There was initially some reluctance on the part of our Wonga twins to attend nursery school in the garden. That nest high in the conifer was so snug and secure. The pair hatched in August and by mid September one parent was offering encouragement from an adjacent
Read more →
What an unusually high temperature we had on Thursday. Even the breeze was warm. Maybe it doesn’t bode well for summer, but I did revel in it, and so did the crimson rosellas. Time to get out and about, much as I appreciate the delights of home.
Read more →
I was intrigued to come across a reference to one of my articles on the internet recently. It was included in the description of a rare and beautiful item offered for sale by Hordern House Rare books, located in Sydney’s Surry Hills. This tiny object was of
Read more →
My partner Rob and I headed west to the historic New South Wales village of Hartley in the days before Covid. We wanted to visit the Talisman Gallery, in the hope of finding an iron sculpture for a eucalypt tree stump in our garden. I had in
Read more →
AUGUST 2020 AND THE WONGAS ARE STILL IN BREEDING OVERDRIVE. I BLAME COVID-19; THEY MUST FEEL THE NEED TO INCREASE THEIR NUMBERS IN CASE OF CROSS-SPECIES INFECTION. After producing two single chicks over a Blue Mountains winter (yes, I did tell them it wasn’t the right season)
Read more →
Professor Bonner was a self-styled hypnotist, touring the eastern states of Australia in the early part of the 20th century. On January 30 1906, the professor was in Ballarat, performing with Bostock and Wombwell’s Circus. As part of his headline act, a pocket knife was secreted in
Read more →
Did you ever have a tawny frogmouth take up residence in your garden? What a strange but lovely creature. Never steals your fruit and scarcely makes a sound. He is certainly imposing when he wakes up at dusk and prepares to go hunting. Look out lizards and
Read more →
It is mid winter here at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, cold and very wet. I have been watching Monty Don’s TV series on French gardens. Oh dear, the longing it evokes is almost physically painful. How long will it be before we can enjoy that beautiful
Read more →
William Singleton was my great-great grandfather. He was transported to Tasmania for life in 1828, aboard the convict ship Manilus. As with most convicts his crime was theft, in this case cheese, bread and bacon. Oh dear, a seventeen year old brickie’s lad gets very hungry. During
Read more →
Many of us were fascinated to read the recently released, vice-regal correspondence leading up to the dismissal of the Whitlam government in November 1975 . However, as a born and bred Tasmanian I was intrigued by two letters written the following year, but prompted by the same
Read more →