The first thing we thought was "it's good to have friends in high places".

But let's be fair dinkum. They don't have to be in high places. It's quite OK if they're in normal places.

Elermore Vale's Tony Davis knows what we mean.

Tony says one of the most heartwarming things about his retirement village is "how kind and giving people are".

"We like to think we play our part as well. If we make soup, we give some away. We have a near neighbour who makes pastry-like sausage rolls, which we eat at times. When neighbours visit they 'bring a slice'."

Tony sometimes wanders about barefooted. His next-door neighbour Doug makes sure he clears the footpaths and roads "to make walking more comfortable for me".

"No sharp stones," Tony said.

Recently a friend named Judy dropped in to see them, bringing some marmalade from oranges that came from her own trees.

"Seeing an occasional chair that we had recovered, she asked whether we would like a new cushion for it," he said.

Why yes, indeed they did.

"She made it and presented it the following day. It looked great," Tony said.

He wrote her a poem of thanks and recited it for her. The closing stanza goes like this: Our lovely chair, a cushion too, helped make this family scene. All together with lumps of toast and marmalade supreme.

It's funny how the words jam and pickle are both used to describe being in a spot of bother.

Apparently being in a pickle stems from the Dutch in the 16^th century. It means to be drunk.

In Shakespeare's The Tempest, Alonso the King of Naples asks: "How camest thou in this pickle?"

The phrase "in a jam" seems more apt. As well as a preserve that spreads nicely on toast, jam means to "press tightly" and "become wedged".

Hence, in a predicament.

Tony Davis buys his jam and pickles from a lady from Waratah.

On our recent topic of buying Australian-made products, Tony says he can go one better. That is, buying Newcastle-made products.

"We buy these from one of her outlets - the general store at Kahibah," he said.

"This is an old habit, as we once lived in Charlestown."

Tony and his wife Elaine aren't short of jam and pickles. Their son makes them. Their daughter, who lives on the Southern Tablelands, usually brings some preserves when she visits.

This exchange on Twitter gave us a giggle.

Liberal Senator Matt Canavan tweeted: "Makes sense for us to build up our military in [the] current environment. But we should invest in some reliable coal-fired power too. We won't win a conflict relying on unreliable solar and wind power!"

SMH environment and climate editor Nick O'Malley replied: "I'm not sure I see the connection."

SMH night editor Ben Cubby quipped: "The world will learn to fear our coal-fired tanks"

Why did the mushroom have lots of friends? Cause he's a fungi.