While in Lindsborg, Kansas, we watched a group of local high school students perform traditional Swedish dances in the local park.
Talk about a unique high school sport! Each year, the students travel to a new state and perform in a culminating show to raise money for a final trip they will take as seniors to Sweden.
The dances were really awesome and ranged from a sword dance (performed by the young men) to a sort of musical chairs, where an uneven number of dancers had to grab a partner, leaving one out. There was also a humorous “odd couple” dance (as seen below) and a dance imitating the act of weaving.
Ready to find out the winner of our MaryJane’s Home chenille bedspread?
I’m dreaming of …
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sherrilyn Askew!
Sherrilyn Askew (Sherri, #1350) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning an Expert Level Recycling Merit Badge!
“I am continuing to recycle and am slowly converting moms in my daughter’s Girl Scout troop to recycle too. Since cardboard has a monetary value, I was able to get all the boxes from the cookie sales collected, baled, and sold, giving the proceeds to our troop. Any other cardboard brought in to me is also baled and sold, with the proceeds going to the troop. It is steadily catching on.
Since my brother and I got a baler, we have been baling our cardboard and selling it, rather than filling up the landfill with it. Getting others to do the same is a challenge, but money does seem to make a difference, especially when someone else does the work. Using recycling as a fundraiser seems to encourage more people to practice it.”
Capturing our photos-of-the-day is always an adventure. Three of us, Ace, Karina, and myself, somehow manage to find a few minutes each day for a quick snap here and there around the farm. Ace’s recent dandelion photo was a real dandy taken entirely on the fly.
Karen England says:I don’t think I told you, but I sure told everyone else and now I’ll tell you that I think this photo is an award winner if there ever was one. Bravo! I love getting Raising Jane blog new posts alerts in my inbox and, that this photo is in the gratitude section of the blog, seems a fitting place for me to say thank you for blogging! …Carry on.
As I was flying by Ace, stopped on one of our many pathways, I saw her (in between campfire food photos for our next magazine) tossing dandelion fluff into the air and then aiming her camera into the direction of what was raining down. I wondered what she was up to. Later that evening, when I sat down to conjure up a post for the next day, I put two and two together when I saw her photo waiting for me in our Raising Jane media library.
Karina’s photo of today’s teacups turned into yet another photo-of-the-day … along with giving her a fright. She had wandered up to our pond to stage a photo with some of our more delicate, vintage teacups on the pond dock (the glistening water makes a great backdrop sometimes) when something huge and hairy (and breathing hard) thundered into the pond right next to her, making a HUGE cannonball splash.
An adorable Bullwinkle it wasn’t.
Remaining somewhat composed, even though her heart was about to stop, she carefully gathered up the teacups (somehow managing not to break them) and ran into one of our nearby B & B wall tents. After catching her breath and quieting her shaking hands (and staying back a safe distance), she snuck back out for a few photos of a totally drenched moose at play.
If Moose could talk, I’m sure this one would have said as he galloped by, “Hey, Karina, watch this!”
“Does the hitch come with the truck?”
Glampin’ Jane was fielding questions from a prospective buyer with a hankerin’ to haggle.
“Yes, ma’am. The whole shebang,” she assured.
“How about the seat covers?”
“You bet,” Jane agreed. “The full monty.”
“I’m gung-ho about going glamping in a pick-up truck,” the customer confessed.
“Will you throw in that little luggage rack for a couple hundred more?”
This gal drove a hard bargain, but Jane was set to sell,
lock, stock, and barrel.
Jane extended her hand.
“It’s a deal,” she said. “Take ’em both, neck and crop.”
Whoa …
Neck and crop?
That’s right:
the whole enchilada,
nine yards,
ball of wax ……….
The origin of this uncommonly uttered phrase is sketchy, but most say it had something to do with a horse (or maybe a rider) taking a spill.
I would have guessed it had something to do with a chicken.
Featherbrain!
In any case, “neck and crop” has come to mean completely, wholly, altogether, and at once.
Done!
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.
