A space aspiring to bring all the best parts of life on the land into the urban jungle.
Over the last month or so, when I’ve been chatting to friends, a common theme has been emerging. So many discussions have been revolving around how none of us has any idea what we’re doing, nor the self-assurance to be confident in where our life is going. Basically, we’ve all been hit in the face …
This week, I'm another year older and another year wiser (and all that other nonsense...). I'm now deep into my mid-twenties and still have no idea what I'm doing - although I'm starting to learn, that's the narrative of life isn't it?! I 'survived' my quarter life crisis (just kidding - I had about 3 …
If there’s one food to epitomize my childhood, its Basil Pesto. My Nana used to make it and we looked forward to her visits where she’d always bring us a little jar. The recipe was then passed onto my mum and then onto me. We eat pesto with pasta, slather it onto fresh white bread and …
As stationery shops begin to get crowded and school shoes are being polished, in geographically isolated areas across the nation, there's a different type of preparation happening. Bags are being packed (and certain items being vetoed by parents), much-loved pets are being hugged goodbye and families everywhere are staring down the barrel of endless hours …
Working in a boarding house has been one of the greatest honours I’ve ever been given. It’s the heart and soul of a school and boarders add an element of authenticity and community that cannot be emanated elsewhere. Articulating the contribution that boarders make to our school community is hard to articulate; it’s more of …
1. You can enjoy where you are even if it's not your final destination After I moved back to Brisbane, I felt like I’d taken a step backwards. I didn’t want to be back living in the city, I didn’t want to be stuck in the concrete jungle and I felt stifled of any creativity. …
I’ll admit it. I’m a coffee snob. I’m also a firm believer that roadtrips and good coffee goes hand in hand. I was having a conversation with a parent of a boarder a little while ago who lives out of Longreach. We were chatting as I had recently gone through that area. I said, ‘Oh …
Continue reading Hannah’s Guide to the Best Coffee Shops in Rural Queensland
Sisco Designs and Paige Corke Photography Location: Warwick, QLD Website: https://www.siscodesigns.shop Paige and I lived on the same road when we were both working as Governesses in 2019 (we lived about 150kms apart, but you know – it was on the same road, we were practically neighbours!). Through Sisco designs you can purchase some of her …
There are numerous reasons why rural and remote families choose to send their children to boarding school. A better-quality education, greater social interaction, increased sporting opportunities, or simply – because of their geographic isolation, they have no other choice. While rural education does not necessarily equate to a second-rate education in terms of quality; lack …
Continue reading Bridging the Rural-Urban Education Divide in Boarding Schools
Pack extra undies, don’t give them too much pocket money, put parental locks on their phones… the advice for parents sending their children away to boarding school goes on and on. While some may be incredibly helpful, others (irrespective of how well intentioned) add to the lump at the pit of your stomach. Each child’s …
Continue reading 3 Pieces of Advice when Parenting from a Distance
Ingredients: 2 cups Sweet potato cubed. 1 Egg ½ cup almond meal ¼ cup flour 1 tbl olive oil1 tsp apple cider vinegar 1tsp Italian herbs Pinch of salt Method: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius Boil sweet potato in a pot of water over medium heat until soft (about 15 minutes). Drain and allow to cool completely.Place all ingredients in a …
Dear Mum, I think I always took our stationery stash at home for granted. Luckily, I’m writing this at the kitchen table after free-loading off you (again) and eating your food for brekky (again). If I tried to write this while at the apartment in Brisbane, I wouldn’t be able to find a fully functioning …
The other day, I was having a chat with a friend and she told me about a work-related crossroad that she is at. Now, while this isn’t necessary to the story, I have to tell you - this friend is all kinds of wonderful. She is intelligent, hard-working, ambitious, kind and currently works in a …
I'm not even going to bother giving you a fancy story about this recipe. Basically, I was making something else and had leftover ginger so whipped this recipe up. I personally think ginger is underrated and I feel that this recipe does it justice. The recipe is meant to be crumbly and have the texture …
When I was 15 we went on a family holiday to the Simpson Desert. During this trip we stayed in Quilpie, a town 980km west of Brisbane, the state's capital. With a population of approximately 600 people, Quilpie is a humble town, with all the necessities of rural life: A post office, a church, supermarket, …
