Innehållsförteckning för June 2024 från Country Style

CALL ME old-fashioned, but I still believe in dressing appropriately for an occasion. While it’s acceptable to wear more casual attire everywhere, from work to a wedding, I like to dress up. Don’t get me wrong – I like dress-down Friday as much as the next person, but I think making an effort with your clothes puts a spring in your step. I remember my nan used to get us to change to go up the street when my brother and I stayed with her in Kyogle. I loved that ritual. Mum used to buy (or make) us a new tracksuit each winter, an outfit for Christmas, and even for the local show. These became our “good” clothes for the year. These days, I turn to regional or Australian brands.…

I LIKE WINTER FOR its lack of snakes, for the promise of spring, for comfort food and firesides. I like a hot drink when I’m in from the cold. I like a long bath, and the way the winter sun hits my desk for most of the working day. And that’s about it. I don’t like much else about winter, which is a shame for a Tasmanian. I don’t enjoy the crisp air (‘crisp’ is just another word for cold and drying). I hate the early darkness and I don’t enjoy the layers and layers of clothes. I look silly in long boots, wool makes me itchy, hot wine is disgusting and don’t get me started on hot gin. I worry about our cows in the cold – their milk…

THE SECRET TO LIFE, Beth Macdonald suggests, is in slowing down and finding joy in the little moments. “Living in the country has given me clarity on those small moments which are actually what you remember in the end,” says the popular blogger and online store co-owner who lives in Burrawang, a pretty village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, where the Gundungurra and Tharawal people are the traditional custodians of the land. Beth, 46, and her husband Rob, 48, a video producer and TV writer, moved to the area in 2010 with their daughters, Daisy and Harper (now 17 and 14) in tow. Rattled by the clutter and noise of Sydney’s trendy Inner West, “We were all quite miserable, and I remember thinking, I’m not sure this…

AN UNORTHODOX GIFT from her father, a passionate engineer, more than 40 years ago was the catalyst for a life spent DIY-ing for museum curator, academic and small business owner Christine Hansen. “My dad was a man with a shed,” she says. “When I was 11 or 12, he gave me my first power drill.” Unconventional though it was – “and looking back, irresponsible!” says Christine with a laugh – the exposure the gift gave her to working with her hands and operating power tools from a young age changed the trajectory of her life. “I really think that experience is a big part of it for me. It made me confident and competent using my hands.” Adept with her mind as well as her hands, Christine entered the cerebral…

AS THE TEMPERATURE drops and winter settles in, my mind turns to warm bakes. The shorter days and lingering woodsmoke make me homesick for the nostalgic treats of my childhood: sticky date pudding; apple pie; and fruity crumbles topped with vanilla ice cream. So much of the food we crave is tied up with a particular time and place, and the way we felt when we first ate it, isn’t it? For me, sticky date pudding is the dinner parties of my childhood, when life seemed so simple and the only worry was whether you’d be allowed a second scoop of ice cream! This is my version of my mum’s sticky date pudding – the warmth of the ginger works beautifully to balance the sweetness of the dates and caramel.…

PICTURE THIS: YOU’RE walking down the main street in a country town, the wide sky shading into night above you. Ahead, warm light spills from a shop onto the pavement, and the sound of music and laughter drifts towards you. As you get closer, the shop windows reveal a swirl of people chatting in clusters, then breaking off to examine the mosaic of bright paintings on the walls. “Once a month we have an opening for each new exhibition,” says Sarah Thomas, director of Gallery Alchemy in Milton, NSW. “Local musicians perform; we have drinks from a local winery; and the artist often gives a talk. It’s become a prelude to people’s evenings – they’ll come and have a few drinks at the exhibition, hear from the artists, and then…

ALEXANDRA ENGLISH Writer and editor Alexandra wrote our house story on the serene retreat in regional Victoria on page 64, which was a long-held dream for its owners. “I just got back from a long weekend at an eco cabin on a working farm in the Southern Highlands,” says Alexandra, 35. “It’s an immediate brain and body reset.” It’s no surprise Alex felt relaxed in the country: she was born in Stanwell Park, a coastal village in NSW, though she now lives in Sydney’s Inner West with her partner Jack, 29. Alex’s work is satisfying in more ways than one: “I like the end of it, when your jumble of ideas have been untangled and laid out. And I love getting the chance to talk to people about their homes…

