Here’s that delicious bread recipe from Mother Effie at the Holy Nativity Convent (where the beeswax candles came from). MUSICA.
I nibble on it every day. Lowely, my girlfriend who lives one door over, tried the recipe and gave me another loaf! Precious cargo! It came out perfectly!
You can see all the seeds in the bread. The thinnest slice holds together in your toaster and is the crunchiest of the crunchy.
So here we go . . . you can copy and paste the recipe, then print it out. Makes two delicious seedy, oaty, almondy loaves.
- 1½ c. bulgur
- 1 3/8 c. boiling water/1¾ c. water
- 3 c. whole wheat flour/¾ c. whole wheat flour
- ½ c. vital wheat gluten
- ½ c. white flour
- 2¼ tsp. active dry yeast
- 3 Tbsp. oil
- 1 Tbsp. honey
- 2 tsp. salt
- ¼ c. millet
- 1/8 c. flax seeds
- ¼ c. sunflower seeds
- 1/8 c. oats
- 3 Tbsp. almond meal
1.) Pour 1 3/8 c. boiling water over bulgur, flax seeds, millet & oats. Set aside to cool.
2.) Combine 3 c. whole wheat flour, gluten and yeast in mixer bowl.
3.) Heat 1¾ c. water, honey, oil and salt to about 125°F.
4.) Slowly pour heated water mix into flour mix in mixer bowl while mixing. Beat for 2 minutes; cover and let sit for 30 min.
5.) Combine white flour, ¾ c. whole wheat flour, sunflower seeds & almond meal in a separate bowl.
6.) After yeast mix has set for 30 min; add the step 5 flour mix and the step 1 bulgur mix alternatively to the yeast mix. Knead for ten minutes. Dough should be a little tacky.
7.) Place in a greased bowl; cover and let rise until doubled.
8.) Preheat oven to 350° ~ punch down dough and divide in two; cover and let rest 10 min. Form 2 loaves, place each in a greased bread pan; cover them and let them rise until doubled.
9.) Put the pans in the preheated oven. Check the bread for doneness at 40 min. Turn a loaf out into your hand (cover your hand with a potholder) ~ tap the bottom of the bread ~ if it sounds hollow, it’s done, if not, put it back into the pan and into the oven for another five minutes. And that’s it!
This, my friends, is my Kitchen Soap. I think it’s kind of wonderful. 
I’ve had this ridged wooden soap “dish” for many years, since I first moved to the island. I love it because it’s simple and it works. I wouldn’t have another kind, even after all these years. The soap, sitting on the ridges, dries easily, doesn’t get mungy, and lasts forever. And the “dish” doesn’t break if it falls into the sink. I always look for the perfect soap for it, sometimes I get lucky and find bars that fit the way I like them too ~ but recently I got VERY lucky ~ I found someone who would make the perfect soap just for me (and by extension, for you :-)). And here it is:
Wrapped in waxed paper and our own band. It’s Organic Olive Oil, Raw Goat’s Milk and Lavender; smooth, silky, fresh, lightly-scented soap with no little petals in it to rub your skin the wrong way . . .
I also found the wooden soap holder for it. Cute for a housewarming gift, or for holiday, or as a stocking stuffer, or for everyday. So here you go, hope you like it as much as I do! We’ll carry the soap by itself too. I told you, it’s the little things, and I meant it. Reeeely little!
I’m clapping my hands because I got a big job of handwashing done this weekend. This doesn’t look like a lobster, despite the lobster pot, it’s actually the lace canopy that goes over our four-poster bed.
Being up there, all laid out like it is, makes it a really good dust catcher . . . I wash it every year just before winter, so it’s clean and nice while the house has to be closed up. But it’s a two person job getting it down and back up. Three if you count Jack. Joe and I take it off (carefully) and shake it outside first. Then I fill the pot with warm water, add laundry soap and a little gentle bleach ~ and slosh it back and forth squeezing and squeezing until a year’s worth of dirt and dust comes out.
We had a gorgeous weekend, about 62º, clear, crisp and breezy, the perfect kind of weekend to get stuff done and watch the leaves beginning to fall. We spread the dripping wet lace on the lawn to dry . . . it’s much too heavy to put on the line quite yet.
We let the sun do its job and after a while, when the canopy is partially dry and much lighter, I hang it on the line to finish drying.
Noticing how pretty and colorful the leaves are under the clothesline.
Then back up the stairs we go, trying not to tangle ourselves in it. And there she is, for another year, clean, dust-free and smelling good.
Speaking of smelling good, here’s our little helper. He thinks canopy-replacing means playtime! (He thinks everything means playtime, this is the playingest cat in the world.) Isn’t he adorable????
Couldn’t you just smoosh his little velvet nose?
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
So this is what else we did . . . we got a cord of wood ~ Joe stacked it and I brought him coffee . . .
We are a team.
He drained the hoses too. Our yard slopes slightly downhill, just enough to empty the hoses. You have to do this in snow country, let your hoses dry in the sun, otherwise, if there’s water in them, they freeze and split. This is your normal winter chore. We never did this in California! Add it to the list!
I decorated my stove shelf (with the last two tomatoes from our garden ~ two of our bigger ones I might add, and too cute to eat), and did a bunch of other stuff too, but I’ll save it for next time, because I have another rather wonderful something to show you (just waiting for it to show up before I do). ♥
Right now I want to ask a big favor of our UK Girlfriends . . . I hope you don’t mind, this is something only a Brit can do. It’s Amazon UK ~ it doesn’t seem to know my calendar exists. We worked hard to get it in Amazon UK because shipping is so ridiculous from the states (and even IN the states), we thought it would help. But I really don’t think anyone knows it’s there. The thing that would be a huge help is if a couple of our UK Girlfriends could do a review of the calendar? If it’s not too much trouble, it would be a big help and I’d be forever grateful to you. Just click HERE and it will take you to the right spot. (P.S. It’s even worse for AUTUMN ♥)
AND for your reward?
I was sweeping the kitchen porch and putting out the pumpkins and saw this. It says “hope” to me the same way as the little engine that could.
Look at it, all brave and daring. It knows winter is coming and it doesn’t even care, because even a month in this changing season, hearing the wind in the trees, feeling the breeze run between her leaves, and the color! And smells of woodsmoke and mulch! Even a month in this beautiful world is worth it. Look at the moon she’s about to get! Hooray for you, little thing. I crown thee Penelope. I always wanted to crown something.
This is as close as I think I will get.
Bye Girls, see you soon! XOXO Happy happy Autumn to you all! Don’t forget the whipped cream!
Thank you for always brightening my day. I do appreciate it as things have been very, very dark lately.
I’m so sorry Susan, sending prayers to you. xoxo
I hope you turn a corner and all will be well for you very soon.
adding my prayers to the chain…………
Lots of Girlfriend love coming to you Susan. Hope some hours are bearable today, tomorrow, next day XX
Hopefully the sun will shine for you again soon! I will keep you in my prayers.
Thank you all so very much. xoxo
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ This too shall pass.
I add my earnest prayer for you. You, Susan Joy, had a divine appointment with this blog today. Watch and see! Sending blessings.
Susan, add me to the chain of girlfriends. Walk toward the light and a brighter day. Every day is a new day. You’re stronger than you think you are. I send a huge hug to you, I wish you could feel the warmth of it! Sending good vibes and bright, strong colors to you!!!
I do feel it Cyndi . . . Thank you!
add me to the prayer chain, sending lots of warm hugs and rainbows your way. I hope each day gets better than the last. ((( HUGS ))) 🙂
Susan Joy, I love your name. When things grow dark, remember your name and, as Tasha Tudor would say, “take joy.” Praying that everything will turn for the better and the darkness will lift. xx
Thank you Mother Effie and Susan for sharing! I am going to try this…fingers crossed!! xxxxxooooo
Let us know how it goes!
1 3/8 c. boiling water/1¾ c. water
3 c. whole wheat flour/¾ c. whole wheat flour
????
Can you please clarify…the amounts on the left? What do the amounts on the right mean?
It gets explained lower down in the recipe.
I would love to try this recipe…..I’ve never really made homemade bread before except in the bread maker which I sold in a garage sale last year. This bread looks AMAZING!!! I must try it….. Is Vital Wheat Gluten in the baking aisle in the grocery store?? Sorry for my ignorance!!
Thanks for an awesome post………I LOVE AUTUMN!!
I’m not sure where it might be for you, but go to Bob’s Red Mill (online) if you can’t find it — they have it.
I have been making a daily loaf of bread with the “no knead” method. If you have not tried this, you must. Just google no knead bread and read what pops up.
These loaves from Mother Effie look quite tasty… I may just have to try this!
One to eat, and one to share, what a wonderful recipe.
I’ve made that bread, its really wonderful too. I don’t think I’ve had homemade bread I didn’t like.
Oh…I thinks I see.
Sorry.
Ooops, good, glad you found it.
Been waiting ever so patiently {in all that wind and rain we had} for the bread recipe ~ Yay! and Thank you 🙂 Can’t wait to bake some, but ~~~
~~~someone is going to have to help me out ~ for I do not know what Wheat Gluten is! I have Googled and it looks awful, like weird canned duck fat, so I don’t think I found the right ingredient, did I? Little help, please, anyone, as I’d really like to know what I can substitute with 🙂
Hahaha! ‘course I’ll go review my calendar but first I have to open it! I’ve been trying not to peek until Dec 31st, but now I will ~~~ I did already review my Pocket Calendar, which I was thrilled to be able to get and love to bits and it is already taken up residence in my handbag!
