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Robinwolf
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Robin
Blacksburg
Virginia
USA
44 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 27 2005 : 7:42:53 PM
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Hi! I'm Robin (Pomlady). I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, a truly beautiful part of the country. I am 53 years old, and happily married 28 years. We have one daughter, 26, who is a court reporter, but who is trying out to be on the police force. My husband is a judge. I am a SAHM, although we are now empty nesters.
We currently have 7 dogs - it is a ZOO here sometimes. Four of them are Pomeranians: Sweetpea, Oliver, Darcy, and Archimedes. One is a cocker mix rescue, Brownie. One is an inherited terrier mix, Mickey. And one is a hound dog mix rescue, Madison. My daughter has two Pomeranians. We just love that breed - they are meant to be lap dogs - and they sure live up to that name!
I ran into MJF's book on my bookclub, and the cover and title just spoke to me. I have had farm fantasies for years now. We currently grow a few vegetables in pots on our deck. I do a lot of things by hand - like bake our bread. I really like the stitchery in the magazines, as I knit and crochet, and do embroidery, etc. And I love the old-fashioned stuff very much. I just bought some pillowcases to embroider off of eBay. I am excited to get to them. But right now I am knitting up some baby booties as a gift. I am pretty new to knitting, but seem to be catching on pretty fast. I have made many scarves, two hats, and one tank top for my daughter. And now the baby booties. I have a beginning of a book I have written about a "farmgirl", and I am thinking of sending it in to MJF. I can dream, anyway. Thanks for letting me babble on. I hope to get to know you all.
Oh, by the way, Lehman's, the Non-electric (Amish) catalog, has a website and also an email list you can join, and it is interesting. I am trying to find someone here who can put up a clothesline for me. None of the hardware stores have them - they all tell me that I'll have to have someone make them for me. I've talked to one man, and he says he'll get back to me as soon as he checks out the cost of everything. I just LOVE the smell of sheets that have been sundried on the line.
Robin, the Pomlady
Plus, I get to make the cute little bag to hold my clothespins.
Let the beauty we love be what we do. -- Rumi-- |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2005 : 8:50:36 PM
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Robin - Welcome! You will find much in common with everyone here - in fact, I also have been maried 28 years and have a 26 year old only daughter.
Look forward to hearing more about your life in the Blue Ridge area. How beautiful it is there!
jpbluesky
Heartland girl |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2005 : 10:46:06 PM
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Welcome Robin! We're the same age. I have 2 daughters, one age 35 and one age 11! Your home sounds heavenly. I can relate to having a hard time finding an umbrella type clothesline. There is one hardware store in this whole county that carries them. I checked Lehman's and they wanted 10 prices for one!
My mom's line was made from metal poles that my dad welded to form a "t". Then he made three hooks on each pole so she could run three lines. They worked great but took up a lot of room. Maybe you could have someone make something like that for you.
Glad you're here.
Kay
Proud Member of North Clark County Farmgirls |
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Robinwolf
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Robin
Blacksburg
Virginia
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 03:26:25 AM
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Thank you for the welcomes! We have a "handyman" that does some work for us, and I checked with him - he's going to let me know if he can make some for me. I think it is incredulous that you can't buy clothesline poles anywhere anymore. Boy, have times changed!
This area of the country is so incredibly beautiful. My husband and I met here at college, and got married here. Then he went to Law School in Wisconsin, where our daughter was born. Then we had a stint in Washington DC, but our goal was to come back to this area to live. We had to live in DC for 4 years, then in Richmond for 5 years, and then finally we were able to make the move here, with a great job for my husband. And now, he has been appointed a judge, which is a lifetime achievement for him, so we are thrilled. As I sit at my computer, I look out the French doors we had installed here (this used to be our master bedroom, but now it is my studio) - I've got a whole wall of French doors - which overlooks our deck and back yard. We've done no landscaping at all, and it is just beautiful with God-planted dogwood trees, one pine tree that we planted from Christmas several years ago, and the rest is all just a jungle - vines that have wound themselves around our fence, wild cherry trees, black walnut trees, locust trees, one apple tree, one plum tree, tons of forsythia and beautiful green grass. It is just a totally green heaven out there. Beautiful. Incredibly beautiful. We like to sit out on the deck and just have the quiet - and watch and listen to the birds. The views are so incredible, that we had French door window walls put in on the whole backside of the house, with a deck that runs the length of the house - we back up to cow pasture, on land that was deeded to the town to never build on. So we'll never have other houses behind us.
