Table of contents for Christmas 2022 in Country Style

Things get a bit silly at Christmas time in my family. When I say family, I mainly mean my mother and me. Around this time of year, we are referred to as ‘Senior Elf’ and ‘Junior Elf’ respectively. We talk on the phone most days about gifts we’re buying – usually what we’re getting for the children and whether we’ve bought too much. We discuss menus, when we will arrive, if Dad has put up the decorations yet (this cannot happen until December 1 – there are strict Elf rules, you see), who will be there for lunch and where everyone will sleep. We also discuss wrapping paper themes and whether I’ll make the pudding at Mum’s house or mine after soaking the fruit for at least a month, and…

THERE’S A STRONG ARTISTIC streak running through Emma Klau’s family. “My nanna was a fine china painter and my father was a ladies’ shoe designer,” says Adelaide-based Emma, 38. But perhaps the most important factor in her own artistic occupation is her sporting past. “I was a gymnast when I was younger, which gave me my core strength.” It’s not the most obvious way into the ancient art of glassblowing. But given what that art involves, it’s actually vital. “Glassblowing’s quite hardcore in terms of physical endurance,” Emma explains. “The furnaces are set at 1300 degrees, and you turn on your glory hole – that’s where you reheat your glass – about an hour before you start, which blasts in your face at 1100 degrees. I have more fans than…

AT SUNRISE ON Christmas morning, as the bush comes alive with a cacophony of birdsong announcing the dawn, two wallaroos will hop a familiar route towards a farmhouse in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales. At the kitchen door, six-year-old Tilly will put her little paws on the glass and make a ‘clack, clack’ sound, her way of asking for her morning milk. Her son Reggie, 18 months, who’s already as big as Mum, will be waiting hungrily by her side for his breakfast. The wallaroos, a smaller version of kangaroos, will be greeted by Annie Bell, who took Tilly in as a rescue joey when she was six months old. “She was only just covered in fur,” explains Annie, a nurse. “I bottle-fed her with a special…

DUBBO NSW WHILE MANY AUSTRALIANS stumble bleary-eyed to the tinsel-clad tree, cuppa in hand, come Christmas morning, farming families pull on their boots and head outside at sunrise. Farm work doesn’t stop for Santa Claus, and for the Chesworth family, milking the dairy cows happens every day, no matter the holiday. But for Erika and Steve Chesworth, this pitching in by all the family members makes the day that little more special. Their three children, Emma, Duncan and Campbell, would wake up every December 25 at the crack of dawn, eager to help out so the day’s celebrations could begin. “The kids grew up rushing to the dairy to greet Steve and me on Christmas morning, ready to help so we could open presents and enjoy a gourmet breakfast,” Erika…

BEST IN CLASS Order a Christmas ham from one of these superb regional suppliers… POACHERS PANTRY With its own smokehouse, this farm shop, restaurant and vineyard on the NSW/ACT border regularly wins medals for its tasty smoked goods. Visit poacherspantry.com.au ANDREW’S CHOICE His hams often take out the top prize at the Australian PorkMark Ham Awards, so Melbourne’s Andrew Vourvahakis sure knows how to turn out a perfect porker. Visit andrewschoice.com.au PATTEMORE’S MEATS After serving up quality meats for more than 150 years, the Pattemore family, based in Brisbane, have gained the PorkMark seal of approval for their juicy hams. Visit pattemoresmeats.com.au EUROSTYLE SMALLGOODS Perth ham-lovers can get their fix from this award-winning butcher in Bibra Lake, which specialises in European-style meat and smallgoods. Visit eurostylesmallgoods.com.au BAROSSA FINE FOODS With…

