“We love your magazine, it’s refreshing after a day of mud and manure at the barn, followed by laundry and dishes (sometimes mud and manure too) at the house.
We have 30-acres in West Virginia, complete with geese, ducks, chickens, cattle, and an occasional lamb or turkey. These are our girls washing their now-grown bottle baby, ‘Rocky,’ before the county fair. They, and my son are truly country kids.
This was our daughter’s first showmanship class. Hope you can use these pics somewhere.”
Kelly
Have you ever had “special sprouts”? They’re actually Brussels sprouts, but if you say it fast, it sounds an awful lot like special sprouts, especially to a 6 and a 3-year-old. (Our very own Nanny Jane calls them Barbie cabbages.)
I love Brussels sprouts. I admit it. (There. I said it.) So I introduced them to my girls last month. I take mine whole, sautéed in a bit of butter, and then tossed with a splash of balsamic vinegar and sea salt a few minutes before serving. I eat them with abandon the same way I can eat bacon or popcorn. And guess what, so do my girls! Mia asks for seconds and Stella, thirds. Mia likes to peel back the layers and savor them one leaf at a time. Stella is an eat-’em-whole girl like me.
Last week we had BLTs, organic French fries, and … special sprouts (a rather interesting combination, but that’s what happens when it’s dance and gymnastics night). Stella’s fries remained untouched, and on her third helping of special sprouts, I wondered if I should make her eat her entire plate of food before I let her have more of something else. I promptly decided against it.
When she asked Friday morning if she could take any leftover special sprouts to school for lunch, I also decided against that. No need for her to know just yet that her peers might not love them the way she does.
The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 4,690 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—6,500 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 Beginner Level Make It Easy/Build It Green Merit Badge, I’m going green in my decorating. At first, yes, I may or may not have thought that meant a green theme, as in the color green, as in sage, pea soup, lime, forest, emerald, etc. But I quickly wrapped my brain around what it really meant: responsible, earth friendly, no regrets, kind of green. I knew that!
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Marsha Gulick!
Marsha (Osagegypsy, #2988) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning an expert Level Horse Dreams badge!
“In 2005 I bought four Gypsy Horses with the savings my father left me. He always wanted to give me a horse, so I knew this was a good investment for me. I researched the Gypsy Breed, sometimes called Vanners or Cobs; and where it originated in the UK. I joined a forum and learned SO much from the folks I met there. After researching and buying Gypsy Horses, the REAL learning started. I read books, The Soul of a Horse, Foaling books and magazines.
We now own 10 horses and have raised and sold a number of them.
Wow.
Let me just start by saying …
wow
again.
A woman named Sue Austin has just rocked my world,
challenging any notion I ever entertained about limitation.
When you can merge the words “wheelchair” and “scuba diving” in the same sentence, you know you’re in the presence of something,
rather, someone
extraordinary …
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.
