Hearth & Home: Mid-September 2026

Pictured: Loki checking out the new cat tunnel my daughter got from my aunt. He loves it!

This is a new kind of blog post I’m trying out to include cute kitty photos, Huckleberry’s antics (the dog), and maybe recipes, remedies or folklore. I’m thinking this should go out on the 15th of the month for a mid-month casual check-in. Bare with me as I work it out!
Enjoy,
Amy

Table of Contents:
~ The Bookcase: Sorting & Purging
~ Folklore Corner: Practices of Old
~ The Holidays: Ranch Decor
~ The House: Kitties are Silly
~ The Blog: Upcoming Editions

A special shoutout to my beautiful daughter Ember. She turned 16 back in August!

The Bookcase: Sorting & Purging

This past month I have been sorting through all the herbalism, gardening, DIY, livestock, foraging, wildlife ID, etc books. It was a DUSTY mess but I managed to get through them! You would be amazed how many duplicates I found in there. I may even get rid of some more once I get mom involved in the process.

Next will be cookbooks and that will be a HUGE process!

Pictured: Huge stacks from the bookcase and book piles off the floor!

Folklore Corner: Practices of Old

A quick question for my readers: I’ve been diving back into regional folk practices lately, looking at how older generations tied practical homesteading, timing, and regional plant lore together. Have any of you read the Foxfire series, or do you have any favorite regional books on authentic American or British folk practices? I’d love to hear what’s on your shelf—let me know in the comments!

I acquired another new book recently – Granny Thornapple’s Book of Charms: Magic & Folklore from the Ozark Mountains. My mom’s grandmother’s side of the family hailed from this part of the USA so I thought it would be fun to have some books on the folk practices from that neck of the woods. I’m on a kick now with buying books like this! Makes me feel closer to family that came before.

I have my copper dowsing rods and an old skeleton key I may turn into a dowsing pendulum. Will be interesting to see how good I am at finding things!

The Holidays: Ranch Decor

Tractor Supply has the absolute best ranch-related Halloween decorations! Even though I didn’t plan on spending tons of money on seasonal decor this year, I absolutely couldn’t resist this little mummy ewe. She was just too perfect for our flock!

The House: Kitties are Silly

Loki isn’t the only silly kitty in the house!

Our sweet Sabina ‘Bean’ Burrito has been keeping us constantly entertained lately! First, she sat on mom’s dresser for a full minute completely frozen with her tongue sticking out.

Later, out in the barnyard, something minor spooked her—she ran around with a hilariously HUGE, puffed-up tail. This isn’t something new for her either. She is always finding an excuse to puff up her tail haha. After sharpening her claws on that piece of wood she puffed up her tail and took off across the orchard too!

Shane was sitting on the front porch and captured this truly beautiful shot of her looking elegant while watching the birds.

Taboo is also known as Sh!tty Kitty. Can you imagine why?!?! She’s nice when SHE wants to be, otherwise you get this look.

The Blog: Upcoming Editions

Our Home & Hearth blog comes out on the 15th of each month as a mid-month casual check-in. The upcoming post should go out October 15th.

We’ll see you all again in mid-autumn (when the heavy acorn drop happens) for our next Hair Sheep, Hens & Harvest, where we talk about how sheep breeding season went and what’s next for planting/harvesting!

The Hedge & Hollow blog posts will drop every Tuesday, as nature is always changing!

Here are the links to the latest blogs in case you’ve missed them:

As always, I deeply appreciate every like, follow, and subscribe. You can find our Social Media links below!

~ Thank You! ~