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Hill Street Blues star passes away

Hill Street Blues star Barbara Bosson has passed away aged 83. Bosson, who played Fay Furillo in the American police drama, was a popular TV star in the ‘80s, earning five consecutive Emmy nominations for her role. She was also the ex-wife of TV giant Steven Bohcho, who created Hill Street Blues and several other hit shows at the time. The news of Bosson’s death was shared by her son, Jesse Bohcho, who shared an image of he and his mother when he was a child. "More spirit and zest than you could shake a stick at. When she loved you, you felt it without a doubt. If she didn't, you may well have also known that too. Forever in our hearts. I love you Mama. Barbara "Babs" Bosson Bochco 1939-2023," he captioned the image. Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey shared her support, commenting a red heart under Bochco’s Instagram. Bosson was also known for her roles in shows including Murder One, Hooperman and films including Cop Rock and Calendar Girl Murders. Hill Street Blues proved Bosson's main claim to fame, with her leaving the show in 1985 during its sixth season after being fired from the project over creative disagreements. Bosson and Steven Bohcho went on to work together on other projects, including the Rockford Files spin-off Richie Brockelman, Private Eye, Hooperman and the musical Cop Rock. The pair divorced in 1997 but continued to co-parent their son Jesse, who was born in 1975. Steven died in 2018 at the age of 73. Further details of Bosson’s death are yet to be revealed. Image credit: Instagram

News

Woman turns herself in after fatal attack on 87-year-old singing coach

A 26-year-old woman has turned herself in to police after admitting to attacking an 87-year-old woman, which led to her death. Lauren Pazienza shoved Barbara Maier Gustern before striking her on the back of the head in an unprompted attack on March 10th in New York City. The NYPD released a picture of the woman wanted for the attack, just days before Lauren turned herself in to authorities. Police identified Pazienza through video and her Metrocard, police sources said. Pazienza covered her face with her hair as she was led by detectives to a car for transport to criminal court, as she refused to answer reporters who asked her about the allegation she pushed Gustern. Following the brutal attack, Barbara was in critical condition until she died from her injuries on March 14th. “Today, at 11:15am, we have lost one of the brightest little flames to ever grace this world,” her grandson wrote on Gustern’s Facebook page. “I ask that you all give me a little time and space, but I want to make time for anyone and everyone who wants to know more about her final moments,” the post said. “Bobbob, I love you, you are and always will be my heart,” it said. “I love you all so much, I could not have made it through these past 5 days without all of your support.” Barbara Maier Gustern, who was a renowned vocal coach and tutored famous students including Blondie singer Debbie Harry, was walking around at night alone when the attack occurred. Her red-headed attacker then ran off, with police saying the attacker crossed the street before pushing Gustern, who suffered a fatal head injury. NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig described it as a “disgusting, disgraceful law offence” committed against a “vulnerable elderly female who is doing nothing but walking down the streets of New York City”. Image credits: NYPD / Facebook

Travel Trouble

Mystery van visitor unmasked

The "fan" who was permitted entry to the van carrying Shane Warne’s body from Koh Samui to the Thai mainland after his shock death has been identified as German national Barbara Woinke – a former entertainment and travel writer. She was at the centre of an investigation over a <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/finance/legal/anger-after-fan-enters-van-carrying-shane-warnes-body">potential security breach</a> involving Warne's body. all of which was captured by an ABC film crew. Prior to Warne's autopsy being conducted, Woinke was able to enter an ambulance carrying Warne’s body and spend more than 30 seconds alone in the vehicle. Thai authorities were told the woman knew Warne personally, prompting them to provide her access to pay her respects The Australian reports she has worked for daily newspapers and magazines such as Instyle, Glamour and Bunte. Before moving to Koh Samui in Thailand, she lived in Berlin, Paris and New York, according to one online German book retailer selling her travel guide to Lake Garda in Northern Italy. “(Ms Woinke) always has her passport and driving license in her handbag just in case,” the bio reads. A video posted on YouTube in September last year shows Ms Woinke in Koh Samui promoting a tourism networking group called Skal International. "Hello, I’m Barbara Woinke. I’m originally from Munich in Germany and here on Koh Samui in Thailand I am part of the membership committee of Skal Koh Samui,” she said. Video footage showed Woinke carrying a small bunch of flowers and approaching the ambulance which was transporting Warne’s body from Koh Samui where he died, via ferry to the mainland. Woinke told the ABC she simply wanted to pay her respects and did not mean any harm. “I am a big fan of him. It’s very sad that we lost him. I just took the flowers to pay condolences,” she said. “I am sorry about yesterday but I [did] not mean [any] negative act by that. I am a big fan, he is a great player.” She was accompanied by a Thai woman who spoke to authorities near the ramp entrance to the ferry, reported by ABC to be immigration officials. The woman says in English, “yeah, yeah she knows him”, followed in Thai by, “thank you very much, she’s a friend”. They were both then escorted through parked cars to the ambulance where the German woman approaches the driver-side window, holding up the flowers to show the driver. The driver then gets out and walks around the sliding side door of the ambulance, opening the door for the woman, who enters, and closes it behind her. There are concerns about the length of time the woman spent unaccompanied with Warne’s body, although Thai police say the woman did not do anything illegal. Image: ABC News / YouTube

