Y’all know I love a county fair! Last year, my friend Andrea and I took our kids and headed up to the Big E, New England’s biggest fair, and the fifth largest agricultural fair in the nation. (If you haven’t heard of it before, check out last year’s blog post from my first-ever fun visit at http://www.farmgirlbloggers.com/3708#more-3708). This year, Andrea and I decided to go together again, making plans similar to last year. However, things doesn’t always go as planned…
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”.
Looks like you had a lovely time once you finally made it. I lived close to Springfield,MA for a few years and went to the Eastern States Expo every year. That’s where I had my first kraut dog…lol. Great story.
Hi Barbara! We did have fun, and just had to make the best of the situation, especially since it was out of our control. It is such a fun event, looking back it was worth the hassle. Thanks for “stopping by”! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Nicole, I love all the pictures! Especially the midway too, at night. Makes me want to go someday. Too bad for the traffic but maybe not good to go on a school holiday!
Love
Mother
Hi Mom! We figured it would be better on a weekday than a Saturday. We also learned not to go on “Connecticut Day”. Perfect weather, holiday, and a special day at the fair made for a “perfect storm”, though it did not feel too crowded once inside. Miss you! Love, Nicole
Looks like fun, I loved going to the fair, as a child. We would get out of school the first friday of the fair, and we would always get a new outfit to wear to the fair. We always loved going to the exhibits, and the agricultural bldgs. My daddy used to drop us off on his way to work in the mornings and then join us there in the evening when he got off, walk around a couple times with us then we would head home very tired. I think it was free that day to get in, and daddy would give each one of us $7, (there were 4 of us) to spend, and it would last us all day until he got there in the evening. I wonder why the $7, why not just $5 or $10..haha Be BLessed. Neta
Hi Neta, Oh I love this story! Thank you for sharing it with us. For me, we went to a fair or two up near the ranch in the hill country, but it was the Greek Festival that I have the most cherished memories. My parents would pick me up early from school on the first Friday it would open, and we would go and eat, watch the dancers, light a candle in the church, and see all our friends that my dad grew up with. Then I’d get a t-shirt that I would wear the next day to school, very proudly. It was the one event where we really splurged. My grandmother had been one of the founders. I heard now it is so big there (Houston) that it is almost impossible to get in and get tickets. Happy memories. Thanks for stopping by, Neta. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I can’t go to fair grounds so I thank you for sharing your experiences, those pumpkins are beautiful. And the view from where I could never go – way up high – wow!!!! Thanks again. God bless
Hi Joan! I am so glad you liked the post. Big Farmgirl Hugs to you, Nicole
I think my. Fair days are. Over…as for traffic delays we deal with that every day as I live in a tourist town. Glad you had a nice time. Great photos. THANKS FOR SHARING!
Hi Susana, Yikes! I can’t imagine dealing with that everyday! {Shudder}…Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
We got caught in the same traffic, but arrive around one. We usually attend the first day and arrive well before noon. Back in the 1990s we went with the children and always went on the school holidays. Never those crowds. I bought a set of those knives back then and still use them.
I was interviewed by Jen of CT Fox News and made it on the local news. My comment about the crowds was editted out but not my comment about the blueberry pie. My mom was so excited to see her daughter on the 10 pm news.
Hi Carol, I bet I saw you, too! How cool! We went on a school holiday before too, and it wasn’t as crowded, nor was there that bungle of traffic. I’m still glad we got to go and have a good time, despite the delay. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole