This is a short guest post from my New England friend Jeanne Verity. She writes so beautifully about the United States I dreamed of as a child in 1950’s Tasmania. Aah, America, here was a place where autumn was ‘fall’ and where ripening pumpkins heralded Halloween, a
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The Camellia japonica R.T. Wheeler is very hardy and produces enormous, variegated blooms. I have picked so many to fill various containers So why on earth would I want to banish it? Well, in my Blackheath garden the camellia was growing between two red blooming trees, just
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When it was announced that there was to be a new cafe in the Collier Arcade at Blackheath my associate Editor Des and I were very excited. We love to do a little writing over a working lunch. It’s a lot quieter in the arcade than out
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There is something so special about childhood friends, especially if you grew up in the country. Our nearest neighours in 1950s Tasmania were the Richards family. Cheryl and Michael were almost the same age as me and my sister Robbie. We lived on adjoining dairy farms at
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Hello. Did you know that Australia’s dear little koala had a very bad time during the bush fires earlier this year? Well they can’t run very fast, so that was a problem. I was in Sydney the other day and people were protesting about it all. I
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In the spirit of increasing biodiversity, my partner and I bought a little insect hotel for our Blue Mountains garden. Perfectionist owner-builder Rob decided to seal the back panel with Bondcrete and add a waterproof membrane to the pitched roof. Well, we do get a lot of
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Times change and today, September 21 2020, the final 7.45am news bulletin will be heard on the ABC. A SAD DAY……… Growing up in rural Tasmania during the 1950s, the 7.45am ABC news bulletin was the signal for me and my siblings to set off down our
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It’s such a privilege to be involved in the life of baby birds. A pair of native Wonga pigeons have been providing my husband Rob and I with this delightful opportunity over a number of years. They live in our Blue Mountains garden, and are as much
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Daydreaming in our pandemic iso-world is a national pastime. Here is an imagined dinner, hosted by myself and my partner Rob in our new house at Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. There are four courses (well sort of), and four dinner guests from
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Deciding to produce chicks in mid winter was never going to be a good idea. However, our resident Wonga pair would not be dissuaded. We invariably get snow here in the upper Blue Mountains and sure enough, down it came in mid August. The eggs had only
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