Back to the Wilno Station Inn.

Here I am in March of 2016, hoping that a gofundme campaign will bring me back full circle to Wilno.  Updates to come shortly.

Welcome to the Wilno Station Inn and Algonquin Guesthouse.

more red canoe cafe

Some views of the Red Canoe Bakery & Cafe

Red Canoe Cafe for sale spring 2013

Farewell to the Red Canoe Cafe & Wilno Station Inn

It's been awhile since I posted on this blog and that's because our attentions have gone in the direction of organic farming. www.donegalheritagefarm.blogspot.com.
After ten happy & productive years in the restaurant, inn & gallery business, we are now saying good bye to that life in Wilno. We thank all of our friends and customers and neighbours and invite you all out to visit us at our farm near Eganville. Adios and merci beaucoup!!
Our lovely building in Wilno is for sale. fully equipped as a wood-fired oven bakery and cafe. Also suitable for yoga studio, art gallery, gift shop, B&B, office space, or just a lovely spacious home. email donegalheritagefarm@gmail.com or call 613 649 0239 for more info.

Our winter holiday at the farm

Seven lambs have been born as of today, march 2. This is our first little princess Anastasia, followed by Aretha, Clinton and Obama, Ashley and now two more as yet unnamed. It;s pretty hectic with running out to the barn and bottle feeding Obama and tube-feeding Clinton...

Here's a break to celebrate my parents 57th anniversary at the other farm. All of us were in attendance and it was great fun. So much fun that my brother in law Jason thought it wise to drive me home. (too much Mateus).

Dinner after a long day of sausage making on Inaugauration Day.

Ritsuko checks out recipes for the sausage making adventure.

Little Obama-lama. He is one of twins and their mother was neglectful. Right now, he is asleep in his pen in the sunroom along with his white brother Clinton. Today, he took a giant leap out of the pen, skidded across the tile and landed almost on top of Scooter the dog. He loves running from one end of the room to the other, looking at his reflection in the french doors. And he can empty an 80z bottle of lamb milk replacer in about 45 seconds flat!

Friends celebrate the season

Christmas festivities

Ian Tamblyn (barely visible in the back corner...don't know what happened to the flash). An incredible evening after the screening of Griefwalker, our NFB premier film. Then a reception sponsored by Heritage Brewing and Black Prince Winery...then a 100 Mile Harvest Dinner and music with Ian.

This is what we cooked for the meal.

Roasted squash soup, caldo verde, pickled beets, applesauce, pate, sausage, baked beans, roast pork, roast chicken, German potato salad, braised red cabbage, saurkraut, coleslaw, colcannon, pork ragout, pureed root vegetables, irish soda bread, whole wheat bread, carmelized onion pizza, apple crisp and pear cider. All this and a film and music with Ian Tamblyn for 35.oo per person. A wonderful evening!!!

The screening of Backwoods Gourmet brought out the best and brightest social butterflies...all dressed for the Hallowe'en party at the Wilno Tavern. Film-makers Lee Lafont and Barry Goldie in the foreground.

We had a delicious dinner of home-grown foods at Pete and Ritsuko's house. Here's Dan and Pete surveying the spread.
Pete and Ritsuko with Molly the Mule. She's a sweet little creature, a bit amazed by the madness of life in Wilno.

while we dined we listened to the record player with some Texas swing. The next dinner we had here was a six course traditional Japanese meal accompanied by japanese music on this same record player.


Mike and Tom debate the merits of the potato tasting menu. These are fingerlings...very tasty.

100 Mile Harvest Dinner

The second two piggies went to slaughterhouse in mid October and our neighbour and excellent butcher Boniface cut and wrapped them for us. We have locally raised pork for sale!!! And of course, we have lots of it on the menu in the cafe.

Here I am experimenting with the creation of a gigantic sausage as per instruction from Micheal Stadtlander's butcher. Was unable to find the proper casing so improvised with a Irish linen table serviette from Tom's blessed mother (may she rest in peace). It worked quite well once I figured out how to lace it up, then put it inside two mesh onion bags and wrapped it securely with elastics. Then I simmered it for two and a half hours.

A close up of the sausage,

shepherds in Wilno

The Fifth Annual Film Festival Gala with everyone dressed for Hallowe'en was a huge success. Here's Paul and Fran after the Backwoods Gourmet screening . Lots of fun.

