Australia Day was interesting one on the farm last year. The heavens opened on our parched farm. The dam went from a muddy puddle to overflowing in the space of eight hours. By the afternoon the paddocks were so flooded, there were fish and eels swimming past our ankles. The extremes of Australian weather crammed into Australia Day seemed apt. Australia Day Party I'm excited to be ...
Cooking
14 tips for starting a blog
Earlier this year, a friend decided to start a blog. I had no idea what I was doing when I started writing Cooker and a Looker in April 2012. Looking back, some of the things I did make me palm my face. Other stuff I totally fluked. Here are my fourteen plain-talking tips for starting a blog. 1. name of the game Choose your blog name wisely. There are only so many times that you ...
homemade tomato sauce
My brother Ant is marrying the beautiful Felicite in March. They’re childhood sweethearts who have stayed together despite distance, tragedy and my brother’s insistence on eating things he hunts. Flic is a better bird than me; had And and I not been related, I would have bolted after the venison lasagna incident of 2011. Ant and Flic have invited my girls to be their flower girls on the big ...
Things on Thursday
Everywhere you look on the internet, people are writing about things: how to knit things, how to teach things, how to disappoint yourself trying to make things that never work out, how to sew things, how to sell things, how to build things, how to decorate things, how to do-things-yourself and yes, how to cook things. I love things as much as the next blogger, so I thought I'd have a bit of fun ...
the world is still a good place, the 2/1/14 edition
The world is still a good place. This time of year is tough for a lot of people, including the bereaved. I've been feeling David's absence more acutely these past few weeks. A "Merry Christmas Brother" card in Woolworths was very nearly the undoing of me a few weeks back. It's little unexpected things that can trigger sadness, but it's also little unexpected things that remind me that the ...
you can’t be serious Santa! cookies
Dear Santa, It was lovely to see you at Australia Zoo again this year. I’m always grateful for a chance to catch up with you that doesn't involve the Christmas crowd crush and a queue of over-tired, over-excited children and their over-it parents. Thank you for telling the Big Sister that her reindeer food (rolled oats and glitter) is an important navigational tool for Rudolph. Thank you for ...