Farmgirl Merit Badges

Well, as anyone who knows me can tell you, I am a card carrying member of MaryJane's Farmgirls. This is like a grown-up girlscout group for women and girls all across the country. The badges you can earn all encourage self-sufficiency, waste not want not, old time resourcefulness and frankly, they're just fun. There is an on-line chatroom where all of us farmgirls can chit-chat about whatever is on our minds and while I was checking out the chatter for today I found a post by a wonderful farmgirl (CJ) who was showing off some of her badges. I just loved seeing them as it's interesting to see what each of us does to make our badges. You see, when you earn a badge, they send you a template for it. You can then do whatever you like...embroider it, draw it with puffy paint or fabric pens, whatever! I have embroidered all of mine and CJ had hers mostly embroidered, but her quilting badge was actually quilted - genius! So after seeing CJ's, I thought it would be fun to post my badges here so other farmgirls could see them and get ideas for their own badges, like I did with CJ's.

There are badges for all sorts of things and I don't think any farmgirl has gotten all the badges yet - though I could be wrong. Each badge has a beginner, intermediate and expert level and for my badges, I am marking my level with the dotted like that circles the patch. So on the big picture of all my badges, the ones on the left side of the board are all beginners (one circle) and the right is full of intermediate badges (twice around). I haven't even gotten half of the badges possible yet and I haven't gotten "expert" on any! It's kind of fun to have little goals to focus on while doing whatever project I'm working on. I love to knit, for example, so the beginner and intermediate knitting badges were easy for me to get. Now I have to come up with a project that meets the requirements for the expert level badge! And since I don't want to make something just to make it, I have to also come up with a practical purpose for whatever it is I make. Maybe a complicated blanket pattern for a Christmas gift, or a sweater. It's really a lot of fun

and challenging too. Gives the old brain a workout.

To the left are some close-ups of my favorite badges. The lettuce I loved because I got to use a floss in multiple shades of green and I think it made the vegetable that much cooler. The Horse Dreams badge is supposed to be a pinto, but he looks a little angry to me...I don't know why he came out looking that way. And I LOVE the honey bee! Tricky to embroider because of all the tiny detail, but it came out really cute. The light bulb for Green Energy was a cute concept, I thought and the little bunny in the Backyard Farmer badge is the cutest badge to date!

Once I have gotten a few expert level badges, I will be stitching them together and putting them on my Farmgirl tote bag (since I am the leader of a local chapter, I have a lot of stuff all stashed in a big tote). The pencil lines are denoting where I will stitch them together when the time comes. I just love getting the badges and have so much fun getting them together. I hope you liked seeing them! And if you have been inspired to check out my grown-up girlscout group, you can check it out at www.maryjanesfarm.org.

My new Book!!!

It feels like Christmas over here! With my new photos for the kitchen and now my new book I just don't know what to do I'm so excited!!!! I came home from a junking adventure today to find a package at my front door and lookie lookie what I found! The brand new, as in not even in stores yet, Farm Chicks Christmas book!!! Thank you Serena Thompson for putting this book together in time for me to make this Christmas a Farm Chicks Christmas! I can't wait to try everything and I just LOVE looking at all the images - they are so inspiring. I have a few of those books, that I just go back and look through because I love the feel I get from them. The images, the colors, the overall vibe of the book is just great and this is one of those books. So if you haven't picked up your copy yet...or put it on your Christmas list for Santa, I suggest you do so right now...go on, I'll wait.

Just as a side note, that cute little vintage metal toy truck was a Farm Chicks inspired purchase I made today. In the other Farm Chicks book, they used a bigger toy truck to hold cookbooks on a counter and I thought it was so cute. Well this little guy is obviously NOT big enough for that, but it was in great shape with vibrant paint in super cute colors, I just couldn't pass it up. I'm thinking it would look really nifty just sitting on the table next to my big white farm pitcher full of flowers...adds a bit of color, don't you think? Right now it's on my mantel, Moo wants to play with it and the Hubby thinks I'm wacko, but what else is new? I just love it!

