“Mustache” = “must ask” haha.
I’d like to introduce you to my new cat. Isn’t he stunning?
Well, maybe not “new.” I mean, I’ve had him for a month now.
Do you want to know how soft his fur is? Well, I don’t have any idea; I haven’t been able to touch him. He is wild.
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”.
Absolutely love that cat! I think my “hat” for some time now is that of a caregiver. I think this word was “coined” some years ago, but I find myself filling that role every day. I think all of us do, we just don’t realize it. Whether it be your family, friends, strangers, with your animals, garden or anything else, we take care of them according to their needs. At this season in my life, my 96 year old mother has been living with us until the good Lord calls her home. Like being a parent, it is the hardest and most taxing work I have ever done, but I’m sure there are many rewards that I haven’t even discovered yet. So many changes to my selfish self — wanting my freedom again etc etc., yet I know this is where I need and want to be. We are discovering each other again on a whole new level!
Hi Rebekah:
I so look forward to your posts! You teach all of us where our priorities should be – in the little and small things of life but family is precious. You bring hope and cheer to so many. Wishing you many blessings!
Sharon
You do wear many hats and I’m inspired by your zest for it all! I have worn and do wear many hats! At the moment I love wearing the grandma hat! I have discovered that the word does not mean what it used to, I can go to football games and cheer as loud as anyone and give advice and enjoy lots of hugs! I have had their back up and strength to get me through a battle with cancer and plan to be here for a long time to see where their lives take them. I think that I have made the most of all the hats I’ve worn over the years and would not change anything even if it would have been easier! Keep up the good work with this blog and happy farming!
Please ,please, Rebekah, don’t give up on the TNR program. These cats need your help. Please contact Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah for any help you need. Your mustache cat could get caught again and returned to the shelter. Oh, and I once knew a cat who looked just like this, who was named “Hitler”. Good luck, and thanks for all your posts!
Rebekah, thanks for sharing your life. I always look forward to your posts. You are living the life I have always wanted by living on a farm! This is disgusting they are killing these cats! I love your little man you saved.
My memory stinks. It’s really a joke in our family. I have migraines and figure it’s what caused me to remember so little. I will from now on tell people what your aunt said! She hit the nail on the head!
You make me happy.
You make some very interesting points about putting down cats which I had never thought about before. Your tuxedo dude with the mustache is irresistible and I think if anyone can help him overcome his early hard life it will be you and your sweet daughter.
My favorite go to recipe for brownies:
1/4 c butter melted, 6 T best cocoa, 1 c sugar, 1/4 t salt, 1/2 c flour, 2 t vanilla, 2 eggs, 1 c chopped nuts. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa, sugar, salt, vanilla. Beat eggs and add to mix. Stir in flour. Add nuts. Spread in prepared 8 x 8 pan. Bake 30 min, just til edges pull away from pan. Do not over bake.