| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Jun 11 2008 : 5:10:34 PM
Is it my imagination or is everyone getting on the farmgirl bandwagon? Which is a good thing, don't get me wrong....
I have never been a big magazine buyer (except for MaryJanesFarm), but lately I have been on a kick of buying and looking through a lot of them. And you know what? I see yo-yo art in Country Living, apron articles all over the place, organic gardening tips and recipes, outdoor tent rooms, and just farmgirl photos and lifestyle articles everywhere! It is like seeing a MaryJanesFarm Magazine look alike! I see it in Cottage Living, and many others.....even Architectural Digest.
There is definitely a trend here, and MaryJane was at the front! Love it!
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| LunaTheFarmLady |
Posted - Jun 18 2008 : 07:07:16 AM
Jonni and Jami
This is exactly how I feel about the Oprah book club thing. While it probably has helped promote some good authors and spread really good ideas, it just smaks of mindless followers who can't think for themselves without some some guru type telling them what to think. I find it annoying. It brings out my impatient side. I, feel, too, that I can pick out my own books. It bugs me to see her sticker on STACKS of books at B&N. I can just see the $$$$ ringing in a pocket that doesn't need it. Anyhooooo....
I love the stories about your father. He sounds great. He came from a time when people lived and thought about what they were doing as a natural part of life, not this trend following we often see today. I am reminded of my mom who made all our clothes (4 girls) without a pattern. She made her own. She had us lie down on brown paper bags from the store and cut out a t-shape around our outstretched arms to get the size right. Then she would sew and embellish it with smocking and rick rack, ...the whole thing by hand.
But also as you say, there are so many people also who are taking up the old skills and ways again, in a real sense, and making them part of their authentic life. It is spreading. This is what i call the shift in counsciousness. It's sort of like a boat....where the weight of all those of like minded thinking are moving toward a place ...the sheer numbers will alter the course of humanity. I see it as a flow of energy.
Jami, I like your definition of green business....here too :)
cheers!
Luna The Farm Lady
http://blueballmountainspindleneedleworks.blogspot.com/
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| jpbluesky |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 6:14:52 PM
Jami - you understand! Jonni - your dad sounds awesome in his logical outlook.
And believe me, girls, I don't believe you will see MJ on Oprah anytime soon.
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 3:15:45 PM
Jami, I'll never forget some of dad's "inventions"...now I know that they'd be in mags!!! You sound like a gal after my own heart...I know--I felt a little miffed, like women didn't know how to read before O showed them the way :) I know, they're merely suggestions, and it's helped a lot of authors...but...it's just me. And, well, maybe Jami ;)
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| Jami |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 2:57:56 PM
Jeannie, I just was visiting one of those "frugal" websites about going green and saving money and living on a dime, off the land, hoopla. One of the tips on there was not using their 2 central air conditioners (they had 2!!, one for upstairs and one for down) and how much it saved them. Subscribe to our site to find out how to save more was the "catch phrase". I laughed so hard and thought that there are a lot of variables in how people interpret "going green."
Jami in WA
Okay, so now I have a blog. http://woolyinwashington.wordpress.com/ |
| Jami |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 2:53:14 PM
The bleach bottle/plastic bag holder idea would be a devoted segment on a "Martha" show now...your dad should write a book of his "green" (translated sensible and out of necessity) inventions and go exploit it on Oprah. You'd have one heckuva inheritance!
I had to laugh out loud when you said you could pick your own books without O's help. I was kind of mad when she had a few books on her list that I had already read...and planted her blasted sticker on them. It just almost ruined them for me...there's always someone on the playground that spoils all of the fun.
As an aside, green business on our farm means Hay for Sale.
Jami in WA
Okay, so now I have a blog. http://woolyinwashington.wordpress.com/ |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 2:48:03 PM
I do think "green" has become more a PR term for profit than anything else. In the 70's, we got concerned for the environment and acted. We turned off the AC. I often used oil lamps instead of lights in the evening. It was the early days of "compact" cars. We used paper bags or cloth bags for groceries...foods were not so heavily "packaged" with all the stuff that goes in the trash when we get home...we used cloth rags, towels, and napkins. We dusted with rags, too, that could be washed and not thrown away like swiffers. We used our paper bags to put garbage in, not plastic bags. We hand washed the dishes, and rinsed them in a container of water instead of letting the water run. Glass was returnable, and plastic milk jugs were "new". So green today is not what environmentalism was then. And our environmentalism then may have been silly to some who grew up in the 40's. They re-used everything and it was normal. They had fireplaces, and washing machines with no motors (wringers).......it would be a big shock if folks really had to "do without" now. I see photo ads for being green and it makes me smile, because there in the photo is a dishwasher, a fridge with a water dispenser, a wine cooler, and you know the AC is on and they are trying to say the house is "green"! Gosh, I sound like an old fogey here!
