Pieces of a FARMGIRLS heart~

Have you ever been so inspired by a magazine that you subscribed immediately, told all your friends and family about it, joined an on line chat group ( in this case known as the farm girl connection ) and registered to be an official farmgirl sister complete with your own sisterhood number and badge?

If you answered no, then you haven't met Mary Jane !


 Today, I'm celebrating! It's been a year since my first MARY JANES FARM magazine found me and I remember it like it was yesterday. Our daughter was playing piano for an event her music school was sponsoring at a local Borders Book Store. She had played her piece and we were ( my husband, our son, daughter and my mom) sitting in the magazine section perusing publications we hadn't seen and listening to the other performers play when I saw the title MARY JANES FARM peaking over the top of another magazine. I was intrigued from the start! Mary Jane was on the cover wearing a straw hat with a yellow gingham ribbon attached!

As I turned each soft recycled page of the magazine I could feel myself beginning to smile all over! I had never seen a magazine that radiated such charm and warmth. Every page was filled with pure fun and down home ideas for organic living but in the most romantic, farm-friendly sort of way. I noticed right away that there was very little advertising and more rich content.  When I got to the article about the farmgirls glamping (camping farmgirl style) I was sold! Here were all these farmgirls out West glamping it up in true farmgirl style in campers they had reclaimed and fixed up all purty like! My heart literally skipped a beat! I held the page open for my mom to see. We both let out a hoot and a holler!

YA HOO!

We felt the spirit of fellowship and fun in MARY JANES FARM pouring out of every article. I purchased that issue and took it everywhere I went for weeks while I waited for my first issue to arrive. I would have put it under my pillow at night but my husband was already a little suspicious as to what all the excitement was about!

I had found a piece of my farmgirl heart and I wasn't about to let it go!

Perhaps it was just buried someplace between my Wild West roots and current suburban lifestyle in New England. Either way, I felt whole again, renewed, and INSPIRED! I felt as if anything was possible. I wrote a story and submitted it to Mary Jane’s Farm... and they published it! I wrote another, and they published that one too!

 I continue to be inspired with each and every issue of MARY JANES FARM. Since day one, I continue to write, garden, create and grow and now I have a new set of sisters to share the fun with!

                                                              Aren't they a HOOT?

                                        I'm sister # 1199!

                                          ( currently working on my Horse Dreams Badge )

Before I discovered MJF our daughter Nicolette and I started riding lessons.  I wanted to make my life long dream of " being with horses a reality" and I'm not getting any younger folks! Nicolette and I found a local barn and took lessons together for a year. We had a date every Wed. morning with our riding instructor at Mare Willow Farm and a few of our favorite Horses. Bandit, Wellie, Daphney, and Lady Cordellia... Each  one of them were so very special and giving in their own ways.  Bandit and I became partners, although he wasn't always in the mood for lessons... He was a huge ( nearly 16 hands ) Hanovarian/Belgian Draft with the sweetest face. He was sound, loved and well cared for but had many fears which got in the way of his being a more willing horse to ride. All the while I was learning to ride him I always wished I could have started at the "beginning" with him. I found myself  instinctivly wanting to help him over come his fears instead of riding him. Poor Bandit was afraid of his own shadow. Wind, noises, items stored along the inside of the arena and sadly other horses too. All of them were constant "worries" for him as we tried to get along in the ring. Naturally, I fell in love with him and he I, as much as he could. My husband even started calling him my " boyfriend" !  The best part about riding that year was that we had an hour each lesson which allowed us plenty of "ground time" for grooming, and just being together before saddling up! Nicolette and I learned our way around the barn, tack room, various paddock's and stalls and by the years end we had grown pretty comfortable in the saddle and more confident around horses in general. Nicolette participated in a few schooling shows and took home a few blue ribbons to boot! We had learned so much together and enjoyed sharing our riding experiences with eachother. Our hearts ached when we  had to give up lessons because of the turbulant economy but we have continued to talk about when horses will come into our lives again and it's going to be soon! I have located two Horse Rescues in our town and she and I plan to visit them and learn how we can  help! It's not all about riding!

We might not be able to have our own horses right now, but we can still be " with them"!  Where there's a will there's a way!  We promise to keep you posted! I can't wait to be enveloped in the heavenly smell of HORSES again! ( It's just almost as good as my hubby's cologne)  :)

 I can't say enough about this book. Joe Camp and his wife Kathleen share their adventure with horses " from the beginning".  If you are a horse lover it will steal your heart and you'll never "see" horses the same way again or your relationship with them...

 I think Mary Jane Butters' is just like us... She loves her country, stands for something bigger than herself, and has accomplished the”true American dream” with hard work and perseverance. And she believes each and every one of us can do the same if we work hard, BELIEVE and  follow our BIG farmgirl dreams.

 We all want to feel like we are doing something for the greater good and we can't all be Mary Jane, but we can follow in her foot steps, share the fun along the way and let our lights shine a little brighter for all to see.

We can do it together, one badge, one word, one garden, one community service project, one small act of kindness and creativity at a time.

I know I will be forever grateful for having stumbled upon MARY JANES FARM.

Thanks for celebrating with me!


KeepYOUR farmgirl spirit alive IN BETWEEN ISSUES!  Follow the farmgirl blogs, ( for beautiful heart- felt writing ) join the farmgirl chatroom ( because farmgirls play real nice over there) and the Farmgirl Sisterhood! ( to help you achieve all of your farmgirl dreams )!  

You'll just feel better, I promise!

Deborah Jean~

p.s.YOU might be a farmgirl if you like this post and...

  

 my  RINESTONE COWGIRL boots!


pss. I still don't like to get too far from my Mary Janes Farm Magazine's and now that I'm a sister I can enjoy Mary Jane's Cluck online each month! What could be better than more Mary Janes Farm?

How do you EXPRESS the farmgirl in you ?