I have to confess that I am a bit obsessed with our native Wonga pigeons. They are so gentle and engaging. They wander around the garden paths in my Blue Mountains garden every day, just as I do myself. Our long term, resident pair nest high in
Read more →I once attended a dinner party in the UK where the main topic of conversation was how to deal with moles wrecking lawns. The equivalent in Australia would have to be the sweet bandicoot, though his pointy snout leaves a conical hole rather than a molehill. He
Read more →I must thank fellow Blue Mountains resident Stephanie Moxham for alerting me to this story. Stephanie posted the following letter on a local history FB site. It had been published In The Katoomba Daily on Saturday, May 25 1935. To the Editor Sir, – Mr George B.
Read more →Hello Peeps! I found this little poem about….well it’s about me. I thought it summed me up perfectly on the auspicious occasion of my 21st birthday. As to the ‘either end’ bit, well I do spend quite a bit of time with my bottom in the air.
Read more →In 2020, admittedly a weird year for the entire world, our resident Wonga couple completely defied nature. Instead of breeding just once in spring, they churned out chicks almost continually. We live at Blackheath in the NSW Blue Mountains, so this meant they were nesting through heat,
Read more →The Eastern Spinebill always looks so neat in his grey and brown suit teamed with a white shirt. Only measuring about 15cms, his curved beak is almost as long as his body. I like to imagine him as a legal clerk, dipping into a pot of black
Read more →Tasmania, as with most of the world, was coping with severe economic depression during the nineteen thirties. The State Government initiated capital works programmes to employ those who were ‘on sustenance’ as it was called. It was considered beneficial to the physical and mental welfare of the
Read more →Finally, ‘properly’ hot days in our little part of the world. At my place I try to keep the birdbaths fresh and full for my sweet, feathered friends. Mind you, the rosellas and king parrots just shelter up in the trees when the temperature rises above 35
Read more →When we moved to Blackheath (Blue Mountains) twenty years ago there was a large crabapple in our garden. I suspect it was planted by a previous owner, a professor of architecture who established the garden in the 1960s. The tree scarcely bore any fruit and eventually I
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