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No more brown leaves: sage advice from a gardening expert

<p>We’ve all been there before. We’re watering our seemingly healthy houseplant when suddenly there it is: a tinge of brown on the plant’s leaf. Yikes. But what do brown tips on leaves mean for your plant, and what can you do to make them go away? Read on to find out.</p> <p><strong>Lack of water or humidity</strong></p> <p>If your plant is sporting crispy, dark, or brown tips on its leaves, it may mean you need to water more often. Check the soil moisture and slowly reduce the number of days in between watering. Watch your plants for signs of improvement.</p> <p>Lack of humidity could also be the cause. Tropical plants prefer higher humidity levels than we have in our homes. When we turn on the heat in winter, there’s even less moisture in the air. Group plants together so that as one loses moisture through its leaves, the neighbours benefit. Or place plants on saucers or trays filled with pebbles and water. Set a pot on the pebbles above the water. As the water evaporates, it will increase the humidity around the plant, where it is needed.</p> <p><strong>Lack of nutrients</strong></p> <p>A lack of key nutrients may be behind the brown tips on leaves of your plant. Burned-looking leaf tips, or old leaves with dark green or reddish-purplish colouring, may indicate a phosphorus deficiency. With a potassium deficiency, you may see yellow or brown along older leaf tips and edges, yellowing between veins, curling leaves, or spotting.</p> <p>For potted plants, add a slow-release type of fertiliser to the soil mix before planting. Every time you water, a little fertiliser is released, providing a steady flow of nutrients. But depending on the growing conditions and number of plants in the container, a midseason boost may be needed. Stay on top of your fertiliser applications by making notes on a calendar.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/food-home-garden/gardening-tips/why-does-my-plant-have-brown-tips-on-the-leaves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p>

Home & Garden

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Olympic star shot and killed

<p>An Olympic sprinter has been shot and killed while trying to break up a fight. </p> <p>Shavez Hart, an Olympian from the Bahamas, tragically died just days before his 30th birthday when a fight between a group of men broke out in the carpark of a nightclub. </p> <p>According to reports, one man left the scene but returned armed with a gun and opened fire, shooting Hart in the chest around 2am.</p> <p>The Olympian was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. </p> <p>Police have taken a suspect into custody and an investigation into the shooting is ongoing. </p> <p>The Bahamas Olympic Committee paid tribute to the sprinter in a statement.</p> <p>They said, "The Olympic family is saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Shavez Hart."</p> <p>"He was always very humble, yet proud and determined to offer the very best of himself for the sake of country."</p> <p>Hart's mother told the Nassau Guardian her son will be greatly missed.</p> <p>She said, "He was such a good son – very quiet and always helpful."</p> <p>"He did a lot of work in the community and was always trying to give back. I will certainly miss him."</p> <p>The country's Prime Minister Philip Brave Davies paid his respects in a tweet and said, "On behalf of my family and the people of The Bahamas, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of Shavez Hart."</p> <p>"As a country, we've been blessed to have had an amazing athlete carry our flag worldwide."</p> <p>"Ann and I will keep the family of Shavez in our thoughts and prayers."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

News

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The Wind in the Willows — a tale of wanderlust, male bonding, and timeless delight

