Author Archives: mbajane

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,065 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,688 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Stitching and Crafting/Scrapbooking Expert Level Merit Badge, I was on a roll, still basking in the warm glow of earning my Intermediate Level Badge. I tend to be a bit on the obsessive side when it comes to hobbies. They’re kinda like cookies: I collect one flavor and binge eat them until I get a little bored, then I move on. So lately it’s been my scrapbooking hobby obsession, and I’m all about something super nifty I wanted to share with you Chiclets:

Potato Stamps!

Why yes siree, girls. How much more farmgirl can it get: combining good ol’ salt o’ the earth spuds with a little creative artwork? I know, right?

So here’s what you do to really up the ante and customize your Expert Level scrapbook …

Homemade ‘Tater Stamps

Supplies needed: potatoes (regular or sweet will do just fine), an Exacto knife, your imagination (don’t leave home without it. Wait. You are home. Just have it with you at all times, ok?)

Slice your potato in half. You want a nice smooth surface, so this is not the time to use your dullest knife (save that for spreading frosting or something). Decide what kind(s) of shapes and designs you want your stamp to be. If you’re feeling a bit nervous, just go through your cookie-cutter drawer and use one of those. If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, you can Google silhouette shapes and stencils, print one out, and trace it on your spud. If you’re feeling super devil-may-care-throw-caution-to-the-wind-we-only-live-once-take-the-bull-by-the-horns, then freestyle your own design right atop your potato. You little rebel, you.

Cut out your masterpiece with your Exacto knife.

Dip into the paint of your choice, or color with watercolor markers or Sharpies. Press onto your scrapbooking pages in a highly sophisticated and organized pattern. (Or just go willy-nilly nuts like I did. I enjoy a good crazy-quilt effect, so sue me.)

Photo by Jimmie via Flickr

That’s it. You now have a truly one-of-a-kind stamp that can also be used to do other things (though I can’t guarantee you it will earn you a merit badge):

Stamp with fabric paint onto tablecloths, lightweight baby blankets, cloth napkins or placemats, hand towels, personalized gift wrap or gift tags, stationary …

I’m a mad stamper.

Somebody stop me.

Is there a 12-step program for stamp addicts?

My name is Jane and I am a stampaholic. Oh well. As they say, pot-AY-to, po-TOT-o.

P.S. Another benefit to using potato stamps as opposed to buying all those expensive, factory-made ones: you can toss ’em (or eat ’em, ha! note to self: use organic paints) when you’re finished. No fuss, no storing, no cost, no dusty collection that you’re embarrassed to find when you’re rummaging through drawers looking for cookie cutters … win, win!

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,065 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,688 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Cleaning Up/Going Green Expert Level Merit Badge, I burrowed myself into my abode for a couple weeks and buckled down in some serious green projects. See, there’s a nasty piece of carpeting in my bedroom I’d been ignoring for quite some time, and I’d been feeling guilty each time I ran my dryer when there’s perfectly excellent sunshine right outside, and, well, suffice to say, I needed to spruce up my green living a bit to earn this badge.

I rolled up my proverbial sleeves (and the literal ones, too), donned my cutest and hardest-working apron, and got to work.

Here’s what I accomplished with a couple of afternoons, some know-how, a little grit and determination, and several slices of Gluten-free Apple Cake:

• I yanked and pulled, tore and ripped, pushed and shoved, rolled and kicked, and in all other ways, completely and utterly abused the poor carpet. No, I wasn’t beating it clean; I was removing it altogether. I could have gone the cleaning and out-gassing route, but let’s be honest, I’m more of a dismantler than a … uh, mantler. You know what I mean. And also I wanted an excuse to buy an adorable little shag rug for right beneath my bed to squish my tootsies into each morning. Call me shallow.
• I bought a length of clothesline and squinted my eyes at my backyard. To be honest, the front yard would have been slightly more perfect in my quest for line-drying clothes, but I kind of figured my neighbors didn’t want to stare at my unmentionables fluttering in the breeze. I’m selfless like that.

