Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! I hope you are finding some “happy” amid all of the worry that’s weighing on everyone’s minds recently. Spring is coming, with greener days ahead. Take a break from the heavy, and visit with me a spell!
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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”.
Thanks for sending! Enjoyed reading so much! Love to go antique hunting!
Hi Nancy, I am so glad you enjoyed the post. That make me happy. Our state has some great places to go browsing for antiques. So much fun. Thanks for reading and commenting. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Boy I needed to see a little beauty and happiness today. Thank you!!
Hi Bonnie, thank you; I am so glad I brought a bit of that. Hang in there. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Just lovely, thank you for sharing.
Hi Heidi, thank you! Miss you! We must catch up! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Well, I saw red yesterday – the first red robin of the season. Yeah!!!
Hi Marlene, Love that! I have not yet spotted one, but I have heard more birds, and the geese are starting to fly over again. Spring can not get here soon enough! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love your decor……… I am Irish, and German and probably some Scot too. Love your farmgirl posts.. I so enjoy each one
Hi Mary, thank you! That really does mean so much to me. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi, I enjoyed your news and find it uplifting in these uncertain times.
Thank you,
Pam
Hi Pam, thank you so much. I am glad you felt that way. Hang in there. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Happy St. Patrick’s Day and First day of Spring tomorrow! Spreading a little green and cheer is so important in these uncertain times. Wishing you health and happiness.
My daughter had a wonderful idea for her boys, who are at home with school closed. To keep them busy and let them show their Irish pride she had them make signs with shamrocks that said, “Honk if you are Irish”. They live on a busy street and stood outside showing the signs to passing cars. They were so excited when passing cars honked! Of course, almost everyone feels a little bit Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!
Hi Nancy, I bet they were so excited – how fun! I can just hear the squeals when a car would go by and honk. It reminds me of road trips when I was a kid, crouched in the back of the family station wagon with friends, and getting all exited when a truck driver would honk the horn of the rig! I read a post in our town suggesting a “shamrock scavenger hunt”. She suggested having neighbors put a shamrock on their mail post or in their windows, and then families could drive around and see how many they spot. Cute ideas. Happy St. Patrick’s! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I curious about the junktique store and lunch spot. Can you be more specific?
Hubs and I had crock pot corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes for dinner March 17 and wore old dollar store green necklaces. Reminisced about a prior March 17 on a cruise ship and the big one 40 years ago when we bought our first home.
Hi Carol, I will look up the names and let you know. I think both are not far from you. We had corned beef for dinner Saturday, with leftovers, putting the last bit on the grill for lunch, which was fabulous! Then pea soup for dinner. Good eating! And MaryJane’s soda bread recipe is still the best I have ever had! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Nicole,
What a fun and uplifting post! We need those thoughts during this crazy time in our lives especially for those of us who have to self isolate because of the virus, age or health issues. THANK YOU! In Kansas our Governor closed all schools until the end of the year (mid May) so we also need to keep parents in our prayers. My son & wife are still trying to process managing 4 children at home for 5 months and Grandma cannot help yet…crazy!!
On a happier note, your decorations are delightful, your husband is a hunk (60s slang for very handsome), your “finds” beautiful, and you will look gorgeous in that dress! Hailing from New England and a “wee bit Irish”, my tradition is N.E. boiled corned beef & cabbage dinner – yum! Want to explore more recipes but have too many fond mem-ories of that meal cooking at my home. Everyone stay healthy as we welcome Spring.
Thank you for all the nice compliments, Pamela! So glad you enjoyed my post. Our schools have been closed awhile now, and it is all pretty surreal. I am enjoying the slower pace – getting organized for spring, knitting, sewing, and crafting more which is nice. Hang in there, and stay healthy! Thanks so much for reading and commenting. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Oh my! That green jar! ❤️
Hi Sandy, Isn’t that green pretty? Makes me think of the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz, and I love that it is from so long ago! When the sun comes through it, it is breathtaking. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
As always, love your blog! Keep them coming please
Awww, Rosie, thank you ever so much. Your comment means a lot. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Your new jar is beautiful! I haven’t seen that color before. Happy spring to you and your family, and prayers we all stay healthy!!
Hi Meredith, thank you, and the same to you and yours. Thanks for reading and commenting. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Thanks for sharing your recipe, although no one in my family will eat pea soup but myself. Also , I love the green Hoosier glass that you have!
Hi Carol! Thanks so much! I understand about the pea soup; I have a relative that hardly eats anything green at all, lol! Thanks for reading and commenting! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole,
I love the Hoosier and the wonderful display of vintage dishes and linens. Thanks for giving us a little cheer at this uncertain time.
Stay well!
Laura
Hi Laura, thank you; I am so glad you enjoyed the post. It means a lot. Stay well, too! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Wonderful post Nicole!! I always read and enjoy your cheerful stories. We have been married just under 60 yrs and also love each others company and going junking. Of course there’s nothing we need, but it’s still fun. Congrats on finding the green jar, I love it. Living in Wash, now is not a good time to go out, so we are just staying home and staying well, hopfully. Best wishes to you and your families and stay well also. Laurel
Hi Laurel! WOW! Sixty years! That is so awesome. I love to hear that. Wishing you both many more years of happy times together. Thank you for reading and commenting. It means a lot. Stay in and stay well! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I don’t have a web site but so enjoyed reading your blog. Was comforting and encouraging. Thank you and looking forward to next one.
Hi Barb, Thank you so much. I am glad I was able to bring a bit of light during this dark time. Hang in there, and stay well. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole– Always enjoy your posts. And loved your photo of 1930’s green jar. I have one just like it that I rescued from my mother in laws cupboard many years ago. I use it as a vase often and it has a lovely home in our china cabinet. Wish I had a Hoosier. Stay well and thanks for bringing a smile.
Hi Kerrie! Isn’t that green glass just so pretty? I love that you have one with a story and family history. I have not thought of using it as a vase – love the idea. Would be pretty with daffodils in it, so maybe next St. Patty’s I will do just that! Stay well! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Love your repurposed hanger and cute postcard!
Hi Amy, Thanks so much! I love to craft with things I have just “hanging around”. The hanger was one of those things – I did not have to buy anything to make it. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Oh how I love the way you decorate! Also so many memories you just brought back, I too read 17 magazine and made many of the recipes, I too had the exact same leprechauns visit while I was growing up and when my littles were growing up. 🙂
Hi Gaye, Thank you! I love to decorate, and love moving things around here and there, and repurposing. I remember Oprah once said, “Your home should rise up to greet you”. True- our homes should be bright and cheery and warm. Wasn’t Seventeen Magazine the greatest back in the day? I wish they still had it for my now 17 year old daughter. Thank you so much for reading and commenting! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole!
Loved this post… I like my soup thick, too! 😉 Your junking date sounds wonderful… Love a surprise spot with a fireplace. Great collections and memories! I hope you are all well and making your way thought these challenging times.
Farmgirl Hugs!
Deb
Hi Deb! Thank you! We are well, happy to report we are healthy. It is a challenging time, but making the best of it. Glad to read that all is well with you, too. Love your new shed! That is the same place we got our chicken coop from several years ago. Great buildings.