Jill, your weekly missives about farm life warm my heart, bring a smile to my face, and cause me to thank the Lord for both of you with prayers for blessings, stamina, health and safety!
06/12/26: I find them a welcome and reliable relief from the portentous writers going over the same material for the 39th time. Jill, these columns have a promising potential, were they to be combined in a "Homesteading" anthology. Even if you (or the publisher) lose money, this would be a splendid and genuine way to chronicle your lives. Parallel to this is that the book market will very likely radically change in 2029 as the entire galaxy of media circuses, exhausted from 12 years of Trump and Biden, will wither and vanish. Around 1905, "no one wanted to hear another single word about The Civil War." Same, 124 years later.
I just have time to scan the post. I loved the sweet photo of Prince Caspian lounging with the dogs, and the 'partners in crime" photo. I look forward to the future sour-dough information, and will read the rest of this one later. The homesteading with the Malones posts are among my favorites.
God Bless You. You know how to live. I haven't been to Paddy O's. Went to the Inn once. Yes expensive but I brought a bottle of 2003 Lafite and paid the corkage fee. Memorable place.
06/12/26: What, pray tell, is a "corkage fee"? A fine paid by Sammy Sosa of the Cubs in 2003? Are the Cubs still defraying the cost by a nationwide fee tacked onto restaurant bills that we haven't heard about yet?
A corkage fee is the fee you pay to bring your own bottle of wine into a restaurant to drink. It saves the owner of the wine a lot of money since they bought the wine at a much lower prices than the restaurant would charge. For example, the 2003 Lafite, I paid about $800 retail but the restaurant typically has a 2 or 3 times mark up if you buy the wine from them. I paid, at the time a $50 "corkage" fee which means the waiter or sommelier takes the bottle and opens it and serves it. Now I believe the Inn at Little Washington has increased its corkage fee and they have a stipulation that you can only bring a wine they don't have in their cellar, which is huge. Some restaurants allow corkage, others don't. For example a DC restaurant we go too, Le Diplomate and they allow it. So for my birthday I brought a bottle of Chateau Latour. I hope this is helpful. If you drink with your food always call in advance and ask.
06/19/26: Excellent! Thank you very much for taking a lot of time / effort to so clearly explain what can be a complicated issue. Who would scan a restaurant's War-&-Peace-length wine list to see if what they like isn't on the list? Supply and demand: If the restaurant's popular, they'll put the screws on allowing corkage. Vice versa, the owner will be delighted to see you, no strings (corks) attached.
You're correct but the Inn at Little Washington isn't just any restaurant. The bill will run you $600 plus for dinner for 2 and the wine tasting (glass with each course) brings it to $1000 easy. It's 3 Star Michelin. I went once for the experience. It was my sister's birthday. I couldn't afford to stay there. That would be for the Chairman of Viacom. "Housewives of the ....." But if you can, it's a memorable experience and the food is super delicious and carefully made. And it's a beautiful place. Some of the people that stay there are millionaire/billionaires. Another that's super (no corkage) is Daniel's in NYC. Pressed Duck. You take care. Best thing. Make something nice at home on Sunday. Buy an expensive bottle and drink it with the food. Save a fortune. Remember restaurants charge three times mark up. They have to make a living. You can get super fantastic wine for $60/70. My limit was $950! Crazy to some. But I think it's crazy to pay $250,000 for a boat. But I wouldn't criticize someone who likes boats. Champagne taste on a beer income.
06/21/26: Great advice (not sarcasm!) for others who are still enjoying the grape (I started a new chapter in my life in 2023 when I ended up in an hospital emergency room. The outcome was so beneficial in the long run, when we was billed for TWO ambulance rides, we gladly paid them both).
I am so sorry that we didn’t know about The Little Inn, which you describe beautifully, when we twice drove down to Winchester, VA on our way to Keeneland, a race track in Lexington KY.
The crap we ate in Winchester! (One effervescent experience gave me food poisoning). I mention this because The Little Inn is not far from Winchester (an otherwise quite worthwhile / interesting place to visit, as is Keeneland).
As for NYC, you can have it. I grew up there when it was truly a great city.
It has been poisoned by its rancid prosperity. Today, obscene and obese women, drunk and rambunctious, climb the poles that house the Walk/Don’t Walk signal boxes, to get “a seat” during the Knicks parade, with their pants are being pulled down by feral animals jumping at them from below.
And this is accepted as normal behavior.
