There is a reason why the Blue Mountains village of Blackheath is affectionately dubbed Bleakheath. Recently someone (not mentioning any names, Kim) asked me to write a winter post. So here it is. My husband often has to venture out with the kettle to defrost the bird baths.
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For many years a retired grazier from Forbes, Mr James Smart Leslie, had a holiday home in the Blue Mountains at Blackheath. He named it Balquhain, after an ancestral property in Scotland. When WWI broke out, Mr Leslie and his wife Elizabeth (Betsy) were anxious to help.
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Here in the upper Blue Mountains we have an amazing variety of lichens. I suppose it’s because we get a lot of mist and rain. Tree trunks, stumps, rocks, fences….they are all magically transformed. Below is a variety of lichen on an ornamental cherry tree.
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Recently a huge row broke out on a writers’ group when someone complained that people around her in a café were being too loud, But surely a café is primarily for social interaction rather than as a solo writer’s workplace? Admittedly I am an old lady ,
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Hello, from me….Editor Des of Blackheath. We have so many bees at our place here in the Blue Mountains. I know, because I help my guardian Pauline Conolly look after the garden. Or rather she helps me…ha ha. Of course the bees are asleep now, keeping
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AUTUMN GOES ALL AWRY Here in the Blue Mountains we had an unusually warm, dry autumn. The fear is that this is due to global warming. I really enjoyed the warmth, but it was confusing for our plants. Spring bulbs were popping up before the autumn leaves
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Most of my garden seats are made from ‘found materials’; concrete blocks, stumps, slabs of stone and bits of timber I deem wide enough to sit on. My impatience when I have a notion to create a new one knows no bounds. Fortunately my aging muscles seem
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Correa was named for the Portuguese botanist Correia da Serra. Of all the native flowers in my Blue Mountain gardens, it is one of the most visited by birds. Eastern Spinebills and New Holland Honey Eaters adore the nectar, and so do the bees. Pictured below is
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Tulip bulbs just do not thrive in my garden. However, I can enjoy similar blooms in spring thanks to the Liriodendron trees, which are actually related to magnolias. Their cup shaped flowers have led to the common name of Tulip Tree. I planted two of these trees
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AUTUMN LEAVES AND HISTORY No matter what time of year, the walk up to my local Blue Mountains village of Blackheath is a delight. I always have my little point and shoot camera in my pocket. Without fail there is something worth snapping, and it’s an
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