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Hello my Farmgirl friends! I recently made some of the sweetest pillowcases and shared them on my personal blog with a tutorial. I’ve had so much interest in those pillowcases as well as my tutorial, that I decided it needed to be shared here too.
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In the coastal area of New England lies a wonderful little village – one full of imagination and whimsy! Open to the public from the end of September to the end of October, it’s truly a magical place…you never know what you will see at the Wee Faerie Village!
New England is so picturesque, and Connecticut is no exception. There are also fabulous museums scattered about the state. One you do not want to miss is the Florence Griswold Museum, in Old Lyme! A wonderful place to visit anytime of year, in the autumn the Wee Faerie Village outdoor exhibit is enchanting! Last October, I visited for the first time with a group of friends from my doll club.
It was a perfect, beautiful day. We had more fun following the trail of little homes and other tiny, miniature structures that make up the outdoor exhibit. Each fall, there is a different theme. Last year’s theme was “Yesterville – A Wee Old Tiny Town.”
The idea behind the Wee Faerie House outdoor exhibit came in 2004. Director of Education, David D. J. Rau (who is now Curator of Visitor Engagement), was asked to create a program to bridge the gap between the busy summer months and the museum’s big holiday exhibit, utilizing the beautiful fall leaves. He wanted something outdoors that would bring families. The first year, they started with fairy houses created by a handful of designers and artists. In three weeks, 10,000 visitors attended! Now, the “process is refined”, and visitation is growing each year, with families, couples, groups, and all ages delighting in visiting the exhibit each year. Since 2009, the Wee Faerie Village has had over 190,000 visitors!
Each ”Wee Faerie“ structure is made by a different artist, individual, or group. Some designers have been with them since the beginning. Designers must have been invited to the design team, submitting an application and a sample of their work through the museum’s website.
Located in Old Lyme, Connecticut the “FloGris” museum was once the home of Florence Griswold, born on Christmas Day in 1850. “Miss Florence” was the daughter of a wealthy sea captain and his wife. At one point in the late 1870’s, Florence and her sisters served as teachers, along with their mother, when the family home housed a girls’ finishing school. However, at around age fifty, Florence found herself with a changed fortune, and alone. At this time, she then turned her home into a boarding house. Artists started coming to the home, “and that was lucky”, says Tammi Flynn, Director of Communications & Brand Strategy. “Artists found great landscapes and beautiful gardens”.
From 1900 to the 1930’s, many great impressionist painters came to the estate, and the “Old Lyme Art Colony” was formed, made up of great artists such as Matilda Browne. Artists who stayed at the home were also encouraged to paint a panel on a wall, door, or fireplace mantel. Miss Florence made deep friendships with the artists who graced her home as boarders, and having them also helped her maintain her family home for the remainder of her life.
When Miss Florence passed, the artists wanted people to see the painted panels, so through the Florence Griswold Association, the home was first open to the public on weekends. The home officially became a museum in the 1960’s, now also a National Historic Landmark and the “crown jewel” of the FloGris Museum. At the time of her death, Miss Florence had lost much of the land – fortunately, through the years, the twelve acres of land was bought back.
My friends and I loved seeing each structure on our visit, marveling at the exquisite detail and creativity. Each one was unique! We also ate a lovely, delicious lunch at the museum’s cafe, featuring outdoor patio seating and open May to November.
This year’s village theme, on display until November 2nd, is “Gardeners’ Grove, A Growing Community”. It sounds intriguing (and definitely peaks my gardener/farmgirl interest)! I’m sure the exhibit this year is just as full of surprises and wonderful whimsy! It’s a wonderful destination.
Wee Faerie Village is just one special exhibit during the year; another must-see exhibit happens at the holidays, when fantasy trees decorate the museum, with over 200 artist pallets that are only put out at the holidays, gracing trees like ornaments.
I hope you enjoyed our trip! No matter the time of year, the Florence Griswold museum is a must-vist!
Remember to leave me a comment below so I know that you dropped by!
October is absolutely, positively, without question, my very favorite month of the year! Each morning I open the door to cool, crisp temperatures and bright blue skies. The days are fresh and new, just waiting to be filled!
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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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