| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Denise |
Posted - Sep 24 2004 : 8:01:57 PM
Hello Everyone~
WHEW! It's such a relief to find this magazine/site! I've felt like a walking contradiction living and working in the city...Wonderful husband, happy new baby, new home in an up and coming city neighborhood, great career... I am definitely blessed and often tearfully grateful for all this goodness. Cheesy, I know, but true.
On the flip side, we have land, family and a life waiting for us in the country- your basic time/space problems in streamlining the two. I simply the clean air, my small unpopular lake, hand stitched everything...mostly though, my extended family.
There was a line in the last issue about Farm girls "being a condition of the heart." That really hit home for me. I am looking forward to getting to know you all. If anyone has any thoughts on how they bring the farm to the city, I would appreciate your suggestions. Anyone in the city longing for the country, I would appreciate your ideas for reconciling the two.
Thank you for this opportunity to get to know you!
Take Care~ Denise |
| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kim |
Posted - Oct 01 2004 : 4:17:08 PM
Denise,
I agree wholeheartedly with Sheila, Shipshewana is a great place to visit. Wonderful food and great places to see and shops to visit. My mother and I went last summer (she still lives in Indiana) and I pick out my birthday present.... an Amish doll, sucking her thumb and holding a baby blanket (quilt scrap). It looked just like me when I was little, I did the same thing!
farmgirl@heart
Be at peace with yourself and the rest will follow |
| MeadowLark |
Posted - Oct 01 2004 : 3:56:42 PM
Denise welcome to this forum! You will find many good friends here with wonderful ideas to bring the country spirit into your home. Your life sounds full and loving. When I moved from the city to the country 20 years ago to a "new" house I searched for inexpensive and unique ways to bring that spirit into my life... Here's a few of my suggestions... Try hitting local flea markets, garage sales for cheap flower vases. Even jelly jars and old vintage glassware makes sweet vases for fresh flowers. Your local supermarket has cheap bouquets to fill them in and they bring the outdoors in and it's great! Touches of lace are so special. Raid your mom's or grandmother's linens for a tableclth or doiley, or runner. You can pick them up sometimes for a song at tag sales. Try a space on your wall of old family wedding pictures...so romantic, and add your own of course and pictures of your baby and future babies... Glad you found us! Jenny from Kansas
Time Flies |
| LakesideQltr |
Posted - Oct 01 2004 : 07:16:55 AM
Oh, and Denise...forgot to say Hi and Welcome. Pardon me...and make a direct suggestion to you. Where you live it's just a nice day trip to head over to IN and the Amish country of Shippshewanna. When I lived in the Chicago burbs nothing was more refreshing to me than to go spend a day in Shipsi and soak in the serenity. Always made me wanna wipe out all the clutter and crap at home and get "simplified" and focus on just the most important stuff. (their midweek auctions/flea market is a great place as well to pick up things for your home with a country feel to 'em)
-Sheila
Life is what happens while you're making other plans - John Lennon |
| Eileen |
Posted - Sep 30 2004 : 09:42:32 AM
Julie, You will love it! All those colors, can never have enough,the old patterns never really grow old just more beloved with time.
Canning too, I learned from an elderly gentleman who's wife taught him before she died. All those pretty jars filled with summers memories. How better to warm a cold winter day. Have fun!
Denise, even in the city you can do these things too! Your own canned friuts and veggies lined up on the shelf will bring the country into your home in the city. A pretty hand made quilt to wrap yourself and child up in on a cold evening for story time. What could be better?
Eileen
songbird |
| Juliekay |
Posted - Sep 30 2004 : 08:48:57 AM
Sheila,
I so look forward to learning the quilting and just general sewing from his Grandma. Also, she can teach me how to can, hopefully. I think it's important to absorb the knowledge before she passes on.
Julie |
| LakesideQltr |
Posted - Sep 29 2004 : 4:08:45 PM
jpbluesky - Great suggestions!
And Juliekay - I've been a quilter for about 15 years and didn't understand addiction/obsessive-compulsive behaviour until I started! If you want to swap blocks or fabric charms or something once you get going - keep me in mind! I was in the far west burbs of Chicago until just over two years ago and it always amazed me how short a drive it would be into the heart of the City or out into the "real country". (best of both worlds I thought but I was always looking longingly at those rural properties that you could tell had been well tended and loved for years and years and had mature gardens)
-Sheila |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Sep 29 2004 : 05:07:51 AM
Dear Denise - You can become an urban farmgirl! But at heart, you are a country girl, right? Me too.
