My Mother (who you are getting to know quite well by now….) was not a good cook.  The key goal of her cooking was to provide food that would make the family feel full ie not hungry. If we ate for an army of 500 and clutched our stomachs because…

This issue of Viva 70 looks at our different responses to the upheavals caused by the Corona virus. We’re blessed to have been gifted this lovely piece from Inge who lives in Nova Scotia, Canada and she was in the US earlier this year. She echoes the words so many…

Maureen lives in Nova Scotia, Canada and has been a friend and supporter of Viva 70 since its creation last year. Before that time we did not know each other. You may remember her beautifully written diary of a foodie trip through Tuscany (Lifestyle, 18-27 March 2019) …wonderful…do revisit this…

I started this article a few weeks ago when the Corona Virus was a ” Chinese phenomenon.” The world was a different place then. As we tutted and expressed concern for our Asian neighbours we went about our daily lives smiling and largely oblivious. And so it was with me….

My parents were refugees and lived through war and severe food shortages. When my mother died we were cleaning out her frig and freezer. She had 10 frozen chickens, 3 legs of lamb and 2 ducks in her freezer! Most “Un -Australian”as the prime Minister would say! But she knew…

Life has become very simple lately. Get up at 7am, check THE PROJECT PLAN and the day’s to-do list. Greet the electrician, handyman, locksmith or whoever is working on the house. Complete my list of gardening, painting, moving things to storage, eat dinner early, spa bath, bed. Repeat! I’m preparing…

I caught up with our Viva 70  friend, Graeme Leith at Passing Clouds winery  the other evening. Always lovely. Lots of my photos of Bali shared over a glass of wine and the setting sun just over the hills. Such a beautiful place out there at Musk. He’s retired from…

Do you have a basement, garage or spare room loaded with things that will come in handy one day? The garden tools you lose, replace and then find again? The ski’s, that in Australia are used once a decade? The left over tiles, wood, paint and the infamous carpet shampooer…

Education and learning is a well traveled friend in my life. In my 20’s I worked in an alternative school for 10 years, an innovative child – centred learning program where kids’ interests, not age, was the organising principle of the curriculum. Steiner school. Montessori, Summerhill, Preshil were all precursors…