NEW SOUTH WALES Ensemble & Co Inside a charming building on Crookwell’s main street is Ensemble & Co, a collective of more than 20 local businesses all under the one – rather incredible – roof. With its timber-lined, cathedral-style ceiling, the building was originally a farmers’ trading post and general store. Now operated by locals Billie and Adrian Willis, Ensemble & Co is a one-stop Christmas shopping destination, offering everything from men’s, women’s and children’s clothing to homewares, jewellery, gourmet pantry items and vintage furniture, plus gardening goods – even Christmas trees! Billie can be found behind the original 1930s cedar counter most days at the in-house coffee bar, keeping local and visiting shoppers recharged. Billie says she jumped at the opportunity to create a new retail experience before the…

EMILY HERBERT Emily has been working in media for more than 12 years as a journalist and presenter across Wales, France, Botswana and New Zealand. Turn to page 78 for Emily’s story on The Little Big Dairy Co. Growing up with a professional polo player for a father means Emily, 33, has lived in many countries, including England, France and New Zealand. But it was during her high school years in Tamworth that she found her love for the country: “I adore everything about it… the peace, and the expansiveness of the bush.” After years abroad, she’s back in Tamworth with husband Adam, son Huckleberry, and their mini dachshunds, Plum and Kip. For Emily, writing for Country Style is “the chance to be part of a flagship title, which has…

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HARVEY NORMAN PRESENTS MAKE IT SPARKLE ’Tis the season to make it special, so feast your eyes on our festive menu with top drops to match Cellar MASTER Ideal for entertaining, the Vintec Single Zone Wine Cabinet with 35-bottle capacity keeps wine at the optimal temperature for storage or drinking. An externally housed compressor, rubber shock absorbers and vibration-absorbing shelving help to ensure your precious drops stay safe and sound. Stored TO PERFECTION Whether laying down a bottle for cellaring or stocking up for festive celebrations, correct storage is vital to ensure your wine’s quality and longevity. The Vintec Single Zone Wine Cabinet is designed to keep every bottle in optimal conditions with the assistance of dimmed internal lighting, a triple-glazed door, insulated side panels and UV-protected tinted glass. The…

LIFE HAS A FUNNY WAY of shaking us up, only to settle us down exactly where we need to be. For Hayley Millner (nee Orbell) that meant leaving Dubbo, in the Central West of New South Wales, to study and follow a creative career path. The journey took her to Sydney’s beachside suburb of Manly and led her to love. As fate would have it, the object of her affection, Robbie Millner, also grew up in the Central West. Romance blossomed, and the pair returned to the country, where they would start a family and Robbie would follow in the three-generations-strong Millner business of breeding Charolais cattle. “When I left Dubbo in my teens, I never thought I would return here to live. But I’m so happy I did, because…

STAYS A FORMER WORKER’S RESIDENCE built in 1912, Coquun Cottage has been skilfully and sensitively renovated by owner Annie Bell, who also recruited the professional skills of her interior-decorator daughter Louy. In the language of the local Wonnarua people, ‘coquun’ refers to the Hunter River, which runs through the property (perfect for a swim in the hotter months) and means ‘fresh water’. The two-bedroom cottage that bears the name is one of two accommodation options at Belford Park, a cattle property near Moonan Flat in the Upper Hunter, NSW (see page 48 to read more about the main homestead and the Bell family). Cherson Cottage was the family’s first foray into hosting, and regularly attracts rave reviews from guests for its tranquil setting and beautifully simple styling. Encouraged by the…

SUMMER FAVOURITE With natural fibres and timeless styling, enjoy Ella & Sunday’s beautiful garments, such as the Otis Maxi Denim Dress, every day. ellaandsunday.com.au ALL PURPOSE Ideal for use in the kitchen or garden, Ceres Homestead’s hemp and organic cotton canvas Long Apron won’t let you down. cereshomestead.com.au COASTAL PARADISE Sea Glass Beach House is a luxury escape at Victoria’s Apollo Bay, with private beach access and all the trimmings. airbnb.com/h/sea-glass-apollo-bay MINI MASTERPIECES Maxwell & Williams’s handpainted Giverny homewares are inspired by the art of Claude Monet and his garden at Giverny. baketableandtea.com.au CHAMPAGNE DREAMS Sally Hillman makes gifting a cinch. Her hampers are filled to the brim with fine champagnes, Lehmann glassware and sweet treats. sallyhillman.com.au SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN No more plastic rain gauges! The Crystal rain gauge…

