There’s good luck, good ageing, good verse and a good recipe in an all-good ‘Seven Days’ with IAN MEIKLE.

I PROGRESSIVELY squirrel column ideas to one side through the week. When I sat down to write this one, I realised they were all linked to writers and contributors to “CityNews”. 

It was one of those weird things, and so is this: a couple of months ago “CityNews” reporter Nick Overall broke a story of an abandoned and trashed social housing apartment in Wright. 

Tenants had fruitlessly complained to ACT Housing about the terrible state of the unlocked unit being used by squatters and drug addicts. Nick’s scoop went national and, suddenly, everything was locked and sorted. 

So, it’s Saturday night, he bumps into a mate at a club he hasn’t seen in a while. In the conversation, Nick says he’s become a journalist. An hour later he’s gingerly approached by a guy who admits to eavesdropping, curious to confirm Nick’s career choice and keen to share a story of a chum who lives in a hellhole public housing apartment in Braddon. Is this the sort of stuff you cover, he asks Nick. Hell, yeh! 

And bingo, he’s exposed another shameful example of Housing ACT’s failure to manage taxpayers’ property nor give a fig for the wellbeing of tenants. The story’s on Page 6; if you know of any more, nick@citynews.com.au is listening. 

COLUMNIST Jon Stanhope’s Auntie Madge has just had her 109th birthday, an achievement that makes her the 22nd oldest person in the UK. 

His father’s sister, she was born on March 9, 1913, in Yorkshire, the daughter of a publican. Her earliest memory is of a German Zeppelin flying over on a bombing raid during World War I.

Madge’s husband died more than 40 years ago and she has cared for herself in a council flat in Bath, until a year ago when she reluctantly moved to an aged-care home. She attributes her longevity to a teaspoon of whisky in her bedtime cup of tea.

“I have a deep affection for Madge,” Jon says. “She is the most constant and important link I have, as the son of migrants, to the country of my parents and ancestors.”

Jon’s mother’s younger sister Pat died just over a year ago, in England, at the age of 102.

“If genes have any relevance, I anticipate I’ll still be writing for ‘CityNews’ until 2050!” he says. Happy birthday, Auntie Madge. 

DOYEN of whimsy, columnist Clive Williams says he normally goes twice a day to Manuka pool to swim. “Now I do both visits at the same time to conserve petrol”.

Canberra thespian Peter Robinson, from Ainslie, wrote to say he was so “smitten” by seeing Prince Andrew’s “Grand Old Duke of York” verse via Clive Williams (“Seven Days”, March 10) that he wrote a second verse. So I’ve repeated the original verse with Peter’s contribution in bold: 

The grand old Duke of York,

He had 12 million quid.

He gave it to someone he never met

For something he never did. 

And when he’d sweat, he’d sweat,

And when he didn’t, he didn’t,

And when she said he’d dance and sweat,

He hadn’t ‘cause he couldn’t, so he didn’t.

GARDENING writer Jackie Warburton wrote, in passing, about the great response she gets from readers. One comment that made her day was: “I live believing that you write your column especially for me – every issue addressed from caterpillars on the nasturtiums to beetle infestation of the hibiscus flowers and much more.”

She also got a lot of enquiries following a mention of her zucchini relish, based on a recipe from Sally Wise’s “Out of the Bottle” book. So here it is: 

 Zucchini Relish

1 kg zucchini finely chopped

2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped

1 red capsicum deseeded and finely chopped

¼ cup salt

2 cups sugar

2 cups white or cider vinegar

Plus 2 tablespoons extra

2 teaspoons of mustard powder

2 teaspoons turmeric

2 teaspoons corn flour

Place zucchini, onion and capsicum in a large bowl, add salt and mix well. Leave to stand for three hours. Drain well.

Combine sugar, vinegar, mustard powder and turmeric in a large saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the zucchini mixture and bring back to the boil. Simmer for 25 minutes.

Mix cornflour with the extra vinegar and use some or all of it to thicken the mixture to a pickle-like consistency. Spoon mixture into warm sterilised jars and seal. Eat immediately or store in a cool dry and dark place for up to a year.

Makes 1.5 litres. 

Ian Meikle is the editor of “CityNews” and can be heard on the “CityNews Sunday Roast” news and interview program, 2CC, 9am-noon. There are more of his columns on citynews.com.au