What is that old saying about work and play? oh yeah, now I remember. “All work and no play makes Rebekah a very dull Farmgirl.”
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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”.
Love it all!!
Our best memories are the ones gathered around our bonfire, with the grand kids poking sticks in the fire for entertainment, cooking over the fire, chasing fire flies and watching the stars. Funny how simple things can become stuck in our memories as the most precious things!! Hugs from the Ozarks!! Diana, Noel, Mo
I compliment you for taking care of YOURSELF. We need to refresh for our families, our work and just life. Smell the fresh air and concentrate on us. Good going farmgirl!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I’ve never been on horseback. But, recently, I’ve been watching the show “Heartland” on Netflix and now I want a horse! My dad has horses so I guess I’ll have to be brave and take a ride. Really enjoy your posts!
Great post! How much fun would that be?! Beautiful. I love the cabin and the thought of being on a horse in the dark? Kinda scary, but what an adventure! I have a tendency to do the same thing, wait until I have this or that done before any fun. I’ve gotten better at not waiting for fun as I get older, but this is a good reminder.
Farmgirl Hugs,
Nicole
(Suburban Farmgirl)
Thank you!! I never play anymore and I need it desperately! You’re trip sounds wonderful!
All I can say is WOW! You described that night ride so well that I felt like I was there.
As always, great post Rebekah. Husby read parts of it to me this morning while I was cleaning milking equipment. Ah, the night ride (your black photo gave us a good laugh). I had to trust a horse at night with a sheer thirty-foot drop into a raging river six inches to the right of me. I prepared myself to die. I asked my guide, Emil Keck, who was in front of me, “Seriously, I can’t turn my headlamp on? I want to SEE how I die.” He said, “No, the light will only confuse the horse. Right now, he’s seeing the trail with his feet.”
It all sounds so wonderful!!!!
Hi Rebekah,
Great post!
When our kids were young my husband and I held numerous horse camp trips and one of the things they did was the night ride. I remember doing this myself when I was a young girl. It is an amazing experience. I’m glad you got away and that it was a perfect experience for you!
Love that you got to host the gathering of your community. How fun is that.
Hugs,
– Dori, the Ranch Farmgirl –
P.S. Will I still be your Farmgirl friend if I admit that I have absolutely NO INTEREST in ever riding a horse again???? And I had a lovely childhood of horse back riding. My children had a lovely upbringing of riding, lessons, shows, endurance rides, and on and on. And my husband rides and loves his horse. But me as an adult? Nope. No riding. No desire.
But hey… if you ever come visit me I’m sure my husband will let you ride his horse! 🙂 And I’ll walk alongside you!
What a great story and wonderful reminder of what so many of us forget on a daily basis. We get so busy working and rushing our lives along that we forget to truly live and play.
Your trip looks like so much fun. I would love to take a trip like that myself. Riding a horse in the dark would be such an adventure. Definitely not something you will be forgetting anytime soon. Also your little get together at home sounds so relaxing and enjoyable. What a good way to kick up your feet and enjoy some laughs. No need to worry at all over spilt ice cream. Thanks for reminding me to take a step aside from work to play!
Love the photos and story. You sure have an interesting life. Enjoy your beautiful surroundings.
Marilyn
Thanks for the wonderful adventures and thanks for the reminder of what so many of us forget – stop – smell – and enjoy. God bless.
Lovely…the article, the photos, the horses, the tiny glowing flowers (never heard of them). Thank you…I needed all of it…the message, the photos, the fantasy of fairy like travel…
Oh my, Rebekah. Do you have any idea how lucky and blessed you are. To live and experience all that beauty every day is just too much!
Thanks for the incentive to play again. I don’t play anymore either and I know I really need to. Your night ride sounds scary and an rather other worldly experience. I’m planning on riding lessons once a month next year, just so I can begin doing some of the things on my bucket list. Snakes…yuk!!
To host a ride and camp out sounds a wonderful experience and to live in a community like that would be just amazing. Good on you for taking time out to play and adventure again. I’m sure you’ve inspired many if us who don’t play to do so. Thank you
Hugs from Australia
Good for you, Rebekah!
I’m green with envy for your horse adventure! I guess I’d better get busy and plan one for myself! You are one lucky farmgirl. The area you live in is so beautiful. Oh, I found a link for you about snakes. I think the snake is your totem animal…http://www.spiritanimal.info/snake-spirit-animal/ Those snakes are there to teach you something about yourself not to frighten you.
I could almost hear the horses hooves during your black night ride. And I know the pretty phosphorous lights you are talking about. We have it at the beach! Sometimes when we are walking the beach at night we can kick it up in the water with our feet. And it’s very pretty if you’re in a row boat or kayak it lights the way as you glide along!
Your community gathering sounds delightful. Wish I could have pulled up a hay bale and sung along with you all!
Big hugs sister!
Thanks for the inspiration, always!
Deb
PS. We farmgirl bloggers really need to plan a gathering for 2016!!! Where???
I sometimes stray away from MaryJanes’ FarmGirl page…and then I always come back to see what you have been doing. You are amazing. I love your posts…you take the brave steps that I need to take. My goal this 2016 is to have more play in my life…I do quite well on all the rest, and realize that I am missing out on a whole lot of what makes life worth living for. Thank you for blazing the trail…even in the dark! (and what is up with you and snakes??? lol)
That looks amazing! Really though I’m just glad that someone else said they could do something for themselves without feeling guilty. You’ve inspired me!
Enjoyed the photos….jealous. ..havent been on a horse in years. I woukd be too scared of a fall. And iknow whst you mean about tge snakes…..i was always afraid my horse would be spooked by one.
Especially like the photo of the greenery and the vibrant fall colors. Lovely.m Susana