Preparing For Our Vintage Years.
Ah yes, the hand of time and years of work have made an impression on my back,…… knees,…. shoulders….. etc, etc. No longer am I the spritely young thing who worked from dawn till dusk without thought of aching muscles and tired limbs. Things have altered, I didn’t do it on purpose and I didn’t mean it to happen but, I have aged!
There is a story my mother –in-law told of her having gone to her garage one evening. In the gloom she misjudged her footing and fell into the pit my father-in-law had dug to enable him to work more easily on his car motor.
When she eventually hoisted herself out (no pun intended) and came back into the house she gave him ‘a good talking to’ that coloured the air for hours. His only reply was that she should have been more careful.
Some days later he fell in the pit, grazing his head badly. Without another word from either of them, he put a sturdy cover over the dangerous hole. The moral……. think ahead and as the scouts say, be prepared.
Age like everything else in life will come and we must face it in the best way we can.
I was born a ‘Grass Roots’ person. As a child, being outdoors and helping in the garden were my favourite places to be and things to do.
During my recovery from a bout of this year’s flu I have been mulling over the
I & H Beilharz letter from the April/May issue of G.G and realize that preparing our place for our older years (husband and I are now in our 60’s) has been one of the driving thoughts in my plans and influencing much of what we have been doing for the past few years..
Up until a the early nineties we had the ideal self sufficient property. Two acres on the idyllic Bellarine Peninsular, with chooks, garden, orchard, bee-hive, horse, everything we had wanted. We lived there for eighteen years. But, developers, suburbia, illness and government trade policies which led to redundancy for my husband, all combined into an irresistible force that pushed us out and off our property. We sold up and moved into a typical suburban home, on a typical suburban block, in a typical suburban court.
I went into mental and emotional melt down. We endured two years of neighbours, noise, no garden to speak of and a lot of tears and soul searching.
Eventually after much thought we put the new house on the market. To our delight it sold quickly to an eager retiree from Melbourne who thought the views of the sea were divine and was oblivious to the gales that views like these also mean. They were happy and so were we as we began to search for our new home.
We made a careful list of the things we thought necessary for our new place. Qualities that would mean we could live into our old age in a place we loved and would give us time to nurture it while it helped to heal us. Finally, at the foot of Mt Buffalo in Victoria’s high country in the township of Myrtleford, we found our place.
Because of my ongoing health problems we knew we couldn’t work on a large block any more, but a good flat quarter acre, good soil and room for our pets, a shed and a house we could grow old in was our idea of the perfect place. Yes we have neighbours, but they are quiet, friendly and get on with their lives and let us get on with ours. They grow their own food and care for the environment and understand it.
Within two months of our arrival, the bush fires began so it gave us an excuse to get to know everyone VERY quickly. So here we are, and what have we learned?
I love my garden and was lucky the previous owner did also. The trees planted are already large and give great structure, shade and colour to otherwise plain landscaping. She also loved bulbs so we inherited a beautiful variety of spring and autumn bulbs. There weren’t any vegetable gardens or fruit trees so they were our first concern.
I know that each year; working in it will get that little bit more difficult. Here for those of you out there who have matured with G.R and are facing some or similar problems are my suggestion.
The garden.
1. Consider raising the beds to make them easier to work in. Don’t make them too wide as reaching can get very hard at times.
2. Try to get rid of any lawns. Not only do they take too much watering and work. The mowers add to the noise and air pollution, cost money to repair etc. There may come a time when you can’t mow or start the mower especially if you are prone to shoulder problems. Replace the lawns with ground covers and gravel or paving which can be cleared of weeds easily and quickly.
3. Take out all ornamental vines and plants that need annual pruning. Getting up on ladders is not something you will be able to do forever. If you want grapevines etc plant them at reachable levels and espalier other plants onto head height wires. Replace the ones you have removed with bird attracting shrubs and bushes that will still give you pleasure, shade and shelter but less work.
4. Shape the fruit trees to allow for easy picking and access. Again you won’t want to get up on ladders forever.
5. If a rough path, a slope or step is a likely hazard, put the grip rail in now. Not after you have slipped and broken an ankle.
6. Make a quiet warm spot where you can enjoy peace in which to relax on the days when you perhaps don’t feel like working your body but your mind and spirit could do with a boost.
7. Placing some solar lights to show your way to the gates or along your paths could save you and your friends from falling in the shrubbery.