<p>Like several classics penned during the golden age of children’s literature, The Wind in the Willows was written with a particular child in mind.</p> <p>Alastair Grahame was four years old when his father Kenneth — then a secretary at the Bank of England — began inventing bedtime stories about the reckless ruffian, Mr Toad, and his long-suffering friends: Badger, Rat, and Mole.</p> <p>Alastair, born premature and partially blind, was nicknamed “Mouse”. Small, squinty, and beset by health problems, he was bullied at school. His rapture in the fantastic was later confirmed by his nurse, who recalled hearing Kenneth “up in the night-nursery, telling Master Mouse some ditty or other about a toad”.</p> <p>The Wind in the Willows evolved from Alastair’s bedtime tales into a series of letters Grahame later sent his son while on holiday in Littlehampton. In the story, a quartet of anthropomorphised male animals wander freely in a pastoral land of leisure and pleasure — closely resembling the waterside haven of Cookham Dean where Grahame himself grew up.</p> <p>In peaceful retreat from “The Wide World”, Rat, Mole, Badger, and Toad spend their days chatting, philosophising, pottering, and ruminating on the latest fashions and fads. But when the daredevil, Toad, takes up motoring, he becomes entranced by wild fantasies of the road. His concerned friends must intervene to restrain his whims, teaching him “to be a sensible toad”.</p> <p>Unlike Toad’s recuperative ending, however, Alastair’s story did not end happily. In the spring of 1920, while a student at Oxford, he downed a glass of port before taking a late night stroll. The next morning, railway workers found his decapitated body on tracks near the university. An inquest determined his death a likely suicide but out of respect for his father, it was recorded as an accident.</p> <p>Kenneth Grahame, by all accounts, never recovered from the loss of his only child. He became increasingly reclusive, eventually abandoning writing altogether.</p> <p>In his will, he gifted the original manuscript of Willows to the Bodleian Library, along with the copyrights and all his royalties. Upon his death in 1932, he was buried in Oxford next to his first reader, Mouse.</p> <p>A ‘gay manifesto’?<br />Biographical readings are a staple in children’s literature, and the criticism surrounding The Wind in the Willows is no exception. First published in 1908 — the same year as Anne of Green Gables and Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz — the novel was initially titled The Mole and the Water-Rat. After back and forth correspondence with Grahame, his publisher Sir Algernon Methuen wrote to say he had settled on The Wind in the Willows because of its “charming and wet sound”.</p> <p>Today, one of the mysteries surrounding the novel is the meaning of the title. The word “willows” does not appear anywhere in the book; the single form “willow” appears just twice.</p> <p>When Willows was first released in Britain it was marketed as an allegory — “a fantastic and whimsical satire upon life”, featuring a cast of woodland and riverside creatures who were closer to an Edwardian gentlemen’s club than a crowd of animals. Indeed, the adventures structuring the novel are the meanderings of old English chaps nostalgic for another time.</p> <p>The four friends, though different in disposition, are bound by their “divine discontent and longing”.</p> <p>Restless enough to be easily bewitched, they are rich enough to fill their days with long picnics and strolls. Most chapters are sequenced in chronological order, but the action revolves around different types of wandering – pottering around the garden, messing about in boats, rambling along country lanes.</p> <p>With the exception of a brief encounter with a jailer’s daughter, an overweight barge woman, and a careless mother hedgehog, there are no women in Willows. And excluding a pair of young hedgehogs and a group of field mice, all male, there are no children either.</p> <p>Given the novel’s strong homosocial subtext and absence of female characters, the story is often read as an escapist fantasy from Grahame’s unhappy marriage to Elspeth Thomson. Peter Hunt, an eminent scholar of Willows, describes the couple’s relationship as “sexually arid” and suggests Grahame’s sudden resignation from the bank in 1908 was due to bullying on the basis of his sexuality.</p> <p>Indeed, Hunt ventures to call the book “a gay manifesto”, reading it as a gay allegory heavy with suppressed desire and latent homoeroticism. In one scene, for example, Mole and Rat “shake off their garments” and “tumble in-between the sheets in great joy and contentment”.</p> <p>Earlier, while sharing a bed in the open air, Mole “reaches out from under his blanket, feels for the Rat’s paw in the darkness, and gives it a squeeze.” “I’ll do whatever you like, Ratty,” he whispers.</p> <p>For this reason, and others, some critics suggest that Willows is not a children’s book at all, but a novel for adults that can be enjoyed by children.</p> <p>Conservatism<br />Whether we read Willows as a simple animal story or a social satire, the narrative reinforces the status quo. Badger, for instance, resembles a gruff headmaster whose paternal concern for his friends extends to an earnest attempt to reform the inebriate Toad.</p> <p>Toad is a recognisable type of schoolboy, charming and impulsive but wildly arrogant and lacking self-control. In the end, he is punished for his foolish behaviour and forced to forgo his flamboyant egotism in humble resignation at Toad Hall. Similarly, Mole and Ratty are afflicted by wanderlust, but inevitably retreat to their cosy, subterranean homes. All of Grahame’s animals return to their “proper” place.</p> <p>This return to civility and quiet domesticity exemplifies a criticism often levelled at children’s literature: that such stories are more about the fears and desires of adults than those of children. (Alice in Wonderland, for instance, emphasises the importance of curiosity and imagination, but is also an attempt to socialise children into responsible citizenship.)</p> <p>Willows is a story about homecoming and friendship, but also a psychodrama about uncontrolled behaviour and addiction in Edwardian England.</p> <p>Creatures of habit<br />Perhaps the most famous scene in Willows — now also a popular ride at Disneyland — is Mr Toad’s Wild Ride. In the novel, the incautious Toad, who is oddly large enough to drive a human-sized car, is frequently in trouble with the law and even imprisoned due to his addiction to joyriding.</p> <p>At times delusional, the self-proclaimed “terror of the highway” writes off several vehicles before spiralling into a cycle of car theft, dangerous driving, and disorderly behaviour.</p> <p>Eventually, Toad’s motorcar mania becomes so unmanageable that his exasperated friends are forced to stage “a mission of mercy” – a “work of rescue” that contemporary readers might recognise as an intervention. This subtext of addiction underpins the arc of recovery, and is crucial for understanding the novel’s key themes: the limits of friendship, the loss of pastoral security, and the temptations of city life.</p> <p>Interestingly, in Badger’s attempt to help Toad break the cycle of withdrawal and recovery, and in Toad’s temporary abatement and relapse, the text points to another form of addiction: to alcohol.</p> <p>When Toad is banished to his country retreat — a typical “cure” for upper-class alcoholism at the time — Badger stresses he will remain in enforced confinement “until the poison has worked itself out of his system” and his “violent paroxysms” have passed.</p> <p>Again, the biographical foundation of the work is clear. Grahame’s father, Cunningham, was an alcoholic whose heavy drinking resulted, like Toad’s intoxication, in social exile, financial strain, and the loss of the family home.</p> <p>In The Wind in the Willows, Grahame employs animals to render all the ups and downs of human experience. In doing so, he captures the conflict and consonance between freedom and captivity, tradition and modernity.</p> <p class="p1"><em>Written by Kate Cantrell. This article first appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-the-wind-in-the-willows-a-tale-of-wanderlust-male-bonding-and-timeless-delight-151091">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Books