~~~waving~~~ from Across The Pond ~~~ Debs in Wales xoxo
Don’t forget to call it vital wheat gluten . . . You can get it on line HERE, but there has to be a place a little closer to home for you. Waving back Debs!
Phew! what a relief! Thank you, Susan ~ the word ‘vital’ is vital! I had never heard of it, but it has just opened up a whole new world and, yes, I have now found the correct ingredient available here in the UK ~~~ just got to order me some and I shall be baking too!
~~~waving~~~ 🙂
I can just picture you with your bread baking in that wild wonderful weather in Wales!
You said “mungy”!! That is soooo hilarious!! I thought my husband invented that word!!
My dear mother just passed away on Sept. 21 after being in my home on home Hospice for 2 weeks. I inherited a beautiful crocheted bedspread from her and it has yellowed. Would your method of washing your canopy be good for this, do you think? Do you use regular bleach?
Lots of love from Mary S. in Fresno, CA
P.S. Don’t forget to read SONG OF YEARS!! 🙂
First off Mary, I am so sorry to hear about your mom. Irreplaceable loss. I’m glad you had her with you in the end. Sending love. I think the canopy method would work great. If it’s old and 100% cotton like most old ones are, you can use normal liquid bleach. Unless you have a giant outside tub, I would fill the bathtub with warm water, laundry soap and maybe a half cup of bleach and let it soak. It’s a sloppy mess to do, you’ll need a way to get it out of the tub to the lawn without the dripping, but I’m sure you can do it! I have read that book! It’s next to my bed!
Thank you so much for the love and condolences! And thank you for the advice!! I will do it!
You read SONG OF YEARS??? Yay!!! What did you think of it?
Ooops! That should say “I have to read that book!” I have to! I will!
How long would you soak something like that in the bleach mixture? I wouldn’t want to destroy something valuable. I ask because my mother soaked some dishcloths one time and all that came out of the bucket was the outside edge of the dishcloths (LOL). I thought maybe she had soaked them too long.
I let things soak for a while. I think your mom may have used too much bleach. Many people prefer Biz or Oxi-clean for their quilts and vintage linen pieces. I’ve always had good results with bleach (I never use bleach on quilts), but I know others disagree. I just like napkins and tablecloths really white and bleach does that for me. If there is ANY question, especially with a non-replaceable family piece of vintage linen, don’t use the bleach.
LOL LOL Oh, Susan! You are so funny! Ok, let me know what you think of it after you read it!! <3
Of course Amazon know about your 2015 Calendar!! I did a straightforward search on the Amazon uk website at the beginning of September, found the Calendar, and received it within a few days!! I just love it, and was determined that I would buy one of your calendars for next year as I haven’t been able to find them in the uk in the past. It is wonderful, and I can’t wait to write in all those Birthdays, etc., and use it every day. I will write a review for you.
Jan P
Thank you Jan ♥ That’s wonderful to hear!
I love the nuns are in the fray and can’t wait to try the bread…..and did I miss something, “don’t forget the whipped cream.” Silly me, I need an explanation.
It means, feed yourself from the well of sweetness. Put the cherry on top (if you like them) and don’t forget the chocolate cake! xoxo Kathy!
Wow, I am so happy I asked. I will be sure to never forget the whipped cream & of course there will be a cherry with the chocolate cake 🙂 Thanks so much.
I truly think, knowing you as I do, that you already do all that! 🙂 You may even BE the cherry on the cake!
Hello Susan… thank you so much for the bread recipe, it sounds and looks delish!… wish I had a neighbor like Lowely to bake some and bring it to me!!!… love your Autumn wreath and garland, and it’s so good to see Jack is helping you and Joe with everything… we have to drain all of our garden hoses here too as our winters get sooo cold!… love that soap and wooden holder… I still do NOT like pump soaps, I use hand soap always!… your stove is one of my very favorite spots in your house, and you always decorate it so cute!… love the vintage Halloween postcard… is that from Joe’s collection?… that looks like a teensie pumpkin plant coming up, is it?… I love it when you put the little pumpkins on the ledge above your door… aren’t you going to California soon?… hope you are back home in MV for Halloween!… oh, my I Love Autumn bead arrived today! (so quickly!)… and I LOVE My I LOVE Autumn bead!… (that’s a whole lotta love!)… Happy Autumn to you too!… xoxoxo… Julie Marie
Cudos to neighbors like Lowely. I think if you want one, you have to be one! I owe her big time for a whole entire loaf of bread! Leaving for California on the 30th — friends are staying here, so we are getting the house ready for them to have a very exciting Halloween! Happy Autumn to you too Julie Marie!
You are soooo lucky, for I was one of the unfortunate ones to hear they were sold out!! I was sad…but was told a chance more can be ordered. Fingers crossed! So. enjoy your purchase & wear it in good health!!
Hi Susan… lovely to hear from you today. As always, your post tickled my heart ~ oh how I <3 finding new posts from you on my laptop screen 🙂 I am looking forward to trying the bread recipe at home. Many thanks to you for lovingly sharing it with us all. Have a beautiful and blessed Monday! xoxo, Cin
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." ~ John Muir
B E A U T Y ~ that should be the quest. It’s so easy to make.
Cindy’s quote by John Muir was tugging on the old heartstrings today. My grandfather “baked beauty” in the bakery right beside the John Muir house on the High Street in Dunbar, Scotland. As a matter of fact, I think it used to be called Smith’s Bakery. He made all kinds of fancy baked goods. Beauty is so easy to make isn’t it?
It really doesn’t take very much.
Hi Susan. Thank you for the bread recipie. I will make it this weekend! It’s very cool and breezy here. My yard is covered with a beautiful golden carpet of needles from the very large white pine in the back. I love that golden color. It makes the yard glow. One of these days I am going to make a fall quilt in that color, along with a lovely shade of blue like the autumn sky. I think I will title it “Bittersweet and Flow Blue.” It has been burning in my imagination for the last couple of years now. I almost drove off of the road today…craning my head this way and that scanning the roadside for bittersweet! Hahahahaha! when ever I find and pick some I feel like I have found treasure. It’s the little things for sure! I think I’ll turn my heat on tonight! Stay warm and thanks again. Mary B, in up-state NY.
We are having a major crop of bittersweet this year. Usually I only find it in my “secret” bittersweet stash place, but yesterday it was all along the road, everywhere, the berries are yellow right now. Our holly trees also have more berries than usual. One of those nature things . . . xoxo
I wonder if that means we’re going to have a hard winter. Our weather channel is calling for the T-Rex of all winters for some parts this year (according to the Farmer’s Almanac). I’ve heard that that is God’s way of taking care of the birds if it is going to be a harsh winter.
Could be, makes sense!
I like that title, “Bittersweet and Flow Blue”…
Hello Susan
Oh happy day! Another post with lovely autumn delights. It’s another very hot day here in California, so I’m especially enjoying all of your wonderful views of autumn.
Thank you,
Toni
Please cool off soon, we’re on our way out there in about two weeks, I don’t know how to dress in heat waves! Thank you back Toni!
Susan, you make me so HAPPY! You make me smell the bread just out of the oven, the canopy fresh from the sweet Autumn air. I see Jack jumping up trying to catch the lacy canopy. You manage to make a task seem like fun. You make each day seem like an adventure. Thank you for your uplifting blogs. I do so many things home making that you do which makes me feel a kinship with you even though we have never met. Please keep blogging forever.
Maybe the task itself isn’t that fun, but checking it off my list is a blast! I’ll try on the blogging forever part. Something tells me I will stop everything by the end, and only do blogging!
I am like you are about lists! I wish you would show us how to organize a day to actually accomplish things. I make lists but get side-tracked or procrastinate and don’t accomplish what I had hoped for. As a result, my lists carry over day after day and the result is insurmountable. HELP!
I have to trick myself. Here’s one way: Pick something you don’t want to do and say, I’m going to work on this for one hour. Only one hour. Getting started is half the battle — if you see this giant chore in front of you, it can be daunting, but anyone can do anything for one hour.
Thanks, so much! I have been chipping away by doing the numerous, easier tasks first just so my list looks more complete and the dreaded chores get pushed along to later. Obviously, this hasn’t worked for me!
Seriously, trick yourself. It can be done. 🙂
Great advise!!!
I meant “advice”.
Amen ! oxox
Catching up with you and your amazing photos and blog. I am reading a book I think you especially would enjoy…..The Bookman’s Tale….by Charles Lovett. He is an antique book dealer in present time, but book goes back and forth into fifth tenth and sixteenth centuries. I have learned about the lives of Shakespeare, Thomas More, other writers and playwrights of that time. The debate on whether Shakespeare actually wrote his own plays is explained and their is a mystery investigated, papers and writings by Elizabeth Barrett Browning are mentioned….well, you get the idea. Not usually what I would pick up to read but it is interesting. Mostly set in England….author takes us to the British Museum and other well known locales. Your love of All things Rnglish came to mind…so thought I would recommend the book to you. And I love the movie Random Harvest! Still having heat waves in southern CALIFORNIA, please send cool temps and rain ASAP. Love autumn….???
Sending breezes! That book sounds wonderful, thank you Fabienne!
Let us jump into the Pacific Ocean and cool off! 🙂
Susan! Wow! I’ve read 2 and posted twice in one day! THis is indeed a BIG treat! I simply must try that bread recipe 🙂 It looks so good… just like an english muffin of another shape and color. LOL!!!
