If I had a ” real cow” of my own I would hug her just like this and we would wear matching outfits. I need to add this photo to my vision board. 🙂
Dear sisters,
Welcome to the virtual vision board party reveal! Today’s the day I finally get to share a few of YOUR vision boards. Come on in for some farmgirl fortune-telling! Continue reading
Happy Spring, sisters!
It’s time to wake up from your winter’s nap and get busy. Busy doing what, you ask? Farmgirl things, that’s what. If you’re like most adventurous, curious, and talented Farmgirls you’ve probably spent the winter dreaming up all sorts of new and exciting plans for spring. But, did you plan anything NEW and SCARY to do? Continue reading
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These are quilts I’ve made through the years, as well as a couple vintage ones passed down to me from family and friends. Â I keep them scattered throughout my house.
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As so often happens between us Farmgirl Bloggers, our minds are on the same things!  I was writing the post for this week (in my head, as that is how my writing starts) and then I read the Suburban Farmgirls’ post on her friend and her quilts.  And I had to just start laughing as my post for this week is also on quilting.  Instead of changing course mid-stream, which I almost did, I decided there must be a reason we are on the same track.  So the writing continued… and hopefully you other Farmgirls will take inspiration from both Nicole’s and my posts and jump into this quilting frame of mind with us!
“If you are creative and you know it, clap your hands. If you’re creative and you know it, clap your hands. If you’re creative and you know it then your face will surely show it….”
Are you clapping your hands? Or are you sitting on them, thinking “not me”?
Before we talk about our creativity, or lack thereof, will you participate in our very own Creativity Poll? It will only take a few seconds, there’s just that one question. Here’s the link to the poll.
(Sorry, y’all, that poll only allows for 100 votes; so it’s closed already….88% answered YES and 12% answered NO)
Thanks to the CREATIVITY of reader Sara! I started a new poll. Here’s the link to the new one. Pop over and vote!
Oh yeah….You read it right. “Challenge.” You, me. More on that in a minute.
But first. Thank you so much for your insightful comments on love and marriage. I’m working on that booklet and will include everyone’s words. Yes, even you guys who thought you couldn’t offer any advice…your words were filled with wisdom. I mean, just go back and read them. Full of wisdom. Thank you.
Now about this “mid-spring” challenge I’ve conjured up.
Well, not yet. Let’s talk about “mid-spring” first, in all its glory, then we’ll get to that “challenge” part.Â
Last May when we came to the end of the YOU CHALLENGE, many folks asked for another round later in the year. The YOU CHALLENGE is such a special time of fellowship, encouragement, sharing, and walking together every day. So here we are! It’s time for our Rock-tober Challenge. This one is a little bit different than our spring challenge.
For October, you are challenged to do something THAT IS GOOD FOR YOU, THAT YOU ENJOY for 30 minutes every single day of the month. That’s 31 days.
We’re not just going to welcome autumn, or enjoy autumn, we’re going to ROCK autumn.
Oh yeah, I’ve got one, a secret. Do you?
Are you someone who can be trusted with secrets? I can. My lips are sealed tightly. My grandmother used to say, “Now, don’t you tell it…” (I hear her voice saying that now as I write it.) I learned not to. I did NOT tell it. Now that I think about it, it’s kinda funny that I blog because I’m actually a very private person. I think I feel safe because Farmgirls are such a sweet, supportive, loving group of women. Aren’t we!
But I don’t mind whispering my own secrets to you. My secret is one of the reasons I’ve been pulling out my hair the last six months. Continue reading
I’ve always found that the first step is the hardest to take.
And so, I issued a challenge on FaceBook. And now I’m challenging you too.
Move yourself up on your priority list. Do something just for you.
Walk everyday for 31 days….for YOURSELF.
Hello Farmgirl Friends! Â For those of you that have been following me for years you know that every April I run the Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg, TN. Â I’ve written about it here numerous times… I have no idea why exactly except that when something goes around in my head a hundred times I have to write about it! Â Smile! Â So of course… here we go again!