Short of waving my magic wand and making two trees line up perfectly in my backyard, I was stumped. I stood, feeling dejected, in my wide-open space, with my coil of rope in my sad hands. Then it came to me. The laundry room window lined up perfectly with my one lonely pear tree! Voilà! I was back in action. I rigged it up just like they do in all the old-fashioned movies with shots of the cities. You know the ones that go from apartment to apartment, sometimes slung right over the streets? With my clever pulley system, I am feeling several shades of grand. I even feel a little like a Disney princess somehow, and I must confess to singing to the squirrels and chipmunks and birds as I line up my yummy-smelling laundry to dry. Another point for the backyard and the neighbors, as my singing voice is … well, unique.

• I also needed a new coat of paint in my pantry (holiday baking is here, my pretties), and so I took advantage of my green streak to purchase a couple of small tins of non-toxic paint. My cinnamon-colored pantry with ginger-colored trim is begging for a batch of Christmas cookies right now.

• I arranged my best go-to books about greening up your life in alphabetical order, and then let my friends and neighbors know they were available for borrowing. My books, not my friends and neighbors. Rent-A-Friend? Ha! I may be onto something there. But in all seriousness, have you seen this?

The next part of this badge (hey, it’s the Expert Level, dahlinks—it takes time) was to donate six hours to a friend in need of greening up. But first, let me bask in the glory that is my shaggy rug, munch another piece of cake, and finish crooning to the woodland critters.

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,065 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,688 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Know Your Food Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I channeled my despair over my non-producing cucumber plants, my acorn squashes (the bugs found them delicious), and my frostbitten cherry tomatoes, into something less sorrowful: realizing I could use a CSA for some of my veggie needs.

What’s a CSA, you may ask? Is it like CSI, Miami? Uh, no. Not so much. Less violence, more arugula. Less drama, more kale. Less movie stars, and more low-profile stars (like the oh-so-humble potato).

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it’s positively dreamy for beginning gardeners, such as Yours Truly. You support your local farmer by giving her a set amount at the beginning of the growing season, and she gives you a hand-picked bag of produce every week. While I may have grandiose dreams of perfectly flourishing gardens, they don’t always come to fruition (get it? Fruition? Fruit? Gardening? hah), and I might need some professional help.

No, not that kind. Well, maybe that kind …

While I’m working on the hue of my thumbs (while not green, they are a shade up from the black they used to be … a nice gray, if you will), I will pledge to support my friendly, local professionals. I mean, how can you possibly go wrong with homegrown, local, fresh, organic, produce? Um, yeah. You can’t.

Did you know that most supermarket produce—besides being coated in toxic chemicals and bizarre waxes—lingers in trucks and boxes for up to a year in cold storage? Whaa? By that time, those brightly colored apples you’re so happy to find for 98¢ a pound have almost no antioxidants left in them at all. And your orange juice (that sneakily doesn’t really taste like oranges anymore) has probably been sitting in a vat for months and months, only to have some orange “flavor packs” stirred in. Aged wine? Yum. Aged OJ? Ick.

Yikes, yikes, and double yikes. Here’s where changing where you get your produce comes into play. The challenge for a lot of us is we really, really like “one-stop shopping.” I mean, come on, who wants to (and who has the time to) go to several different stores for different items? Can’t we all just grab a cart and get it all at once at McWalShop?

Well, make a small change, says I. Support your local farmers, who would love to cut you off a slice of their Golden Delicious, and who would happy to assure you it came fresh from a tree only a few hours before. You’ll taste the difference, by golly, and you’ll also bask in the warm glow that’s the feeling you get when you do something beneficial for the community.

Once you’ve picked out your very own CSA, snuggle down with a bowl of fruit and a copy of The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Your brain, your heart, and your tummy will thank you.

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,065 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,688 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …   

For this week’s Garden Gate/Grow Where You’re Planted Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I took a good, hard look at my lawn. I narrowed my baby blues and really considered and contemplated. And then I marinated in the knowledge of what I learned …

Photo by EliOrni via Wikimedia Commons

That manicured, square shaped piece of grass in the front of your house? The one that—may I venture to guess—is not getting much use, takes up a lot of water to keep green, needs mowing at inopportune times, and doesn’t seem to have a point in life. Am I being impudent? (Look who’s been brushing up on her grammar. Over here! Pick me!) Perhaps you’re not as bad as I am at neglecting the space out your front window, but if you are, let’s chat.

