MASTER OF THE ART OF GLASS How lucky we Blackheathens are to have someone as talented as glass artist Keith Rowe in our midst. He built the huge furnace pictured below himself, back in 1990. His work is represented in public and private galleries around the world.
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I have obtained permission from my two ‘boss’ brown thornbills to write a little story about them and their relatives. We have a resident group in our Blue Mountains garden. They are really small; about 10cm long. They weigh in at around 7 grammes apiece. My darling
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My beloved Blue Mountains village of Blackheath has long been the butt of jokes regarding its chilly location. Bleakheath, Lackheat…..yes yes, we deal with these corruptions of our name with good natured humour. But remember…we are closer to heaven than our neighbours down the hill!
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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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Hello. It’s nearly Christmas and I have made my very own tree in the garden. I think I have done quite a good job. I pinch…sorry, borrowed the ornaments from Mother Nature. The tree is called Lycopodium, and the dinosaurs used to eat it! Well it has
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The Growers’ Markets in Backheath are always wonderful, but there was something a bit special about the twilight Christmas market last night. My partner and I arrived early when the stallholders were still setting up around 4.00pm. You simply cannot celebrate the festive season without cherries. We
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When the James Barnet designed Sydney G.P.O clock Tower was constructed in the 1890s there was a drawn-out dispute over the type of bells to be installed. Should the choice be traditional, heavy bells, or would a lighter, tubular variety be safer? Traditional won, but some still
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BOTTLER OF AN IDEA MATE! The ubiquitous wine cask was invented by Mr Thomas Angrove, and patented in 1965. As you may know, Thomas was an Aussie; a wine maker from Renmark in South Australia. His original version was fairly rudimentary. It was simply a polyethylene bladder
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Tasmanian native hens were part of my 1950s rural childhood, but I must admit I gave them little thought. This may be because they would simply shoot across my vision like the cartoon character Roadrunner. They are flightless, but can motor along at up to 50 kilometres
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HOW TO GIVE A HELPING HAND TO FIRE IMPACTED BLACKHEATH Despite living in Blackheath for nearly twenty years, I’m embarrassed to admit that I still make new discoveries. Hard to believe I know….it’s not exactly a huge metropolis. In this instance it was the small business centre
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