People always ask me about my family farm. My grandparents were pioneers in the wheatbelt region of Western Australia and the farm they founded is still family owned. 

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During World War Two, three Italian POWs were stationed on the farm, and according to family lore, they taught my grandmother how to cook and my mother, aunts and uncle how to speak Italian. As a child, my nickname was "papagalla"...little parrot. 

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This amazing photograph is of my mother during the Great Depression. Yes. That's a cow.