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Pink shares sweet tribute to husband

<p>Pink knows how to keep it honest and genuine with her fans about her relationship.</p> <p>The singer shared a beautiful post dedicated to her husband Carey Hart on Tuesday and admitted that while marriage has not been the easiest journey, she wouldn’t change it.</p> <p>"He's still my favorited sweet little dirtball. He and I have been at this a long time, and it is our relentless and stubborn idealism that keeps us together," she began her lengthy post.</p> <p>"Marriage is awful, wonderful, comfort and rage. It is boring, terrifying, and a total nail biter. It is loving another fallible creature while trying to love yourself. It is a lifetime of coming back to the table."</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CFI0QbRpNE6/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CFI0QbRpNE6/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by P!NK (@pink)</a> on Sep 14, 2020 at 5:52pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>At one point in their 14-year marriage, the pair did get up and leave the so-called table.</p> <p>There was a point in the couple’s 14-year-marriage that they decided to split.</p> <p>Two years after their picture-perfect beach ceremony in Costa Rica in 2006, Pink announced they she and her hubby had called it quits for the time being.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B9emKzAJ2vy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B9emKzAJ2vy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">#internationalwomensday strong women; may we know them, may we raise them, may we be them.</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/pink/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> P!NK</a> (@pink) on Mar 8, 2020 at 8:42am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>A year later in 2009, she says they came out stronger than ever thanks to therapy.</p> <p>She wrote: "Therapy isn't for weak people or hippies or liberals. It's for broken people that want to be whole. It's for runaways that want a family. It's a lesson on how to sit down and listen. How to love yourself so that the other person can, too.</p> <p>"I love you babe. I'm grateful we made it to this photo." </p> <p>The couple now share two children together: daughter Willow, nine, and son Jameson, three.</p>

Relationships

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Father's reason for leaving little Willow Dunn to die in her cot

