Table of contents for December 2022 in Country Style

Is it just me, or do things speed up at the end of the year? December seems like it is on fast-forward and passes in a blur. Maybe it feels even quicker for me as this was my eldest daughter’s last year at high school. There were more markers to show me that the year was passing by in 2022: the trials, the HSC, graduation, a graduation ball, schoolies… And now we are moving into the silly season and my calendar is filling up with Christmas parties and end-of-year celebrations. It’s been a few years since my schedule has been this packed with social outings. It’s exciting, and I know I’m lucky to be invited to join all the fun. However, people in the NSW Central West and Riverina, and…

A DAY IN THE COUNTRY SUMMER, THAT LONG Australian season, is upon us and down here, after the flooding rains of spring, the evidence is most obvious in the long, lingering light at the end of the day. The paddocks are thick with clover and every tree seems to be shooting new growth. The stock are rolling fat; the lambs healthy and huge. Later in the summer we’ll wean them, but for now they graze in the mornings and evenings, and camp for the day in the shade, chewing their cuds. We’re living in a paradise. Never have I seen a season like this. I try to store it – stuff the green into my eyes, the worm-thickened soil under my nails. I want to carry this abundance with me…

LYONVILLE VIC “We are on a generous piece of land and you can look out and see Babbington Hill and the forest.” AT PHOEBE’S COTTAGE IN Lyonville, 10 minutes from Daylesford on Dja Dja Wurrung Country in Victoria, the past and the present merge peacefully. The neighbour’s flock of sheep and a blackberry-nibbling goat named Jerry add to the sleepy pastoral ambience, and the surrounding cottages match Phoebe’s in age and look. Edged by the Wombat State Forest, the township of Lyonville was established in the 1860s to support the bustling timber milling industry. Phoebe’s Cottage dates back to 1875 and is owned by Tim and Sasha von Ess, who reside in Melbourne with their children Drew, 14, and Audrey, 11. The family has been visiting friends in Lyonville for…

DOWN THE GARDEN PATH I REMEMBER ATTENDING a farming conference years ago and listening to an American woman speaking about her business growing organic vegetables on the Mornington Peninsula. She was despairing at the debacle of finding Christmas right in the middle of summer. It was early farming days for us, and the inconvenience of the holiday season coinciding with the busiest time on the farm had not quite hit home. While the northern half of the globe is mostly buckled down in deep winter as families gather for Christmas, Aussie gardeners are in the height of summer madness while trying to pour wine for visitors and look vaguely festive. Eggnog, anyone? Now there’s a drink that makes perfect sense on a muggy December night. Not. Many Australians have inherited…

“Merino is so versatile. It’s a renewable, biodegradable fibre that’s naturally antibacterial.”…

VICKI LILEY Vicki has been a stylist, photographer and food writer for 35 years. For our story on page 68, she photographed her own home in the NSW Blue Mountains. “It’s actually on the street that tourists walk along to reach the Wentworth Falls lookout,” explains Vicki when chatting about her home. “I have seen tourists taking pictures in front of my little cottage. That always makes me smile.” Vicki works under her brand China Squirrel, offering styling, photography and prop hire. “I really love being creative… it’s in my bones,” she says. “Making, creating, cooking and styling is just who I am.” Vicki’s work first appeared in Country Style 22 years ago. “It’s the most beautiful magazine,” she says. “It’s an honour to see my work within its pages.”…

BUNDANOON NSW THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE that Jodie Tang’s nearest and dearest will discover one of her handmade gifts in their Christmas stocking this year. “My poor family receives quilts from me every year, and they’re gathering quite the collection,” says the talented quilter, who holds a corporate day job in banking, but fills her out-of-office hours with fat quarters, hand-stitching and bolts of beautiful fabrics. Jodie is the founder of Scribbly Gum Quilt Co, an online fabric store and inspirational resource established in 2020 for keen quilters and sewers. “I’ve gone through many crafting phases,” the 38-year-old says. “There was a knitting phase, a crochet phase, and a painting furniture phase, but quilting is the one that has stuck beyond a month! It’s definitely the one I love doing…

WENTWORTH FALLS NSW “I think when you find something you love, it’s just best to put both hands around and keep it forever!” FOR SOME, DECORATING a home is a one-and-done affair. For Vicki Liley, it’s an ever-evolving creative practice. The stylist and photographer has been building her incredible stash of antique furniture, vintage curios and “quirky little things” for a lifetime. Now, she lives among her favourite finds in a pretty weatherboard cottage in Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, the traditional land of the Gundungurra and Darug tribes. Vicki has always had an eye for style. “I remember making little tiles at school and my mother let me put them around the sink,” she says. As a child, she revelled in monthly visits from a creative mum-and-daughter duo,…

