James Herriot's Animal Stories | Book Review

Title: James Herriot's Animal Stories 

Author: James Herriot

Pages: 144

Copyright: 1997

Books Read This Year: #13

This is a short little book. It is a compilation of selections from James Herriot's other books. I have listen to most or all of All Creatures Great And Small, All Things Bright And Beautiful, and All Things Wise And Wonderful in the past, so, most of the selections were ones that I remembered. James was a veterinarian in the countryside of Great Britain during the time that most farms still had horses but the tractor had taken over the bulk of the work.

What I enjoyed: I liked the way he recalls his experiences and describes them for the reader. He has a way of bringing the reader along to his farm calls, where he treats sick animals, solves for mystery symptoms, and delivers lots of baby lambs, calves, and foals. You can feel the cold cobblestone at his back and smell the musty hay almost like you are there with him. Most of the stories are really heart warming. The birthing ones get a little messy but then again most veterinarian work causes one to get ones hands dirty. Someday I would like to write a creative nonfiction book about my own life. Reading books like this help me get an idea of what makes a story come to life.

What I learned: I learned that 'James Herriot' is a pseudonym. I learned this because the guy who wrote the introduction is Jim Wright and he describes himself as the author's son. Jim Wright followed in his father's footsteps and became a veterinarian, too.

What I didn't care for: There is a fair amount of social drinking. Mr. Herriot is always sharing a glass of some kind of alcoholic beverage with his clients, whether the farmer invites him in after a case or he stops at the pub with the local country folks. That part grates on me, being the teetotaling Baptist that I am.

Would I Recommend? It depends on who you are. If I know you like animals, yes, I would recommend. If I know you are going to judge me for recommending a book that has drinking in it, no, I would not recommend. 

Do you like James Herriot's writings? I know there has been a well done TV series based on James Herriot's books. I have never watched it. I am not sure that I want to. Whenever there is a movie based on a book I tend think watching the movie ruins the story, but I wonder what you think. Have you or would you watch the series?

Nature | November 2025

 Here are my nature photos from November. I don't have many pictures of insects this month. I have very many pictures of Autumn leaf colors. Right before November was over we had a big snow storm and I have some pictures of the snow. 

 My favorite picture must be the Cypress cones. (I would like confirmation that they are indeed cypress cones. Cypress is not a tree that I have learned how to identify.) I had so much fun with those cones. The pieces of the cone break off and inside are little pockets of amber sap sealed in small cells. When the membrane is broken the perfume is intoxicating. I sat on the ground breaking open sap sacks and smelling them for a good 15 minutes. The scent is so refreshing and head clearing. It's piney and resinous and clean. It reminded me of Frankincense essential oil.

Anyway, here are the pictures. Do you have a favorite?

My camera is not doing justice to these beautiful colors. You had to be there to see it!

I saw this beetle at the park.

This close up picture of a Burning Bush is my second favorite.

My favorite picture.

I have a story to go with this picture:
I found this green bug and thinking that our pet jumping spider could eat it I put it in our terrarium.

The spider didn't eat it. Many days later I caught a fly to feed the spider. A few moments after I had put the fly in the terrarium I saw that this green bug had stolen it! I was quite unhappy with this green bug. Do you know how hard I had worked to catch that fly alive for the spider?

Pumpkin Bars Recipe

 

My mom found this recipe when I was a tween. It was a go-to recipe when we needed something for a 4-h meeting snack. These bars are so moist and delicious. The flavors are so balanced and inviting. I will eat a whole pan by myself if I don't have anyone to help me eat it.

Pumpkin Bars

2 c. Sugar 

1 c. Vegetable Oil 

4 Eggs 

2 c. Pumpkin Puree 

2 c. Flour

2 tsp. Baking Powder 

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Cinnamon 

1/2 tsp. Ginger 

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg 

1/4 tsp. Cloves

Grease 11"×15"  jellyroll pan.

Mix all ingredients together until smooth.

Spread in pan and bake at 350° F. for 25-30 minutes. Frost when cool.

Frosting:

8oz. Cream Cheese, softened
6 TBS. Butter, softened 
1 tsp. Vanilla Flavor 
3 c. Powdered sugar 
Cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and powder sugar and mix thoroughly.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

 

After all the pumpkins were processed I had 2 quarts of pumpkin seeds. If I only have a few seeds, I toss them with oil and salt and roast them. With this many seeds the effort of boiling them in salt water is worth the trouble. 

Step 1. Boil the seeds for 10 minutes in salt water: 1 TBS. of salt per cup of water. 

Step 2. Dry seeds well on a towel.

Step 3 +4.

Toss with a small amount of oil and roast in a single layer at 350° for 20ish minutes stirring a few times.

Allow to cool a few minutes before digging in. 

As you can see everyone here has been enjoying the bounty!

Pumpkin Madness!