Well, I'm certainly babbly this morning! Sorry to go on. I just get enthusiastic when talking about our area.
Robin
Let the beauty we love be what we do. -- Rumi-- |
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mollymae
True Blue Farmgirl
694 Posts
Molly
Visalia
California
USA
694 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 07:38:18 AM
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Robin, sounds like you have been all over, like us. We spent 6 years in Northern VA and the DC area, and are in Wisconsin now :) Where in WI did your hubby attend law school? Welcome to the group!
Cead Mile Failte,
Molly
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." --Henry David Thoreau
**When life throws scraps your way ~ Make a Quilt!**
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Robinwolf
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Robin
Blacksburg
Virginia
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 09:01:39 AM
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Michael went to UW Madison Law School. We loved Madison, although the weather - 6 months of winter, 3 days of spring, 6 months of summer, 3 days of fall, kinda got to us, we stayed there happily. Our daughter was born there, and we knew how to wrap her up for the -57° wind chill factor. <G> I was doing everything by hand - we had no family support moneywise, and had to pay for law school ourselves. Plus we decided that I was to be a SAHM. We wanted to use cloth diapers, and not add to the landfill problem. We did not have a washer or dryer, so I used a scrub board and washed all of our clothes, including the diapers on it, and we had no clothesline, but the little house we rented had an 8foot high fence all around the back yard. So I washed the laundry and took it out and clothes pinned it to the fence to dry. When I needed to get groceries, I took our Radio Flyer wagon, put a pillow in it, and put our daughter on the pillow, and pulled it to the grocery store. Got our groceries, and put them in the wagon with her, and pulled it all home. And you know, it was a really happy time for us. I do remember, though, one day, I was taking the eggs out of the refrigerator, and somehow I dropped the whole carton, and every egg broke on the floor - and I burst into tears - because I knew how tight the money was, and we just couldn't afford to lose money like that.
I am an artist, and I wanted to supply my daughter with everything she would need to be free artistically - so I would put her in the bathtub and would squeeze non-toxic waterbased paint on the walls of the tub. And I put her in there naked, and let her play with the paint - we've got great pictures of it - and she would fingerpaint like crazy. I would also get end runs of newsprint from the newspaper office, and roll them out on the floor and give her non-toxic markers and let her just make marks or whatever she wanted. And guess what - she got her bachelors degree in ART and GEOLOGY a couple of years ago. I think I did good!!!
The other thing I did, was to dry food - we got a food dehydrator from a Mormon friend of ours - she was upgrading to a bigger one - and I dried fruit like crazy, for Emily to eat as snacks. I made "fruit rollups" which were in vogue at the time. No sugar - just strawberries and pineapple, things like that. I did find out that if you are going to dry onions - do it OUTSIDE of your house!!<G> I dried potatoes, and vegetables, and had the makings of almost instant soups. I dried bananas and apples and grapes. And I made all of her clothes by hand - we did not have a sewing machine. When I was pregnant with her, I had one pair of maternity blue jeans, which I just washed every couple of days, and two tops I made by hand and alternated wearing - the same pattern, just different material. And I made all of Emily's clothing by hand. Luckily, we had some great friends, and they pitched in and brought us extra clothing for her - like coats and such. We were very blessed. Those were really happy times.
