Look what we found on Facebook! Jubly-Umph posted this photo of an amazing Singer sewing machine … cake.

photo from Jubly-Umph

Looks like even the notions are edible. Now that’s one way to stitch your cares away!

Imagine going to an antique store and purchasing a box of old photographs, then spending the next 50 years trying to figure out who the photographer and the people depicted in the photographs were.

Douglas Keister, photographer and author of 42 critically acclaimed books, did just that. I first met Doug when I asked to use a couple of his photos in my third book, MaryJane’s Outpost. Doug had just published one of my favorite books about travel trailers, Teardrops and Tiny Trailers, with Gibbs Smith (also my publisher for Glamping with MaryJane and Milk Cow Kitchen).

In 1965, Doug was a junior in high school in Lincoln, Nebraska, and already a budding photographer. He acquired a stack of 280 black and white 5×7 glass negatives from a friend who had run an ad looking for area antiques. Doug proceeded to set up a makeshift darkroom in his parents’ basement to develop and print the negatives. He discovered an important part of history when he saw that most of the photographs were portraits of African Americans in the early part of the 20th century.

“Five decades of research finally revealed that the photographs were taken by an African American photographer a century ago in Lincoln, Nebraska. The variety of images reveals a vibrant community and, more importantly, an ennobled and hopeful African American population,” says Doug. The importance of these images has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institution’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture, which now has 60 prints from the negatives in its permanent collection.

Doug has made a 25-minute video, Shadows on Glass, about his discoveries that shows many of the photographs, fills in the blanks about their origins, and paints a fascinating picture of the lives of the African American community in Lincoln 100 years ago.

If you’re a Raising Jane regular, you’ll remember that my magazine designer, Carol, has a new hobby: junk sculptures. Carol’s creations are little, anywhere from an inch to a foot high, keeping them small enough to glue together. But look what she discovered while trolling for inspiration on Pinterest.

Photo, hitfull.com

According to HitFull.com, this baby is five times the size of a real elephant, weighs about 45 tons, and carries about 50 passengers at a time. It was created for “Machines of the Isle of Nantes,” a street performance festival in Nantes, France, from mostly recycled materials, and is fully articulated, moving with the help of 22 people who man hydraulics inside the statue. “The Great Elephant,” as he is called, can even trumpet like a real elephant, flap his ears, and spray water from his trunk. Watch him in motion:

Be it destiny or serendipity or simple coincidence, wonderful things can happen when strangers collide.

Are you familiar with Brandon Stanton, a photographer who walks the streets of New York with his camera in hand, asking complete strangers if he can take their pictures? Stanton posts the photos on his blog, Humans of New York, often with an accompanying story or quote from his subjects. He began what he refers to as his “photo census” back in 2010 as a way to capture and chronicle the neighborhoods of the city through the faces of the people who live there.

Along Brandon’s journey, he met Vidal Chastanet, an eighth-grade student at Mott Bridges Middle School in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brownsville, whose image and accompanying story recently went viral on Stanton’s blog. The day they met, Brandon asked Vidal to share a story of a person who had influenced his life. He chose the principal of his middle school, Ms. Lopez, because of the great lengths she goes to ensure each child knows how much they matter.

Although Stanton usually tries to avoid becoming involved in the lives of his subjects, the response to the blog post was so great, he felt compelled to meet Ms. Lopez. And it just so happens that when he met her, Ms. Lopez was in the middle of a fundraising effort to send her sixth grade students to a summer program at Harvard. Because Brownsville has the highest crime rate in the city, and because the limited horizons of disadvantaged youth are always on her mind, Ms. Lopez chose Harvard to show her students (she refers to them as scholars) what it feels like to stand on the campus of one of the world’s greatest schools and know that they belong there. Brandon was so inspired by Ms. Lopez and her passionate ideas that he personally joined in the effort and launched a fundraiser on Indiegogo.

What transpired next is beyond inspiring!! People started sending in little bits of money. Lots of people. $1 million dollars was raised in five days, ensuring that for the next 25 years, Ms. Lopez’ sixth grade scholars will travel to Harvard.

All because two strangers happened to strike up a conversation on the street.

Did you know that a milkmaid, a cow, and an observant doctor are to thank for the eradication of smallpox from the developed world?

