 Reg is happily making preparations for our next caravan tour. Reg had his specialist appointment yesterday at the local hospital outpatient’s department. Being a senior, aged pensioner, he never saw the specialist, just one of the student doctors, who did give him a good examination, and really just listened, no opinion given to us. I felt like Reg was just a training exercise to him and the appointment we had waited for had been a waste of our time. So back to the home remedies, the age old remedies for illness of good nutrition, chicken soup, my mum’s recipe for beef tea, nutritional supplements such as Glucosamine and anti inflammatory fish oils. Glucosamine is an amino sugar derived from the chitin of shellfish that is used by the body to support healthy joint structures. Both Reg and I take this along with the fish oil, omega 3 rich, capsules, when we experience joint pain. The most important thing we do to keep flexible is to walk and strive to be active. We both believe in the saying, if you don’t use it, you lose it. It is hard making the effort to begin walking again, after an illness, when you are a senior, it takes even more effort to overcome the stiffness and pain, but the reward for making the effort, a little more movement each day, is now showing for Reg J Reg has done a great job working to reclaim his flexibility and fitnessJ. Today he is happily pottering around outside with his caravan packing for our next tripJ. We are enjoying the trip preparation phase and I love seeing Reg getting a little fitter, every week. When he became ill back in early springtime, with whooping cough, I promised him he would be well again by Christmas. These are the other, natural supplements we both believe in, positive thinking J and making plans for the future are the things that keep today’s gray nomad, living and loving life.  Our Eco-Tourer caravan outside our summer retreat Potasium Broth. 12/15/2009
 Customer, :What is the name of the generec brand for this script'? Chemist's reply 'Chicken Soup' Potassium Broth Is an alkalizing vegetable drink, a great addition to a diet to assist with healthy bone formation and mainteneance. I include this broth into my own healthy eating plan anytime I am troubled by arthritis pain for any length of time, I have always gained relief, just by returning to a more alkaizing type of diet. This in turn is very beneficial as part of my bone health action plan Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme are all antibacterial and antiviral! ...But you still need to alkalize for bone health. To 1 1/2 quarts of water add: 2 large potatoes, chopped or sliced to approx. 1/2 inch slices 1 cup carrots, shredded or sliced 1 cup celery, chopped or shredded, leaves and all Some Beet tops, turnip tops, parsley, onion or whatever you have from the garden (or whatever is in season at the store) Add some fresh herbs like sage, rosemary, thyme & garlic I also add a few red pepper seeds You could add gravy beef if you want the flavour of beef tea or some vegemite if you crave the salty flavour. Cover and cook slowly for about 1/2 hour using only stainless steel, glass or earthenware utensils. Strain the broth off and cool. Serve warm or cold. If not used immediately, keep in refrigerator and warm up before serving. Give the cooked vegetables to your chickens or put them on your compost pile. Makes about 3 servings. This is a standard beverage for all the health spas and healing clinics in Sweden a big mug of potassium broth--a cleansing, alkalizing and mineral-rich drink. Taken from How To Get Well by Paavo Airola, Ph.D. News: Public urged to avoid algal blooms 12/14/2009
 Another warning for travellers this summer. Travelling North, this Christmas? 12/14/2009
 Be mosquito aware and take precautions. Special squad fights dengue spread in Townsville. A mosquito control team has spent the weekend in Townsville in an effort to control a potential dengue fever outbreak. At least 10 locally acquired cases of dengue fever one have been detected in Townsville, in north Queensland, in recent weeks. Full news article http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/14/2770562.htm?site=news Take away food at markets and shows. 11/26/2009
 I have witnessed a lot of good and bad examples of take away food stalls through my years of exhibiting arts and crafts and as a travel writer and at my recent reviewing of Liesurfest, Reg and I ordered hamburgers from the 1st Strathsaye Scouts Group and I felt they showed the best of take away food service. They had a covered marquee with three enclosed walls with the food being cooked well back away from the customer and the money handling area and out of direct sunshine. The only food exposed to the air was the food actually being cooked or served and those handling the money did not touch the food itself. Our take away food was presented to us on a plate with several paper towels per person and clean tables and chairs available for us to eat at, under full shade. No cooked food was being stored until it was purchased. The food represented value for money, the beef in the hamburger was high quality, not fatty and there was a generous serving of coleslaw under the burger, a reasonably healthy choice for take away. There was an option of sauce. I usually find eating at community profit, food stalls for example the CWA, Scouts, Church groups will give a reasonable quality, safe food handling, burger, better than the chips, Pluto pups, jam donuts available from many food vans, though I think these mostly appeal to the teenagers, not the grey nomad who wants value for their money. Things to watch out for to avoid a bout of gastro after the show or fair, is that any food that is not cooked in front of you, is kept at temperatures below 5oC or above 60oC up until serving time. Food stalls must provide protection of the food from contamination from flies, dust, dirt, direct sun, human breath or smoke. Food stalls must consist of a roof and three sides enclosed. All stalls to be situated on a readily cleanable surface eg: concrete, brick paving, duckboards, tarpaulins or heavy duty plastic. And the floor covering to extend beneath servery tables. The worst ever example of food handling I have seen was a chicken van who cooked the chicken at the back of