A Simple Life Homestead

A Simple Life Homestead A place to rediscover the old ways through heritage cooking, gardening, preserving, homemaking, and simple living.

Join us as we gather, learn, preserve, and share from our Northern Maine homestead.

September has arrived… which means I think we can officially say it:Pumpkin season is here. 🍂And with it, one of our fav...
09/03/2026

September has arrived… which means I think we can officially say it:

Pumpkin season is here. 🍂

And with it, one of our favorite fall treats is returning to the Roadside Pantry this weekend...

PUMPKIN DONUTS!

There is just something about the beginning of September that makes pumpkin, warm spices, and all of the fall scents feel right again. The mornings are a little cooler, the garden is beginning to change, and our thoughts start turning toward all those cozy flavors of fall.

So this weekend, the pumpkin donuts are back.

I have a feeling they may not be the last pumpkin treat to make an appearance around here this season either. 😊

The Roadside Pantry will be open Friday and Saturday.

Happy beginning-of-pumpkin-season from A Simple Life Homestead! 🍁

There is something about an old garden that makes me slow down and look a little closer.While walking through some histo...
09/02/2026

There is something about an old garden that makes me slow down and look a little closer.

While walking through some historical gardens this past weekend, I found myself noticing not only what was growing, but what was going to seed.

There was a time when saving seed wasn’t a hobby or a novelty. It was simply part of tending a garden. You planted in the spring, gathered food through the summer, and before the season was over, you thought ahead to the next one.

A handful of seed carefully tucked away meant next year’s beans, flowers, herbs, or greens.

And perhaps that is one of the things I love most about the old ways.

They taught people to think beyond today.

To save something.

To preserve something.

To leave something for another season.

I was given a few of the seeds and I brought them home with the lovely thought that something grown in the old way may find a place in our garden next year.

Some old ways are worth keeping.

I am so excited to finally share something new with you from A Simple Life Homestead…Our A Simple Life Notecard Collecti...
09/01/2026

I am so excited to finally share something new with you from A Simple Life Homestead…

Our A Simple Life Notecard Collection has arrived. ❤️

These cards were created from some of the quiet, beautiful vignettes of home that so many of you have come to love. Little glimpses of a simpler life, inspired by the warmth, beauty, and old-fashioned charm that mean so much to both Joe and myself.

Each card features a beautiful watercolor image from our own homestead, printed on premium cardstock and left blank inside, giving you plenty of room to make it entirely your own.

There is something special about a handwritten note. In a world that moves so quickly, the simple act of putting pen to paper still feels meaningful. It is a lost art in many ways, but one that is well worth keeping.

These notecards are lovely for sending through the mail, but they are also perfect for tucking into a gift, adding to a housewarming basket, including with something from your giving shelf, or sharing a simple note of encouragement, thanks, sympathy, friendship, or “I was thinking of you.”

Right now, we have two collections available:

The Homestead Collection: Everyday scenes inspired by the quiet beauty of home
Christmas on the Homestead Collection: A festive collection filled with the warmth and charm of the Christmas season

Each collection includes 5 notecards with envelopes, beautifully wrapped together with jute string, and is $15 per set.

More collections are still to come, but these first two are ready, and I could not be more excited to share them with you.

They will be available in the Roadside Pantry. You are also welcome to send me a message if you'd like to purchase that way.

Some old ways are worth keeping. ✉️

IT'S TIME!!!Tomorrow is September 1st, and that means tickets officially go on sale for our Colonial Christmas Dinner & ...
08/31/2026

IT'S TIME!!!

Tomorrow is September 1st, and that means tickets officially go on sale for our Colonial Christmas Dinner & Home Tour!

This December, one winner and a guest of their choice will be invited to step back in time with us for a very special evening at A Simple Life Homestead.

On Friday, December 4th at 6:00 p.m., we’ll welcome our guests into our home for a beautiful old-fashioned Christmas evening, complete with a three-course colonial dinner, a tour of our home dressed for the Christmas season, and the warmth and hospitality of a simpler time.

We’ve just finalized the menu, and we think it is going to be a very special evening and a beautiful way to celebrate the Christmas season.

Raffle tickets are $15 each and go on sale tomorrow, September 1st. You must be 18 years or older to purchase a ticket. One ticket will be drawn, and the winner may bring one guest of their choice.

If you’ve ever wondered what it might be like to step through our door at Christmastime and experience an evening from days gone by, this just might be your chance. ❤️

Tickets will be available beginning tomorrow. Send me a message if you would like to purchase one.

Some old ways are worth keeping. 🎄🕯️

✝ There is a particular kind of abundance that comes at the end of summer, beginning of fall.It can be a busy season. So...
08/30/2026

✝ There is a particular kind of abundance that comes at the end of summer, beginning of fall.

It can be a busy season. Sometimes so busy that we forget to look around and recognize what all that work represents.

Provision.

Not necessarily abundance in the sense of having everything we could ever want, but the quiet blessing of having enough for today, and sometimes enough to put away for tomorrow or share with someone else.

I think our grandparents understood that kind of abundance differently than we sometimes do. A full pantry, potatoes in the cellar, apples stored away, herbs hanging to dry, wood stacked for winter. Those things represented security, stewardship, and the fruit of many ordinary days of work.

