Okay, it’s confession time. I’m directionally challenged, but I’m getting out my maps of the world. Will you be my witness and travel companion? From Georgia to Gallup, Greece to Gibraltar, I’m determined to go to my grave without taking another wrong turn.
Winnie Nielsen says: What is this??? I am clueless!
MaryJane says: Good morning Winnie! You put a dried cob of corn in the hopper and crank the handle and out comes cracked corn for your livestock … or in our case, cracked corn for our chickens.
Eileen Stone says: I wonder if you could use this to make homemade “Corn Nuts”.
Karlyne says: I’m glad Winnie asked first! (I had no idea, either.) What a cool “machine”!
Winnie Nielsen says: Now that is totally COOL!! I love the logo Never Fail on the side as well. Thanks for the update Mary Jane. I hope you had a great Saturday on the farm!
Jennifer Memolo says: Simply beautiful.
Winnie Nielsen says: What a face! I assume that is a western Bluebird? It looks a bit different from our eastern Bluebirds.
Ace says: Hi Winnie! It’s actually a Barn Swallow. 🙂 Lots of amazing birds are back and nesting at the farm this year. We are really enjoying watching them out the windows of the Design Studio.
Winnie Nielsen says: Colorful vintage garden tools look so more authentic than the new plastic ones. They give the illusion that things grow better! Do they? I wonder.
Are gas prices pinching your pocketbook?
Is your carbon footprint running amok?
(Take this quiz to find out.)
Yes?
Photo by Osvaldo Gago via Wikimedia Commons
Well, then it may be time for you to Wanderu.
Not a typo, girls—it’s a nifty new website that gathers bus schedules from multiple carriers, helping travelers find cheaper, faster routes.
“How is it possible in this day and age we can find any information we want in the Internet, but yet I can’t find out how to get from point A to point B, using non-air transportation?” asks Polina Raygorodskaya, CEO and co-founder of Wanderu, recalling her struggle to find efficient bus transit when she worked in New York and Boston.
Wanderu, she says, makes it effortless for you to find and book inter-city buses (and trains) between any two points in the country. “It’s super easy to use and completely free!”
Plus, the concept makes great sense environmentally. According to Raygorodskaya, “One bus takes 55 cars off the road. I think we’re solving an amazing problem.”
Terry Steinmetz says: When we are in the city, we use the transit whenever possible.
Winnie Nielsen says: I so wish we had more mass transit options in America. In more rural areas, we are so dependent on cars because there are just not other affordable options. In Europe, trains run between cities making it easier to get places without driving. Within cities, there are more options like street cars that connect all parts of the cities together. The larger cities have subways that are perfect for getting around. In my opinion, Americans are going to have to have a mind set shift away from cars and embrace and FUND mass transit options. You cannot build enough roads to make traffic better. If you don’t understand, just try to navigate routinely in Atlanta, Ga. Huge interstates, lots of lanes, brutal traffic snarls every single day just never seem to get better. I would also like to add that freight trains can carry several tons of freight on one gallon of fuel. Wouldn’t interstate traffic be so much better if we had all those semi trucks off the roads and the freight on big trains instead? I would vote YES on that one!!
Winnie Nielsen says: What a handsome boy! Those big brown eyes are heart breakers!!
Marie Callender says: We saw this cutie today at the farm. He and the others are so precious!!! Sorry to miss you Mary Jane, but Brian was a perfect tour guide for an impromptu visit all the way from Lynden and Issaquah Washington!
Winnie Nielsen says: How is it that old barns are so romantic and mysterious? I just want to open that door and go inside!
Terry Steinmetz says: I agree with Winnie; let’s go inside & uncover the treasures that it holds, the stories it can tell. Wonder what’s in there?
MaryJane says: For many years, when I cut and harvested firewood because that was my only source of heat, it was a woodshed. It’s still called the “woodshed” but it holds mostly our garden tools and “some” firewood. One winter many years ago, I found a porcupine living in there with the wood and just left him be. He spent most of the winter in there and I would just split wood while he watched me.
Shelley Herold says: I received this wonderful magizine and what a wonderful treat thanks
Winnie Nielsen says: I have a few old wooden thread spools that I found in my Mom’s old sewing machine cabinet that I treasure. They would look cute piled up in a little basket like in this photo. I should do that so I can see them anytime.
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
Your KitKat is so cute with those great pillows!