It was a delight to see young ‘Blackheathens’ Luke and Fergus back at their lemonade stall in Soldiers’ Memorial Park this year during the Blackheath Rhododendron Festival. Apparently they made a decent profit in 2018, but I’m tipping an even better result this time around because they
Read more →
Hello, Editor Des here. Well Pauline went to a champagne preview of a dedicated children’s section at the New South Wales State Library recently. This week she asked me if I wanted to go and see it. Well of course, woman! I should have been invited to
Read more →
FOLLOWING ON FROM DEVILISH DRUGS. ANOTHER BATTLE IN THE WAR After I left hospital my strength began to return, but the fluid around my heart did not clear as hoped. By April it had actually increased slightly, and surgery became the only option. My surgeon was amazing.
Read more →
FOLLOWNG ON FROM – A MEDICAL MYSTERY It was always an early start to the day at The San, because the cardiologist made his daily ward rounds at 6.00am. My spirits never failed to lift when he appeared. Due to medication I hardly slept and the kindly
Read more →
‘You’re playing with Pandora’s box. Sometimes it’s better not to open it. Sometimes, it’s better not to know’. Tatiana de Rosnay. In September 2011 I was completing my research for a narrative non-fiction book in Great Malvern, a beautiful town in the English county of Worcestershire. It
Read more →
Travel is not easy for someone like me. I never have a proper seat, so no life vest. Pathetic. What would happen if we crashed? Arrived in Darwin. They are obsessed with crocodiles up here. Do I really want to go to Kakadu? Pauline made me pose
Read more →
My first trip on The Ghan was in 1966, from Port Pirie to Alice Springs. My friend Desma and I were 15, and on a school trip from Tasmania. What do I remember? Well our teachers caught the flu and some of us took full advantage of
Read more →
CASUAL DINING OUT IN THE BIG SMOKE! This Italian eatery is located in King Street. It was so good that on a recent visit to Sydney my partner Rob and I dined there two nights running. The style is described as Euro-chic. It’s decorated with pots of
Read more →
Seven years ago I was seriously ill in a Sydney Hospital with a hideous, undiagnosed condition. It was affecting my brain, my heart, my muscles…. and just about everything else. Part of my stabilizing medication was a very high dose of the steroid Prednisone. Among the side
Read more →
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
Read more →