<p>A man accused of leaving his four-year-old daughter to starve to death, has told police why he left his little girl in her bed for so long she had developed sores that went right to the bone. </p> <p>Little Willow Dunn's body was found malnourished and decomposing in her bed at her Brisbane home on Monday.</p> <p>Reports say her face was partially eaten away by rats.</p> <p>Her father, Mark James Dunn, 43, has since been charged with murder after he allegedly found the toddler dead on Saturday and didn't call emergency services.</p> <p>“We just can't wait to meet her,” Ms Dunn had written to a friend who had commented on how heavily pregnant she was in photos from a party.</p> <p>Instead of Ms Dunn being able to meet her baby, she died in childbirth - which Dunn says sent him into a spiral.</p> <p>Dunn allegedly told police after his arrest he couldn't handle his daughter’s condition - Down Syndrome - and was depressed about the death of his wife.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7836269/willow-dunn-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/65a5fc93ee6b44e4859effad6c7ee5b7" /><span class="CmCaReT" style="display: none;">�</span></p> <p>Reports say Willow was sent to live with relatives when she was born.</p> <p>It is also understood the toddler had Down Syndrome.</p> <p>A year later, Dunn took his daughter and her brother, who is now seven, back to live with him despite relatives attempting to take custody of both children.</p> <p>He allegedly left the helpless toddler lying in her bed long enough for her to have infected sores on her hips that went right down to the bone.</p> <p>Her body was reportedly found in a back bedroom inside the Brisbane home on Bent Street in Cannon Hill, where she lived with her father, stepmother and stepsister.</p> <p>Willow's stepmother and stepsister are not facing charges. There is no suggestion there was any wrongdoing.</p> <p>Ms Dunn also had an adult son and daughter from a previous relationship, who mourned their baby half-sister on Facebook.</p> <p>“Rest in Peace Willow. It's so heartbreaking things have turned out this way, but you will forever be in our hearts. Fly high with mum,” her son wrote.</p> <p>Neighbours began leaving flowers for the sweet toddler on Tuesday, with many saying they had never seen the little girl themselves despite the family moving in over a year ago.</p> <p>“They’ve been there for that long and we didn’t know a little girl lived there,” one neighbour said.</p> <p>“That’s the big take-home for me. I can’t believe it.”</p> <p>Dunn is being charged under a new definition of murder in Queensland which targets child-killers who showed a “reckless indifference to human life”.</p> <p>The case has been adjourned until July 20 after it was briefly mentioned in Brisbane magistrates court on Tuesday, although Dunn did not appear in person.</p> <p>Queensland’s tough new law was introduced on May 1, 2019 and permits that a person can be charged with murder if death is caused by a “reckless indifference to human life”.</p> <p>To be found guilty under the new law would mean the accused doing an act has foresight that death will likely arise from the act.</p> <p>Child Safety Minister Di Farmer has given no detail over the department's contact with the family.</p> <p>“The death of any child is a tragedy,” she said in a statement.</p> <p>“I know the death of this little girl has had a profound impact on our community and my deepest sympathies go to those who knew and loved this child.”</p> <p>One neighbour, Kathy Cowell spoke with 10 News while after laying flowers outside the house in honour of Willow.</p> <p>”It's just a sad way for a little girl to go,” she told 10 News.</p> <p>“I’ve got grandchildren, it's just very, very sad. No four-year-old deserves to pass like that.”</p>

Family & Pets

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Pink’s daughter Willow debuts new “punk rock” haircut

<p>Carey Hart has taken to Instagram to share his love and pride for his daughter’s “punk rock” makeover. </p> <p>The 44-year-old pro motocross competitor shared a special photograph of his eight-year-old daughter Willow’s brand new half-shaved haircut. </p> <p>The proud papa, who is married to pop star Pink shared a sweet message of support by saying: "Loving my punk rock daughter.</p> <p>"Remember everyone, fly your own flag. There is no box to be put in. It's better to be your own self. Own it, and love it. </p> <p>“And if anyone has a problem with it, tell them (politely) to move on. Can't wait to see the woman you grow up to be. </p> <p>“I have a feeling you are gonna be strong, fierce, compassionate, and caring. I'm so proud of you, Willow," he concluded.</p> <p>Hart also shared a meaningful message for his wife’s 40th birthday on September 8, thanking her for constantly inspiring him. </p> <p>"Welcome to 40 baby. I've celebrated 18 birthdays with you, and I can say it's amazing growing up with you,” he wrote. </p> <p>“The person you have grown into is inspiring. You have become a successful business woman, superstar, dedicated mother, philanthropist, supportive wife, wine maker, motorcycle mama, and amazing friend to all around you,”. </p> <p>He and Pink also share a two-year-old son Jameson and have been married since 2006. </p> <p>Scroll through the gallery above to see the pop star’s family throughout the years. </p>

