Table of contents for July 2020 in Country Style

Am I a country girl or a city slicker? It may sound trite, but I admit to having given this quite a bit of thought. I was born in Kyogle, NSW, and grew up in different towns around NSW as my father was a bank manager with what was then the Rural Bank, later the State Bank of New South Wales, and we moved every two years. But we never owned a farm, never grew sugarcane or reared Merino sheep like some of my school and university friends, so am I really ‘country’? During my first year at UNE in Armidale I was told by a friend whose family owned a cattle station that I was a “coastie”, which was probably accurate having spent most of my time up until…

IN THE YEARS before her death in 1954, the Australian writer Miles Franklin — most famous for her sizzling debut novel My Brilliant Career — wrote a slender childhood memoir. By then in her 70s, she recalled, “The rhythm of horses came to me earlier than walking. In those moments … when the sense of actuality has been slightly loosened ... there recurs for ever, like the movement of a stream or the pattern of leaves flickering in a zephyr, the sensation of a well-bred horse being released, or about to be released, into action.” The manuscript published after she died was called Childhood at Brindabella. I was a history student the first time I read those words and they snatched me back to my own childhood, where the only…

WHEN ALL THE EVENTS surrounding COVID-19 came into play towards the end of March this year, I was on the brink of a number of full, busy months. As a lifestyle and editorial photographer, I had work trips planned across many states in Australia and also Europe, my calendar filled with weeks of photo shoots and flights and long road trips in my car. And then, in one fell swoop, all of it was gone — postponed, cancelled or pushed aside. It was a strange and completely unexpected predicament to be in. For the past three years I’ve been living in a small cottage in the beautiful Southern Highlands of NSW with my sister Grace who, as an essential worker, continued her normal work routine. And so I found myself,…

• Felix Blackman of Blackman Creative provided structural advice to the couple when they removed the 160-year-old stone wall. 0437 340 493. • Miriam Shevland from Playstreet designed paved nodes using stone from the removed wall. 68 Brisbane St, Hobart, Tasmania, 0455 022 266, playstreet.com.au • Carolyn Imlach from The Evandale Village Store helped Bek choose rugs, linen and colour palette for paint and textiles. Bek sewed Bedouin linen sheets, sourced from Carolyn, into curtains for the bathhouse. 5 Russell St, Evandale, Tasmania, (03) 6391 8048, thevillage.store • The sofa and meat safe are from the personal collection of Amanda Skipper from The Vintage Rose. 0409 172 438. • Bek and Paul relied on “the amazing eye” of Ian Joyce from Joyce Antiques for many pieces of furniture, such as…

EVERY HOME TELLS a story, but some speak with such clarity of their owners’ passion, vision and downright determination that it’s impossible not to notice the care and intention invested in it as you step through the door. This is one of those homes. Located just outside Boorowa, on the south-west slopes of NSW, the contemporary farmhouse represents the fruition of a dream that Kerry and Peter Johnson had: to build a home together on their 900 hectares of grazing land, close to family and in a part of the country they both loved. “We spent a year or so looking at different parts of the property to find the right site, and eventually we decided on a knoll that faces north and has beautiful views,” says Peter. “After much…

Central focus When photographer Marnie Hawson is asked what she loves about the kitchen she renovated with her husband Ryan in their home in Riddells Creek, Central Victoria, her definitive answer is the AGA. “Everything is focused around it,” she says. From the brass spoons hanging from a timber hook board, to the second-hand brass tapware and the curtains used instead of doors, the kitchen seems to be an ode to it. The light is from Devol Kitchens, the splashback is VJ boards painted in Ecolour Antique White USA and the rug is from Armadillo & Co. “I would have lost my head without this space to store food and bits and pieces.” Pantry heaven The walk-in pantry in this home in Wensleydale, Victoria, hides a fridge, microwave and coffee…

WHEN THE OWNERS OF Glenarty Road learned in April that they’d been named Margaret River’s Cellar Door with Best Food by Gourmet Traveller Wine, they were thrilled, and crestfallen. Usually, the phone would ring off the hook after such an award, but the tables in the machinery shed-turned-restaurant were empty due to COVID-19. Glenarty Road has since been able to reopen, and in the meantime generated an income with its winemaking business and sales of their grass-fed Glenarty Lamb, reared on the picturesque 100-hectare property at Karridale, 90 kilometres south of Busselton in WA. Located on loamy, undulating hills around the Blackwood River, the vineyard was planted by Ben McDonald by hand when he was just 19. “To be honest I was pretty rubbish at making wine,” Ben, now 41,…

