I am an Australian woman aged over 60, semi-retired and loving life on a quiet acre in the Gold Coast hinterland.

For those who want to read further, here is a start on 100 things about me....

1. I spent most of my working life as a public servant - as a teacher, community developer and a child welfare worker.

2. I retired 5 years ago but couldn't handle life in the slow lane without purpose or structure, so 'unretired' to work on a casual basis.

3. I work mostly from home and take on only the tasks and the number of hours that suit me.

4. I like to garden and have a collection of over a hundred (mostly edible) herbs and scented pelargoniums.

5. I love reading - anything and everything - but strictly non-fiction. I haven't read a novel in nearly 30 years.

6. I am practically vegetarian.

7. I hate formal occasions requiring dressing up and engaging in small talk.

8. I never watch sporting events of any kind.

9. I participate in one though - croquet.

10. I've never tried smoking - not even once.

11. I've given up wearing shoes with high heels - comfortable feet are one of the essentials in life.

12. I am rarely on time for anything - but always hope I might one day kick this bad habit.

13. More than two glasses of wine and I am legless.

14. I did a Masters' degree part-time by correspondence in my mid-40s.

15. I married 30 years ago and we are still together.

16. I once climbed Mt Kiliminjaro - and almost got to the top.

17. My mother never allowed us to put food in the garbage bin.

18. I still find it hard to do.

19. I now have 3 compost bins and 2 worm farms to take care of the scraps.

20. I prefer to read newspapers from the back - the front page information is too impermanent.

21. I keep stacks of old newspapers waiting to be read and then turned into mulch.

22. Some are more than a year old.

22. I am an incurable pack-rat and own boxes of stuff that haven't been opened for 15 years.

23. My favourite colours are shades of brown.

24. I am a compulsive list maker, but never quite remember where I put my latest list.

25. I hate housework - especially dusting.

26. I would prefer to e-mail than talk on the phone.

27. I can't remember numbers - even my own phone number.

28. I don't own a cat - I'm allergic to them, physically and emotionally.

29. No dog either.

30. My sense of direction is hopeless and without a map I can get seriously lost 10 minutes from home.

31. I love studying maps and collect them wherever I go.

32. I began my career as a school teacher in the small town of WAU (pronounced 'wow') in Papua New Guinea. I was 18 1/2 years old.

33. I got my first driver's license at age 16. In those days there was no test, only a tick-the-box examination.

34. I like to eat salads with chopsticks.

35. At last count I owned 111 cook books.

36. I like to have a pen with me at all times and never leave home without slipping one into my bag.

37. I once retrieved 23 ball point pens from the bottom of my handbag.

38. I have 3 great kids, all city dwellers, and we e-mail several times a week.

39. There are also two grandchildren - one of each.

40. Favourite tipple - dry sherry. Not something that young bar tenders are familiar with though. In a country town bar I was once served a whole tumbler full. I shared it around the group, taking the opportunity of educating some of my younger work colleagues about the finer things of life.

41. We once bred peacocks while living on a farm we previously owned. We had 14 strolling around the house before the noise and the copious amounts of manure got the better of us.

42. I love Gilbert & Sullivan operas - thanks to a school music master who involved us in producing a different one each year.

43. I never really liked jazz until I heard Jacques Loussier's jazz interpretation of Bach. I'm now a real fan of the Loussier Trio.

44. I would prefer to encounter a snake or a spider than a mouse.

45. I am not ready for grey hair, so for the present my hair colour is chestnut - courtesy Schwarzkopf.

46. My favourite spice is cumin and in cooking I enjoy the ground seed with almost anything.

47. I try to swim every day, and swimming at home alone I never wear a costume because the pool chemicals can rot them within a season.

48. I am married to a keen gardener who grows whatever vegetables can survive our humid climate plus a wide selection of exotic and tropical fruit trees.

49. Old disused dairy sheds have always fascinated me and I plan to make a collection of photographs.