Archive for June, 2009

Best wet yet!

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.

Creative Bliss!

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!

First snow

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!