Music

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Pink's daughter Willow rushed to hospital

<p>Singer Pink was faced with a quite a scare yesterday as she had to rush her 7-year-old daughter to hospital after an accident in the playground.</p> <p><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/music/it-runs-in-the-family-pink-s-7-year-old-daughter-willow-can-seriously-sing" target="_blank">Willow Hart</a> was playing on the monkey bars like all children do before she fell and sprained her arm. But despite the mad rush to the hospital, the young girl has a positive attitude.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpjFxJGh4fK/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpjFxJGh4fK/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">Monkey bars from hell. ER convos with my soulchild. #shesfine Her fav part of all of this is that she doesn’t have to do her chores.</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/pink/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank"> P!NK</a> (@pink) on Oct 30, 2018 at 12:07am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“Monkey bars from hell. ER convos with my soulchild. #shesfine,” the singer wrote underneath a photo showing the mother and daughter in a deep conversation while in a hospital room. “Her fav part of all of this is that she doesn’t have to do her chores.”</p> <p>It didn’t take Willow long before she was running around again, but this time, there was an added sling.</p> <p>Her dad Carey Hart gushed over his girl, saying she’s as tough as they come.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpioUzkHuaI/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpioUzkHuaI/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">Willz has her first ER trip today due to a crash and burn on the monkey bars. She is tough as nails and left w/ a sprain. #ProudPapa #BubbleWrapYourKids</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/hartluck/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank"> Carey Hart</a> (@hartluck) on Oct 29, 2018 at 7:49pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“Willz [had] her first ER trip today due to a crash and burn on the monkey bars. She is tough as nails and left w/ a sprain,” wrote Hart, as he posted a photo of Willow with a sling around her arm.</p> <p>This isn’t the first health scare the family has had to deal with this year, as only two months ago, Pink and Carey’s 22-month-old son Jameson fell ill with with hand, foot and mouth disease during the pop star's tour in Australia.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BnBI56QDsYB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BnBI56QDsYB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">Wanna know how glamorous tour can be? Jameson has hand, foot, and mouth; and willow has a 102 temp. Both kids laid up and mama @pink still has to push through and do shows. I had Jameson at breakfast yesterday and this vile woman at the table next to us kept staring at him with a shitty look on her face. I told her it was bed bugs 😂. #NoRestForTheWicked #LifeInHotels</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/hartluck/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank"> Carey Hart</a> (@hartluck) on Aug 28, 2018 at 2:37am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“Wanna know how glamorous tour can be? Jameson has hand, foot and mouth; and Willow has a 102 temp,” Carey shared on Instagram during the time of the incident. “Both kids laid up and mama @pink still has to push through and do shows.”</p> <p>And it wasn’t only her kids that had suffered with health problems. Pink also fell sick during her time in Australia which resulted in a number of cancelled Sydney shows. She was admitted to hospital twice, once for dehydration and then the second was due to a gastric virus.</p> <p>“We were absolutely planning on going ahead with the show, and about 20 minutes before I left for soundcheck, I was rushed to the hospital, in excruciating pain,” she wrote. “That was the reason for the late cancellation. It was out of anyone’s control, and of course, wasn’t planned that way."</p> <p>The singing sensation added, “I was discharged from hospital last night and am following doctors’ orders of liquids and rest.”</p>

Music

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It runs in the family! Pink’s 7-year-old daughter Willow can seriously sing

