Hello dear friends! When MaryJane shared with me that the upcoming magazine (April/May/June) will have a section on family recipes, I had just returned home from New Mexico where I spent 10 solid days helping my dear Momma turn her collection of recipes into a cookbook. My mother had started this project over 30 years ago… and due to all the normal busyness of life, that project got put in a drawer. It has been a dream of mine to help her get these recipes typed up and compiled into a book for the girls (and guys!) in the family. My mother is turning 89 soon and I just felt like there was no way I could let this project go another year without getting it done! I worked 8-10 hours a day, with Mom mostly by my side, where we re-typed, re-wrote, edited, and tried to make heads or tails of recipes that were missing pieces!
Happy February, dear farmgirl readers! It’s been quite a month, weather-wise, since our last visit! The whole nation has had some very c-c-cold weather, and we are no exception here in New England! Still, we are going with the flow, and doing what we can to enjoy the season. We may have cold weather, but we have warm hearts!
It really takes quite a lot to close up roads and businesses in the New England area. We are a hearty stock who know how to handle the snowy, icy winters (even those of us who are not originally from Connecticut)! One good thing is that we are usually not “surprised” – we generally have ample warning before a storm arrives.
Some of us love the snow, others think it is “for the birds”.
A few weeks ago, we got a nice snowfall. This was perfect snow – not too wet or heavy, but not so powdery that you could not form a snowball. It wasn’t frighteningly cold outside, either. My zany family and I decided to not only clear the snow, but to actually “play” in it. My adult daughter and I built a snowman – the first in over a decade! We found sticks for arms, buttons for eyes, and a fresh carrot for a nose, and added a knitted scarf, hat, and heart. She turned out so cute!
Meet “Frostette”!
Afterward, my husband, daughter and I had an old-fashioned snowball fight! There we were, three adults running around in the snow like little kids – and having a blast!
We have three dogs – the two big ones don’t really mind the snow. The little one – not so much. We bundle him up like a toddler before taking him out. (We tried booties, but he would have NO part of that)! Our big pup, Scarlett, LOVES it. At ten years old, she is still spry and puppy-like, and especially loves playing in the snow.
The look on his face says it all.
No more than a week later, a much BIGGER storm hit us, with Mother Nature also bringing extremely cold temps, snow and ice across the entire nation. Luckily, the big snow day fell on my husband’s day off.
The snow fell fast and heavy. Drifts like this were left on our deck, and because we are in a valley, we had drifts of up to 40” (though the official count was under 2 ft).
This was a big blizzard! Not only was the temperature super-cold, with blustery, blinding snow falling, but we also had frosty wind chills and night temperatures dipping well below zero, that stayed that way throughout the week. We had plenty of food and snacks for the storm, and the house was cozy, but we worried as my husband went out to clear the driveway and decks. With snow falling at four inches per hour, clearing must be done as the snow falls or it will get too heavy and thick to take care of! A small town community is awesome – a friend of my husband’s brined our driveway before the storm, helping to keep dangerous ice from forming under the snow. We were also thankful that we never lost power, except for a few moments, and then it quickly came back on.
Lotsa snow. Our car is under there somewhere behind Gidget the Glamper, who wears a thick white coat of snow.
The wind blew, the snow was blinding and thick, and the temperatures were like the arctic! A ton of snow has been left, and so far, not melting because we just have not had temperatures above freezing or for long enough to melt. I am confident that we WILL be thawed out before July 4th! (Just kidding. We should thaw out sooner. We only need a few days of warm sun. So far, that is not happening).
Back roads can be a bit tricky the first day after a snowfall, but after that, just fine.
It IS hard to not be able to get outside for walks because temps are just too cold, or to see wildlife having a tough time finding food with such a long, deep snowcover.
Cold birds and squirrels try to grab feed during the first part of the storm.
One day, I felt eyes watching…”Pardon me, do you have any extra food? Also, the bird feeder is empty.”
