Cruisin' into Corrigin

It was off to the Wheatbelt last week to join Sally Murphy as a guest author at the Corrigin Young Writers Festival. Dave and Angelina joined me on a road trip of sparsley beautiful scenery and a string of crazy utes that appeared to have nose-dived into the landscape straight from car heaven. Corrigin holds the world record for the biggest 'Dog in a Ute Convoy' after an amazing 1,527 utes drove into town with their canine work-mates in 2003.

During a hectic two days of author talks and workshops, I was bouyed by the originality and enthusiasm shown by the young people attending the festival. Many memorable characters and stories were created and it was a joy to witness the essence of this vibrant farming community coming alive on the page. One particularly poignant story, told in pictures by a nine-year-old boy, shared how he was learning to farm and care for sheep from his much-loved grandma.

While I was sharing stories with the kids at Corrigin District High School, Dave and Angelina were off exploring the neighbourhood. On their travels they drove past the Corrigin Dog Cemetery and after I'd finished for the day, we decided to pay the dearly departed doggies a visit. The many lovingly tended graves paid testament to the importance of a good working dog, and a mate, to those farming the land.

It's not often you see a 'Beware Echidnas' warning sign so we all kept our eyes peeled as we drove to festival organizer Val Downing's house for dinner on Wednesday night. Sadly, not one echidna was sighted but the delicious feast and great company shared with Val, her husband Graeme and CDHS principal, Jackie Bowles, well and truly made up for any dearth of small, spikey anteaters.

The scenery around Corrigin is striking and I was particularly taken with the Red Lake that took on an ember-like glow in the late afternoon sun. Thanks to Val, Jackie, Fremantle Children's Literature Centre, that talented duo J-Lo and Banks of Tiger FM (the 'Hamish and Andy' of the Wheatbelt) and all the wonderful kids and staff that I met in Corrigin. What a wonderful festival! I feel honoured to have been a part of it.

Southern Right Whale

It was a thrill to see this Southern Right Whale lob tailing with abandon in Albany. Witnessing the athletic joyfulness of its rare and gentle beauty inspired a new poem ...

Southern Right Whale

The bold shoot erupts through a skin of pewter ocean,
like the slick forked-tongue of a mighty pelagic serpent,
flukes lob tailing freely oblivious to the spear
that crimsoned southern seas with the blood of oil-rich ancestors.
Barnacled callosities teem with parasitic life
on the brow of this placid, ebony-baleen temple.
A calf prods her perineum, eager to taste the alien rain,
on a cool spring morning in Princess Royal Harbour.

Katy Watson-Kell

Denmark Delights

After hearing about the award-winning pastries being produced at Denmark Bakery, we couldn't resist a little detour on our recent road-trip to Albany. Dave and Nath sampled some hearty meat pies including Chili Con Carne and Thai Green Currie delicacies. Angelina gave a big thumbs-up to a yummy sausage roll while I tucked into my mouth-watering chicken and vegetable pie. I couldn't leave without tasting the Perth Royal Show prize-winning Lemon Diplomat - a fine pastry base slathered with thick layers of creamy custard, fresh cream, lemon curd and all topped off with a lattice of scrumptious shortcake - what a decadent Denmark delight!

A solitary pied cormorant was gazing out to sea on a moody spring morning. I caught its dance through the shallows before it soared over the waves to its home on Shag Rock.

A Festival of Frogs

Our lakeside garden abounds with fabulous frogs. Amphibian neighbours from Lake Richmond fill each night with their love-song - soulful moaners, slender tree frogs and the lusty gearing-down of libidinous motorbike frogs - lawn, decks and windows all aglow with these jewell-eyed beauties.

In Memoriam: Neil Watson

16.2.1951 – 28.5.2009

Beyond the tempest’s thundering sky
Beneath that cloud of roiling grey
Feel love fill up your soul again

A peaceful balm to soothe the storm

In loving memory of my ex-husband and dear friend, Neil Watson, father of my three oldest children Sarah, Nathan and Megan. Neil left this world too soon and is deeply missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

On the Road to Donnybrook

Hot on the heels of Sarah's March 28th wedding, my niece Morgan's nuptials to her dashing beau Jimmy took place at the Donnybrook Soldiers Memorial Hall last Saturday. A love of Rockabilly music and dance brought these two great characters together and the vibrant wedding stayed true to their love of all things 'fifties.' Morgan wore my mum Zant's vintage wedding dress after adding a few of her own quirky touches expertly sewn by my big sister Zanty.

The glow of newly-wed happiness!


Mr and Mrs Jimmy Bugg

Following a fantastic weekend of dancing and fun I was inspired, yet again, to pen a new poem.

After the Wedding

Dew glints on the kikuyu (grass) that creeps towards a fence
of gnarled grey timbers and uneven cuts of plastic.
Beyond the fence lies a dusty, neglected paddock

pimpled by debris after a half-hearted clean-up.
Inside our cabin a small girl feigns sleep, lost

in her own world of field mice and mild-tempered wombats.
Gulps of bad coffee wash down my sugary treat
purchased from a girl who doesn’t like working Sundays.
A young woman cat-naps in the cabin next door,
her sleep-in spoiled by a throbber and woozy tummy -
too much pink champagne skulled on an empty stomach.
The men pause in reverent silence at an old Falcon wagon
burgundy, elegant, a time-capsule from the sixties
a shiny kick of polished chrome and highly-waxed duco.
The pretty country railway station also takes their fancy
“Do the trains still run through here?”

then their urgent quest for a timetable.
Sunshine soothes my dance-tired legs
as a breeze starts to flirt with the eucalyptus canopy.
I see a horse break into a canter as the scare of a gas-gun
fractures the calm of a Donnybrook morning after the wedding.

Katy Watson-Kell