Reading your post reminds me of a line in the harvest hymn… “All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin”
You are indeed getting ready as you prepare to head Westward in your modern covered wagon 🙂 with all of your “pots and pans” (giggle, giggle)
Much love dear one!
Georgie from NJ
P.S. I missed out on the Autumn glass bead 🙁 I will keep watching for the next shipment
I love your harvest hymn Georgie! Yes, like squirrels, we are gathering in!
Your soap dish has a wonderful history! I just love bars of soap; it says “clean and fragrant” like nothing else, and yours smells good just looking at it! I would guess that Girl and Jack thought your canopy a marvelous gift just for them. I force my daughter’s cat to let me kiss her little nose, and tell her she must submit to love 🙂 Thank you for the bread recipe — it looks sensational!
“Submit to love” Ha ha ha, that’s the way cookie must crumble dear kitties!
I always love your posts…you inspire me more than you could ever know. A heartfelt thanks for that!!! 🙂
You are so welcome, thank YOU!
Lovely, home filled post!
We have friends who make soap and it is so wonderful. Yours looks wonderful and that holder is so great.
Enjoy your Autumn days, Susan!
Hi Susan
That has got to be the yummiest bread I have ever seen!!! I will try making it. I Have never made bread with bulgur in it though, not sure on that but I will try. Love the soap and soap dish
Oh my Susan, your lace canopy, its so so dreamy, you are very lucky to sleep under that every night
happy Autumn to you too Susan
love when you do a new blog post
deezie
Trust me, it’s great! 🙂 xoxo to you Deezie.
This bread looks like a “must try”! Celebrating fall along with you as I change out my decorations and do those things that get the house ready to be closed in for a while. Happy fall to you, and I hope you’re enjoying all of those “little things” that truly are the big things! Thanks for another cheery post that added a blessing to my day.
Thank you back Sandy!
Yes, thank you Susan for all the inspiration. Finally, I am in the mood to decorate the house for Fall, bake something yummy (the bread when I find all the ingredients) and to go antiquing for Fall touches!!
Thanks for the recipe, Susan. It looks and sounds delicious and healthy. My mom who passed away 4 years ago this October would point out all the little delights in nature as you do. She admired the littlest thing growing out of cracks and crevices and would say that they are doing their duty. So I have always done the same. It is wonderful for me to have someone else on earth who sees how precious even the littlest life peeking out can be. Well, going to check my mail. I’m hoping the Christmas bead has been delivered! 🙂
Your mom sounds like a kindred spirit. xoxo
Chuckling over “we are a team” and “I crown thee Penelope” – so cheerful & fun!
🙂
Hi Susan ~ Thanks for your thoughts on what a great world it is to spend even one month in! That did my heart good. Do you mind if I ask a couple of questions? (“No, Diane, fire away!” you say?) OK! 1. Is “vital wheat gluten” easy or hard to find? and 2. Why/when does the house have to be closed up? oh yeah, and 3. Are there any apple orchards on the vineyard? We went apple picking on that perfect day yesterday, and it really MADE my fall – also am going to make your apple soup recipe. xo
P.S. I really adore the small black & white old photo and also those sweet owl knickknacks.
Lots of stores carry Bobs Red Mill products . . . but you can get it from them on line too. They carry all the things you need for that bread. The house has to be closed up because pretty soon it will be freezing cold outside, there will be snow, and the windows pretty much stay closed all season! We put on special double windows for winter too. Trying to keep the house warm without going broke on heating bills. 🙂 No apple orchards here, I don’t know why, you’d think the island would be perfect for that. Mmmm, apple soup! Thank you Diane . . . that photo is me and my brother Jim doing dishes in what was unfortunately known in our house as the “throw-up” pan.
You know, Susan, reading all the letters and your replies is like the Blog Bonus! “Throw-up pan”–what a hoot! Didn’t we all have one? Ours was a white granite ware basin with a red stripe around the lip, and I have no idea what happened to it. It was pretty chipped, and knowing Mother, when us kids were long gone, she probably fed the kitties in it. Thanks for jogging my memory. Must get to the antique stores (we have lots in Amish country) to find one and hang it on the kitchen wall. Well, maybe the kitchen wall isn’t such a good idea… heh-heh… I’m not that bad of a cook!! Bathroom sounds much better, don’t you think? I could feed the kitties in it, but they’d probably take to sleeping in it. Oh, well, I’ll find some use for it and keep you posted.
Sara
One of my sisters has ours! It became slightly beloved 🙂
ROTFL – We had a “throw-up pan”, also!!! How funny!
Love that canopy! And now it’s fresh again. :-). Nice job! The bread looks so good. Even though I have to be careful of carbs, maybe I’ll try to make it and hope my hubby eats most of it. Ha. Thanks for adding yet another lovely thing or two to your store! The soap and dish will be on my list! Merry Autumn!
I have to be careful too, but somehow this doesn’t feel like carbs! Ha ha ha , how she doth fool herself! BUT, you can have the skinniest of slices and be filled up! This I know is true. Freeze half. xoxo
cannot wait to try the bread recipe……our Thanksgiving is this coming weekend…will be a perfect addition to the table………..
thanks so very much for sharing!
Happy Thanksgiving Diana!
Thank you dear Susan! We are so very blessed in so very many ways……
Hi Susan
I was really pleased when I found your calendars, the large one and the gorgeous little one on Amazon UK. I ordered two large, one for home and one for my mum for Christmas and a small one for my desk at work. I’ve left a review on Amazon UK, I really hope it helps as, you are quite right, it’s great to be able to order and know that the postage is going to be affordable. I’m also just reading your Autumn book, so beautiful. It’s my favourite time of year and you capture it perfectly. Thankyou. x
PS. I absolutely adore your cooker (stove). x
I absolutely love how you call it a cooker! It’s really a much better name! And thank you dear, for the nice review and for everything, including this comment. xoxo
My dear Susan, first and foremost, I loved the musica! (Tom was just a humming and singing along too!) We both love the big bands! Oh, that bread looks so..so yummy! I shall keep that recipe and see if I can talk someone into making us a loaf of it! /:>) You sure are busy getting ready for the upcoming winter! Boy that Joe, chopping all that wood. But thank goodness he has you bringing him that coffee! Tom has to drain our hoses also…soon! lol Sure wish we had Jack here. What fun it would be to have him to play with!
“Hope”…isn’t that just amazing?? How do they find their way to the light? Like us…we all love the brighter side of life don’t we?? Blessings…
We do! I don’t know if I’ve ever said it — Please say hello to Tom for me!
Thank you..I will let him know!
Susan, I loved the way you dried the canopy. So clever. I adore that cat. The little sprig growing in the crack of the rail is amazing. Blessings, xoxo,Susie
I think I can smell that wonderful soap!
I always wondered how those beautiful canopies got themselves clean….now I know! Going to try the bread some frosty day, and it won’t be long now in KC! You have such GREAT helpers!!
Would be nothing without them! Happy fall Linda!
Hi Sue … the bread looks scrumdeliumscious!!! Your bed canopy is beautiful and your little tomatoes are adorable (as is Jack.) Wickford is looking rather Fallish here. I took a picture out my window this morning. Fall makes me SO happy!!! I bet that little sprout is from a sunflower seed. Maybe one of your little birds dropped it and it nestled right in there and made itself to home 🙂 Penelope is a perfect name for it. She will be strong and prosper (I hope…before the first frost) I LOVE the soap. I have a bar like that in my bathroom and my granddaughter, Maggie, wanted to know if it was soap for a giant. We will make up a story about this I am sure. She and my other granddaughter, Molly, have a black cat named Henry, and Molly has a doll named “baby” whom she hates to leave on her way to nursery school so…as we drive there I make up stories about after we leave the house and Henry as he is running to get baby perched on his back and the two of them getting into all kinds of mischief…cooking up pancakes and bacon…painting pictures and watching TV…jumping on the beds and such! They LOVE it. Kitties are the best NO??? Squinches to Jack and girl…and YOU!! Kerrie
I wish I could ride in the car with YOU Kerrie! 🙂
Oh, Kerrie, you simply must record your stories for your grands and all those future relatives. You can even video your storytelling using your computer, which my grandkids love. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something so comforting about a loved-one telling or reading a story. Grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles are endeared to future generations by simply taking the time to ‘tell it one more time’! (And it makes a wonderful Christmas gift!)
🙂 Sara 🙂
Sara, I am planning on making them into a book and illustrating them as well. It’s so funny how excited they get to hear one more story!! It makes getting ready for school a wee bit easier too because they don’t want to dilly dally. Grandchildren are the best, no???
That last part about the little sprout made my eyes tear up. Something about it giving it’s all, if only for a month. So sweet. Thank you for noticing these things!
Ahhh Nature. So much to teach us. xoxo
I love all the homey things you tell us about! I have a question , and I just know you’ll know the answer: when is the best time to collect shells at the beach? Would it be when the high tide comes in, or as the tide is going back out?
In my experience, it doesn’t matter . . . I guess when the tide is going out, because there’s more beach then, but that’s just a guess.
Jack is always sooo darn cute! What a SweetiePie.
The bunny on your post???? Want! Want! Want! Is this something you can offer in your shop? When my guy has finished my kitchen garden (he’s repainting and moving it) I Hope to buy your sweet frog for the garden. Hoping maybe the bunny is an option too? Love surfing and finding you’ve posted something new! Thank you!