APPARENTLY, DEATH AND TAXES are the only sure things in this life, but I’d add another one: food intolerances. When it comes to ordering food, it seems hardly a day goes by without someone presenting with a new allergy or aversion. I don’t want to trivialise the sufferings of those inflicted with debilitating illnesses, but it’s curious to me that while we are encouraged to embrace tolerance in our daily lives, evidence suggests we are becoming more intolerant when it comes to food. I’ll leave it to those more informed than I to deliberate the reasons as to why this is happening but I think we can all agree our diets are in a time of rapid change. Who would have imagined 20 years ago vegetarianism would be considered mainstream…

SCOTCH COLLEGE MELBOURNE Founded in 1851, this all-boys college located in the heart of Melbourne caters for students from Prep to Year 12 and offers boarding from Year 7. It has tennis courts, an indoor heated swimming pool, diving pool, squash courts, weight training room, gymnasium and basketball courts. Morrison St, Hawthorn, Victoria, (03) 9810 4321, scotch.vic.edu.au For students who board, school becomes a second home and friends are like family members. TARA ANGLICAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS The largest privately owned telescope in Australia, built in collaboration with Oxford University, gives students unique access to an astronomy program. The school is from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 and offers boarding from Year 5 to Year 12. Weekend outings are supervised and include visits to the beach, movies and shops. Masons Dr,…

PERHAPS PEOPLE JUST weren’t meant to be trapped in their rustic retreats 24/7, multiplied by however many weeks it has been. It does funny things to you, like double de-clutching your lifestyle into reverse. I stumbled into the country squire existence with nothing but high spirits, methylated spirits, a small cocktail cabinet of assorted spirits, and a fork for toasting marshmallows in case stocks ran low. Okay, and maybe a misconception or two. And then began the acquisition period. The Chosen One and I were first arrivals at country property clearing sales across a wide tract of the eastern and central parts of the state, bidding giddily on anything we didn’t recognise but assumed was essential to country living. It reached the point where any new acquisition that came in…

in this issue... OLIVIA BLACKMORE Meet the talented food stylist who has the enviable job of styling Steve Cumper’s delicious recipes for our Country Cook feature each issue (see page 98). Olivia grew up in Sydney’s Little Manly and completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts, majoring in sculpture, and an Advanced Diploma of Fashion Design. Styling was a natural progression, as it combines her feel for design with her appreciation of textures. “I love that my job brings unique challenges and allows me to be creative. Every. Single. Day,” she explains. “I’m getting paid for something I truly love to do.” When she’s not working, Olivia and her partner head to the NSW Southern Highlands to recharge. “I like the silence, the smell of burning wood and the slowness of…

AS YOU WALK closer to the rows of vines you see the thick gnarled stumps twisting up out of the earth. Planted in 1891 by Thomas Hardy, considered to be the father of South Australian wine, they are now under the care of his great-great-grandson Andrew Hardy, a fifth generation winemaker. Thomas not only planted these vines, some of the oldest in Australia; a gravity-fed winery with open slate fermenter was also built during his time at the 141-hectare property at Upper Tintara in McLaren Vale, SA, which in its heyday was home to 360 residents who helped tend to the grapes. This land has been in Andrew’s family for 149 years; it represents a connection to his ancestors and the past, becoming something of a driving force for Andrew…

WHEN GAYLE LAMB and Trevor Finlayson chanced upon a rundown stone cottage on the edge of Maldon, a goldfields town about 140km north-west of Melbourne, they knew that they’d struck it lucky. Originally constructed about 160 years ago, the structure was in a state of disrepair, but it presented a challenge the seasoned renovators were happy to take on. “Oh, it was rugged all right,” says Gayle. “I suspect a lot of people before us had looked at it and run a mile. We were looking for a house with character on a good-sized block of land and because we had a tight budget we knew we were always going to end up with a property that needed work. But it was rustic and charming, and those attributes were top…

• Key contractors on the build of this house were MA Steel and Everdell Constructions. (02) 6382 4387, masteel.com.au; (02) 6382 7558, everdelltest.wordpress.com • The building’s exterior is Colorbond in Dulux Monument. This colour is repeated inside and teamed with Dulux Shale Grey.1800 022 999, colorbond.com; 13 25 25, dulux.com.au • The Easycraft VJ panelling was sourced from Bunnings in Cowra and the spotted gum boards are from Midcoast Timber. Entry to the house is through a spotted gum 2500 x 1500 swing door designed and built by Kerry and Peter. bunnings.com.au; (02) 4323 6907, midcoasttimber.com.au • The house is off-grid so it is more sustainable. It is powered by a 6kW PV system from Towards Tomorrow Energy. 1300 732 224, towardstomorrowenergy.org • Kerry’s favourite places to source items for…