CLEAN SWEEP As I took up my millet broom just now to sweep the front verandah, its name, The Woolshed, took me back to my childhood and shearing time on my parents’ farm out Boree Creek way. I love this broom for the memories it brings flooding back, but also because it’s such a damn good broom, superior to any other millet broom I’ve used. I discovered the Tumut Broom Factory brooms some time ago when I was passing through Jugiong on my way to visit family, but since my parents have passed away and my siblings have scattered far and wide, I no longer make that trip. When my smaller TBF broom finally needed replacing and when friends were coming to visit from Melbourne, driving down the highway past…

A DAY IN THE COUNTRY WE WERE ABOUT 150 KILOMETRES NORTH of Port Augusta when it dawned on The Farmer and me that the air conditioning in our ute was not working. We’d left a rain-smudged Tasmania and crossed Bass Strait. We’d wandered through the cold green of Victoria and the rolling tapestry of South Australia, with its crops of yellow and green, stitched through with neat lines of perfectly pruned vines. The Farmer, not one to leave things to chance, had put the ute in for a service before we left. But it hadn’t occurred to either of us to check the air con; the opposite, in fact, for we’d had the heated seats on full-blast until suddenly, the weather was hot. For a while, we kept holding our…

BECOMING AN ARTIST was never on Jillian Kelly’s radar while she was growing up in the town of Coonamble, in western New South Wales. “Because I wanted to be a vet, I always studied science subjects at school and never really had any artistic calling,” she says. That focus saw Jillian head off to study at Sydney University and embark on a successful career as a vet. “After uni, I did a couple of years in private practice in Queensland and then I worked in the UK for a while,” she says. “When I came home to Australia, I did lots of locum jobs for vets around the country, so I travelled a lot.” A government role as district vet with the Local Land Services eventually brought Jillian back to…

BUNTENBOCK GERMANY IN 2017, CITY DWELLERS LOANA AND MALTE decided to move to the remote natural wonderland of Buntenbock, in Germany’s Harz Mountains. There, they bought an artist’s home and set about renovating it themselves. The couple, who live with their dogs Wilma and Whisky, were already familiar with the wild, rugged landscape, and saw an opportunity to restore old houses in the region and then rent them out to adventure-seeking holiday-makers. Loana and Malte’s own home stands elevated on the edge of a village, surrounded by deep, snow-covered forests, ponds, lakes and, above all, the longed-for peace and quiet. With its bold red, timber cladding, the house immediately catches the eye amid the frozen landscape… it’s easy to imagine a cosy sanctuary beyond the large, warmly glowing windows. White…

ANNIE & LOUY BELL NURSE AND AIRBNB HOST, 57; AND INTERIOR DECORATOR, 27 Annie lives at Belford Park, a cattle property east of Scone, NSW, with her husband, Richard, and Jack Russells Scout, Willow and Freddie (sons Archie, 29, and Hamish, 24, have flown the nest). Daughter Louy, 27, shares her classic, understated sense of style. What do you love about the country? Annie: The freedom and feeling of space. And I love seeing the newborn calves each season and seeing the crops grow. Louy: I love that Scone offers a respite to my busy life; it’s the one place I feel that I can relax and unwind. How would you describe your style? Annie: Tailored country with some structure. I like timeless fashion that you can add your own…

ON THE FIRST DAY OF Christmas, my true love sent to me… a partridge in a pear tree. Now, hang on a minute. The partridge is a ground-dwelling, nesting bird. Its diet comprises seeds and insects. It is unlikely to be found in a pear tree and is certainly not known to eat pears. Most pear varieties require two trees to assist with cross-pollination and fruit set. Neither the elevated partridge nor the lone pear tree is likely to do very well. On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me… two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree. This is not advisable as turtle doves are listed among the most threatened bird species in Britain and Europe. Invasive farming practices, loss of breeding grounds…