Monthly Archives: May 2014

Author Portrait: maryjane

photo-of-the-day

Posted on May 16, 2014 by maryjane

Rose Etta wants YOU to want a cow.

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Author Portrait: maryjane

Hear Ye!

Posted on May 16, 2014 by maryjane

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Carole Prevost-Meier!!!

Carole Prevost-Meier (#3610) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Knitting Merit Badge!

“I do know how to knit; however, I can only read French patterns. My goal is to learn to read English patterns. I am teaching my daughter how to knit. She made a pair of mittens and a scarf. I am also teaching her about yarn quality, which is very important.”

I love how her scarf turned out. She used circular needles and did a great job.

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Author Portrait: maryjane

photo-of-the-day

Posted on May 15, 2014 by maryjane

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Author Portrait: maryjane

GIVEAWAY: Milk Cow Kitchen

Posted on May 15, 2014 by maryjane

Be still my heart …
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My first shipment of Milk Cow Kitchen books arrived early and VERY unexpectedly last Friday. Bookstores and Amazon still list my book as having a June 1 release date.

In addition to order fulfillment, I purchased extra books to give away, so I’ll run this post several times until my giveaway stash disappears.

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All you have to do to get your name in our giveaway hat is …

Tell me what you’d name your cowpanion and what you’d do with that first bucket of milk you’d bring through your back door.

I mean, who hasn’t had a milk cow fantasy?

My book gives you how-to details for keeping a pet milk cow on your suburban half acre, a backyard lot in town … or at least, it’ll help fuel your fantasy of a someday cow grazing outside your kitchen window.

Milk cow fantasy aside, my book is chock full of recipes using dairy—75 to be exact—along with 15 step-by-step cheese-making recipes.

“In ways that matter, we are all the same. I have yet to find an emotion that is normally attributed to humans that is not displayed by animals. Just because they don’t speak our words doesn’t mean they are not communicating. They are constantly communicating. Once you click in, you can see it. If we let go of the unconscious limits we normally impose on animals and simply look at them, listen to them, and pay attention, they have a whole lot to say, and they say it clearly.”

– Kathy Stevens, founder, Catskill Animal Sanctuary, from The Inner World of Farm Animals by Amy Hatkoff

Author Portrait: maryjane

photo-of-the-day

Posted on May 14, 2014 by maryjane

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Author Portrait: stellajane

Pastoral …

Posted on May 14, 2014 by stellajane

It’s a big word for a couple of little girls, but it’s one we should know. It might just sum up our days at the farm with Nanny Jane and her cows.

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As an adjective, it’s used for or related to the keeping or grazing of sheep or cattle.

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Little Beaumont was curious about the wheat grass we brought. The sound of a bucket brings the cows. They always come running when a bucket clangs.

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Miss Daisy was happy to stop and graze in one place while we gave her some love. But we think the noun definition of pastoral describes our days at the farm even more perfectly. Pastoral is a work of literature portraying an idealized version of country life.

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Miss Daisy, who gave birth to her first calf, Beaumont, almost three weeks ago, stayed with us for almost an hour while we brushed and petted her. Her eye lids closed and her head got lower and lower like she was sleeping standing up. Eventually she started swaying back and forth as we brushed and loved her with our little hands. She loves to be loved! Ideal country life, yes.

Author Portrait: maryjane

photo-of-the-day

Posted on May 13, 2014 by maryjane

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Author Portrait: maryjane

Sticker Man

Posted on May 13, 2014 by maryjane

How many times have you picked and scraped to remove one of those pesky produce stickers?

Photo by acloudman via Wikimedia Commons

I hear you!

But the next time you have a sticker stuck under your nail, you might look at it a little differently. You might—who knows?—even smooth it out, strip away the pieces of peel that cling to it, paste it to a piece of paper, and mail it to the Sticker Man.

That’s right—Sticker Man.

Once he has your sticker, it’s anybody’s guess where it could end up …

Photo courtesy of StickermanProduceArt.wordpress.com

Look closely. Yes, those are ALL produce stickers stuck by “Sticker Man” Barry Snyder.

