The wombats are not happy.
Someone has been moving dirt – and it is not them. Someone has been moving rocks too. Wild Whiskers now sniffs each stone suspiciously as soon as she wakes each dusk, and Small Whiskers won’t come out at all until at least two other wombats have inspected the area thoroughly.
It’s my fault. Every visitor takes photos of the wombat hole under the bedroom, the one featured in Diary of a Wombat, begun by Mothball, Wild Whisker’s mum, abandoned when it filled with water, moved back into when we built the new bedroom above it, thus giving her a waterproof roof and a giant back veranda.
Mothball enlarged it a few times, but it didn’t become the commodious residence it now is till Phil got to work on it. Phil now lives in the wombat mansion further down the orchard, a vast interlocking series of tunnels and holes with a view (or scent) of the creek.
Bryan put up a ‘Wombat at Work’ sign to celebrate, but otherwise it’s always looked like a bit of a construction site, both human and wombat. Then last week I asked Anne to make it slightly more garden like – a small rock retaining wall instead of the half-decayed sleeper; some edible hibiscus planted against the tank, and then the self-sown apple mint , Marvel of Peru and echiums weeded.
So she did.
And now the wombats are seriously discommoded, just to create photo opportunities. I feel guilty. But not too much, as I also get to look out at the new garden from my study window. Hear that, oh furry folk? That garden is mine, too.
The wombats will get used to it, I suppose. Though probably not forgive us – or not till it all smells properly of wombat again. Only Phil approves, possibly because he spent so much time with humans while they tended his injured leg as a baby.
Meanwhile we warn guests to wear jeans and gum boots or keep an eye out for wombats. When Wild Whiskers is annoyed she bites. Hard.
And you need to run fast.

Laureate Day 58(ish)
Finished packing for Melbourne, Perth, Fremantle and Sydney: three festivals in a week and then the launch of Pete the Sheep: the Musical by Monkey Baa in Sydney.
Finished I Spy a Great Reader, a book on how to teach kids to read, help kids with reading problems and hunt out the ‘magic book’ that will turn unenthusiastic kids into book worms.
Finished the most recent laureate blog, an article on the rights of children to be taught to read, and have the books they need, this newsletter, and the novel which will come out on December 1.
And have wondered why I have slept so well this week…

Latest Books
Coming soon: A Home for Hairy Nose (with Sue deGennaro).
Fire (With Bruce Whatley)
Fire is what happened when Bruce and I have three years to produce a book, not three weeks as we had to do with Flood to raise money for the Queensland Premier’s flood appeal. Fire is astounding: Bruce’s artwork goes from genius to sublime. Only Bruce could do a centre-spread of fire that sparkles with red and make it beautiful, makes even the terror beautiful. It is always the most extraordinary privilege to work with him.

Refuge
A young man survives a sea journey when his boat is hit by a freak wave and arrives in the Australia he had dreamed of. But his companions in the game on the beach come from many different times and have their own Australias. Together they learn to accept reality – and each other.

Let the Land Speak: how the land created our nation
This is a re-interpretation of Australian history, focusing on how the land itself, as much or more than social and political forces, shaped the major events that led to modern Australia.

Our history is mostly written by those who live, work and research in cities but the land itself has shaped our history far more powerfully and significantly than we realise. Let the Land Speak reinterprets the history we think we all know – from the impact of indigenous women who shaped their nations far more profoundly than firestick farming did to the Eureka Stockade and to the role of the great drought of the 1890s in bringing about Federation – the land has shaped our past. Let the Land Speak also provides insights into ways we can read the land, predict the future – and survive it.

Down the Road to Gundagai
This is the third in the Matilda saga, following A Waltz for Matilda that began in 1892 and continuing with The Girl from Snowy River set in 1919. Each book can be read separately or as part of the series.
In Down the Road to Gundagai, Blue Lawrence has escaped the prison of her aunts’ mansion to join The Magnifico Family Circus, a travelling troupe that brings glamour and laughter to country towns gripped by the Great Depression. Blue hides her crippled legs and scars behind the sparkle of a mermaid's costume; but she’s not the only member of the circus hiding a dark secret. The unquenchable Madame Zlosky creates as well as foresees futures. The Bearded Lady is a young man with laughing eyes. A headless skeleton dangles in the House of Horrors.

