I attended a Govt seminar on Wednesday and it was to do with ageing and nutrition. I became aware that many more seniors these days rely on home grown food to supplement their budgets. It's also a great hobby activity as we age. 

It is so important to so many, that we plan to write a new course on such for the Greypath Lyceum . 

As I can not be sure of finding a course writer for such, I will write it myself by default if needs be. 

I would greatly value anyone's input on such matters as, best varieties, crop rotation, picking, most beneficial plants food wise, watering, mulching, seasonality , useful images and more.  

If you have a contribution to make, please make comment here and also mail me direct. Thanks Ray  

This is a website for a simple word game.

Your participation will help feed the world.

www.freerice.com

We welcome Andy Youngman who has taken over from Mike Hambidge as our Guest blogger. (Home page under the SIG's tab) . While Andy has some months to go yet of course, we would like to have a queue of interesting people lined up to do a blog stint in the future.

 I have in mind people who live a different life to the rest of us.

 For example a Canadian Indian Princess, (No kidding - Lakashima did our creative writers course a couple of years ago), an Aussie Nun in a Senegal school ( I know one and we are working on it), a NT Policeman, someone who travels the trains every day and makes acerbic observations, a Union Rep in the Pilbara, or whoever

All odd examples, but I expect you know what I am trying to say.

If you know of anyone, do mail me and I'll contact them. 

 Ray

We took our 5-year-old grand-daughter to the local zoo a couple of days ago, and it rained.  
Any zoo is a wonderful mine of information, source of knowledge and entertainer of children.
During two hours of scattered 5-minute downpours we saw birds a-plenty, mongooses (mongeese?), lots of apes, a black bear, tiger and a couple of sea lions. It was good that we saw kangaroos, wallabies, emus and a wombat - all of which prove that even the animals are a bit different in Oz.
It's good that the zoo people in Adelaide have been able to provide roomy "real life-like" settings for most of their bigger exhibits, and the general setting there is vastly better than when I visited as child.
But the bear, while we were there, trod a constant, well-worn path into his den and back to one point a few metres out. Not much fun for him.
The tiger, in a spacious setting of realistic "jungle", paced steadfastly up and back along the back fence.
Then there were the two sea lions, swimming interminable circuits of a circular pool that looked about half a metre deep and about 10 metres across - This for animals built to range widely, designed for speed and agility.
Now, I might have the wrong idea. It could be that these big animals were not stressed, or bored, or at all unhappy. It could have been near feeding time, with them demonstrating the stress we all tend to show when we "just can't wait" for a good feed.
I know that good zoos (and ours is one) are considered vital for the preservation of many species, as well as good at entertaining and educating we humans. I know that great efforts are made to keep the animals fit and happy.
But I can't help wondering how we'd feel if kidnapped by an interplanetary visitor and exhibited in his zoo.

The day had finally arrived-my long awaited trip to beautiful Batemans Bay!

The taxidriver made sure he took the longest route possible (avoiding the faster freeway with its tolls), and inspite of three reminders, took me to Southern Cross instead of Flinders St. Station.

Never mind, I told myself, remain positive, enjoy yourself!

Onto the bus;  47 mostly white-haired female passengers jostled for the front seats.

Some of the questions:  ''Why do you have a seat by yourself?  ''I don't know.''  Where do you come from?  How many years have you lived in Australia?  Why do you still have an accent?''

Many hours later arrival in Bateman's Bay, only to discover--sadly--some very elderly passengers had to climb ladder-like, see-thru, narrow steps to their rooms.

I did not dare mention my two-bedroom, lounge room. kitchen, microwave lodgings!  Why me-I don't know, did not expect luxury.

The lovely weather was matched by the green, beautiful scenery;  the Mogo Zoo, Fitzroy Falls, a cruise on the Catbalou near Eden, just being a few of the many highlights!

As it turned out, several passengers were chosen to be discussed at length or avoided altogether:  A 94 year old lady on her own, an aged digger with his outgoing, handicapped,Chinese wife, her third generation (in Australia) cousins, the Greek passengers.

Never imagined in my wildest dreams that aged people could be so discriminating!  Old-fashioned racism, or ageism?

When I was 6 years old the Queen visited my home town and my grandmother took me to see her on the drive from the railway station down London Road. All the children in the crowd lining the road had small Union Jacks unfortunately because we arrived late I did not get a flag.
As the Queen drove by she spotted me in the crowd (I had wormed my way to the front). When she saw me the Queen stopped waving, pointed to me, turned to Prince Phillip and said "Look at that horrid little boy waving he doesn’t even have a flag!”
And that’s how I met the Queen.
(This is an almost true story)

Australian bosses, so it seems, will soon have the right (and responsibility) to check their workers’ emails. The new scheme is all part of improving national security, according to our Government.
I can’t help thinking that, in the realm of stupid propositions, this has to be right up near the top.
Firstly, assuming that the checks will be on emails sent to and from the workplace, how’s the “boss” going to find time for his own work if he has to spy on his workers? I can’t see how he could be permitted to appoint a staff member to spy on his or her mates.
I suppose, though, that someone will soon invent software that searches incoming and outgoing mail for mention of sedition, or a range of other crimes such as industrial spying, or pornography, or even illicit romances.
But, surely, our civilisation has reached a pitiful level if government feels the need to instruct employers to spy on their workforce!
Anyway, why don’t they install whopping great computers and spies to vet all of the nation’s emails and phone calls, as is said to be done in the U.S?
What a pity it is that we can’t all grow up!