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I grew up in a rustic mudbrick house, built by hand by my mum and dad. It was very, very rustic, built on a 13 acre sheep paddock, halfway up a grassy hill. We only had solar power and we weren't connected to the grid at all. We had two large rainwater tanks, and all our water came from the sky: our drinking, washing and gardening water. This idyllic hippie lifestyle was frustrating at times for my younger brother and I. We had to ration water during times of drought, and there was limited electricity through winter.

But despite its shortcomings, I wouldn't have had it any other way. While the house was never perfect, it was always a part of the family. The house was built by my parents, and they were helped by family and friends. The mudbricks were mixed and baked, the stones in the lounge room floor were set by hand, the decking was built by dad. In the lounge room above the front door, my mum sculpted a sun out of mud and its serene face still watches over the house. There are long stained glass windows at either end of the house, which the sun lights up in the morning and evening. These windows were made by my grandpa. On the western side of the house high up near the ceiling, there are six beer bottles with green and brown glass, arranged inside the wall in a flower shape. As the sun sets every evening, these bottles glow, and it's another way this house beats its heart.

It took all this love to create the place, and memories keep filling it up. Dad helping Luke and I build the cubby house, balmy summer evenings picking strawberries in the vegie patch, lambs bleating in spring, that Christmas that was so hot that the meat was ruined when Mum took it outside, and all 'everydays' where nothing out of the ordinary happened. But aren't those the best of all? Like watching ABC TV after school with Luke, drinking Milo made by mum, and ignoring the noisy cicadas outside.

And all these events, memories treasured, and moments now forgotten have settled here, breathing even more life into it. My family has given this place a soul.