My new favorite Etsy store!

Okay, you have to go right now and check out this store! http://www.etsy.com/shop/honeyandjamphotos The greatest photos ever - and a super sweet chick to boot. I have been searching forever for some art to go in my red and blue kitchen with no luck until I stumbled across Honey and Jam Photos. What luck! Her Etsy store gives you a great sense of her photographic style, but she also gives you the option of checking out a ton of pics she has on flicker. The two I chose I found on the flicker site. I wasn't sure if I could get them, since they were listed at 8x12 and I was looking for 16x20, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. I'm so glad I did! In about a day, Hannah (a.k.a. photo genius) had agreed to make them both in my requested size and create a custom listing for them. One of them is the image you see to your left (please do not use this image as it is property of Honey and Jam Photos). The other is a close up of the cherry basket. I absolutely love them and can't wait to put them in their frames! I'm also looking to go back and purchase some of the egg shots she has on Etsy as well as a few of the chicken shots on flicker. I really encourage you to check her out - beautiful work and a sweet, sweet artist. Thanks Hannah! Can't wait to buy from you again!

My Little Dream House

You may remember the 4th of July trip I blogged about where Moo and I went to visit my parents in the beautiful Central Coast of California. While we were exploring around the little towns that surround theirs, we passed by this house - literally drove right past it and I, being the driver, hit the brakes, threw it in reverse and took a picture of what will (hopefully) someday be my house. I LOVE the farmhouse look, I LOVE a good covered porch and anyone who knows me at all will tell you that my dream house HAS to be yellow with white trim. I don't know when I decided this, but to this day whenever my mom and I are driving around and see one, she will point it out to me. So to the owner of this house, whomever you are, if you are reading this post and EVER consider selling your home, PLEASE contact me! I will buy it, today, tomorrow, 10 years from now...I just love it so.

Granny's Attic

After the Farmer's Market, I happened to find this great antique store called Granny's Attic tucked in a little side street in Old Town Temecula. It was something like 30,000 square feet of pure antique gold! Moo was along for the ride and not too keen on the idea of scoping out the entire store with me, but I was quite taken with a large section of the store that was devoted to old baby bathtubs and wash basins and farm tables. It was awesome! I found this little beauty there and just couldn't resist. There is a bit of dirt in the bottom because it was displayed with a potted plant in it, but it is in great shape. I love the chippy white paint on the metal base and the few chipped edges add a little character. After seeing one of these somewhere used in a party setting filled with ice and cold drinks, I knew I wanted one but have never seen one until today! I plan on putting it in the yard with a few potted plants in it for every day use, then when we have a BBQ or a party, I'll pull the pots out and fill it with ice. The place I saw it pictured even made a little pennant type banner for the front and tucked a towel in the side to wipe your drink with - too cute!

The Fair

After waking up SUPER early this morning, Moo was itching to do something...and this being Saturday, I wanted to check out a new Farmer's Market, so we headed out. While I think the Farmer's Market is a fantastic way to spend the day, Moo is not as excited about it as I am. So after spending the entire morning picking out delectable organic produce, we did some antiquing (couldn't pass up Granny's Attic - See Granny's Attic post for a pic of what I picked up there), then headed up to the fair. Now this is not a fair like you all are thinking...this is a teensy, tiny fair sponsored by a pie shop held out in the middle of a field. Just to give you an idea of just how tiny it is, it took Moo and I less than an hour to go through the entire thing, play a few games, eat lunch, get an italian ice, get a balloon animal and pop said balloon animal. Oh and admire the livestock, and check out a Civil War re-enactment battle. So yes, it was small. However, Moo and I agreed that it was worth the kind of long drive out there for two reasons. One - the Italian Ice in Da Bomb flavor. I'm not making this up, trust me, I'm not that creative. Lemon, Blue Raspberry and Cherry mixed together to make a very patriotic red, white and blue iced bit of heaven. So tasty on a 98* day. As you can see, Moo liked it too.
The other thing we really liked about the fair was all the animals Moo got to see. Miniature ponies, calves, cows, sheep, goats and Watusi...pictured below. I always thought that was a dance...hmmm....
Moo really loved the HUGE horns on this one. The other one they had used his horn to give the gate a good whack right next to where Moo was standing when she went up to say hello to him. I was afraid the tears would start flowing, but she held it in and said "That guy was really mean, I just wanted to say hi to him. He didn't have to be so sassy!" I'm just glad she didn't get gored by one of those horns! I think it frightened Mommy just as much as it did Moo. And of course, we spent a lot of time in from of Moo's namesake, the baby calves. They were all too far to the back of the pen to pet any, but Moo enjoyed talking to them and really wanted to help them find their Mommies. Too cute. And to top it all off, Moo won herself a chocolate mousse pie! After the fair we went to go pick it up at the pie shop and it looks tasty! Not a bad day.