<p>A newly-released YouTube video gives a revealing glimpse into how the daughter of music superstar Pink has inherited her mum’s impressive vocal talents.</p> <p>Recording her track <em>A Million Dreams</em> for <em>The Greatest Showman – Reimagined</em>, an album of covers from the hugely successful Hugh Jackman-starring movie musical, Pink and her 7-year-old daughter Willow Sage Hart engage in playful banter between takes.</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V1weVGUmNTA" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>“I think you’re fun,” the 39-year-old tells her daughter, who replies, “Why?”</p> <p>“Because you’re fun, I’m glad I had you.”</p> <p>Willow is also a guest artist on the album, and fittingly, sings <em>A Million Dreams (Reprise)</em>. And boy can she sing! </p> <p>Kneeling beside her daughter, Pink supportively mouths the words to the popular song, as Willow belts out the tune. The pair also sing together as part of the recording.</p> <p>During the footage, the singer and mum of two, who gives a typically powerful performance on her version of the song, told <em>The Greatest Showman </em>director Michael Gracey of her gratitude to him for making the film.</p> <p>“I grew up watching Annie,” Pink explained to Gracey. “To have her [Willow] finally have something like this …You made our favourite movie ever.”</p> <p>On Twitter, users wrote of how moving they found the mother-daughter performance.</p> <p>“I watched this early this morning when it first aired and I watched it again just now and choked up with happy tears each time,” said one.</p> <p>“Willow has a beautiful voice, Pink’s joy in working w/her daughter &amp; the song itself are a great way to begin &amp; end the day!”</p> <p>“Honestly the most heartwarming cutest thing I’ve seen ever!” said another.</p> <p>“The bond you both have is amazing and priceless, the best of friends. It’s so amazing to see such a connection between a mother and a daughter! You rock @pink”</p> <p>The album <em>The Greatest Showman – Reimagined</em> will be released on November 16.</p>

Music

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5 pieces of sage advice for first-time travellers

<p>In 2017, some travellers will be flying or cruising for the first time in their lives. If you don't know what you're doing, travelling can be very overwhelming and even intimidating, so we asked travel agents for some advice to get you going on the right foot:</p> <p>Know your budget: "My best advice for newbies is to have a full and complete budget for your trip," said Debby Corwi, NWA Getaways Dream Vacations.</p> <p>"Whether you research on your own or use a travel agent, know what food and transportation costs for your area and don't equate least expensive with value. That cheap ticket to the Colosseum may cost you a half day of waiting in line, while spending a little more allows you to skip the line and move on to another attraction in the afternoon, thereby maximising what you spent to get to Rome."</p> <p><strong>1. Dot your I's:</strong> Margie Lenau, travel consultant and owner of Wonderland Family Vacations, advises her customers to go over the details carefully and make your final payments early.</p> <p>"If something goes wrong with your credit card you will have time to figure out how to get that payment made," she said.</p> <p>"It's easy to think that you are finished after you have struggled to get the destination, rooms, activities, transfers, and flights the way you want them. So don't wait until the last minute to make that final payment."</p> <p><strong>2. Explore:</strong> "The best advice I would give a travel newbie is to break the cycle," said Z'Andrea English of ZV Travel.</p> <p>"Get out and explore new places. Don't be afraid to travel. If you have the mind to go then just go! Solo trips, ladies/guys getaways are growing trends for a reason: It's freedom. Be free and travel often."</p> <p><strong>3. Pack right:</strong> "New travellers packing for an impending vacation in paradise need to remember that they're not going to spend their entire time barefoot on the beach," said Rebecca Hochreiter, All Inclusive Outlet.</p> <p>"And if the plan is to take on more of the local sites, then you'll need more than a pair of flip-flops. With that in mind, we'd suggest packing a pair of comfortable walking shoes that will keep your feet happy as you hike through ancient ruins or visit a nearby winery."</p> <p><strong>4. Check the resort:</strong> Hochreiter said that depending on the destination, waterproof shoes may be a must as well. "We also encourage travellers to check on dress codes with any resorts, restaurants or clubs they plan on visiting to ensure you have the appropriate dress shoes for the occasion," said Hochreiter.</p> <p>"While you're at it, see if restaurants require reservations in advance - especially if you have a special dinner planned at any point during the trip."</p> <p><strong>5. Drink water:</strong> Finally, if you're concerned about your feet or ankles swelling while travelling, Hochreiter said that hydration will be key. "Limit your caffeine and alcohol intake and embrace water," she said. "Many resorts will offer you a refreshing drink upon your arrival. Say yes. Hydrating will keep you refreshed after a long day of traveling. Remember to pack an insulated travel mug as well, which is a great way to stay hydrated with your drink of choice - you can usually fill it up for free at any of the resort's bars."</p> <p><em>Written by Lisa Iannucci. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span>.</strong></a></em></p> <p><strong><em>No matter where you’re travelling to, making sure you know how to access your cash while away – and in the most affordable way – is very important. Easy to use and with countless benefits, the Over60 Cash Passport allows you to securely access your cash in the same way you use an ATM or credit card­. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://oversixty.cashpassport.com.au">To apply for a card today, click here.</a></span></em></strong></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2016/09/6-smart-ways-to-save-when-booking-a-hotel/">6 smart ways to save when booking a hotel</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/travel-tips/2017/02/airline-to-weigh-passengers-before-boarding/"><strong>Airline to weigh passengers before boarding</strong></a></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/domestic-travel/2017/02/living-on-the-steepest-street-in-the-world/">Living on the steepest street in the world</a></strong></span></em></p>

