Here in the upper Blue Mountains we have an amazing variety of lichens. I suppose it’s because we get a lot of mist and rain. Tree trunks, stumps, rocks, fences….they are all magically transformed. Below is a variety of lichen on an ornamental cherry tree.
Read more →
Blackheath duck pond is close enough to my garden to be my personal water feature. Hardly a day goes by without me wandering past it. The traction engine below was used to excavate the original dams, which evolved into the pond. The dams were used to hold
Read more →
Old Sins Cast Long Shadows…… Fourth and final part of the Blue Mountains murder story. In 1927 Sydney born William Higgs (26) and his brother Hubert (30) stood trial over the murder of a wealthy grazier, Ronald Leslie, found in his abandoned car at Blaxland in the Blue
Read more →
On September 9 1922, twenty one year old William Guy Higgs married Helena Potter in a society wedding at Hunters Hill. The couple honeymooned in the beautiful Blue mountains. The groom was the fourth born of seven sons, and chose his older brother Hubert as best man.
Read more →
Forty eight year old Ronald Lachlan Leslie was a wealthy, retired grazier living in the Sydney suburb of Manly. He was a happily married family man with two young children. On Wednesday, October 12 1927 he set out to drive to the central western town of Forbes,
Read more →
I was recently criticized by a couple of people on our community page for only ordering a bowl of chips for lunch in the New Ivanhoe pub. Oh dear, I feel I can never order my rare and special treat again.😪 I thought it might be a
Read more →
What a joy the busy Blackheath Growers’ Market is. Mind you, I’m glad I can walk up there. These days people have to park their cars almost down to my own house near the duck pond. It’s held on the second Sunday of
Read more →
The Cummins family were pioneers of Blaxland, in the lower Blue Mountains of NSW. Bernard Cummins bought land nearby and called his property Mount Riverview. Its far-reaching views across the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers to Sydney gave him an idea. He constructed a wooden stairway to the
Read more →
Hello, from me….Editor Des of Blackheath. We have so many bees at our place here in the Blue Mountains. I know, because I help my guardian Pauline Conolly look after the garden. Or rather she helps me…ha ha. Of course the bees are asleep now, keeping
Read more →
A CONTINUING KOOKABURRA CONNECTION In June or July every year a pair of kookaburras arrive in my garden at Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. The rest of the time I only see them in the distance, and hear them laughing and chattering with
Read more →