As I don’t live in town, I never get junk mail. This would be a dream for most people who get inundated with trailer loads of the stuff, but for me, it’s disappointing. I LOVE junk mail, probably more so because it is such a novelty. When I visit town-based friends or family, I have been known to pick up their catalogues and simply tune out, while I devour all the advertised delights, particularly at Christmas time when there is such a plethora of material.

You can now understand my absolute delight when the new RB Sellars catalogue arrived this week. And OMG is this year’s summers catalogue a beauty. It’s so big and thick it almost classifies as a book! The colours, the large pictures! You can see all the items and styles so clearly, which is particularly helpful when you are ordering by mail/online. I held off opening the latest catalogue until after dinner, when, with my cup of tea in hand, I was able to sit down in front of the fire and SAVOUR every single page. Sigh. (The male models are also damn cute & make rather good models for the blokes in my books. :)

Let me clarify here that I am not a fashion plate. I don’t even resemble a fashion-sized saucer. When I have a book tour coming up, I head to a couple of my fav local shops where the wonderful ladies there tell me what looks good. But when it comes to my everyday farm and normal ‘town’ wear, I am a shirt, jeans and boot QUEEN. I have certain likes and dislikes and so, today, I thought I’d share a few of my GO TO favourite outfitter’s – because, well, you know, those shirts, jeans and boots have to fit right. And look good into the bargain.

When I first discovered, in my teens, that my fashion style was good old fashioned “rural wear”, I used to save up my dollars and head to town to buy that RM Williams ‘Good’ shirt, and RM’s were also my choice boots. These day’s I rarely even visit poor old RM’s due to the fact I think they cater more for ‘citified tastes’ and after wearing soft, cushioned Ariats, why would I go back to flat, hard RM’s?

My work boots have also changed from Blundstone’s to Redback’s as I find them more comfortable on my feet. And when my daughter steals my Red Back’s, I head for my Ariat Lace-up’s, which despite being a pain because of the laces, are an absolute dream to wear all day. I could go on forever about the places those boots have been  …

But let’s head back to clothes …

Mr RB SELLARS, I am an AVID fan. True to size, I order a LOT of clothes from these guys as do many of my friends. Work-shirts, jeans, jumpers – you name it, my family has got it. I only order the ‘light weight’ workshirts though as they are our ‘goto’ summer wear – light, cool and yet protective. The heavier weight ones, I find (because I am such a cold frog), are not warm enough for me in the winters of south-east Victoria. At this time of the year I switch to the flannel shirts, and RB SELLARS does these in gorgeous female colours. No more borrowing H’s navy and brown and forest green and black flannies … Winning, I say, totally WINNING!

My daughter and I also have a lovely warm puffer jacket, vests, jumpers (in a range of purples and pinks, of course) and the boys have jeans and workshirts in blue, green, and blue, and blue and more blue. I think they like blue. Must go with their eyes. Or something …

Another provider of the work-shirt is Nungar Trading. Just as good, but I had to order a smaller size (normally a 10-12 and ordered an 8). Nice colours and a comfy, soft shirt once you wash and wear and wash and wear … which you will as they are a good, hard-wearing item.

Dust and Boots is another wonderful provider of my ‘go-to’ work shirt. A company run by an amazing lady from her property in QLD, these shirts are true to size. They also have a more luxurious feel and because of this I tend to use this as my “good work-shirt”. You know the one – town trips, farm field day’s, sale yards etc. Topping nice pants, they are a ripper.

Which leads me to jeans. We’ve all got our fav’s thanks to varying body shapes. What fits my mates doesn’t necessarily fit my flat arse and lanky legs. My jeans of choice for the last few years have been, yes, you guessed it, Ariats...  A little on the pricey side, but seeing they wear so well, I swallow and hand over the cash. I have pairs going in rotation. Good, nearly good, old, really old - more holes than denim, which I have found are really good for holding up your wine glass at the end of the day. Bonus ladies! (Julien Miquel on Twitter... GENIUS https://twitter.com/jmiquelwine/status/734980159548366848 )

 

Recently the girls at the Bairnsdale Horse Centre (where I buy all my jeans and boots) showed me a pair of Grace in LA jeans. The bling you see, the bling was to die for! I bought them, and have been wearing them, but they don’t quite fit like my Ariats. I’m persisting though and hoping I get used to them because they are very, very pretty. See … (picture)

And after warbling on about ‘work’ clothes, I simply have to point you in the direction of Hitchley & Harrow for the prettiest OOH LA LA shirts I think I’ve EVER seen. Favoured by camp drafter’s across the country, these rather pricey ‘good’ shirts are simply beautiful. I haven’t got one yet, but, ladies, I tell you, I am SAVING up, madly as I really would like one for my next book tour. That’s my excuse anyway. I’m sure you can find yours, after you take a look.

Now, enough about clothes for this week otherwise you’ll think my blogs been taken over by a rural fashionata! (So not.)

 

Seeing Christmas is looming, I wanted to share this recipe for a simple fruit cake that popped up over on my Facebook author page. Such a simple recipe! Nicole, a lovely reader of my books and blog tells me this recipe is an all time favourite, and whatsmore, she uses a Big M for the iced coffee and the resulting cake is AMAZING. This is what we need in the festive season, my dear readers, AMAZING and SIMPLE! I’m all for it.

You can find the recipe for the ‘Simple Fruitcake” http://blogs.abc.net.au

 

Alas, I now must stop chatting to you and get cracking on the editing for my next book, LAKE HILL, which will be in your hands come May 1, 2017, just in time for Mother’s Day! So exciting! (And don’t tell anyone, but I think we even have a cover! Can’t show you yet, but when I can, you’ll be the first to see it!)

 

Do you have a favourite country outfitter?

What simple recipes do you love using at Christmas?

Until next time,

 

Margareta x