Thursday morning dawned bright and clear and the crew is rarin to go. Pete has found a genuine Donegal Tweed hat, Henning has a Viking horned helmet and a Eygptian wedding trumpet and Tommy Two-Tone has a hand-carved stick and a fedora. We have the stock trailer, Ritsuko baked muffins and we are off, in fine fettle to pick up the sheep.

The flock comes home

Our Norwegian neighbour "Flockmaster" Pete Langtvet supervises the sheep as they enter the barnyard in Donegal for the first time.

This is the farm I lived on before I came to Wilno and a series of serendiptious events led in the course of less than a week to my return along with a flock of 20 sheep...some of them related to my beloved woolly darlings, Carmelita and Agnes. All this because one fine day I said "I envision myself on a farm with a fine flock of sheep". And look what happens!!! When you are really sure what you want, the universe aligns.

Here are the girls, ravenous for fresh grass after the long ride from Halfway. Sad events brought them from their previous home...

Henning and Pete and Tommy and Tom supervise the unloading. What a glorious November morning!!! Sixteen degrees, brilliant sunshine, loading went effortlessly and here we are in Donegal.

Robin and Lucas wedding

A handfasting ceremony on a perfect September day in the field behind Robin's childhood home. We sat in a circle while Robin and Lucas had their wrists bound with silk cord.

We prepared a Harvest meal for the guests including roast pork and fresh corn and salads and perogies. Lots of tasty food and spectacular desserts by Robin's aunt Alexa. The tree-planters tent was decorated with cedar boughs and twinkle lights and garden flowers and there was a fireworks display in the hayfield and a pantomime which featured Spot (in the sunglasses) and lots of music and Krupnik (the dreaded Polish honey liqeur and also Slivovich brough from Czechoslovakia by the grooms father. A good time was had by all.

And just after the long weekend in September we closed for a day to celebrate Tom's daughter Robin's wedding to Lucas. Our dearest friends made the journey from southern Ontario to join us and here we are having a roast chicken dinner with chicken from Maureen McMillan, green and yellow beans from Christine and potatoes from the Walsh's. The wine wasn't made here but everything else was. A fun evening.

Harvest time at Red Canoe Cafe

Here's Spot the wonder-pig who is being loaded onto our truck for his trip to the abattoir. Real local pork is very different from the stuff you buy in the supermarket...these piggies have been raised on cafe scraps (lots of organic left over lettuce and their favorites which are cheesecake and Wilno Heritage beer...and they also get grain and apples and all sorts of other goodies.
The wild plum tree down by the suites has a bumper crop this year. It's always a fine line between picking them a bit green or waiting until the birds, wasps, racoons or the bear gets them. This year I got a basket full and there's still lots left.
Josh grew these squash in his garden and donated them to the kitchen and then turned them into a delicious roasted squash soup with ginger. Terry Walsh grew the gigantic zuchini in the background.


The cafe entrance is really bright this year with the new posters we made from Linda's paintings. The geraniums have done well also and all the summer's rain has kept everything fresh and blooming.

heritage park wilno summer

Beautiful summer in Wilno as we celebrate our 150th anniversary of the Kashub settlement of the area. This is Heritage Park in full bloom before the festivities on the long weekend in August.

And then to see the sheep

The lambs are happy in their new pen with lots of fresh grass. I've been researching the Navajo-Churro breed on the Internet and discovering that they are an endangered breed and were the original sheep of the Navajo Indians in the American Southwest. They originate in Spain and were brought to the new world by the Spanish colonists. They are able to exist on the sparse dry desserts of New Mexico and their wool has less lanolin than many other breeds so it is ideal for a dry climate. (Wool with lots of lanolin needs a great deal of washing before it is fit to spin). I am hoping to breed these sheep and get into the specialized wool business in a small way. Would like to have some distinctive Wilno blankets or wall hangings...and we have a new weaver moving into town this week so who knows!!!
Tom and Agnes...she is much less timid now and is really an affectionate little creature. Carmelita (the grey one) is a bossy outfit and generally rules the roost. She's also friendly and has taken to being hand-fed. Our cats are somewhat mystified by these two new members of the household and aren't really sure if they like sheep. I hope the neighbours aren't overly bothered by the bleating!


Farmer Tom and Agnes.