Your Page: Readers’ emails and letters
OUR FEBRUARY ISSUE PUT YOU IN MIND OF YOUR OWN TRAVELS THROUGH THE COUNTRY – AS WELL AS GIVING SOME PLUCKY FARM ANIMALS IDEAS OF THEIR OWN.
FARMING GOOD DEEDS
Newlyn, Victoria: chocolate soil you could eat from a spoon. Almost. Potato country – acres upon acres growing according to the farming cycle.
For several years, I travelled the Daylesford-creswick route, never tiring of the views which changed from season to season.
One afternoon, heading towards Newlyn from Springmount, the station wagon full with groceries from the pre-easter shop – an unwelcome flat tyre. Disinclined to try putting on the spare and not having my phone with me, I decided walking was the best option. There were farmhouses ahead to phone from for help and, if that failed, the Newlyn Hotel was further along. I would get there before dark.
Unsuccessfully rousing anyone except a barking dog at the first house, I resumed my walk along the highway. I hadn’t walked far before I heard the sound of a small cc motorcycle coming up behind me. The voice inside my head calmly instructed, “Don’t turn around. Don’t be scared. Hold your head high and keep walking.”
Very soon a voice from behind me asked, “That your car missus?” I turned around to reply and assess the scene.
The sight almost rendered me speechless. What did I see but three farmers on motorbikes covered from head to toe in the chocolate soil. Never in my life had I encountered such a sight. “Hop on, missus,” instructed one and, in that split second, I obliged. Back to my stranded vehicle and, without fuss or fanfare, my flat tyre was changed and I was on my way with a smile from ear to ear.
Having moved away, I no longer travel that stretch of road but, at the mention of Newlyn, my memories will always be of three kind potato farmers who came to my aid. Catherine Norman, Inglewood, Vic
THE RIGHT MOVE
I have been an avid reader for many years; I never miss an issue. Your cover is always a standout at my newsagents. The photography is tribute to country life, which I am happy to say my husband and I are now part of in the beautiful Southern Highlands.
Over the years, I have gained helpful advice and decorating ideas that I now have a chance to use in my new home in Moss Vale. Our move from Sydney was the best decision of our lives. It’s so quiet here, the people are so friendly and helpful, and you learn patience, which is sadly lacking in the city.
I had the privilege to read in your February issue a letter by Sam Milgate, “In a Time of Loss”. I could not believe that his father helped us buy our new home; we had been clients for many years and I am glad his mother will still receive your magazine. I look forward to your next issue and sitting at my bay window in the sun reading for hours. Christine Audet, Moss Vale, NSW
CHICKS GOT IT COVERED
As I sat relaxing on the verandah perusing the latest copy of Country Style, I looked up and had a giggle. My chickens and rooster were trying to recreate the cover! Some chicks will do anything to get attention!
Two years ago, my husband and I bought our dream home on three acres in north NSW – a 110-year-old cottage that is a diamond in the rough. Your magazine provides an endless source of inspiration for us as we do the renovations and decorating. Who knows, maybe one day our home might grace the pages of Country Style?! Kelly Johnston, Tuckurimba, NSW
COVID IN THE COUNTRY
I have spent the past six months in central Victoria and, while the rest of Australia and the world has been in turmoil, I have had the pleasure of walking down country roads in the sunshine surrounded by green paddocks and curious sheep watching me, while keeping their wary eyes on the dog. I have woken to the sounds of lambs bleating, cockatoos screeching and kookaburras laughing. Even though we have been surrounded by peace and space, we have been living out of boxes while we renovate my partner’s 1970s house. COVID has delayed our new country kitchen, and our oven has a wonky door and no thermostat, so cooking has been a challenge! First-world problems.
The daily news has been bleak, but I have had such joy reading each new edition of Country Style looking for inspiration for our emerging home. I have scoured op shops for old copies of your magazine and I have spent many happy hours looking at your photo shoots and dreaming that one day our house will look as good as those you feature. Thank you so much for keeping me sane.
Pauline Louise Forbes, Carisbrook, Vic
WINNER TAKING INSPIRATION
Thank you for the salve of your beautiful magazines. For 10-plus years, I’ve read your magazine and bathed in the soothing calm it presents every month.
For many years, my husband and I lived pay cheque to pay cheque, so magazines were an expenditure I often had to forgo, but early on I noticed the healing effect I felt thumbing through your pages, and considered the monthly cost a kind of therapy or meditation.
Now, finally, we are in a much more stable position, and looking to purchase a home in a more rural setting. I find myself (perhaps unconsciously) searching for the same feeling I get when perusing your pages when I look at homes for sale: wide hallways that invite children and their school bags; open, light-filled kitchens that call to friends over long, relaxed drinks and dinner; sprawling lawns complete with gorgeously overgrown wisteria; a fat sheep chewing lazily in the background.
Thank you for not only sharing the stories you do, of those living in all corners of our gorgeous country, but for giving this once-exhausted mother of three, who felt trapped by life’s struggles, a sense of calm and hope, an escape in your pages that may now become a reality.
Keep doing the wonderful work you’re doing!
Linda Trace, Haynes, WA