BITS AND PIECES

from Your Time Magazine Brisbane - July 2021

RETIREMENT LIVING

WINTER has set in so it’s not the best time to be outside but there are still things to be done.

Growth on most plants has slowed – except for the weeds, so pull them out while small.

Dead head pansies and violas to enable them to keep flowering.

Prune sasanqua camellias to shape and purchase japonicas while in flower. Check euphorbias (crown of thorns) for looper caterpillars. They camouflage themselves well but can do a lot of damage in a very short time.

Check roses and citrus for scale, and use an oil-based spray late in the afternoon if detected. Trim coleus and put new cuttings in. Bare root rose season is coming to an end.

The Garden Expo is held in Nambour in July, don’t miss it!

The cooler days are great to curl up with plant catalogues. Some stunning dahlias are on offer this year along with green hippeastrums. I’ve ordered mine. Purchase seeds of both flowers and vegetables ready for spring crops.

Happy gardening! Penny Hegarty presents the garden show on Sunshine FM 104.9, Saturday 8-9am. IN A quirky twist involving two great Australian pastimes, Beefy’s bakers will go head-to-head with Glenorie Bakery in New South Wales for the Pie of Origin.

The winner has already been decided with all funds raised going to the Queensland Children’s Hospital Foundation when the two bakers go for gold in baking and fundraising.

It’s Beefy’s sixth year in the Pie of Origin. The family-owned Queensland bakery has already raised almost $100,000 for the foundation, thanks to customer support.

The Pie of Origin fundraiser coincides with the State of Origin series, with $1 from every Beefy’s Big Queenslander pie sold going towards the win. The pie is baked especially for the Origin and is available only during the series.

EVERY week groups of volunteers turn up at 15 aged care facilities in Brisbane and Redlands to give old mates a hand.

The Circle of Men is a companionship program with no religious or political affiliation, that sees men of all ages coming together in a circle to share songs and stories, joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, similarities and differences.

Dedicated male volunteers provide company for older men who all too often find themselves alone, isolated and unloved at a vulnerable stage of life.

“Circle of Men is a circle of trust,” says coordinator Kevin James. “It’s life sustaining for all concerned.”

He says volunteers get a deeper sense of purpose and direction in their own lives.

Kevin is happy to have a chat and arrange attendance at a weekly gathering.

“After that you can decide for yourself if you are the one for the job,” he says. If you’d like to volunteer, call Kevin 0490 105 715, email info@ circleofmenqld.com or visit circleofmenqld.com or follow on Facebook.

WALK AWAY FROM DEMENTIA

IT’S been named the world’s best diet for weight loss, but now researchers at the University of South Australia are confident that a Mediterranean diet – combined with a daily bout of exercise – can also help stave off dementia.

In the world-first study, researchers at the University of South Australia and Swinburne University, will explore the health benefits of older people adhering to a Mediterranean diet, while also undertaking a daily walking program.

Called the MedWalk Trial, the research will be over two years and involve 364 Australians aged 60-90 years, who live independently in a residential village and who don’t have any cognitive impairment.

It’s timely, given that around a quarter of all Australians will be aged 65+ by 2050. See Brain Matters Page 15

The expression “swan song” is based only in folklore. The belief that a swan would sing beautifully before dying has been perpetrated by poets and philosophers. Ancient Greeks thought swans were creatures of Apollo, the god of music. Plato refers to the swan song, as does Shakespeare, Lord Byron and Tennyson. The only swan to have a vaguely musical song is the whistling swan of Iceland. The rest are capable of only a violent hissing when provoked.