Front lawns are pretty enough, I suppose. But they’re a surprising amount of work for a little patch of green. All that watering and mowing and removing of crabgrass or dandelions (although I like to let ‘em live if I ‘fess up. I’m a closet dandelion lover).

Lawn Mower Girl via Wikimedia Commons

But, Jane, you say, I need a place for the kids to play! Can’t roughhouse in a garden, can they? Well, says I, let’s be honest. Half of us are guilty of spraying our patches of lawn with toxic chemicals just to keep it pretty and green (and keep the homeowner’s association from frowning at us). Did you know that 100 million pounds of pesticides are used on lawns and gardens each year, many of them highly toxic to humans and pets? The CDC studied over 9,000 people nationwide and found pesticides in ALL of them; the average person tested for 13 of the 23 pesticides tested.

Do we really want the rugrats playing on all that nastiness?

There are lots of alternatives to just plain grass. Let’s explore some, shall we, my little chickadees?

• Raised beds for veggies

Photo by B. Blechmann via Wikimedia Commons

• Rock garden
• Wildflower patch

Photo, Bureau of Land Management via Wikimedia Commons

• Shrubberies (go all Edward Scissorhands)

Photo by Mat Fascione via Wikimedia Commons

• Cobblestones in a pathway or even a mini labyrinth maze
• Fruit trees
• Lawn art (doesn’t have to be kitschy … although it could be!)

Photo by April222 via Wikimedia Commons

• Move some of your backyard life into the front. If your chickens have a pretty fabulous coop and they like to visit with the wandering pedestrians, move them out front. Have nice patio furniture? Don’t hide it in the back; be sociable and put it in the front. Kids have a swingset? I bet it would do your senior citizens heart’s good to watch them play from across the street.
• Herb plants, such as thyme, rosemary, mint, oregano, basil, etc. They smell a-MAY-zing when it rains! (And—helpful hint—they are perennials. Yay!)

Photo by vizpix via Flickr

• Groundcovers such as: Irish Moss, Creeping Jenny (gosh, just the name alone makes me want some), Pretty Lamium, Blue Star Creeper, Green Carpet, Stone Crop, Creeping Wire Vine, Viola, Fleur de Lawn, Black Scallop Bugleweed, Chamomile, Pink Chintz, Elfin Thyme, Snow-in-Summer, Hardy Ice Plant, and Clover. Check to see which ones are native to your area and go crazy.

One of the neatest things about ground covers? A lot of them can really stand up to traffic! This isn’t your granddaddy’s lawn, with your stereotypical elderly person shouting at the neighborhood whippersnappers to get off his lawn! No way, my peeps. This is my lawn, with your stereotypical well-dressed doll shouting at the neighborhood whippersnappers to come on over! I have tea!

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,035 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,663 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,035 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,663 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Each Other/Connecting Growers and Eaters Beginning Level Merit Badge, I volunteered to take over the gardening duties of my neighbor, Mr. Midgely. Recently, he had taken a tumble down his porch and his shiny new cast wasn’t compatible with getting down in the dirt, weeding, and foraging for vegetables. I said to myself, “Self, you can be neighborly and earn a new merit badge while doing so.”

What could be better?

That was before I knew of Mr. Midgely’s obsession preoccupation with zucchini.

Now I love a grilled zucchini as much as the next farmgirl. They’re a tasty veg, and we’re close friends.

But I never want to see another zucchini again.

Mr. Midgely evidently was preparing for alien takeovers, the zombie apocalypse, or a simple famine, because the dear man planted enough of the giant green vegetable to feed our entire town. And the next one over. Plus, most of Rhode Island and maybe Texas.

Before I knew what I had gotten myself into, I was knee deep in squash. Everywhere I looked, every time I turned around, I found myself surrounded. At first, they seemed a friendly enough sort of veggie, but after a couple of hours in the hot sun, my baskets laden with what felt like hundreds of pounds, they began to form menacing faces.

Remember the singing violets and roses in Alice In Wonderland?

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Like that. Only more creepy. And less singing.

I seemed to be making no progress. Zucchinis were pressing in on me from each side. As soon as I picked one, I swore three more grew up instantly in its place! Like amorous bunnies, they were procreating right before my stunned eyes!

