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Overview
Author and playwright Dan Needles has long delighted readers and audiences alike with his insightful and laugh-out-loud perspective on small-town life, published in such bestselling books as Wingfield's World (Random House, 2011), Wingfield's Hope (Key Porter, 2005), With Axe and Flask (McFarlane, Walter and Ross, 2002) and Letters From Wingfield Farm (Key Porter, 1988).
In 1988, Needles and his wife left the city to start a family in a country community located two hours north of Toronto. Together they stocked their farm with sheep, cattle, chickens, pigs and, eventually, four children. Needles' charming chronicle unfolds in essays dated from 1997 to 2016, offering homespun advice for successful country living--like whether to wave from the elbow or to merely raise one finger from the steering wheel when passing a neighbour in the car. He cautions on rural superstitions, such as when his neighbour hesitated before selling him weaner pigs because every time he does the wife of the farmer who's buying them becomes pregnant--which turned out to be true. Here too is the tale of an unlikely friendship between a "borderline" collie ("he's never bitten anything in his life and the sheep are catching on") and an odd duck named Ferdinand, as well as other hilarious stories involving an assortment of farm animals, including the weapon of choice to properly dispatch a rooster-gone-bad; the risks of giving a name to a potential Sunday dinner entrée; and how to outsmart a free-range pig. With his witty insight, Needles shares the art of neighbouring in the country--a place made for visits, and "where a figure walking across your field is more of a reason to put the kettle on than to call the police."
True Confessions from the Ninth Concession is a sesquicentennial crop of antics and aphorisms by Canada's funniest farmer--one that presents a wonderful escape for world-weary city dwellers, and affirmative reading for anyone who is from, or has moved to, rural Canada.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781771621700 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Ltd. |
| Publication date: | 08/26/2017 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 5 MB |
About the Author
Dan Needles won the 2003 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour for With Axe & Flask and his Wingfield Farm stage plays have appeared in theatres across Canada and the United States. His popular magazine columns have been published in Harrowsmith-Country Life, Country Guide, Small Farm Canada, In the Hills, On the Bay, Watershed and other publications. Needles was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2014 for a body of work that celebrates the people of rural Canada. He lives with his wife at Larkspur Farm near Collingwood, ON.
Table of Contents
Introduction: This Old House 1
June 1997: From Here to Maternity 4
August 1997: Home Sweet Home Office 7
September 1997: The Pickle Factory 10
December 1997: Making Our Own Fun 13
February 1998: Home Remedies 16
April 1998: The Visiting Season 19
June 1998: Name Dropping 22
August 1998: Pig Tales 25
October 1998: The Old Farm Truck 28
December 1998: School's Out 31
February 1999: No Cows for Alarm 34
March 1999: The Bun Burn in the Bush 37
May 1999: Making Time Fly 40
July 1999: Country Etiquette 43
December 1999: A Norman Rockwell Christmas 46
February 2000: Hawk among the Chickens 49
April 2000: A Restoration Project 52
August 2000: You Don't Say 55
October 2000: The Gift Horse 58
December 2000: Grandma's Christmas 61
February 2001: Duke and the Duck 64
August 2001: Hannah and the Chicks 67
October 2001: Burglars in the Barn 70
December 2001: Good and Perfect Gifts 73
February 2002: Mental Health Day in the City 75
June 2002: Life and Character 78
August 2002: Humpty Dumpty 80
October 2002: Family Reunion 82
January 2003: Retirement, Equine Style 85
April 2003: The School Trip 87
June 2003: Community Spirit 90
August 2003: An Anniversary 93
September 2003: Will I Ever Be a Local? 96
February 2004: A Sermon in the Fields 99
April 2004: A Sheep Romance 102
June 2004: Granny Kate, 1912-2004 105
August 2004: In Search of the Great White Egg 107
October 2004: The Infernal Combustion Engine 110
December 2004: Break a Leg 112
February 2005: My Ecological Footprint 115
April 2005: Riding My Pony Home 118
June 2005: A Public Life 121
August 2005: Working in Stone 124
December 2005: The Perfect Gift 126
February 2006: Country Kids and City Kids 129
April 2006: Horses and Happy Endings 132
June 2006: A Thirtieth-Anniversary Event Planner 135
August 2006: The Great Divides 137
October 2006: The Slow Food Chain 140
February 2007: My Cuban Crop Tour 143
April 2007: Farm-Sitters 146
June 2007: The Sixty-Thousand-Dollar Dog 149
August 2007: You Name It 152
October 2007: Farewell My Lovely 155
December 2007: House Guests 158
February 2008: The Farmer as Museum Piece 161
April 2008: My Failure as a Foodie 164
June 2008: Duck Soup 166
August 2008: A Seven-Step Program to Getting Horse Free 169
October 2008: One Lucky Turkey 172
December 2008: A Friend in the Garden 175
April 2009: Emergency Measures 178
June 2009: A Bridge of Sighs 181
August 2009: Spreading Affection 184
October 2009: Two Men on a Roof 186
December 2009: The Larkspur Supper Club 189
February 2010: Weather Signs 192
June 2010: Appearing Nightly 195
August 2010: A Charter Case for Chickens 198
October 2010: Granddaddy's Rules for Country Living 201
December 2010: Memories of a Country Christmas 204
September 2012: Free-Range Pig 207
June 2013: Year of the Grape 210
September 2013: A Quack Vet 213
September 2014: When Birds Go Bad 216
March 2015: A Blast from the Past 219
September 2015: The Postman 222
March 2016: A Puff of Straw 225
Epilogue: The Green Philosopher 228