These pumpkins are a big blessing from Thanksgiving week. I have been admiring a neighbor's decorative pumpkins on their porch all fall. On Thanksgiving I wrote a Happy Thanksgiving note and politely mentioned that if they didn't have any plans for their pumpkins after the harvest season I would enjoy cooking them. Of course, I offered to bring them a pie or pumpkin bars in return.

Our neighbor messaged me replying that she would be happy to give me the pumpkins and would be glad that they wouldn't go to waste. I was so excited!

The next morning I used our wagon to transport the pumpkins home. I think there were 9 pumpkins total. It took me two trips.

Then I set to cutting them open and scooping out the seeds. 

My preferred method for processing pumpkin is to cut them in half, place the halves face down on a baking sheet and roast in the oven and 350°F. for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until soft. I don't add any water to the pan or foil or anything. Just pumpkin halves face down on a pan for an hour, give or take. Do use a baking sheet with sides because the pumpkin will release a fair amount of water. 

Once the pumpkin is soft I let it cool until it is cool enough to handle. Then I scoop out all the flesh and scrape the skin clean. I puree the pulp in a blender. Then package the pureed pumpkin into labeled bags and freeze them.

I couldn't get them all cooked in one day so I had to fill my fridge with pumpkin halves for a couple days. The smell was unexpectedly poignant. I had not been aware that raw pumpkin smelled spicy. The scent is faint enough that I have never noticed it with just a few pumpkins but it adds up the more pumpkins you have cut open. The best way to describe the spicy smell is like pickles fermented in a crock. Crazy, I know! 

I had so many different varieties of pumpkin to experiment with with; blue, orange, white and squatty. I wanted to keep the flesh separated and taste test them and judge the texture and flavor. Blue pumpkin is my all time favorite. The white pumpkin was my least favorite.

Here is how I would describe the different varieties:

Blue: Very Good! The flesh is dense and creamy in texture and the flavor is sweet and nutty. 

White: (white) Uck! The flesh was quite loose and watery in texture and the flavor was very vegetal and earthy.

Jack-o'-lantern: Good. The flesh was loose and watery in texture and the flavor was typical grocery store pumpkin flavor; a little perfume-y and a little squash-y.

Cinderella Style: Quite Good. The flesh held together and blended smoothly and the flavor was pumpkin forward with barely a hint of the spiciness.

Tan: Quite Good! The flesh was open and and loose in texture and the flavor was typical pumpkin with very strong floral notes.

I have over 40 pounds of pumpkin in my freezer now.  We will be eating a lot of pumpkin bars, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin oatmeal, and pumpkin pie in the future.

In the upcoming posts I hope to share my delicious Pumpkin Bar recipe (it comes from my mom) and how I roast all the seeds.

Do you have a favorite way to eat pumpkin?

Stitches | November

 We are already at the end of November and here is my sewing project report.

I altered this skirt to fit my daughter by adding an elastic waist band.

This skirt used to be a miniskirt for 10/12 year olds with a side zipper closer. I used the zipper opening to make a concealed pocket.

This is what my pocket looks like from the inside.

This is what the pocket looks like in use.

This month I finished the blue pinafore that I was working on back in April. HERE is the blog post about April Stitches.

I made this needle book for a spur of the moment gift exchange on Thanksgiving day. I started it Sunday and finished it Monday.

I wanted to my design on the front to look like wheat stalks. I got this far and realized that the lazy daisy stitches would look more like grains if they were turned around. So I picked all the lazy daisy stitches out and restitched them in the opposite direction.

I gave the needle book 4 pages; one for needles, one for pins, one for safety pins, and one that I turned into a pocket for a needle threader tool.

Thanksgiving Season And Pumpkin Pie Recipe!

 

I have so much to be grateful for!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

 In every thing give thanks: 

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

concerning you.

Every year I make a turkey dinner sometime before Thanksgiving. We just can't wait!

This year our menu was a little extra than most years.

We had:

Turkey 
Mashed potatoes 
Gravy
Sweet potato casserole 
Green bean casserole 
Corn
Cranberry fluff 
Canned cranberry relish 
Pumpkin pie

Our favorite pumpkin pie recipe is the Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe. I am going to write it here for easy retrieval.

Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie 
1 1/2 cups Sugar 
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Cinnamon 
1 tsp. Ginger 
1/2 tsp. Cloves 
4 eggs
1 large can of Pumpkin Puree or 3 1/2 cups Home-processed pumpkin 
2 cans Evaporated Milk 

2 Unbaked Pie Shells (Pie crust recipe HERE)

Mix together sugar and spices. 

Blend in eggs, and then pumpkin. 

Slowly stir in the evaporated milk.

Pour evenly into prepared pie shells.

Bake at 425° F. for 15 minutes. Turn down the oven to 350° F. Bake for 40-50 minutes longer.

Cool for 2 hours before serving.