It is my belief that fruit and vegetable prices will keep soaring in the next few years as more and more of our good arable land in taken up for housing plus the lack of people to do the labour intensive work of picking and growing will add to these rises.
To remain healthy, eat the best you can afford and grow your own. If you stint on good quality food, you will simply pay for it with poor health and put the money into doctor’s bills. Our vegetable patch kept the two of us all summer and what I didn’t have, my neighbour who never uses sprays etc was happy to sell me or we swapped. I also had enough to freeze and preserve, dry and make my own sauces etc.
My husband has to watch his sugar so we both feel happier preparing and making our own produce. I dry all my own tomatoes, eggplant and herbs.
We still make our own bread. Admittedly we use a bread maker these days but at least we know what goes into it. It also saves time, effort, money and less visits to the shops where impulse buying is too easy.
We have three compost bins and a busy worm farm. The initial cost isn’t much if you see the price of retail fertilisers. The vegetable garden soil we had delivered was dreadful but after mulching, adding compost leaves and green manure it is beginning to be more friable and obviously producing very well.
The watering system is most important. Firstly, if you can use your grey water and put a good drip system through the garden do it. It saves time, money, effort and water. I have tripped over the garden hoses countless time in my life and I’m not really genetically related to a gooney bird. It only takes one trip when we are older to do some real damage. Heavy garden hoses are also damaging to the plants and bad for your back and shoulders. (I know I harp about shoulders but if you have ever had a frozen shoulder you’ll know it is something to avoid.)
It worries me when younger women with children to feed ask, “what’s that?” pointing at a parsnip or as one check-out girl asked, “what do you do with that?’ When I bought sago. The knowledge of basic and nourishing cooking made from fresh ingredients is dying out amongst our youth. I have been told that there are apartments in the U.S.A that are built with minimum kitchen space because people ‘eat out all the time’.
If this is so, when, not if, there is another severe depression, how will these people survive? The skills will have died out.
Inside the home poses some extra problems for us as we age.
1. The bathroom can become one of the most hazardous rooms in the house. If you think you can afford it, make sure your shower has easy access and plenty of room for a chair if the need arises.
Try and make it as easy to keep clean as possible and place grip handles beside your toilets and baths etc. Again, don’t wait for when your sciatica is so bad you rip the toilet roll holder out of the wall trying to grip something to help you up off the seat!
Try and make sure the door can be opened from outside in case of the occupant collapsing or falling.
2. Paint a white line on the edges of all exterior steps. Those of you with bi-focal glasses will know that judging the edge of something can be difficult.
3 Make sure you have long-life light bulbs in as many light fittings as you can and remember the ladder? Well, my theory is to use well placed standard lamps to minimize the number of times the central light globes have to be replaced.
4. In the kitchen put the things you need most into the cupboards most easily reached. Anything you don’t use much put up in the higher ones until your tall sons arrive for a visit.
Make sure all the surfaces are easily cleaned and smooth and your stove will not become a hazard to you as you age i.e.; good door hinges and firm hot plates etc. If you do have kitchen steps, check the hinges etc and make sure they have non-slip bases
5. If you still use wood for heating make sure you have a trolley to carry the wood. It will save your back and prevent accidental droppings. Keep the wood trolley well stocked and in a convenient place to your heater. A fire screen is a necessity in case of hot coals, falling logs, falling grandchildren and tripping grandmothers!
Have your gas and electric heaters serviced; it is cheaper than having a house fire. This too we have experienced in the family and it is not to be wished on anyone.
6. Get a qualified electrician to install a safety switch in your meter box. For the added tip of a couple of bottles of your home made beer, he will probably check your smoke alarms and replace the batteries for you as well.
7. Consider the insulation of your home and do what you can to close off drafts. We found our house very warm but a little dark. Putting in a skylight helped enormously and saved us electricity for lighting.
8. I am happy to search the op-shops for clothing but I try never to stint on good shoes. If your feet suffer, you suffer and so does your spine. It is worth waiting for the sales and buying well fitting good shoes. In the end they are cheaper than many visits to s chiropodist and orthotic inserts.
9. Keep a pet if you can afford it. They give you a reason to love and be loved and will always be happy to see you get up in the morning no matter what you look like. They also give you a sense of security and in the case of a dog will be helpful to the hearing impaired like my husband, who would often be unaware there is anyone about if the dog didn’t tell him.