In 1796, English physician and scientist Edward Jenner developed our first modern-day vaccine after treating a milkmaid for blisters on her hands. The blisters were from a mild disease called cowpox, which was often transmitted from cows to milkmaids. During treatment, Jenner noticed that milkmaids who recovered from cowpox never contracted smallpox, the most virulent and deadly disease of the time, killing 400,000 people a year in Europe alone during the 1700s and an estimated 300–500 million people worldwide during the 20th century (smallpox was only declared eradicated in 1979).

From that astute observation, Jenner went on to develop the world’s first vaccine, and his discovery is said to have saved more lives than the work of any other person in history.

The milkmaid had contracted cowpox from a cow named Blossom, and Jenner used fluids from that cow’s blisters to develop his vaccine. Blossom’s hide now hangs in a place of honor at St George’s medical school library in Tooting, England.

Who doesn’t love a tulip in bloom this time of year? And a pink one at that?!

Right by the front door at my local Walgreens, I spied these pink beauties in the beginning stages of their spring sprout, so I brought two of them home for $7.99 each. All you do to continue forcing their bloom is to add a titch of water to the bottom compartment of their oh-so-clever glass vase that has a plastic screen just beneath the bulbs.

The roots seek the water, the tulips start to grow, and then, voilà … tulips! What I like about this idea is the fact that I also purchased a container for forcing blooms again this time next year and five pink tulips bulbs that I’ll plant in my garden (x2). The company that thought up this brilliant idea is Bloomaker.com.

When it comes to winter fashion in the lower 48, fur went faux a long time ago.

Promotion photo for the film You’re My Everything (1949) featuring Anne Baxter via Wikimedia Commons

Given the overwhelmingly negative vibe surrounding the issue of fur anything, it was a real eyebrow-raiser for me to learn that fur—yes, real fur—may be trending toward chic once again.

What?!

Got his attention …

Photo by Mariomassone via Wikimedia Commons

Now before you get your knickers in a bunch, you must understand that this new fur industry ain’t what it used to be. In fact, it’s taking the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra to a whole new level of, well … resourcefulness.

So, tell me, darling—how do you feel about wearing (gulp) roadkill fur?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Come back here and listen to the whole story. I mean, heck, it’s not like I’m asking you to eat bugs or anything. And, just look how pretty:

Photo of woman in fur hat and muff courtesy of Petite Mort Fur

The woman in the photo above is wearing fur reclaimed from animals that were killed on a roadway. She really is. This artistic handling of such unsavory, ah, “media” is the genius of Pamela Paquin, founder of Petite Mort Fur, an elite fashion design company. Thirty-nine-year-old Paquin salvages what she calls “accidental furs” from road-killed animals in the United States in order to craft haute hand muffs, leg warmers, hats, and wraps.

Giving a whole new meaning to “abs of steel,” Paquin harvested her first roadkill last year. “I got this crazy knife that was completely wrong for the task, got my hazmat suit on, took a shot of whiskey, and just started doing it,” she said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Equipped with better tools and talent refined by trial-and-error, Paquin is carving out a place for her company in the eco-fashion industry.

“Accidental furs are loving resurrections of our fuzzy wild neighbors who have met with an untimely or natural death,” she explains. “Each luxurious piece is handmade, individually numbered, custom tailored to each owner’s specifications, befitting an heirloom investment.”

Not even the most passionate animal activist could find fault with her mantra: “Good taste is never at the expense of an other.”

Petite Mort also gives a percentage of each purchase to support Building Corridors and Critical Paths for Vermont Wildlife.

If you’re ready to jump on this trend at ground-level, Paquin says, “As with all things precious, our 2014-15 winter season is limited. Contact us at info@petitemortfur.com to inquire about your custom-designed piece.”

The Irene Dairy Farm’s unique Barn, fountain and farmyard, by Monxdavies via Wikimedia Commons

Wendell Berry said, “Why do farmers farm, given their economic adversities on top of the many frustrations and difficulties normal to farming? And always the answer is: ‘Love. They must do it for love.’ Farmers farm for the love of farming. They love to watch and nurture the growth of plants. They love to live in the presence of animals. They love to work outdoors. They love the weather, maybe even when it is making them miserable. They love to live where they work and to work where they live. If the scale of their farming is small enough, they like to work in the company of their children and with the help of their children. They love the measure of independence that farm life can still provide. I have an idea that a lot of farmers have gone to a lot of trouble merely to be self-employed to live at least a part of their lives without a boss.”

