I can’t tell you how proud I am of you (and me) this holiday season.
I’m proud that you (and me) stopped and took a moment to ourselves, that we gathered here.
Me, I’ve got a cup of mulled, spiced Wassail beside me, the only light in the room is from the Christmas tree lights and the burning fire. What about you?
In my very best southern drawl Forest Gump voice (which, My Friends, is pretty darn good), “Lie-ph is lack a waul-k through them woodz.”
There are places that heal. We, as humans, are especially drawn them. They help us (re)connect our mind, heart, and soul to something bigger than ourselves. These places offer us a peace deep within if we allow them to. Sometimes people call them their “holy ground.”
What is your place? Is it a particular spot on earth? A cabin? Or do you go to the mountains, or the ocean, or a cathedral? Or the woods?
What kind of Farmgirl are you?
You know, I always forget how long I’ve been blogging here at MaryJanesFarm. It feels like home to me, so I don’t really think about how long I’ve lived here.
And, of course,
Time flies when you’re having fun!
But recently I noticed that list of links to my previous posts on the right side and decided to take a look back at June 2009, ten years ago.
I started reading the 2009 post and vividly remembered writing it~~ as if it were yesterday.
Where will your walks take you this year?
It has happened this time every year since 2013.
I try to talk you all into joining us for the YOU Challenge. Every year, Farmgirls make a promise to themselves and each other that during the month of May, they will take a walk. Every day. No matter what. 31 days of a stroll.
Good news, we think the comment feature is fixed. Whew!
As it turns out. Well…It could have been…”operator error.”
I’m not surprised. I have a curse, a hex, a jinx when it comes to computer programs.
On with this potato post!
Won’t you try the comment feature at the bottom and tell us what your favorite dish is that you make with plain old white potatoes?
(Sorry about the comment confusion. We love to hear your thoughts and comments! I think we have finally figured it out!)
Change is hard.
Just ask Late Winter.
Ah, the search for the elusive ‘simple living’…
It has become a lengthy quest for me. To be frank, it has stretched out for decades.
And while I have yet to achieve it, I’m getting closer. I’ve discovered many secrets and gifts along my way.
Recently I hit upon one secret without effort or attempt. I’m usually working hard to find them, but this one happened quite by accident. Actually, by necessity. And in this secret, I found some magic of the simple life.
Have you discovered some secrets to simple living? Leave a comment, and share it with us! We need to hear it; we need to share our discoveries with each other.
AND THE WINNER OF THE CHRISTMAS SOCKS AND AVEDA FOOT LOTION IS—–
Rebecca West!!!! Congratulations! Send me your mailing address. Here’s to keeping your dogs toasty this winter!
about the comment technical difficulty, the cooment feature is now up. If you sent me an email, I have it. I have your facebook comments too. You’re all entered! If you haven’t yet entered and you’d like to comment here to enter, you’re now able to. Otherwise, you can continue to email me at rebekah@maryjanesfarm.com. 
Thanksgiving was a good one, yes? You counted your blessings, ate lots of turkey and dressing, visited with family, and watched football games.
Now the page turns….drum roll please.….AND
Here comes the holiday season! It sure didn’t sneak up on us this year, did it? I’ve been seeing Christmas decorations in stores since before Halloween. Sigh.
(note: I write about Christmas because that’s the winter holiday I celebrate—and that is the one that has become the most complicated—but this applies to all the winter holidays that are celebrated.)
Finally.
Autumn, Sweet Autumn.
Where have you been hiding, My Friend?
Oh, how I’ve been longing for you on these hot summer-like days.
And now you’re here.
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”
“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”
is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.
“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.
an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.
“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”
Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!
Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.
is a budding rural farmgirl living in Palmer, the agricultural seat of Alaska. Alex is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University pursuing an M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education. She lives and works on the university’s 700 acre environmental education center, Spring Creek Farm. When Alex has time outside of school, she loves to rock climb, repurpose found objects, cross-country ski on the hay fields, travel, practice yoga, and cook with new-fangled ingredients.
Alex grew up near the Twin Cities and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin—both places where perfectly painted barns and rolling green farmland are just a short drive away. After college, she taught at a rural middle school in South Korea where she biked past verdant rice paddies and old women selling home-grown produce from sidewalk stoops. She was introduced to MaryJanesFarm after returning, and found in it what she’d been searching for—a group of incredible women living their lives in ways that benefit their families, their communities, and the greater environment. What an amazing group of farmgirls to be a part of!
calls herself a knitter, jam-maker, and vintage enthusiast who "never met an antique sewing machine she didn't like." Born and raised in the great state of Texas, she now resides in suburban New England in picturesque Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York state.
Married for over twenty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields and has been a world-traveler, entrepreneur, and homemaker, but considers being a mom her greatest accomplishment of all. In addition to blogging, she also teaches knitting professionally and is a Certified Master Gardener. Loving all things creative and domestic, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “bloom where you are planted.”
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