SISSINGHURST; A SUBLIME GARDEN

SISSINGHURST;  A SUBLIME GARDEN

Sissinghurst garden; a place of history, romance and beauty. House hunting in the spring of 1930, the English poet Vita Sackville-West viewed a crumbling castle in the Kentish countryside. Standing in the middle of a cabbage patch she looked up at Sissinghurst’s romantic, Elizabethan tower, turned to

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THE AUSSIE COCKTAIL…A LIGHTHEARTED HISTORY

THE AUSSIE COCKTAIL...A LIGHTHEARTED HISTORY

                SHAKEN AND STIRRED! Thanks to  classic  wines such as Penfold’s Grange, Australians are now less likely to be perceived as a nation of unsophisticated  beer swillers. However,  cocktails are perhaps  more generally associated with Manhattan or Paris than ‘the

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BOOK REVIEWERS…PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!

BOOK REVIEWERS...PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!

CLENCH YOUR PEN AND KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Authors are  constantly advised  not  to respond to negative reviews.  I fully agree; you  simply cannot argue with another person’s opinion. It is  worth remembering that many literary  classics suffered a hatchet job when first published. I particularly love

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THE MYSTERY OF MRS MACQUARIE’S EARRINGS

THE MYSTERY OF MRS MACQUARIE'S EARRINGS

 A PRICELESS GIFT On September 26 1968, Australia’s Consul-General in New York, Sir Reginald Sholl, received a visit from an elderly gentleman offering to present the Australian government with a pair of earrings associated with Governor Lachlan Macquarie’s wife Elizabeth. Sholl’s visitor was Edward Manley Hopkins, great-grandson

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SYDNEY? IT’S FOR THE BIRDS MATE!

SYDNEY? IT'S FOR THE  BIRDS MATE!

RUFFLED FEATHERS For the seagulls of Australia, the arrival of Europeans was  an unpleasant experience. As Cook’s  Endeavor made its way along the east coast in 1770, the crew were forced to supplement their dwindling provisions by shooting and eating the birds. Sir Joseph Banks wrote; Sea

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KATIE W. STEWART & HER BOOK; FAMOUS ANIMALS (VOLUME I)

KATIE W. STEWART &  HER BOOK;  FAMOUS ANIMALS  (VOLUME I)

It’s a rare, but delightful experience to come  across a project that is fresh, funny and completely engaging. For me, it was author & illustrator Katie W. Stewart’s  book,  Famous Animals. I was so impressed when Katie posted a sample in a writers’ group we belong to, 

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AUSTRALIAN EPIPHANY

AUSTRALIAN EPIPHANY

Unlike my  ancestors, I  have never thought of England as ‘home’.  However,  I did grow up a little confused  about my national identity. At primary school  in Tasmania we stood before the flag on Empire Day and sang God Save the Queen before being handed a packet

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THE STIRRINGS OF SPRING

THE STIRRINGS OF SPRING

Spring warmth after frost and snow is one of the joys of nature.    It was that period in the vernal quarter when we may suppose the Dryads to be waking for the season. The vegetable world begins to move and swell and the saps to rise,

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Antique Pillboxes and Other Miniature Containers

Antique Pillboxes and Other Miniature Containers

I bought this Victorian cabinet to display them in when we move into our new house. AN OBSESSION IS BORN- MANY PILLBOXES FOLLOWED! On holiday in Tasmania some years ago, I purchased a sweet little pillbox in an antique store at Evandale. It was gilt, with  a

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