Oh, honey …
who among us northern gals
hasn’t secretly bid her tongue to slip
effortlessly into that sweet southern nectar
known as a d-r-a-w-l.
Or, should I say,
d … r … a … w … l …
That’s right, you have to slow it down,
stretch every syllable out a little bit m-o-r-e,
maybe even summon an extra syllable or two.
Just for effect.
Lil’l Southern Belles by Hamilton Hamilton, 1894, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Well, in case you’d like to try your tongue at a tantalizing twang
(you know, in the car while you’re driving alone, in the shower where no one can hear … ),
start with this word:
mabalane.
No, not just mabalane all squished together …
Like this:
maa … buh … layyyn …
That’s it!
The funny thing about this word is that it’s really an obscure term that comes to us from South Africa, meaning “a clerk, a secretary; a person whose work includes the keeping of written records.”
It’s not really the definition that matters, though, it’s the way it sounds rolling from your lips.
Master the word mabalane, and soon you’ll be hollering “y’all!”
with the best of those silver-tongued southern belles.
Vivian Leigh in Gone with the Wind courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
On my Glampers on the Loose Facebook group, one of the women started a list of member’s trailer names. It’s neat to see how creative y’all are!
I added my three “glamp mobiles” to the list.
The first is my “Lily Pad,” a 1968 20 ft. Airstream, named after a turn-of-the-century lily pad painting I found still in it’s original chain frame (to secure it for travel, I sandwiched it in between two pieces of plexiglass).
The second is “Little Pony,” my 2008 Custom-built Teardrop, inspired by what all little girls dream of.
The third is my 1962 12 ft. Shasta named “Magnolia Stellata.” I named it that after a bottle of vintage “Magnolia Balm” I found while antiquing. Also, I planted a Magnolia Stellata tree this spring. I thought it was cool that the proper name for the tree and the bloom has my grandgirl’s name, Stella, as part of it. Hence, Magnolia Stellata!
Have you joined? This is your cordial invitation. We would LOVE for you to come hang with us.
Click here to be taken to the page, where you may request to join, once approved by an adminstrator, go ahead and take-it-away with glampin’ photos, crafts, and get-togethers.
If you want to add your trailer, go to the “files” tab, click on “Glampers On The Loose Camper Names” and “edit doc” to add your camper to the list. Those who have added their trailers as of a few days ago, are listed below. (I’m sure the list has grown by now. Any B-Gs out there? Give me an O. Give me a Q, V,X,Y,Z. Whaddaya got? GLAMPER GIRL!)
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
For the second week in a row, my featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Mary Fitzpatrick!
“There is a local store that sells cultures and other cheese-making supplies. She also sells cultures to make sour cream, yogurt, and Keifer grains, as well as teaches classes on cheese-making. I have always known that once I moved to our new hobby farm and I would have access to raw milk, that I would want to learn how to make all of the above. Now that I am recently retired and settled on our hobby farm … I’m excited to learn all I can and make my own. I first started with yogurt. My first attempt was a disaster; I threw it out and tried again. My second attempt was awesome! I first started by warming the milk.
Saralou and Ace were carpooling last week when, with a sudden stop, they pulled over to see up close a little fella who was crossing the road S-L-O-W-L-Y. He almost got pancaked by a car!
They scooped him up and brought him to the farm. As it turns out, Yertle, as we call him (from the Dr. Seuss book, Yertle the Turtle) is the only turtle breed indigenous to the state of Idaho.
Check out what’s under the hood! Pretty fantastic markings. Apparently it’s turtle mating season right now, so this guy was probably crossing the road to find a lady friend. Why did the turtle cross the road?
After a fun photo shoot we released him (he wasn’t a huge fan of the indoors) in the pond here at the farm. He’ll sure have a good time this summer eating the enormous amounts of tadpoles that hatch there.
The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 4,945 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—6,765 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 Each Other/Farmgirl Spirit Merit Badge, I found a creative outlet for my spring fever. Spring fever? Say it isn’t so! Farm Romance Fever sounds more like it.
Having all these badges under my belt (figuratively speaking, of course), I really wanted to do something with them. Namely, show them off a bit. All in the name of hospitality, naturally. I didn’t really want to show off the badges, per se, but the skills I acquired earning those badges. Know what I mean, organic string bean?
Just a little farmgirl humor there …
I always host a party in Spring. Maybe it’s that the days are getting a bit longer, maybe it’s the fact that I’ve done my spring cleaning and want to show it off before the dust settles once again, maybe it’s the joy of packing up the sweaters and boots and pulling out the flip-flops and sundresses, but whatever it is, I’m always ready for some friendship and good eats ‘long about May! So, in my best handwriting, I mailed an invitation to my idol, a man who turned 80 yesterday, a man who has used his fame and fortune to help the farmers of America a tremendous amount—Willie Nelson. Imagine my surprise when not only did he RSVP, he RSVP-ed a resounding Yes! Evidently, I was not the only one in need of some farmgirl interaction, eh?
First things first, I planned my menu. I used to plan my menus based on whatever was on the cover of the first foodie magazine that caught my eye standing in line at the grocery store. Nowadays, I base my menu according to what’s in season and what’s calling my name at the Farmers’ Market.
Do you hear that?
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.