I had to get out of there. I lugged my two tons of squash with me as far as the porch, then left them behind when I started to hear them chuckling maniacally at me. It had to have been sunstroke, but I wasn’t taking any chances. When the produce starts guffawing, it’s time to take a break.

Mr. Midgely was watching his soap operas when I burst into the house. He seemed to understand my panicked look … after all, it wasn’t his first garden. But I didn’t appreciate the twinkle in his eye, all the same.

After a quick cookie and tea break, I went back to work. I wasn’t going to be licked by a Curcurbita pepo! (You’re welcome for that little bit of knowledge.) I hunkered back down in the dirt and threatened my enemy with all sorts of graphic promises:

• to be sautéed in butter, and sprinkled with garlic salt
• grated and used in muffins and quick breads
• diced into a summer squash salad
• sliced thinly and added to pasta
• sliced thickly, battered, and fried
• puréed into baby food

Or how about …

• filled, for Stuffed Zucchini with Spinach and Bacon
• pickled (Overnight Zucchini Pickles)
• made into delicious Baked Zucchini Chips
• or used as wraps for Sweet & Smoky Salmon Zucchini Rolls

After my chilling guarantees, the zucchinis started to seem less intimidating and even began behaving themselves. I got each and every one picked, by Zeus, and wrestled into the house to be washed. Mr. Midgely’s kitchen looked like a Zucchinis R Us store when I was done.

Photo by USDA via Wikimedia Commons

He watched me from his recliner, munching on cookies.

I’m getting skeptical about that leg.

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,965 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,526 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Cleaning Up/Shopping Green Expert Level Merit Badge, I graduated (with honors) from the whole I-own-lots-of-cute-reusable-shopping-bags-but-I-always-leave-them-at-home thing, to the not-only-do-I-own-lots-of-cute-reusuable-shopping-bags-but-I-nearly-always-remember-to-take-them-shopping thing. This graduation deserved three cheers, a toss of my figurative hat in the air, and several slices of cake. You know. To celebrate.

But this was not enough for me. Nay. Never let it be so. My love for reusable shopping totes was not going to stop there. I was off to convert someone. Share the love. Spark some interest.

And also:

party.

A bag party! A swap meet of sorts. An evening with my fellow farmgirls, chatting, sewing, trading, admiring, and re-gifting our collection of shopping bags. What could be more fun than never having to hear the condemning words from our friendly local cashiers again,

Would you like paper or plastic?

Shudder, gasp, PSHAW! As if!

Since I was hosting, I figured I should have the most bags to begin with. I mean … okay, it’s not a contest, and it’s not like I’m greedy or anything, it’s just that I wanted everyone to go home with plenty. So I stocked up. I learned how to make the cutest totes from old T-shirts, and since I kinda got on a roll and made approximately eleventy-seven of them in one afternoon, I thought I’d share a little tutorial with you all.

1.) Raid your husband/father/friend/Aunt Sally’s closet for vintage Ts, or better yet, tank tops. Do they have to be vintage? Nope. But they turn out awfully cute. P.S. Make sure the fabric is somewhat heavyweight. We don’t want your container of organic mango sherbet crashing to its tragic death on the way out of the garage. Been there. Done that. Have the T-shirt. Hah!

2.) Flip inside out. Sew the bottom shut (using a sewing machine or serger, this will take like two nano-seconds). Using a large bowl, or just eyeballing it, draw a semi-circle along where the original neck hole is. (You’re just enlarging it is all. You know, so you can fit in the family-size cheddar-and-sour-cream potato chips without squishing them.) Cut. Hem (or skip the hemming and just use pinking shears if the fabric isn’t the fraying kind; I won’t tell).

3.)  Remove the sleeves. Hem. (Step #3 not necessary if using tanks).

4.) Voila!

Other ideas to get your creativity juices flowing:

• Use sheets instead of Ts. You’ll get plenty of bags out of an old flat sheet!
• Add a pocket in the front. Good for tiny items, and also for rolling up your bag when it’s not in use.
• Use thicker fabric for your cold items.
• Make several sizes! Sometimes all you’re picking up is a carton of tea, a pack of gum, and a jar of honey.
• Take apart a paper bag to use as a pattern if you like the bags that have flat bottoms for standing up straight while you’re bagging.
• Add a zipper or button for closing. This privacy is nice if you’re like me and you like to stock up on panties and brassieres once a year and don’t want them going the way of the mango sherbet … embarrassing to leave a trail of satin hi-cut briefs in the driveway. Not that I’ve ever done that:)

Once you have a nice collection going and you’re basking in the warm glow of all the compliments you receive when out shopping, share the love. Have a bag swap. (And invite me).

