PRE- ORDER Fleur's newest novel 'Voices in the Dark'
This is how cattle yards should look! Standing quietly in the evening light, the only noise being a chain banging gently on the rails or a bird, who has perched himself on the loading ramp, singing. This is not how it was, today! Chaos I think would be a good word to describe it –…
One of the things about Esperance and spring time, it the weather! It’s completely unpredictable. Here’s an example; last week, Tuesday and Wednesday were above 35 degrees – a rather rude shock after the pleasant, good living weather we’d been having. The heat caused the crops and grass to ‘turn’ into the colours that suggest…
This chair is a memory from my childhood. It used to be my Nana Parnell’s and it used to be green. It had a hole the size of a twenty cent piece right in the middle of the seat. A coal from her open fire caused that. It’s actually an antique; a ‘Smokers Bow’. I…
Well, it’s not “Raining on the Rock” (John Williamson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcgPdppG_k ) but we’ve been walking on the rock! On a cooler day, we thought it was safe enough to go for a bit of an explore. The hill is basically made from granite, with crevices of soil that allow native pines, and all sorts of…
Meet Dave. He’s our vet. Dave lives a varied, exciting life and has many stories to tell! Like the cat that turned feral and shot into the roof, through a very small hole. They spent the best part of an hour running around the ceiling to get it out! There are many more hysterical tales! Then there are the…
Farmers are funny creatures (me included!). Leading up to the break of the season we’re all bemoaning the fact it hasn’t rained and how much we need it. We scan the skies, the weather sites on the internet and listen intently when The Country Hour weather report is on. Finally it rains. The country starts…
Recently I’ve been driving the eight hour drive to Perth, quite a lot. I’ve loved cruising through areas that I don’t often see and because I’ve done it so many times, I’ve been able to see the growth of the pastures and crops. Canola is such a specky looking crop, isn’t it? Grown for its…
There is a joke amongst farmers about ‘bank review time’ – the best time to show your bank manager around the farm! It’s usually around 4pm, when the sun has just started to sink. The light it throws is softer than harsh midday sun; it makes crops look thicker, greener and lusher than in the…
This creek crossing is really important to me know. Do you know the feeling of being away for a long period of time and as you’re heading home, you get to a point, you just know that you’re there – that you’re where your soul belongs? Well, this is one of my places, that I…
The jonquils, this year, are just beautiful! I’ve just come in from hanging some clothes on the line and the slight breeze wafted their scent all the way over to where I was standing. What a joy something like that can bring to such a mundane task! When we first moved to this house, I…
It’s been pretty cold here lately! And it’s school holidays. As much as the kids like to help, sometimes our jobs involve things that they just can’t do, so when we arrived at the sheep yards at 6:15am and it was bitter and frosty, the kids took exception to being involved with our farming life! (As…
On a beautiful Sunday morning the kids had the job of shifting a mob of sheep (I always go with them but hang right back or right at the front to slow the ewes down, so I’m there if they need help.) Today they took their bikes and two dogs – Rocket, the Jack Russell, a well…
In my few travels around the country and around where I live, I am always amazed at the women who do incredible things. Most of these women don’t think they’re extraordinary, but I can assure you they are. I wanted to introduce you to some of the ones I’ve met – their stories are sometimes…
Anthony and I were shifting sheep from one farm to another when we came across these two foxes sitting in the middle of the road. As we all know, foxes aren’t native to Australia and cause immense amount of damage to our native fauna. They’re also a foe to new born lambs. They are instinctive…
Every Sunday morning, on ABC radio, Macca has a segment called, ‘Why I live where I live.’ Well I think I’ve talked about this last few blogs, so I’m just going to show you some photos of last evening. There was a partial eclipse then – Saturday the 27th June – which we watched over…
I was up at a friend’s house this weekend and I was captivated by her garden. As everyone who visits my blog knows, I’m not a gardener, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying beautiful ones. Sue has a spectacular garden – a mixture of succulents and cottage plants, roses and bushes. She also grows…
The phone call came at lunch time: ‘Fleur, would you come and pick your child up, please? She’s had slight accident and needs to go to hospital.’ Enough to strike fear into the heart of any mother, let alone one that was about 10km away from her car, in a clapped out tractor, feeding out…
I hear rainbows have magic powers! Well, here’s hoping it can fix my garden! This was our view as I took the kids to the school bus last week. A rainbow ends on my farm… that’s got to be good. After all, they’re supposed to have a pot of gold at the end, aren’t they? I…
It was the most beautiful morning! Calm, clear and not cold, which was nice! The atmosphere pulled me outside for my morning coffee, which was just lovely – especially since it seemed the kids had got out of bed on the wrong side today. It quiet out there and with old retired Rexy (the dog)…
Rain just seems to bring the whole countryside alive – animals and humans alike – and the 27mm we had over the weekend has done just that. The menfolk are smiling and you can hear the roar of tractors, sowing the crops or spraying the paddocks, when you walk outside. At night the landscape is dotted with…