the van it served from, out in the open and the stench of the thawed defrosted chicken prior to it’s being cooked was overwhelming. These days I even sniff around the back of a stall before I buy from the front and I only order chicken or fish if I feel I know and trust the food stall operators to be as food safety conscious, as I am myself. I got a nasty bout of food poisoning from a dish of garlic prawns bought at the Royal Melbourne Show. I buy a chicken and mushroom dish from an Asian food stall I know, you can watch it being cooked, he puts the chicken frozen solid into the wok, cooks it in front of you, if I am there early when it is first being prepared, there is no possibility of contamination.. If in doubt, look for the obvious safe food handling techniques and do not buy food being cooked by the same person handling the money or stored outside of a bain-marie, once cooked. If you are at a show in Western Australia, I can recommend, Western Australian lamb, ‘The Lamb Van’ for a great just like home cooked, lamb shank. J Yum! As for drinks, it is almost a fashion accessory these days to carry your own, bottle of water as you walk around a show and to have back up water containers to refill from, in your car.  Accessavan. Wheelchair accessible caravan. 11/20/2009
    I am back from the Leisurefest with photos and ideas to share. Firstly, I want to show the one caravan that I am voting the BEST new caravan on the block. This caravan is not for everyone but it services the need of a large section of the population. I am talking about, the -> Accessavan. Wheelchair accessible caravans. It is about time too. J. The Accessible Caravans have been designed for people in wheelchairs by people in wheelchairs. I hope to see quite a few of these on the road, on our next Australian tour. I’m very happy to ‘plug’ this product as I admire good design and fulfilment of need. The accessavan has a fully accessible, wheel –in toilet/shower. Their brochure says ACCESS & EQUITY = INDEPENDENCE & DIGNITY There is a range of options including slide out ramps, hydrolic ramps and lifts. Custom bed heights, custom made mattress. Over bed ceiling hoists and hooks Wide wheelchair turning area. Folding tables and seats, Handrails fitted everywhere. Low bench heights. Caravans built to your individual needs. Phone (03)9407 1230 Visit the website for all the latest news, photo gallery, show and events where you can see this innovative well designed special needs caravan. www.accessavan.com.au This was NOT a paid add or review by accessavan, I was genuinely impressed by the design and love helping get the information ‘out there’, that the nomad way f life is now accessible to even more people. Near the Accessavan display is a caravan insurance advice van. Reg and I found it pays to shop around rather than just insuring your caravan with the firm recommended by the caravan sales people. I like to find out as much as I can before speaking directly, face to face with insurance representatives. I like web searching insurance online and then I feel more equipped to ask all the questions that apply to our own needs and I better understand the variations in policies before I finally commit to the insurance I feel I need and the company we choose.  Reg and I have are all spruced up in our camping clobber, T Shirts jeans and bushman’s hats, and Reg with his hiking stick, me with the picnic basket under arm and we are heading off to Leisurefest, the RV and camping show. The picture above is the floor plan of our great, eco-tourer, slipstream caravan, There are several floor plan designs to choose from and various models, our is the off highway with shower , toilet and wash basin. I love to look inside caravans, fifth wheelers and motor homes, get excited about our next tour, look for ideas that we can incorporate into our own Eco-tourer slipstream caravan and look at the latest equipment marketed for travellers. We actually already own far more travel gear than we can take with us on any one tour, lol J, so there isn’t much that we need. Like most seniors, the budget is tight so it is mostly a case of discovering new ways to make everything we do pack and take, multi function and serve at least two purposes.  For example, our TV unit faces the bed, but also twists around and faces the dining area. It is also a DVD player and the dining table folds back into a small coffee table giving more floor space or the table can be removed to give the maximum of floor space, which allows me to put in an exercise DVD and start doing my weight work out. Two years ago, I took stretch resistance bands for my weight workouts, and these were good, but nowhere near as good as the great quality dumbbells with adjustable weights and the DVD from the Osteoporosis Association of Australia, on strength and balance training. I found that a fantastic start in my fight back from compression fractures of the spine earlier this year. Following the strength training I am dong during my summer and it’s cusps, season in one location here in Northern Victoria, the weights I took last year will be too light for my current needs. I will be looking out for compact size and weight, suited for caravan use, home gym equipment while at Leisurefest. I have just watched this kettle bell work out, http://www.kettleworx.com/infomercial.html it appealed to me as something I could do within our caravan’s limited space and does not involve too large an amount of space to store the equipment. I am off to leasurefest, looking for Kettlebells and goodness knows what I will come home with.J. I hope to be back in hereJ, tonight with photos from the Leisurefest and I’ll let you know for sure, what I bought, and what i fantasized that we bought if we had of had the king’s ransom required to buy. J lol, RV vehicles of today, can cost more than a bricks and mortar home in a top suburb as more and more gray with an a for active, nomads take to this lifestyle as their permanent way of life.  Great news for active gray nomads, 10/29/2009