AFTER “LOOKING AND LOOKING” for their forever farm for what felt like eternity, Kate Kirkpatrick and John Keynes stumbled across a sign in a real-estate agent’s window. It showed a picturesque property in Pomonal, at the foothills of the Grampians in Victoria. Visiting for the first time, Kate and John fell in love with the vista of wide, open paddocks dotted with majestic gum trees and the view of the mountains beyond. “It just felt right,” says Kate. Now the proud owners of Wirreanda Farm, Kate, 43, and John, 47, live in a renovated cottage on the scenic sheep property with their daughters, Isabel, 13, and Millie, 10, and host weddings on the vast 222 hectares. A veteran of the events industry, Kate is the director of the region’s biggest…

AT THE TOP of my random internet searches right now (“What is the Korean word for nosebleed?”; “When is the HSC timetable published?”; “Recipe for tteokbokki?”) is “How to attract owls to my garden”. I love owls. Almost as much as I love goats – and they are already in my garden, the ratbags. Fewer goats, more owls, is the plan. I have lots of old-growth trees, but none with obvious hollows near the house, so we are building owl nesting boxes in the hope of luring owls. We have a perfect huge white cedar just away from the house which we’ve been eyeing off as a home for an owl box. Although, this autumn, that white cedar brought a new problem: caterpillars. The Leptocneria reducta, or white cedar moth,…

ON THE BANKS OF the Murray River in Victoria’s Rutherglen winegrowing region sits the historic All Saints Estate. Home to a majestic castle built by the vineyard’s founders in 1864, the property boasts 33 hectares of prime vineyards. With a food offering to match the glorious grounds, on-site restaurant Kin was recently named Best New Regional Restaurant of the Year in The Age Good Food Guide 2024 and was awarded one-hat status. Executive chef Jack Cassidy says the key to Kin’s success is its focus on regional produce and a menu that adapts to the seasons. While this approach can be restrictive, it fires his creativity. “All the decisions made for our menu are based on what’s available locally or in our garden,” says Jack. “That’s what drives me to…

BEAUTY TIP Get Anneliese’s flawless complexion with Natio’s Soft Focus Pore Perfecting Primer, $24.95, a hydrating balm that blurs pores, redness and fine lines. On her eyes is Natio’s Mineral Eyeshadow Palette in Earthy Tektites, $19.95, with nine richly pigmented shades. She’s also wearing Natio’s Lip Colour in Spring, $17.95, a berry-rose pink in a creamy, long-wear formula. Visit natio.com.au PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT LAUREN TROMPP STYLING ASSISTANT LILLY VEITCH HAIR AND MAKE-UP ALLISON BOYLE MODEL ANNELIESE SEUBERT, SCOOP MANAGEMENT…

DATSUN ANGEL Anna Broinowski, Hachette, $34.99 Broinowski’s The Director is the Commander, a Country Style ‘Best of 2017’, was a world scoop. It’s an account of a film she made in North Korea. Kim Jong Un respected her freedoms (pretty much) and though sardonic at times, it showed us a unique view of what goes on there. But this new book is a different sort of memoir. Broinowski resurrects her 1980s diary. The opening chapter shows her, aged 17, at Sydney Uni’s Orientation Week. Unlike the other young women at Wesley College, who asked, “Where did you go to school?” and, “What does your father do?”, Anna was an international, the daughter of diplomats. Her childhood was spent in the Philippines, Burma, Iran and Japan. She should have been worldly-wise,…

Editor KYLIE IMESON Creative director SARAH FARAGO Deputy editor HANNAH JAMES Queensland contributing editor CLAIRE MACTAGGART Art director BERNHARD SCHMITZ Stylist KATE LINCOLN Features writer REBECCA HOOTON Features writer RACHEL WHITE Junior writer LISA EASEY Chief copy editor, Homes Group PETER GRIFFITHS Senior copy editors GRETA DUMBLETON, SUE RAMSEY ADVERTISING AND PRODUCTION Commercial brand manager JO-ANN TAYLOR Advertising production manager KATE ORSBORN Director of sales –NSW, VIC, SA KAREN HOLMES Head of direct sales – VIC, SA, WA WILL JAMISON Queensland head of sales JUDY TAYLOR Creative director CLARE CATT Head of events and sponsorships CATE GAZAL Head of Directories REBECCA WHITE Production controller KARA STEAD  Advertising production controller DOMINIC ROY  All advertising inquiries ADVERTISING@AREMEDIA.COM.AU MARKETING AND CIRCULATION Director of marketing CARLY BOWRA   Head of consumer marketing LOUISE CANKETT…