And somewhere a murderer is waiting… to strike again.

The Road to Gundagai is set in 1932, at the height of the Great Depression. Matilda is still running Drinkwater Station, but has put aside her own tragedy to help those suffering in tough economic times and Joey, from The Girl from Snowy River, uses his new medical skills to solve a mystery.

And the wombat is back! When a Wombat Goes to School is simple and hilarious and showcases Bruce Whatley at his wickedest. The scene outside the Principal’s office is priceless. We had enormous fun with it. And I suspect that kids will have even more.

Pete the Sheep: the Musical
This hilarious, woofing, baaing and toe-tapping version of Pete the Sheep is by the glorious Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People. It opens at the Darling Harbour Theatre on 29 March and school performances begin on Monday, 31 March. Teacher’s notes are available too and there’ll be video-link workshops.
Bruce and Rosie Whatley and Bryan and I will be at the first two performances. You might just also get to meet a bloke called Pete…
As composer Jonathon Biggins says, ‘Ewes will love it.’

Awards and Shortlistings
Refuge has just been shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards (Sci-Fi and Fantasy). Enormous thanks to everyone.

Schedule for 2014
There are more bookings still being finalized to be added, but this is what’s been confirmed so far. If I can’t get to your school or preschool, then a video conference may be possible, arranged through HarperCollins, Jacqui.Barton@harpercollins.com.au.
You can also download videos of talks about various books or workshop ideas from the excellent HarperCollins’ Teachers’ Hub. Go to www.harpercollins.com.au and click on Teacher’s Hub (there are also excellent teacher’s notes for most of my books) or contact Jacqui Barton, Education Manager, HarperCollins at the email address above.
Invitations to speak should be sent to the Laureate Office, or check the Laureate web-site, www.childrenslaureate.org.au, for schedule updates. If I’m in your area then I’ll try to fit in any other invitations.

Sunday, 23 March – talks at the Wheeler Centre, Melbourne.
Tuesday, 25 March – morning story time for pre-schoolers, WA State Library. Afternoon talk for parents, teachers and librarians.
26-28 March – Storylines Festival, All Saints School, Perth. Public evening session on the evening of 26 March.
31 March – first performance of Pete the Sheep: the Musical, by the wonderful Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People, Lend Lease Theatre, Darling Harbour, Sydney. Pete will tour Australia through 2014. Contact Monkey Baa for performance details, or if you’d like me to do an email chat with your class before or after the performance.
3 April, 12.30 – Talk at the Sydney Jewish Museum. Bookings essential.
8 April, 10.30 – Dance to Dinosaurs Love Cheese, Braidwood Library.
8 April, 12.15 – Dance to Dinosaurs Love Cheese, Bungendore Library.
May 6-8 – Adelaide, talks to schools
9 May – MANTLE conference (annual professional conference for teacher librarians in the Maitland, Newcastle, Taree, Lake Macquarie and Central Coast districts), Newcastle.
11 May – Araluen, Open Garden Day: contact Open Garden Scheme.
17-18 May – National Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) conference, Canberra.
19 May – CBCA visit to our property.
21 May – National Story Time at the National Library, Canberra.
23 May, 2 pm – History Council of Australia panel at the Sydney Word Festival.
24 May – Colin Simpson Memorial Lecture, Australian Society of Authors, Melbourne
9-12 July – ALIA conference, Darwin, and other talks in the Northern Territory.
8-10 August – Bendigo Literary Festival, Bendigo.
23-26 August – Sessions at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival.
27 & 28 August – Christchurch Writer’s Festival, New Zealand.
29 August-2 September – Storylines Festival, Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand.
22 October – Launch Children’s Day, ACT.
8-9 November – Araluen Open Garden Days. Contact the Open Garden Scheme.
14-22 November – Port Hedland, WA.