Just a thought: It is not outside the realm of possibility that MJ turned Oprah down already....... :)
Another thought: Also, let me say that any attempt to help our world, PR or not, can only be a good thing!
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 1:09:51 PM
I'm just enough of an anti-establishment gal that if Maryjane did end up on Oprah or Martha, I might not be too keen on MJ anymore...that's just the way I am, though. I refuse to buy books that have the "Oprah's bookclub" sticker on them...I don't hate Oprah at all, I can just pick books on my own.
That said, I'm really glad that newspapers are giving people lists of local farmers markets, and folks like my sil, who's schooling herself about my nephews allergies related to food, and buying into a organic cooperative. She's not going to do the work to grow it, but she can support a local farmer just the same. I like that I'm seeing more gardens, and that folks knit, sew, etc...and are giving homemade gifts. But often I'm just like...."well, DUH." A few weeks ago, someone asked me how worried I was about my garden--if it was difficult to get it started and how hard it must be to take care of it. And, then, they asked, what if stuff doesn't grow? I thought about it for a second and said, "well, you know, my great grandmother and grandfather gardened to sustain their household, and they never starved to death, so I bet I won't either." So, yeah. DUH. It just seems like common sense to me, but then, when you go to grocery and the teenage check out girl says, "what is this?" pointing to a bag of baby spinach lying on the scanner, maybe the more mainstream MaryJane can get, the better!!!! NEXT UP, MTV!!!!
My dad grew up in the depression, and I think we were very realistic in our household. I remember when all stores started giving plastic bags out...my mom saved hers, and they were an unruly mess. So, he took one of the empty washing detergent bottles, cut the bottom off, mounted it on the inside stair to the basement, and voila! You pulled the bags from the "pourer" and stuffed them in at the bottom(which was now the top). Today, Danny Seo (the Green consultant for Country Home) would treat this like it was a miracle of ingenuity and recycling-greenability! My dad would have said, "Duh. It's just common sense" or more likely, "use your head for something other than a hat rack!"
So, in sum, I'm grateful to Mary Jane for simply making more of us remember our roots and for giving us tools to use our heads for more than just hat racks--for common sense. I just wish "green" wasn't a brand...but that's consumerism, and honestly, if you could sell a "green" or "organic" instant house/garden/lifestyle in a box, folks would buy it.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| LunaTheFarmLady |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 12:45:21 PM
being nuts is a good thang.... :->
Luna The Farm Lady
http://blueballmountainspindleneedleworks.blogspot.com/
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| Sandra K. Licher |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 12:31:56 PM
You gals are a hoot! You make me smile and I too was wondering if MJ had been on Oprah yet? She had that 'pretty woman" actress and her friend doing a "green" show but that was nothing compared to MJ and what she's done in her life! And Jami I agree with you...if all the "city folk" moved to the country it would get too crowded! So more power to them!
My mother was green years ago as anyone who went through the Depression was. They lost their farm and my mom went to the city and became a nurse and put herself through school. She used to save bread bags and when I was little she's put them over my shoes and then I put my boots on and it was so much easier to slide on the boots ( days before shoe-boots were invented) and she would save, wash and re-use foil and many other things. That generation was my parents and MJ's parents and many others and now finally we're getting back to that. There's a saying I love that I want to embroider..."Use it up, make it do, throw it out or buy it new" and I try to do them in that order. I SO relate to you guys when you talk about a day well spent and working hard. There have been so many times I could not relate to other women...I'm sure they thought I was NUTS and maybe I am but finally I have found others who get the same satisfaction out of hard, physical labor, getting dirty, and loving the land and nature. Thank you all for sharing....it's like a warm hug to find other women who make me finally feel welcome.
Sam in AR..... "It's a great life if you don't weaken!"
Farmgirl Sister #226 |
| LunaTheFarmLady |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 09:52:15 AM
Yes it is wonderful to see so many younger women (and men too) creating this life for themselves. I see so many young people doing so many creative and energising things to better their world in their own way. It's the cumulative value of all those small actions, whether in the city, suburbs or the farm that will carry through.
Luna The Farm Lady
http://blueballmountainspindleneedleworks.blogspot.com/
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| jpbluesky |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 09:38:04 AM
It was mentioned above that the farmgirl dream is very popular among the boomers, and those of us who wanted a simple life in the 70's. I agree. Interestingly enough though, there seems to be a resurgence among young women also. I certainly see it here on this site, as we have so many young women, and I see it among my daughter's friends. They make their own bread, eat organic, garden and love to keep life more simple for their children. I love that it is transcending the years and staying alive!
