When is a park not a park?

Three years of fenced off park . . . Promises three years old of “Park Renewal” When is a park not a park?   When it’s Peace Park, Chippendale.   For over three years we’ve watched in growing wonder at the succession of failed attempts to manage the park, in particular to grow traditional grass there.   The latest grass growing effort has seen the park fenced off for some nine months.   If a park is not used for over half the... Read More

Tree veneration art show opens at Chippo Child Care Centre

Canopy Invite On 24 November, 6 – 8 pm, the art show, Canopy, opens at the Chippendale Child Care Centre, Pine Street.   Artists have been celebrating trees at the Centre by venerating them.  The idea is explained by Louise Fowler-Smith in a flier for the show: “Louise has been researching the Sacred Tree for the past decade and has found that the practice of venerating the Tree through decoration protects the Tree in countries such as India. Her research has... Read More

NSW Minister Humphries gardens with us in Chippo

Photo Left to right: Nathan (about a quarter of him), Bob, Paul, Minister Kevin Humphries, Michael, Greg, Paddy, James (about a quarter of him) Here is a photo taken today of Kevin Humphries MP, NSW Minister for Mental Health and some TAFE Outreach gardeners at a vertical garden in Chippendale. The Minister planted a lettuce and inspected the Chippendale gardens, compost bins and will be in touch soon about how the state may become involved. Great to see a hands on Minister... Read More

Chippendale Design Precinct Trail 19 and 20 August

Several of Chippendale’s furniture and design showrooms have combined to offer tours and talks of their showrooms on Friday and Saturday 19 and 20 August. They’re offering a $3,000 cash prize for the winner of a quiz on a card given out during the tours. Participating showrooms include: Argent Corporate Culture Designer Rugs Envoy Furniture Inlite Insitu Tappeti Fine Hand Crafted Rugs Thinking Erognomix Viabizzuno They’ve published a useful event guide which... Read More

Vertical garden in an hour at $nil cost

Vertical garden with soil exposed Timber pallet vertical garden with soil in sacks Tafe Outreach students built this couple of vertical gardens in my back yard. It took a couple of hours to do the first one but it had to lie down flat for four weeks while the plants took in the soil. The other one was built and lifted up and the top planting done in about an hour; by containing all the soil in the sacks and cutting a notch in the sacks to insert the plants we greatly speeded up... Read More

Why do I love rain?

When I smell rain coming, or hear it falling on my roof, I feel happy deep inside. It’s been like that since I can remember. On the farm, lying in bed as a kid listening to it on the grass outside it made me smile.  “That’ll fix things”, I’d think.  The new green grass would be strong in my mind’s eye, and I couldn’t wait to see it.  “Dad’s crop will like this.” Rain then renewed what was around me and what our farming family depended on. Even now, six decades... Read More

Death of Duck n Swan

The Duck n Swan Hotel closes at the end of this May – this weekend. Many of us miss it already. Unpretentious.  Good food. A place where we could talk. Quiet enough for conversation. Imagine that. All the staff will go. We’ll miss them, too. The new owners are apparently from the UK and, according to some who have met them, have some knowledge of the class system there. And so it goes, M  Read More

Greg builds a shed

Shed in bits + Greg Greg and shed, finished Greg built a shed this weekend.  Provided by Sydney City Council through the good work of Russ Grayson there, it arrived at Pine Street Creative Centre on Friday.  Starting on it after some lunch time tucker at the Duck n Swan on Saturday, young Greg downed tools after sunset when the torch held by his assistant failed to find the holes for the screws to go in.  Today Greg finished the job and now it’s ready for the Pine Street... Read More

Venerating our trees

With the guidance of Louise Fowler-Smith from the Sydney College of Fine Arts and her students who will create the art, one of our trees will be venerated. The tree is the large Jacaranda in the Pine Street Creative Arts Centre. Pine Street’s involvement is to “supply the tree” which sits within the Centre’s property boundary, located next to the basketball court. The Centre Manger, Jane Hooper, did get permission from the City’s Public Art unit... Read More

Scenes from a Chippo walk today

Wrong Connection [phone hanging from electricity wires - good throw, I reckon What's that little lump on the corner ahead? Aah, horseman, passing by Shall I think of myself as 'etc' today? To finish the walk - some trees: Paw paw, Tamarillo, Pomelo, Caffre and more . . .  Read More