Farm Yarns
Recent Stories
Spoonism
There I was searching for one of my favourite spoons in the silverware drawer when it hit me. That’s exactly what Mom used to do. I remember going home to visit Mom on the farm for a few summer days away from my busy job and family. It was a chance to slow down for a...
Introducing our Farm Yarns YouTube Channel
Farm Yarns has been quiet far too long, partly because of gardening season. We've also been quiet because of our YouTube efforts. John and I have collaborated on a read along audiobook of my story "Meeting Murphy". It has been quite a learning...
A Mother’s Gift
Over thirty years passed since I moved away yet my childhood bedroom endured, lovingly preserved to welcome me home at any time. My Mom cared for it like the curator of a rare museum. My old room was a bright and cheerful place with light speckled linoleum, wallpaper...
The Saga of George
Our most memorable two-legged farm pet. Chickens aren’t known for being smart, but once in a while there happens to be a bird that’s rather exceptional. When our boys were young, we were the lucky owners of a chicken with a great personality. We borrowed a name from a...
The Big Barn
“I thought you’d want to know, Susan.” Something in her tone made me stop putting away laundry, clutch my cell phone, and drop quickly to the edge of the bed. “They’re tearing the big barn down.” I didn’t want to know. I wanted to imagine that everything was still the...
Remembering Seven
A fleeting glimpse of a child's endless summer. The buzz of a fly did it. Took me back to an endless summer of sunshine, imagination, and explorations of the farmyard jungle. My whole body melted into the experience of it. I was seven again, breathing it in - the hot...
Racing with Dad
Stomach tight and shaking with silent giggles, I listened to his slow footsteps steadily approaching the chicken house. When I couldn’t stand it any longer I leaped from my hiding place to ambush him, circling and hopping from one small bare foot to the other, “Come...
Murphy’s New Home
Second story in a children's series featuring our new puppies, Murphy and Maggie. Murphy was the new puppy of the house. He was scared but he was curious too. While Susan hugged and carried him around, he peeked at his new home and family. Murphy sniffed and licked...
Little Things
A tribute to my Moms - Eleanor and Betty. Mothers do little things, day after day after day. Often no one sees or notices or understands why, until the children themselves plunge into parenthood and start doing those little things, like Mom did. If you could pile...
Meeting Murphy
First story in a children's series featuring our new puppies, Murphy and Maggie. Murphy was a newborn puppy lying in a cozy heap full of floppy ears and tails. The babies couldn’t see or hear yet but they could smell their mom. All they did, all day and night, was...
Elevated
An ordinary machine that rose to unusual heights. Sounds crazy but I would love to hear the loud metal-on-metal screech of our old farm elevator. The din would whisk me back fifty years. Mom and Dad would be young, vital, strong, and we would smile, joke, and work...
The Bracebridge Farm
Introducing the family farm in Muskoka where my husband, John, tasted summers of old-time farming. You would think that walking through hundreds of forested acres looking for delinquent milk cows would be intimidating for a kid from Toronto, yet John felt at home on...
About Susan
I love stories – reading, writing, listening, watching. I’ve always had a creative spark (my mind contrives twisted plots for fun) but working in the business world doesn’t leave much room for individual artistic flair. So after working in different businesses for 35 years, I’ve taken a detour onto the creative side.
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