Monthly Archives: March 2013

Comfort on Four Legs

Something spectacular is happening daily in my daughter’s school.  Since December, therapy dogs have been in the halls and classrooms.  Brought in for comfort after December 14th,  these furry, four-legged souls have brought so much more.  


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Where Is Spring?

“It was cold and windy, scarcely the day

to take a walk on that long beach

Everything was withdrawn as far as possible,

indrawn: the tide far out,

the ocean shrunken,

seabirds in ones or twos.

The rackety, icy, offshore

wind numbed our faces on one side;

disrupted the formation of a lone

flight of Canada geese; and blew back the low, inaudible rollers in upright, steely mist.”

– Elizabeth Bishop, The End of March 

Dear Sisters,
Do your ” girls ” talk to you? Come on, you can tell sister Deb. I won’t have you admitted if you say yes cuz mine do! The other day while I was out doing chores Gladys poked her head out of the coop and asked, “Where is spring?” You mean, sunny, warm days with evidence of new life at every turn? It’s on its way, I replied. Gladys clucked back, “good, because I’m tired of being cooped up, looking at colorless gardens and I miss my dust baths in the sun! Me too I said, me too. Except for the dust bath in the sun part…Feeling my toes in the warm sand would do it for me right about now! Let’s fast forward to sunnier days to come shall we? I bet we can find spring then!

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Recollection

“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility of our future.” George Berrnard Shaw

Our pasts, however much we want to think of them as static things, are ever changing. Think of the word ‘recollection.’ Every time we look at the past we are re-collecting, or collecting again, thoughts and memories of times past. There is no doubt in my mind that this act of re-collecting continually results in changed versions of memories and the uncovering of thoughts long unthunk. How have I come to this point in my life of dreaming of being a farmer? As a kid, farming wasn’t even a consideration. What happened between then and now to influence these present dreams of farming?

I’ll have to take a trip down memory lane…

How in the heck have I found myself immersed in Alaskan agriculture?

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I'm Not Eating Crow

Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye,

Four and twenty blackbirds, Baked in a pie.

I have mad crows on my farm and I have mad fish.

(I, however, refrain from mad-dom as much as possible. Some days are easier than others.)

My little Disney dog, Strudel-Doodle, is a loving, kind dog. She is easy to get along with and loves everyone. Except. For. The. Crows.

Strudel-Doodle hates crows. I don’t know how this prejudice against crows developed, but it is strong and it is sure. She came to me with it. Hawks? no problem. Robins? whatever. Canada Geese? bring them on. But crows? Oh my lands. She goes mad, the crazy kind. She becomes mad, the angry kind. She chases them out of the airspace over her yard. Something about crows.

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Don't Let Them Tame You

I had a heckuva time deciding between two themes this time around. Then, inspiration struck. I don’t have to choose. I’ll cover both themes because they do relate to one another. I think you’ll agree.

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March Madness!!

I’m a “planner”, always trying to think ahead, stay organized, and not get too stressed. But sometimes life has other plans, and things just get C-R-A-Z-Y. Like so many other suburban moms, life can get hectic, like a roller coaster ride. Sometimes ya just wanna say, “Slow the ride down, we’re going too fast!” So far March has been madness!

“Get busy! Spring’s coming!”

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Two Years and Growing

Dear Sisters,

 Can you believe it’s been two years since we had our first visit together on the shorelines? Me neither! I feel so blessed to be able to reach out to you from my beach chair in the sand twice a month! I can’t help but feel sentimental about this little farmgirl milestone of ours. When I think back to what my life was like before MaryJanesFarm, before the Beach Farmgirl Blog came to life, before I even knew what being a farmgirl truly meant, life was good. Heck, what am I talking about, life was GREAT! But it’s richer, tastier, and healthier and way more fun than ever before now! Let’s walk and talk all things “farmgirl “shall we?

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Long, Skinny, Slimy Things

Spring was here! for a few days, it was here, I swear. The skies were clearing up in the afternoons, the icicles broke from our house, and that distinct smell of snow melting and gravel roads thawing tinged the air. It seems to have all been a tease–but what was I expecting? It’s March in Alaska after all. Last year at this time we still had thigh deep snow on the farm, and growing up in Minnesota I would be expecting at least one more big snow fall.

However, the daylight hours are increasing, daylight savings time means that the afternoons seem even longer, and spring really is just right around the corner. With this increased vitamin D comes a jumpstart in our farmer-wannabe attitudes and motivations. Sigh…what a wonderful time of year!

It’s Spring Break for teachers and students alike! I headed south with a friend and spent a few days in Homer, enjoying the spring tease.

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Guilt, Burrs, and Foot Cream

Why did I wash my face this morning with foot cream? To fight wrinkles? To cure acne? To have silky smooth skin? Let’s talk about that in a minute. First let’s hit the guilt issue. Afterall, I’d feel guilty if we didn’t hit the guilt issue first. The question is this: why in the world do we let other people make us feel guilty about anything and everything? We accept guilt trips so quickly, so easily.

Be smart, do your best, but don’t let someone else make you feel GUILTY about your choices.

 Confession: sometimes I forget my cloth grocery bags and sometimes I buy more groceries than I have cloth bags for.

So I come home with plastic grocery bags. And I feel SOOOOOOO guilty………

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Red & Ready

February was a trying month for me. But, trials & tribulation can’t keep a farmgirl down for long. We have our hearts set on brighter tomorrows and better things ahead. Speaking of ‘better’, RED is better! So, with that in mind, I’m puttin’ my RED on. I’m ready for a refreshing re-start.

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