WIPE AND GO  Select kitchen blinds that are easy to clean. “PVC-based products, such as our waterproof prints, PVC venetians or PVC shutters, are a great way of having elegance, but keeping the functionality of the kitchen,” says Matthew Walsh of Blinds Online. blindsonline.com.au…

APPLE & ALMOND PITHIVIER WITH WATTLE-SEED CREAM Serves 4 ¾ cup white wine 2 cinnamon sticks 4 whole cloves 1¼ cups caster sugar 2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled 125g butter, softened 3 eggs 1¼ cups almond meal 2 teaspoons plain flour 375g sheet frozen ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry, thawed extra 1 egg, whisked WATTLE-SEED CREAM 250g crème fraîche 1 tablespoon ground wattle seed* Place wine, cinnamon sticks, cloves, ¾ cup of sugar and 1½ cups water in a saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture boils. Simmer for 5 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly. Add apples and simmer for 5–6 minutes or until they begin to soften. Remove from heat. Cover pan and set aside to cool. Using a slotted spoon, remove apples from…

MILLY HILL MEAT The lamb grown on Peter and Sally Strelitz’s property near Armidale in NSW has won many awards since they began Milly Hill Meat in 2007. It began as a small local business delivering ‘lamb in a box’ in the New England region, but was soon supplying 150 restaurants in South East Queensland and NSW, including chef Neil Perry’s Rockpool Bar and Grill as well as Parliament House in Canberra and Sydney. When restaurants had to shut their door, the Strelitzes went back to what they knew and started delivering lamb, beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, honey and eggs to Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Syndey and most of NSW. “I think that even when the restaurants go back we will continue to offer the home delivery and hopefully people will…

For Best Class or School Harvest Table, send photographs of your Harvest Table with a description of how you created the table in 500 words or less. Please include the name of your school and class, contact name, address and telephone number. For Best Home Harvest Table Journal, send your journal (which includes photographs of your Harvest Table with a description of how you created the table in 500 words or less) with the adult’s and child’s name, address and telephone number. We will be unable to return all journals; photographs become the property of Bauer Media Australia Pty Ltd. Send entries to Country Style, Harvest Table Competition, PO Box 4088, NSW 2000. Entries close on November 2nd. Conditions apply, see bauer-media.com.au/competitions.Commenced February 27th, 2020. Ends 12AM AEST/AEDT on November…

AS A CHILD, Sandrine Carliez spent her spare time soaking up the pampering particulars at her grandmother’s beauty salon in France. “I grew up playing with creams and experimenting with lipstick,” says Sandrine, now the global trainer for Guinot Institut Paris. “I listened closely to her secrets and rituals for radiant skin because this is a big part of the life of a French woman. It is part of her education.” In fact, femmes françaises begin their cleanse-mask-moisturise routine in earnest — as Sandrine did — in their early teens because, on the whole, they prefer a preventative approach to beauty. “If you take the extra step to take care of your skin, it will pay off in the long run,” Sandrine tells us. “French women are dedicated to face…

THE VICTORIANS HAD a gadget for everything, and their imaginations knew no bounds. This perfume-bottle holder, made in about 1875 by an Adelaide silversmith called Henry Steiner, is an outstanding example. The perfume-bottle holder features a silver tree fern, around the base of which two Indigenous men appear to be fighting and a woman carries a baby on her back. The silver of the Indigenous figures is oxidised to give them a natural appearance. Above the fronds of the fern, probably cast from the genuine article, sits a divided emu egg mounted and decorated with cornucopia in silver. The emu finial serves as a button to open the egg, revealing its contents. Also mounted in silver, the perfume bottles are made from the seed pods of the Queensland black bean…

HOPE GROWS Today,I’m calling it: the drought is over. For us anyway. I am mindful that the awful dry remains for some, and we are all many months from any income, but I recently made my first ‘non-essential’ purchase in almost three years: a subscription to Country Style. About 18 months ago, during my lunch hour, feeling sad and fed up with the relentless dry, I happened across an old copy Country Style and found myself spellbound with Meaghan Willis’ garden (July 2018). After that find, any spare time not at work or feeding stock was spent daydreaming and planning on how to recreate something similar when the drought was finally over. Simply, it gave me hope when all around us were shades of brown and tan or the vast…