CHRISTMAS LUNCH FOR 30 YEARS, the name Simmone Logue has meant Christmas. Ever since she sold her first fruit mince pie, back when she launched her catering business from the kitchen of her Sydney flat in 1990, she’s been spreading her love of homegrown Christmas baking to homes far and wide. Simmone’s home, Essington Park, in Oberon, NSW, is always the setting for the family’s festive gatherings – and you only need to look at it in these pages to understand why. The grand house was built in 1860, and by the time Simmone and her twin sister, the artist Joanna Logue, bought it in the late 1990s, had fallen into disrepair. Over the next 15 years, the women lovingly restored it, and now the kitchen, with its vast, original…

festive gathering FOR AN EFFORTLESS LOOK CHOOSE TIMELESS COLOURS. THIS PAGE, FROM LEFT, AND FACING PAGE Chairs from MCM House. Custom tablecloth, enquiries to Steve Cordony. Jug from Wonki Ware. Candlesticks, stylist’s own. Waterford Marquis Maxwell wine glasses and Sabre bamboo cutlery, all from Peter’s of Kensington. Green glasses, from Maxwell & Williams. Napkin, from Cultiver. Vintage Turkish chopping board and Chinese old elm timber stool, both from Water Tiger. Bowl, from Ondene. Steve wears Polo Ralph Lauren trousers and P Johnson shirt. country luxe LAY THE TABLE WITH FRESH FLORALS AND FRUIT, SHINY BAUBLES AND WRAPPED GIFTS. CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT Spode Blue Italian dinner set, Waterford Elysian Champagne coupes and Sabre bamboo cutlery, all from Peter’s of Kensington. Society linen napkins, from Ondene. Placemats, from Target. Silver stainless steel…

REGIONAL SHOPPING GUIDE “Birch Store is a pantry, providore and homewares outlet for bespoke gift options. It has everything you need to curate a feast.” NEW SOUTH WALES Small Town Provisions When a space came up for lease next door to their restaurant in Milton on the NSW South Coast, owners Alex and Jo Delly saw the opportunity to open a shop and wine bar – together with Liz Dalton and Sean McCarthy, owners of private dining and events business Season & Savour – selling their favourite continental delicacies and wines. Small Town Provisions stocks Ortiz Anchovies, Pollastrini Sardines, French cheeses, locally made Lagom Bakery bread and freshly shucked Signature Oysters, as well as a range of ‘finish-at-home’ meals from their restaurant, Small Town. It’s also the perfect dine-in spot…

COOL LINEN TAILORED into Riviera-chic palazzo pants; drifty dresses; retro swimwear... summer fashion is a delight. Shoes are a different story – we seem limited to unsupportive thongs, sweaty sneakers or sandals that rub. During the 16 years Caroline McCulloch spent working as a podiatrist in Brisbane, she saw it all, from heel pain to puffy feet. “Summer heat and humidity can have us kicking our shoes off more than we would in the cooler months,” she says. “Being barefoot and walking on hard, flat surfaces can be a recipe for heel pain. We also sweat more in warmer months, which can make the skin more susceptible to blistering.” Plus, shoes that usually fit can start to rub as temperatures soar, adds Caroline: “If your feet swell during the day,…

UNDOCTORED Adam Kay, Trapeze, $32.99 For the first few chapters, you’re laughing pretty much nonstop as Kay, with the humour that chilled and thrilled us in This Is Going To Hurt, takes us through his decision to quit being a surgeon. We sober up when we realise that something very bad happened to Kay. A mother and her unborn child died, and he blamed himself. Others tried to reassure him that the situation he was presented with was hopeless. His own father, a retired doctor himself, was callous and unhelpful. In this second instalment of Kay’s turbulent life journey, he falls in love with James, a TV producer. They buy a flat in London. James departs for Scotland on an assignment and Kay is left to renovate their new home.…

I HOPE YOU’RE ALL IN fine form for the upcoming festive partying – for nights you’d rather not remember and new friends you’ll never forget. Without really knowing the authoritative definition of ‘doozy’, I’m prepared to bet that this summer’s party season will be a doozy. This prediction isn’t based on information from people called ‘influencers’ who hang around social media, feeding scraps of rubbish to the bottom-feeders of the rage scene. Would I feed you this rubbish? Not likely. I’ve travelled to the higher intellectual sphere of the psychologist and the behavioural economist to discover a scary social habit called ‘the procrastination of pleasure’. It appears that after COVID kept a lid on festivities last year, this year’s party season will be mayhem. Once deprived, the pressure for gratification…

