Getting out of bed at 4am is not hard, when I can walk outside, sipping coffee and see this view. There wasn’t long to admire the sunrise, though, as we had 700 ewes to walk ‘up the road’. A cool ten kilometres. We’d shifted another 700 the previous day. Knowing it was going to be…
Christmas this year, will be different for us. Like so many families across the world, we will have an empty chair at our table. This, in itself, brings thoughts and feelings I’m unable to express – I haven’t worked out how yet. It will be a quiet one for us too – just the four…
In the lead up to Christmas, I’ve been trying to work out, which Christmas’s was most memorable, weird, sad, happy, so on and so forth. I thought it might make a cool little series to read. Anyway, one that I came up with was my most disastrous Christmas. I need to give you a little…
**Spoiler Alert: You are NOT to read this post if you are under 16** I remember a Christmas, many years ago, when I was about 10. I was SO excited. My family from Alice Springs were coming down, I’d get to see my cousins, whom I ADORED, my Aunty who was even better and there…
Last Christmas, I had my first Christmas back on ‘home soil’ in more than 18 years. My husband took me ‘back home’ as a thank you for caring for his mum. I guess I should explain that, for farmers in Australia, Christmas is held at the wrong time of the year! It’s really difficult for…
So it’s been about three weeks since the header or tractor or chaser bin turned a wheel. It’s also been that amount of time since the auger has gone. For those of you who aren’t sure what that means, it equates to NO HARVEST! Can’t begin to tell you how frustrating that is! *run around…
It’s the time of the year where nature starts to decorate the sides of the road, for Christmas. WA has, what we affectionately call ‘Native Christmas Trees’. As the start to bloom this vivid orange, we know that Christmas isn’t far away. The incredible flowers actually stink to high heaven, but the flies and the…
View from the top of the header We’re still harvesting. This must be one of the most frustrating harvests we’ve had in years! The wind has howled from the east – cool, moist gale-forced winds, which doesn’t let the moisture come down in the grain enough, so we can get it into the silos. A…
The one thing about cropping, is as hard as you try, there is always likely to be something that isn’t quite perfect about the grain. It might rain, and it get stained or worse, begin to sprout. This decreases the quality. Sometimes you might find that the boomspray has had a blocked jet and there’s…
Even during the busiest times of the year, down time is necessary. I always know when it is needed, depending on the various levels of grumpiness that comes home, from the paddock. Sometimes, the men of the farm, work it out for themselves, other times, they need a woman to suggest it’s time…
Okay, I admit it. I love going to the mail box. Not because I like picking up the bills – who does? But because I’m a sucker for letters and presents in the mail. I mean, who isn’t? Oh and by the way, why wouldn’t you want to visit THIS mail box? I’ve had people…
This post is inspired by a piece Barry Nicholls from ABC WA Statewide Drive had on his show last week. I’ve written before about how I’m an avid ABC radio listener – so much amazing information and ideas can come from that radio station. Many people texted and phoned in to say who their heroes…
I was so lucky to be asked by Margie Arnold to attend and speak at The Rural Women’s Gathering, which is a yearly event that has more than 300 women from across South Australia, attending. I have been to many Rural Women’s days and I love them – the camaraderie and networking opportunities are brilliant.…
“ I’m a big fan of Katherine Scholes. The first book of her’s I read was Lioness. I then went and tracked down all her other books, as I usually do when I find an author I love. Here’s Katherine talking about the writing of her new offering; The Perfect Wife. “I’m so glad to…
Harvest is always looked forward to with a mixture of anticipation and dread – well it is by me anyway. Anticipation because it’s our money making time. We get to see what we’ve achieved over the year, reward for the hard work, so on and so forth. Dread, because it’s dry and hot. Long hours…
I’m not a material person. Neither is my husband. In fact my mother-in-law used to joke we’d be happy sleeping under a barb wire fence and a broken one at that, just so long as we were happy and healthy. But I do have two possessions which are treasured. I think anyone who reads my…
Some times there is nothing more I love than editing. After all, the hard work has been done, hasn’t it? The words are on the page and all I have to do is rearrange them, or make them better. Yes? *cough, cough* Perhaps there is a little more to do than that. Some times there…
It’s not often you get to see a full rainbow, let alone have the camera handy to catch them before they disappear. This beauty hung around for about ten minutes, while I fiddled with my lens and managed to get these shots. The above photo, though, really doesn’t do it justice. It was such a…
As I type this, I’m sitting at my office desk, looking out over green pastures. Just a few metres into the paddock, there is a mob of sheep and their marked lambs all camped up, which is unusual for this time of the day. The clouds are low and grey and the gentle breeze has…
I guess all of us have people who inspire us. Women we look at and muter under out breath, ‘I wish I could be like her.’ They might be great mums, family people, have achieved greatness in their line of work, or overcome some type of adversity and come out stronger women. Well I’m here…
My husband (also known as ‘The Boss) is a mad keen fisherman. He will go to the beach when it’s raining, a howling southerly or when it’s a beautiful calm day. The only thing that stops him from getting a line in the water, is if there is ‘weed’ out in the holes he’s trying…
