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
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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
Read more →The cuckoo dove is a delightful bird; gentle and trusting. However, the awful weather in the Blue Mountains that has tested us all is just as unpleasant for our feathered friends. Here is one story from a suffering soul. A CUCKOO’S COMPLAINT Honestly, it has been so
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The resident Wonga pigeons in our Blackheath garden have just completed their fifth hatching in this extraordinary year of 2020. The couple have been with us for a number of years, but had only ever had a single, spring hatching ……until now. We wondered if they sensed
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After tough times with bushfires in the Blue Mountains last year we locals may have dreamed of celebrating Christmas in some exciting, faraway spot in 2020. Well, it was not to be. Time to hunker down in our own little world! 😍 DECK THE HALLS…. Who needs
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When my husband Rob and I were living in England we used to buy boxes of special fudge, made by The Toffee Shop at Penrith, in the Lake District. We actually bought it at Fortnum and Mason in London. It was packaged for a charity The Princes
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The Blue Mountains town of Blackheath has always attracted visitors during the festive season. The following report appeared in the Lithgow Mercury, dated January 6 1899; BLACKHEATH – According to reports from different towns the railway traffic to the Mountains this Christmas and New Year has largely
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Up by the railway station in the Blue Mountains village of Blackheath is the sweetest, most delightfully idiosyncratic gift and hobby shop imaginable…. the Old Tythe Barn. If that name conjures an image of a vast agricultural building (it did for me), then you are in for
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MID AUGUST 2020 – I was creating a new garden bed recently when I spotted a currawong gathering roots for its nest. A yellow robin on the look-out for worms was watching on with a wary eye. The currawong nest was constructed high in a eucalypt (local
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The Camellia japonica R.T. Wheeler is very hardy and produces enormous, variegated blooms. I have picked so many to fill various containers So why on earth would I want to banish it? Well, in my Blackheath garden the camellia was growing between two red blooming trees, just
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