This is the story about a darling, dirty, long neglected camper and the daring and determined farmgirl who turned “her” into a glamper.
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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”.
WOW! Beautiful work, and so worth the rewards of joy, happiness, relaxation, sharing with friends…the list could go on and on.
I don’t have a website but thank you for letting me dream through yours. I loved reading about your glamper restorations and seeing the progress. I loved hearing about your plans. Maybe someday I will be putting up my glamper story.
Michele is such a talented individual to have transformed that little camper from "hazmat material" into a "Glamorized Country Castle" and to do it all in a few short weeks. Absolutely Beautiful! I love the before and after photos, and enjoyed reading about her transformation journey.
Sooo inspiring!
We took an old pop up, removed the canvas, added wood sides, windows,
I made ruffly priscilla curtains, wall hangings, a comfy bed, and off we go
only 5 miles from here to a conservation park for a $5 a night camping trip.
Last time we went our grandson saw fireflies in the trees on the mountains and said "Look the bears are sitting in the trees with flashlights".
We love our "Redneck camper" and some say it looks just like a doll house inside with all the comforts of home!
Came with a little pull out kitchen that has a stove, ice chest and sink built in, and away we go for our little wilderness trips in the Ozark!
The very best part, is the whole thing is all homemade!!
Happy Camping!! ~Hugs~ Diana in the Ozarks
This is beautiful! Those before and after pictures took my breath away. I don’t know if I would have had the guts to take on that project. But for $75…..maybe….especially since I have my own personal handyman husband. 🙂
That is quite a story and pictures of an amazing transformation. SO INSPIRING. Have fun!
LOVE it!!! I want to go !!!
This is sure cute…a beautiful project completed, and one to strike off the "bucket" list..thank you for sharing.
Wow, the campers look great ‘specially Michelle’s. The picture of the family by the river was hilarious. The woman was actually wearing a dress. By gosh, I think I remember my Mother wearing one when we went camping when I was really little! Have fun on your trip. I’ll be there in spirit.
Man – for $75 what a deal! It WAS gross inside, and I can’t believe she could re-do it so beautifully in 2 weeks, but what a show camper! Congratulations!
Glamping,,,,it’s what dreams are made of!
This past weekend I had 5 wonderful gal~pals over for a ‘Trailer Slumber Party’…we glamped tween the house & the Barn in our wee trailers…and we hit the Buggy Barn Quilt show (& lots of junk stores & yard sales)and had a blast!
Wagons HO!
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Oooooooo, that sounds like 10 kinds of fun! shery
How d do Shery! I am just beside myself with excitement for all of you!!! Industrious bunch of farmgirls you are for sure! Michelle’s transformation is so darling and I LOVE LOVE LOVE ‘ her ‘ red cabinets… and what a neat idea to forgo the original Formica table and use a " proper " prim table instead… A TRUE CLEVER FEST FOR SURE! There is so much wonderfulness going on in this post I can’t begin to respond to all of it but I can hardly wait for your next post! Have fun, breath in some of that fresh mountain air for me and Godspeed to you all along the glamper trail!!! I pre-ordered my Glamping with Mary Jane and I can’t wait for it’s arrival! I know it will be filled to the brim with inspiration and FUN!
Lots of love,
Deb ( who is on the look- out for her very own 1961 Shasta. It’s my birth year!)
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Thanks muchly D’Boz! That little Shasta is out there waiting to be found…so just stay on the trail. Thanks for popping in for a lookyloo. Wish you could be with us. shery
I have a 1973 Apache Ramada but have been eyeing up a 60s Shasta that looks just like this one! It has been sitting in a neighbor’s yard for over 15 years. I have no idea what shape it is in but I am going to go knock on their door to see if they are interested in letting it go. I hope I can trade my motorcycle or a load of scrap metal for it(they are scrappers). Yours turned out lovely. I am on a dairy farm but I have a more modern clean line style but I love seeing all campers! Great Job!
I’m so in love with this whole thought of glampers and and glamping! I’ve been looking for a diamond in the rough for the past few weeks but nothing yet…crossing my fingers something comes along soon! So glad I found your page – love your story…very inspiring! Thank you for sharing it!!
Sheri,
Great story on Michele’s Shasta. I love the colors….very earthy. I had to chuckle at the description of cleaning the Ewwwww out! A secret weapon for all who battle these “old camper smells”…..camphor cream on a cotton ball….place them in nooks and crannies where rodents may try to enter. They won’t! Trust me….I’ve done extensive trial and error experiments, and this works the best. It has been over a year now, and no more mice. (You have to block off their entrances too, of course) but, this cream is too strong for their respiratory system….they will not attempt to travel into the aroma…which by the way is very tolerable to us humans. Minty fresh.
Gail
Awesome blog!!!
Oh my goodness! I stumbled upon this page as I searched for decor ideas on what to do with the used trailed that my husband and I are purchasing. I think there is going to be a slight turn in our plans!! Thanks for so many inspirational ideas, and the photos were fabulous! Michele