I guess part of that is what connected me with MJF - it really brought me back to those days. Just remembering the diapers drying on the fence.
Robin
Let the beauty we love be what we do. -- Rumi-- |
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mollymae
True Blue Farmgirl
694 Posts
Molly
Visalia
California
USA
694 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 11:49:48 AM
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"Michael went to UW Madison Law School. We loved Madison, although the weather - 6 months of winter, 3 days of spring, 6 months of summer, 3 days of fall, kinda got to us, we stayed there happily."
 Boy, I can relate (we are just an hour north of Madison) to this silly weather! We are very happy here as well, I can't imagine any other place I'd rather be (except for Hamilton, VA, loved it in that area!)
Robin, sometimes the "lean" times in life CAN be the happiest! You learn to appreciate what you DO have and not what you DON'T . My hubby's name is Michael also, BTW! The fruit rollups sound great, I need to get a hold of a dehydrator!
Have a beautiful day :)
Cead Mile Failte,
Molly
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." --Henry David Thoreau
**When life throws scraps your way ~ Make a Quilt!**
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Robinwolf
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Robin
Blacksburg
Virginia
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 3:45:00 PM
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The fruit roll-ups are so easy to make. You just process your fruit in a blender or a hand-held food processor thing (I can't think of what they are called right now - ?????) and then you put some Saran Wrap down, sprinkle a little bit of cornstarch on the saran wrap, (so that you can peel the fruit off of it later) and you put it in the dehydrator. When it is dry, you peel it off and roll it up - it is hard to not just eat it right away as you are peeling it off - it smells heavenly. I mostly made the strawberry/pineapple ones - because I didn't have to add any sugar. You could use powdered sugar instead of cornstarch. And you can use the saran wrap when you are finished rolling them up, to wrap around them and put a twisty-tie on the ends. Emily loved them. She was around 2 years old when I was making them. Dehydrators at that time were about $150. I got mine through a Mormon friend. We would go fruit picking and then I'd put up some jam and then make the fruit roll-ups, then dry the rest - slicing strawberries into thirds and drying them - they go on cereal real good. Bananas are good to dry too, and grapes are too. I don't have a dehydrator now, but plan on getting one this year. We are trying to simplify simplify simplify. This year, all of our Christmas gifts will be handmade (by me, of course! <G>) So I have started some of them, or at least gotten the supplies for them. I am knitting or beading or quilting the gifts. Much simpler. Plus no last minute shopping.
Robin
Let the beauty we love be what we do. -- Rumi-- |
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mollymae
True Blue Farmgirl
694 Posts
Molly
Visalia
California
USA
694 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 5:53:46 PM
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Handmade gifts sound wonderful! I crocheted a huge afghan for my 3 year old for his birthday this year, it turned out so nice! If anyone with little ones is familiar with "The Wiggles", I colorblocked it in red, blue, yellow and purple :D. Anyway, that's something for me to think about this year for Christmas. I have all boys (5 of them!) and I don't know what handmade things they might appreciate, but it's something to think about!
Cead Mile Failte,
Molly
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." --Henry David Thoreau
**When life throws scraps your way ~ Make a Quilt!**
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Robinwolf
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Robin
Blacksburg
Virginia
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 6:14:03 PM
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http://everafter.theshoppe.com/brooms_handmade_by_brooms__n_things.html
I wanted to post this link - this is a great place to get homemade brooms - they are so beautiful, that you hate to use them! I have two of them, and have them hanging in my kitchen. They are as much art as they are working objects.