Oh I’m so sorry, I found that bunny so many years ago, I’m not even sure where. Watch nurseries and gift shops, maybe you’ll find one!
I have a bunny like that, mine has a candle holder on the front of the leaf. I bought it at One World Goods, which is a shop that sells imported goods that support struggling people in emerging economies. We like to light a candle on cold dark evenings and wonder about why the little rabbit is out rowing on a leaf at night -crossing the river to see its true love, perhaps, or maybe just setting out before dawn for market day.
I have that little rabbit, but mine has a candle holder on the front of the leaf. When we light it on a cold dark evening, my family likes to speculate on where the rabbit is rowing to – maybe a midnight visit to his True Love on the other side of the river, maybe just to arrive before dawn at the market town downstream.
I bought my rabbit at One World Goods, which is a Fair Trade Store that sells wares from all over the world.
Love that he rows with his own candle to light the way!
Thank you, dear Susan! Laughed out loud when you talked about being a team with Joe by bringing him coffee! Today my husband, Bryan, and I celebrated our 35th anniversary! How time flies!! We are a “team”, too!! 🙂
Love you and your words, pictures, and all the goodies you find us here in your store!
Happy you are here Jackie!
Thank you for sharing the bread recipe, Susan. I’ll be sure to try it.
Seeing handsome Jack and reading about hope, I’ll mention that I had a foster cat move in with me a few weeks ago. I named her Hope, as an 11 year old bundle of black and white love could use a dose of it, and some luck, in finding someone to adopt her. I working around her as she purrs by my keyboard!
Perfect name!
As always, gorgeous photos, Susan!!!! And oh, my, my…..Mother Effie’s Bread!!!
Guess we know what many (most?) of us are doing tomorrow. I can just smell Mother Effie’s Bread baking all over the country….and in other countries!
Tell me how you like it JoAnn!
I have been enjoying your recent blogs and sharing them by forwarding them to my friends so that they can enjoy them too! I am going to try to make, Mother Effie’s Bread, if I can find all the ingredients, I will have to check out the local health food store. The bread looks wonderful and I love crunchy toast!
I just purchased the small 2015 calendar and the purse size too. Hard to believe in less than 3 months we will be looking at a new year! Happy Autumn to you too!!
Very hard to believe! Another place to look for ingredients is http://www.bobsredmill.com ~ they carry wonderful things.
beautiful canopy top….I had a great doily from the same material (thread) that was meant for a bread basket and of course it said BREAD,……very old so I tried to wash it…I see you used bleach….well, I must have used either too much or left it soaking to long…I went back a bit later to find just broken threads in the bathroom sink…the bleach just made it disappear…I was horrified…LOL
And your cat is adorable….We have taken in a Feral cat that looks just like yours only “we think” it’s a she…..the sweetest cat ever…and I am not a cat fan….
Sometimes cotton threads just get so old and rotten nothing saves them, bleach or no bleach. But don’tcha just hate it when that happens? 🙂 I didn’t used to be a cat fan either, til I got to know one of them. You are a brave soul, but I think you’re going to be happy.
Now did Lowely just happen to have the ingredients for this recipe? There are a couple things that I have no idea how I would find them!
She did a lovely job, trying it out for us!
Health food store! She went!
I just realized that I feed a lot of these seeds to my backyard birds. Do you suppose we will all develop sweet little chirps when we eat Mother Effie’s bread?
🙂 Sara 🙂
Could happen!
Dear Darling Susan,
Thank-you for the wonderful bread recipe from Mother Effie, I can’t wait to make it on a cold day. We haven’t turned the heat on yet, so I cook to keep the house warm ! I ordered a bunch of candles from the wonderful Nuns to give as Christmas presents. Serendipity is such a wonderful thing, there is so much of here on this amazing Blog ! I love preparing for winter, something about it is all snuggily to me. I have been putting my gardens to bed and raking, hanging the blankets out in this fine, cool, sunny air, and the sheets seem to smell extra good this time of year too. I love your little Penelope such a fitting name, maybe you could see if you can transplant her and bring her in for the winter, instead of letting her freeze. (Sorry sounds cruel.) Do you think she is a seed from a tree ? Or is she from your bird seed ? I put a grow light bulb in my light over my sink and put little plants on my window sill, herbs too and they do great ! I have them amongst my Beatrix Potter people too ! Have fun doing your things to get ready for your trip, on a train how exciting ! oxoxoxoxox
P.S. Smoosh Jack for me ! My son has a little tuxedo girl kitty Molly, she doesn’t like to be smooshed.
I bet it makes it even better, getting those candles, when you’ve met the nuns! I don’t think I could dig Penelope out of her little spot with any success, I’m afraid I’d lose the roots. It could be any sort of seed, I don’t know . . . the wind can do it ~ the bird feeders are a ways away, but things happen! Jack doesn’t adore being smooshed but I have to do it anyway. He usually puts up with it for at least five seconds.
Molly too, but then I have to let go of her real fast,she runs around like a crazy lady but always comes back for more.:)
Thank you for this and all of your welcome posts.
Would love to try the bread some time. It looks so tasty. I love crunchy toasted wholemeal bread.
I have ordered your new calendar through The Book Depository in England. I have been able to secure several copies of A Fine Romance too and postage is free. A great help for us here in Australia.
Happy Fall! Betty (Melbourne)
That’s good to hear Betty! Thank you for telling me! Love the free postage!
I love the Lavender Kitchen Soap on its wooden soap holder! Jack always makes me laugh, he has such personality! So nice to see your autumn rituals. I’ve just tidied all the plants on my balcony and planted tiny and colourful cyclamen plants to enjoy looking through my windows in the colder months. Last year, they bloomed the whole of the winter because we had such a mild one!
Sounds beautiful. We’ve brought in some impatience and a large hibiscus . . . we’ll see how long they last! We got the hibiscus to bloom inside last winter.
Mmm, I really think I can smell the bread, the soap, & the fresh clean canopy! Wonderful! Thank you! If your Branch Hall wood stacking team needs another member – I like coffee, especially in pretty cups! Here, 92 degree weather, but a few more tree tops turning into Autumn colors! It’ll be cooler soon, we have faith! Happy Autumn! xoxo
Stacking wood is one of the better things to do on a gorgeous fall day! Sending chilly breezes across the miles!
Susan,
I know I’m late to the party (as usual), but I just had to tell you that I went to update the wallpaper on my computer (it’s always a SB-seasonal-makes-me-smile-wallpaper), and I noticed the kitchen prints for sale…I’m SO excited to see the Count Your Blessings prints (and the others, too) as I have always wanted to buy an extra copy of “Autumn…” to take that page out and frame it but can never bring myself to defile one of your beautiful books!!! 😛 So I am SO, SO, SO very excited to frame it with the Song of the Season prints. And in other news, I am having a wonderfully talented friend make a quilt from the only scrap of material I could find that has all kinds of little SB quotes. She is going to use them as squares in a larger quilt made from the clothes of my 4 childrens’ baby clothes so that I can snuggle up with them and remember when they were little bitty. Your books and quotes always take me back to the very best parts of homemade smiles and memories, and your new “Falling in Love…” book is just so close to my heart as we spent 3 1/2 years in England when my hubby was in the Air Force (right around the time I discovered your calendars and our 2nd child was born there). So you, your art, and your heart are such a part of my own “Heart of the Home” and I just had to tell you THANK YOU! With 4 kids and a full-time job (I’m a teacher), I don’t get to check the blog and your website as often as I’d like…but every time I do I just smile from ear to ear and enjoy the quotes and recipes and utter appreciation for the little things that make life grand. LOTS of LOVE to you and yours as you enter the holiday season, and may Texas soon experience the kind of autumn I see in your beautiful pics!!! 😉
~ Debbie
It’s our treat to have you here Debbie. Four kids and a full time job, that will keep you busy! Your quilt sounds like it’s going to be wonderful! Have a wonderful day. xoxo
I dedicate my song to that bread recipe …..
Och du liber agustine , slot machine , run by steam,
Och du liber August , September , no wonder I’m sober,
The beer was so bum
You have to explain that! There’s no beer in the bread, and it isn’t German. I know there’s a method to your madness ~ perhaps you’re just feeling festive? xoxo
Whole wheat, whole grain. Mother Effie’s, “9 pound loaf” — just consider me celebrating Festivus for October..why not ?… At my age I can get away with almost anything. Hmmmm, BEER in the bread, sounds like a great idea and if you use Heinikins it could also be German ….no? Mother Effie …ya gotta love it !
Also, in my song . . . put an October after Sept . . . It rhymes with sober.
Ohhh, Iiiiii see. I can’t wait to be 91 so I can get away with everything too! 🙂
OMG!! LOVE to hear from Jack! 91…….really???
Very hard to believe. To know him is to love him 🙂
My dad is 91 too, mum is 90. They are still taking care of themselves and living in The Cotswolds in England! How marvelous!
That’s for sure!
Thanks for the laugh this morning. You have a great sense of humor not to mention a mind full of creativity, Jack (aka Blog Daddy)!
Thank your for the great bread recipe. I am always looking for bread recpes that have only a little sweetener in them. This one is perfect only 1 Tbsp of honey. It looks so yummy I can’t wait to make it.
One Tbsp in two loaves, you can’t ask for more than that!
Less
That is unless you are a devil.
how about a little red devil???
Dear Susan,
What a treat!! Another post, with a yummy bread recipe, and cute Jack!! Thank you!