The BakeOver MakeOver

As you know, I am into anything and everything farmgirl. My ultimate Queen of all things farm is MaryJane Butters of MaryJane's Farm fame. She has a magazine (to which I subscribe), an on-line chatroom (in which I am constantly chatting) and an on-line store (where I have made just a few purchases...). One of the ideas she has become noted for in the farmgirl community, as far as I know it, is the BakeOver. It's basically a fast, easy breakfast/lunch/dinner way of cooking that feeds your family in a hurry. You can check out her ideas and recipes on her website, www.maryjanesfarm.org or pick up a copy of her magazine found in quite a few bookstores around the country (our local Borders carries it, but our Barnes & Noble does not).

Not too long ago I ordered a small sample packet of MaryJane's Budget Mix - it's like an organic Bisquick. This is the base for her BakeOvers. So last night, after I opened my box to find this cute little pack of mix staring up at me, I had to make one. So I found a recipe in one of her magazines for a Potato, Ham and Gruyer BakeOver and set out to make it. I just had to post about it because I am hooked! Not only was it tasty, easy to cook and easy to clean up (because that is a big part of how I pick which recipes will be made again in the future...the clean up factor), but it came out looking JUST like the photo in the magazine! I've never had that happen before! Needless to say, I was very impressed with myself and the dish and though the Hubby was not equally enthused about my perfect presentation, he did enjoy the dinner. Oh, did I mention the monetary savings? The entire dinner, which fed the three of us with enough for a second meal today used one small onion, 3 potatoes, half a slice of ham and a handful of shredded cheese! Usually, that's about the amount the Hubby will eat on his own! Yet somehow, through the miracle of science or farming, we all feasted on this meager amount of food and still had half of it left for today! Hooray for the BakeOver and God bless the Queen!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

So as a part of my "Farmgirl experience", earning badges and whatnot through Mary Jane's Farm, I have started reading the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (artwork found on her website of the same name is featured here to the left). It may not sound like an exciting journey into the literary world to some, but it is quite the fascinating read. I am really enjoying it and would recommend it to everyone, not just those who are of the currently trendy "Locavore" classification. The book follows Kingsolver and her family as they attempt to eat a diet of only local food for one year. Well, why would you do that? Who cares that wouldn't be too hard...guess again. It's challenging for them, though they were a family all willing to participate together in the project. How would a normal family cope, the a banana a day family who would no longer be able to consume the South American fruit day in and day out? On my last trip to the store, I tried to go with only local organic fruits and veggies...can you believe I found only one? And it wasn't even "local". I found a pint of organic raspberries from Watsonville, Ca. Now that's about a 10 hour drive from my house...not as far as the bananas, but hardly "local". So you can see how selecting a local diet is a little harder than just running down to the store to pick up a few things. I am curious now, as to how I could find local, organic produce...I will begin researching CSAs in my area and canvassing the local farmer's markets for organic stalls...I think it will take a lot of time to get to the point where all of my food is local and organic, but it's time that I think is well spent and really makes me appreciate what's going into my mouth that much more. California is one of the best places in the US for produce, we can grow all kinds of things here - so why not go with it? I'll keep you posted on my progress as I venture into the local organic scene and give you tips on where you may be able to find a similar scene in your neck of the woods.