The sight of Mandy Reid out in her garden with secateurs, picking roses for a fresh Christmas wreath, is glorious. The smile on her face is pure sunshine and such a contrast to the tears in her eyes when last we spoke. The last time The Weekly caught up with her, Mandy was midway through 2019 on the tail-end of a devastating drought, and her garden was dying.
“It’s been tough,” she told us. “Spring and summer were absolutely dry. Storms are so erratic these days. You can see them and you want to go out and touch them and drag them over but they just won’t come. I can’t tell you how sad I am about the garden.”
Mandy turned 60 this year. She’s weathered drought and nearby fires, the contamination of the town water supply in the deluge that followed and the death of both her parents since last we met. Yet she remains a dynamo. From just an acre of land in the town of Tenterfield, NSW, she operates the White Cottage Flower Farm with associated classes in floristry, photography and art, and a thriving business in antiques and old wares. She’s also a bit of an Instagram influencer, with 20,000 devoted followers.
When Mandy and her husband, Hamish, moved to Tenterfield 25 years ago, they fell in love with the town’s trees, and they bought a beautiful old cottage with enough land to grow trees and shrubs and cut flowers.
Watching it all die was heartbreaking.
Esta historia es de la edición Christmas 2020 de The Australian Women's Weekly.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición Christmas 2020 de The Australian Women's Weekly.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