My 2015 calender has arrived safely, ordered through Amazon UK. So all girlfriends from UK or overseas, go check and see what they sell. Shipping is MUCH better than from US, and all arrived on time.
Have a lovely day and Best wishes from Holland
Nicoline
Hooray! THANK YOU Nicoline! I’m so happy to hear it works! If you are the Nikki in the comments on the calendars I have to say it again, THANK YOU!♥ The calendar doesn’t look as lonely anymore.
Dear girl…I so love your enthusiasm and zest for life.
The beauty and true joy that you seem to find in everything!
You have helped me to find it,too…It was always there, but you
encouraged me to L O O K !!
I wish I was a flower in your kitchen (or something more
permanent, actually) that I could be there on your shelf
to “catch” some of your “elan vital”! You are such an
inspiration…Thank you so much! You bring (happy) tears
to my eyes…and good energy to my life!!
God bless you!
I think you, my little flower, would especially enjoy the singing in the kitchen in the morning. xoxo Thank you Judy.
I WOULD love that!! You are right! 😀
When you talked about putting your hoses on a hill to drain it reminded me of a job I had on the farm. I grew up in Minnesota and we had very harsh winters. Everyday I had to pull the hoses slowly over my shoulder to drain them. The cows needed water so being the youngest it was my job. It is a sweet memory now but I’m it sure it about did me in then-ha-ha.
Thank you so much for your blog and books- they are a quiet, comfy spot to land.
We only have to do it once a year ~~ Every day? In the snow? Wouldn’t quite have the same cache! You are an intrepid soul, you can do ANYTHING!
Greetings on this AWESOME October day, here in the Pacific Northwest…What a fantastic surprise to see you here again and so soon..I just can’t wait to bake that wonderful bread of the Sisters….It looks so good..and then to have it warm out of the oven with a little butter! It will be heaven..The day I make the first loaves, I will time it just right so my grandgirls will be coming in the back door just about the time it comes out of the oven..Then we will all feast together with the delicious bread and some little cups of tea! a real tea party at Gramma Noonies! Thank you so much for the recipe and the memories that it is going to make for these sweethearts of mine….Happy October, my very favorite month of the year…..We are so blessed by having you in our lives…………………..Happy Autumn from my island to yours xo
Planning is half the fun! Thanks for doing it with us! xoxo
Here is your pr-woman from The Netherlands again. (wink wink) Since you asked your English girlfriends to write a review for the calenders, I thought I take a look at our biggest website for books (www.bol.com) and saw that there are 2 calenders from you on there, but they don’t even have a picture! That can’t be right, can it?
Thank you Petra! I saw your review for A Fine Romance! It would probably be a lot better if there were pictures of the calendar! 🙂 That can’t be right! xoxo
You saw my review….. but can you read Dutch…..? No worries, I only said wonderfull things about your book and I wrote about your blog too.
No! I can kind of figure out some words, like geillustreerd seems like it might mean illustrated ~ foto and Girlfriends was easy 🙂 . . . verrassende tips (lots of tips?), humoristisch ~ funny? And the five stars said it all. Thank you again! xoxo
Since the last post I’ve been anxiously awaiting the receipt for Mother Effie’s bread – and here it is! THANK YOU! Ever since you first posted that picture of a nicely toasted slice, I’ve been absolutely drooling!
Oh – and you stated in your last post that you were up in Exeter, NH – very near my old ‘stomping grounds’. Will we be seeing anything from that trip?? I miss NH – and all of New England – so any time I read your blog, I feel like I’m home.
Well, it’s nice to have you here! We were mostly in graveyards, but you’ll see some of the photos later!
Oh – sounds like that trip was very interesting! Some people have such a fear of ‘those places’ – but they have such quiet beauty – especially the older ones. Not to mention all the history!
I love reading the old names – Isaac, Experience for the men and Mercy, Patience, Faith, and my favorite Mehitable – which I discovered was a name in my family from way, way, way back!
I’ve always loved old graveyards, I think they’re beautiful.
can’t wait to see the photos, hope you got some good ones of the graveyards. love going around and looking in old graveyards. my grandma used bring etching paper with her and make an etching of some of the old gravestones. she had quite an interesting collection of old gravestone etchings.
My girlfriend framed hers ~ they’re on her living room wall. Gorgeous!
if I can locate grandma’s etching book, and find those old etchings she did, I would get them framed and hang them on the wall, those were so beautiful. but one of the relatives has the book and I don’t know which relative it is.
You can always do your own. The old graves are still there. Although one cemetery we went to had a sign posted “no gravestone rubbings.” The really old ones can crumble.
~ Good Morning ~ The bread looks delicious! ~ will have to try and make a loaf or 2 ~I heard the weatherman say that the Blood Moon tomorrow will also be a Super moon~ that will be something to see indeed~ I hope to get a picture of it! ~ there are a few “stragglers” in the garden that a have to pick ~ I’m going to try to bring my jasmine in again and see if I can make it last for another year ~ 2 and counting~ Have a great week and enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts~ they already had snow in Northern Wisconsin~ Yikes!~ The cicadas were right~ 6 weeks to the day that I saw them we had our first (non ~killing) frost ~ apparently they “arrive” right on schedule~ Mother Nature can be a better weather predictor than us humans!!
She does lots of things better. Jasmine, worth it for even one whiff of one flower in the winter!
Hi Susan, another lovely blog and thank you for sharing the recipe. I’ve done a couple of reviews on Amazon UK. I’m really grateful that they stock your books and calendars or I wouldn’t be able to buy them. Hope it helps 🙂
Me too, that’s just the reason I put them there. Thank you so much for the reviews Pam!
Love seeing the tiny plant that somehow survived! I found a tiny two-leaved plant in the drain on the left side of my sink the other night – the side not on the “disposal” side – where I put the drainer when I hand-wash my dishes. I have no idea what kind of plant it is, but I rescued the wee thing – figuring it if wanted to make it, I’d give it all I could. I pulled it out and planted it with my prayer plant on the window sill, and it is doing great! Growing and getting a bit leggy and stronger every day. Wonder what it will be when it grows up? I think it might be a boy! 🙂 (or a girl???) Anyway, wanted to share an easy recipe too: made this a while back and really no recipe to it – but super yummy. Make some crepes. Then stack them. Cut them into about 1 inch wide strips. Then deep fry them into “crisps”. Let them drain on paper towels or a kitchen towel. Shake some powdered sugar on them, and serve in a basket. Then, (or maybe before), take some good apricot preserves and put in a small saucepan. Add a bit of cinnamon and some apricot brandy and heat it up (watch out for flames, because this is using alcohol, after all) Put in a bowl. Use this as a dipping sauce for the crispy and sweet deep-fried crepes! Sort of a sweet “chip and dip” that is an unexpected treat! You can mix this up to your taste. Easy and fun. Thanks Susan for being a welcoming place for us homey kind of gals. Bye!
YUM Annie, thank you for that!
Annie — let the gang have that bread —– I’m all in for your wonderful sounding “strips” … I’m going to try doing it with flour tortilla strips
first ….they might not be quite as delicate , but will serve to keep me from just drinking that sauce :~). BD
…omG !!…I just have to pipe in here !!..”B.D”, you remind me so much of my father (who just turned 90 this past August..) !!.. you both had a lot of children and, obviously, both have a great sense of humour and are living and loving life !!…’just had to say…and we all love you too… as always..
a good idea is while the strips are still hot, sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar mixed together, yum!!!
I have been busy cooking in my kitchen, thanks to you. I made the amazing kale salad yesterday morning and munched on it later in the afternoon–so delicious. The only thing I did was add a crunchy, diced Fuji apple to it, and toasted the nuts. My valencia oranges were so sweet and juicy. The fresh orange juice dressing makes that salad, and not a drop of oil needed! It was my first attempt at massage, so easy, just got in there with both hands for a minute and squished it all up.
I have all the ingredients for the bread, except for the bulgar, which I will pick up at Whole Foods in town today. Can’t wait to make that. It looks so homey and delicious. I have been anxiously awaiting that recipe, too. Thanks for sending such homemade, healthy goodness our way.
I love the soap and the packaging. What a wonderful treat for us and for the upcoming holidays. You just think of everything. Thank you for all you do!
I put apples in my second batch. I also heated it up and stirred it into white rice and it was YUMMY! (I put minced garlic and oil into a pan, cooked it a moment, then put in left over rice and salad, heated it up, and as I said, YUM!) Thank you back Teresa!
Hi Susan!
not sure if you remember me because you have so many fans!! but, I am Peggy from California and we were in the Air Force,(retired 20 years) have six kids… lived in England for seven years, blah blah blah… any how , i just had to tell you that we are all moved to Massachusetts now! we are living in worcester. This weekend we went to Plymouth to poke around and sight see. We are looking to purchase a “summer” house somewhere in the cap area, so on the weekends we are trying out different areas and see what we like. We are going to go to Harwich Port next, we have friends that live there already. Anyhow, just wanted to tell you that I still follow your blog faithfully and enjoy every minute of it… 🙂
Welcome to the neighborhood Peggy! So nice to hear from you! Lots to explore in this neck of the woods ~ have fun!
My “Be an Elf” charm did arrive yesterday. Even prettier than pictured. The card that comes with it is a gift in itself. I thought I had a bookmark that you designed that showed a young girl with an arm outstretched with a star with the “be an elf” theme. I may have that wrong. However, if I’m correct, would you be able to put it in the “free stuff” section for the holidays? Also, I misplaced the recipe for the lovely “Kentucky Flu” drink from the Lenox Hotel you shared. Is it located in one of your posts? I thought it was in one of your e-mails before the blog. I happened to stay at the Lenox about 3 years ago and it’s such an elegant hotel. Service was superb and that bar and lobby (where they served iced tea in the afternoon – it was July) were old world charming. Thanks, Sue.
