Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 28.4 i Australian Country

As this issue goes to press, photographer Ken Brass and I have just returned from a couple of flying trips to Queensland. They enabled us to see firsthand the extraordinary force of Mother Nature at her most vicious and most benign. While some farms and stations are enjoying the best season in a decade, other people across Australia — in Victoria and South Australia — are reeling from either the worst droughts or the worst floods — south-western and northern Queensland, the NSW Northern Rivers and Mid-North Coast and cyclone-ravaged parts of Western Australia's Kimberley. There are many not-for-profits out there working to help people who are suffering in the regions and, if you possibly can, I urge you to support them. They include, but are not limited to, the…

“Like most bush kids, we were given a lot of responsibility from a young age. To paraphrase the Nobel Prize-winning Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, some people see things as they are and ask “why?”, while others dream things that never were and ask “why not?”. Sisters Angie Nesbit and Shona Larkin are a classic case of “why-nots”. Catching up over coffee after a morning's work in the paddocks, Shona commented how great it would be if the gloves they wore for both skin and sun protection were more stylish. Angie's off-the-cuff response — “we should make our own” — was the genesis of FarmHer Hands, a bush-based business selling gloves that don't just protect against the sun, bumps and scratches, they also come in a range of fashion-forward colours…

Like many life-changing decisions, the genesis was swift, but executing it took much longer. Nick Chambers and his wife, Carina, were returning from a wedding with Carina's aunt and uncle, Debbie and James Johnson, when it was decided that they should buy Glen Antrim, their farm near Newbridge in the NSW Central West. “We were in the back of a taxi talking about how Debbie and James wanted to retire,” Carina recalls. “For Nick, buying Glen Antrim meant realising his dream of having his own farm, so the decision was obvious. Fortunately, they agreed to a long settlement because we'd just moved to Tamworth for Nick's work as head of grower services for GrainCorp, so it was four years until we could actually take over.” Carina, who is an artist…

BABY CAKES MAKES 12 CAKES 125g unsalted butter, softened 125g caster sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 2 eggs 150g self-raising flour Pinch of fine sea salt 80ml full-cream milk SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM 3 egg whites (approximately 100g) 200g caster sugar ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt 300g unsalted butter, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 160g strawberry and rhubarb jam (recipe follows), plus ½ teaspoon rosewater OR 160g passionfruit curd or 150g dark chocolate (45–55% cocoa solids) melted and cooled (optional) OPTIONAL TOPPINGS Unsprayed edible flowers (dried or fresh) Extra passionfruit curd Chocolate shavings Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced and line four 12-hole mini muffin/cupcake tins (with 30ml-capacity holes) with paper cases (or bake the cakes in batches if you have fewer tins). For the cakes, in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and…

LAST ISSUE GENERATED LOTS OF FEEDBACK FROM OUR READERS. WIN A PRIZE We appreciate your thoughts and in each issue, one correspondent wins a prize. Simply email Kirsty at kmckenzie@umco.com.au or write to us at Australian Country, Locked Bag 154, North Ryde NSW 1670. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters before publication. Our favourite correspondent next issue will win a copy of Tilly Pamment's beautiful new cookbook, Handfuls of Sunshine from our friends at Murdoch Books. Just send us your thoughts on the magazine and life in general to be in the running for this wonderful prize. SHARING STORIES Thank you so much for the fabulous article in the most recent copy of Australian Country. You really captured the essence of our new life. Ken‘s photos were fabulous.…

PHOEBE HARTLEY JOURNALIST Raised in Melbourne with a background in filmmaking, Phoebe tells cinematic stories across print and audio from her adopted home on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country in Victoria's Macedon Ranges. She writes for a range of lifestyle magazines including The Australian Women's Weekly, produces occasional audio stories for ABC and celebrates ageing in her newsletter Woman of a Certain Age. TIFFANY WARNER PHOTOGRAPHER Working within the Macedon Ranges, Tiffany has a passion for shooting old country homes and beautiful gardens. Her close working relationship with the Macedon Ranges Accommodation Association means she is often out and about capturing luxury homestay properties and the occasional property for sale. australiancountry.com.au facebook.com/AustralianCountry @australiancountrymag zinio.com pinterest.com/auscountrymag…

Growing up on a farm in Zimbabwe in southern Africa and moving to Katherine in the Northern Territory as a teenager, Jeremy Trembath says his parents, Peter and Shirley, gave him the greatest gift of all — an open mind. “Dad did his veterinary training in Australia and then moved to Zimbabwe in the early 1980s,” Jeremy says. “He met and married Mum and they had a farm and later a game ranch in partnership with another couple. We may not have been rich, particularly after we came back to live in Australia in 2003 due to political upheaval in Zimbabwe, but we were always encouraged to be open to a wealth of new ideas and ways of doing things.” The Trembaths resettled in Katherine, where Peter established a vet…