And Renee, I loved your response, too! Welcome again!
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
| frannie |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 09:06:03 AM
very cute, mima, post pics!
love
frannie in texas
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/)
(http://abunnystale.blogspot.com/) |
| mima |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 08:38:48 AM
I'M such a Maryjane wannnabee!!!!  My kids crack up! I actually got my hair long enough to get in a braid and my kids rolled their eyes and said "Oh. hi. Maryjane.."!( hey- sister mary..if your'e reading this thought you'd get a kick out of that!!!!)
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| LunaTheFarmLady |
Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 07:23:16 AM
I think what MaryJane has done is legitimize what we so called hippies were doing in the 70's while living her life authentically through the decades. It has taken 40 years for the media and the mainstream to come around to what many of us were doing then and have been doing and have kept doing either consciously or on the back burner through the years. I applaud MaryJane for being true to who she has been throughout her life and validating the values that I have always believed in and mainstream life has tried to belittle and devalue. Yes, it's all in the big media now, but as Frannie said there are some who have also carried the thread through these decades. Mary Emmerling was and still is one of the originals, living her life authentically, I think. The small farm movement and the sustainable living movement are both part of the larger shift in consciousness that is taking place in the larger world and it's affect is being felt in many ways.
Ultimately, I think it's a babyboomer thing. Whatever we are into, the world and the media try to capitalize on. And unfortunately, often it is cheapened and diminished. I personally, would not want to see MJ on either Oprah or Martha. I think that they are both too commercialized and the true value of 'the farm girl' life would be lost and turned into another empty, short lived trend for many. I would rather see the movement spread through forums like this where people of all generations can truly learn and be encouraged to pursue their personal dreams authentically rather than through media sound bytes. As Tracy said, it is hard work, real work and for me the most rewarding work. To each their own as Jami says...but keep it real. For me, part of the reward is my sheep's lovely soft wool fragrant with lanolin mixed in the evening air with the scents of cilantro and basil in the herb garden.The crunch of my own fresh picked greens and veggies. The long horizons and the starlit nights. The poo on my boots are just an added bonus!
Luna The Farm Lady
http://blueballmountainspindleneedleworks.blogspot.com/
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| frannie |
Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 9:50:32 PM
kentucky frannie
my favorite was john kennedy, because he was an irish catholic and we were irish catholics,(or so i thought, but thats another story.) anyway, i was 10 and we were all so excited to have someone who seemed "just like us" becoming president kinda like what is going on now with hillary, and with obama. i have just always loved all things, kennedy, even with all their faults. my favorite kennedy was robert.
now as an adult, i really loved jimmy carter, and was really discourage when he wasnt able to implement some of the things that he was trying to do. my opinion is that he rattled the status quo and scared the tar out of the money folks, but i could be wrong, i just think some of his ideas were "for the good of all" and that he was just ahead of his time.
i think if he had been successful then the merge between government and corporate america might not have occured.
i am enjoying politics, now more than i ever have and i guess because of this, i really had a hard time this weekend with the death of tim russert. i just boohooed like a little baby when the announced it, and i watched all weekend when they ran the tributes to him. well, when i wasnt helping dh with a project we had going to close off a small room and add some french doors. the computer room, i'm in there now and it is so cozy.
anyway, would love to hear more.
love
frannie in texas
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/)
(http://abunnystale.blogspot.com/) |
| AlpacaRenee |
Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 8:22:47 PM
Hi y'all,
This conversation is SO me! I always have told people that I feel like I was born 100 years too late. Since I was a little girl, I was doing things that my great great grandma might have done, from sewing, darning socks, inventing/designing things out of things that were intended for other uses...I feel like maybe I was a prarie frontier woman 150 years ago. When I saw the PBS series Frontier House, I felt a deep homesickness in my bones. It was weirdly familiar; I couldn't explain it to any of my "non farmgirl" friends...they thought I was insane. But I know you all understand what I mean. I have lived all over this country for my "bill-paying job" and I can be happy anywhere, but I am happiest in a rural setting.
