by Susanne Spence Wilkins | Nov 23, 2022 | Project
“What are those designs on barns?” That’s how the conversation usually starts when tourists travel through our rural area and notice the “Barn Quilts”. And it is a talk we love to have. We have been involved in the Barn Quilt movement...
by Susanne Spence Wilkins | Apr 14, 2022 | Project
Scottish Heather Calluna vulgaris is one of those carefree plants that creates early Spring and Fall beauty. You can imagine the growing conditions this lovely little plant likes by it original home territory – The Scottish Moors. In our area of southwestern...
by Susanne Spence Wilkins | Apr 8, 2022 | Blog, Local Things to Do
I had visited the gravesite of Orford Township’s original white settlers only once and that was many years ago. Manfred had never been to the site even though he has lived only a few miles down the highway for all of his past 62 years. On an early April afternoon, we...
by Susanne Spence Wilkins | Oct 26, 2021 | Blog, Garden
The new growth of daffodils peaking out of the soil and the fledgling flowers of the Helleborus unfurling towards the sky are such clichés that I bear much pain to write about them. But while they are overused seasonal metaphors there can be no denying that their...
by Susanne Spence Wilkins | Oct 10, 2021 | Blog, Garden
The Bittersweet Season of Autumn Is there a more perfect plant than the American Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) to symbolize autumn? This native North American vine spends the growing season twining its way through branches of trees and shrubs and along fences until...
by Susanne Spence Wilkins | Oct 6, 2021 | Blog, Project
The Goddess of the Corn This year, I created a Corn Queen in the warm days of early September at our business, Crazy 8 Barn & Garden. I had been mulling this project in my mind for a while. Each year as fall would approach I would search out the...
by Susanne Spence Wilkins | Aug 3, 2021 | Project
There are so many interesting details about the reconstruction project of our historic eight-sided timber frame barn in Palmyra, Ontario. If you would like to know more about the build details of Crazy 8 Barn, you can watch our...
by Susanne Spence Wilkins | Aug 3, 2021 | Blog, Crazy 8 News
Watch as Manfred and Susanne joyfully announce the beginning of the next chapter in their lives. Spoiler Alert: The Crazy 8 Barn & Garden is being listed for sale....
by Susanne Spence Wilkins | Jul 18, 2021 | Blog, Crazy 8 News
Boy, it has been a week. On Monday, we met with our real estate to sign the papers to list our beloved octagon barn for sale. I called my staff to let them know: one sounded thrilled for me; the other sounded uncertain. Tuesday, the For Sale sign went up. In front of...
by Susanne Spence Wilkins | Jul 6, 2021 | About Us, Blog, Recipes
It’s hard not to miss our luncheon café at Crazy 8 Barn & Garden. We grew and nurtured that section of our business since we opened the doors of our reconstructed octagon barn in May 2013. It started humbly as a “brown bag café” as we thought most people would...