 I think we knew it anyhow, but recent research proves that our active positive lifestyle, improves our health and extends our life expectancy. A study by researchers in the Netherlands has found that people who are temperamentally pessimistic are more likely to die of heart disease and other causes than those who are by nature optimistic Yet Another Worry for Those Who Believe the Glass Is Half-Empty [New York Times Article So Here is 'CHEERS', with a half fiull glass brimming over :-) Australias valley of death, Wittenoom. 10/23/2009
 A beautiful part of Australia that I choose to avoid In the heart of the magnificent Pilbara, is the infamous blue asbestos mining town of. Wittenoom, the home of Australia’s greatest industrial disaster. It was once the main entrance to the beautiful Hamersley rangers and tourists camped in the now contaminated with asbestos dust, Wittenoom Gorge or Yampire Gorge. Blue asbestos mining and milling at Wittenoom has had a significant impact on all Australians. Western Australia in particular has the highest rate of malignant mesothelioma than any State in Australia or elsewhere in the world per capita of population. Wittenoon is located in very picturesque bushland and absolutely breathtaking and stunning landscape. I could not enjoy viewing such scenery in the knowledge of the former workers and their families who contracted asbestos related conditions such as mesothelioma and the still present danger of the blue asbestos, the most dangerous form of asbestos, having been disturbed, and brought to the surface in the area. I am stunned that 50 people choose to still live there and some people are comfortable visiting the area, I guess that's freedom of choice but I wonder that the area was not simple closed off. It’s hard to stand on a ridge top overlooking this beautiful region and realize that of the 20 000 mostly young men, women and their children who lived and worked in Wittenoom during the mining boom, over 1000 (and the figure is still rising) have died from the asbestos-related diseases of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. It is now estimated that over 25 per cent of all the men who worked in the mines will die of asbestos-related diseases. There are advisory signs around the town 'Danger', , 'stay on the road, keep the windows closed if it is windy, only spend one day in the area, don’t allow children to play amongst the tailings and don’t take home samples of the blue asbestos and camp in delegated areas.' I hear conflicting stories, when I am in the Pilbara region, there are the official warnings that blue asbestos fibers’ are still airborne around the town and sometimes are visible to the naked eye. I also hear some locals scoff and say they do not believe that any danger ever existed from the asbestos. Wittenoom is officially recognized as being a valley of death. The signs around the town call attention to the problem: DANGER - Asbestos Tailings Risk Area. Inhaling Asbestos Fibres May Cause Cancer the town is a virtual ghost town. Shops are boarded up. The two schools are closed. The local cinema is derelict. In their ignorance, the original settlers used asbestos tailings to break the monotony of the Pilbara¹s harsh red soils. Hence asbestos was used in gardens, in the school yards, on the roads and at the race track. Asbestos tailings were even used to build the airport. In recent times the local shire council and residents, aware of the potential problems of airborne asbestos, have attempted to rectify the situation. Car parks have been scraped and resealed, roads have been resealed and yards have been covered with clean fill. Health Department of Western Australia clearly advocate the avoidance of the Wittenoom area. They consider airborne blue asbestos fibres in and around Wittenoom to be a clear risk to residents and to people working in the area. Although the threat to short-term visitors is much lower, it is considered a risk nonetheless and one they recommend avoiding. Their advice to those who do visit the area is: There is a lot to see and do in the Pilbara without going near Wittenoon. I love to visit Marble Bar, and you could hardly find a prettier town than Tom Price, if you want to stay near amenities. If you travel without pets, then bush camping in the Karijini National Park would be my choice and Reg and I love to free bush camp at the many locations overlooking gorges, adjacent to the Karijini National park, just as beautiful as within the park, but places where we can have our dog. You do not need to go into the valley of death to enjoy the Pilbara. I wonder that there has never been a monument of any significance built where travelers could stop and reflect at the young lives ruined by this sad part of Australia’s history. A book was written about Wittenoon called “Blue Murder” by Ben Hills. Well worth reading. Views on Ageing by George Carlin. 10/22/2009
 George Carlin on age102. (Absolutely Brilliant) Do you realise that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about ageing that you think in fractions. 'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back... You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. 'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life .... . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!! But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40......... Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone. But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60. You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.' Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!' May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!! HOW TO STAY YOUNG 1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them... That is why you pay 'them' 2. Keep only cheerful friends...... The grouches pull you down. 3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's. 4. Enjoy the simple things. 5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. 6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive. 7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, and hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge. 8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help. 9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is. 10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. | Kathy Shell on Facebook  Advertisers, This 160 x 160 advertising space, could be yours. See our advertising page above then contact Kathy to arrange your advertising package. Kathy Shell,
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