PRE- ORDER Fleur's newest novel 'Voices in the Dark'
Yesterday was probably the worst day we’ve had this summer. We hit 44 degrees – the same as Marble Bar. Now there is something strange about that! Marble Bar is renown for being the hottest place in WA and it’s in the far north. Esperance is on the south coast and right near the sea!…
Thunderstorms are not only impressive but their power is truly breathtaking. They are a reminder to humans: how we can’t control everything, (even though we try) and how much we are at the mercy of Mother Nature. As farmers during summer, we tend to be a bit wary of storms – especially if they don’t bring any rain.…
Our season has come to an abrupt end. There wasn’t any gradual change in the grass as there can be some years. It went from green to golden in the space of about three days! Now is the time that my love/hate relationship starts with summer. I am not a fan of hot weather –…
Today was a very exciting day! Our brand new toy, a John Deere tractor, was delivered. Tractors are such a huge part of our farming life – I think, either Anthony, I or our workman, are in one every day! If we’re not feeding hay with it, we’re spraying, seeding, pulling the chaser bin, carting gravel,…
Wouldn’t it be lovely just to laze in the sun? Well that’s Rex’s life. Completely retired, except for the odd ride in the back of the ute, his life now consists of chasing the sun. One moment he’ll be stretched out in front of the door and I trip over him every time I set…
This doesn’t really look like the standard library does it? Not with all the utes parked and strange looking things, including a cement mixer, at the front. Where are the books? Well, this is my new library! I have a friend who I swap books with fairly regularly, but we don’t ever seem to be…
What’s a boy to do when the sheep won’t run? Have a rest of course! These full-wool girls were not at all interested in running into the sheep crate today! We were loading them up into the truck so we could cart them back to the other farm for shearing, but they were being a…
Our annual sale – Tomorrow! For many years now, we’ve held an annual ram sale in Esperance. We gather up the best of our rams, truck them to town, wrestle them into pens and let farmers pass judgement on them! Tomorrow is the big day (18th Sept 09). At the moment, I’m snatching five minutes…
This is why, when you live on a farm, you need a four wheel drive! Often you become a transport company! Ours is called FNA transport – officially Fleur and Anthony Transport, unofficially, a rather rude word starting with F Average Transport! I took some of the extra wool into Esperance, to make the journey to…
Well, after trawling through all the entries for the Farm name comp, we finally have a winner! But before I tell you who it is, I’ve got to thank everyone who entered. The response was enormous, with entries coming from as far away as New Zealand. The decision was actually really hard – now I…
These beautiful looking sheep are our stud ewes, complete with their long, lean and muscular lambs! As part of our farming program we run a White Suffolk Stud – something that my main character in Blue Skies, Amanda, does. These girls are just about to be run through the jetting race – to make sure…
Today has been one of those really odd days where nature just seems to throw one amazing thing after another at us! A few mornings ago, just as I was putting the kids on the bus, a thick, heavy mist rolled in from… nowhere! It had dawned a drizzly early morning, then cleared quickly, but…
The SEPWA ladies day was an inspirational day for all who went! I felt like I was an impostor amongst all the women that spoke – they were all so clever and had achieved so much! To a degree, whether they spoke about farming, viticulture or achievement, the message was simular – you can achieve…
Have you ever read For better, for worse and for lunch by Christina Hindhaugh? It is the most hysterical book, based on a city dweller who marries a farmer and her experiences as she adjusts to farm life. Christina has a character in there named Aunt Grace, or more aptly, Amazing Grace! Aunt Grace mentions…
Blue Skies is nearly complete. I have the editing to go and I’m positive that I’ll make the September 1 deadline – which is fantastic for me and Allen and Unwin, as they’ve already got the freelance editor, Ali Lavau, booked to start work on the manuscript, basically as soon as it arrives. I’ve really…
Radio announcers often talk about how wonderful it is to have beautiful warm weather for weekends, not realising that farmers often need rain. However, the warm sunny weekend, that was sent to us recently, was a welcome relief from the cold, grey days that we’ve been experiencing! As you can see by the clear picture…
With two days to go until the Farm Name comp finishes, I’ve just had a phone call from my publicist, Kate, telling me about the overwhelming response that we’ve received! That’s Life, the magazine with heart, have kindly been running this comp over the past couple of weeks and they’ve been inundated with entries! Thank…
It’s the last days to enter the farm name competition. It finishes this Friday (31st July 2009). Head to That’s Life web site, to read about Adrian, his farm and what sort of a bloke he is. Hopefully my descriptions of his character and farm will give you an idea of what he’s like and…
If you’re anywhere around the South Coast of WA, I’d love it if you could put the 6th of August in your diaries! The SEPWA group is a farmer initiated organisation, started to represent the wheat growers on the South Coast. Since it’s conception in 1993, it had grown tremendously, their activities including lobbying, field…
Well the shearing shed that we’ve had put into our machinery shed is now finished! Doesn’t it look great? We can’t wait to use it, so the next photo might be of some crutching here. But we’ve got a bit of work to do before that can happen. All the gravel area will have to…