10. I find some of the over fifties newspapers very helpful. They are free from most pharmacies and contain interesting articles on healthy aging, services available, places to visit and financial advice.
As the body slows it doesn’t mean the mind has to. I now have time to catalogue the birds, animals and insects that visit our garden. We are lucky to have a tremendous variety that we never tire of watching or photographing Put out a bird feeder and more especially a bird bath, you will be amazed at the little friends who will come to visit your place. Even in drought affected areas I know there will be many who will be trying to spare water for the birds and animals.
The computer keeps us in touch with our family and friends. Although we are gradually making new friends, it is to the old ones we turn at times. The people we don’t have to explain ourselves to and who will and have forgiven us our idiosyncrasies for so many years but have still remained close. Keep in touch with them all. It helps to know there is always someone at the end of the phone or email line. With their wealth of funny stories we get at least one good laugh a day, and humour must be maintained
We have craft skills developed over many years (I used to sell candles at markets and through the pages of G.G). I still like to work on these skills supporting local charities. Hobbies are important for those wet, cold days or when the aches are too much to ignore. Remaining part of the wider community is necessary and healthier for us all.
We knew that one day our paid working lives would end. Ours ended at the whim of outside forces and boards of management, not at our timing and planning. The adjustment has been difficult for my husband. After working since he was sixteen to find at sixty he was not needed in that daily routine was hard. It has been difficult but there are many in the same situation, at least our family are grown and have left home and were not directly affected as were so many of the younger people in the industries in which hubby worked.
Fortunately he is a talented artist and this is now his primary interest.
After three years here there are times when I still miss our old, bigger garden and the memories it held. We miss our family left behind down in Geelong and the soul searching about whether we should be down there for them at times still returns. But we have moved on and so have they and all our friends. I suspect there will be no going back
and this WILL be our last home. However, we thought that was the case twenty years ago. As I age, I’ll no doubt find more and more things that could be suggested but these are a few thoughts from my flu’ befuddled brain.
We’ll just have to keep an eye out for that suburban sprawl and hope it doesn’t appear over the horizon too soon.
Ah yes, the hand of time and years of work have made an impression on my back,…… knees,…. shoulders….. etc, etc. No longer am I the spritely young thing who worked from dawn till dusk without thought of aching muscles and tired limbs. Things have altered, I didn’t do it on purpose and I didn’t mean it to happen but, I have aged!
There is a story my mother –in-law told of her having gone to her garage one evening. In the gloom she misjudged her footing and fell into the pit my father-in-law had dug to enable him to work more easily on his car motor.
When she eventually hoisted herself out (no pun intended) and came back into the house she gave him ‘a good talking to’ that coloured the air for hours. His only reply was that she should have been more careful.
Some days later he fell in the pit, grazing his head badly. Without another word from either of them, he put a sturdy cover over the dangerous hole. The moral……. think ahead and as the scouts say, be prepared.
Age like everything else in life will come and we must face it in the best way we can.
I was born a ‘Grass Roots’ person. As a child, being outdoors and helping in the garden were my favourite places to be and things to do.
During my recovery from a bout of this year’s flu I have been mulling over the
I & H Beilharz letter from the April/May issue of G.G and realize that preparing our place for our older years (husband and I are now in our 60’s) has been one of the driving thoughts in my plans and influencing much of what we have been doing for the past few years..
Up until a the early nineties we had the ideal self sufficient property. Two acres on the idyllic Bellarine Peninsular, with chooks, garden, orchard, bee-hive, horse, everything we had wanted. We lived there for eighteen years. But, developers, suburbia, illness and government trade policies which led to redundancy for my husband, all combined into an irresistible force that pushed us out and off our property. We sold up and moved into a typical suburban home, on a typical suburban block, in a typical suburban court.
I went into mental and emotional melt down. We endured two years of neighbours, noise, no garden to speak of and a lot of tears and soul searching.
Eventually after much thought we put the new house on the market. To our delight it sold quickly to an eager retiree from Melbourne who thought the views of the sea were divine and was oblivious to the gales that views like these also mean. They were happy and so were we as we began to search for our new home.
We made a careful list of the things we thought necessary for our new place. Qualities that would mean we could live into our old age in a place we loved and would give us time to nurture it while it helped to heal us. Finally, at the foot of Mt Buffalo in Victoria’s high country in the township of Myrtleford, we found our place.
