Jade Plantbringing good fortune and prosperity!

ly, and musical fun was added when I got in touch with Rychey Music (UK) and its multi-talented owner Rich, a musician, singer, composer and producer. Being almost tone-deaf I am fortunate that he can use his musical inventiveness to turn my prose lyrics into something immeasurably easier on the ears. Onions mostly without tears.

Always a drifter, I seem to have drifted somehow into Country and Western lyrics with titles like ‘Saddle Sore’ -- the cowboy equivalent of Writer's Cramp -- ‘Wagon Train’ (‘Elopin’ and Hopin’) and ‘Long Dreamer’ – how could I resist setting that in Dundee, Alabama? Sung by a real cowboy, Donny Sawyer!

More conventional songs, such as “Men

Don’t Like to Talk about Emotions” and “The Ballad of Gare Saint-Lazare” (“Me and the girl with the Fender guitar, we were born at the Gare Saint-Lazare…”) now include a new release, 'Old Amsterdam Dreams' -- “There’s nothing to match it, I defy any man, not to glory in Old Amsterdam.” I can never wait to hear the music, even if I am tone-deaf. These songs can be found, plus videos, on YouTube or Bandcamp under Rychey Music, all a long way from listening to records in booths in music shops in 1957 before spending most of my ten shilling (50p) pocket money on a Bakelite disc of Elvis singing "All Shook Up" with a B-side rendition of "That's When Your Heartaches Begin." Which is more or less where we came in, isn't it?

THE Jade plant - Crassula ovata or Crassula argentea - is a succulent sub-shrub, slow growing, eventually reaching 2m in height. Given the right care, they can last for many years.

It looks rather like a Bonsai tree, with jade green, fleshy leaves and thick stems that become woody with age.

It's a popular house plant that is also a good air purifier. It grows quite happily outside here on the Costa Blanca.

It's also known as the 'money plant' or 'friendship plant', as it's said to bring good fortune and prosperity!

The leaves of some cultivars develop a red tinge when exposed to sunlight. In time, it may bear small, star shaped pink or white flowers, often in the winter months.

Grow your jade plant in a bright, sunny spot in well draining soil, add a handful of grit for extra drainage. They thrive, if watered regularly in spring and summer, but it can cope with drought conditions.

It is best to underwater than over water, as it stores water in its leaves. Water only when the top few centimetres of compost are dry.