Tell Me Over Tea

Perseverance Lane, the road my grandparents lived on just outside of Gulgong. The name of their Lane says so much about them:) Show Notes This week on Tell Me Over Tea, I’m sharing another letter from my Dear Nan series, one of the last few from the year I wrote about my nan’s story each month. It began as a way of processing my grief, but more than that, it was a way of honouring a humble woman w...

Show Notes Shelley, age 2 in 1972, and Nanna age 72, with Nanna’s precious doggie Episode Show Notes This week on Tell Me Over Tea, I sit down with Shelley to talk about her great-grandmother — fondly called Nanna — and the letters Shelley wrote to her across almost her entire childhood. Nanna was born in 1900, and from the moment Shelley arrived, the two shared a special bond. Shelley tells the s...

Show Notes ***Content note: this episode includes a letter that discusses suicide. Please take care as you listen. This week’s podcast episode is a Kitchen Table Letters one. It is based on a beautiful, heart-led prompt: If you could sit at a park bench and talk to anyone for an hour, who would it be? What would you say to them? What do they mean to you? The letters that came in response to this o...

Show Notes To celebrate 30 episodes of Tell Me Over Tea, I’m sharing another letter from my Dear Nan series — letters I’ve written to my nan since she died, as a way of processing grief and holding onto our story. This one turns the lens further back, to my nan’s parents — my great-grandparents, known in our family as Big Grandma and Big Grandpa. Piecing together old letters, family memories, and...

Show Notes MaryAnn spent most of her life believing she simply wasn’t a writer. As a child she froze at the thought of writing from the heart, and by her final year of school she was navigating an unplanned pregnancy and marriage and the HSC. Mary Ann went on to become a mother of five by the age of twenty-five. At that time writing was the last thing on her mind. It wasn’t until grief entered her...

Show Notes Pop the kettle on and pull up a chair — this is a Kitchen Table Letters episode, where I read letters sent in by listeners and members of the Betty Mae Wrote community, written in answer to a question I’ve set. This time, the question was simple: What’s something small in your daily life that brings you a quiet kind of joy? In this episode I read four beautiful letters — from Karan, Peg...

Nan at 14 Show Notes Episode 27: Dear Nan — A 1930s and 40s Childhood A letter to my Nan about life growing up in the 1930s and 40s in Australia Today’s episode is another of my Dear Nan letters — the series I began after my nan died in 2022, as a way of processing grief, honouring our relationship, and making sure that this beautiful woman was never just a blip on this earth. Because she wasn’t....

Sarah’s photo Show Notes Episode 26 Sarah Stamm from Salisbury and Maude: On Creativity, Courage and Making Things That Matter From a childhood surrounded by wool and fabric to a celebrated handmade brand in regional Victoria — this is Sarah's story. Today on Tell Me Over Tea I am sitting down with the lovely Sarah Stamm — the founder and creative director of Salisbury and Maude, a beautiful Austr...

Show Notes Episode 25: Kitchen Table Letters: Windy Harbour, Grandparents & The Cosy Places From Childhood Two letters, one thread — the places that never leave us In today’s episode, I’m sharing two letters from the Kitchen Table Letters series — my project inviting women to answer reflective questions the old-fashioned way, with pen, paper, and a stamp. This episode’s theme is place , and by bea...

Show Notes Episode 24: Tess Lehman’s Story - Never Going Back in the Box On coming out, starting over, and learning to be exactly who you are (Trigger warning: this episode contains some swearing. Just so you know what you’re in for — but I promise it’s worth it.) Today I am joined by a woman I found the way I find most good things — scrolling Instagram at some point when I should have been doing...

Show Notes Episode 23: The Kitchen Table Letters — Nadine’s Letter Today is a very special episode of Tell Me Over Tea, because today the Kitchen Table Letters begins. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know I’ve been talking about this for a little while now — an invitation for you, my listeners, to write me a letter. An actual, old fashioned, hand written, snail mail letter. And I’ll choose...

Show Notes Episode 22: Thea - A Portrait of my Mum In this solo episode of Tell Me Over Tea, I give my mum, Thea, a little bit of the limelight she so richly deserves — and would almost certainly have hidden from if she were here. Following on from Episode 21, where I shared a letter to my Nan about the grief of losing five of her six children, I felt the pull to tell you more about the first of t...

Back left - Robert, Mum Front left: Christine, Ron Show Notes Episode 22: Dear Nan Too Much Loss In this deeply personal episode of Tell Me Over Tea , I read one of the most difficult letters I’ve ever written to my Nan. This episode contains discussion of child loss, cancer, death, and grief. Please listen with care if these topics feel tender for you. This is a letter about grief, loss, and the...

