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
Maggie's kitchen
Maggie Beer's delicious veg patties - perfect for lunch, dinner or a snack - plus a simple nostalgic pudding with fresh passionfruit.
Reclaim your brain
Attention span short? Thoughts foggy? Memory full of gaps? Brigid Moss investigates the latest ways to sharpen your thinking.
The girls from Oz
Melbourne music teacher Judith Curphey challenged the patriarchy when she started Australia's first all-girls choir. Forty years later that bold vision has 6500 members, life-changing programs and a new branch of the sisterhood in Singapore.
One kid can change the world
In 2018, 10-year-old Jack Berne started A Fiver for a Farmer to raise funds for drought relief. He and mum Prue share what happened next.
AFTER THE WAVE
Twenty years ago, the Boxing Day tsunami tore across the Indian Ocean, shredding towns, villages and holiday resorts, and killing hundreds of thousands of people from Indonesia to Africa. Three Australians share their memories of terror, loss and survival with The Weekly.
PATRICIA KARVELAS How childhood tragedy shaped me
Patricia Karvelas hustled hard to chase her dreams, but it wasn't easy. In a deeply personal interview, the ABC host talks about family loss, finding love, battles fought and motherhood.
Ripe for the picking
Buy a kilo or two of fresh Australian apricots because they're at their peak sweetness now and take inspiration from our lush recipe ideas that showcase this divine stone fruit.
Your stars for 2025
The Weekly’s astrologer, Lilith Rocha, reveals what’s in store for your astrological sign in 2025. For your monthly horoscope, turn to page 192.
MEL SCHILLING Cancer made me look at myself differently'
One year on from going public with her bowel cancer diagnosis, Mel Schilling reveals where she's at with her health journey and how it's changed her irrevocably.
Nothing like this Dame Judi
A few weeks before her 90th birthday, the acting legend jumped on a phone call with The Weekly to talk about her extraordinary life – and what’s still to come.
