I have loved antiques, old houses, and places since I was a young girl. I must have gotten the gene that makes you like the smell of must, dust and old things in general. Perhaps that’s why I am attracted to antiques and vintage furniture as my canvas. An elaborately turned leg, a curved drawer or the entire form of a piece will strike me and I will have to bring it home! I guess my need to rescue these “pieces of the past” and give them a new life in these modern times is a way of preserving the past in some small way.
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“
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
”
~ Mark TwainDebbie 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.’”
Column contents © Deb Bosworth. All rights reserved.
Being a farmgirl is not
about where you live,
but how you live.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.
Column contents © Rebekah Teal. All rights reserved.
“
Keep close to Nature’s heart … and break clear away once in awhile to climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods, to wash your spirit clean.
”
~ John MuirCathi 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.”
Column contents © Cathi Belcher. All rights reserved.
“
Wherever you go, no matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
”
~ Anthony J. D’AngeloDori 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.
Column contents © Dori Troutman. All rights reserved.
Shery Jespersen
Previous Ranch Farmgirl,
Oct 2009 – Nov 2013Wyoming cattle rancher and outpost writer (rider), shares the “view from her saddle.” Shery is a leather and lace cowgirl-farmgirl who’s been horse-crazy all of her life. Her other interests include “junktiques,” arts and crafts, glamping, collecting antique china, and cultivating mirth.
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.”
Column contents © Mary Murray. All rights reserved.
Farmgirl
is a condition
of the heart.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!
Column contents © Alexandra Wilson. All rights reserved.
Libbie Zenger
Previous Rural Farmgirl,
June 2010 – Jan 2012Libbie’s a small town farmgirl who lives in the high-desert Sevier Valley of Central Utah on a 140-year-old farm with her husband and two darling little farmboys—as well as 30 ewes; 60 new little lambs; a handful of rams; a lovely milk cow, Evelynn; an old horse, Doc; two dogs; a bunch o’ chickens; and two kitties.
René Groom
Previous Rural Farmgirl,
April 2009 – May 2010René lives in Washington state’s wine country. She grew up in the dry-land wheat fields of E. Washington, where learning to drive the family truck and tractors, and “snipe hunting,” were rites of passage. She has dirt under her nails and in her veins. In true farmgirl fashion, there is no place on Earth she would rather be than on the farm.
Farmgirl spirit can take root anywhere—dirt or no dirt.
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”.
Column contents © Nicole Christensen. All rights reserved.
Paula Spencer
Previous Suburban Farmgirl,
October 2009 – October 2010Paula is a mom of four and a journalist who’s partial to writing about common sense and women’s interests. She’s lived in five great farm states (Michigan, Iowa, New York, Tennessee, and now North Carolina), though never on a farm. She’s nevertheless inordinately fond of heirloom tomatoes, fine stitching, early mornings, and making pies. And sock monkeys.
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Well, you took MY breath away! I am very impressed!
I love what you did with that piece of furniture! Stunning!
How lovely! You were able to breathe new life into that nice old piece while still showing its beauty! Keep up the good work! Maybe it wil inspire me to tackle a couple of pieces that I’ve had hidden in storage! Thanks for the peek! Have a lovely day at the beach!
I share your passion for antiques, I have been online all day looking for dishes–Old Country Rose–it’s been a dream of mine to own a whole set.
Loved your blog!
Cherry
I must say I was aghast at the idea of painting an antique. I was always taught not to do anything to them except clean and polish. But after I saw your finished project, Wow!! How great did that turn out?!!. Your treasures are so beautiful in their new home. I think I need to "re-think" "re-purposing". Thank you for the lesson.
Blessings to you and yours.
Thank you everyone for your comments and praises for my painted lady! Marji, you bring up a very good point! I should have included that it’s always a good idea to do your research before you pick up that paint brush! Some antiques are NOT meant to be painted if they are worth a considerable amount of money. I knew mine wouldn’t fetch much with an antique dealer in its shappy condition and I planned on keeping it anyhow.
Beach Blessings, Deb
Kindred spirits are such fun! After enjoying your creativity on the outside of the cabinet, I strained my eyes trying to peek inside. Love the cake pedestal on second shelf up from the bottom. Thanks for sharing!
So true Merry! I had never seen a square cake pedestal so I grabbed it from a local antique mall in Reno many moons ago. I also love the cut glass designs on it. It’s perfect for finger sandwiches or small-ish deserts, and I’ve piled fruit and cheese on it for brunches too!
I love how you made it yours! I like to paint vintage furniture. Make’s my woodworking hubs crazy. He can never see what I am trying to do in his mind anymore than I can see what he is creating in his mind until it is done. Usually he is ok with the end result but I will never again paint something he has built unless it was built in mind of painting because I once painted a little folding table he built and he later told me it was built with some special wood he had gotten from an uncle. Whoops. I always check now.
Uh oh! That’s a hoot Brenda!
Now that took a goodly measure of confidence, fearless use of color and visionary imagination! Your painted lady is a "beaut". I’m still on the fence about which color to paint an 1800s era step-back cupboard and there are just 2 colors to choose from :o) I love old china too. I recently watched the movie, "Emma", and thought of you when I read that you like the fashions and dress of that period. I love the language. I bet you’ve seen it. Great blog!
Just had to share my creation with you although not as elaborate. My daughter’s changing table/dresser sat unloved for years, after all she is 27. But it has had many reincarnations during the years although it always looked the same. I found some great china drawer pulls at Anthropology on sale and bought enough for the drawers. They are white with a blue and yellow floral print that looks like a French country pattern. After taking the railing off the top and painting the chest black, the drawer pulls pop and the chest is the perfect storage in my sewing room for fabric and package wrapping needs.I am loving repuposing too.
Your re-purposing project sounds great! I love Anthropology as well. They have a wonderful selection of funky knobs and pulls…It’s so fun to re-think how to use things we have had for ever… Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing your creativity. This was great to read on a rather gray day, frought with challenges, it was my rest for the day. Thanks.
Hi Deb! I just discovered your blog and am soooooo impressed with your creativity and talent! I love your painted lady. You have inspired me and given me a boost to try reworking cast-off furniture and other used items. Thank you for sharing!!! Tess
I to love to collect antiques. I do have a hard time getting my husband to paint something old. ( he did a wonderful job on some shelves and mirrors. Thanks for the ideas…Fran
Thankfully some bloggers can still write. Thank you for this post!
At least some bloggers can write. My thanks for this piece!!!
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