Innehållsförteckning för Issue 45, 2025 från that's life!

When I stopped studying, 20-odd years ago, I was over the moon to put down the textbooks and never have to write an essay again. Before my journalism course, I’d gone to uni and studied English, believing I was passionate about literature... Turns out, after years of poring over every possible meaning of every line in some hefty old tomes, I wasn’t so into it any more. So it’s safe to say I won’t be heading back to college as a mature student any time soon. Unlike wonderful Maryette McFarland who graduated with an English Literature degree aged 90, after taking a 70-year break from study to raise her family (Trending, page 15). We’ve all got unfulfilled ambitions Reading about how she’d followed her heart after all that time got…

I love you, Tammy. See you back at home,’ my little sister Jessica, then 16, said as she waved goodbye. ‘I love you too!’ I replied. It was August 28, 1999 and, aged 17, I was dropping off Jess, who was in Year 10, at school in Nambour, Qld, before making my way to Brisbane to meet my stepdad, Brett. Jess was going to join us the following day for a christening, with our mum Pauline, then 52, and big sister Kelly, 26. As we parted ways, I caught a glimpse of Jess’ bright red curly hair swaying in the wind, a smile etched across her sweetly freckled face. A year younger than me, Jess was my best friend and constant companion. We shared a room and spent every night…

Sun on my shoulders, walking stick in hand, I made my way down the rocky track to my favourite swimming hole. It was June 2025 and, after a busy day on the tools as a carpenter, I was looking forward to a dip in the water. Remote, with no phone reception, it was my favourite place to unwind. There wasn’t a soul around and, as I continued my descent, I could spy the shimmering water through the tree branches. Suddenly, the large grey boulder I was standing on shifted under my feet. Oh my God, it’s rolling, I panicked, as the 1.2 by 1.2 metre rock – bigger and much heavier than a washing machine – slid forward. Not wanting to get swept down the embankment with the rock, I…

Tip your tea leaves around your roses to give them a nitrogen boost. It’ll help to deter pests and encourages more blooms. SEND US YOUR CLEVER IDEAS If you open a bottle of bubbly wine but don’t finish it, cover the top with foil to help keep in the fizz for later. Once you’ve read a book, put it in a street library for someone else to enjoy. You might find a great new read for yourself too. After enjoying a feast of prawns wrap the shells and keep them in the freezer until rubbish collection day to avoid the pong! When the dishwasher cycle has finished, open the door slightly and put a tea towel across it to absorb moisture and steam for drier dishes. If you need to…

The BEST real-life stories At 73, Abu Zakkour has been wearing the colour of sunshine for over four decades. His drastic lifestyle change from regular drab to canary and lemon fabrics began in 1983, when he wanted to bring a sense of sunshine to the darker times of war in his home country of Syria. But even after the conflict has eased, Abu hasn’t stopped flaunting his bright yellow ensembles. From ties and suits to shoes and even undies – everything is from the same sunny palette! Known locally as the ‘Yellow Man’, the reception towards Abu’s quirky wardrobe has mostly been positive, with people often asking him for a photo. For Abu, the attention has helped to fill a void inside him following the death of his beloved wife.…

AUSSIE REAL LIFE Packing the last of my clothes into my suitcase, I closed the lid. Hopefully I haven’t forgotten anything, I thought. I couldn’t wait to go on holiday the following week. But first I needed to undergo a colonoscopy after noticing a sharp, niggling pain in my left abdomen. Initially I put it down to a dairy intolerance, but the pain became progressively worse. So visiting my GP, I was sent for a CT scan which showed I had a thickening on the wall of my bowel. A week later, as I was wheeled in for the procedure, I couldn’t wait to then go on my trip. When I woke, the surgeon was sitting on the bed beside me. ‘You’re not going anywhere,’ he said. ‘You have bowel…

BUTTERFLIED CHICKEN WITH FRESH PEACH AND JALAPEÑO CHUTNEY SERVES 6 PREP & COOK 1 HOUR 15 MINS 2 x 1.1kg sweet and smoky barbecue-flavoured butterflied chickens 2 tbsp olive oil 1 bunch rocket, trimmed, washed FRESH PEACH AND JALAPEÑO CHUTNEY 3 fresh ripe peaches (650g in total), cut into 1cm slices 250g jar mango chutney 1 tbsp smoky barbecue sauce 2 tbsp finely chopped pickled jalapeños ¼ cup finely chopped fresh coriander, leaves and stem 1 Place chickens, breast-side up, on an oiled large oven tray. Fold under the wings and drizzle chicken with oil. 2 Cook in a 180°C preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until cooked through. Chicken is cooked when a sharp knife is inserted into the thickest part and juices run clear. Remove from oven.…

LAYERED CHOC-CARAMEL CHOKITO CAKE SERVES 12-14 PREP & COOK 1 HOUR 35 MINS ⅓ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder 375g butter, softened 2 cups firmly packed brown sugar ¼ cup golden syrup 6 eggs 3 cups self-raising flour 1¼ cups buttermilk ⅓ cup caramel syrup, plus extra to serve 3 x 55g Chokito chocolate bars, diagonally sliced GANACHE 300ml carton pure cream 2 x 180g blocks dark cooking chocolate, broken into pieces 1 Grease three x 20cm round cake pans. Line bases and sides with baking paper. 2 Stir ⅓ cup hot water into cocoa powder in a small bowl until smooth. Let cool for 10 mins. 3 Meanwhile, beat butter, sugar and golden syrup in large bowl of an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one…

