FOR THE BEGINNNG OF THIS STORY CLICK HERE 31/8/2018 Mr S. Bowerbird’s magnificent home in Blackheath’s Memorial Park was almost wrecked yesterday. Two (illegally) unleashed dogs tore through the middle of it before I could warn their owners. How they missed crushing the bower itself is
Read more →Let me introduce a famous Aussie dog by the name of Coil. Born in the late 19thC, he was a slate blue and tan Australian Kelpie with a ‘fox brush’ tail. He was a champion performer in sheep dog trials. Just look at that proud stance in
Read more →FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER, CLICK HERE. August 26 2018 – A second chapter in the life of Mr S. Bowerbird of Memorial Park, Blackheath. It had been raining all day, converting many bottle caps in the bower to miniature swimming pools. Poor Mr B. was kept busy
Read more →Do Aussie schools still hold those old-fashioned fund raising tuck shops with the lollies (sweets) homemade by parents? Perhaps they don’t, as in retrospect the goodies on offer were all pure sugar. A BRIEF HISTORY A young man called Edmund Verney had a tuckbox prepared by his
Read more →I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity. Eleanor Roosevelt. What wise words; especially for future scientists….and writers! English crime novelist Ann Cleeves was asked what motivated her
Read more →I once made a somewhat provocative statement on social media declaring Australia’s Foster Clarks custard powder to be superior to the UK Bird’s brand. It was absolutely true, but see that flag on the British product? I should have known I was stirring up a cauldron
Read more →You can never have too many paths within a garden, either. I love to have them winding everywhere. If my husband says I should get rid of one for some pragmatic reason I say ….. definitely not! Edna Walling, the Australian garden designer, once said that if your paths are
Read more →I have a great fascination for social history, and for our native, satin bowerbirds. Yes, there is a strong link between the two. When the adult blue/black male bowerbirds or the green juvenile ‘apprentices’ build their bowers they decorate them with anything blue they can find. For
Read more →As a Baby Boomer I grew up with little exposure to Australian literature. It was all English boarding school stories, Enid Blyton and Charles Dickens. My early knowledge of poets was limited to those represented in a primary school textbook called (appropriately in my case) Poems for
Read more →CRIMSON ROSELLAS Crimson rosellas are a joy to behold. Many of the trees and shrubs in my Blue Mountains garden have been planted with these beautiful birds in mind. Top of the list? The native correas. The photo below shows that my efforts are appreciated! The rosellas love
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