That just about says it all. We all know about famous farmers like Wendell Berry, Jimmy Carter, and Barbara Kingsolver. But it might surprise you that some people who have become very successful in other areas just can’t resist the urge to farm. They don’t need the money; they don’t need the bounty; and they certainly don’t need the headaches. Why do they do it? They must do it for love!

Laurits Andersen Ring – National Gallery of Norway via Wikimedia Commons

Here are a few of the famous farmers among us that just might surprise you …

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, has been a passionate advocate of organic farming since the 1980s, and is now an outspoken opponent of GMOs. “It is now 14 years since I first suggested that organic farming might have some benefits and ought to be taken seriously. I shall never forget the vehemence of the reaction … much of it coming from the sort of people who regard agriculture as an industrial process, with production as the sole yardstick of success.”

Comedian Roseanne Barr lives on an organic macadamia nut farm in Hawaii. “I’m a farmer now, and it’s fantastic. My goal is to be totally self-sufficient and grow everything that I eat. There’s something about earning your dinner that’s cool. I got the fame and the fortune that I always wanted. But I have to say what I have now, it’s even better.”

Actor Russell Crowe owns a 1,400-acre ranch in Australia where he raises over 700 head of Black Angus cattle. “It’s a total oasis. You go to the farm, and if you let the rhythm of the farm be your rhythm and dominate, whatever’s going on in your mind, you can settle it down and sort it out,”

Actress Nicole Kidman and her husband, singer Keith Urban, have both a cattle ranch in Australia and a farm in Nashville, where they raise alpacas and vegetables.

Actress Reese Witherspoon has a farm in Ojai, California, where she raises goats, pigs, and miniature donkeys. “It’s so good for the kids to learn about animals and kindness and compassion. I make them clean the stalls.”

Peter Andreas Blix – Oslo Museum via Wikimedia Commons

Actor Tom Selleck grows 63 acres of avocados on his ranch in California; actor Jamie Foxx grows avocados right next door. Singer Jason Mraz also grows avocados near San Diego, where he harvests 30,000 pounds of the fruit a year!

Actress Elizabeth Hurley has a 400-acre organic farm in Gloucester, England, and recently launched a line of all-natural snack bars from food produced on her farm.

Actor Mark Ruffalo lives on a 50-acre former dairy farm in New York, where he grows strawberries and hay and plans to raise sheep.

Go ahead, take a guess:

Photo by Yellow Cloud via Wikimedia Commons

Animal, vegetable, mineral … or alien?

Photo by Amada44 via Wikimedia Commons

Leaning toward alien, aren’t you?

Here’s a hint:

Photo by Amada44 via Wikimedia Commons

Note the pot in which they’re planted.

These little curiosities are, indeed, vegetable. Formally known as lithops (a genus that contains several species), they are succulent plants commonly called “living stones” or “pebble plants.” You can see why.

Photo by Anselm Bradford via Wikimedia Commons

“Lithops are true mimicry plants: their shape, size, and color causes them to resemble small stones in their natural surroundings. The plants blend in among the stones as a means of protection. Grazing animals, which would otherwise eat them during periods of drought to obtain moisture, usually overlook them. Even experts in the field sometimes have difficulty locating plants for study because of this unusual deceptive camouflage,” explains enthusiast Nick Rowlette. “In the wild, lithops inhabit vast dry regions of southern Africa. Several areas in which these plants grow receive less than two inches of rainfall per month throughout the entire year.”

And, here’s the really cool part: Lithops do this:

Photo by Michael Wolf via Wikimedia Commons

You want some now, don’t you?

Well, then, awaken your inner dormant gardener from her winter sleep and indulge your newfound lithop love! It’s easy:

Order live lithops from a U.S. Etsy shop like San Pedro Cactus or try your hand at starting seeds from Whatcom Seeds Company. The seeds germinate within 14 days and, once started, need no water from fall until spring.