There is a bookmark with the girl and her arm stretched to the sky, but it’s not be an elf, it’s a Louisa May Alcott quote about learning to sail your own ship. Here’s the recipe for Kentucky Flu (Or, as I renamed it, Love in the Afternoon) . . .
Thanks so much, Sue. Yes, that bookmark with the Louisa May Alcott quote is lovely. Now I remember. I appreciate having the recipe again. It’s great to serve something so different. Enjoy the week, everyone!
♥ ♥ ♥ Good~Morning Sweet Sue I Tweeted You Earlier Asking You “What’s New”? & Now I Know! 🙂 Your Blog Is Filled With Pure October~Magic! Yay! I Too Love The Musica! Herbster’s 66th Birthday Was This Past Sunday & We Celebrated All Weekend… He is A Very Happy Birthday~Boy! 😉 ♥ I Now Must Smooch Jack’s Velvet Nose! & Give Him A Little Tickle under His Kitty Chin! Meowzers! 🙂 & Kitty~Kisses To Girl For Me! 🙂 I Love All Your Firewood All Stacked & Ready For All Those Warm & Cozy Fires! 🙂 & I Love That Soap & The Soap Dish…Perfecto! Did You Get A Little Autumn Magic in The Real~Mail Yet? 🙂 From One Pumpkin To Another 😉 Jiggity~Jig! 🙂 The Hunter’s Moon is Upon Us So I’ll Meet You There Twirling with All The Enchantment That October Brings! Love & Hugzzz & Halloween Pixie~Dust Everywhere! xoxo Poof! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
P.S. The Bread Looks Scrumptious So I’ll Attempt To Make It….& It Was So Fun Finally Getting “Re~Tweeted” Yay! 😉 xoxo Poof! ✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫*¨*.¸¸.✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫*¨*.¸¸
For me too, you don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to do that!
🙂 Yay! xoxo Poof! ✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫*¨*.¸¸.✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫*¨*.¸¸
Hi sweetie. We are not getting that moon last night/this morning . . . because it’s raining here! It’s OK, we like that too! Be sure to tell the Herbster I said, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!”
Hey Sweet Sue… Oh I Love The Rain Too… We Had a Misty Morning & That Blood~Moon Lunar~Eclipse Was Peeking Through The Clouds & Mist 🙂 It Looked Very Halloweeny! Spooky…… & Of Course I was Twirling & Making Lots of October Wishes! lol 🙂 I Shall Tell Herbster You Said “Happy~Birthday” He Will Smile & Tell Me to Tell You “Thank~You~Sue” 🙂 Hugzzz & Love & Always Kitty~Kisses! xoxo Poof! ✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫*¨*.¸¸.✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫*¨*.¸¸
Hi Susan,
Thanks for another wonderful post. The bread looks delicious and makes me want to start baking from scratch and kneading dough again. I used to bake bread as a newlywed 48 years ago but haven’t done it in years. Sister Effie’s bread looks well worth the effort.
Any tips on saving a hibiscus indoors over the winter? We have a gorgeous one in our garden and I would like to bring it in and see what happens.
The soap and dish look amazing and I plan to get one for my kitchen. Love a great bar of soap for cleaning up!
Thanks again and Happy October!
Nancye T.
Wells, Maine
Try it. It worked really easily for us, this will be our third year. It’s up-close to an east-facing window that goes to the floor — it even bloomed once or twice in the winter! It will need to be watered, the heat will dry it out. Happy October!
This bread recipe looks awesome and pretty easy to do and absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe. I have been in New England this past week reveling in the fall color and cooler temps. It has been a week of delight for this Florida girl. All of the porches are decked out with mums and pumpkins and it all wraps up the little towns in beauty. Oh how I loved winding along country roads in Vermont and Maine. In Fall , one just craves something like this bread recipe to start the day. My Dad would have totally approved as he was a dark healthy bread kinda guy. Dad always told us that our preferred Wonder bread was anemic!! Hehehe, I agree with my Dad’s wisdom now!
I’m so glad you got to tour New England ~ the decorations definitely make it festive for everyone. Yes, isn’t it funny how smart our parents got as we grew older! 🙂
Susan, you are a Darling. Oh my stars, what a precious and glorious view of life from your vantage point! I, for one, share that vantage point and doesn’t it make life grand? We are the winners. Even get to crown precious little sprouts with crowns and chosen names! I must say, dear Susan, that I am totally engrossed in the book, Beatrix Potter and Her Garden and her Complete Tales……oh my stars, what a wonder she was and is in my heart! In all my dreaming and flying on the breeze of my mind, you, Beatrix, Gladys Taber, and my gardening Friend, Diana and I share a most delectable tea in the most fabulous garden. It is camaraderie in it’s finest moment!
I know just what you mean. I need another dose of Miss Potter . . . will watch it later today.
Oh dear, I wrote that wrong. It’s Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life by Marta McDowell. Every Beatrix fan should have it on their bookshelves!
I knew what you meant ♥
Oh my, that bread looks delicious!!! I will be getting the ingredients for that this week!! Susan, just curious, remembering the “weed” that was growing from your basement through your floor, do you ever have to deal with a mouse in your house? I know sometimes older homes are difficult to mouse-proof, but also living on an island may help???
No mice ever because, the you-know-who’s live here. Mice smell cats and have no desire to share turf. Jack would LOVE a mouse to track down.
Well, unfortunately I might need to borrow him!!!
Ha Ha….I wish that were true!….unless those bad cats of mine struck a deal with the mouse! 🙂
It’s not true? I thought I read that somewhere ~ oh well, LOL, your cats made a deal! This information will give Jack hope.
My two cats not only let a mouse enter the house ( it came in through the dryer vent and killed my 5 year old dryer by chewing on the circuit board), it then moved in to the guest bedrooms in the back part of the house, but apparently came out and stole dry cat food out of the cat’s bowls. I discovered the stash in a closet and that mouse could have lived for decades with all the food he had stored! I got him with an old fashion trap and peanut butter! I really did feel badly….I actually like mice…..just not in the house.
The cats showed no remorse!
Wow! What a devil mouse! I like them too. I used to have white mice when I was little. But not in the dryer vent!
send Jack over to my barn, we have a mouse or 2 that our barn cat missed.
He would be ecstatic.
send him over, he will have ponytail holders to chase, and all the fresh catnip he can handle. plus kitty pate’ or I call it kitty mousse!!
He’ll love you more than me! My biggest fear!
Hi again,
Just tried ordering the soap and it’s already gone…hope you get more soon in your store, since it looks amazing!
Best,
Nancye T.
OH dear, I’ll check with Kellee, I know we’re going to keep it in stock!
Let us know when it’s back in stock! thx
It may be back in now. If not, just a matter of a few days.
Me too, boo hoo. Hope you will have more.
The bread not only looks good, Susan, it’s got a wonderful name and should always be referred to as Mother Effie’s Bread by everyone who makes it, don’t you think? I think I’ll rename my wholewheat honey bread that my family fights over, Nanny’s Bread! I brought my gardenia in last week and have it under a grow light, which was a pretty ‘tall’ order, since the parent stem was split and twisted in a spiral to make a trunk. With the huge pot, it’s over 4 ft tall, so I had to get creative with the grow light, which is perched on the top of my pie cabinet above the gardenia. I spritz the foliage every other day with mist, keep the soil slightly moist, and will run a tabletop humidifier once we have the wood stove going. It’s full of buds! At least 25, and there’s new growth too! This winter will be a real test and one I refuse to fail! 🙂
I cannot believe that I received my 2nd beret (red this time), as well as my elf charm, 3 days after I ordered them! That Cali to Indy route must be extra express-ful! I’m still 🙁 that I missed out on the fall charm, though, but I’m not pouting. I’m just going to check your store daily to see when the next shipment comes so I won’t miss out again. And you can bet I’m headed there now to buy my soap/wood holder. Thanks so much, Susan, for finding it for us! Blessings to you and Joe and your furry loves!
Sara
Gardenia, if you can do it, is sooo worth it. Is that not the most wonderful fragrance in the world? Besides baking bread (or apple crisp) — oh well, there are too many good smells! A red beret! Festive woman!
I have three in bloom as I type, and I cannot stay away from the dining room! I’m convinced that the scent of Heaven must be Gardenia! And this morning I decided that I’m going to give some away to friends who just need a little lift. Tish will get hers this afternoon, because every time I post a picture on FB, she oohs and ahs over it! 🙂 Since you have a gardenia in Calif, do you know how to make the blooms that are cut last longer?
Not really. I just put them out until they begin to fade. But there are always more when you live in CA. I can’t make them grow inside in the winter here and I really miss them.
Thank you for the wonderful autumn post! Looking forward to trying out the bread recipe (thank you for sharing). I enjoy all the lovely glimpses of your home and day to day activities that come with the season where you are. Fall is probably my favorite of the seasons and though I’m somewhere rather warm I love all the coziness of getting ready for winter. I love your little soap dish (and appreciate your remark that it doesn’t break if it falls into the sink — that would be something that happens to me!) There is one little thing that I hate to mention, but being an avid reader, I find typos seem to stand out and say, “Look at me!” Anyway, is the spelling of the word “essence” also “essense” or did I get that all wrong?