News

Dame Barbara Windsor dies aged 83

Actress Dame Barbara Windsor, who is best known for her roles in EastEnders and the Carry On films, has died at aged 83. Her husband Scott Mitchell said she had passed peacefully from Alzheimer's at a London care home on Thursday evening. He recounted his wife’s life beautifully, and said she would be remembered for the "love, fun, friendship and brightness she brought to all our lives". The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, who both met Dame Barbara, also went on to pay tribute to her acting and charity work. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "So sad about Barbara Windsor, so much more than a great pub landlady and Carry On star." He went on to say that she was "one of those people that just cheered you up, and cheered everybody up because she had a kind of irrepressible naughtiness that was totally innocent. "She did a lot of good work for charity and looking after lonely and vulnerable people, she lit up people's faces." Dame Barbara was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2014 and had moved to a care home earlier in 2020. She appeared in nine films in the Carry On comedy series, plus Sparrows Can't Sing, for which she was nominated for a Bafta, as well as parts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and On the Fiddle with Sir Sean Connery. She made a permanent mark for her portrayal of landlady Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders.

Oprah buys actor Jeff Bridges' Santa Barbara estate for $10 million

Another day, another home for Oprah. The TV star now owns at least six homes after selling the houses based in Chicago and Atlanta. The star has seemed to turn her focus to the Montecito neighbourhood of Santa Barbara, and her latest house purchase from actor-friend Jeff Bridges is no exception. She purchased the home after sneakily waiting for the price to be reduced from the initial price of $USD 7.495 million ($NZD 11,676,000) and snapped it up for $6.85 million ($NZD 10,669,000). That’s a price reduction of $NZD 1,007,000. The 3,517 square foot Spanish Revival-style home was originally built in 1919 by famous architect James Osborn Craig. The house has been carefully taken care of as it still has its original windows, doors, hardwood floors as well as five fireplaces. The home features two bedrooms and three bathrooms. High ceilings, expansive windows and French doors are around the home, with every room opening to beautiful gardens. The house sits on an impressive four acres of gardens and also has a pool. The master bedroom features an open-beamed ceiling, French doors and a fireplace. The kitchen boasts wood cabinetry and quartz countertops and large, expansive windows are a staple throughout most of the rooms in the house. Photo credit: Elevated Horizon courtesy of Coldwell Banker

Home & Garden

Inside Ellen DeGeneres' luxury $10 million Santa Barbara home

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have dropped the price of their gorgeous vintage farm near Santa Barbara, California. The property had over $1 million slashed from its price back in July and is now going for AUD$10 million. The prolific home owners purchased the home for AUD$9.8 million a little over a year ago and turned it into a posh, design-savvy home that is hard to resist! With three bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms with an additional barn house for a lucky guest, the 10.5 acre mountain and ocean-view property has become a haven for any potential buyer looking for seclusion in comfortable luxury. Built in 1917, the main floor has an open layout with wide, beautiful plank oak floors throughout to give a real farmhouse feel. The kitchen has a unique touch with all black granite counter tops, grey cabinetry, stone slabs and sleek, stainless steel appliances. The living and dining area also carry a dark tone with a painted stone fireplace. The master suite offers a size that is unlike any other - with vaulted ceilings, custom lighting and a french doors leading to a verandah it is the type of airy and spacious part of the home a haven. The property also comes with a century-old barn as well as a spa, various terraces pastures that give a view worth looking at. The equestrian estate is located between Montecito and Carpinteria - areas DeGeneres and her wife de Rossi are familiar with. The couple have spent an estimate of $145 million flipping homes. Scroll through the gallery above to see Ellen's gorgeous home.