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Hello Farmgirl Friends!
It has been so hot here in Tennessee that when I had the opportunity to participate in a fun “mud” run with my daughter and her girls and some of their friends, no way was I going to pass it up! Â I’ve done a couple of these Mud Girl runs in the past and they are always fun!
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My daughter and I and her precious girls – before mud! Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
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Have you ever participated in a mud run of any sort?  The Mud Girl Run is 3 miles with a total of 22 obstacles.  It’s not a race or a competition; everyone gets a finisher medal.  It’s all about coming together as women and helping each other through the obstacles and up and out of the mud!  It’s all outdoors of course and just such fun to be with other females of all ages and fitness abilities.  As one of the gals in our group said, “It’s a hot day, but it’s so beautiful and I’m just so happy to be alive and enjoying being together”.  Honestly that has stuck with me so much because I think that is what it’s all about.  Being together.
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The five girls in our group came up with the name of Southern Sows for our team! Â And one of the mom’s designed our shirts. Â Aren’t they so much fun? Â I think they came out absolutely adorable! Â (Obviously very fitting since we were definitely piggies in our happy mud place!)
.Here are the pictures we took before the mud!
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These five girls were so much fun! They ranged in age from 10 – 15 and incredibly good sports and cheerful and laughing the whole time!
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And the three moms plus me. Â They were super sweet to invite me along! Â (Take note of those adorable hot pink socks!)
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And now, here are some mud pictures!
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My grand-girl Rosetta! Â She absolutely had the best time in the mud!Â
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It was a lot harder getting to the top of this mud hill than you would think!  We were slipping, sliding and falling back into the mud pit trying to get to the top.  Once there, it was a challenge to hang on until our whole team got to the top!  (I know it looks like Rosetta was just lounging there in the front, but two of us were hanging on to her to keep her from sliding!)  And then….
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…sliding off a muddy hill into a total pig pen of mud! Â Why in the world is that so much fun? Â HaHa!! Â Â
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Southern Sows at their muddy happiest!  (Notice those adorable hot pink socks now!)
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Swimming/crawling in mud under a “ceiling” of webbing!
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And then my daughter and I trying to climb out of it at the other end was a whole other obstacle in itself!
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And all too soon the 3 miles were over and the finish line was in sight. Â We joined arms and ran through the finish…
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…laughing to the very end!
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So very muddy and worn out… but happy!Â
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I couldn’t help but zoom in on my hair – dried mud at it’s best!!! Â HaHaHa!!!
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If you EVER get the opportunity to participate in a Mud Girl Run say YES!!!
Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.
Dori
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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.
describes herself as a goat charmer, chicken whisperer, bee maven, and farmers’ market baker renovating an 1864 farmhouse on an Ohio farm. With a degree in Design, Mary says small-town auctions and country road barn sales "always make my heart skip a beat thinking about what I could create or design out of what I’ve seen.”
Rooted in the countryside, she likes simple things and old ways … gardening, preserving the harvest, cooking, baking, and all things home. While you might find her selling baked goods from the farm’s milkhouse, teaching herself to play the fiddle, or sprucing up a vintage camper named Maizy, you will always find her in an apron!
Mary says, “I’m happiest with the simple country pleasures … an old farmhouse, too many animals, a crackling fire, books to read, and the sound of laughter … these make life just perfect.”
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!
Suburban Farmgirl Nicole Christensen calls herself a “vintage enthusiast”. Born and raised in Texas, she has lived most of her life in the picturesque New England suburbs of Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York State. An Advanced Master Gardener, she has gardened since childhood, in several states and across numerous planting zones. In addition, she teaches knitting classes, loves to preserve, and raises backyard chickens.
Married over thirty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields, been a world-traveler, an entrepreneur and a homemaker, but considers being mom to her now-adult daughter her greatest accomplishment. Loving all things creative, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “Bloom where you are planted”.
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