Taking a bite of pizza, Angela Valle, then 21, smiled. She’d missed her best friend, Savannah Rivera. The pair had been inseparable since childhood, but over time, they’d drifted apart. Four years earlier, aged 17, Angela and her then-boyfriend had become parents of a daughter they named Aliana. But their relationship broke down, and they split. Without her support network, Angela moved back in with her mum, Jessica Cruz. It was there she met Jerry Brown, then 34, who lived in the same apartment block. Bonding over a shared love of scary movies, Angela and Jerry’s relationship blossomed. For a while, Angela felt happy. But before long, Jerry’s true colours started to shine through. He became angry and controlling, and would question Angela’s every move, where she went and who…

Many people have wardrobes full of black and white or beige clothing, but Gary Card has lost count of how many purple ensembles he owns! It all began when Gary was growing up and loved his grandmother’s purple bedroom carpet. He started adding purple items to his wardrobe, including a secret purple lining to his school blazer, and wearing purple socks – even though he was sometimes bullied for his colour choice. Soon Gary’s wardrobe was filled with an array of colourful garments, in shades of grape, plum and amethyst. His passion for purple also extended to his decor, including a purple lounge and bedding. Now an esteemed artist, Gary loves adding a hue of his favourite colour to his artworks. ‘It’s an interesting colour. It’s hot and it’s cold…

Watching in awe as two pink lines appeared before my eyes, I couldn’t believe it. I was pregnant! Just months earlier, in February 2022, I’d suffered a miscarriage at five weeks. My then partner and I were devastated. Desperate to be parents, we kept trying. It was just the day before that I’d received a call from my dad, David, then 58, with news from home. ‘Grandma Marie passed away this morning,’ he told me gently. She was 90 years old. I was sad I’d never see Gran, Dad’s mum, again, but something about her passing felt miraculous, as if she’d sent us a bub from heaven to love in her place. Hearing our baby’s heartbeat during our first scan a few weeks later was incredible. At 20 weeks, we…

OH BABY! Mum Shelby Martin has given birth to a baby so big he’s practically ready for kindergarten. Newborn Cassian tipped the scales at a whopping 5.84 kilos – or 12lb 14oz! Stealing the hearts of his parents, Shelby and her partner Joshua Thomas, he also claimed the title of the biggest baby born at TriStar Centennial Women’s Hospital, Tennessee, in more than three years. His mum’s TikTok video, showing her enormous baby bump and joking ‘When people talk about having a big baby… trust me, I know,’ went viral with over 42 million views. Born via C-section, Cassian needed a quick stop in the NICU after birth with IV fluids, oxygen, and glucose checks, as oversized bubs often face greater medical risks. Now home, Cassian, who has two siblings,…

CARAMEL PEACH RASPBERRY TART SERVES 6 PREP 35 MINS 250g packet Butternut Snap Cookie biscuits 85g butter, melted 300ml tub thickened cream ¾ cup sour cream ⅓ cup icing sugar mixture 1 cup caramel spread 3 medium yellow peaches (450g), cut into thin wedges 125g punnet raspberries 1 Lightly grease a 25cm loose-base flan tin (2.5cm deep). Place on a tray. 2 Process cookies in a food processor until finely crushed. Add butter. Process until combined. Press mixture over base and three quarters of the way up side of tin. Refrigerate for 30 mins. 3 Beat cream, sour cream and sugar in a small bowl of an electric mixer until firm peaks form. 4 Spread ¾ cup of the caramel over the base of biscuit crust. Arrange half the peaches…

Checking my emails, I saw one from the wife of an old colleague of mine, Marcel. I bought your books for my husband’s birthday. He loved them, Gloria Hakkens had written. I’d worked with Marcel, decades earlier when we were directors of a retirement village. I’d gone on to work in broadcasting, but since semi-retiring at 70, I’d become a passionate author, telling true wartime stories – tales of heartbreak, courage, and survival. What Gloria said next was fascinating. Marcel’s parents, Frits and Jo, had an interesting WWII story – they hid a Jewish child for two years in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, she wrote. Desperate to learn more, I went to visit Gloria and Marcel two months later, in December 2023. Gloria had been keeping notes about the bravery of her…

BE AWARE Two-factor authentication is designed to keep your online information safe, but scammers look for ways to get around it. Many two-factor authentication programs send a code you have to input to access your account. Scammers make calls claiming to be from your bank, saying there’s been fraudulent activity on your account. With a great sense of urgency, they ask you to share the code sent to your phone or email. But what they’re really doing is using the code to access your money. If anyone calls asking for a code or personal info hang up, and phone the business they claimed to be from to check with them. Observing my son, Xander, 19, become an adult has been an absolute honour, but it’s also been quite humorous. This…

EDITORIAL Editorial Director Kate Kirsten, Editor Sarah Firth, Deputy Editor Beth Young, Art Director Darren Monaghan, Picture Editor Holly Campbell ARE MEDIA Chief Executive Officer Jane Huxley, Director of Sales Anna Quinn, Director of Content Sally Eagle, General Manager Entertainment Susan Armstrong, Commercial Brand Manager Jessica Ashworth, Director of Marketing Carly Bowra Subscription enquiries: Customer Service 136 116 (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST) International +61 2 9692 3535 Email magshop@magshop.com.au Website www.magshop.com.au Advertising enquiries: advertising@aremedia.com.au Published by Are Media Pty Limited (ABN 18 053 273 546), 54-58 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. ©2025. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without prior written permission. that’s life! is a registered trade mark of Are Media. Use of trademark strictly prohibited. Licensing Inquiries: www.contentshop.com.au / syndication@aremedia.com.au…