International Travel

Inside Barbara Sinatra's $11 million Los Angeles penthouse

Barbara Sinatra’s Los Angeles penthouse is hitting the market for US$8 million (NZ$11.9 million). Located on the Wilshire Corridor in Westwood, the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.luxuryhomeslosangeles.com/idx/10560-wilshire-boulevard-los-angeles-ca-90024/15489222_spid/" target="_blank">apartment</a> was where the late socialite lived after the death of her husband, legendary singer Frank Sinatra. Before her death in 2017, Barbara used to entertain celebrity guests and friends such as Gregory Peck and Kirk Douglas, and invite them over for poker nights, according to Leonard Rabinowitz, listing agent of Hilton & Hyland and a friend of the Sinatras. The 520-square-metre property boasts four bedrooms, five terraces, an open floor plan and views of the mountains, ocean and city on all four sides. The living room features a wood-burning fireplace, along with a built-in bar and cocktail area, and a table that can be flipped over to become a poker table. A set of sliding glass doors connects the living room to the outdoor dining area with sceneries of surrounding mountains. The formal dining room has a private outdoor atrium and lounge area, while the kitchen is lined with black marble countertops. Before Frank died in 1998, he and Barbara split their time between their Beverly Hills estate and a Malibu beach house, Rabinowitz said. After the singer’s death, Barbara and her friends were robbed on a Beverly Hills street, prompting her to look for an apartment with additional security. She bought the 24-hour surveillance Westwood property in the early 2000s from Marilyn and Harry Lewis of the Hamburger Hamlet restaurant chain, according to public records. Scroll through the gallery above to see inside Barbara Sinatra’s lavish penthouse.

Music

Remembering Barbara Stanwyck: A life in pictures

109 years ago, Barbara Stanwyck whose original name was Ruby Stevens, was born in Brooklyn, US. The American motion picture and television actress gained traction in 1926 when she nabbed the leading role in Burlesque. What made her a legend in her own right was not the number of revered awards, money or fame. Ms Stanwyck died being known as an iconic figure throughout the early ‘30s, for her sheer talent and her versatility that made her a force to be reckoned with during Hollywood’s Golden era. Stanwyck was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress four times for her roles in Stella Dallas, Ball of Fire, Double Indemnity, and Sorry, Wrong Number. The adaptable and gifted talent won three Emmy awards, a Golden Globe and an honorary Oscar in 1982. Later, Stanwyck was made the recipient of honorary lifetime awards and eventually went on to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Barbara Stanwyck died 20 January 1990 in Santa Monica. Scroll through the gallery above to see a glimpse of Barbara Stanwyck’s life through pictures.

Art

Is ageism affecting you?