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,929 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,474 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Stitching and Crafting/Embroidery Expert Level Merit Badge, I took advantage of some down time (that’s what I call it’s-too-hot-to-go-outside-and-it’s-too-hot-to-turn-the-stove-on) and got out my collection of embroidery floss. What’s floss without needles naturally? so I got those out as well.

And of course, what are you going to do with a bunch of thread and needles and nothing to stitch them to, right? so I crawled into my linen cabinet.

Yes, literally.

It’s a really deep cabinet, girls.

And somewhat unorganized, I confess.

Ahem. Is there a badge for closet organization?

I admit to being something of a pillowcase hoarder, but today is the day where my irrational love of rectangular shaped cotton covers was finally going to pay off. By golly, I had a place to put these puppies now and it wasn’t the back of the closet with last year’s Halloween decorations, 12 rolls of wrapping paper, a set of curlers (for my hair … not the sport you see at the Olympics), and a case of toilet paper bought from one of those warehouse club places that will last me until approximately April of 2064.

Anyway, I seem to have gone off on a bunny trail there. My point was this: I had recently rearranged my living room to include a lovely window seat. (Talk about needing a badge for that one, am I right, girls? I’ll be covered in badges in no time.) Well, really, it’s an upcycled set of cabinets, turned on their side and placed strategically beneath my large picture window. But if you didn’t know better (pretend like you don’t know better), you’d say the architect was a genius.

Why, thanks. *blushes*

And as we all know, window seats are made for pillows. Or pillows are made for window seats. Or something. All I know is, I had an awesome place to sit and nibble cookies and people watch, and I needed some cushions to do so in comfort. My pillowcase collection was about to be put to good use!

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as all that. Just pulling a stack of fabric niceties out of your closet isn’t going to earn you a badge – sorry to disillusion you. No, this badge was all about embroidery, remember? (Why you keep getting me off track with all this talk about toilet paper and Olympic sports and architecture is beyond me. Try to focus!)

My plain, slightly boring pillowcases needed a makeover, and I had just the floss, needles, hoop, and nimble fingers to do it. Since I knew this windowseat would be excellent for reading novels, I used some of my favorite quotes to decorate my pillows. You can print out fonts and iron them on, or use stencils, or just free write them with a pencil.

Here are a few things my friendly pillows have to say as I snuggle in with them. Can you match the quotes with the novels?

I am so glad to live in a world where there are Octobers.

To live would be an awfully big adventure.

I wish I’d done everything on earth with you.

You have bewitched me, body and soul.

Let’s begin by taking a smallish nap or two.

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

Answers: Anne of Green Gables, Peter Pan, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Winnie the Pooh, Harry Potter.

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,892 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,416 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Self-Sufficiency Expert Level Merit Badge, I was really, really enjoying my food dehydrator. I mean, I was in love with the little miracle maker. My tummy full of yesterday’s beef jerky, I moved on to some vegetarian options. Pineapple, “sun”-dried tomatoes, apples, banana chips, peas, and plums. Mm! And don’t forget mangoes, papayas, peaches, and kiwis. Dry your own teas, make your own soup mix, gosh! The possibilities are keeping me up at night with hunger pangs (or they would be, if I hadn’t stashed some dried nectarines in my nightstand).

P.S. Don’t have a food dehydrator? You can try setting your oven to a low temperature. But some ovens don’t go low enough.

Here are some of my favorite recipes:

Homemade Dried Onion Soup Mix (although I usually use it for other things besides soup: casseroles, sprinkled atop steamed veggies, in meatloaf or burgers, or as a base for other soups)

• 8 t dried onion flakes (why, dry your own, of course!)
• 1 1/2 t dried parsley (again … do I even need to say it?
• 1 t onion powder, and turmeric
• 1/2 t each celery seed, sugar, salt, and pepper

Store in a Mason jar or Ziploc bag.

