Bed and Breakfast

Friendsgiving

Holiday Crafting with Friends

There is nothing better to kick off the upcoming Christmas season than a gathering of friends. All of us have memories of family get-togethers, Christmas programs, work banquets, and many assorted Christmas related events. On the other hand, a simple event to celebrate the women in our lives and the gratitude that we feel towards each other can only be called “Friendsgiving”.

Our Friendsgiving Day, the scene is set, a rustic bed and breakfast venue, candlelit tablescape with the scent of cinnamon and soft Christmas music playing in the background. The perfect atmosphere for a festive start to the day.

The menu for the event consists of vegetarian quiche, farmhouse quiche (spinach & bacon), caramel pecan topped cinnamon buns, miniature pancakes topped with raspberry sauce, whipped cream and maple syrup. Plus, a full dose of coffee for each of us.

After much chatter and laughter, combined with a need to move around and do something, the party moved to the horse barn for the crafting portion of our day.
Creating a Christmas wreath, under the influence of a lot of coffee, our motto being that we can do this!

With a few basic instructions, pruning shears, wire cutters and a barn full of natural foliage that had already been separated into various evergreen piles, our creativity flowed. So much fun was had as we started experimenting with the look we were trying to achieve; helping each other decide when more or less natural greens were needed and helping each other twist wire around stems.

The final decision, what kind of ribbon to personalize our wreaths, should it be burlap, plaid, shimmer gold, white or classic red. Using all natural materials, mostly evergreens, we had a common thread throughout our wreaths, but the finishing touches that we added, clearly reflected our individual personalities and added that personal touch.

How precious each one of us is, we bring different gifts and ideas together including respect, love and we value each other. How special to appreciate each other’s God given uniqueness. To have a friend is to be a friend.

Thank you ladies for joining me for this fun event!

Fall Decor on a Budget

Surrounded by natural beauty in the fall season, it stirs a desire to decorate our homes both inside and out.

The warm colours that are displayed everywhere we look and the crisp clean air ignite us with creativity. The true beauty of fall decorating is that there is no need to purchase anything. There is no right or wrong way to make a fall vignette, just add or delete natural elements or move things around till they feel just right.

A few things you will need:
Pumpkins, grow your own or pick up a few at the store is quite inexpensive.
Garden pruners for foraging in your back yard or someone’s bush. Always ask for permission first!
Any plaid guilt or throw, most of mine come from second hand stores.
Look around you house for anything rustic country such as birdhouses, wreaths, old pails, garden pots and even a small bench. Don’t be afraid to be creative and the older the item, the better!

Now start putting things together in a layered effect, constantly stepping away from your vignette to see how it’s looking. Before you know, you’ll have the most beautiful, unique fall decor for your exterior!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Thistle Lane’s Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 cup graham wafer crumbs,
1/3 butter
Mix crumbs and butter together. Press into 8 or 9 inch spring form pan. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes.

Filling:

3 pkg cream cheese
3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
3/4 tsp. Cinnamon
Dash of each: cloves, nutmeg and ginger

Mix together cream cheese, sugar vanilla and eggs. Divide mixture in half, too one half add pumpkin and spices.
Pour the plain batter over the crust, gently top with pumpkin batter.
Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until the centre is set.
Let cool completely!
Best taste for cheesecakes is the day after they are baked!

Top with either a drizzle of chocolate or caramel and add a dollop of whipping cream! The next day call a friend and make yourself a pot of coffee. Enjoy!

Girls Gone Wise

Thistle Lane Guesthouse offers a retreat weekend package for young women called Girls Gone Wise. We have teamed up with our local church to offer a Christian Ministry directed at young women from the ages of fourteen all the way to college age. The possibility of doing a mother daughter retreat would be a welcomed idea, for there are many biblical truths we address that are for women of all ages.

The book called Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild, is written by Mary Kassian an award winning author and well know speaker. It has twenty main contrasts between wild and wise that we touch on throughout the weekend. We have divided those chapters into four main teaching sessions, due to the time involved, this retreat weekend is a condensed version of the book.

According to scripture there is a measure of “Girl Gone Wild” in all of us, this retreat is designed to help young women discern between wild and wise decisions, learning about God’s design for womanhood.
Our young women have a tremendous amount of pressure to conform to the world’s patterns and standards. We would like to empower young women to choose God’s biblical truths as their moral foundation for spiritual success in their lives.It seems there are so many of us living with brokenness, dysfunction, and pain and without clear direction of what the bible tells us when it comes to being a women of God.
This retreat will be offered as a private booking at the Bed and Breakfast for any group of young women, it is taught by qualified leaders, who are actively involved in our local churches. We are very clear in presenting the plan of salvation, the girls are asked to bring along a bible, if they do not have one they will be given a bible as a gift.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3 5-6

Weekend Agenda
Friday night, arrival between 5pm -6 pm
6 pm dinner
Girls Gone Wise is based on Proverbs 7
7 pm Session 1- Heart- What Holds First Place in Her Affections
– Counsel- Where She Gets Her Instruction
– Approach- Who Directs Her Love Story
– Attitude- Her Prevailing Disposition
– Habits- Her Priorities and Her Routines
9:30pm – Bonfire (weather permitting)
Saturday 8:15- 9:15am-Breakfast
9:30am-Session 2-Focus- What Commands Her Attention
-Appearance- How She Adorns Herself
-Body Language-Her NonVerbal Behaviour
-Roles- Her Pattern of Interaction
-Sexual Conduct-Her Sexual Behaviour
Noon – lunch 12-1pm

