and knock it onto the kitchen floor.  It broke into what looked like a trillion small pieces of glass.

Two days.  Two accidents.  Only one thing to do, according to my Mum, and I broke a match. So far, so good.

I do consider myself to be pretty lucky: I have three children who I am very proud of; an understanding and supportive husband; John and I live an interesting and enjoyable life in Spain and have many good friends here.  I am also lucky enough to enjoy good health.  Touch wood!

Who am I kidding?

John and I enjoying a musical evening in our
favourite wine shop: Los Chilines

I am a woman "of a certain age", which clearly means that I must be over 21.  A lot over 21 if I have to be honest with you.  I have started reading other blogs written by women over 40 (Fabulous after 40, Fab over 40) and even women over 50 (Fab over Fifty, Une femme d'un certain âge) so I thought that it was time to strike a blow for the over 60s.  


A lot of these blogs are about style, which is a subject that interests me though sadly it is also a subject that I know very little about. When I post any photos, you will see that I'm being very truthful here! This isn't helped by my being petite.  Being honest again, the petiteness is more to do with my height - or lack of it - than my width.  I have big bones, as does our Spanish dog Lisa, who is often accused of being "gorda" (fat) by our Spanish neighbours.  So far none of them has dared call me gorda, though I'm not holding my breath!


I digress: style.  There are numerous blogs on style and even more books on style, some of which are aimed at mature ladies like me.  Some style guides advise you to wear neutrals and in particular suggest buying a black jacket, a little black dress and black trousers: this is to form the basis of your capsule wardrobe.  Fine. Others state categorically that over a certain age you should never wear black as it is so ageing. Who are we to believe? 


So I'm not a style expert, but I know what I like.  I reckon that by the time you're 60 if you really want to wear black you should damn well wear it, even if it ages you. If you want to have bright red hair then go for it, although obviously there are far more flattering colours for over 60s.  Why should the under 40s have all the fun?  I don't advocate always dressing as if you are under 40 (especially whenever ra-ra skirts come back into fashion) but I really don't see what harm it does to wear clothes that you love rather than clothes that are considered suitable for your advanced years.  From time to time I intend posting a few photos to get your views on my choices, and would like to encourage you to send in your own contributions.

With my lovely friend Beryl, on my 60th birthday

I recommend reading the blogs mentioned above if you are interested in fashion and style, after all if you are over 60 you must by definition also be over 50 and definitely over 40.  Where they are very useful is in showing you how to adapt the latest trends so that you can look fashionable without the dreaded words "mutton" and "lamb" springing to mind.  I am fortunate to have a daughter who has a good eye for fashion and who makes me try on clothes that I would never consider wearing, which invariably look good on me.  Unfortunately said daughter lives in London and I live in Spain, so sometimes I am left to my own devices!


Observant readers may have noticed a few references to Spanish dogs and Spanish neighbours and realised why this blog is called "Over 60 and over here".  I retired to Spain with my Scottish husband John in 2008 and we adopted Lisa (though she thinks she adopted us) over two years ago.  This blog is clearly aimed at readers who, like me, are over 60. I will be posting about fashion, life, health and other topics that interest me and hopefully you. I also hope that you will enjoy my occasional posts about our life in Spain and consider visiting this fascinating country, even if you don't want to go as far as us and retire here.  


I nearly called this blog "Past 60 but not past it" as my aim is to show how over 60s can be vibrant, healthy and make the most of their lives.  I would love any comments on my new blog and welcome suggestions for future topics.  I may not be an expert, but with the help of Google I can research and write about almost any subject you or I choose!  If you are a blogger and would like to send me a guest post that fits the aims of this blog, please do so.


¡Hasta la proxima!