Barbara Binland is the pen name of a senior, Julie Grenness, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a poet, writer, and part-time English and Maths tutor, with over 40 years of experience. Her many books are available on Amazon and Kindle. Yah, we made it! We got old! Now we are ageing in the millennial world, which we have played a part in creating. Is ageism affecting you? Ageism is simply discrimination against older people in the workforce, in the media, in advertising, and in the social scene. One of the major areas where ageism is evident, is in the employment of older workers. Older workers can provide years of experience, life skills, and be great mentors to younger workers. But nearly a third of the officially unemployed workers are aged 45-65 years old. If someone loses their job at this age, they may never gain more than a casual, part-time position. These are the vital years pre-retirement, when employees build up savings and superannuation for their golden years. Basically, many employers do discriminate against hiring older workers from their candidates. Some unemployed older worker can retrain, but may battle an overlooked prejudice, the ageism of the potential employer. These retrained workers may never gain employment. If they do, they may have only 5-10 years of working life remaining. Many employers prefer to hire someone younger. Ageism is also evident in the media. For instance, no weather girl on the television is an old, grey, fat woman. Weather girls are anorexic, beautiful, blonde bimbos who can barely read an autocue. Maybe old, fat, grey women don’t want to be weather girls. That’s okay. Maybe they do, and the employers in television land hire young, attractive babes. That is ageism. On the other hand, ageism can factor in a reverse situation. An older, more experienced nurse, doctor, allied health professional, or a teacher, can still attract job opportunities. Society regards their experience as both valid and valuable. In my personal experience, as a teacher/tutor for 42 years, I receive part-time job offers as a tutor, several times per week. Nice to be asked. Moreover, seniors have discounts on travel fares, a senior’s card discount on purchases, and some concessions with their pensions. But is the level of the senior’s pension, a sign of ageism itself? Most household budgets are eroded by the cost of food and bills. What are your experiences? Is ageism affecting you?

Retirement Life

Relationship quiz: How well do you know your partner?

Relationships

How I fell head over heels in love with my pet

Barbara Binland is the pen name of a senior, Julie Grenness, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a poet, writer, and part-time English and Maths tutor, with over 40 years of experience. Her many books are available on Amazon and Kindle. So, you want a fur friend for your retirement! Domestic animals. For example, a dog. This is food for thought: who is these days domesticating whom? Exactly who invented emotional blackmail? Why, our pets. This is a little tale for you. Say you buy a puppy. Ooh, a cute fluffy puppy, like a Shi-Tsu. Ahh, cute and fluffy. You buy it a bed, a flash set of doggy bowls for food and water. You have to purchase it a leash, a collar, a coat, toys, flea and worming treatments. Plus your new owner, the puppy, shall need regular clippings. Ahh, a cute and fluffy puppy. Ahh, so cute. You place your puppy in the middle of the lounge room. Ahh, a little puddle. You promptly clean the carpet. Now you need to buy carpet cleaners and deodorants. Ahh, a cute and fluffy Shi-Tsu. So adorable. You buy a brush and puppy pen, and tenderly place your Shi-Tsu puppy in it. Ahhh, it does not like its puppy pen. It chews its way into the family room. You love this little fur friend already. So cute and fluffy. What’s next? Ahhhh, look the Shi-Tsu’s found your only pair of slippers. Ahhh, well, they were your slippers. Never mind. Ahhh, look, it’s time for a cute little puppy’s dinner. You kindly place appropriate puppy nibbles in its shiny brand new bowl. The cute and fluffy puppy does not want to eat the food! Ahhh! What is it going to eat? Looking in the fridge, you find some steak. Ahh, now you are cooking. Your cute and fluffy. Shi-Tsu thinks you are full of it, but basically lovable so long as you cook steak. Ahh, your puppy loves you. Ahhh, unconditional love. It has already acquired effective communication and emotional blackmail capability. Ahhh, little Shi-Tsu, so cute and fluffy, and funny. Look, now it is chewing the skirting board in the family room. Ahh, you love your puppy. Then, it is bedtime. Ahhh, you place your cute and fluffy Shi-Tsu in its bed, also cute and fluffy, with its brand new toys. You head off to bed after cleaning a couple more puddles. Ahhhh, exhausted, you sink into and turn off the bedside lamp. Wrong! A persistent whining and howling emanates from the family room. Ahhh, cute and fluffy Shi-Tsu is lonely. Ahhh, you pet your puppy. Ahhh, don’t wriggle in bed, your puppy might not like that. Ahhhh, your puppy snores! Delightfully cute. Ahhh, so cute and fluffy. Never mind, you can buy earplugs. See, you have acquired a canine who does not speak English, but it has already mastered effective communication. Never mind, “Tomorrow is a new day!” Your new cute and fluffy owner can sleep on your bed all day, while you drive off to the supermarket in the rain to buy it more steak. Don’t forget the earplugs! Never mind. You have been domesticated in symbiosis by emotional blackmail. Unconditional love? So, you wanted a companion fur friend in retirement. Yes, your dog shall make your world a better place…

Family & Pets

A humorous poem about “man flu”