All it took was one championship in 53 years and the multiple and outrageous sins committed since the 1990s by Horrible Dolan, the team owner, have all been mysteriously forgotten.
06/12/26: This column is one of the very few places where we can safely assume that the readers are genuine people being genuinely enthusiastic, as opposed to the bots spraying You Tube and countless other sites with millions of things like, "Wow! What great music!"
Love the homesteading posts! Especially the sourdough. I have some starter….as my grandmother called it…. From my grandmother why got it from hers….i think I’ll get it out and make some bread!
It looks like you have the perfect mower. Wow, what a job when spring and summer arrive. Then come the bugs. Thanks for sharing your 'simple' lives. LOL
Thanks for the update, Jill. Spring is definitely a busy time, even on our non farm, almost 2 acre lot. So fun to hear of the goings on with your animals.
Congratulations on your new filly. Hope all goes well with the other two.
When I see the word “homesteading” in your post, I grab my coffee and settle in for what I know will be a lovely read! The photos are an added plus. Congratulations on the birth of the lovely little one! She’s a beauty. Glad you were able to take some time to “clean up” and relax with friends! Thanks for sharing your farm life with us. ❤️
I am so eagerly looking forward to your future notes on making sourdough bread. Just yesterday I baked my very first loaf and though the result is edible, I clearly have a LOT to learn!
Thanks from my heart for your chronicles of homesteading. They remind me of an essential human ingredient missing from my “modern” so-called life; not entirely “progress”. Your descriptions are simply soul stirring and offer people like me - whose lives are so locked into an illusory form of supermarket “plenty”, that we omit to remember and revere our real roots. I can only hope your example may be resurgent in more of humanity’s future.
Jill, your weekly missives about farm life warm my heart, bring a smile to my face, and cause me to thank the Lord for both of you with prayers for blessings, stamina, health and safety!
What a beautiful life!
06/12/26: I find them a welcome and reliable relief from the portentous writers going over the same material for the 39th time. Jill, these columns have a promising potential, were they to be combined in a "Homesteading" anthology. Even if you (or the publisher) lose money, this would be a splendid and genuine way to chronicle your lives. Parallel to this is that the book market will very likely radically change in 2029 as the entire galaxy of media circuses, exhausted from 12 years of Trump and Biden, will wither and vanish. Around 1905, "no one wanted to hear another single word about The Civil War." Same, 124 years later.
Sounds like a very busy and productive life! Love to hear the homestead stories.
I know they make me tired just reading about their lives, but I love it
Your homestead posts are just incredible! Such a busy farm life… I live vicariously through you both!
What a busy beautiful life! I love your sourdough experience! Looking forward to more on that, the idea of a multi loaf bread day sounds amazing!
Jill, you and Robert are chips off the old block for sure!
What a wonderful life you have created! It's a blessing just to hear about it.
Thankyou, thankyou!
I know how much work you have to do to run that farm Jill, it is a passion.
I used to own an 80 acre farm, that I acquired to hunt and fish the small pond.
It was steady work, but I really enjoyed it for a long while.
My 80'x4' raised bed garden in coming in nicely as well.
Thanks for all the updates, I feel like I'm walking the property and breathing the fresh air.
I just have time to scan the post. I loved the sweet photo of Prince Caspian lounging with the dogs, and the 'partners in crime" photo. I look forward to the future sour-dough information, and will read the rest of this one later. The homesteading with the Malones posts are among my favorites.
God Bless You. You know how to live. I haven't been to Paddy O's. Went to the Inn once. Yes expensive but I brought a bottle of 2003 Lafite and paid the corkage fee. Memorable place.
06/12/26: What, pray tell, is a "corkage fee"? A fine paid by Sammy Sosa of the Cubs in 2003? Are the Cubs still defraying the cost by a nationwide fee tacked onto restaurant bills that we haven't heard about yet?
A corkage fee is the fee you pay to bring your own bottle of wine into a restaurant to drink. It saves the owner of the wine a lot of money since they bought the wine at a much lower prices than the restaurant would charge. For example, the 2003 Lafite, I paid about $800 retail but the restaurant typically has a 2 or 3 times mark up if you buy the wine from them. I paid, at the time a $50 "corkage" fee which means the waiter or sommelier takes the bottle and opens it and serves it. Now I believe the Inn at Little Washington has increased its corkage fee and they have a stipulation that you can only bring a wine they don't have in their cellar, which is huge. Some restaurants allow corkage, others don't. For example a DC restaurant we go too, Le Diplomate and they allow it. So for my birthday I brought a bottle of Chateau Latour. I hope this is helpful. If you drink with your food always call in advance and ask.
