Great Uncle Fred? You have much more experience than me of day-to-day life. Please could you tell me any tips or handy hints that you might have to make life a little bit easier? (Stephanie, Summer 2008)

Yes, I do. I could think of hundreds but I will confine myself to ten, basically practical things to remember which have helped me along the way. The first ten that come to mind: OK? 1. Never eat yellow snow. 2. To bake a cake, first decide how many eggs you want to use and then weigh them, shells and all. Crack `em in a bowl, add the same weight of flour, sugar and butter, mix it all together and you`re ready for cooking. 3. People who criticise you are generally, without knowing it, criticising themselves. 4. 61 degrees Fahrenheit is the same as 16 degrees Centigrade. 5. If you are trying to get a fire going outside, birch bark flames up brilliantly. 6. The moon generally makes the shape of either a `C` or a `D`, C for crescendo, D for descend, decline. Except it`s the other way round with the moon - if it makes a C, it`s waning, if it makes a D it`s waxing. 7. If your lemon tree grown no lemons, boil up mashed lupin seeds and encircle the tree with the mash, some inches from the tree; soon there will be plenty of lemons. 8. Flies do not like mint. 9. If you are contemplating a drastic, life-changing action, go and make yourself a boiled egg first. 10. You can never step in the same river twice.

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