Body

Barbara Bush dies at 92: US first lady’s parting jab at son George W. Bush

Former US first lady Barbara Bush passed away yesterday at age 92, but as <a href="http://www.news.com.au/" target="_blank">News.com.au reports</a>, the notoriously witty matriarch of one of America’s most famous political families, was still cracking jokes right up until the end. Her eldest, former US President George W. Bush, has revealed in the days leading up to her passing, she continued to playfully needle him as she had in the past. At one points, Mrs Bush reportedly turned to the doctor and said: “You want to know why George W. is the way he is?” The doctor had looked a little surprised. “Because I drank and smoked when I was pregnant with him,” she replied. Mr Bush spoke in glowing praise of his mother, saying she, “was warm and wonderful, until you got out of line.” This was by no means the first time Mrs Bush gave one of her son’s a gentle ribbing, as she famously joked around with her son Jeb Bush during his bid to become US President. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6IuDx88RwUo" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> “The best news of the day was that my mum finally said I was her favourite,” Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, quipped to his mum. “Oh no I didn’t,” she said laughing. “You mean of all of the children?” “Yeah,” Bush deadpanned. “No,” she quipped. Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath released a statement from the family following her passing. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Herewith a statement from former President <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeHWBush?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GeorgeHWBush</a>. <a href="https://t.co/USSq5RkD4g">pic.twitter.com/USSq5RkD4g</a> — Jim McGrath (@jgm41) <a href="https://twitter.com/jgm41/status/986662348017537025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2018</a></blockquote> Our thoughts are with Mrs Bush’s friends and family. Image credit: Twitter / US Secret Service

Caring

Barbara Streisand opens up: "I wasn't pretty enough to be harassed"

Barbara Streisand has revealed she’s never suffered sexual harassment in Hollywood, but has felt abused by the media. In a wide-ranging interview with director, product and long-time admirer Ryan Murphy, Streisand spoke candidly about her career, the #MeToo movement and her aversion to interviews. When asked if she had ever been sexually harassed or mistreated, Streisand replied: “Never”. “I wasn’t like those pretty girls with those nice little noses. Maybe that’s why,” she added. Of the #MeToo movement sweeping the entertainment industry, she said, “We’re in a strange time now in terms of men and women and the pendulum swinging this way and that way, and it’s going to have to come to the centre.” She also opened up about her reluctance to speak to the media, which is based on years of what she labelled “inaccurate reporting”. One particularly persistent story that Streisand labelled as false is that she has an “awards room” at home dedicated to her Oscars, Emmys and other trophies. She also criticised the late American TV journalist Mike Wallace, recalling how when she was a young star (and before Wallace joined 60 Minutes) he asked her a series of hurtful questions during a TV interview and she had complained to him afterwards. However, on a subsequent show Wallace told viewers who’d objected to his line questioning of Streisand that she “loved” the interview. “I thought, I don’t know what date rape is, it’s terrible … but it was such a violation,” she said. “Why lie?” The interview, which was part of a tribute to Streisand for the 35th annual PaleyFest LA television festival at the Dolby Theatre, ended with Murphy’s own personal tribute to the Funny Girl star. “People talk about Barbra as the greatest female star. I say, no, that’s not enough,” Murphy said, adding, “She was a touchstone, a beacon I followed my entire life.”

