Cool or uncool? — Kandy Shepherd

Is it dreadfully uncool of me to admit to how much pleasure my vegetable garden gives me?

Not so much the back-breaking work of weeding, digging, and—decidedly uncool—fertilising. Although fresh air, exercise and communing with nature do play their part in those past-times. (And, if I’m being honest, much of the hard work is done by my darling hubby.)

 I’m thinking more of the ongoing pleasure in seeing things grow. Then there’s the harvest—the joy of organic produce eaten just minutes from being picked from the garden. It surely must be good for us! Then it all seems worthwhile. Even the less-than-supermarket-perfect produce seems to taste so much better.

Right now in the heat of summer Down Under, my garden is overflowing with abundance. (A bit too overflowing—I never seem to allow enough distance between plants). We’ve been eating lettuce, green beans, cucumbers, and zucchini (courgette) for months, with the tomatoes, eggplant (aubergine), capsicums (peppers) and chili now coming into full force. Herbs too are flourishing.

 Some years are more successful at our little farm than others. We’re at the mercy of nature as to how well our tomatoes grow, some years we have none. And I’m a gardening incompetent when it comes to small seeds like lettuce, spinach and carrots. I have friends who are very good at saving seed from crop to crop, whereas I’m of the buying seedlings wherever possible persuasion.

For this reason I sometimes wonder whether growing our own is actually cost effective, though the water (we collect our own) and fertiliser (thank you chickens and horses) is “free”. But the taste and satisfaction it gives us is priceless. For the rest of the time we’re lucky to have a good fruit and vegetable market not too far away.

 I’ve been interested in vegetable gardening since I was eleven years old when I first grew a crop of green beans and radishes (which I didn’t even like!) Over the years I’ve grown them when possible.  However for many years even a pot of herbs on the windowsill was impossible because of where we lived and other demands on time.

 In my upcoming May release for Harlequin Romance Conveniently Wed to the Greek I have the opportunity of planting a fictional veggie garden in an upmarket spa resort on a gorgeous Greek island. Now that was fun!

Do you have “green thumbs” when it comes to vegetable gardening? Any disasters? Or do you find it so much easier to shop at the market! I’d love to see your comments.

LAZY HAZY HOT SUMMER DAYS by Yvonne Lindsay

My husband and I are taking a couple of days to ourselves and have been offered the use of a friend's holiday home by the beach. And it's beautiful! 

We arrived on a stinking hot day and were instantly mesmerised by the sea. I have to admit that I wondered whether or not the constant crash of the waves would wear me out but I've found it to be distinctly soothing. I've always loved the water and loved swimming but I'm a bit cautious on that this time around because there's a bit of an undertow here and the waves can be quite strong and there's the recovering frozen shoulder that has plagued me for several months which makes swimming probably a not so safe option for me at the moment. It doesn't bother me, though--I'm happy to observe the waves and the birds and, well, just take a few moments to sit and relax and enjoy.

New Zealand is enjoying a hotter summer than I can remember in a long long time. Yes, we've had some good summers but always interspersed with a great deal of rain, which has dampened out annual camping holiday on many an occasion. So much so that we've pretty much put camping on the back burner for now. 

Our kids are horrified, of course, but then again they're both back at work while we're still on holiday playtime and last night was deeply relaxing as we enjoyed a glass or two of wine and slowly watched the sky change as night fell. It feels like such a privilege to be able to simple stop "doing" and just "be", even if it's only for a few days.

So, that brings us to the beach, where I'm going to watch my husband have a swim while I peacefully munch toast on the deck in the sunshine and let my mind take a break.

What's your favourite way to relax?

Back to The Bay

by Bronwyn Jameson

As kids our summer holiday “place” was Bateman’s Bay on the New South Wales south coast.  Mostly for expedience, since it was the closest piece of ocean to our inland home.  But this also meant it was the summer holiday place for many other country families and we’d see them on the beach, the fathers sporting the farmers' signature tan and towelling sun-hat.  Catching up with other regulars, most of whom we wouldn’t see between Januarys, was part of the summer holiday.  We loved that almost as much as we loved the beach and the easygoing caravan park lifestyle.

Then came the year of The Breakdown.  Heading home at the end of the holiday, along with every other end-of-school-holidays family, towing the caravan up Clyde Mountain, our car broke down.  It was stressful, harrowing – I imagine a thousand times more for the parents – stopped beside a long drop down the mountainside, in heavy traffic, waiting for roadside assistance.  Eventually we were towed to Braidwood where we waited days for the necessary parts to get us home.

The caravan was sold.  We spent the next six or seven summers at the local swimming pool, until eventually my parents built a holiday house.  By this time I was at university and The Bay lost its appeal for a decade, until I had a young family and we started the trek down the mountain each year along with my sisters and their kids.  Then that next generation grew up and found livelier places to spend their holidays and my parents sold the house and that was that.

Except we all still have such fond memories of the place, of the summers, of the family togetherness, and so earlier this month we – my three sisters, my mum and I – went back to The Bay.  We rented a house by the beach.  It was too cold to swim but we paddled and walked the sand, ate seafood by the truckload, talked and laughed and remembered.  And made new memories.

Bateman’s Bay will always be that special family place for us.  Do you have such a place, your special place packed to the gills with the best memories?

Summer Holidays, Settings and The Secretary's Secret

by Michelle Douglas

Reading: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon

Watching: House

Listening to: Adele

Making me smile: hazy beach days

Last Wednesday I made an odyssey to the seaside township of Tuncurry. Why? The dedication in my latest book – The Secretary’s Secret (out now in Oz/NZ) – might explain why:

To my grandparents, Bunny and Beryl Snaddon, with love and thanks for all those wonderful summer holidays!

From the time I was a baby until I was about eight or nine years old, my family spent the summer holidays in Tuncurry – at Tuncurry Beach Caravan Park in my grandparents’ caravan, to be precise. (After that we moved around the headland to Hallidays Point, but still spent a lot of time in Tuncurry as it was the nearest place to stock up on groceries)

As a general rule, I prefer to set my stories in locations that I’m familiar with, so when my secretary in the big smoke suddenly finds herself pregnant and decides to move back home, I decided to make that home Tuncurry. I may not have visited my old childhood haunt in twenty years, but in my mind I could still see it all so clearly.

And I have to say, when I revisited Tuncurry last week, I wasn’t disappointed. This is what I found:

The Rock Pool: This is a great place for small children and it’s where I learned to swim. Alex, my hero, takes the odd dip here. You can see from the photos below how popular this spot is in summer.

Wallis Channel (leading from the sea into Wallis Lake): Kit teaches Alex how to fish from the breakwater where this photo is taken. This, I have to say, is where my memory broke down. I’d have sworn black and blue that the breakwater was waaaay longer and the rocks bordering it waaaay bigger. I, umm, think I took some poetic liberties with this in my story. :-)

The Dolphins: who often frequented the channel and obviously still do. They visit in my story too!

The Beach: Glorious golden sand and foaming breakers for almost as far as the eye can see.

The Bridge: We walked across it every year. Why? For ice-cream, of course. :)

I had a wonderful day and it seems that the place of my childhood summers is as magical as ever.

Do you have a special summer place?