Show Notes Episode 20: Don’t Throw Away Your Letters In this solo episode of Tell Me Over Tea, I share something that has been sitting on my heart ever since it found its way back into my hands — a letter I wrote to my Aunty Kathleen when I was just six years old. Two short pages in fat, six year old scrawl. And yet, the moment I read it again, the memories I hadn’t visited in decades began surfac...

Show Notes Episode 19: Baking Memories, Family Recipes & Finding Comfort in the Kitchen with Kath Vincent In this cosy and memory-filled episode of Tell Me Over Tea , I sit down with baker, recipe writer and storyteller Kath Vincent from Kulinary Adventures of Kath to chat about the deep connection between food, family and memory. Together we wander through childhood kitchens, handwritten recipe c...

That’s my mum! Show Notes Episode 18: Dear Nan – Episode 18 | Parenting in The 50s and 60s Growing a tribe of five In this episode of Tell Me Over Tea , I’m sharing a letter to my Nan — written as I reflect on her years as a young mother, raising five children in the 1950s and 60s. This episode is also held within a tender moment of goodbye. My grandpa recently passed away at 95, just days before...

photo credit: Ilona Show Notes Episode 17: Ilona’s Story Creativity, Change, Health & Finding a New Way Forward In this episode of Tell Me Over Tea , I sit down with the wonderful and ever so creative, Ilona to explore a life shaped by creativity, unexpected change, and resilience. Ilona shares her journey from an unlikely beginning in pottery—despite once having no interest in clay—to building a...

Show Notes Episode 16: Katie Masters Wild Waters, Ocean Swimming & Finding Home in the Sea In this episode of Tell Me Over Tea , I am joined by Katie Masters for a heartfelt conversation about ocean swimming, friendship, courage, and the deep pull of the sea. After responding to my Substack piece about a place that has your heart , Katie shared her own story — one rooted not in a house or a valley...

All writing occasions must include tea and cake;) Show Notes Episode 15: I Don’t Know Where to Start Writing — and Why That’s Enough Do you ever want to write your life stories, but find yourself thinking: “I don’t know where to start”? You’re not alone. In this episode, I’m exploring why that feeling is perfectly normal — and why starting, even in a messy, imperfect way, is enough. I share person...

Show Notes Episode 14: Letters from Nan – The Early Years of Married Life and the Creation of Home In this episode of Tell Me Over Tea , I share another heartfelt letter from my Dear Nan series, reflecting on the early years of her marriage and the home she and Grandpa raised their family in. From the joys of newlywed life, to the challenges of family dynamics and work, this episode is a journey t...

Show Notes Episode 13 - An Artist’s Story: Curbing Perfectionism and Embracing Creativity In this first episode for the brand new year, I sit down with Canberra artist Julia from French Rose Studios for a lovely conversation about creativity, comfort, and becoming a ‘recovering perfectionist.’ Julia shares how her love of art began early, nurtured by a wonderful high school teacher who taught her...

Show Notes Episode 12: Dear Nan — A Christmas Carol of Sorts In this Christmas-time episode of Tell Me Over Tea , I share a Dear Nan letter I wrote last December — one filled with memory, mess, food, family and love. This letter drifts back into Nan’s kitchen at Christmas: the peeling and chopping, the bossy instructions, the bone-handled butter knives, endless washing up, and the comforting chaos...

Show Notes Episode 11: The Joy of Connection – Cooking, Conversation, and Community with Mary from Happy Places and Co In this episode, we sit down with Mary, the heart behind Happy Places and Co and a cherished member of Little Life Stories , to explore how food, friendship, and meaningful conversation can bring people together. From her earliest memories in her grandmother’s kitchen to creating...

Show Notes Episode 10 – Dear Nan: When Betty Met Charlie Welcome to episode 10 of Tell Me Over Tea ! Can you believe it? Ten episodes of gentle stories, reflections, and a little rambling from me. I’m so grateful that you take a moment from your day to pour a cuppa and join me—it really means the world. In this episode, I share another Dear Nan letter: ‘When Betty Met Charlie.’ It’s the story of h...

Show Notes Episode 9 — Doing Life Differently with Mel Pike In this episode, I sit down with Mel Pike , a warm and adventurous storyteller who has learned first-hand how travel can awaken the senses and nourish the soul. After two decades in Hobart, Mel and her husband Joe — along with their much-loved Labradors, Jasmine and Rosie — now call the Sunshine Coast home. In her fabulous fifties, Mel ha...