‘Up and at ’em, Fleury,’ my Dad used to call when I was really little and heading off in the truck with him. Back then I bounced out of bed with the expectation of adventure on my mind. Going with dad held loads of fun… Days in the truck singing along to Slim Dusty (I…
I know my Mum has told me I have a warped way of looking at things at times, but I’m sure there are other people who see things and think the same as I do. Isn’t there? Tell me what you think of when you look at these lunch boxes. Go on, leave me a…
Every so often things go slightly crazy around here. I’ve written a few blogs about when it happens. One is here and another one, here. They always seem to involve snakes, frogs, chooks, kids and the Jack Russell. Today was one of moments. Teenagers seem to like their music up loud. We have a new car…
I love Australia. It’s in my nature to be very patriotic! When the strains of ‘I still call Australia home’ or Advance Australia Fair ring out, I get goosebumps! I love our beaches, our cities and I ADORE our country areas – hopefully that comes through in my writing. I’m grateful that we are able…
A few weeks ago, you might remember I posted a ‘Beware, rant ahead‘ blog. I need to tell you all again, I don’t usually rant and I don’t usually get so uptight and upset. To sum it up quickly, buying a house in town, so the kids could be educated was turning out to be…
So you’re all back at working, feeling like you’ve never left? Wondering where that holiday feeling has gone? Yeah, me too. Maybe if you look at these photos and imagine the salty air blowing through your hair, the cry of seagulls and the sand between your toes, I can help you recapture the holiday feeling!…
I’m wanting to hear some of your stories. Ones about women working on the land, funny ones, sad ones and everything else in between. The reason I’m looking for these, is because I have the opportunity to address some city people in the coming months and would like to be able to share how incredible…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