Shoutout to my colleagues, the kids in the boarding house I work in and my housemates for eating multiple versions of this slice while I perfected this recipe. You're the real MVP. This Food Processor No-Bake Brownie recipe is a crowd (and baker) favourite for so many reasons. It's refined sugar free, gluten free and …
I turned 25 yesterday and have officially hit the appropriate age for a quarter life crisis (although I'm fairly confidence I peaked early, as I've had about 3 existential crisis's in the last 6 months). I'm going to try avoid the quarter life crisis (for now) and instead, wanted to celebrate this milestone with a …
When I first thought about writing this, I thought 'who the heck needs instructions to make a toastie?'. But then, after making the same Toasted Sandwich for dinner for the 3rd night in a row I thought 'EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS COMBO'. So here we are, part of me feels like a goose …
I want to share with you my 2021 intention. Yes, I hear you, you’re all thinking ‘why is this girl only sharing this at the end of January?’. Well, I wanted to try it on for size first, make sure it fit, triple check I didn’t want a refund, you feel me? (2020, I’m looking …
Generosity: The thread that holds community together. I've recently been on a pursuit to be more generous. While on this journey, I've learnt a thing or two. So here's my Top 9 ways to be more generous. Help people see their potential I’ve spoken on here before about how I’m a dreamer. I have huge …
I'm calling it - this is the best cookie recipe to ever exist. Yes, I might be tooting my own horn, but every time I make these sweet treats, people are raving about how good they are. It's a family recipe, that I know off by heart and is a hallmark of my childhood. Plenty …
Sometimes you don’t fit back into the mould you left behind – and that’s ok. In January I moved back to the Gold Coast after living away for two years. Within weeks I’d worked out that the place that had been my ‘home’ for 21 years didn’t really feel like ‘home’ anymore. Yes, my family …
Want a way to support our mates out west? Well the easiest way to do this is to buy and support rural businesses. With Christmas fast approaching, it’s time to get your Christmas shopping sorted! I’ve done the hard work for you and put together a Christmas gift guide with some of my favourite bush …
In my last blog post, I wrote about my childhood home. Today, I want to talk about the street that our little red-roofed house is situated in. I grew up in a cul-de-sac. You know, a dead-end street, no through road, etc. etc. This may not seem like an important detail, but only those who …
My parents and younger sister live a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, red-roofed suburban house in a small cul-de-sac. My parents bought it in 1999 and it’s the only childhood home I’ve ever known. While I ‘officially’ moved out 3 years ago when I moved to Brisbane to start full time work, given my transient lifestyle (and my …
One tenth of the Australian population live in a township of less than 10,000 people (ABS, 2018). These townships are categorised as ‘small towns’. Small towns are the lynchpins of Australia’s heartland and regional Australia is responsible for 67% of our export earnings (Regional Universities Network, 2020). Living in a rural areas comes with many …
In the September school holidays I drove over 4,500kms to visit my friends in the bush. From Mount Isa to Hughenden and everywhere in between, I spent nearly 2 weeks soaking up the red dirt. 50 hours in the car certainly allows for a lot of thinking time. As I watched the landscape change from …
I'm all about a good DIY. I love the idea of making your own rather than buying. There are many advantages of making your own. The largest for me, is you know what goes into it. A lovely friend gave me this recipe for homemade washing powder and I was so pleased when I finally …
I’m a dreamer. There’s no doubt about it. I have small dreams (like have an epic veggie patch) and dreams that are so large, that I sometimes wonder how I conjured them up. As well as being a dreamer, I have an air of almighty confidence. I whole-heartedly believe I can achieve my dreams. That’s …
Continue reading Of course the burdens of your dreams are heavy…
Ever wondered how you ended up here? How a compilation of choices resulted in you being exactly where you are? Let me take you on a little journey… One where a split-second decision resulted in the most wonderful adventure and changed the course of my life. In mid-2017 my best friend snapped her ACL while …
I’m unable to compost due to the fact that I live on the 9th floor of an apartment building. This means we throw a lot of our vegetable scraps out. In an attempt to limit our wastage, my housemates and I have begun making large batches of vegetable sauce. This stuff is so versatile! We’ve eaten …
