Vintage Home and Farm

We've had the pleasure of taking care of our friends' donkey while they are away.  He is the most gentle animal and he is also quite happily spoiled.  Our friends refer to him as their "pasture pet" because they fuss over him much like anyone would one of their pets at home.  He has many toys and is given special foods and vitamins for his health. Patch is an American Spotted Ass. I will admit I feel rather uncomfortable calling this sweet animal an ass.  So, you can imagine my relief to learn that Patch is also a donkey.  This tidbit came from a book I'm reading,  The Donkey Companion: Selecting, Training, Breeding, Enjoying and Caring for Donkeys .  At the beginning of the book, it explains that the terms donkey and ass mean exactly the same thing; people transitioned away from the term ass due to it's similarity to the British word "arse".  Patch is no arse.  So, we will gladly refer to him as a donkey. My daughter and I both go over to

When autumn leaves begin to fall off the trees and temperatures drop, it's fall baking time.  This is the season when I long for a slice of homemade, old-fashioned pumpkin pie.  Store-bought pie just won't do.  The wonderful fragrance of an old fashioned pumpkin pie baking in the oven makes our house feel like home. After putting the pie into the oven, I enjoy sitting in my favorite overstuffed chair, reading and listening to music while the pie bakes.  Baking makes a house feel warm and comforting.  And home-baked treats are much healthier than store-bought versions.  With a few simple, wholesome ingredients, you can easily make this pie for sharing with family or friends. This recipe for old fashioned pumpkin pie is a quick and easy autumn dessert that will fill your home with warmth.  The goodness of whole wheat flour in the crust makes this old fashioned pumpkin pie healthier than others, and wheat adds a crispness and crumb to the crust that you won't get w

Oh, the horror! Panic and terror caught hold of me this morning when I went down into the cellar.  I was innocently planning to make whole wheat pancakes for breakfast.  The recipe called for applesauce, and so I went down into the cellar to get a jar of our wonderful homemade applesauce.  As soon as I turned on the cellar light, I knew something was amiss.  There at the bottom of the stairs I could see a litter of something all over the floor where usually it's swept clean.  A terrible creature ate a hole one of the Blue Ballet Hubbard Squash.  But the horror didn't end there.  Whatever the creature was, it left a trail of Hubbard innards.  The seeds and other entrails had been drug along the top shelf where the sad, hole-drilled Hubbard sat, down two more shelves and onto the floor.  More seeds littered the top of many of my pretty jars of home canned goods. What could have gotten to it?  The creature bore a large hole into the side of the squash. I was mortified, even

The other day I had the pleasure of a leisurely drive along Highway 101 with a friend. We were headed out west to Forks, where we participated in a beginners' cedar bark basket weaving class taught by Quileute Tribal Elder Phillip Ward.  When we signed up for the class, I was imagining a very large basket woven by my clumsy hands, and came prepared with several big plastic bags to carry our baskets home in (it does rain a lot in Forks and I didn't want our newly-made baskets to get wet).  I was a bit wet behind the ears myself, as it turns out these were tiny baskets that we made. They were so small that we could tuck them into our pockets or purses.  I was enlightened as I discovered how difficult baskets truly are to weave and I have new respect for the craftsmanship and art of basket weaving.  These little baskets took a lot of concentration and just under three hours to weave.  As we headed home, our little baskets looked quite lovely sitting on the dashboard of the ca

The leaves are turning yellow and orange and there is a chill in the air that lets us know autumn has arrived.  It's time to put away the flip flops and summer clothes and bring out warm sweaters.  We even had to put heated blankets on the beds to take the chill off at bedtime. With the arrival of October, we've also decorated the house to celebrate autumn. At first we put all our autumn decorations in the living room.  It was a bit overwhelming, and so this morning I began removing items until the room had a more coordinated look, settling on one main color scheme of orange and white. Since the dining room is adjacent to the living room, it also needs to flow with the same color scheme. I love this funny cat with the long tail.  He works well as a door stop. In the kitchen, I placed a couple of Halloween kitties that went well with the purple bowl my mother-in-law Clare gave me, which I've been using for fresh fruit.  As you can see, it&#