PRESIDENT’S PIECE – Ivan B
Welcome to all our North Sydney Probus isolationists! It’s been a difficult time for all of us but made more bearable by our many members who’ve kept us entertained with their email contributions. Thanks to all of them. Robin Solomon - who should be your current President if we had not been so rudely interrupted by Covid19 - has kindly taken it upon herself to put together this newsletter and in some small way keep us connected. As you scroll down you’ll find all sorts of contributions from our clever members, so I hope you enjoy them and maybe pick up some ideas to fill your time at home. The dreaded virus has certainly turned our Aussie life upside-down but if things continue to improve, I’m sure it won’t be long before our monthly meetings are up and running once more. In the meantime make the most of all the spare hours we have been given!
As most of you may know I used to work for a crossword and puzzle company, so for my part I have included a few brainteasers to test your thinking. I hope you enjoy them and rather than wait till next month, you’ll find the answers at the end of this newsletter.
BRAINTEASERS
1. On a recent Easter Egg hunt Jackie found 10 eggs and ate half of them, Marina found 13 and ate just one. Bianca only found 2 and also ate 1, while David found 4 and ate them all. How many did Gracie find and how many did she eat?
2. What 4 letter word can you add to the following to make a new word? SHOCK BRAIN TIDAL SOUND
3. Using an add, subtract, multiply and divide to replace the question mark what is the highest number you can make? 7 ? 6 ? 3? 1 ? 5 =
4. Rearrange the letters to find five animals? EKMOYN ABFLFOU CEINPOPRU DACEINH ADELOPR
5. What letter should appear next in the following sequence?
A B D E H I M N
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NEW MEMBERS
Noreen B I am a descendant of farming families from England who came to Australia during the first half of the 1800's. One, I'm sorry to say was transported for the crime of 'stealing an ass'. He was my grandfather's grandfather and was never spoken about when I was young. All sides of these families settled around the Orange district and carried on the farming tradition.
I started my life in Dubbo. It was a relaxed way of life then. I rode my bike anywhere as long as I was home by dusk. Luckily I had two older brothers who took me to the baths and Saturday pictures and their supposed protection gave me more freedom. My father and mother were both teachers in Dubbo and later on I continued in this path, teaching primary and infants children.
We came to Sydney in 1954 so we three children could continue with secondary and tertiary education. For me, High school followed and then Teacher's College. After teaching for three years at Casula, Peter and I were married in 1965 and moved to Canberra, Armidale and then Sydney, where we have stayed from there on.
Our two children and their families are all a constant source of interest and pleasure for us and we used to see them regularly as they live in Northbridge and Castlecrag. Now of course we are locked away and only see them from a safe distance.
Our retirement has been spent very happily with entertaining and visiting friends, gardening, music, learning French, coming to grips with computers, now Zoom, reading and travelling around Australia and overseas. Joining Probus has extended our group of friends and activities especially around Northbridge.
PETER B I am a fourth generation Australian born in 1940. The original family members, of doubtful stock, arrived in the 1850’s, mostly from Ireland. As a child I was raised on a farm, firstly at Braidwood, south of Canberra, and in 1946 the family moved to another farm at Cootamundra. In the 50’s the family lived through prosperous times and it wasn’t until I left school, and went to Sydney University, that I contemplated doing anything other than becoming a farmer.
At university I studied Agricultural Science with a major in Agricultural Economics and, at the end I decided to pursue a more academic career. I had a position as a research fellow at the University of New England where I completed my PhD, the topic being “Decision Making Under Uncertainty”. I spent a number of years with CSR Limited in their New Business Division but parted company when they were not in a position to acquire any new businesses.
At that stage I decided on a sea change and in 1985 Noreen and I established Palmland Nursery. The timing was fortuitous; people were starting to take holidays to tropical resorts and many returned with the idea of replicating the tropical ambiance.
Noreen and I are very lucky to have a son and a daughter, each with three children, all living nearby. We see them often but less often at the moment with Covid 19 about. Since retiring in 1999 we have had a considerable amount of travel, including trips to the northern hemisphere ski areas and recently to Russia. We also enjoyed a number of (Australian) 4WD excursions.
I am enthusiastic about science and scientific method and am a member of the Skeptics Society. I have an aversion to heavy advertising designed to create brand images that, in turn, distort rational consumer behaviour. I tried to explain this to my granddaughters regarding make-up and designer jeans, but alas – in vain.
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PHOTO COMPETITION FOR MAY
Following the announcement of the winners of our April Photo competitions, the Committee is pleased to advise another photo competition will be held during May.
Please get the cameras clicking and email your entries to Shelagh, who has kindly agreed to be the next judge.
Competition details are as follows:-
1. A photo of the most memorable, or interesting, souvenir you’ve brought back from holiday. There are no geographical restrictions, and the holiday could have been in either Australia or overseas.
2. The photos should be accompanied by a description, or story, as to why it was your most memorable souvenir (limited to 50 words, please).
3. You are NOT limited to only one entry per person.
3. Shelagh’s email address is ts.kemm@gmail.com
4. Entries will close at midnight on Sunday, 31 May.
5. The winner will be presented with a bottle of wine at our first meeting after the end of Lockdown.
Our appreciation to Judy C for suggesting this month’s competition topic”.