I love you like the sisters I never had,
Renee
Finney's Fiber Farm Alpacas...where being dense is a GOOD thing! |
| CabinCreek-Kentucky |
Posted - Jun 14 2008 : 12:37:09 PM
honey hunk has met him .. (hank was a special litigation attorney for the environment division at the u.s. department of justice .. my kids and lucas have met him ... they are 'big time' enviornmentalists (ha! and DEMOCRATS!) but i've never had the honor to personally meet him in all my years in d.c.
never met president jimmy either .. but, i too, admire him for many reasons.
ha! my biggest memories go back to NIXON and the watergate era ... of course, i was there under (NOT literally!) quite a few presidents .. but KENNEDY was my most memorable.
frannie .. who has been your mos' fav president during your lifetime? xo
True Friends * Frannie
adopt a 'rag-chile'
http://sistermercysfoundlinhome.blogspot.com
treasures .. new and olde .. http://mudpiemanormercantile.blogspot.com
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| frannie |
Posted - Jun 13 2008 : 6:14:26 PM
once again, frannie i have to agree with you. everything old is new again.
i discovered organics after the birth of my daughter, who is now 33 years old.
many of the new things that i read about being "green" i have been reading about or living since the 60s-70s, as many others have, wish we had really been able to make some of the changes then in a global way, and maybe our world would be different.
when i had the opportunity(?) to reclaim my life after my divorce, i decided to try and live the life i thought i was going to build with my first husband, and as we can i think we do that here.
the road to a farm can be a very tangled one, but i am grateful for all the farmgirl friends here no matter if they be city or country, and i actually have more faith that with the young folks, many of the "old" ways will really take hold and become the norm.
now about mr. gore, i too am a big fan of his, and wonder, girlfriend frannie if you have ever met him? seems like you could have! also wonder if ya ever met my favorite, president jimmy.
i know in some circles he is not liked but i have many reasons for liking him and i wish that we could have followed some of his advice about oil and the environment.
not to get into a heated debate here, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, i am just telling mine, and hopefully trying to get some great story out of you, frannie, as i love to hear them.
love
frannie in texas
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/)
(http://abunnystale.blogspot.com/) |
| CabinCreek-Kentucky |
Posted - Jun 13 2008 : 5:32:15 PM
hey gurlfrenz .. i'm thinkin' more OPRAH on MARYJANE's show .. IF .. maryjane ever has such aspirations .. but then .. we'd have to 'clone' her to do all she does AND have a tv show! i believe she is reaching those she is supposed to be reaching. not everyone wants the simple life .. but we surely could everyone of us benefit by her philosophies and ideals incorporated into our lives in some ways .. no matter where we choose to live.
there are many wonderful 'prophets' of the 'good life lived for a healthy earth' out there. i, for one, have admired Al Gore for many, many years.
i remember living this lifestyle 35 years ago when i lived in the foothills of colorado .. this is more like de ja vue for me. most of the people in evergreen, colorado at the time lived a very much self-sustained and healthy lifestyle. my children attended the
'open living school' at the time (there was both GOOD and BAD in it!) but if you take the good and leave off the bad .. it was a wonderful school.
there were farmers and ranchers and surburbanites who travelled the 50 miles down the mountain to work at 'city jobs'
in denver. it was a time of 'wailing willie' (nelson) who had a home in evergreen. it was a time of shared gardens and community trips to local health food groceries. like i said in an earlier posting: LIFE IS AN INSTANT REPLAY.
True Friends * Frannie
adopt a 'rag-chile'
http://sistermercysfoundlinhome.blogspot.com
treasures .. new and olde .. http://mudpiemanormercantile.blogspot.com
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| Jami |
Posted - Jun 13 2008 : 2:16:44 PM
Well, my thought is that it takes all kinds of people to make the world go round...more power to the "city folk"...if they keep congregating in the city...leaves more room in the country for farm girls, don't you think? Plus, I always admire those that still have a bit of country in them no matter if they do live in a city...and they hold fast to it. Country "roots."
Tracy, had to laugh at your description of your "goobered" parts...I always have horse "stuff" on my sleeve (gotta have a rub over the fence at least) and sheep doo doo is just a fact of life around here..with much boots at every door.
I do believe the sustainable "movement" or going green, etc. is having an effect on the masses heading to the farm in their publications, etc. There are originals like MaryJane and then there are knock-offs..versions that kind of look the same but don't usually have the quality of content that the original does.
Jami in WA |
| shepherdgirl |
Posted - Jun 13 2008 : 11:58:17 AM
I wonder if Maryjane feels like I do about this life?
It's not about gaining notoriety or fame. It's about teaching others to be independant and self sufficient. It's teaching other's that we DON'T need to rely on industry to see to our own needs and the needs of our loved ones. It's giving us back the control over our own lives and our own health.