IT’S PERFECTLY FITTING that a wild hare would find a home at The Burrows — not just because that’s where hares live. There are deeper reasons to do with memories of school holidays spent at nana’s beachside home on Stradbroke Island and a desire to recreate that comfortable feeling in Tasmania’s Swansea. A print of the famous Young Hare, painted in 1502 by Albrecht Dürer, was handed down through grandmother to grandson, and now has pride of place in a renovated shack overlooking Great Oyster Bay. The small 1860s stone cottage, with extensions from 1950 and 1970, was originally intended as a bolthole for Bek Burrows and Paul DeRuyter, the owners of a wedding and events business in Launceston. While their East Launceston home is more formal, The Burrows is…

• Antiques and vintage pieces are a mainstay of Gayle’s decorating style. Some of her favourite places to pick items up include Zacher Antiques, Steptoe’s Renovation Supplies and Castlemaine Vintage Bazaar. (03) 9699 3301, zacherantiques.com.au; (03) 9419 9366, steptoes.com.au; (03) 5470 6555, castlemainebazaar.com.au • Repairs to the stone section of the house were carried out by stonemasons Michael and Chris Archbold of Natural Stone Construction. 0408 198 759, archboldstone.com • The weatherboard exterior is painted in Taubmans Boulder Ridge with Dulux Berkshire White trim. taubmans.com.au; dulux.com.au • Baltic pine imported from Finland lines the main living area. It was sourced from Tonks Brothers Hardware, which has since closed. • The ceiling above the kitchen dining area has an intricate pattern of tongue and groove boards. • To learn how to…

WHEN ELIZABETH RICHARDS made the decision to relocate to the New South Wales town of Orange 20-odd years ago to make a garden from scratch, she was filled with a mixture of anticipation and excitement. But she was also ambivalent, knowing it would be no easy venture. However, she had great support from her friends in both Orange and Sydney, and the move turned out to be a real adventure. “I loved the idea of enjoying four distinct garden seasons — very different from Queensland and the climate of Charters Towers where I had been living,” Elizabeth explains. “I wanted to create a final garden, an amalgam of all my interests and experience.” The block of land she bought, five kilometres from the centre of Orange, was originally part of…

MANY PEOPLE OFTEN confuse ‘fireplace’ with ‘wood heater’ but the two are quite different. A fireplace is built into the structure of the home — complete with chimney and mantelpiece — while a wood heater is simply a standalone appliance with a flue. A true fireplace is an absolute necessity when it comes to completing your country home, both for its aesthetic influence and practicality. It creates a visual focal point within a room, and a mantel often provides the perfect place to arrange candles, flowers, art and family photos. On chilly days, an open fireplace creates a warm and welcoming ambiance for both family and friends, and it’s an efficient way to heat your home and warm your heart. Sadly, a fireplace isn’t suitable or possible in every home,…

FOR EIGHT-YEAR-OLD LUKAS Buscaino and his sister Georgia, five, growing fresh vegetables — and lots of them — is the norm at their home in Thirlmere, NSW. Their parents, Lizzie and Gianluigi, own Piccolo Farm, a two-hectare market garden where they grow organic vegetables, herbs and edible flowers. “Our kids are involved in gardening, cooking and baking at home but even more so during this time,” explains Lizzie. When she says “during this time” she is of course referring to home schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The change of having the kids at home rather than in school has made a big difference. They have definitely been more involved in garden activities,” she explains. “We like our kids to be independent so we’ll let them sort themselves out for some…

ACT Timber & Tailor Wander down fashionable Lonsdale Street in Braddon and, along with crowd-pleasers like Sonoma bakery and Gelato Messina, you’ll discover a wonderful array of independent shops owned by Canberra creatives. Timber & Tailor is one example that’s well worth a look. Packed with beautiful wares by Australian-only artists and makers, it’s the ultimate place to find unique gifts. There’s a range of great books from authors such as Bruce Pascoe, Eleanor Ozich and Kara Rosenlund, plus interesting handmade jewellery and stationery. Ceramicist Milly Dent has been a long-time contributor to the store and jungle-inspired prints by artist Karina Jambrak have just landed and are proving very popular. The curation of lovely things at Timber & Tailor is the clever work of Belinda Burgess and her partner, Jochen…

THE OTHER PASSENGER Louise Candlish, Simon & Schuster, $29.99 How does she do it? From the very first page, I wanted to know these two men better. Jamie’s living in a four-storey Georgian house in Greenwich and he takes the riverboat to London on weekdays. He must be a sheikh or an oligarch surely to live so splendidly in the most expensive city in the world. No. He works part time in a coffee bar. The younger man, Kit, grumbles about his own meagre existence though he does have a gorgeous girlfriend Melia. Tomorrow, Jamie won’t get to the coffee bar. In fact, nothing will be as normal from this day forth. Once you’ve turned the last page you’ll concede that it could happen to anyone. The chance of being…