It’s been over three years since we’ve seen rainfall this good on our farm!
This was the best welcome home present I could’ve hoped for after my stint away in Hobart working on my novel.
Over three inches of rain has at last breathed life into the land.
It was gentle, steady rain that fell over days and soaked into soil that was frighteningly dry.
At footy, in the mud and drizzle, everyone was smiling and saying ‘what beautiful weather!’ We are so grateful for the rain!
Our winter rape crop, shown above, was revived by the drink it got.
Blossom, Jess, Smoko and Maxine spent a wet few days out in it. Smoko, still not yet a year old took a while to come to terms with the wet stuff but at least it was warm weather. It was great to see our new dam almost full.
Creeks that hadn’t run for years frothed and gushed.
Below: this is how paddocks in this district looked every winter when I was a kid. Nowadays its a rare sight, but still beautiful as we know these falls will help us out come Springtime.
I’ve just come home from another blissful stint at the Tasmanian Writer’s Centre cottage. I went hard, night and day editing The Cattleman’s Daughter and had the most wonderful time of solitude.
The good news is, in this read through, I was really happy with how the book is shaping up. I have another two editing rounds then it’s almost time for printing! Yay!
Last week Tassie had its first snowfalls for the coming winter and it was great to wake up to see our mountain with a dusting.
The bushland is so dry our fire brigade friends who have been burning off over autumn said the fires are behaving like October fires — not May fires.
Hopefully the snow will help out the subsoil moisture.
Meanwhile, I’m going into lockdown for the next couple of weeks to edit the ‘first-pages’ version of The Cattleman’s Daughter.
First-pages are when my manuscript has been typeset by the publishers and is laid out how you will see the text in the book.
Pencils sharpened! I’m ready to roll!
Check out the digs I stayed in at Grindlewald during Agfest!
I fair dinkum felt like a cuckoo in a cuckoo clock and took to yodelling each morning from my top balcony.
This replica Swiss village was a terrific place to stay for our family. While John, the kids and our mates Rod and Leeanne went to Agfest I stayed at home, to be the lonely goat.
I got so much editing done during the day on The Cattleman’s Daughter, that I was well and truly ready from some Schapps in the evening and felt more than slightly ‘cuckoo’.
We’ll be sure to stay there again for Agfest 2010, and next time I’ll be better prepared.
I’m going to wear a pair of lederhosen, one of those busty tops and carrying around massive jugs of beer.
It’s a very exciting week coming up this week for me! My literary agent and dear friend, Margaret Connolly is visiting, along with Dan and Sally from Penguin Books.
I’m keen to have our get together in my new little writer’s cubby, so we’ve been busy building a new pathway to welcome my team!
Gravel from the farm quarry, rocks from the paddock and bricks from the side of the road, stable waste from next door along with some silage wrap have gone into this very rustic pathway and garden bed.
Talk about DIY backyard blitz. I hope our humble little home will be welcoming for our visitors from Melbourne and Sydney and let’s hope the Jack Russell hasn’t dragged another bit of road kill to the front door.
One of the sub-plots of my new novel, The Cattlemen’s Daughter is about the mismanagement of public land.
My editor, Belinda and I have been trying to find a balance in my writing so that I not only tell a great story but also deliver a message in a subtle way — without bashing the reader over the head with my viewpoint.
Its a delicate task and is one of the main challenges with this next book, out in October 2009.
I want to entertain my readers and also educate them about what it is to be a landowner in the midst of a bureaucracy that doesn’t seem to understand land management.
It was interesting to see these signs on my way to Agfest in Tasmania’s Midlands that show the frustration farmers have.
The fire that had raged up the highway was made infinitely worse due to the fuel load on the public land, not the private land. Judging from these signs, it seems the thrust of my new novel will resonate with many!
When I sat down to write my first novel in 1999 I had dreamed of seeing more female contemporary rural writer’s on our Australian book shelves. That dream is now becoming reality for me!
Two great country girls from Western Australia have found publishers and both have new books on their way.
Fleur McDonald’s novel, Red Dust hit the shelves this week and Fiona Palmer’s novel, The Family Farm will be out later in the year.
To actually sit down to write an entire manuscript takes guts and determination. To see it through to publication is another achievement!
Well done to my Western Australian writing women, Fleur and Fiona! I am so proud of you both!
Check out their websites: Fleur McDonald & Fiona Palmer.
I love this time of year on our farm when the season starts to turn.
We’ve been stocking up the wood heap and praying for a good autumn break. Up until a few nights ago the dams and creeks were still pretty dry — and even though the grass was green, the pasture is very short.
We’ve now had 22ml of rain in the past two days and while we know winter will be tough — we are going into it well understocked, and with cattle still away on agistment we’re confident the stock we do have will stay in top condition.
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