GROWING UP IN Adelaide, Luan and Wendy both fondly recall backyards brimming with fruit trees and the crisp, crunchy bounty they offered. The couple craved a similar experience for their own children, Vinh, 13, and Van, 10, and a place they could retreat to from the city, where Luan works as a cardiologist, so they began exploring properties in the Adelaide Hills. Then in 2016, on a weekend bike ride with a friend, Luan, 46, rolled into the historic village of Mylor. “It was just lovely,” he says. “We weren’t too familiar with that area – like most people, we would go up to Hahndorf and Stirling and not much further. When I got back from my ride, I looked it up, found the farm for sale and managed to…

Space station Tim and Lauren Sayce’s compact farmhouse outside Ipswich, Qld (featured in our April 2024 issue), had a smart renovation in 2023, courtesy of their own construction company, Kai Konstruct. Lauren designed cabinetry for the office, kitchen and mud room (pictured) in a light but warm oak, complemented by VJ walls painted charcoal. “It had to be very practical,” she says. Mission accomplished. Feels like home The dazzling light of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia streams into Barb Woolford’s white farmhouse. But this laundry’s contrasting green was inspired by artist Allyson Parsons. “She opened my eyes to all the different hues and how to appreciate them,” Barb explains. “The dark colour creates a warm and moody feeling; a real sense of belonging and cosiness.” Antique pigeonholes from Tinker…

FROM MY EXHAUSTIVE research while in Bologna, I’ve come to the conclusion that the difference between ragu and bolognaise sauces is this: it really depends on who you ask. One thing is certain though – they are both called “ragu”. Applying the KISS principle (do I really have to spell it out?), let’s call one “Mr Chunky” and the other “Mr Smooth”. That said, Mr Chunky is often made with small pieces of beef and pork, always contains a sofrito (finely diced carrot, onion and celery) and uses red wine, whereas Mr Smooth does not contain vegies, uses white wine and has the addition of milk. Curiously, in many recipes, garlic and herbs are not added, which to me seems counterintuitive. The confusing thing is that I’ve seen and eaten…

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT Culture Probiotic Night Recovery Water Cream, $66, from Antipodes, hydrates skin and promotes a healthy microbiome. Add clarity and radiance with Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex, $135, from Adore Beauty. SpirulinesLift Firming Night Cream, $143, from Ella Baché, protects and revitalises skin with glycerol, spirulina and hyaluronic acid. Display your beauty products on the stylish Mette Ditmer Marble Deco Tray, $165, from Top3 by Design. Pamper skin with the luxurious Neale Whitaker Turkish Hand Towel, $11.99, from MyHouse. Medik8 Crystal Retinal Ceramide Eye 3, $85, from Adore Beauty, hydrates the delicate eye area. IS Clinical Youth Eye Complex, $150, from IS Clinical, reduces the appearance of wrinkles and enhances elasticity. Infuse skin with the powerful retinoid and botanical extracts in Sunday Riley A+…

OIL POWERED A top brand in Switzerland for 40 years, Perskindol is now in Australia. Powered by essential oils, the spray and gel target muscle and joint pain. perskindol.com.au HAPPY PLACE Indulge in Beddie’s luxuriously soft, pure cotton bed sheets. Pair with Nanna’s Kiss Quilt Cover featuring a cheerful floral pattern. beddie.com.au URBAN WELLIE Step into Tully, a new waterproof boot from Merry People that revamps the classic gumboot silhouette with a platform heel. merrypeople.com CLOUD NINE Luxe yet relaxed, the Harley sofa boasts ultimate comfort. Its deep feather seating will feel like you’re lounging on a cloud. ozdesignfurniture.com.au FIRST IMPRESSIONS Wicka’s new collection of oversized coir doormats are made from durable, 100 per cent natural materials in a large range of stylish designs. wicka.com.au HEAVENLY AROMAS Barossa Candle Co’s…