BACK in December 2010 my husband Mike and I undertook a life-changing journey, swapping life in the “big smoke” of Sydney to life in the country as Mike took up a position with the then Harden Shire Council.
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To say that this journey has been “life changing” is rather an understatement but it truly has been very life changing for me.
I remember reading Beatrix Potter’s story of the town mouse and the country mouse to my children and began to wonder what life would be like, living in the country.
Now I know and there’s no way I could ever, ever go back to life in Sydney.
I love living in Harden – oh I know that it gets incredibly hot and dry in summer and extremely cold and frosty in winter, but climate is not what makes it worthwhile to live in a particular place.
It’s the people and when I first arrived in Harden I thought I’d landed on another planet.
“Why?” you might ask. It’s because the people are friendly here, prepared to give a total stranger a smile and a wave and to say “good morning” as I walked past them.
That made such a difference in my first couple of months here.
I soon settled in to life in the country and began to fulfil an ambition I’d always hankered after – to be able to source fruit and vegetables to make my own jams and chutneys, to bottle fresh fruit – so much so that I’d love to look at the filled jars on the shelves in the pantry.
Although I did forget to use some of that bottled bounty and recently had to empty numerous jars into the compost as their contents were way too old! But those jars did look so pretty on the shelves.
I’ve met some wonderful people here in Harden that I call friends and they’re friends like no-one I ever knew in Sydney. They are genuine friends, friends who look out for one another and who take time to check up on one another. That is something unique to country life I think.
I soon settled in to life in the country and began to fulfil an ambition I’d always hankered after – to be able to source fruit and vegetables to make my own jams and chutneys, to bottle fresh fruit.
- Ros Bickford
I jumped right in when I first came to Harden and volunteered for all sorts of things but have since had to step back a few paces as I was over-committing myself, especially as I was working as well. There’s still plenty to keep me busy – I love to quilt and garden.
I’m controller of the Harden SES Unit, have been on the committee of the Harden Evening VIEW Club for the past six years and now onto my seventh year. I belong to a quilt group and that gives me the excuse to feed one of my greatest passions in life and listen to audio books or music whilst I create and quilt.
Would I go back to Sydney, even though I have sons who live there and my new granddaughter? My answer is “No sorry, but my heart is in Harden”.
- SHARE your story about life as a Hilltop woman for our Hundred Hearts of Hilltops project. Contact Rita O’Connor on 0407 227 140 for more information.
