“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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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.’”
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.
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.”
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.
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.”
Alexandra Wilson
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!
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”.
My friend is Charlie..he is a year older than me at 52. My mom got him for her 18th birthday, and I glommed onto him. He is an old stuffed droopy hound dog with a teardrop in his eye and a rubber? face….He used to have a squeaker in his ear and he was white with really soft curly fur. He is now very dirty gray, now has no fur, no squeaker, torn ears and barely any pad left on his paws….but he still has the teardrop…and I still love him dearly. We always say..just like the velveteen rabbit…any stuffed animal loved that much just has to be real. I loved your post…and it brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes too.
My special friend was Alice. Also a teddy bear. I felt the same way about dolls and barbies. Only needed my bear. She has had several repairs over the years. The biggest being when her arm nearly came off, that was pretty tragic. One time (when I was a preteen) I put makeup on Alice, blue eye shadow and pink blush. She stayed that way for years, and then I finally got a little tired of Alice looking that gaudy and luckily that makeup came off with hot water after all that time. She now sits in a basket on top of my bookshelf with several of her friends that have made it through all my moves. She will always be my special friend. 🙂
Rebekah, Thanks for the nice blog. My best friend was a 24 inche doll with curly blonde hair and rubber hands. Every single finger had a bandage where the stiffing was coming out. One day I left her outside in the sun and when I found her she had a permanent tan. Oh, how I loved her. I could sit down and ball just thinking about her. One day, my Mom threw her in the trash because she was so bad looking with the tan and all. I had a meltdown. I cried and cried and demanded we go to the dump to find her. We never did go. Sad times they were. I was mad at Mom for a long, long, long time. Isn’t it great that your Mom had Seddy and that you have him again. Knowing how important something is to someone is such a wonderful bond. Many happy returns. Thanks DIanne PS I also can cry when I hear or see JT!!!
Aw, this made me cry. As a kid I always became super attached to my toys–I couldn’t imagine their not having thoughts and emotions just like me. I still feel an inexplicable, overwhelming tingling when I come across one of those old toys–must be the love.
Only a year ago my mother found, and returned to me, my favorite doll as a child . . . my Betsy Wetsy! She is probably about 52-55 years old by now, and I still love that little girl and her little pink dress made by my great grandmother – Ma Cook. How little we realize when we are young, how much these things will mean to us in our second childhood! Thanks so much! Becky G. in GA (FG Sis 1941)
My daughter (32) has a rabbit (Thumper) that she received when she was five. His whiskers are chewed on, and he is now flat,(we say he looks like a road kill rabbit) but he will be with her forever!
When I was 7, my mama got me a pink puff a lump ( a 80’s toy) and from then on, we were the best of friends! It went with me everywhere, and every time we moved, it was right by my side. All through my teen years and early adult it was on my bed. It is packed up right now, we are in between homes right now. But that is the first thing I am going to get out when we unpack everything!
What a beautiful post! I cried to. Glad you found your bear. I must try the recipe, the cupcakes look so good. I could use some chocolate right now.
I find your words powerful and sweet. My friend was also a bear, light colored blue. His name is Jazz. I still have him and he is also missing some important parts. I replaced his eyes with buttons when I was 10 or so. They have long since fallen off too. Perhaps I should sew some more buttons on so he can see again. 🙂 I keep Jazz on a high boy in my guest bedroom. I know he is safe there.
Becka your daughter is adorable…great post…my favorite is a scarecrow from the movie the wizzard of oz and I still have him after all of these years.have a great day,it is snowing hard here so try to stay warm,blessed be,carol
I also have my childhood bear. He is not very big and has one of those rubber faces with a sad mouth and his eyes painted on closed. He is made by the Knickerbocker in this good ol’ USA and the tag also says he is washable but I am afraid to wash him because he might fall apart. His fuzzy hair is half missing and since I am 53 I would guess he is too. His name is Boo Boo, only reason I can think I named him this is because I loved the Yogi Bear cartoon when I was a child. This was a sweet post and I certainly will check out the cupcake recipe!
I LOVE this post. Mine is a lamb, I got her when my little sister was born. I was, hmm, 9 years old when my mom planned on gifts for us for each day that she expected to be gone at the hospital. She thought ahead. Lambie is an awesome neck pillow- WAY BEFORE anyone sold them for that. He went along on many horse shows, was never lost in the hotel rooms (ok that is when i was in high school and college) and is at my home still. He is now on my daughters bed. Now she has a piglet, that looks alot like your bear. It is great to hear similar stories. You cant PLAN on a specific toy becoming their favorite, it just happens. THANKS
Rebekah, thanks for your post, I no longer feel silly for loving my "Blahs" to this day – 3 baby blankets my parents purchased before I was born. I swear, they have their own personalities, and nothing else can comfort me as much as their warmth on my feet at night (can you believe, they only reach to my knees but I once used them to play dress-up. Over the years they have lost their edging, have changed from white to a grey-ish color, and I think one is about to disintegrate, but when I get married, they will be coming with me under the guise of "for my future children" 🙂