Travel Tips

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Pork chops with apple, sage and sweet wine

<p>This is more of a gentle reminder than recipe, but I refuse to make excuses as it is one of my favourite things at this time of year, with perhaps some fluffy, buttery mash alongside to catch all of those delicious juices.</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Serves:</span></strong> 2</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ingredients:</span></strong></p> <ul> <li>2 pork loin chops on the bone</li> <li>Salt and pepper</li> <li>Olive oil</li> <li>1 teaspoon butter</li> <li>1 apple (ideally a sundowner), cored and up into thin slices.</li> <li>Small handful of sage</li> <li>1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard</li> <li>1 cup of sherry or sweet white wine such as riesling or pinot gris</li> </ul> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Method:</span></strong></p> <ol> <li>To begin, season the chops with salt and pepper on all sides.</li> <li>Get a heavy pan going over a moderate heat and let it heat up for a minute or two. Add a bit of oil and butter and let it melt and sizzle up.</li> <li>Add the chops to the pan and cook for several minutes on one side and then the other, until they are nicely golden brown and no longer pink in the middle.</li> <li>Remove from the pan and transfer to a warm plate to rest.</li> <li>Add the apples to the same pan and cook them down for a minute or so, adding a little more oil and if the pan is too dry. Once the apples have softened a bit, add the sage and mustard, stir around and then follow with the sherry or wine.</li> <li>Bring the heat up and let it bubble up and reduce down by half.</li> <li>Return the chops to the pan and nestle into the sauce.</li> <li>Taste and season if need be, then serve.</li> </ol> <p>Don’t you just love pork chops? What’s your favourite meat to cook? Let us know in the comments.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Jason Creaghan. Written by Sam Mannering. First appeared on <a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p> <p><strong><em>Have you ordered your copy of the Over60 cookbook, The Way Mum Made It, yet? Featuring 178 delicious tried-and-true recipes from you, the Over60 community, and your favourites that have appeared on the Over60 website, <a href="https://shop.abc.net.au/products/way-mum-made-it-pbk" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">head to the abcshop.com.au to order your copy now</span></a>.</em></strong></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2016/08/bbq-pork-sausage-cassoulet/"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>BBQ pork sausage cassoulet</strong></span></em></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2016/08/pot-roasted-pork-scotch/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Pot-roasted pork scotch with potato, fennel and tomato</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2016/06/bbq-pork-cutlet-with-sunshine-salsa/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>BBQ pork cutlet with sunshine salsa</strong></em></span></a></p>

Food & Wine

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Rotolo with pumpkin, hazelnuts, soft cheese and sage butter

