Mildrith’s Heat Takes it’s Toll

Mildrith springs to life with a breath of air, after I open the oven door plug. A spark, a blue flame, and orange one, then poof! she’s roaring!

A few weeks back, I posted this video on Instagram. It shows Mildrith’s magical ability of springing to life in the morning when it’s time to bake bread.… Continue reading

Summer pours forth its bounty and beauty

Summer pours forth its bounty in these waning days of the season. For weeks, we’ve been feasting on Silver Rill corn, tomatoes, beans, blackberries, blueberries and zucchinis. Much of them came from friends and neighbours who’ve toiled in their gardens all summer and are now reaping of the overflow. Today, a friend in the Spalding Valley had us come by and pick a quarter row of this amazing basil!… Continue reading

The Reclining Woman of Vancouver

Vancouver’s North Shore Mountains and the “reclining woman.” You can see her head at the far left of the picture, her chest, then her hands resting gently on her stomach.

When I go to Vancouver, I like to find a log and sit on the beach at Spanish Banks. I look across Burrard Inlet to the North Shore Mountains.… Continue reading

Mildrith Springs to Life!

Two o’clock in the morning.

I’m still a little bleary-eyed, having slipped out of bed only a few minutes before.

Mildrith is warm. I’d fired her the previous evening for a few hours. The fire was still going when I sealed her off for the night. I’d closed the damper, inserted the fire door and shut the steel gates.… Continue reading

The Paysan Boulangers — Peasant Bakers

Wouldn’t this field make a superb wheat field? Rye, barley, spelt, einkorn?

There is a field behind our house. We call it the Gorsefield because it is thick with gorse, another invasive species introduced decades ago by a wistful Brit who wanted a taste of home.

A few years ago, the field was cleared. All the gorse pulled out of the ground and moved into large piles and burned.… Continue reading