About us

My partner (aka MOTH - man of the house) and I live on the side of a mountain, just north west of Brisbane, not far from Samford, at a beautiful piece of paradise called Clear Mountain. We are fortunate to have about 16 acres and have a variety of animals, who entertain us no end. We also have some part time teenagers from my partner's previous relationship who also entertain us no end.

Guinness giving me a hug

I've decided to start this blog to share with you the highs and lows of living a semi rural existence in South East Queensland, Australia. 

One thing I can promise you - no two days of our lives are ever the same and since we have lived here (since December 2009), our lives have been enriched beyond our expectations. We are surrounded by beauty, wildlife (good and not so good ones), our pets, family and friends and mother nature who is also constantly reminding us of her power and unpredictability.

We both commute most days to the city where we both work as consultants. So our home is a very important part of the balanced life we lead - it provides us with tranquility, peace (OK, sometimes) and the ability to keep it real.

We have no traffic noise, no neighbour noise, an awesome view from our home and yet it's always noisy... just different sounds of nature. There's nothing like a randy koala to wake you up with a start in the middle of the night or a cockatoo admiring himself with full screeches in your bedroom window reflection at 5.00am.

MOTH is a talented musician and the sound of original compositions in progress often floats through the air. He's also an awesome cook. I love gardening, so I provide the fruits of my labour (herbs, fruit and veges) and together we tend to do more than the average creative cooking and preserving.

Oh, and in my spare time I'm a rural firefighter. I've been doing this for a few years now and have learnt a lot about living in a bushfire prone area.  We don't just fight grass and bushfires, we attend road traffic accidents and assist other emergency services such as ambulance with remote recoveries, SES overload in storm season and most importantly the proactive bushfire and community awareness and education stuff. I also oversee a team of volunteer community educators who work with local community residents and groups to educate people on bushfire safety.

Click here for links to any recipes we might have shared...