Citrus Mint and Licorice Tea

• Zest of 2 lemons and 2 oranges (remove with veggie peeler, then chop)
• one 3-inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
  • 1/2 small fennel bulb (can substitute whole star anise, but if you do, add the anise in at the last step)
  • 1 cup tightly packed mint leaves
  • 1 cup dried cranberries or apricots

Dry your zests, ginger, and fennel until dried. Dry the mint as well (you can put them in together, but the mint will be ready the quickest). Crumble the mint when cool enough to handle and steep with hot water (about 2 T per 1 cup water).

Photo by GuillaumeG via Wikimedia Commons

Homemade Wasabi Peas

• one package frozen (defrosted) or fresh peas, dried nearly completely (let them be a little chewy still—we aren’t done drying them yet
• 2 T white rice vinegar
• 4-5 T wasabi powder
• 1 t mustard powder

Toss the nearly done peas with the mixture above. Return to dryer and finish drying. Eat alone as a spicy, yummy snack or add to your own Gorp mix, trail mix, or popcorn.

Chocolate-covered Dried Fruit

• assorted dried fruits that go well with chocolate (Is this an oxymoron, Jane, my girl? Doesn’t EVERYTHING go well with chocolate?)
• dipping chocolate (dark, milk, white—whatever floats your boat)

Dip cooled fruits in warm chocolate. Let dry (if you can you have more willpower than I) on wax paper. These are most excellent for gifts. Like, a gift to me from me. Happy Tuesday, Jane … you know, those kind of gifts. The best kinds.

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,929 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,474 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Outpost/Glamping Expert Level Merit Badge, my farmgirl friends and I joined forces and went glamping.

Oh yeah.

And in style … to boot.

(Boots? I brought boots of course. They look fetching with a sundress if I do say so myself).

Glamping—as we all know by now, unless you’ve been living under the perverbial rock—is a form of camping, but with more flair (glamour + camping). I’d worked my way up to this Expert Level badge, and I was itchin’ to really put my skills to use. I use the expression itchin’ in the figurative sense, of course, though I did bring some homemade anti-itch cream with me, just in case.

Homemade Anti-Itch (calamine) Lotion

• 1 t non-nano zinc oxide powder
• 1 t fine sea salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 t bentonite clay
• 1 T witch hazel
• 10 drops peppermint essential oil

Mix the zinc oxide, sea salt, baking soda, and bentonite clay. Slowly add the witch hazel and stir continuously until it’s nice and creamy, then add peppermint oil. (It’s a good idea to keep all of the dry ingredients on hand in a jar. Then all you have to do is mix in the wet ingredients. This recipe may not last super long, but if you’re prone to bug bites and falling into sneaky patches of poison oak like I am, that won’t be a problem.)

I’ve been saving up my spending money to buy a little teardrop camper,

but in the meantime, I still have my trusty childhood pup tent.

I patched up any holes, shook out the remains of 20 years of dead bugs, and aired her out in my backyard before we were ready to go. Then I got a little crazy and crafty and used some rickrack and lace trim I had lying around, and edged the tent. Once we got to the campsite, I hung some pretty crystal beads near the doorway and put a sweet little rug down at the entrance. She was looking gorgeous. I decided she needed a name. Cars get names, boats get names, campers get names, why not my adorable little home-away-from-home?

I stepped back and studied her with a critical eye as I sipped my Lady Grey tea out of my china tea cup (hey, I said this was glamping!).

I straightened her up (she tends to list to one side, but I think of it as cute little way of cocking her head) and placed my favorite lawn chair nearby. The effect was enchanting. She really was a looker. I named her Vivian Leigh.

Then I took in my friend’s campsites; we were sitting pretty. Midge had brought her Airstream with the awning that cranks out by hand in the most delightful way, and our girlfriend, Skipper, had brought her original 1978 Volkswagon bus with the gingham curtains. (Did you know you can buy tents that look like VW buses? I know, right?!)

photo by Saschaporsche via Wikimedia Commons

Our campsites made in the shade (literally and figuratively) we grilled up our dinner, sang songs around the campfire, brushed our teeth, and hit the hay. It was a night to be remembered: Midge, Skipper, Vivian Leigh, and me.