Last month, as my kids gathered at the dinner table using FaceTime to celebrate my youngest daughter’s 24th birthday, I heard them all agree there was no point trying to buy a house because the planet … [Read more...]
Who You Gonna Call?
I was just reading a piece in the New York Times about how people have been fleeing the city in droves this past year to find freedom from the pandemic. The same thing is happening in our … [Read more...]
No Cause for Alarm
Out here on the Ninth Concession, burglars are at work every week among the “view” properties along the top of the hill to the west. Break-ins and car thefts are so common that police no longer visit … [Read more...]
Curiosity House Books: A Reader Profile
On the Farm with Dan Needles Photo by Jon Tamlin Edited by Rina Barone I remember the first time I met Dan Needles. He came into the bookstore and within minutes he had engaged the few of us there … [Read more...]
When The Spirit Moves
The chief purpose of a country property is to be looked after. I knew this as a young man, long before I bought my own place. When I was a student, my friends often invited me to join them for a … [Read more...]
Trying to be More Like Dexter
In the first few days after the order to shelter in place, our two sons returned home and prepared to ride out the pandemic with us. Our new normal included regular sit-down family meals with the two … [Read more...]
An apology for milk
Thirty-five years ago when my wife and I started out on this little farm, I milked a dear old nanny goat named Mrs. Trotter twice a day. All four kids were weaned from their mother onto Mrs. T. and … [Read more...]
A Halfway Henhouse
Every time there’s a divorce in the neighbourhood, I get more chickens. Anyone who owns a pickup truck knows that whenever a friend is going through a transition, they always ask you to help them … [Read more...]