And perhaps that is worth remembering as we head toward another week.

We don't have to have everything.

Sometimes enough is a tremendous blessing.

May we recognize it, be grateful for it, take good care of what has been placed in our hands, and when we are able, share a little of it with someone else.

Wishing you a peaceful and blessed Sunday from our homestead to yours.

SOLD OUT!! Thank you! ❤️
08/29/2026

SOLD OUT!!

Thank you! ❤️

Does anyone else remember Saturday night baked beans, hot dogs, and brown bread?Growing up here in New England, that was...
08/29/2026

Does anyone else remember Saturday night baked beans, hot dogs, and brown bread?

Growing up here in New England, that was a familiar Saturday night supper in a lot of homes. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just a simple meal that families ate often enough that, for many of us, it became part of our memories.

A pot of baked beans, hot dogs, and that sweet, dark New England brown bread alongside them. They still feel like Saturday night to me.

There is something I love about keeping these little food traditions alive. Recipes and meals can carry history in a way few other things can. One bite, or even a scent, can bring back a kitchen, a table, a grandparent, or a childhood Saturday evening that you hadn’t thought about in years.

And if brown bread is part of your Saturday night supper, we just happen to have some in the Roadside Pantry. 😊

We are open today until sold out, and brown bread tends to disappear pretty quickly, so if you would like a loaf for tonight’s supper, you may want to come early.

Now I have to know: Was baked beans, hot dogs, and brown bread a Saturday night tradition in your family, too?

The Roadside Pantry is open today, and we would love to have you stop by!One of my favorite things about it is that it f...
08/28/2026

The Roadside Pantry is open today, and we would love to have you stop by!

One of my favorite things about it is that it feels a little like stepping into an old fashioned pantry.... simple, and always something good on the shelves.

We’ll be open all day Friday, and the pantry will be open again tomorrow as well until sold out.

If you’ve been thinking about stopping by, come see what Joe and I have been baking and what has made its way onto the shelves this week. Quantities are always limited because everything is made here in our kitchen in small batches.

Thank you, as always, for supporting our little homestead and Roadside Pantry. Every visit, kind word, recommendation to a friend, and purchase means more to us than you probably realize.

We hope something from our pantry finds its way to your table this weekend.

Before seasonal decorating meant filling a shopping cart with things made specifically for fall, people often decorated ...
08/27/2026

Before seasonal decorating meant filling a shopping cart with things made specifically for fall, people often decorated their homes with what was growing right outside their doors.

And I think there is something incredibly beautiful about that.

A basket of apples on the table, a few branches gathered from the yard, dried flowers, herbs hanging in bundles, pumpkins by the doorstep, pinecones, bittersweet, colorful leaves, seed heads, grasses, or even vegetables from the garden can make a home feel like autumn without buying much of anything.

If you have ever seen the beautiful seasonal decorations at Colonial Williamsburg, you know exactly what I mean. Their wreaths and arrangements often incorporate fruits, greenery, natural materials, and things that would have been readily available. They are beautiful because they belong to the season.

Our homes can be the same way.

I love the idea of walking outside and looking at what is growing around us before going to a store. What has changed color? What has dried beautifully? What can be gathered, tucked into a crock, placed in a basket, or made into a wreath?

Decorating this way costs very little, connects our homes to the season outside, and reminds us that beauty does not have to come from something new.

Sometimes the prettiest things are already growing right outside the door.

What do you gather from nature to decorate your home for fall?

I’ve been thinking about "The Giving Shelf" and something else that belongs there.TIME.When we first began talking about...
08/26/2026

I’ve been thinking about "The Giving Shelf" and something else that belongs there.

TIME.

When we first began talking about the Giving Shelf, the idea was simple: when we have a little extra, we set something aside to share. Maybe it is vegetables from the garden, a jar from the pantry, a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, or something else we have been blessed with.

But what about the person who truly doesn’t have anything extra right now?

You still have something incredibly valuable to give.

Your time.

In fact, time may be one of the hardest gifts we give because there is no way to make more of it. An hour given to someone else is an hour we have chosen not to spend somewhere else.

And sometimes that hour is exactly what another person needs.

It might be sitting beside a homebound friend for a little while. Visiting someone in a nursing home who doesn’t receive many visitors. Sharing a cup of tea with someone who has been lonely. Giving someone a ride. Making a phone call and truly listening instead of rushing through the conversation.

Or perhaps it is simply noticing the person who is quietly carrying something heavy that no one else can see.

We often think generosity has to involve giving something tangible. But sometimes the greatest thing we can give another person is our presence.

No fixing.

No grand gesture.

Just, "I have time for you.”

That belongs on the Giving Shelf, too.

Because some of the most valuable gifts we ever give will never fit inside a basket or sit on a pantry shelf.

Perhaps this week, instead of asking only, *“What do I have extra?”* we might also ask:

"Who could use a little of my time?”

Address

63 Trafford Road
Blaine, ME
04734

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when A Simple Life Homestead posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to A Simple Life Homestead:

Shortcuts

Share