<p>The thought of rolling up what is essentially some great big cannelloni into a tea towel and poaching it sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it is surprisingly straightforward. The pumpkin, hazelnut and soft cheese combo is a crowd-pleasing winner, but you can fill the rotolo with anything you like; sautéed mushrooms, spinach and ricotta or courgette, feta and lemon are all good alternatives.</p> <p>If you really can't be bothered with the process of making pasta dough and rolling it out, then by all means, get hold of some pre-made pasta sheets.</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ingredients:</span></strong></p> <ul> <li>500g of 00-grade or high-grade flour, plus a little extra</li> <li>1 tsp salt</li> <li>5 large eggs</li> <li>half a large butternut pumpkin, peeled and de-seeded</li> <li>olive oil</li> <li>salt and pepper</li> <li>100g soft white cheese such as ricotta, buffalo mozzarella or chèvre</li> <li>½ cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped</li> <li>200g butter</li> <li>handful of sage leaves</li> </ul> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Method:</span></strong></p> <ol> <li>Preheat the oven to 180ºC.</li> <li>Start with the pasta. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt, then create a well in the middle, drop in the eggs, whisk them up with a fork a little, then gradually work the flour into the eggs until everything is incorporated and you are left with a dough. Knead for several minutes so that the dough becomes smooth and elastic, then shape into a flat discus shape, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least half an hour.</li> <li>In the meantime, cut the pumpkin into crescents and add to an oiled baking dish. Season well with salt and pepper and roast until tender.</li> <li>Roll the rested pasta out, using a pasta machine (or a rolling pin, alternatively), to a thickness of about 1-2 millimetres. What you want to end up with is a length of pasta about 80cm long by 20cm wide.</li> <li>Place a fresh, clean tea towel out on the bench and lay the sheet of pasta over the top. Trim the ends so that you have at least two inches of tea towel showing lengthways at each end. Arrange a generous amount of pumpkin down the middle, allowing for a few inches on either side. Run a length of cheese down the middle of the pumpkin, and scatter over the hazelnuts.</li> <li>Using the tea towel as a guide, tightly roll the whole thing up as you would a sort of Swiss roll, making sure that you keep everything tightly together. Pinch down the ends, and wrap the tea towel around the outside of the roll, tying the ends together with string. Place in an accommodating roasting dish, top up with boiling water so that the whole thing is submerged, and pop in the preheated oven for about half an hour, topping up the pan with more hot water if necessary. Check to see if the pasta is al dente – after half an hour it should be nicely done. Carefully remove from the pan, unwrap from the tea towel, and cut into thick slices. Serve with the sage butter spooned over the top.</li> <li>As the rotolo is cooking, make the sage butter sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat until the white milk solids have separated out. Strain the milk solids off and discard, and return the clarified butter to the heat in a pan. Once it is quite hot, add the sage leaves and fry quickly until they are crisp. Remove from the heat and use to spoon over the rotolo. Serve immediately.</li> </ol> <p> What else would you like to stuff in your rotolo? Share your ideas in the comments section below.</p> <p><em>Written by Sam Mannering. First appeared on <a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz.</span></strong></a></em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/news/news/2016/07/new-research-says-pasta-doesnt-actually-make-you-fat/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">New research says pasta doesn’t actually make you fat</span></em></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2016/06/roast-winter-vegetable-pasta/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Roast winter vegetable pasta with herb and lemon dressing</span></em></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2016/06/bolognaise-style-mushroom-ragu/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Bolognaise-style mushroom ragu</span></em></strong></a></p>

Food & Wine

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Sweet potato and sage gratin

<p>Easy to make and full of flavour, this sweet potato and sage gratin is a stand-out side for any roast (and even worth making as a dish in its own right!).</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Serves:</span></strong> 4 - 6</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ingredients:</span></strong></p> <ul> <li>4 medium (1kg) sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced</li> <li>1 medium red onion, thinly sliced</li> <li>¼ cup finely chopped sage leaves</li> <li>3 cloves garlic, crushed</li> <li>1 tablespoon sea salt</li> <li>1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper</li> <li>1 cup thickened cream</li> </ul> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Method:</span></strong></p> <ol> <li>Arrange sweet potato, onion, sage and garlic in alternate layers in a buttered baking dish.</li> <li>Combine salt, pepper and cream and pour over potato layers.</li> <li>Bake at 200⁰C for 40-50 minutes or until potato is cooked.</li> <li>Stand for 10 minutes before serving.</li> </ol> <p>Recipe courtesy of Legendairy – <a href="http://www.legendairy.com.au/recipes/the-dairy-kitchen-recipe-landing" target="_blank"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">visit their site for more delicious food ideas. </span></em></a></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/12/easy-basil-pesto/">Easy basil pesto</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/12/baked-vanilla-and-spice-cheesecake-with-coconut-topping/">Baked vanilla and spice cheesecake with coconut topping</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/12/lemon-and-mozzarella-veal-salad/">Lemon and mozzarella veal pockets with pecorino and zucchini salad</a></em></strong></span></p>

Food & Wine