We’ve all heard how important it is to eat a diet high in roughage. Likewise, “roughaging” (spending time outdoors) is essential to our mental health. Even if it’s a settee on the porch, we need it, gotta have it. I aim to be the reason you pulled your bedding out the back door last night.
Winnie Nielsen says: Vintage Button decorated vintage bottles? Very interesting twist for a touch of romance.
what neat things with to do with old bottles and jars! I have a collection of antique bottles i use for a ” bottle tree , this just reminded me I need to get them out!
Nancy Coughlin says: I enjoy looking out my French Doors to see my bottle tree, glowing in the sunlight in all its various colors. There’s a woman here locally, who lives on her family’s now defunct dairy farm. She has the largest bottle tree I have ever seen covered with milk bottles that had been used in their dairy. Sha says it is a wonderful reminder of family history. She leaves the bottles out all year and says the bottles look so neat in the winter with snow on them.
Last summer, I shared a little tweet (literally) from my morning windowsill …
Photo by Geoff Clarke via Wikimedia Commons
The “tweet” I’m talking about was the song of a Yellow Warbler who was frequenting the trees around my farm.
I recognize the songs of the warblers and several other species that sing the praises of the daily sunrise, but there are feathered farm friends whose voices I don’t know, so I was excited to discover Bird Song Hero.
Want to know what it is?
You may be surprised to learn that Bird Song Hero is an online game (you never thought of me as a “gamer,” did you?).
Granted, I’m not one to linger on the computer, but this game is really more of a fun tool, and it doesn’t take long to play. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology created Bird Song Hero to help bird watchers learn 50 common bird songs using a technique employed by the pros.
“Bird Song Hero trains you to interpret spectrograms, the sound visualizations scientists use to help them understand sound patterns,” explains the Cornell crew. “Spectrograms are used in the matching game to enlist your visual brain in identifying bird songs.”
Here’s the video that introduces Bird Song Hero and prepares you to play. It might take a moment to load, but it’s well worth it. When you get to the song of the black-capped chickadee, you’ll love the way I’ve always remembered its song: “Who did it?” “Who did it?” “Who did it?”
Visit Bird Song Hero to try the full chirping challenge.
Winnie Nielsen says: This is fascinating! I recognized some of the songs of birds here in the South but missed their spectrograms. This could be a great game to play with kids as well as adults in the summer. We have lots of birds in our yard and it is a continual joy to observe them. Right now, they are finishing up the parenting while feeding their young at the feeders. So cute to watch!
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Winnie Nielsen says: Roses for Summer! True Farmgirl romance.
Roses are the true harbinger of summer! The climbers, I planted by my ” Thomas Kincaid Kute Kottage” ( honestly, it looks like one from his paintings minus the thatched roof, alas, is it only a bare barn inside) are finally climbing and have striped red ,fushia and white blossoms. Just splendid this year despite our hard winter.
Stephanie B says: Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!
Nancy Coughlin says: Roses!!! Can’t believe that 2 of my miniature roses survived our bitter winter. And my crawler, light pink, has more blooms this year than all of those combined for the past 5 years! Nature is truly a wonder!
Winnie Nielsen says: Wasp vs Bee? Looks like the unfriendly sort, but maybe not.
Here’s another proud new Tabitha owner who sent us photos of her maiden voyage. We said we’d be proud to share them. (Read on to find out where you can buy a Tabitha trailer too.)
From now on when you see this on the road, you’ll know I had something to do with it:)
Polka-dot décor and …
bathroom door, and …
double-boiler s’mores.
What more is there? You, too, can buy one here!
Winnie Nielsen says: I can’t think of anything else that is needed except maybe a full tank of gas and a packed bag. The Tabitha looks so manageable to haul all while having everything you need for top of the line comfort.
I totally love your camping trailer. Wherever did you find something so precious and adorable? I would
love to down size. Currently we have a 33 foot 5th wheel. It sucks up the gas terribly,& is just to big!
Take Care, Pamela
Alice - Farmgirl #12 says: Love it!
Karlyne says: I am green with envy! Or maybe turquoise or aqua…
Winnie Nielsen says: Next step…… hot coals for s’mores!
Connie says: My friends and I lived outdoors, we stayed out as kids in the summer from sunup to sundown, playing in our neighbor’s tree house ,jumping on the pogo Sticks and swimming at our neighborhood Community Center. When school started we would all do our homework outside and then play until we were made to come in! We would start a game of kickball or baseball and pick it up where we left off the next day! We never ate indoors except in extreme Winter!
We were happier and healthier because we were getting fresh air and exercise naturally! The only time we were indoors, playing a board game was, if it was raining hard. A little rain never pushed us inside, we played in the rain too!
Karlyne says: This looks like a picture of my husband and two of his brothers. Next step? A burning twig in somebody’s ear…
Pamela Caldwell says: Since I have 5 grandsons – three of who have slept in a backyard teepee for more than a year, this is awesome. Thanks for sharing.
During my childhood, we pitched a tent in the backyard many times. As soon as summer hit, we were out the door.
Just last weekend, our girls got their sleeping bags out and we enjoyed a wonderful backyard campfire. Backyard camping is sometimes the best-case scenario with little kids.
But share your backyard and gardens with other folks looking for a place to pitch their tent? Well, only if they’re willing to reciprocate!
That’s exactly the concept behind CampInMyGarden.com
In order to participate, you must become an active member with an online profile, since it often calls for sharing your facilities with those camping in your backyard. But there are options—some yards are simple “bamping” (basic camping), while others are definitely “glamping” (glamour+camping) by its finest definition.
If you’re inclined to offer up your yard and gardens to fellow campers, the site has fun alternatives to traditional accommodations around the world.
Winnie Nielsen says: I love this concept of backyard camping. Growing up all my camping was done at Girl Scout camp every summer because back then, they had everything, including sleeping bags, you could use for each camper so a person did not have to own their own gear. But I like the idea of backyard experiences because it allows one to create a fun scenario right at home for everyone without needing to have the money to travel. Sometimes you just need to break up the routine and summer camping is one of the best ways to do that.
Connie says: Your wonderful story brought back such sweet memories of my family! My daughter Holly, had her own little yellow tent for her and her best friend, Melissa and our dog Max! Max did everything we did! He loved the slip -n-slide, he lined up behind the kids and took his turn! We strung those plastic patio lights in the trees at the very back of our yard. We were on a tight budget so vacations out of town were very few, but I would not have traded those backyard camping nights for anything!
Karlyne says: What a seriously brilliant idea!
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.
MaryJane 
Such pretty aprons! Weren’t they referred to as Sunday aprons in the day? I am way to messy to cook with one of those. Instead, I think they would be cute over a denim skirt as part of the outfit showing Farmgirl romance.
Love, love , love this photo of vintage aprons flapping in the breeze in the sun. And with hankies in the pockets, how sweet.
Beautiful Aprons! I wore an apron to VBS every day last week and my Farm Girl necklace! The kids loved my apron and I got a lot of hugs because, they said, their Great Nana’s wear aprons. The pastor loved it, it reminded him of his grandmother growing up. I said,” We Farm girls wear our aprons in the kitchen and out of the kitchen”” Which sparked another conversation about Mary Jane’s Farm Girls!,
Which is and will always be Dear to my Heart
I have a friend from church who collects aprons and displays them beautifully. She stopped counting at 3000+!