06/19/26: Excellent! Thank you very much for taking a lot of time / effort to so clearly explain what can be a complicated issue. Who would scan a restaurant's War-&-Peace-length wine list to see if what they like isn't on the list? Supply and demand: If the restaurant's popular, they'll put the screws on allowing corkage. Vice versa, the owner will be delighted to see you, no strings (corks) attached.
You're correct but the Inn at Little Washington isn't just any restaurant. The bill will run you $600 plus for dinner for 2 and the wine tasting (glass with each course) brings it to $1000 easy. It's 3 Star Michelin. I went once for the experience. It was my sister's birthday. I couldn't afford to stay there. That would be for the Chairman of Viacom. "Housewives of the ....." But if you can, it's a memorable experience and the food is super delicious and carefully made. And it's a beautiful place. Some of the people that stay there are millionaire/billionaires. Another that's super (no corkage) is Daniel's in NYC. Pressed Duck. You take care. Best thing. Make something nice at home on Sunday. Buy an expensive bottle and drink it with the food. Save a fortune. Remember restaurants charge three times mark up. They have to make a living. You can get super fantastic wine for $60/70. My limit was $950! Crazy to some. But I think it's crazy to pay $250,000 for a boat. But I wouldn't criticize someone who likes boats. Champagne taste on a beer income.
06/21/26: Great advice (not sarcasm!) for others who are still enjoying the grape (I started a new chapter in my life in 2023 when I ended up in an hospital emergency room. The outcome was so beneficial in the long run, when we was billed for TWO ambulance rides, we gladly paid them both).
I am so sorry that we didn’t know about The Little Inn, which you describe beautifully, when we twice drove down to Winchester, VA on our way to Keeneland, a race track in Lexington KY.
The crap we ate in Winchester! (One effervescent experience gave me food poisoning). I mention this because The Little Inn is not far from Winchester (an otherwise quite worthwhile / interesting place to visit, as is Keeneland).
As for NYC, you can have it. I grew up there when it was truly a great city.
It has been poisoned by its rancid prosperity. Today, obscene and obese women, drunk and rambunctious, climb the poles that house the Walk/Don’t Walk signal boxes, to get “a seat” during the Knicks parade, with their pants are being pulled down by feral animals jumping at them from below.
And this is accepted as normal behavior.
All it took was one championship in 53 years and the multiple and outrageous sins committed since the 1990s by Horrible Dolan, the team owner, have all been mysteriously forgotten.
Be well, save your money, and go to LW again!
I just love your farm reports! So much more interesting than the old-timey morning radio reports! Thanks for injecting light and fun into the day!😊
06/12/26: This column is one of the very few places where we can safely assume that the readers are genuine people being genuinely enthusiastic, as opposed to the bots spraying You Tube and countless other sites with millions of things like, "Wow! What great music!"
(No, a bot did not write the above.)
Love the homesteading posts! Especially the sourdough. I have some starter….as my grandmother called it…. From my grandmother why got it from hers….i think I’ll get it out and make some bread!
It looks like you have the perfect mower. Wow, what a job when spring and summer arrive. Then come the bugs. Thanks for sharing your 'simple' lives. LOL
Thanks for the update, Jill. Spring is definitely a busy time, even on our non farm, almost 2 acre lot. So fun to hear of the goings on with your animals.
Congratulations on your new filly. Hope all goes well with the other two.
When I see the word “homesteading” in your post, I grab my coffee and settle in for what I know will be a lovely read! The photos are an added plus. Congratulations on the birth of the lovely little one! She’s a beauty. Glad you were able to take some time to “clean up” and relax with friends! Thanks for sharing your farm life with us. ❤️
What a great lifestyle. I miss my garden, mowing fields, and riding. Enjoy it!
I am so eagerly looking forward to your future notes on making sourdough bread. Just yesterday I baked my very first loaf and though the result is edible, I clearly have a LOT to learn!
Thanks from my heart for your chronicles of homesteading. They remind me of an essential human ingredient missing from my “modern” so-called life; not entirely “progress”. Your descriptions are simply soul stirring and offer people like me - whose lives are so locked into an illusory form of supermarket “plenty”, that we omit to remember and revere our real roots. I can only hope your example may be resurgent in more of humanity’s future.