Our featured dyer for this month’s pop-up shop, Julie, lives in a beautiful part of Australia. We asked her to share with us a little more about her part of the world. Read below to learn more about her daily life and what inspires her.

I live on a 83acre/33hectare rural property near the little town of Buchan, located in the bottom right-hand corner of mainland Australia. Some of the land is cleared but much of it is native re-growth and a small patch of old growth native eucalyptus forest. From the many windows of my two story house I enjoy vast changing views of the country and the big skies. I have learned a lot about colour by watching the skies, clouds and countryside change with the different weather and light of day, and across the seasons.

Contrary to popular myth, kangaroos don’t bound down every street in Australia and koalas aren’t seen in every tree! Many native animals are nocturnal and difficult to find during the day. However we are very lucky that our land backs onto State Forest and so we see lots of native wildlife and birds, as well as introduced species such as foxes and deer.

We often see wallabies (like small kangaroos) grazing on the grass, and have spotted Eastern Grey kangaroos from time to time. We have seen possums, goannas (large lizards), echidnas (like hedgehogs), snakes, frogs and lots of different insects. I have even spotted the native Blue Banded Bee! (Yes, they are light blue, and they live a solitary life in burrows in the ground). We have rehabilitated a mite-ridden wombat, and rescued a red-bellied black snake from the blueberry netting.

The bird life is much easier to find. We have many species of parrots that visit, some game enough to feed from your hand. There is nothing like waking to a morning chorus of magpies, or sipping your favourite drink in the evening to the chortling of a mob of kookaburras. My heart soars every time I spot a Wedge Tail Eagle in the sky, and I look forward to the annual visit of the emus.

I will be much saddened when I eventually have to leave here, but am eternally grateful for all the lessons that the country has and still is teaching me: colour, light, weather and the changing seasons, life and death, the tiny life forms and the beauty that you only notice if you slow down and really take the time to look. This truly is a slice of heaven on earth.

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