Now admittedly I have been conducting a campaign against sulphur crested cockatoos. Well not against the birds themselves, but against the artificial feeding of them. Over the past 15 years their numbers have skyrocketed in the Blue Mountains. They are now competing with other hollow-nesting birds here
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This is a new chapter in the Blackheath Wonga romance, but first a brief recap. Last year our resident male Wonga fell in love with his own reflections in the shiny hubcaps of our house painter’s vintage VW van. It meant a long, lonely season, as he
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Hello Peeps My elderly guardians Pauline, and Dr Bob went on a little ‘rest and recuperation trip’ to Sydney this week, after the bushfires in our village of Blackheath. I believe it’s called a ‘sojourn’. I wasn’t allowed to stay home alone due to a previous incident,
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Hello, Editor Des here with a ‘sort of’ Christmas story. I’m really writing it to annoy my employer/guardian Pauline Conolly, because do you know what she gave me for my present? A plate that I’m supposed to paint. Good grief, I’m 19, not nine! And how am
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Hello, Editor Des here. Well Pauline went to a champagne preview of a dedicated children’s section at the New South Wales State Library recently. This week she asked me if I wanted to go and see it. Well of course, woman! I should have been invited to
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In the late 19th and early 20th century, Arnotts sought testimonials from people feeding their little ones on milk arrowroot biscuits. The possibility that an image of their child might be chosen to illustrate an advertisement was irresistible. The company was soon swamped by photos and letters
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I have to say that this is one of those ‘worst house on best street’ scenarios. I was strolling along leafy Park Avenue (in Blackheath sadly, not New York) when I was stopped in my tracks by a pair of golden eyes. They were peering from the
Read more →KEEP YOUR TRAVEL PLANS TO YOURSELF! When my next door neighbour began to plan a once-in-a-lifetime world trip she asked if I had any advice. ‘Yes,’ I said firmly; ‘Don’t tell a soul you are going. Leave notes for friends and relatives to be posted once your
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I live just around the corner from the Blackheath duck pond, in the beautiful Blue Mountains. I’ve developed a special relationship with the Australian wood ducks who live there. They are so good natured and engaging. It occurred to me that they must get a little bored
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Christmas is a time for giving. Even Editor Des is aware of this and realized he really ought to buy something for his guardian, Pauline Conolly. But what exactly? She loves chocolate, but he wanted to get something a little more imaginative and appropriate. Hmm…… what might
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