RECOVERY MODE I’m stuck at home trying to recover from COVID and I’ve read all my books, and watched too much TV. With the urge to cook something, I asked my best friend Carol to grab some supplies. She dropped off the essentials to make orange cornflake biscuits, plus the latest Country Style. I have time to read it cover to cover, and I can sit with freshly brewed coffee and tasty biscuits straight from the oven… Many thanks.Lynn Pickersgill, via email PERFECT ESCAPE There’s always something magical about Country Style covers that draws me in, and the November issue was no exception. Once again, there’s a gorgeous pooch on the cover, and the allure of a verandah that oozes pleasure and relaxation. Time quickly slipped by as I lingered…

SHOP ONLINE STRAIGHT FROM THE PAGE; SIMPLY SCAN THE QR CODE ABOVE.…

LORN NSW IT WAS THE TREES THAT DID IT. Three huge fruit trees – two mangoes and an avocado – in an overgrown backyard were enough to capture the imagination of Rhiannon Dawson and Steele Olney when they first visited their Hunter Valley, New South Wales, home on its auction day. To be fair, the house itself had seen better days. The 100-year-old weatherboard cottage in Lorn, a pretty satellite village of Maitland – traditional Wonnarua land – was showing its age: its hardwood piers were rotting, the floorboards were warped and the plaster walls were crumbling. “The house had plenty of character, but it needed a lot of work,” recalls Rhiannon, 36. “For me, it was the yard. It had a really big, overgrown backyard with established fruit trees,…

“Christmas is always with friends and family – usually not far from the coast, and usually with lots of wine!” KATHERINE BROWN Brown Brothers, King Valley, Victoria Katherine grew up among the Milawa vineyards that her great-grandfather planted in 1885. Now the fourth generation of Browns to become a winemaker in the valley, Katherine joined the family business in 2015. Where did you grow up? I was raised in Oxley, a small town in Victoria, just five minutes from the home of Brown Brothers, Milawa. What do you like about working in a rural area? Are there any downsides? The sense of community is huge here at Milawa. We’re a family-owned business, and we also work with our colleagues as if we’re one big family. It’s the culture that I…

THOSE WHO LOVE fashion know that it’s anything but superficial. Emily Riggs, the founder of Aussie label Iris & Wool, can attest to that – her appreciation for the art of dressing began during a difficult time in her life. “On the cusp of my 10th birthday, I was lying in a hospital bed when the doctor delivered life-changing news,” she recalls. “I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Not many 10-year-olds would know what that meant, but I did, because at that time my mother was in the battle of her life with breast cancer. The first thing I said was, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to lose my hair!’” Sadly, she did – and the next year, Emily’s beloved mother passed away. Amid her grief, fashion became a source…

EVERYDAY ELEGANCE Featuring an exclusive print and natural fibres, Ella & Sunday’s Cali Spots Shirtdress is your new summer fashion staple. ellaandsunday.com.au KITCHEN STAR Pyrolytic self-cleaning and functions such as Air Fry Plus make the Electrolux Ultimate Multifunction Oven a modern essential. harveynorman.com.au PARTY TIME Dress the part this festive season with Birdsnest’s jolly range of Christmas-themed outfits and accessories. birdsnest.com.au SUSTAINABLY CHIC Smitten Merino’s patchwork-style Zero Waste Camisole Top is made using offcuts of merino. Ideal for layering, each top is unique. smittenmerino.com STEP RIGHT Renowned for quality and elegance, the Peter Sheppard range features more than 1000 handcrafted European shoe styles. petersheppard.com.au COOL OPERATOR Enjoy split-door design, 609-litre capacity and wi-fi monitoring with the Electrolux Ultimate Taste 900 French Door Fridge. harveynorman.com.au OLDE WORLD CHARM This brass candle…

BOOKS FICTION HORSE Geraldine Brooks, Hachette, $39.99 Australia’s finest gives us a historical masterpiece with a present-day twist. THE SWIMMERS Julie Otsuka, Fig Tree, $29.99 Otsuka writes one book per decade, but it’s so worth waiting for – a gentle view of ageing that turns chilling. DEBUT THE MAID Nita Prose, HarperCollins, $29.99 In Prose’s tale, the narrator is a maid with unusual convictions which make her both vulnerable and, ultimately, beyond the reach of the bad guys and her horrible boss. AUTOBIOGRAPHY NOT JUST THE WIFE OF THE GENERAL MANAGER Sally Warriner, Hardie Grant, $34.99 More, please, from this gutsy lady who dispels a couple of cherished myths about the outback in modern Australia. BIOGRAPHY AGATHA CHRISTIE: A VERY ELUSIVE WOMAN Lucy Worsley, Hodder & Stoughton, $34.99 It’s Christie’s…