I love my farming life. It's HARD work, YES! But it's SOOOO rewarding. At the end of the day, after the garden is watered and weeded, when I'm covered from head to toe in Horse goobers, with chicken poo on my shoes, dirt under my nails and smelling like a dirty goat (or a wet wool blanket!) 'cause I just came from the barn after cuddling with my kids and lambs, the satisfaction that I feel is priceless. It's also a good lesson for my kids--- that hard work really DOES pay off, and you gotta learn to do things for YOURSELF in this life-- you can't just sit back and expect others to do it for you. Hugs to all~~~ Tracy
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. ~~ George Carlin |
| frannie |
Posted - Jun 13 2008 : 07:20:47 AM
okay, i knew i wasnt quite finished.
while i love my little martha, she is such a power maniac (hehe)
i dont visualize maryjane on martha because her segments are too short and she really has a problem with other folks being the expert. i am araid that maryjane would unintentionally intimidate martha and martha would end up arm wrestling her or something.
of course, i have noticed that if ya get martha a little tipsy she doesnt interrupt as much. but i havent figured out how maryjane could do a spot on her show and get martha tipsy.
anyway, i think maryjane needs to be on oprah, cause oprah is really better at featuring a person and i think she should be like dr. phil and do a series of shows, where the audience gets to learn from her, like they did dr. phil and that new doc they have on there with the body parts.
okay, i know i have been watching too much tv.
love
frannie in texas
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/)
(http://abunnystale.blogspot.com/) |
| frannie |
Posted - Jun 13 2008 : 07:13:12 AM
very well said, frannie.
i do think that our lives need to be our own and that the farmgirl experience isnt for everyone, and well it is just important that people be who THEY are.
having said that, the manicures and city life is not for me, i do like to visit my friends in the city now and then, and well....i have children who love being city girls but i myself am happy to have found my spot here at the farm and here at mj's site.
i think maryjane is a woman who is living her authentic life and really is just ahead of the times. now the times are catching up with her, because she was living a truth that couldnt be denied.
while i think this site helps to unite us and is a great comfort to all of us,i do find myself wondering why maryjane hasnt been "discovered" by the national press or the national media.
while i am a big fan of all women who promote positive things, oprah, martha stewart, mary emmerling, etc etc. i feel that maryjane's creativity and message is every bit as powerful as these women, and i hope one day to see maryjane on oprah.
that is one of my farmgirl dreams. maryjane on oprah, come on girls i know we can visualize it!
love
frannie in texas
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/)
(http://abunnystale.blogspot.com/) |
| CabinCreek-Kentucky |
Posted - Jun 13 2008 : 06:34:44 AM
our sweet MaryJane has entered the hearts of women all over the country (and city) .. i am so grateful to have found her .. and this group of wonderful women!
i remember my first 'glimpse' of 'country' that i loved about 30 years ago .. it was through another mary .. Mary Emmerling. It showed a more 'primitive' style that spoke to my heart. i so wish that she, too, would pull together another book .. i also own all of her books.
i do have friends that still love a more modern style of living and furnishing their homes .. and this too, is very valid .. i have friends who love to dress up real pretty and have their hair and nails done each week .. and belong to a 'gym' .. who work in he 'city' and love eating in restaurants .. and i love who they have chosen to be too.
i've reeeeeely enjoyed a 'plethora' of stores to shop in while here in 'the big city of toledo!!' .. and have had my hair and nails 'done' several times while here. i do miss great shops and salons in our small town living. but ahhhhhh .. the 'quiet' of that little valley we live in tucked into the hollers of kentucky .. i can hardly wait to get back to them too! i love that i have the option of both lifestyles.
i think all this variety in life is awesome .. i've had and loved several 'styles' of living during my lifetime and wouldn't trade those experiences for anything .. now that i'm 'retired' .. i'm in a special place now too .. a slower-paced life (WELL .. SOMEWHAT!) my daughter thinks i'm a 'whirling dervish'!) and i do find that i'm getting 'ancie' to have a 'grande adventure' trip with honey-hunk soon!
country living .. city living .. mountains and seaside .. all styles of life can be truly grande. xoxo
True Friends * Frannie
adopt a 'rag-chile'
http://sistermercysfoundlinhome.blogspot.com
treasures .. new and olde .. http://mudpiemanormercantile.blogspot.com
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| ruralfarmgirl |
Posted - Jun 12 2008 : 5:55:34 PM
It reminds me of that old song that says "I was country, when country wasnt cool".....By Barbara Mandrell.....The thing about maryJane is that she is authentic.. and as we all know that cannot be dublicated.. you either are or arent.. but what excites me about this sudden surge, is that it shows that folks are wanting to go back to a simplier time.. and for my money, if they are following maryjane they are learning from the best......
Rene~Prosser Farmgirl #185
" Plant goodness, harvest the fruit of loyalty, plow the new ground of knowledge. Hosea 10:12 |
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