Music

How childhood has dramatically changed over the years

Barbara Binland is the pen name of a senior, Julie Grenness, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a poet, writer, and part-time English and Maths tutor, with over 40 years of experience. Her many books are available on Amazon and Kindle. Another little baby boomer was born. Maybe our mothers smoked or drank during their pregnancies. Moreover, our mothers took aspirin or Bex, ate fish from tins, and had no ultrasounds or pre-natal testing. Having been born, we were swaddled to the max, and cradled in bassinets and cots, painted with lead-based paints. We grew up in homes with no locks on cupboards or doors. We were given toy guns and loved playing cowboys. For transport, we rode on pushbikes or tricycles with no helmets, and bounced around in cars with no seat belts or child booster seats. In daily life we were told to ‘go and play’, so we mucked around in large backyards, drank from the garden hose, shared drinks, and ate mud pies in the vegetable patch. We grew brown to the great summer sun. It was all good for our immune system, according to our old Grandpa. Hence, potential skin cancer these days. We all took our lunch to school, sandwiches of white bread with real butter. We ate home baked cakes cooked with real white sugar and full cream milk. We ate musk lollies and lolly cigarettes. We were always playing, no one was checking constantly on a mobile phone where we were all day. We had no watches, or smart phones. When the street lighting came on, we went indoors for dinner of meat and three vegetables, home grown. We ate fruit from our fathers’ fruit trees. What is more, we studied at schools in large grades. No laptops, no computer, no internet, or even calculators for doing Maths. We had to use our brains. We had no GPS to find our way around the suburbs to seek our friends, who all lived nearby. We climbed trees, scraped knees, got cuts and broken bones, and got into ‘trouble’ at school, or when ‘father’ came home. No one got litigated. Lots of times we spent happy hours making up games with tennis balls or skipping ropes, and boys made go-carts, and had slingshots. We made our own fun. So, what changed all that? Why, we became the generation that stopped Vietnam, had flowers in our hair, and along the way, invented technology. This is our legacy, we were the inventors. Thanks to the demise of the brick veneer or weatherboard dwelling, the great suburban dream, many millennial children are growing up in multi-cluster homes, with no back yard. They play in the concrete driveway, or online. They are constantly supervised by their mobile phones. For friends, they travel to sporting complexes, under heavy escort, to play in approved sporting teams. Their education is that of the 21st century, a visual graphic and communicative approach. We had to learn with rote page turning in a limited range of text books. Norms change. But we all survived. Somehow. Any of this ring a bell? What are your nostalgic memories of your childhood, now we are all ‘grown up’? Share your stories in the comments below!

Family & Pets

4 great ideas for working from home in retirement

<img width="131" height="112" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7268501/julie-g-aka-barbara-bindland_131x112.jpg" alt="Julie G Aka Barbara Bindland (16)" style="float: right;"/> Barbara Binland is the pen name of a senior, Julie Grenness, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a poet, writer, and part-time English and Maths tutor, with over 40 years of experience. Her many books are available on Amazon and Kindle. Now it is retirement time. Being retired can be a forever Saturday. But for some folk, retirement does not last too long. For over-60s, there can be ways of engaging in part-time work, without commuting. You can be free to work when you choose, and do not need fashionable clothes. It is convenient if you have a significant other at home. A benefit of having a home office, as an example, you can write off a part of your expenses on any taxes. But, if you are planning to work from home, you must be very self-motivated, to complete tasks. You can miss out on the company which a workplace provides. You might feel that you never leave your workplace. Working from home can make clutter, so you have to manage that. Overworking, by spending too many hours on a job, and undervaluing your services, are common drawbacks to working from home. So, you wish to work from home now you are retired. What are some options for employment, paid or voluntary? 1. Online work. This can include: tutoring, writing, graphic art and illustration, editing, virtual office assistant, transcript employment (for example, for medical or legal professionals), bookkeeper, data clerk, medical biller, customer service representative, blogger, web and software development, research assistant, and other kinds of online work. 2. You do not have to work online. For example, you can tutor face-to-face at home. You can volunteer or set a fee for jobs like nannying (grand-nanny!), do catering, or ironing. There are voluntary jobs you can do at home, such as envelope stuffing for charities. Or you can craft for charities. 3. You can declutter your home and sell preloved items online. Sites like Ebay, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace are great places to get started. If you have DVDs or CDs lying around, selling these can raise cash flow. 4. You can create handcrafts, or toys, and also sell them online. Of course, these are only examples. Simply browsing, focusing on your skills and experience, may give you a lead for post-retirement choices, if you wish to work at home. One factor to consider is to beware of scams, especially online. Anyone who offers you extraordinary wages, or demands a fee from you for employment, is representing a scam. Over-sixty and retiring? Your retirement does not have to last too long!

Retirement Life

What is self-healing?

