27 June 2011

How Not To Act Old

I saw this poem by Pamela Redmond Satran recently and thought I would share it. It is very apt for much of what is happening in my life right now!

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a youth she's content to leave behind....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honoured...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a feeling of control over her destiny...
how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...

The poem's author, Pamela Redmond Satran, also has a great blog called How Not To Act Old. One of my favorite posts is #68 Mooch Off Your Parents... 'Catherine Finn, who is a bona fide futurist with a Washington firm called Social Technologies, advises those who don’t want to act old: “Be over-dependent on your parents. Have them lend you money or buy you something you really don’t need. Go a step further and move in with your parents. Then complain about how terrible it is to live with your parents." Hehehe

Strangely enough, the above poem is often mis-credited to Maya Angelou.

21 June 2011

Olive Mellor 'Grow Your Own'

Here are a few pages from a Herald Sun publication by Olive Mellor. There's no date, but I would say it's probably 1950's. I can't find any information about this publication in the National Library catalogue or anywhere else online. Olive Mellor taught horticulture for many years at Burnley and wrote for the Australian Home Beautiful. She also designed more than 500 gardens and was one of the first full-time female students at Burnley Horticultural College (for which she had to receive special permission from the Minister for Agriculture). She was a lecturer when Edna Walling attended Burnley and one of her contemporaries.  I feel honored to have taught my Burnley students (when I was lecturing) in the same plots down in the Burnley Field Station.

Here's a calendar for growing vegetables in the home garden in Melbourne, complete with when to spray your D.D.T.! Nothing organic in those days - it was all about using the new wonder chemicals to maximise yield and feed the masses post WWII.  Chemicals were all about increasing food production and minimising the waste caused by pests and plant diseases.

Scroll down for a table of what to plant when to feed a family of four for the year including how much seed and how many seedlings are required and how much space is needed

Calendar - January and February (click on image for larger version)

Calendar - March to July (click on image for larger version)

 Calendar - August to December (click on image for larger version)

What to plant to keep the family in veggies all year!  (click on image for larger version)

 Advert for snail killer on the back cover. Metaldehyde is still a main ingredient used in snail pellets today. It is highly toxic and often deadly to pets and small children. Note the happy couple with knee-high lettuces but no children or animals to be seen - clever marketing! I love the bright colors in this ad and the sense of easy instant action implied by the numbers "Better in 3 ways" and the highlighted words "Change", "New", "Better than ever", "WORLD'S BEST", "SUPERCHARGED"

Remember, these were the days when D.D.T. was sprayed liberally by the truckload into the air in residential neighborhoods to cut down on mosquitos in the spring and summer - both in the U.S. and Australia. We still get sprayed with insecticides before we get off the plane from any international flight arriving in Australia, so some things really haven't changed! Personally though, I find a jar with with a little beer half-buried in the veggie-patch works just fine to kill the slugs and snails and doesn't hurt anyone.  They crawl in and die a happy death. I just have to hold my nose when I'm setting it out because I can't stand the smell of beer!