If I look at something in the store and think ‘I could make that for a lot cheaper.’ Does it make me frugal or creative? I wanted to gift my bosses at work with a little something to say thank you for all the time, encouragement and support they’ve invested in me lately. As I …
Cow’s milk. It’s something most of us would purchase on a weekly basis. But have you ever thought about how the brand of milk you purchase could influence our farmers? Milk prices have long been hotly contested by producers. It’s a commodity that varies greatly in price and some stakeholders have a stronghold over the …
Growing up, I knew I wasn’t going to stay in my hometown forever. Like many teenagers, I believed I was destined for things my hometown couldn’t offer. I’d spent the first 21 years of my life living in the same suburb, going to the same school and studying at a university in the same city. …
Need a simple, go-to salad recipe that looks hella fancy but takes minimal effort? Then this is the recipe for you. This is my go-to salad for family BBQ’s, potluck nights and Christmas lunch. I could continue blabbering on about how great this recipe is – but I’ll just let the actual recipe do the …
To say that my family enjoys food is the understatement of the century. Yes, we enjoy eating it, but we enjoy the labour of love that goes into producing hearty meals and food that is good for the soul. We love sitting around the table together and sharing meals. We love squeezing in as many …
I'm on a mission to reduce my waste, to help the planet and be more sustainable. Trying to do this while living in an apartment in the middle of the CBD poses a few challenges. In the past, I would've let all the 'can't do's' weigh me down and make me anxious, but for now, …
Have you ever heard the phrase ‘it takes a village to raise a child’? Well that is the war cry to my childhood. I have aunts and uncles a plenty and I have more cousins than I can count. The thing is though, these aunts, uncles and cousins aren’t biological, they’re my chosen family. In …
This banana bread is low in refined sugar and super easy to make. The inclusion of chia seeds adds a punch of fibre and the dark choc melts adds a little touch of decadence. Being the dairy farmer's granddaughter that I am, I have to take this opportunity to promote purchasing and consuming milk that …
It’s no secret that I adore my bosses from last year. They are two of the greatest people I know and form a formidable team. It takes kindness and warmth to open up your home to a complete stranger and allow them to play a pivotal role in your family. Yet, both my bosses did …
A nuance to my childhood was political bumper stickers. The back of my grandfather’s vehicles adorned bumper stickers that targeted social issues in the most subtle of ways. These bumper stickers were also, always, advocating for farmers. From the spray truck that never left the property, to the ‘town’ car my grandparents drove around the …
I sort of created this recipe by accident. I set out to make pumpkin bread, but had extra dried cranberries so chucked them in too. I then substituted a few ingredients to my usual recipe and hey presto! Here we are... Sugar free, packed with nutrients and great fresh or toasted, this is the recipe …
Hi Friends, welcome back to my third and final instalment of Lessons from the West. If you missed the first two parts, you can find them here and here. When you live on a station, food is cooked to feed the masses. You use cheap, starchy vegetables, lots of carbs and eat plenty of beef. Mrs. Boss and …
In my previous blog post (which you can find here) I began discussing the Lessons of The West. All the things that I learnt while living and working on a cattle station in Western Queensland. Today, I continue on with my lessons learnt. https://vimeo.com/390211054 Living on the land you are exposed to the elements; dust, wind, snakes …
I spent 2019 living on a remote cattle station in North-West Queensland and it was the grandest adventure. I lived about 60kms from my closest town and spent my days educating 3 sisters who were enrolled in Distance Education. When we weren’t in the schoolroom we were riding horses, feeding animals or helping in the …
I’d gone through a phase recently where I wasn’t much a fan of breakfast. I couldn’t find anything I liked and didn’t really enjoy eating the standard, plain and boring cereal or vegemite on toast. I’ve infrequently made granola over the last few years and always loved the flexibility of it. The key ingredients are …
Hi, I’m Hannah! I’m a city kid by geographic location but a country kid at heart. I grew up holidaying in western Queensland (Australia) and gallivanting around my family’s dairy turned cattle farm in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Red dust runs deep in my veins and despite growing up in suburbia, it’s at my maternal …
The Urban Farmhouse 