Barbara Binland is the pen name of a senior, Julie Grenness, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a poet, writer, and part-time English and Maths tutor, with over 40 years of experience. Her many books are available on Amazon and Kindle. Self-healing? What does this mean? Well, the human body does possess a great capacity to heal itself. Now we are over 60, we have more time for ourselves. We can devote some thought to focus on our body’s self-healing. This is such a beneficial practice, to maintain long life and good health. How does self-healing work? Basically, each human body consists of cells, which are always renewing, from the time we are born. Amazing. Our human bodies need essential elements to promote good cell renewal, as a prevention of disease and damage. These can be caused by inflammation, infection and extreme stress. Vitally, for self-healing, our bodies need adequate sleep and rest. It is a great idea to invest in a good bed, and aim for an undisturbed sleep pattern. When we are sleeping, our bodily cells are repairing and regenerating. In addition, a good night’s sleep maintains good physical, emotional and mental health. Another essential factor for self-healing is to aim for a healthy food intake. In the past, we may have consumed take-away food, or sugary, fatty foods. Now is the time to improve our bodies’ self-healing potential with good energy. A healthy, nutrient-rich diet is an important way of achieving this. We can reduce our intake of fat-laden processed foods, by eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds, lean meats, and nourishing soups. All these can boost our vitality. Fresh is best! Importantly, for baby boomer self-healing, a regular, moderate exercise program is an ideal benefit. Not only does exercise promote restorative sleep, but it strengthens our bodies, enabling both circulation and heart health. Good for the waistline too! Exercise can consist of fun activities too, whatever you enjoy! What about reducing stress factors? One good tip is to think logically. In any situation, aim to decide what is your problem, what is ‘their’ problem, what you can do to make ‘them’ accountable for ‘their’ problems, and then it is not your problem. No problems. We can put ‘their’ problems from our minds, and move on to focus on our own lives, and not worry about things too much. This takes a bit of practice, but it is a very good habit of stress reduction. There is no need to be drama mamas. Now we are over 60, each of us is in control of our self-healing. If we can promote our own self-healing, we can feel much better, and reduce endless visits to the doctors and pharmacists. Self-healing – give it a go!

Mind

Why we still can’t get enough of denim

<img width="129" height="110" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7264819/julie-g-aka-barbara-bindland_129x110.jpg" alt="Julie G Aka Barbara Bindland (13)" style="float: left;"/>Barbara Binland is the pen name of a senior, Julie Grenness, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a poet, writer, and part-time English and Maths tutor, with over 40 years of experience. Her many books are available on Amazon and Kindle. Over sixty, and wearing denim. We still look good in jeans. Or we think we do. In 2017, denim jeans are part of practically everyone’s apparel. For the over-60s, the denim jeans we still wear reflect a part of our lives. Jeans are like a statement of more than fashion. Originally, denim jeans in the USA represented cowboys, and the Wild West. Then came Marlon Brando in The Wild One, in his jeans. In the swinging sixties, the American college students, and teens around the globe, started wearing blue jeans as a symbol of solidarity with youth, with anti-discrimination, and with anti-drafting for the troops battling in Vietnam. Women could wear jeans to embrace equality. Our singers in bands used to wear denim jeans. Their music was all our own. We all still love our jeans. Denim fits us, wears well, and each pair of jeans fades in its own unique way. Some of us have adopted fleecy tracksuits along the way, for total comfort. But for street wear, denim jeans are an evergreen popular choice. So what has survived the swinging sixties? Our youth has gone, our music consists of aging pop stars, such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the Silent Spring is even more silent, and Vietnam is only a story to the modern children. Revolutionary free love has disappeared in a cloud of AIDS and STD’s. The millennial generations regard us as genial Neanderthal doshbags. But the denim still survives. Trends may come, and fads may go, but the denim is as popular as ever. We are now the aging baby boomers, over-60 relics of the swinging sixties, when we were growing up into a new world. We still look good in our jeans, or think we do. Was it really all about the denim? *Image is a stock photo and not of Barbara Binland.

