[Michelle Engbino]

General Discussion Thread 19.09.2025 PM - How are you, friends?​

Hello again, friends! It’s been a little while since we’ve had one of these Friday arvo chats, and I’ve honestly missed it and I've missed you. Life gets busy, but it’s nice to pause and return to this little corner of the world where we can just… be for a moment.

For me, life's been a whirlwind since I've recently moved in to a new place, and it's so daunting how everything's unfamiliar and I'm having to learn places, go-to spots, and routines all over again. Most of all, I've had to buy SO MUCH new furniture and it's been tiring spending my weekends decorating my home and assembling them. But of course, I'm grateful for having the strength, energy, and capability to do all these things.

A glimpse of one of my many IKEA trips recently... Image source: Michelle / Seniors Discount Club.

Though I love where I love where I am, and I'm grateful for the blessing of being comfortable in my new home, sometimes I can't help but miss my old place. The familiar streets, the easy access to several of my favorite meals and cuppas... I've been grounding myself with the new changes by escaping through reading (which is also an excuse to get new books! )

My new books! Image source: Michelle / Seniors Discount Club.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how comforting it is to come back to something familiar—whether it’s your favourite cup, an old song, or just a quiet routine that makes you feel grounded.

So today, I’m wondering: What’s something simple that always makes you feel at home, no matter where you are or how long it’s been? Could be a scent, a meal, a sound? Share it in the comments! I’d love to know.

 

[Jo Piper3]

Doing the washing

 

[Littleboy8]

Always having a cat in the house and to come home to

 

[SirExton]

When I go back to the Bay Horse pub in the village of Euxton Lancashire England where I originate from. I have a pint with friends, who still sit or stand at the same position at the bar, that they did 50 years ago when I left age 20 in 1975 for New Zealand.

 

[SirExton]

Always having a cat in the house and to come home to

I come home to a quiet home, as the Bitch, my ex is no longer there! Ha! Ha!

 

[EllenM]

They’re hard choices to make and the answers would be dependent on my mood at the time.

But let’s look at the five senses from that perspective.

Sight: the ‘watchmaker’ shingle outside my dad’s workshop will always mean home to me.

Hearing: my favourite music - the world’s largest juke box couldn’t store all those musical memories.

Smell: ripe mangoes, my mother’s baking fresh from the oven and rain when it first soaks into the ground with that lovely earthy scent, new books and puppies.

Taste: two repeats here - mum’s baking and the first mangoes of the season; the first cup of tea in the morning and fresh mud crab.

Touch: the softness of a baby’s skin and champagne bubbles that tickle your nostrils.

 

[Vet543]

They’re hard choices to make and the answers would be dependent on my mood at the time.

But let’s look at the five senses from that perspective.

Sight: the ‘watchmaker’ shingle outside my dad’s workshop will always mean home to me.

Hearing: my favourite music - the world’s largest juke box couldn’t store all those musical memories.

Smell: ripe mangoes, my mother’s baking fresh from the oven and rain when it first soaks into the ground with that lovely earthy scent, new books and puppies.

Taste: two repeats here - mum’s baking and the first mangoes of the season; the first cup of tea in the morning and fresh mud crab.

Touch: the softness of a baby’s skin and champagne bubbles that tickle your nostrils.

Seems like a Queenslander to me here.. LOL

 

[Littleboy8]

I come home to a quiet home, as the Bitch, my ex is no longer there! Ha! Ha!

Yeah I could say the same about my bastard ex too.

 

[Vet543]

I am starting to worry about you
Littleboy8.

 

[Littleboy8]

I am starting to worry about you
Littleboy8.

Huh