My alpacas make earrings!
Hit by the drought, this creative mum enlisted help from a very unique place
Stepping out of the car onto the red sand, the hot sun beat down on me. It’s so good to be home,
I thought.
After packing up my life on the coast in Queensland, I’d moved with my daughter, Emma, then eight, to my parents’ million-acre cattle station in Central Australia.
Four hours from the nearest town, Alice Springs, we’d made the change for a simpler life and to spend more time outdoors.
With groceries delivered weekly by truck, there was no such thing as retail therapy. And the closest neighbours lived more than 85 kilometres away.
Lending a hand to my mum, Lyndee, and stepdad, Ashley, mustering herds, repairing broken fences and maintaining the land, it was tough but rewarding work.
I also made paper out of native grasses on our property.
Turning the paper into wall art and jewellery, in 2018, after four years on the farm, I was invited to showcase my work as part of Eco Fashion Week.
Then, ve months later, I received a message from a man called Shaun, on Facebook.
He’d got my details from a mutual friend who thought we’d be a good match!
Exchanging messages, I learned about Shaun’s farm in rural New South Wales, where he’d been selling wheat crops and sheep’s wool since he was a boy.
But, for the past three years, he’d been struggling in the drought.
I felt like I’d found someone who truly understood the highs and lows of farm life.
He seems like a nice country boy with good values, I thought.
So I visited him, and we clicked right away. Better still, Shaun’s daughter, Lara, then, 10, was just 18 months younger than Emma, and the girls grew close as our relationship blossomed.
After we married, Emma and I moved to Shaun’s farm. But nothing could have prepared me for just how dif cult things would be with the terrible drought.
Without rain, our crops wouldn’t grow, meaning we had to hand-feed more than 1400 sheep, 100 cows and a handful of alpacas.
As the dry weather continued, we had to sell some of the animals to pay to feed the others. Within 12 months, we had no money and no cows left – just 300 sheep and our alpacas remained.
How are we going to afford to live? I panicked, thinking about how we needed fuel for the car and school uniforms for the girls.
‘We’ll work it out,’ Shaun assured me. ‘We always do.’
Then, after a hard day’s work, I went searching for some craft supplies to distract myself from our problems. Though we didn’t have any grass on our land, we had some alpaca wool in the shed.
Fashioning the fur into small balls, I made a pair of earrings. Then I proudly shared a photo of my white furry creation on Facebook.
You should sell those on Buy from a Bush Business,
Without rain,
our crops wouldn’t grow
my aunt, Elly, commented.
Supporting rural businesses impacted by natural disasters, the online marketplace seemed like a great way to sell my pieces.
But there was no way I could juggle that and look after the farm full-time.
That’s when I remembered something my grandfather Peter had told me.
‘You can’t wait for things to happen. You have to go out and do it yourself,’ he always said.
So, I made another pair of earrings, listed them online, and hoped for the best. Incredibly, within 30 minutes, they’d been snapped up.
‘I can’t believe it,’ I beamed at Shaun.
Next, I crafted balls out of differentcoloured wools and attached them to fencing wire to make ‘ ower’ bouquets.
Adding six to the website, they sold out right away too.
Suddenly, I was inundated with messages from people all over Australia wanting more. Within two days, I had more than 85 orders!
There’s no way I can do this on my own! I thought.
So I enlisted the help of my grandma Sylvia, then 77, who agreed to travel from Canberra to help pack and ship off the purchases.
By the time she arrived two days later, the orders had doubled, meaning we could afford more food for our animals and new uniforms for the girls.
It’s a miracle, I smiled. Now, 16 months on from my rst sale, our business has gone from strength to strength.
We’ve also acquired more than 100 extra alpacas, in a range of different colours.
When I moved to the farm, I never imagined we’d have a herd of 120 alpacas making jewellery!
Looking at them grazing, it’s hard to believe how they’ve made such a difference to our lives.
Now, I’ve opened my own art gallery on the farm for people to check out my work and meet the animals. Hosting high teas and picnics with the alpacas, it’s so lovely to see visitors interacting with these gentle creatures.
Our girls, Emma, now 15, and Lara, 14, love lending a hand too.
Farm life can be hard, but there is no place I’d rather be. ●