a little bit ABOUT The Countryphiles

Danielle White. Photos taken by her parents at their family farm in the 1960s.

Photos of Danielle taken by her parents at their family farm in Sidonia just north of Kyneton in the 1960s when Danielle was about 2yrs old.

Countryphile (n)

1. A person who loves or has a strong affinity with living in the country.

The idea for The Countryphiles germinated several years ago when I returned to live in my hometown Kyneton in country Victoria after living and working in the city for 15 years.

Before long, I’d met my husband and fellow-countryphile ‘AJW Esq.’  We promptly got married and bought ‘Crofters Fold’ – a little farm where we live happily alongside 14 black-faced suffolk sheep {& lambs}, 2 highland cows {& calves}, 4 chooks and our blonde Kelpie ‘Magoo’.

As the only girl with five brothers, I was born into a sixth-generation farming family that first settled in the pastoral lands surrounding foodie town Kyneton in the 1800s. My life has turned full circle and I am back where my soul has been waiting for me all along – in the country.

The Countryphiles is about all the amazingly talented and inspiring fellow-countryphiles I meet ALONG THE WAY who purposefully and passionately choose to make a life in the country – no matter where that might be.

As well as lovely photographs, regular features on The Countryphiles cover all aspects of country life from inspiring artists and artisans, to producers and provedores, from sustainable homes and kitchen gardens to lost trades, cooks and car clubs, from farmgate foraging to country cafe culture, from young to old, from locals to country-dwellers in far away places.

Even if you aspire to move to the country ‘one day’ or know you will only ever love the country ‘from afar’ The Countryphiles is intended as a fresh little ‘FIX’ of country life no matter where you live.

Just Acorn

Danielle has just completed a commissioned book on the history of Sacred Heart College Kyneton to be published in February 2014 and has begun writing the history of her home town Kyneton. She has frequently contributed to The Age (Epicure, Life&Style, Prime, A2), Broadsheet and the Macedon Ranges Magazine (Issues #2, #3, #4, #5). Her award-winning photo will be published by Pan Macmillan on 1 November 2013 in a book titled Working Dogs, a Celebration of an Australian Icon. She holds a PhD, MA, BA(Hons), GDip (Women’s Health), GDip (Health Education) from the University of Melbourne. But, she FIRMLY believes there’s nothing like the “University of Life” to teach you how much you don’t know and how much there will always be to learn.

Just Acorn

Below is a small selection of Danielle’s published pieces.

> Gaga about the AGA, Good Food, Fairfax Media. The retro ovens are quite the thing in modern renovations writes Danielle White … read more >

> Truths abound in philosophy of food, THE AGE. Danielle White discovers the real Epicureans and their fruitful philosophy of food … read more >

> The upside of being turned down, THE AGE. Whether it’s personal relationships or publishing, we all loathe, if not fear, the “R” word — Rejection. Danielle White finds an upside to being turned down … read more >

> Rain Men. Signs in the skies, THE AGE. Danielle White looks at the dying art of reading Nature to let you know when the rain might come … read more >