Behind the mob

There is something about mustering cattle that gets into your bones. The steady clop of hoofs, crisp winter mornings, the joy of working with animals and being out in the bush. Of course the romanticism can wear off pretty quickly when the temperture is at freezing level and a nasty southerly is ripping around your [...]

An Outback Education: Alice Greenup joins a growing list of bush based writers.

Welcome to Alice Greenup, debut author of the memoir, Educating Alice and QLD cattle farmer. I recently met and interviewed Alice at Moree On A Plate, our local food and wine festival. Her memoir joins the burgeoning list of rural non-fiction, a genre which is enjoying new interest on the back of rural fiction. Alice's story, city [...]

Bedouins & the Silk Road: Camel business in the Burnett.

Camels and silk worms don't immediately come to mind when you think of beauty products, instead the words conjure images of Bedouin traders and vast stretches of sandy desert. However in a small corner of Australia innovative producers Debra and Stan Corbett run Camel Milk Australia (located in the South Burnett region of QLD) in conjunction with a Droughtmaster [...]

Behind the scenes for the Australian Women’s Weekly Shoot

It was with great excitement that I received the call to be included in the Australian Women's Weekly rural portfolio for their March issue. The logistics however were a little harder. At the time I had already decamped over to the main homestead following more flooding. The question? When can I get back in to [...]

By | March 9th, 2013|A WRITERS LIFE, COUNTRY LIFE, General, MOTHER NATURE|0 Comments

5 Black Cockatoo’s & the slater beetles are heading west: Divining the weather.

What is going on with the weather? The black cockatoo's are still settling in the belah trees and the slater's are still heading west at the first hint of possible rain so we know we are in for a wet time however other things just don't feel right. The winds have changed for one thing. [...]

My ‘Just Read’ pile …

I love January... well, I should clarify that statement. I love January minus heatwaves and drought conditions, I usually love January minus floods (although after three years of January flooding I should be use to that too!) and windstorms thanks to ex-tropical cyclones. January is 'brain rest' time for me when I can stop creating [...]

The big wet returns …

Drought, stock-feeding over christmas and New Year and cattle on the road, then floods. Who would have thought January could bring so much changeable weather. Another flood has arrived as I write this and although at this stage it does not appear to be as large as Christmas 2011-12, every flood event brings with it a [...]

Where did 2012 Go?

I have always been a huge festive season person, long, hot days, plenty of good cheer (the food and wine kind) and time with family and friends. We're used to big christmases in the bush and with the temperature gauge usually soaring, on-farm jobs are scheduled for mornings so the Christmas week can be enjoyed. This year it [...]

Dry storms & heatwaves.

This week we have been moving cattle around. The season is getting progressively worse with little rain on the horizon. Although the summer storms have been making an appearance every week or so they remain stubbornly dry. Gusty winds and bad lightning have everyone worried about fires and with the number that have been burning [...]

Harvest time

Most things in life don't go to plan and that is particularly true in the bush. There are two old sayings out here  - 'If you have machinery, you can expect breakdowns', and 'If you have stock, expect losses'. At harvest time the former is usually true although touch wood by the time we finish in [...]

By | November 13th, 2012|A WRITERS LIFE, COUNTRY LIFE, MOTHER NATURE, Rural Affairs|0 Comments
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