In the northern hemisphere, Halloween is celebrated during fall, when landscapes are wreathed in eerie mist. Here in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales we are supposed to be in the full glory of spring, but there can be some surprisingly appropriate weather. There are haunting
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As with most Australians, the ubiquitous Weber bar-b-que was part of my life for many years. And yes, it even produced our Christmas turkey on a couple of occasions In all its glory The following photo of my partner Rob was taken in the
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Hello, Editor Des here. I have to be very brave about writing this, because I am still a bit traumatized. Well I went to Sydney with my guardian Pauline Conolly this week week. She wanted to do a bit of shopping and other stuff at the big
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WARNING…..INCLUDES CONFRONTING SPIDER PICTURE! It wasn’t until my friend Dianne told me about her battle to get rid of ivy in her new garden that I realized my own ivy problem had become super-serious. Stupidly, I had deliberately spread the variegated variety around. I’d considered it more
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THE VICTORY….HEART OF ‘OLD’ BLACKHEATH The Victory Theatre opened in 1921 as The Arcadia picture house. Locals even enjoyed an early form of 3D. It is now a vast antiques centre. The bear (Editor Des) is not for sale, though sometimes I am sorely tempted to put
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BLUE MOUNTAINS TWITCHER Introducing myself…Editor Des. After a bit of training I’m now a master bird watcher in the beautiful Blue Mountains. I was originally banned from this pursuit by my guardian Pauline Conolly, because I kept chattering and scaring Mr Satin Bowerbird. For heaven’s sake,
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Hello, Editor Des here. Well I like visiting medical museums. In fact, I quite fancy myself as a doctor. Last year I performed a little operation on my neighbor Fred, after he carelessly lost a second leg. It was reasonably successful. These museums can be
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I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity. Eleanor Roosevelt. What wise words; especially for future scientists….and writers! English crime novelist Ann Cleeves was asked what motivated her
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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
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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
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