I, too, live in a suburb. There is open land behind our lot that I pretend is mine! And I have a big yard, but still there are houses close by and a paved road in front of me. But I have made my home a farm house of sorts.
Here are some way that you can regain a touch of that feeling. Do the interior country things. Spend an afternoon (during the baby's nap) canning vegetables. Even if you buy your veggies from a market, your canned goods will be better that what you can buy on the shelves.
Decorate your home with baskets, quilts, pottry, and homespun items. Hang curtains that could look out on an open field or lake. Read books about country and farming life. Make things by hand when times permits. Put up photos of all that extended family, and plan trips to see them as often as possible. Then you can add new photos of them standing by the lake, etc. Create an interior oasis of country life.
Glad to have you here on this site - that will help immensely. And I am glad you have such treasures in your life as a child, a hubby, and lots of family in the country. What gifts!
jpbluesky
Love those big blue skies and wide open spaces. |
| n/a |
Posted - Sep 28 2004 : 7:45:15 PM
MJF is definately a "breath of fresh air" to city-dwellers. Welcome..... |
| cecelia |
Posted - Sep 28 2004 : 7:20:48 PM
Denise,
Another citified farmer here! Fortunately we don't live directly in the city, but the suburban area and have some space here, unfortunately can't have animals other than pets. You can still grow things, whether it is on a terrace or small yard. It can be done! You'll find lots of ideas here from many people like yourself, lots of ideas for planting, crafts, handiwork, planning for the future you want.
Cecelia
ce's farm
"Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery" Victor Hugo |
| Juliekay |
Posted - Sep 27 2004 : 08:27:45 AM
Denise,
I currently also live in the heart of the city. We only have a terrace, no yard, on our condo, with a view of Chicago's skyline. I have loved living here, but I long to be able to grow things and have a more relaxed lifestyle.
My fiance and I will be moving to a suburb of Oklahoma City in about two months, where we will be living in a townhouse that has a yard! We are planning a garden using the square foot gardening techniques. I can't wait to grow stuff! I also will be learning to quilt from fiance's grandmother, as no other women in the family are interested in learning.
My farmgirl life will soon begin. Can you put in a garden at your house? Or maybe a little pond? It would help you feel more like you are living in the country. Do whatever you can to fulfill those fantasies.
Julie |
| Eileen |
Posted - Sep 25 2004 : 11:05:30 AM
Welcome Denise,
So glad you found us too! You can spend a week exploring all the information and ideas on this forum in all of the different discussion groups and still find more when you return! I am sure you will find all the inspiration you need to help you decide how to make it work for you. Each of the different forums have lots of topics and wonderful people who interact with you.
Eileen
songbird |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Sep 24 2004 : 9:43:53 PM
Hi Denise! I am so glad you are here. I bet you will find lots of ideas here. I like the idea Clare said about collecting...I have always had my little farmgirl collections..other people probably think they are weird..but it sure keeps home where ever you are.
Jenny in Utah
Bloom where you are planted! |
| Clare |
Posted - Sep 24 2004 : 9:22:14 PM
Welcome Denise! Glad you found us. You'll find a great many of us live in the city or towns now. Some of us yearn to return to the country, some have plans to, and some are living the dream.
I grew up on a farm, so I understand your dilemma about reconciling what was and what is, with what is possible. Generally speaking, I've found where there's a will, there's a way. Depending on what your living conditions are like now, whether an apartment or condo, or a house... there's always some little thing that you can do to bring something of "home" to where you are now. Start collecting those things that you enjoy, that bring your memories alive, and then use them throughout your home or yard. Slowly you will notice that the city's edge has softened a bit... and you're making a statement about who you are down deep.
Take some time reading through our posts and you will come up with lots of ideas about how to start to make your own statement.
Join in and you'll get lots of lively interchange and ideas!
****Gardener, Stitcher, Spiritual Explorer and Appreciator of all Things Natural****
"Begin to weave and God will give the thread." - German Proverb |
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