Your blog is such a cheerful delight and you inspire so many people. Thank you so much for that. Have a wonderful day!
No you didn’t, you are right! We caught it, but not in time. A few, but not too many thank goodness, went out with that wrong spelling (they will just have to be collectors items!), but we now have the correct essence of essense. xoxo
Having been a lace collector now for 50 years I would urge you not to use chlorine bleach on pure cotton or linen fibers. Over time bleach will rot the fibers. Use non chlorine bleach like Oxi-Clean and soak your hand crocheted bedspreads and linens to remove stains and yellowing first and then wash. Your soap sounds lovely for this step. Then rinse twice. I love old linens and have kept my crocheted bedspread in service for 25 years this way. If you use a washing machine use the spin cycle only until the bulk of the water is removed so as not to put too much stress on the thread.
Thank you so much Paula! I’ve heard that before, and I think, to be on the safe side, everyone should use your method. I’ve used bleach all my life on my old dresser scarves, damask napkins and matelasse bedspreads, I always wash by hand and have had no problems with it, but if anyone is nervous, your suggestion is a very good one. I don’t use bleach on quilts . . . too many different kinds of fabrics.
Thank you for sharing the bread recipe! But, am I brave enough to try it? 😀 Wonderful blog post! Happy October!
You’re brave enough! 🙂
Sue, your post today is a feast for the senses! I can almost smell the fresh sea air – mmmmm – in that photo of your canopy on the clothesline. Can almost taste that buttery, crunch toasty wheat bread too. There’s not much that’s better than delicious bread warm from the oven. Love the cute little china hen in which you keep your butter too. And your little Fall stove “scene” with the vintage Halloween postcards. I have a book on the history of Halloween art and some of the cutest things ever were from the Victorian era and the early 20th century. In fact I bet your postcard is in my book. Have you ever tried hydrogen peroxide when washing your canopy? I’ve had very good luck using it on white fabrics. Definitely brightens yellowed whites and often removes any organic stains completely. Gentler than bleach, no strong smell and I think better for the environment [though I’m not sure]. Love that old-timey wood soap dish too. And lavender soap – oh boy!! I think lavender is probably my favorite non-edible scent ever [lavender and freshly-cut grass]. I keep a couple of bars of your lemon thyme soap in the drawer where I keep my kitchen towels and table napkins and they still smell wonderfully even after two years!
PSSSST [whispering]: There’s a word on the soap label [“essence”] that needs a wee spelling correction. Thought you’d want to know [sorry-it’s the teacher in me]. ❤️
We got it Janet! Eeek. Some went out essense, but those will just be the valuable ones! 🙂 Joe is so addicted to the lemon thyme soap, which is the 100% reason we always keep it in stock (besides the wonderful scent, that is!).
Hi Susan,
Great job with the coffee for Joe, its always a good thing to help out when you can. I ordered some candles, I bet the nuns are getting lots of orders from here. Its probably like the flying nun there at the convent. Yes fall cleaning is in full swing. Any updates on when your new book will be out???
Nancy Jo
Still working on it. Half of it is with the editor! A good sign! I keep interrupting myself though, two booksignings next week and then we’re off to California!
You named a sprout.
And gave it a crown.
See, this is why I come here.
And that’s why I love to have you here.
This is the kind of bread my husband loves. Thanking the kind Mother for her recipe!
I did have to laugh at you talking about the hose, we were under a frost advisory so I made certain to wash my deck windows one more time before we had to drain the hose and put them away! Once frost is here, a freeze is not far behind.
Yup, that’s how it works!
So weird…but I woke thus morning and thought…where did I see that recipe for bread with bulgar in it?? I have my nose in so many cookbooks I drive my family crazy when I cannot recall! Was SO happy to find it here today…I ‘knew’ I had just read about it somewhere! Thank you for sharing!
As for the canopy topper…you brought back so many memories! I have one just like it…purchased it in the 1980’s….along with my Pennsylvania House canopy bed! I had to save forever, but was worth it. I still have both, but not currently using the topper…I need to rethink that one!
Have a beautiful fall day!
I got ours ages ago too ~ luckily, so far it seems to be lasting!
I laughed when I read your post Donna, you sound just like me. I LOVE recipes and I am always diving into one of Susan’s cookbooks or one of those glorious cooking/baking magazines that are available now. The covers are so tempting! I work full time, but always have plans to make this or that, and when I get the ingredients, I cannot remember where I saw the recipe! There has to be a remedy for this!!
Thanks for the Autumn post. All the colors, the kitty picture, and bread recipe were perfect for a day like today. Had an excellent walk this morning and enjoyed the fall air that we’ve been enjoying at last. Wondered about that vital wheat gluten, too, but we have Bob’s Red Mill products in the grocery stores here. I’ll have to look for it. Looks like a yummy bread worth trying! I’m making “Happy Fall” cards and mailing them to friends far and wide. So much fun. Happy Fall to you, too, Susan!
To you too Barbara!
Thanks for the recipe! sounds wonderful! We have a darling little 4 year old granddaughter named Penelope. She is the story teller!
So looking forward to the full moon tomorrow!!! Missed the last one as i was in the hospital. Feeling better now!
Your site always makes me smile!
I love her name! Glad to hear you are better!
good morning Susan, hello girlfriends and sister girlfriends. thank you for the recipe, since its baking day here, I plan to try that recipe. if its good, it goes with the mighty hunters next month on their Elk hunt. yes its hunting season here, and you can hear the guns go off in the hills as the hunters try to get a deer. but since my might hunter hasn’t seen a deer yet, I can safely say I know where the deer are, chowing down in my front yard on the lawn and the squirrels’ food, quite safe from hunters. LOL!! they seem to be hanging around here, out front or out in the back area under the trees quite safe from hunters and since our property is clearly posted ” No Trespassing and No Hunting on this Property” the deer are quite safe as it is against the law to shoot them on private property, especially if its posted. the turkeys have been up to the usual mischief, and then some. this morning they decided to poke their noses out the front gate, good thing the firefighters saw them and came running to help shoo them back into the barnyard. I may double the recipe and take 2 loaves over to them as a way of saying thank you. I love this Fall weather, its so nice and clear out and the leaves are starting to turn color, so soon the gold, russets, crimsons, and browns will be visible all over the area and I can’t wait to see it all. I love the Fall. we also have a new daily visitor, a baby western grey squirrel comes to see us every day. he is so tiny but so cute and adorable. he comes every day for his food, sits on the stump and chows down and sticks around for the day eating and snoozing up in his hiding place on the tree. you would love him he is so cute and just zips around on the tree. we have our hoses drained out, and hung up for the season, and the sprinklers drained and hung up for the season, the clothesline will soon be hung up and put away for winter, so I’m using it as much as I can and enjoying it. well off to gather the eggs and sweep off the porches. you all have a lovely day. Happy Fall everyone. hugs…… 🙂
I just love your blog! You are such an inspiration to all of us! I wanted to order the soap but it is sold out, so I will keep checking back. Thank you for the recipes…….. Can’t wait to make it! Have a great day❤️
Oops….. Jan
It may even be back now . . . but if not, we have lots of it coming soon. You too Jan!
Oh! I’m SO not ready for fall yet!! NOT ready at all- but here it comes. Here in east Tn it’s been downright chilly- we had to turn our heat on! We JUST did a move (unexpectedly quick) into a home that needs so much work- which normally I would love, but not right now as I’m having a BABY next month!! Unexpected #2!! Less than 4 weeks to get a nursery done, finish our house (painting is a big thing). My OCD is not mixing well with nesting! I feel the pressure and on top of it, here comes my favorite season and I’m not ready!! I had to share, I have a Penelope too! She’s a soap dish! I couldn’t believe she was debuting on your blog- made my day 🙂 it’s one of my treasures. It is truly the little things!
Wow! You have your work cut out for you. You’ll do fine. A person who understands soap dishes can handle anything. You go girl, new baby time, hooray!
I tried to order the soap, it’s saying it’s out of stock?
We got some more in today, and lots more is coming!
Thank you for the wonderful, cozy burst of autumn puttering! So lovely- I’ve been doing very similar little chore-like things, but I feel like it’s all a sham since it’s been pushing the upper 80’s for the last 4 days and NOTHING feels like Oct. here! And no, I’m not in southern Cal ;)- I’m in Washington State where it should be cool and crisp and just right for putting the garden to bed and things like that. But instead, we made our yearly pilgrimage to our local pumpkin farm in sweltering heat staying only long enough to grab pumpkins and GET OUT OF THERE! I’m afraid we’ll have pumpkin puddles on the porch before long! 😉
I can hardly believe we’re talking about Washington! I’m truly getting worried about our weather!!
I’m happy, I know it and I’m clapping my hands because I’m going to make Mother Effie’s bread over the weekend. I’m still doing a happy dance after meeting you in Newburyport on Sept. 28th. My sister’s LOVED their signed calendars (that I promptly mailed to them in CT and NJ the next day). I enjoyed talking to you about Outlander and I can’t believe how it ended. I had to buy the book because I can’t wait until April to see what happens next.
Jack and the canopy remind me of my two kitties when I change my sheets. They come running because aren’t I doing this for their amusement??!! 🙂
Yes, I do believe you are! We had to lay out the canopy on top of the bed to figure out which was the long way when we put it back on. Jack threw himself into the middle of it, wrapped his paws around the knotted cotton, pulled it up close to him, nuzzled it like it was his baby, and would not let go! Needless to say, he had to be removed from the area completely! It was great meeting you Mary ~ I think you might even like the book better than the show!