No affiliation, just a happy customer.
robin
Let the beauty we love be what we do. -- Rumi-- |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 6:22:50 PM
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Thanks for that link Robin! By the way, welcome to this forum! Glad you are here. Those brooms ARE works of art. I especially like the Eidelweiss and Highland Brooms. Again Welcome! Jenny from Kansas
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. http://www.xs4all.nl/~josvg/cits/sb/sb101.html |
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Kim
True Blue Farmgirl
146 Posts
Kim
Pflugerville
Texas
USA
146 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 7:17:19 PM
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Those are so neat! Thanks Robin!
farmgirl@heart
Be at peace with yourself and the rest will follow |
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Robinwolf
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Robin
Blacksburg
Virginia
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 7:25:41 PM
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I got the Country Home Broom, and the Easy Sweep Broom, and they are lovely. They have Sassafras handles that are hand whittled and they are truly works of art. I really haven't swept with them yet - I just got them two weeks ago, and the thought of getting them dirty still makes me a little crazy. I'll work myself up to it, though. The UPS man could NOT figure out what was in that long box - he said "golf clubs"? I said no, brooms! He looked at me kinda funny.
Let the beauty we love be what we do. -- Rumi-- |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2005 : 11:31:34 PM
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I am going to have to be the owner of a Country Home Broom!! they are just wonderful!!! Thanks for the link!!!!
Jenny in Utah
The best things in life arn't things! |
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FarrarFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
330 Posts
Lynda
Frohna
Missouri
USA
330 Posts |
Posted - Jun 29 2005 : 08:21:20 AM
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Hi, Robin,
Thanks for your welcoming note. I am just so excited to read everyone's comments and ideas and encouragements to each other. This is the kind of commaradery (sp?) I have been yearning for with women of like minds. The simple life, living from the earth, using the resources God has given us and being self-sufficient. I'm bursting at the seams just reading all of this. It's almost unbelievable. I had no idea so many women are eager and determined to create such a wonderful lifestyle. How refreshing - and yet we need the modern day technology of computers to discover the vastness of these desires. Ironic, isn't it? That's one thing I can truly thank God for computers for! :o)
I mentioned that I enjoy sewing simple items, well one of the things I enjoy making are aprons. Right now I make the butcher style aprons, but what I do to make them unique to me (and maybe it's not as unique as I think) is make them reversible. I get a real kick out of coordinating fabrics. However, I have some of the vintage apron patterns, I'm anxious to make some of them, too. I'll be glad to hear of other's styles of vintage aprons and patterns to try. I always look for aprons when I go to yard sales and flea markets or antique shops. They remind me of my great-grandmother who always had one on. And like everyone has mentioned, they do make a mighty nice holding device when you've run out of hands. I wish I had had one on last night when I went out to the garden and to my surprise found 8 cucumbers ready. I wasn't expecting to be able to pick any yet, but was checking to see how far along they were - far enough to pick! Yum, yum.
Well, I must say this is very addictive, I would love to stay and chat all day, but since this is coming from my work computer, they would probably appreciate me concetrating a bit more on the things at my desk. I won't get in trouble, just need to watch my time, but I will be checking in with my new set of friends on a regular basis. This is great fun!
(I hope I have done this all right, I'm not very sure about the whole process yet of responding to specific posts.)
Thanks again and God bless.
In His hands,
Lynda |
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Robinwolf
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Robin
Blacksburg
Virginia
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Jun 30 2005 : 01:50:46 AM
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Hi Lynda! Yes, it is ironic that we have to use the computer to find like-minded women who want to sorta "go back in time" to a more simple lifestyle. About the aprons, I have bought 2 apron patterns from the Butterick catalog (each has multiple styles in the pattern package). Also, I went on eBay and found some hand-appliqued old aprons that I bought. I just went yesterday to a fabric store down the road a piece that has all kinds of fabric goodies, and got some iron-on transfers for dish towels and aprons, and will make some aprons for myself. I also bought one "butcher style" apron from the Victorian catalog that is quite beautiful - hand embroidered, etc. I save that one for special occasions- like company coming over. I'm trying to get in the habit of putting an apron on right after I get dressed each day. I'd love to see the ones you make.
Robin
Let the beauty we love be what we do. -- Rumi-- |
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