Outdoors are IN!

 

With the lovely weather still lingering and the long days turning into balmy nights, even though the air con has been having a good workout, we have still been enjoying the good life. Whilst many things are changing at home and in the world, we are determined to keep up the good energy by doing what we do best – creating better living environments for all. Boy! Have we been a busy bunch? Read our news section for the hot goss.

This month a book caught our eye by Doreen Wendt-Weir -’Gardening in your Nineties’, (the sequel to ‘Sex in your Seventies.’)   It’s a fascinating memoir about learning to garden for the first time after her partner leaves. Weaved into it are recipes, musings, heartbreak and love. 
Doreen wrote this whilst she was in isolation and her advice to those dealing with loneliness; “I just say keep busy for goodness sake, get up and get moving. Don’t just sit there all day because that will not cure your loneliness. Join as many (groups) as you can, so you get outings and company.

“If you can’t do that, and of course, a lot of us cannot, because we don’t drive anymore, I say be hospitable. I always say let’s have lunch on my verandah ... I think the loneliness will mitigate, and keep busy,” 

The opening words in the book are, of course, ‘I made love for the last time when I was 81’ and the story rolls on from there.

“It’s a memoir as well as being about gardening, and of course there are recipes in it as well using the produce of my garden and there’s a little love story woven through it all which may, or may not be resolved.”

Doreen’s life is fascinating, when she was 71, she won entry to Griffith University Queensland, where she obtained her BA, majoring in Creative Writing and Indigenous Studies, followed by a BA Honours degree. From there she wrote her bestselling book, ‘Sex in your Seventies’

 ‘Gardening in your Nineties’ picks up from where that one left off. Now at 93 years old, she is sharing advice about gardening, love and sex.

Read more about her here.