Because of my ongoing health problems we knew we couldn’t work on a large block any more, but a good flat quarter acre, good soil and room for our pets, a shed and a house we could grow old in was our idea of the perfect place. Yes we have neighbours, but they are quiet, friendly and get on with their lives and let us get on with ours. They grow their own food and care for the environment and understand it.
Within two months of our arrival, the bush fires began so it gave us an excuse to get to know everyone VERY quickly. So here we are, and what have we learned?
I love my garden and was lucky the previous owner did also. The trees planted are already large and give great structure, shade and colour to otherwise plain landscaping. She also loved bulbs so we inherited a beautiful variety of spring and autumn bulbs. There weren’t any vegetable gardens or fruit trees so they were our first concern.
I know that each year; working in it will get that little bit more difficult. Here for those of you out there who have matured with G.R and are facing some or similar problems are my suggestion.
The garden.
1. Consider raising the beds to make them easier to work in. Don’t make them too wide as reaching can get very hard at times.
2. Try to get rid of any lawns. Not only do they take too much watering and work. The mowers add to the noise and air pollution, cost money to repair etc. There may come a time when you can’t mow or start the mower especially if you are prone to shoulder problems. Replace the lawns with ground covers and gravel or paving which can be cleared of weeds easily and quickly.
3. Take out all ornamental vines and plants that need annual pruning. Getting up on ladders is not something you will be able to do forever. If you want grapevines etc plant them at reachable levels and espalier other plants onto head height wires. Replace the ones you have removed with bird attracting shrubs and bushes that will still give you pleasure, shade and shelter but less work.
4. Shape the fruit trees to allow for easy picking and access. Again you won’t want to get up on ladders forever.
5. If a rough path, a slope or step is a likely hazard, put the grip rail in now. Not after you have slipped and broken an ankle.
6. Make a quiet warm spot where you can enjoy peace in which to relax on the days when you perhaps don’t feel like working your body but your mind and spirit could do with a boost.
7. Placing some solar lights to show your way to the gates or along your paths could save you and your friends from falling in the shrubbery.
It is my belief that fruit and vegetable prices will keep soaring in the next few years as more and more of our good arable land in taken up for housing plus the lack of people to do the labour intensive work of picking and growing will add to these rises.
To remain healthy, eat the best you can afford and grow your own. If you stint on good quality food, you will simply pay for it with poor health and put the money into doctor’s bills. Our vegetable patch kept the two of us all summer and what I didn’t have, my neighbour who never uses sprays etc was happy to sell me or we swapped. I also had enough to freeze and preserve, dry and make my own sauces etc.
My husband has to watch his sugar so we both feel happier preparing and making our own produce. I dry all my own tomatoes, eggplant and herbs.
We still make our own bread. Admittedly we use a bread maker these days but at least we know what goes into it. It also saves time, effort, money and less visits to the shops where impulse buying is too easy.
We have three compost bins and a busy worm farm. The initial cost isn’t much if you see the price of retail fertilisers. The vegetable garden soil we had delivered was dreadful but after mulching, adding compost leaves and green manure it is beginning to be more friable and obviously producing very well.
The watering system is most important. Firstly, if you can use your grey water and put a good drip system through the garden do it. It saves time, money, effort and water. I have tripped over the garden hoses countless time in my life and I’m not really genetically related to a gooney bird. It only takes one trip when we are older to do some real damage. Heavy garden hoses are also damaging to the plants and bad for your back and shoulders. (I know I harp about shoulders but if you have ever had a frozen shoulder you’ll know it is something to avoid.)
It worries me when younger women with children to feed ask, “what’s that?” pointing at a parsnip or as one check-out girl asked, “what do you do with that?’ When I bought sago. The knowledge of basic and nourishing cooking made from fresh ingredients is dying out amongst our youth. I have been told that there are apartments in the U.S.A that are built with minimum kitchen space because people ‘eat out all the time’.
If this is so, when, not if, there is another severe depression, how will these people survive? The skills will have died out.
Inside the home poses some extra problems for us as we age.
1. The bathroom can become one of the most hazardous rooms in the house. If you think you can afford it, make sure your shower has easy access and plenty of room for a chair if the need arises.
Try and make it as easy to keep clean as possible and place grip handles beside your toilets and baths etc. Again, don’t wait for when your sciatica is so bad you rip the toilet roll holder out of the wall trying to grip something to help you up off the seat!
