CELEBRATED Cooranbong bush poet Carol Heuchan admits she does occasionally wonder if it's time to hang up her pen.
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"Sometimes I think it might be time to retire, but then I get swamped [with work] which is really nice," Heuchan said.
Don't think for a minute that the two-time Australian bush poet champion is winding down.
If you haven't seen her performing locally for a while it's because she's too busy doing gigs interstate or overseas.
"Last week I performed at the dinner for Golf Australia's Outback Masters, in Longreach," Heuchan said.
"They were paying $1 million for a hole-in-one, would you believe? Around here, you get a chook!"
This week, she's off to Brisbane to perform and judge poetry. On September 10 she'll be at the Perth Royal Show to judge horse events (she's also an international horse judge and equestrian aficionado).
She'll then add the finishing touches to her new double-album, Both Sides of Carol Heuchan, a mix of American cowboy and Australian bush poetry.
That CD will be released in time for Christmas.
But it's a return visit to the USA, in January, that Heuchan is particularly excited about.
"For the last 15 years now I've been going regularly to the US where I've been invited to perform at various cowboy poetry and music gatherings, mainly in the west, and I love it," she said.
The big one is the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, in Elko, Nevada.
She also worked an entire summer, four nights a week, hosting a show telling the story of the American wild west, mostly for American audiences, in Durango, Colorado.
When she returns to Australia in the New Year there are back-to-back gigs in Orange, Murrurundi, Gloucester, and Merriwa - to name a few - plus a smattering of charity and private shows.
So, does the travelling ever get too much?
"I'll do anything to get out of doing housework," she said.
"It's a wonderful life. I'll never be rich, but I love what I'm doing."