My truffle harvest dog, Tiny was on fire last week, finding bags and bags of truffles.

The conditions were rough so I was extra proud of him.

When my truffle sisters (Sue, Deb and Jeanie) and I pulled up for lunch I put Tiny in his pet-pack for a well earned rest. Then it was back to business, scrabbling in the mud in what is surely the best job in the world!

(The best news from home was we’ve had the first drop of rain in months — 16 ml in the gauge! Hooray! Some is better than none. Bring it on Mother Nature!)

We recently sent our little Waler colt, Whipcrack next door to my friend, Luella’s for some education.

Six days later she rode back with him, all saddled up and ready to roll. Outside our house, she said, “Jump on,” to John and off we went for a bush ride, with Whippy enjoying every moment.

Lu has a way of working magic with horses and she has with our baby Waler. He’s out in the paddock now for a spell after his schooling, but his first taste of life under the saddle was a good one and we can tell he’ll be a quiet, ripper little horse.

He’s at present, bloody ugly, but we don’t care — so long as he’s safe as houses for our kids round the district.

Ooly dooly! Truffle harvest has begun and after scrabbling round in mud in near snow conditions looking for the $3,000 a kilo ‘black gold’ for Perigord Truffles of Tasmania, my hands are really suffering!

It’s difficult to make the overnight transition from truffle harvester to Australian author when your hands are sore and cracked and your fingernails are being held on by the kid’s band-aids!

Still, I do know I love it that way. If you ever meet me in person, don’t expect a polished author with manicured hands clutching champagne glasses.

Give me a stubby holder and a beer can any day. It suits my hands better.

With a number of young Walers coming on at Treasure’s Walers, John’s dad, Doug is selling a mixed bag of horses. Here’s one of them:

Nimbus, a grey gelding 15 HH born 1997. Mother, Kye, was my wife’s stockhorse. Father an appaloosa. Great grandfather was reputedly Ashton’s Circus horse. Nimbus is a good reliable strong horse.

See the rest here at Treasure’s Walers.

Congratulations to my inspirational friend, Jackie Merchant, who sold a dog today for charity at the Casterton Kelpie Muster for $7,400!

The money was raised for Beyond Blue and to increase awareness about depression. Dog educator, Paul Macphail, donated Red Dog as a pup to Jackie for the worthy cause and Jackie has spent the past 10 or so months training Red for the event.

A graphic designer by trade, Jackie has  shown other women that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Jackie was dreading parting with Red, but it was her father who secured the winning bid and Red will be donated back to Paul for use in his Beloka Kelpie stud!

Good things come to those who give to the world! Congratulations also to Rick Jones for getting the second top price at the auction of $7,200! Not bad for a Broken Hill boy!

And a big congrats to the organisers of the Kelpie Muster — the big prices of around $4,000 to $5,000 for dogs is really starting to show the true value of a good working dog!

If you’d like to read a fictionalised version of what the excitement’s all about at Casterton, my second novel, The Stockmen, is set in this wonderful town. And if you’d like to read about Paul’s dog training methods, try Wise Women & Hot Dogs — my new eBook, based on his training strategies. 

The saying goes, ‘Look what the cat dragged in.”

Round here its, “Look what the Jack Russell dragged in”.

This delightful road kill surprise was dragged home by Indi, and she, being a dog who likes to share, insists on sharing her dinner.

Here Rousie is delighted by Indi’s road kill treasure. We’ve no spare water to hose things or wash dogs until the drought breaks so I’m left with strongly perfumed dogs and a questionable back door step.

Thanks Indi!

Our Australian culture — particularly our rural culture — means we are not too good at singing our own praises.

The Tall Poppy Syndrome is alive and well within me. That’s why I’ve been a bit backward in coming forward and shouting to the world that I have just signed a four book deal with Random House in the United Kingdom and Germany! Yay!

My agent, Margaret Connolly, has been a legend in getting the deals done and I’m so grateful to her that stories from my rural culture will now be read by thousands overseas.

Over the past few months I’ve been getting to know, via email, my lovely new English publisher, Rosie de Courcy, who like me has a passion for books, dogs, horses and paddocks!

Rosie has kick started a new Random House Imprint called Preface and I’m proud to know all three of my books and my, as yet, unwritten fourth book will be under her guidance!

She’s a star with years of experience in helping to create the big names in books! To celebrate the deal I had one too many Bundy’s up the bush on Sunday beside the bonfire with my community of larrikins. It was a great way to celebrate.

Here’s another cover of The Stockmen from Germany, where my lovely German publisher, Maria, is steering my books through the translation phase towards publication.

With the Casterton Kelpie Muster on this weekend, I’ve been told there’s been interest in the event from Austria and Germany, thanks to The Stockmen!

The Saddlebag Club rounded up about 20 adult riders and a four-wheel drive full of kids for an informal bush bash from Levendale to the Buckland Pub for lunch.

The horses were happy to have the saddles off after a long ride and every single one took the opportunity for a mud bath roll.

We then saddled up again after lunch and rode back for a big bonfire up the bush on Levenbanks. A night of hilarity and horse tales! What a life!

Our community is all fired up to market our district with its wonderful produce, good living and brilliant little Primary School.

We are trying to encourage people to move to Runnymede, Woodsdale, Levendale and surrounds so they can boost our school numbers and enjoy a life of fun and freedom.

Check out these real estate listings so you too can take a ‘tree change’ and build a better life for you and your family.

When I won the 2007 Tasmanian Rural Woman’s Award, I had no idea where it would take me … probably a good thing … because it took me to Canberra. Yikes! Hot air ballooning is popular there as it’s an efficient way to burn off excess political hot air. (Just joking!)

After spending 10 days in this amazing city, I actually really enjoyed Canberra — the morning walks around the lake with my newly found farm women friends was wonderful — as was eating constantly and not having to worry at all about home domestics and the farm.

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