Flowers in Milk Glass ~ Debbie Bosworth
Dear Sisters,
Are you the sort of farmgirl who likes to dabble and doodle? If so, I’ve got a fun ( and easy) way for you to get started on your Make It Pretty, Merit Badge. Follow me and bring your pencils and paint brushes! Continue reading
Hello friends!!! Here I am again… bringing you a blog post with all the deep thoughts that ended up in a “winging it” kind of project! Smile!
Here we are in March, “officially” spring. “In like a lion, out like a lamb” is the old saying. That especially holds true in New England. Here in Connecticut, our first real taste of snow was just recently. It was one of the warmest winters on record here, with very little true snowy weather. It always gets stormy and cold around St. Patrick’s Day, however. No matter where you live, March is a good time to “spring clean” and “spruce up” indoors and out. Once the nicer late spring weather arrives, it’s outside that I will be! Still, the “lull” of March is something I enjoy as I “tinker” about. Join me as I share a few “Suburban Farmgirl” tips!
Have you ever met someone and instantly became friends? That’s what happened when I first met my friend, Alison, in 2015, when I interviewed her for a blog post. Her story is such an inspirational one, as she traveled the United States in her pink glamper, on her “Odyssey of Love”, in honor of her beloved husband she lost to cancer. Now, deciding to set down some more permanent roots, Alison’s incredible story continues.
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Hello Farmgirl Friends.
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My blog post today is a little late. And its for a good reason! My son is getting married on our hilltop this weekend and I’ve been in pre-wedding prep for a month or so and frankly I forgot to write my blog post! HOWEVER, I had the project complete, photo’s taken and the post written in my head! Smile! Maybe next month I’ll write about our DIY wedding here on our farm! (The picture above is our little farmhouse today in a nice little rainy drizzle… it just made me so happy.)
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So, heres a little backstory on my project I’m sharing today. A couple of years ago I saved to my phone, that amazing photo of MaryJane’s that is all over Pinterest with the rolling pin apron pegs. (You’ve seen this picture too right?) And I’ve dreamed of making them for ages; I even had the vintage rolling pins.
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I have a wall where my kitchen joins the dining room that I felt really needed an update (circled in the picture above). I knew that this was exactly where I wanted my apron pegs to go. I put a plan in place and got my husband right on the job! Smile!
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But here’s a really funny thing! Because I didn’t really have instructions on how to do the project (just that amazing photo) I let my husband figure out the cutting of the rolling pens. But THEN!!!! The June-July issue of MaryJanesFarm magazine came in the mail and what should be in that issue? Yep… you got it. A step by step tutorial on making the rolling pen pegs!
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That magazine (cover above) is still on newsstands so be sure to get it because the tutorial is fantastic!!! No need for me to re-write it here!
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However, there is one thing my husband wanted me to mention. The really old rolling pens are solid wood and can be cut through easily; the newer ones have a small metal rod that runs in the middle of the rolling pen. You will need to unscrew the handles and remove that rod before cutting! (You can tell if your rolling pen has the rod by trying to unscrew the handle… the very old ones do not unscrew.) He then used a hacksaw to cut the rod to size so that I could screw the handle back on and place it on the rolling pen.
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I wanted to use what I had on hand for the “backsplash” for my rolling pen pegs so I did some digging in some of the old wood I have. I used this lid of an old wooden ammo box that I had saved. The wood was not quite the right look for the rolling pens, so I put a coat of white wash on it. (Latex paint mixed with water.)
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Once that dried, I used my mouse sander and sanded it to give the white wash a faded look. I love how it turned out!
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I measured out exactly where I wanted the pegs to go and my husband attached them. It wasn’t hard and certainly I could’ve done it. But it was really nice to hand that over to him!
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We hung it on the wall and I was instantly in love with it! I dug into my stash of vintage aprons and hung my three favorites. The few weeks I’ve had it on the wall I’ve had compliments from everyone who has come over!
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It fits perfectly in my kitchen decor and gives the vintage retro vibe that I was hoping for!
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I love the rustic wood that I was able to repurpose and it just makes me happy all over! MaryJane blew it out of the park again!
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And one last thing before I head to bed tonight… another reason to purchase the June-July issue! (Or better yet, subscribe to the magazine!) My daughter and I and our sweet little flower farm have a fun feature in the magazine along with numerous other amazing flower farmers! We were so excited to be featured alongside them.
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Good night friends! I’m off to toss and turn as I go over every detail in my head that we might’ve forgotten in our wedding prep! Our company (as well as my son and his precious fiancé – picture above taken in Arizona in October) begin arriving in two days!!!
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Until our gravel roads cross again… so long!
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Dori
WOW! What a couple of months it’s been! So much has happened everywhere in the world – many have lost loved ones, lost jobs, or cancelled celebrations. Everyone’s lost something during the pandemic. One group that’s missed out on a lot is the graduating high school class of 2020. My daughter is a senior this year. It’s hard realizing what they’ve missed – the fun and celebration marking the official end of childhood, the last carefree bit before being an “official” adult. I admit, I was feeling pretty sad about it, but then something truly magical happened!
Hi Farmgirls! Wow! What a month it’s been! How are y’all doing? We’re hanging in there. We live and work in one of the hardest-hit areas of Covid-19, but are happy to report we are all healthy!
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Hello Farmgirl friends!
Grab some kleenex and get in a comfy seat. Yes… this post is one of those.
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Last March my dear friend Kathleen lost her husband Jerry suddenly and tragically to a brain tumor that had only just been diagnosed. Hardly time to even grasp the diagnosis and he was gone. You just can’t put into words the magnitude of grief that we all felt. He was young, active, incredibly fit, and full of life. And then he was gone.
Having forever been an “old soul”, I’ve always loved “old things”. Even as a child, my favorite treasures were vintage – the older the better – like a 1940s Nancy Drew book or an Edwardian-era bracelet, my very first flea market purchase (made in the third grade). As an adult, my adoration for vintage grew stronger. Things were made better, and with charm, to boot! From glassware to dishes, clothes to decor, I’m drawn to items with a past life. My favorite things are beautiful and serve a useful purpose. At home, my favorite part of the house is the kitchen. For as long as I can remember, I’ve longed for an antique Hoosier (kitchen) Cabinet.
Spring has sprung in New England, finally! It’s still been chilly, especially in the mornings, but there’s definitely a change in the air. The days are longer, the air has been warmer, and the skies sunnier. The massive ice that encased everything for so long has finally disappeared. As for color, pastels are popping up everywhere, from food to nature, in decor and everything in between. Welcome Spring!
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”.
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