Beauty & Style

How to find the right housing option for you

<img width="149" height="127" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45412/julie-g-aka-barbara-bindland_149x127.jpg" alt="Julie G Aka Barbara Bindland (9)" style="float: left;"/>Barbara Binland is the pen name of a senior, Julie Grenness, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a poet, writer, and part-time English and Maths tutor, with over 40 years of experience. Her many books are available on Amazon and Kindle. It is retirement! Accommodation can be a focus. Do you need to downsize the family home? A unit, perhaps, with a smaller or little garden space, can be easier to maintain. The purchase price can be prohibitive. You can lease a unit, to free up any capital. There is available, subsidised housing for people on benefits, such as the senior’s pension. But, waiting lists apply. As we age, there are available, as necessary, subsidised cleaning and maintenance services from local councils, at a reduced fee. These can include home cleaning, window washing, cleaning of spoutings, and home delivery of a range of meals. You may need to engage the services of a gardener, as funds permit. If you have little family support, aging packages are available, in order to maintain seniors in their own home. It is all dependent on your financial capacity. Then there are retirement villages. These provide a new community of friends and acquaintances, and can offer facilities and services in one location. The residents can dwell in their own units, and socialise, or not. Some retirement villages provide bus transport for shopping and leisure trips, meals in a communal dining area, recreational activities and interest groups, as well as on-call nursing supervision for any medical emergency. Furthermore, some retirement villages maintain their own nursing home attachment, but there are waiting lists. In summary, life in a retirement village is what you make it. You can decide where your best interests lie. Finally, there are nursing homes. These days, most nursing homes are managed by private organisations, although some are government funded. Again, waiting lists apply. Nursing homes can be our ‘forever homes’, as our faculties and mobility decline. Most nursing homes are well maintained, staffed and cleaned appropriately, with well-cooked meals. They provide appropriate age-related activities, and on-call specialist geriatric nurses, with access to other medical professional support. Some single senior people have been known to apply to nursing homes, but often placement is a family decision. Costs and waiting lists can be factors in this area. Do not worry about such matters until it happens. Let the future take care of itself. You woke up, anyway, cheers! We can all aim to be happy campers, dear!

Caring

Remembering childhood TV

<img width="152" height="130" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/44874/julie-g-aka-barbara-bindland_152x130.jpg" alt="Julie G Aka Barbara Bindland (8)" style="float: left;"/>Barbara Binland is the pen name of a senior, Julie Grenness, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a poet, writer, and part-time English and Maths tutor, with over 40 years of experience. Her many books are available on Amazon and Kindle. Baby boomers, those born between 1940 and 1961. Now we are all over 60, bald or grey. What did shape us along the way? Well, most of us can recall that one of our influences was a free standing black and white television, which appeared, like a seductive stranger, in the corner of the lounge room. Our homes were in sprawling suburbs, three or four bedroomed weatherboards, or brick veneers, hot in summer and cold in winter. Our early evenings were devoted to gaping at our new possession, the television. Someone had to walk the expanse of the lounge room to turn the switches for transmission, and change the channels. If we were allowed to stay up ‘late’, the television played the national anthem, the set was turned off, and we were ‘allowed’ to go to bed. The family gathered to be life-coached by American sit-coms, of variable standard and humour. We all lapped it up devotedly. Walt Disney was a large influence. Disneyland was like a fairy tale, we all wanted to wear black Mickey Mouse ears, without asking why. Even stranger, all our issues and family relations could be solved, by tuning in to Leave it to Beaver, or Father Knows Best. Or did he? Then, our mothers tried to look like Lucille Ball, a poodle in a gingham flouncy skirt and steel rollers in her hair, 24/7. Weird. Weirder still – our greatest mentor as young Australians was Lassie! Who was Lassie? Lassie was, in reality, a male dog acting as a female – in fact, all the Lassies were males, and their sons). Lassie would never say a word in English, or any other language. She/he only spoke dog language. Yes, a mute collie dog waving her paw through a small black and white screen, in shades of grey. This shaped our generation in Australia, the baby boomers – these days, the over-60s. But we are still a product of our life and times, a childhood life coached by Lassie. Worth a giggle. A little verse for you. LASSIE LOVERS TODAY! It’s time for the Lassie show again, Switched on in world of black, white and grey, Let’s all give Lassie a wave, As Lassie appears today, But Lassie does not have much to say, Yes, we’ve learnt our family values today, Half an hour of Lassie again… Now we’re old, bald or grey, In a Lassie-lovers kind of way, Let’s all have a kick butt day!

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Remembering childhood TV