MEASUREMENTS To Fit Cushion 50cm x 50cm PATONS FAIRHAVEN 100g balls Colourway 1 Quantity (9000 Fleece) 4 Colourway 2 Quantity (9001 Winter Wheat Fleck) 4 Use only the yarn specified. Other yarns are likely to produce different results. Quantities are approximate as they can vary between knitters. Ensure all yarn is from the same dye lot. NEEDLES AND EXTRAS • 1 pair 7mm (UK 2) knitting needles or size needed to give correct tension. • cable needle. • wool needle for finishing. • 50cm square cushion insert. TENSION 13.5 sts and 18 rows to 10cm over stocking st (knit 1 row, purl 1 row), using 7mm needles. To work a tension square, using 7mm needles, cast on 20 sts. Work 26 rows stocking st. Cast off loosely. The fit of…

GLENVIEW PRODUCTS This Antiqued Equatorial sundial certainly makes a statement. It's configured for the Southern Hemisphere, as many others on the market are not suitable for use in Australia. Being made of cast brass makes it non-rusting and it will develop a patina, which further enhances its look and character. They range in price from $385 to $875, depending on the size and weight. glenviewproducts.com.au OTWAY FOOTWEAR The Otway Workman low boots, $174.95, have been designed for the everyday Aussie outdoor enthusiast — from farmer to fisherman, these are the ultimate waterproof utility boot. With a 100 per cent waterproof rubber upper, pull tabs for easy on/offand a soft neoprene lining for comfort and warmth, you can take them anywhere. otwayfootwear.com.au INCLINIC COSMETICS InClinic's Illuminating Baked Mineral Powder, $55, comes…

Clogees ph: (03) 9708 2017 w: clogees.com.au David Roche Foundation e: info@rochefoundation.com.au w: rochefoundation.org.au Emu Wire Industries 2/25 Encore Ave, Somerton Vic 3062 ph: (03) 9308 5599 e: sales@emuwire.com.au w: emuwire.com.au Eureka Woodheaters ph: (03) 9763 2700 e: heating@gason.com.au w: eurekaheating.com.a Glen Dimplex Australia 8 Lakeview Dr, Scoresby Vic 3179 w: glendimplex.com.au Glenview Products 3 Edenholme St, West Pymble NSW 2073 ph: 0411 732 950 e: sales@glenviewproducts.com.au w: glenviewproducts.com.au Howard Products 33 Griffi n Ave, Tamworth NSW 2340 ph: 1800 672 646 w: howardproducts.com.au Lume Outdoor Living 532 Kessels Rd, Macgregor Qld 4109 ph: (07) 3849 3866 w: lumeoutdoorliving.com.au Otway Footwear ph: (03) 9708 2017 w: otwayfootwear.com.au Pipduck Australia ph: 0415 873 485 e: warehouse@pipduck.com.au w: pipduckaustralia.com.au Smitten Merino 47 Sandy Bay Rd, Battery Point Tas 7004 ph: (03) 6212…

As a kid growing up in first Naracoorte and then Robe on South Australia's Limestone Coast, Paul Layzell says he couldn't wait to “get outta there”. So he worked in hospitality and, in the 1980s, spent years travelling twice around the world from Europe and the UK to Nepal and the US. By the early '90s, he was back home in Robe visiting his mum (who, at 96, still lives in the beach shack the family built in 1967) when his friend, chef Steve Cumper, introduced him to his sister, Mahalia. “Mahalia had worked in restaurants in Melbourne so we had a lot in common and we became friends,” Paul says. “She's a trained sweets chef, I'm more of a short-order cook, but we enjoyed working together and romance developed.”…

Sometimes we don't need to seek out our purpose — if we're lucky, opportunities present themselves. And so it was for Andrew Towner with his 27-acre (11-hectare) property Braeside Mt Macedon, on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country in the north-western Victorian town of Mount Macedon. “I didn't search for this place,” Andrew says. “It found me.” A self-described “hospitality tragic”, Andrew has dedicated his life to looking after others and carries incredible memories of a globe-trotting career spanning decades in hotels and high-end restaurants. Raised in Lake Macquarie near Newcastle, NSW, Andrew completed hotel school in the late 1980s, followed by a corporate traineeship in Sydney. He completed further study in the US and Switzerland, before heading to the UK in the early '90s. There he worked at the stately Stapleford…

THE RIVER Chris Hammer, Melbourne University Press, $36.99 Long before he was an acclaimed crime-fiction author, Chris Hammer was a political and environmental journalist. In 2008-2009, he left his Canberra desk to explore one of the most complex issues of our time, the management of water in this country, with a particular focus on the Murray-Darling basin. It's a testament to his skill as a writer that Chris was able to turn this very serious subject into an absorbing read, first published in 2010. Fifteen years down the track, the impact of water distribution and use on the wildlife and people who depend on it for their survival is as pressing as ever. WHAT I ATE IN ONE YEAR Stanley Tucci, Penguin Random House Australia, $45 It redefined surreal to…