The sun shone through the rainbow bee-eater’s wings as they danced above, turning to emerald. I lay on my back, floating on the warm surface of the dam, the branches of the river red gums suspended in the furnace like… Read More »Rainbow Bee-eater
We had five swags, three daughters approaching a new stage in life, a fire and a horizon as big and flat as you can imagine. Lightning decorated the far skyline as my friend and I talked over some of the… Read More »Sunset, swags and womanhood
This afternoon I was listening to the tail end of a satellite meeting for School Of The Air. My hands were empty, so I decided to begin making a sticky date pudding for a supporter trip I’m catering for next… Read More »How to (not) make sticky date pudding
It’s funny how life can change. Right now I’m sitting in the sun, looking over terraced rosemary and old-man saltbush hedges toward the stone shearing shed and rocky hills beyond. I just finished a coffee, and the kids are being taught… Read More »Rosemary and Saltbush Hedges
The tomatoes are ripening, cucumbers are growing fat before my eyes, the kids are all in school, but not the school I was expecting. Boolcoomatta Reserve isn’t remote compared to the Simpson Desert, but is easily far enough away from… Read More »A new life
It had been a hot couple of days, the thermometer read almost 45 degrees. I was warm, but the thick sandstone walls of our old homestead kept the worst of the heat at bay. It was 6 o’clock, and I… Read More »Never chase an emu in bike riding shoes.
Despite it now being January, these crafty sheep are still worthy of their very own post. Our dynamic and lovely neighbour had put her hand up to create a School of the Air float for the Broken Hill Christmas pageant.… Read More »How do you make a sheep out of an old storage drum?
It was 3 am when my blurry eyes found the clock radio. Al was jumping around the bed next to me, pulling the sheet off and shaking his arms around. I’d been on a body meltdown for the two days… Read More »Centipedes hurt
I have been submersing myself in the fringes of education over the past few years, starting literally, in the soil, as a garden teacher, uncovering the many layers that go into teaching children. Then I incorporated the many varied theories of… Read More »Preparing for their Future
On cleaning out the shearer’s quarters on the weekend, after being attacked by that emu, I scrubbed every corner of the rooms, in which large evil looking redback spider’s were happily living. By about my fifteenth redback, I was starting… Read More »Close the door!