The deer have eaten all the evergreens, even ones they typically do not. The snow is deep for them to walk through.
We see so many different kinds of animal tracks throughout the unmelted snow.
Still the winter skies are like cotton candy, and the snow at night against the light of the stars is at once beautiful and peaceful.
Did you know, night snow sparkles?!
Speaking of sparkles, my daughter surprised me an early Valentine’s Day gift – a beautiful porcelain-coated cast iron heart-shaped dutch oven she found at Homegoods. It’s pink and SPARKLY! I love to cook, especially this time of year, and at a four-quart size, this dutch oven is perfect for soups or sauces for the three of us!
I love pink – and sparkles!
After the jolly holidays, we keep the charm with some Valentine’s Day decorations. I have a few vintage post cards, pretty festive dishtowels, and vintage knick knacks that keep things festive during the month of February. My husband loves that I put out seasonal decor, especially in the winter when the days outside can be bleak.
My husband found these Valentine’s picks on Amazon for me. At $10 for a large bundle, I could brighten up an old jug, and add a few to my kitchen table, too.
The hoosier is gussied up for the Valentine’s Day season.
Supposedly, more snow is on the way, and we must remember it is still winter. The sun is shining today, and everyone has continued to get out and about, business as usual, despite the frosty weather. It’s what New Englanders do. The days are lighter for longer, and in a month or so, we will be thinking of spring. Until then, we will stay cozy!
I hope you are staying warm and cozy, too! Leave me a comment so I know that you stopped by!
Posted on February 5, 2026 by Rural Farmgirl Mary Murray
Today’s February sky is amazingly sunny for a day so bitterly cold. Still, I can’t let that old sun fool me, his sunshine is unquestionably losing the battle with winter’s wrath. The weather apps on my phone continue to send out a familiar “ping” as they update me on expectations of more heavy snow, ice, and sleet. They’ve forewarned of potential power outages, the dangers of being outside, and a Level 3 snow emergency has just been issued…meaning county roads are now closed to all travelers except for emergency vehicles.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain
Debbie Bosworth
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.’”
Being a farmgirl is not
about where you live,
but how you live.
Rebekah Teal
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.
“Keep close to Nature’s heart … and break clear away once in awhile to climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods, to wash your spirit clean.”
~ John Muir
Cathi Belcher
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.”
“Wherever you go, no matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”
~ Anthony J. D’Angelo
Dori Troutman
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.
Wyoming cattle rancher and outpost writer (rider), shares the “view from her saddle.” Shery is a leather and lace cowgirl-farmgirl who’s been horse-crazy all of her life. Her other interests include “junktiques,” arts and crafts, glamping, collecting antique china, and cultivating mirth.
Mary Murray
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!
Libbie’s a small town farmgirl who lives in the high-desert Sevier Valley of Central Utah on a 140-year-old farm with her husband and two darling little farmboys—as well as 30 ewes; 60 new little lambs; a handful of rams; a lovely milk cow, Evelynn; an old horse, Doc; two dogs; a bunch o’ chickens; and two kitties.
René Groom
Previous Rural Farmgirl, April 2009 – May 2010
René lives in Washington state’s wine country. She grew up in the dry-land wheat fields of E. Washington, where learning to drive the family truck and tractors, and “snipe hunting,” were rites of passage. She has dirt under her nails and in her veins. In true farmgirl fashion, there is no place on Earth she would rather be than on the farm.
Farmgirl spirit can take root anywhere—dirt or no dirt.
Nicole Christensen
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”.
Previous Suburban Farmgirl, October 2009 – October 2010
Paula is a mom of four and a journalist who’s partial to writing about common sense and women’s interests. She’s lived in five great farm states (Michigan, Iowa, New York, Tennessee, and now North Carolina), though never on a farm. She’s nevertheless inordinately fond of heirloom tomatoes, fine stitching, early mornings, and making pies. And sock monkeys.
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