Try and make sure the door can be opened from outside in case of the occupant collapsing or falling.
2. Paint a white line on the edges of all exterior steps. Those of you with bi-focal glasses will know that judging the edge of something can be difficult.
3 Make sure you have long-life light bulbs in as many light fittings as you can and remember the ladder? Well, my theory is to use well placed standard lamps to minimize the number of times the central light globes have to be replaced.
4. In the kitchen put the things you need most into the cupboards most easily reached. Anything you don’t use much put up in the higher ones until your tall sons arrive for a visit.
Make sure all the surfaces are easily cleaned and smooth and your stove will not become a hazard to you as you age i.e.; good door hinges and firm hot plates etc. If you do have kitchen steps, check the hinges etc and make sure they have non-slip bases
5. If you still use wood for heating make sure you have a trolley to carry the wood. It will save your back and prevent accidental droppings. Keep the wood trolley well stocked and in a convenient place to your heater. A fire screen is a necessity in case of hot coals, falling logs, falling grandchildren and tripping grandmothers!
Have your gas and electric heaters serviced; it is cheaper than having a house fire. This too we have experienced in the family and it is not to be wished on anyone.
6. Get a qualified electrician to install a safety switch in your meter box. For the added tip of a couple of bottles of your home made beer, he will probably check your smoke alarms and replace the batteries for you as well.
7. Consider the insulation of your home and do what you can to close off drafts. We found our house very warm but a little dark. Putting in a skylight helped enormously and saved us electricity for lighting.
8. I am happy to search the op-shops for clothing but I try never to stint on good shoes. If your feet suffer, you suffer and so does your spine. It is worth waiting for the sales and buying well fitting good shoes. In the end they are cheaper than many visits to s chiropodist and orthotic inserts.
9. Keep a pet if you can afford it. They give you a reason to love and be loved and will always be happy to see you get up in the morning no matter what you look like. They also give you a sense of security and in the case of a dog will be helpful to the hearing impaired like my husband, who would often be unaware there is anyone about if the dog didn’t tell him.
10. I find some of the over fifties newspapers very helpful. They are free from most pharmacies and contain interesting articles on healthy aging, services available, places to visit and financial advice.
As the body slows it doesn’t mean the mind has to. I now have time to catalogue the birds, animals and insects that visit our garden. We are lucky to have a tremendous variety that we never tire of watching or photographing Put out a bird feeder and more especially a bird bath, you will be amazed at the little friends who will come to visit your place. Even in drought affected areas I know there will be many who will be trying to spare water for the birds and animals.
The computer keeps us in touch with our family and friends. Although we are gradually making new friends, it is to the old ones we turn at times. The people we don’t have to explain ourselves to and who will and have forgiven us our idiosyncrasies for so many years but have still remained close. Keep in touch with them all. It helps to know there is always someone at the end of the phone or email line. With their wealth of funny stories we get at least one good laugh a day, and humour must be maintained
We have craft skills developed over many years (I used to sell candles at markets and through the pages of G.G). I still like to work on these skills supporting local charities. Hobbies are important for those wet, cold days or when the aches are too much to ignore. Remaining part of the wider community is necessary and healthier for us all.
We knew that one day our paid working lives would end. Ours ended at the whim of outside forces and boards of management, not at our timing and planning. The adjustment has been difficult for my husband. After working since he was sixteen to find at sixty he was not needed in that daily routine was hard. It has been difficult but there are many in the same situation, at least our family are grown and have left home and were not directly affected as were so many of the younger people in the industries in which hubby worked.
Fortunately he is a talented artist and this is now his primary interest.
After three years here there are times when I still miss our old, bigger garden and the memories it held. We miss our family left behind down in Geelong and the soul searching about whether we should be down there for them at times still returns. But we have moved on and so have they and all our friends. I suspect there will be no going back
and this WILL be our last home. However, we thought that was the case twenty years ago. As I age, I’ll no doubt find more and more things that could be suggested but these are a few thoughts from my flu’ befuddled brain.
We’ll just have to keep an eye out for that suburban sprawl and hope it doesn’t appear over the horizon too soon.
Post Script. As it happened and I dreaded, we returned to suburbia but the struggle with self sufficiency and improving our personal environment still continues.
The End. (C) Reprinted from my article in Grass Roots magazine No 176. 2006
The End. (C) Reprinted from my article in Grass Roots magazine No 176. 2006
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