Fleur McDonald is one of Australia’s leading rural literature authors, with her books becoming best sellers almost as quickly as they hit the shelves.
Having sold over 500,000 copies of her books, she has solidified her position as one of the country’s favourite storytellers.
When we all go around the farm in Anthony’s ute, we all have special spots because it’s really only a three-seater ute. We’re four, plus a little dog who really thinks he’s human so therefore he can’t be left behind on the chain (oh, the shame!) Anthony drives, Rochelle sits in the middle, I sit…
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Well, we’ve started! The seed is in the ground, now all we need in a bit of rain to get it up and going. The blue skies look a bit too summery for my liking, but since this photo was taken a few days ago, we’ve had 10mm! It’s not enough yet, but it’s a…
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If only the wind would go around to the south, I’m sure this massive cloud could drop oodles of rain on us! However, with the wind from the north, it’s unlikely that there will be any rain on our place. The sea is going to get it all!
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We’re waiting for rain… and waiting… and waiting some more. We’ve actually got to the stage that we might dry seed some of our crops! As much as this cloud looks hopeful – well, its mates did about two hours ago, there’s clear skies in every other direction. Methinks it’s just beautiful they way the…
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Check out this cheeky little fella! I fed some hay out for the bulls who live in this paddock, but they were busy sunning themselves way down the other end and obviously didn’t hear the tractor with the wind that was blowing. The sheep took full advantage of not having to muscle their way in…
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When I started up the computer this morning, I had a lovely email from my German publishers! There was an attachment with the cover for Red Dust which is due out in Germany, in April 2010. Only there they have changed the title to Wilder Eukalyptus. It blows me away to think that it will…
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Isn’t this photo interesting? The way that there’s a big shadow in the middle of two ray’s of sunshine? Well that’s what happens when you’ve got a big hill behind you! As the sun is setting, it gets really dark at the house and where the shadow of the hill is cast, but it’s still…
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My mum and dad have been over to visit recently and brought with them a large box. Once I realised what was in the box, I fell on it with delight! All my old favourite books were there — The Famous Five and practically every Enid Blyton book ever printed, Trixie Beldon, Colin Thiele and…
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Well it’s freezing here at the moment! A whopping 9.9 degrees! The wind has been howling and we’ve had rain! 25mm fell in our gauge, although I’m not sure how widespread around the Esperance Shire its been – some of our mates who farm a bit further north than us, only got 5mm, so we’re…
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There’s always something to do on a farm and we’ve been picking rocks recently. This paddock is going to be seeded to oats, when we get our opening rains. As you can see, it’s pretty dry here at the moment but we’re hoping for rain so we can get this crop and make our hay.…
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I’ve had lots of questions about whether there’s a new book in the making. Well, there is! Its been on the go for a while, but got shoved onto the back burner when Red Dust was released. However, today’s the day! With a cold northerly blowing and tomorrow being taken up with lamb marking, I’m…
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Life is cruel at times and farming is no different. Our old dog Rex is pretty much had it. Arthritis is in his elbows and his hearing isn’t what it used to be… or maybe it’s just selective and we haven’t worked it out! And as much as we love him and will miss his…
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These Black Cockies arrive suddenly and leave just as quickly! One day the pine trees are quiet, the cattle are grazing without a care in the world… and then suddenly… “SQUARK, squark, squark’! They’ve arrived. I’m sure these attention seekers have got no idea how loud their call is and how frightening it is for…
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Victoria Brown is a bush poet and a fantastic one at that! She’s a farmer’s wife who’s skill has extended beyond the front gate of the farm. Her talents have included Speaker of the Year for the CWA, to being a regular guest of the ABC radio and releasing her own CD of poems last…
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Well it’s been and gone… and what an amazing night! We started the launch for Red Dust at 5pm, but people started to trickle through by 4.45pm. By the time 5:30pm came, there was a definite buzz in the air, people talking, wandering through the shop and lots of laughing. We had over 110 people…
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What a magic view to wake up to! The fogs are indicating a really wet August as we’ve had mists every morning for the last two weeks, or maybe longer … time gets away from me! We can only hope this will be the case, since there hasn’t been any opening rains yet and August…
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My job was to get the steers in. You would think it would be easy enough! We just wanted to put them in a different paddock and draft out a couple of escapee’s . No prob’s! The steers had other ideas! They were feeling pretty good. Fresh and happy. They took off as fast as…
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Among all the excitement of Red Dust hitting the shelves, our ewes have started lambing! This little bloke is one of many. Lambing is great fun to watch. Once they get a bit older they run, jump, pigroot and play around like nothing. Absolutely gorgeous to watch. But the other great thing about lambing (and…
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Red Dust is available at all good bookshops today! Hope you all enjoy it and please make sure you let me know in the comments!
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I’ve just spent a wonderful, cool weekend wallowing between the pages of Mountain Tails by Sharyn Munro. Sharyn is an extraordinary woman, who lives alone on the side of a mountain. She has turned the land she owns into a recognised Wildlife Refuge and her concern for the Australian environment and all its native creatures…
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Occasionally I draw a blank when it comes to ‘the plot’ thickening. That’s where friends come into it! We get together, have a couple of glasses of wine and let those crazy idea’s flow! Sometimes it’s the most crazy ones that actually take off. We were missing an important person last time we had a…
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