Photo courtesy of StickermanProduceArt.wordpress.com

Why produce stickers, Barry?

His reply, “It’s so stupid, it’s neat.”

Neat, indeed. The 60-year-old, self-proclaimed Almost World Renowned Food Sticker Mosaic Artist has had a penchant for produce stickers, reports Modern Farmer, since he was teenager in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Over the years, he has refined his hobby into a singular sort of produce-inspired pointillist pop art.

This one might just be my favorite …

Photo courtesy of StickermanProduceArt.wordpress.com

Or, well, who wouldn’t love this colorful interpretation of American Gothic?

Photo courtesy of StickermanProduceArt.wordpress.com

Something about Barry’s art just makes you smile.

Photo courtesy of StickermanProduceArt.wordpress.com

You can actually purchase prints of Barry’s brilliant work, but you’ll probably have to call him (he prefers the telephone to newfangled computer chat).

Of course, he also welcomes produce stickers via his (tongue-in-cheek) Save Our Stickers Foundation.

In Barry’s words, “The Save Our Stickers Foundation provides a new home and a meaningful purpose to these unassuming stalwarts of our supermarket lifestyles. Won’t you please help? If you could find the compassion in your heart to simply peel these valiant warriors off the skins of your preferred produce and then place them, sticky side down, on a piece of notepaper (paper, not plastic), they can live as artwork (united with thousands of fellow food stickers as part of a symbiotic visual presentation), bringing joy to young and old alike.”

Photo courtesy of StickermanProduceArt.wordpress.com

He asks that you send your stickers to:

Barry Snyder
POB 301
Erie, CO 80516

 

Author Portrait: maryjane

photo-of-the-day

Posted on May 12, 2014 by maryjane

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Author Portrait: maryjane

Meet Heather Benning

Posted on May 12, 2014 by maryjane

After I returned from my virtual vacation “visiting” Wendy Houses, I was wandering the Web and found myself way out on the desolate, windy plains of Manitoba—off the beaten path by miles, I know—where I discovered a delightful domicile designed for all of us who have entertained dollhouse dreams long past the days of youth …

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Photo courtesy of HeatherBenning.ca

And, yes, doll face, it was scaled for grown-up girls like you and me!

The dollhouse was the brainchild of Canadian artist Heather Benning, who spotted the ramshackle residence in 2005 while completing an artist-in-residence program in Redvers, Saskatchewan. Rather than photograph the abandoned farmhouse, capturing the sunlight on its aged timbers the way many an artist would, Heather was struck by an entirely different inspiration.

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Photo of the dollhouse prior to restoration courtesy of HeatherBenning.ca

She tracked down the owners of the property, who told her that the house had been empty since the late 1960s and was in pretty sad shape. After hearing her proposal, though, the owners donated the house to Heather so she could doll it up for a unique artistic exhibition.

“For over 18 months, I re-shingled the roof with recycled shingles and restored and furnished the house to the era the house was abandoned,” Heather explains. “I then removed the north-facing wall and replaced it with plexiglass. The house was officially opened to the public on June 9, 2007.”

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Dollhouse photos courtesy of HeatherBenning.ca

“I chose to close the house in with plexiglass because I wanted it to be inaccessible and tomb-like—inaccessible in that one cannot enter a real dollhouse because of the scale, and tomb-like because it encapsulates a time and a lifestyle that no longer exists, and will never exist again,” she said.

Heather furnished the interior with items collected locally from community member donations, garage sales, auctions, and thrift stores.

Alas, we can’t hope to make a pilgrimage to the house in person because it no longer exists …

“In October of 2012, the house began to show its age—the foundation was compromised,” Heather says on her website. “The house was only meant to stand as long as it remained safe. In March of 2013, ‘The Dollhouse’ met it’s death with fire.”

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Dollhouse photos courtesy of HeatherBenning.ca

Sigh … ashes to ashes, dollhouse to dust.

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Dollhouse photos courtesy of HeatherBenning.ca

Doesn’t it make you want to round up the little Janes in your life and design a dwelling for dolls? Even if we can’t live it it, we can always dream!