The March Garden
It’s rained. And rained. Actually not all that much rain, but the valley is green again. The wallabies are fat, their fur fluffy. And the garden has gone bananas. Well, not bananas – they haven’t flowered yet. But paw-pawed – it’s a rare year we get a paw-paw crop in this climate. The limes are getting plump, as are the oranges, and the Japanese maple has decided to put out new green leaves instead of prematurely turning red as it was a month ago.
And I have been planting – red cabbages, winter lettuce, garlic, quick-maturing round carrots, pansies, Iceland poppies, chrysanthemums, Easter daisies and shallots.
And eating. Salads of gated carrot and newly tender parsley; vast amounts of tomatoes, plus for some reason fresh dates, not ours – our date trees are a couple of decades from cropping – but for some reason I have a passion for them which should evaporate soon. Maybe they balance the tomatoes.
The freezer is full of tomato puree and tomato soup. The cupboard is well chutneyed. And the cucumber vines are putting out both new leaves and fruit when I thought they’d been downy mildewed almost to extinction. The pumpkins are setting fruit… and life is good.

What to plant in March
Hot climates:
Plants to eat: Garlic, macadamias, avocados, bananas, custard apples, lychees, sapodilla, star fruit, paw paws, mangoes, passionfruit, citrus, strawberry plants, capsicum, carrots, chilli, cauliflowers, eggplant, okra, potatoes, silver beet, sweet corn and zucchini.
Plants for beauty: Hibiscus bushes, calendula, poppy, primula, snapdragon, sunflower and salvias; fill bare spots with ferns.

Temperate:
Plants to eat: Garlic, macadamias, avocado trees, citrus, strawberries, beetroot, broccoli, broad beans, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, garlic, leeks, parsnips, spinach, celery and fast-maturing Asian veg like tatsoi, pak choi and mitsuba.
Plants for beauty: Ornamental shrubs, liliums, agapanthus, iris, jonquils, alyssum, dianthus, pansies, primulas, salvias, poppies, sweet peas and stock.

Cold climates:
Plants to eat: Garlic, strawberry runners, broad beans, spinach, onions, seedlings of broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, mizuna, pak choi and mitsuba.
Plants for beauty: Daffodils, jonquils, tulips, anemones, hyacinths, freesias, ranunculi, seedlings of Iceland poppy, primulas, pansies, polyanthus and sweet peas.

Jobs for March
. Plant potted fruit and other trees now while it’s still warm but not blisteringly hot.
. Plant LOTS of parsley and silverbeet now so you can pick home-grown greens all winter.
. Snip off dead roses and other flowers to keep plants blooming longer.
. Tip out the ‘concrete’ in your pots and hanging baskets, and repot your plants with fresh potting mix, mixed with water-retaining crystals and slow-release plant food
. Give the lawn a good soaking then mow a week later, to help thicken it up for winter.
. Hunt out autumn- and winter-blooming, easy care salvias at the nursery.

A Few Recipes

Thick Simple Tomato Soup
8 kg tomatoes, very fresh and not refrigerated (chilling a tomato spoils the flavour)
1 pk frozen onions or 8 red onions chopped (freezing dos not affect onions’ flavor much, only their texture, which doesn’t matter here)
4 litres chicken stock
6 carrots peeled
1 bunch parsley
1 bulb garlic, peeled (yes – bulb, not clove)
Boil till soft. Blend. Add freshly chopped basil and serve hot or cold.

Best Tomato Salad
Serves 1 greedy person.
8 of the best tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp French mustard
½ tsp salt
1 hunk very good bread.
Mix dressing. Add to tomatoes. Leave for half an hour. Place the bread on a plate. Cover with tomato and dressing. Let the bread soak up the juices. Eat slowly, with great joy. Sunlight on a plate.

Cheese and Tomato Toasted Sandwich with a Difference
Serves 2
4 slices thick good bread – not pre-sliced
4 slices of your favorite cheese, cut thick
Many cherry tomatoes, with a cross cut with a sharp knife in the top of each one
1 tbsp chopped chives
fresh black pepper

Top the bread with cheese. Scatter on the chives. Cram on as many tomatoes as will fit, sliced side upwards.
Place at the top of the oven on the highest setting for about 10 minutes, till the tomatoes blacken at the edges
Remove. Grate on pepper. Eat hot. The cheese will be runny, the tomatoes’ juices have leaked into the bread… and the whole lot will be divine.