Afternoon activities- Crafting Session 1pm-3pm
– Horse Care- with supervised rides- 3pm-5pm
Saturday DInner-5:30-6:30
7:00pm-Session 3 -Boundaries- Her Hedges and Precautions
-Authenticity-Her Public Versus Private Persona
-Neediness-Whom She Depends on to Fulfill Her Longings
-Possessions-How She Handles Her Money and Resources
-Entitlement-Her Insistence on Gratification
9:30pm movies/free time
Sunday morning Breakfast 8:30-9-30am
10am Session 4 -Reliability- Her Faithfulness to Commitments
– Speech-Her Speech Habits
-Influence-Her Impact on Others and Their Impact on Her
-Sustainability-Her Ability to Nurture and Sustain a Relationship
-Teachability-Her Willingness to be Corrected and Instructed

The teaching sessions are hands on with a variety of video segments, sharing, question/answer and referencing the Bible.
What’s included in the retreat package?
– Girls Gone Wise Book
– Notebook
– All the meals are made right here at the Bed & Breakfast
– Towels and bedding
– Crafting supplies

Please call for pricing, and any other questions you may have! We require a minimum of 5 women and a maximum of 9 women, including chaperone/ youth leaders. We hope to see you this fall/winter!

Farm Fresh Flowers

Let’s start from the beginning, why flower farming? Well, two summers ago I started to cultivate an outdoor riding area which was to be my riding coral. Last summer, I worked my horses in this particular area but something was not quite right, the dirt was very nice. It had a lot of organic matter (old hog manure) which caused me to think, I should really be growing a garden in this location. We can always put the riding ring beside the garden, why not!

Since vegetables did not pull at my heart strings, that left me with flowers! So the research began and ever since then, I have not looked back. I learnt as much as I could, plus with a little bit of seed knowledge from my young married years, I moved forward with this exciting new venture!

I began most of the seeds in my basement under lights and by April, I moved all my seedlings into my old green house. Things were starting to look promising.
Early spring, we put up temporary fencing to keep the horses out of the garden and give definition to the space.

Then, it was time to put the baby plants into the new garden. Planting a few thousand seedlings actually should be classified as a sport, because I felt every muscle in my body and found a few that I was unaware of. Next year the plan would be to train physically prior to this spring time event so that I’m better prepared physically and mentally!

Our Goals-

To provide fresh local flowers during the growing season for the Guesthouse, and Horse Barn Rentals
To sell locally grown flower bouquets
Entertain the possibility of offering bulk flowers for DIY brides and events

Our Obstacles-

Heavier clay soil than first anticipated
Abundant rain, which drowned out a third of our crop, right off the hop along with a few deer
Bugs that were unfamiliar to us, eating my precious Zinnias and Sunflowers
My pony Turbo, who is actually related to Houdini and has no problem showing me how he can enter my garden whenever he wants and step on all my flowers

Our Solutions-

To continue to learn about flower farming; knowledge is power
To bring in extra topsoil to amend the soil and add organic matter
To continue to work on organic farming practices to conquer bad bugs and encourage good bugs and growth
To educate the consumer on the need for locally grown products; flowers included

Our Joy-

The first year of flower farming has been a learning curve. It seemed as though germinating, transplanting, and growing in the greenhouse was the easy part. Once the transplants hit the dirt, I thought they would take off; it was not so easy. Learning what kind of soil and its drainage was most important. Eventually, after a slow start we started producing flowers and at times more than my market could use!

Thanks to good friends, they received a few flower gifts along the way. There is a sweet joy that these home grown flowers bring to my soul. I can’t explain it, you can just feel it. The season is almost done, and I can hardly wait to start again next year!

Jammin’ in the Heartland

Are you looking for the perfect country getaway?

If so, Jammin’ in the Heartland is a getaway package which was created to bring the guest a unique prairie experience! This little country vacation is a collaboration between Thistle Lane Guesthouse, Grunthal Berries and promoted by Eastman Tourism.

The weekend package is a two night stay which includes 2 breakfasts, feeding the chickens and picking eggs, feeding sheep and brushing the horses. All of this with added tips on animal care and tidbits about our favourite animals. The cats and resident dog Daisy will be lazing nearby while also waiting their turn for affection. Our miniature donkey Maria is always ready for a brushing, as it is to be accompanied by a treat! The animals are available throughout your stay or if preferred, you are welcome to relax underneath the veranda at the horse barn.

The morning starts with a full country breakfast of your choice, as a hearty breakfast is much needed for the day ahead! The berry picking and farm tour at Grunthal Berries will be available on the second day of the package which will take about an hour and a half. After the tour, you will be returning to the guesthouse accompanied by Colleen (owner of Grunthal Berries) and she will be teaching an “all you need to know” class in a jam making. This of course will be hands on! After the jam is completed, the best part is to come! Taste testing on locally made fresh bread with a cup of coffee or iced tea. Yum! The taste of fresh jam truly does create a yearning in us for simpler times of days gone by.

The Guesthouse has a fully equipped kitchen that you may use to prepare your evening meals. Please relax and enjoy the beautiful country atmosphere by making a bonfire and gaze at the stars or even settle down to watch a movie inside. In the morning, you will be again greeted with a country breakfast of your choice. You will have the opportunity to once again feed the animals and say our goodbyes until the next time!

To see the full video clip click here. We hope to see you soon!

Category: Bed and Breakfast