I have a single English blackbird in my Australian garden. But oh dear, what a mess he makes of my paths with his incessant scratching around for worms and insects. 😨 I have been tempted to pop him in pie. OK, let’s begin with some words
Read more →When WWII began, the Tasmanian government did not consider that air raid shelters and measures such as blackouts would be necessary. However, when Japan bombed Peal Harbour on December 7 1941 and subsequently attacked Darwin, everything changed. ‘Surface shelters in Tasmania should soon be an accomplished fact…….The
Read more →
The Australian born artist Hilda Rix (1884-1961) was living and working in France when war broke out in 1914. She abandoned her studio at the Etaples artists’ colony and fled to London with her widowed mother and her older sister Elsie. Many of her pictures were left
Read more →
Leonard George Shadbolt (son of Frank and Ethel Shadbolt) grew up in a home called Corra Lynn, in Helen Street, West Ulverstone. He enlisted in WWII on May 12 1941, initially serving in the Middle East, and subsequently in New Guinea. On October 10 1943 Leonard was
Read more →
Letters have virtually disappeared these days, along with postcards, greeting cards, telegrams and, to some extent, telephone calls. Social media rules, and I confess I have adopted the new forms of communication wholeheartedly. However, it also gave me great delight recently to look back at a time
Read more →
My husband Rob’s maternal grandparents, Harry and Malinda (Linda) Atkins, are a bit of a mystery to me. They have been in my thoughts a lot recently, as we inherited some lovely old pieces from them. The items were in storage for a long time while we
Read more →
In the midst of WWII, British P.M. Winston Churchill, decided he would like to have – a live platypus! 😨 After Australia’s Prime Minister John Curtin gave his assent, naturalist David Fleay was given the task of preparing a young male and organizing its voyage to England
Read more →
The three dolls’ houses in this story were raffled to support the Red Cross in sending comfort parcels to Australian prisoners of war. The first mentioned was constructed and designed by the Apex Club of Tasmania. The name ‘Young Bill’ was used in publicity material to represent
Read more →
My home town of Ulverstone, on Tasmania’s north-west coast, was always known for its potatoes. However, in the late 1940s there was another contender for the town’s most valuable export product….. CANNED RABBITS! But before I continue with that I must share an earlier venture with rabbits
Read more →
Rations and ‘comfort parcels’ for Scottish relatives were part of Jean Nicholson’s childhood memories in wartime Sydney, when her family were living at Eastwood. This is an extract from her brief memoir of those years. Food was rationed from 1942. Mum had coupons that were exchanged for
Read more →