Pauline Conolly

THE CONIFER TREE WONGAS
AUGUST 2020 AND THE WONGAS ARE STILL IN BREEDING OVERDRIVE. I BLAME COVID-19; THEY MUST FEEL THE NEED TO INCREASE THEIR NUMBERS IN CASE OF CROSS-SPECIES INFECTION. After producing two single chicks over a Blue Mountains winter (yes, I did tell them it wasn’t the right season)...
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THE MYSTERIOUS PROFESSOR BONNER
Professor Bonner was a self-styled hypnotist, touring the eastern states of Australia in the early part of the 20th century. On January 30 1906, the professor was in Ballarat, performing with Bostock and Wombwell’s Circus. As part of his headline act, a pocket knife was secreted in...
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OWNER BUILDERS – MR S. BOWERBIRD AND MR B. CONOLLY
For what seems a very long time I have been following two building projects here in the Blue Mountains’ village of Blackheath. I am beginning to wonder whether either of them will ever reach completion. The first of the intrepid owner builders is Mr Satin Bowerbird, of...
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JARDINS….LITTLE TREASURES OF THE LOT
It is mid winter here at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, cold and very wet. I have been watching Monty Don’s TV series on French gardens. Oh dear, the longing it evokes is almost physically painful. How long will it be before we can enjoy that beautiful...
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SEASONAL CONFUSION AT BLACKHEATH
The native Wonga pigeons here at The Gums in Blackheath have already produced two chicks over winter. The third nesting failed due to that three day rain event in July, but they are discussing whether to try again. Unbelievable! Amid all the Covid-19 angst we humans are...
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CIRQUE DU DUCK….AUDITION TIME
The fellow below turned up after the curtain came down the other day and said he wanted to try out for the show. ‘I can balance on the railing‘, he said, and hopped up. Well even I could do that if I had feet like yours, I...
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THE AVALON AT KATOOMBA- VINTAGE FUN & GOOD FOOD
The Avalon Restaurant and Cocktail Bar at Katoomba is housed in the old Savoy Theatre (constructed 1936). The venue is full of vintage memorabilia. What a sense of fun there is here. It has a definite Alice-in-Wonderland quality. Upstairs is the dining room. For a sense of...
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DESIGN! THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE…… VERY BAD!
I have been thinking about design lately, purely as a layperson you understand Let’s start with the good. How perfect is this little hotel shower cap? It so satisfyingly springs open? Who came up with the idea I wonder? It deserves a Nobel prize. But here alas...
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