“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” —Jim Bishop
Dear Sisters,
What’s more fun that grabbing your best junkin’ gal pal and heading for prime hunting grounds on a perfect fall day? My friend, Melissa ( Tilly’s Nest Blog ) and I have made it our fall ritual to hit the road every time The Vintage Bazaar comes to town. You didn’t think we’d leave you out did you? Come on in! It’s pickin’ at its prime!
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”.
To answer your question:
Does anyone know what these vintage parts are that have been up-cycled into farm chic lamps? I can see them hanging over a farm table, or over an apron sink in a farmhouse kitchen. And, wouldn’t they be lovely outside on a porch?
They are the inserts out of old bait buckets, there is usually another metal enclosure that goes around them that has a metal lid and a handle. The insert is taken out so the water can drain out through the holes.
Thanks so much, Heather…:) Glad you could help us out with this mystery! xo Deb
What a great source of ideas & inspiration! Thanks for sharing 🙂 .
Blessings,
Catherine Ann
So true, Catherine Ann…It’s one of those events that gets the creative juices going! xo Deb
Deb, I can’t choose a favorite spot, it all looks way to wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing yours and Tilly’s fun day. God bless.
Hello Miss Joan! I’m with you, I couldn’t choose a favorite either. Glad you enjoyed the day with us! 🙂 xo Deb
I want one of those bags in your first photos. I wished I lived closer. What an awesome event. I would have gone crazy! Thanks for sharing. What great eye candy!
Sylvia, I’ll get you the link to the maker of those fabulous bags… They really are special and VINTAGE! XO Deb
Looks like fun! I have a lot of stuff that would have fit right in! However, I don’t need to collect anything else . . . trying to pare down, pass on and purge!
Thanks for sharing the adventure!
CJ
I’ll be you do, Cj! I know you appreciate! xo Deb
Such fun! Thanks for taking us with you. Can’t wait for the next blog.
Glad you could come along, Bonnie! xo Deb
The basket lights just before the bait bucket inserts are bean picking baskets. All are really neat.
Thank you, Pauleta! Love those lamps. So clever… xo Deb
Deb, I WANT TO GO WITH YOU!!! Oh my word, that looked like a ton of fun. Funny about your greenhouse dreams – we are on the same wave length here. Those windows you picked up look spectacular for that project! I can’t tell you what my favorite thing was – everything looked like so much fun!!! 🙂 Can’t wait to read about the fashion show! – Dori –
Hey, Dori!
Well, how fun is that?Keep me posted on your progress with your greenhouse too! I wish you could have come along too! You’ll LOVE the fashion show!
🙂 Deb
Deb! These pictures are making me drool…literally (or maybe it’s the lasagna baking in the oven?). So much potential in all of these beautiful finds. I cannot wait to see your vintage window greenhouse–it is one of my dreams to build one of these, too! I think those light fixtures are some kind of bushel baskets (the top ones) and minnow catching buckets (the bottom lights). I remember using the minnow buckets as a kid and watching all of the little baby fish swim around inside. Happy fall! Love, Alex
Alex,
Minnow buckets? How fun! I’ve got to continue gathering windows and hopefully by next spring we can begin constructing the frame for it. Fingers crossed!
Keep us posted on your progress too! 🙂 Happy fall to your little trio! xo Deb
Looks like soooo much fun! I feel like I was there thanks to you beautiful pics!
Hi Pam, Glad you enjoyed… Wish I could have streamed the fun country music that was playing in the background all day! Thanks for joining in! xo Deb
I wanted to attend this also but had booked our vacation at the same time! Won’t do that again. Thanks for sharing your pictures, can’t wait for next year! Sandi
Sandi,
Plan for June and keep me posted! 🙂 xo Deb
Deb, you always go to the BEST markets. I loved all of it. and yes I did recognize the cricket/bait buckets made into lamps, now you got me wondering do I have a few hanging around somewhere. ha. have fun for me. Neta
Neta, I’ll bet you have some in your stash! Thanks for coming along! Love, Deb
Loved it all, Deb ! Thanks for sharing !
The Sea Pearl glamper was my favorite, especially because we did not get to the beach from Kansas this summer. But got the next best thing- my own glamper.
I am looking forward to your future posts during the holiday season!
Linda
Awe, congratulations on your new Glamper, Linda! How exciting for you! Thanks so much for reading! xo Deb
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So enjoyed your blog! You are a kick in the farm girl ass ! I have a farm in Wilder Idaho ! 26 Glorious acres of alfalfa and a beautiful farmhouse we built last year! A lifelong dream came true! We just got three baby Nubian goats! They are a hoot! My hole life I’ve anted a horse and a big red wood barn! Still workin on that one! Yeeehaaaaw! I want a spotted cow too!we put in our first garden and a pumpkin patch and a apple and fruit orchard! It is fabulous! We are so blessed and grateful to God for all we have! You are a very talented writer! You and I could be kindred spirits! I so miss the ocean! I grew up in the Bay Area and went to the ocean often! We moved to Idaho from Nevada Reno area! Love it up here! We owned the land for 10 years and finally after raising the kids AND a grandson we moved to our dream life! I LOVE the country life and bein a farm girl now! Let’s keep in touch! Oh! I LOVE SEA HORSE! The name for your cottage! Take care, Cindy
Cindy! Howdy! Well, thanks so much for your kind words…Sounds like you’re livin’ the farmgirl life and having a blast doing it…So happy for you!Your place sounds like farmgirl heaven with more to grow on! You are blessed for sure! Would you believe in all of my 40 years out west I’ve never been to Idaho? That’s just nutty.. .I’ve been west, north and south of it many times but never to ” it “. Gotta fix that one of these days! Take good care and keep in touch! Hugs,
Deb
I sure wish we had those kind of shows out here in Cali, the ones we do have are more “market oriented”, I prefer the real down home style shows like this one you shared.
I would love to know the maker resource of the bags as well, so cute! A real farm girl accessories, who needs Gucci? Thanks for the great story!
Howdy, Rebekah! Who needs Gucci or Coach? Not us!!! Here is the link for the vintage feed-sack satchels. From there you can link to her Etsy… She’s from Woodland Hills, California!
http://www.selinavaughan.com/ …Thanks so much for reading, and your note! xo Deb