Oh this bread looks wonderful! I am going to have to try to master the art of making a Gluten Free batch. It actually calls for “wheat gluten”! That would be dangerous. Susan, Penelope is so sweet and I just LOVE how it’s proven to us over and over again that NATURE PREVAILS! Thanks for sharing!
I hope you figure out that bread and then tell us all about it!
Michele, maybe you could contact Bob’s Red Mill online. They would probably have the solution for you!
This bread looks sooo yummy. I am gluten free so I was thinking I could substitute the wheat flour with Einkorn flour, but is there a substitute for wheat gluten? Or am I just out of luck?
I’m not sure, but please, be sure to tell us all if you figure this out Debbie!
The girlfriends say it all~~and in a fun, descriptive, heartfelt way~~so I add my agreement! You are a dear, Susan. Thank you for letting us be your girlfriends and for beautifying our lives. Hugs, Paula
P.S. Bless Joe for putting up with all of us, also! 🙂
I do bless him for being so sweet about my time on the blog! He loves you all in his own way!
Hi Susan, I fell in love with that beautiful Dresdan Plate quilt you had in your shop. So happy to see it found a new home so quickly. I found a little treasure today at Goodwill. It is a charming little book called “The Beatrix Potter Cookery Book” by Margaret Lane published in England in 1981. It is illustrated with Beatrix’s artwork and has delightful recipes such as “Gooseberry Charlotte”, “Dorset Apple Cake” and “Fidget Pie”. You just never know what might turn up. I’m always on the look out for your books and finding this was almost as good. Enjoy this beautiful season that seems to be everyone’s favourite.
THAT was a gooood one!
That sounds wonderful Elaine!
Not to veer from anything as yummy sounding as home made bread (love, love, love!) but have your cuties, Girl and Jack, read A Guide To England Through A Cat’s Eyes? This is a MUST read for them and I am going to send it to you this week. (When you turn to page 96 you won’t believe your eyes!!!!) I found it at a book sale, so it is not shiny new, though it absolutely belongs with you!!! Xoxo Lynn
They are online half the day looking at videos like THIS ONE . . . learning new tricks. I’m sure they would love that book!
You always inspire me to lift my sights a little higher and look for the beauty in little things ~~ even on a day when I’ve been trudging around town doing errands and having my hip that I bounced on hurting! I just came in to check my email, and voila!! Just what I needed! A breath of fresh Susan Branch air! And an excuse to sit down and take a break! We’ve been pushing pretty hard getting ready for Gene’s big art show. It’s looking like it will be fabulous!! My helpers are amazing. I couldn’t do it without them!! The newspaper called to do an article. This is my last week to work on it, and I’m gathering everything together. We’ll be setting it all up next Wednesday, and we are having a wonderful Indian Summer type fall right now! I copied the bread recipe, Susan and it sounds so delicious. I will be making that as a big reward to ourselves after the show! Also, I LOVE the soap and wooden soap holder. I notice from someone just above it is gone, but I’ll order as soon as available. Thank you again, for all of it! Your blog and the girlfriends has added so much delight to my life!! xo
Sending all my best for your show Jane — you have worked so hard, I’m sure it will be wonderful! You will need a rest, and some toast, when it’s over!
Hi Susan – please don’t take this the wrong way but when I read your blog I find the need to quickly scroll down to see if you have any kitty pictures first. Then I scroll back up to read what you’ve written. : ) We have a funny little kitty too so I love looking at your pictures. What a character Jack is – love the wild look he always seems to have.
Sometimes I say to myself, today is the day I’m going to get some good pictures of the kitties for the blog. On that same day the cats say, “Let’s never stop moving today — let’s just whip around the house so she can’t find us and take our picture.” At least that’s what it feels like — Actually Jack takes off like a maniac, Girl lays flat as a pancake and won’t look at me. But I never give up!
Hi! I’ve been gone for over 2 months and it is so much fun catching up on the blogs! My sister and I went to England for a month. We rented a flat in London and used a Brit rail pass to go all over the country. Did a lot of the things in your book and got to see Highclere Castle. We gave our wonderful landlords a copy of ” A Fine Romance” and they loved it. After that Jim and I went hiking in Northern Italy for 3 weeks. Breathtaking in more ways than one. Anyway we got home last night. Today it is blustery and cool so I’ve got a pot of veg. soup on the stove, and while the loads of laundry are running, I’m getting out the fall quilts and pillows. Wish I had time to do Mother Effie’s bread to go with the soup!
About 30 years ago a child in my class gave me an bar of hand-made soap on a wooden dish like yours and it was tied up with a plaid ribbon for Christmas. I still use the dish in my kitchen, too. It’s one teacher gift that has stood the test of time and I still remember Bucky Mc. that gave it to me!! I’ll be ordering some for hostess gifts!!!
How cute you remember the student who gave it to you. Very sweet. I’m the same, once I started with the wooden soapdish I never looked back. Your trip!!! How wonderful Carol! How nice it’s almost winter, you can dream about it the entire season!
Your soapdish appears to be browner than the one being offered for purchase with the soap. Did it come that color or has it “weathered” to brown after many years of use. Just curious! It looks fabulous and I love soap! Saw a huge oval cake of soap with Oh Lait written on it at an Open House a few nights ago. Smelled absolutely heavenly….there is just something about a fresh new cake of soap that smells good to lift your spirits!
Hello Susan,
Thank you for the blog today and your lace canopy jogged my memory of a bedspread I have that belonged to my mother. It is currently in my mothers china hutch that is located in my basement. After she passed away I had her hutch filled with all goodies and had no place to put it but my basement. I have a bedspread that her mother had given to her in it and it is all handmade lace from Italy. It was given to my mother on her wedding day and put on her bed by my grandmother. I must take it out and look at it and lay it out over my guest room bed to take a much closer look at it. That bedspread is near 100 years old. I love canopy beds and your bed must be just beautiful with the lace canopy on top of it. I got a canopy bed for my 12th birthday gift. I slept in that bed until I got married. Washing that lace jogged my memory of the bedspread I have. I have been a fan for many years and you and all the girlfriends are so appreciated and loved. Blessings to all……
Take a look at your bedspread and see if it would work as a tablecloth for Thanksgiving. I use bedspreads and quilts quite often.
I’ve been waiting for the recipe and now it’s here!!!! Thank you Mother Effie for this wonderful looking bread. I can almost smell it through the computer! I can taste it when I look at the pictures. Yum! I have not always had great luck with yeast bread but I sure am going to give it all I have! *L* This is my kind of bread. (Also love the little bird in the picture.) I ordered candles from the nuns at the Holy Nativity Convent. I love beeswax candles and ordered them right after I saw the last blog. Now we have this wonderful soap and dish!! OMG!! What will we have next!! Always something wonderful in this blog. Of course the best thing was seeing Jack!!!!!!! Yes, I would love to put lots of kisses on that sweet face. He’s just too darned cute! How could you not play with him! Hugs girlfriends, fall is here!
I have the best thing coming. I mean the best. My new toy. Getting some for you. xoxo
So exciting!!!!
Thank you, Susan, for including the lovely Gladys Taber quote…were your ears ringing last Sunday? The Connecticut Friends of Gladys Taber met over lunch and reminisced about our June reunion meeting and how wonderful it was to meet you and Joe. You are a wonderful speaker, and made such a personal connection with those of us who were fortunate enough to be there! So many of us have learned about Gladys Taber and her wonderful books through you…thanks so very much!
You know I did think I heard something, was that you? You are too kind Carole, I would love to have been there with you!
I have to ask if you’re going to transplant Penelope and see what she grows in to? Wouldn’t that be exciting to see her flourish? Oh the possibilities! She could be a tree, an herb, a “weed” that produces an amazing flower, your lucky four leaf clover, a vegetable, a . . .
I’m afraid to try and pull her out of her hole!
Susan!! I just went onto the website to order the Lavender soap & dish and it said… Out of Stock! I wanted to order a couple of them for Christmas gifts. Will there be more coming soon? Hope so!!
Love reading your blogs, especially now that you’re getting ready for the changing seasons there on the Island. Sure WISH we had another season besides summer here in southern CA! I’m so over this heat…just please send us some cooler weather.
Very soon, maybe the soap is back up now, but if not, very soon. Blowing cool air in your direction . . . coming out to California soon, I’ll try to bring it with me!
Oh please do! And Thank you for your reply re: the soap 🙂
Hello Susan,
Thank you for the bread recipe. I just made your corn chowder again. Just love that recipe because it’s yummy and great in the fall on these cold days now. We have been covering all the wood. 7 cords and getting ready for the first snow to fly. I gave up on paying for oil all winter cause the price is so high now. I put in a 1/4 of a tank of k-1 oil in for when the we get the deep freeze just so water pipes don’t freeze up., other wise I use wood all winter. What a saving this is now.The differance in price was 2300.00 dollars three years ago. I know what you mean. Keeping warm and just getting through the long cold nights are a must here in Maine. It’s a great help to be- able to sit at the computor and read your blog and to see how pretty the snow fall is where you are on the Island. I liked those pics you showed us last year. So nice. Loved seeing your fireplace a blazing with the warmth of your fire burning and kittys all curled up snugglely and warm. Thanks for all your pictures. Keep up the great work and Joe also.
Stay warm up there Linda! My dad should tell us about his pellet stove. He loves it.