I have been revising a piece I wrote about pioneering women and their appreciation of Australia’s native flora. Not surprisingly, the Blue Mountains featured heavily. Once the first road was constructed from Sydney through to Bathurst in 1815, intrepid settlers followed. Then the iron ranges echoed To
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Honestly, blue wrens could take over my life if I didn’t keep strict control. I should really give them their full title; Superb Fairy Wrens (Maluras cyaneus). And yes, they are as delicate as fairies. Once I had a blue wren stained glass window made for the
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My partner Rob and I intended dining at the new Blackheath Bar and BIstro last Saturday night, but it was a bit busy. Instead, we had a drink to wish the owners well, then walked along to the Victory Café. It was pretty early, so no problem
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Mid February, and in my Blackheath garden the banksia serratas are in bloom. They are loved by all the honeyeaters, but especially Wattlebirds and Eastern Spinebills. Bees are visiting the native lilly-pilly flowers on the bush outside Slurps café, in Wentworth Street. I know there must be
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Is Leura the prettiest village in the Blue Mountains? Even as a proud Blackheathen I have to admit it is. This mural features the cool climate plants that thrive here in the Mountains; rhododendrons, camellias, spring bulbs etc. My partner Rob and I booked into Silks
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When you have a large garden filled with birds there are lots of opportunities to create photographic images for occasions such as Christmas and New Year. So why not Valentine’s Day? Admittedly I’ve been married over 40 years, but Rob is still my knight in shining armour.
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So where could my partner and I go for a special celebration lunch in the Upper Blue Mountains? Our preference was for somewhere we’d never been before. After many recommendations on our local community site we decided to try Pins on Lurline, located in a lovely
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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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WELL HELLO AGAIN GANG-GANGS! After not seeing Gang-gang cockatoos in my Blue Mountains garden for several years I was delighted when a lively group arrived. There were lured by the ripening seeds on my various wattle trees (acacias). They have been returning almost every day. So far
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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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