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READING RECOMMODATION - Judy C
The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Elizabeth Jane Howard, a somewhat forgotten mid Twentieth Century English writer who lived from 1923 to 2014 is someone I came across by chance, in a glowing article written by Hilary Mantel in The Guardian. I was hooked, and wanted to find out more about this writer, most famous in the fifties and sixties, known for the sensitivity and perception of her writing, her analysis of the times played out over many years through a great family saga and other novels. She was famous in her day for her striking beauty and her somewhat turbulent love life (three husbands including Peter Scott, son of the Antarctic explorer, writer Kingsley Amis and many lovers).
The Cazalet Chronicles begin with The Light Years, set in 1937 and 1938, ending at the point where Chamberlain fails to stop Hitler in his march to war. The Cazalets are a well off upper middle class family. The main characters are the three brothers, Hugh, Edward and Rupert, their wives and children, lives damaged by one war and doomed to be more damaged by another. Extended family and servants are featured to a lesser extent but all are fascinating in their own way. The three female cousins, Louise, Polly and Clary are said to be the author, who was an amalgam of the three in real life. Other cousins, younger and older, are there as well and are a vehicle for much of the humour. We are given a fascinating glimpse into social life and customs and the changes wrought by war and modernisation, the class system, the position of women in society, the deference of servants to their masters, clothing, food, cookery, changes in dental procedures and childbirth etc. etc.
By the time I had read The Light Years (my book club choice, sadly cancelled owing to Covid-19) I just had to read the remaining four novels in the series: Marking Time, Confusion, Casting Off, and All Change, which takes us to 1958. All in all, a wonderfully evocative series, thoroughly recommended as an absorbing occupation in this time of coronavirus.
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IAN’S QUIZ
1. What is the common name for a Portuguese Man O’War?
2. The Running of the Bulls Festival is in which Spanish City?
3. What is a blue heeler also known as?
4. Which Sydney suburb has the same name as a place in Northern Ireland?
5. Starting with “H” what do you call a maker of clocks and watches?
6. What sport do the Cairns Taipans play?
7. In which NSW town is the Bradman Museum?
8. Quicksilver is another name for which element?
9. Sleeping sickness is transmitted by the bite of which fly?
10. Who composed “La Mer”
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EXERCISES- Robin S
I know several of you are walking to keep the endorphins alive and the legs from seizing up.
For those of you who would like to do a little more and have access to YouTube I have discovered there are a range of online exercises for seniors – some can be done in the comfort of your chair.
For those who are a little fitter I recommend the Jane Fonda Cardio workout Level 1
Active Seniors Gordon
https://www.seniorscard.nsw.gov.au/discounts/homepageoffers/biggest-online-seniors-workout
They are all free so there’s no excuse!!!
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RECIPE – Robin Solomon
For those who like to fill in their time cooking and eating the results.
Aunty Moll’s Tangy Lemon Tea Cake
Ingredients:
1 cup SR flour 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
½ cup (110g) castor sugar 1 egg beaten lightly
60g butter chopped
Lemon Filling:
1 teaspoon cornflour 1 tablespoon water
¼ cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice ½ cup (110gm) caster sugar
1 egg - lightly beaten 60 gms butter chopped
Preheat oven to 180 deg (160 deg fan forced)
Grease and line with baking paper (bring sides of paper up to enable easy removal from pan when cooked) a 18cm cake pan – or a springform pan
Combine flour and sugar in a medium bowl. Rub in butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breakfast crumbs
Stir through lemon rind.
Add the egg and stir until evenly combined.
Press 2/3 of the mixture over the base of the prepared pan.
Lemon Filling:
Combine the cornflour and water until smooth. Place in a small saucepan with the remaining ingredients. Stir constantly over low heat until mixture thickens and boils.
Pour the hot lemon filling over the base in the pan. Crumble the remaining base mixture over the top of the filling.
Bake for 35 minutes or until browned. Cool in the pan. Serve at room temperature.
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JOKEMASTER OF THE MONTH - Patrick W
I was away on a business trip and took my computer down to the hotel bar to do a bit of work.
I asked the barman, ‘What’s the Wi-Fi password?’
Barman: ‘You need to buy a drink first.’
Me: ‘Okay, I’ll have a beer.’
Barman: ‘We have VB on tap.’
Me: ‘Sure. How much is that?’
Barman: ‘$8.00.’
Me: ‘OK thanks, now what’s the Wi-Fi password?’
Barman: ‘ “youneedtobuyadrinkfirst”; no spaces and all lowercase.’
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ANSWERS TO IVAN’S BRAIN TEASERS
1. She found 7 and ate 5 – Gracie’s first letter is the 7th in the alphabet, her last letter is the 5th.
2. WAVE
3. 50 – 7 plus 6 minus 3 divide 1 multiply 5 = 50
4. MONKEY BUFFALO PORCUPINE ECHIDNA LEOPARD
5. S – Take 2 letters, miss 1, take 2 letters, miss 2 etc.
ANSWERS TO IAN’S QUIZ
1. Bluebottle
2. Pamplona
3. Cattle dog
4. Londonderry
5. Horologist
6. Basketball
7. Bowral
8. Mercury
9. Tsetse fly
10. Debussy
11.
MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY FOR YOUR MAY BIRTHDAY
Maureen T – 01 Jackie M – 05 Kevin D – 16
We welcome your contributions. Please send them to:
Robin S on: rsolomon493@gmail.com Keep well and safe
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