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Trusting a harbinger, trusting a messenger for what it tells of things to come is a matter of faith. The visual appearance of a messenger lends strength to subtler clues … as in the case of the song of our much anticipated springtime harbinger – The Meadowlark.
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”.
Shery, what a sweet, precious, loving look at Spring. I too love hearing and seeing God’s creatures arriving to my area to make it special. Thanks for your wonderful words. God Bless
My harbinger arrived just yesterday in a glorious streak of bright yellow. Five years ago I awoke to see a bright yellow bird nesting in the cedar just outside my window. It was an amazing site. I immediately went to my bird id book and found what I believed could be the California Oriole. A bird that has not been seen in California for many, many years, believed to be extinct. I called some experts and started a frenzy. We had experts, cameras and video galore on the property. And yes, the California Oriole still exists. Now five years later "my" lovely orioles return each April to nest. There are now 4 or 5 pairs and they are a riot of marvelous color as they dart from olive to fig to cedar to oak. I have taken the orioles as a wonderful sign of life and strength and I am encouraged at their sight.
Hi Shery, I really liked this post about the Meadowlarks. I live in KS and this is our state bird. Sad to say that I haven’t seen very many the last few years here, but sounds like you get lots of them.
Jan
Hi Shery,
Love your writings about the Meadowlark.
There is nothing like the call of a favorite bird to make one connect with Mother Nature. It soothes my inner being. I love to sit in my favorite spot in my yard beside the coral honeysuckle on a trellis (where a Robin has made a nest) and become one with the natural world. Reminds me of our ten and a half years as caretakers/land managers of a 700 acre wildlife refuge in central TX. That was then and this is now and in our retirement years we live on our tiny spot in the TN Smoky Mountains which we have turned into our bird/butterfly/bat haven and enjoy the sounds and sights of nature.
Hi Shery,
I enjoyed your post on the Meadowlark. It made me feel like Spring is here even though we are still looking at snow here in Alberta. Happy Spring to You! :o)
My favorite bird of all time! Easter day we drove to a hill in farm country called Steptoe Butte. As we neared the crest I could hear many Meadowlarks, even with the windows rolled up! My comment to my husband was ‘Wish that we had them around the house like we used to!’. The next morning I was outside feeding my dog and heard the beautiful song. Right there, in the top of the spruce tree…Heaven sent…
I loved the song of the meadowlark, but the song of Bing and Johnny was out of this world! Your post was beautiful and touching. God encourages His own, doesn’t He? With all the evil in the world, He still brings us this tiny, melodious creature to sing of a promise made long ago. I thank God for the promise, for the meadowlark, and for you.
You always inspire me. It is wonderful to know so many others wait for the song of spring in the call of the Meadowlark.
Thank you so much for your blog