Flowers, Furniture and FUN

 Dear Sisters,

What a whirl wind spring can be. There's always so much to do to get a new season off the ground and let's not forget that revolving TO-DO list we all have with the carry overs from the previous season. This year has been particularly busy here at our little homestead. It's a good thing I caught a case of Farmgirlitus .Contrary to other ailments that might keep a girl down for a few days, Farmgirlitus has the opposite effect. There's no mistaking it once you are infected but here's a list of some of the more common symptoms just in case you think you might have it too:

1) your mind will race with ideas for projects inside and out

2) you'll have the urge to dig up huge sections of your yard and replace it with food and flowers.

3) your heart will race at the sight of backyard blueberry shrubs at your local nursury and vivid paint colors.

4) you have an insatiable desire to get up early on the weekends to go junk'n and haunt your favorite thrift stores.

5) you drag home anything and everything so you can repurpose it.

6) you buy your first goat/s

7) you get your first batch of chickens

8) you build a chicken coop

9) you build a greenhouse

10) you glam up  your very own vintage trailer and hit the open road with Farmgirls on the Loose

11) you have a hard time falling asleep at night due to feeling just a tad over excited about EVERYTHING... but, once you do drift off you dream in happy colors.

12). you are having WAY MORE FUN compared to those who do not suffer from Farmgirlitus.

Symptoms WILL vary depending on the farmgirl: Add yours to the list at the bottom of this post!  

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The Cottage Life

 Dear Sisters,

I don't know about you, but it’s nary the end of May and as usual, I've been burning the candle at both ends inside and out. The gardens and my little booth are keeping me humming along, not to mention my FIRST (and most important) job as chief homesteader at Dandelion House.  I'm guessing you're doing the same thing in your own special farmgirl ways, so I've decided we should all play hooky for the day! Don't hem and haw now! Let's just go! Quick! Step on to the launch pad! Scotty... Beam us to the beach please before we change our minds! One, two, threeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 


Sh. Close your eyes and listen. Do you hear the gentle crashing of the waves in the distance? Can you smell the scent of lilacs in the breeze? Is the sun warm on your back? Good! Welcome to the Cottage Life! We're coming Max!!!

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Burlap and Bling

Dear Sisters,

I hope this post finds you all in good spirits and ready to celebrate Mother's Day with your loved ones! What do you do to celebrate? This year my handsome Yankee confessed ( ahead of time ) that he bought me some sort of new slicer- dicer kitchen gadget that'll do just about everything but pluck my eyebrows and trim my toe nails and it doesn't use electricity! I'll admit the no electricity factor has me intrigued but he knows I have an aversion to new- fangled kitchen appliances! I'm simply happy with the basics but he is confident I'll L.O.V.E. LOVE it. Remind me not to let him do the shopping at B.J's from now on! Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's go down town to Main Street Antiques and do a little window shopping at Burlap and Bling shall we? I know there are some GOOD mother's day gift ideas to be had there! Tee Hee.

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Familiar Roads

Dear Sisters,
Oh my goodness, do we have some catching up to do! I missed our visit from the shorelines two weeks ago, but there's a good reason for my absence. It's been seven years since I've traveled the familiar roads of my hometown, “THE BIGGEST LITTLE CITY IN THE WORLD" (and the outskirts) and boy was I overdue. So, I planned a week long get away for my family and off we went to Reno, Nevada. It's nothing new that people have been traveling away from their homelands and loved ones for centuries. Destiny calls to those of us with a bit of wanderlust in our blood, but, there's nothing like going home after a long time away. It'll fill your soul with things you didn't even know you were missing and then some! We're still flying high from our trip west! Put on your traveling shoes and fasten your seatbelt for a trip to Western Nevada with Deb and the gang!
City lights, dirt roads, sagebrush, mountains, and mustangs! Oh my!

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Where is Spring?

"It was cold and windy, scarcely the day

to take a walk on that long beach

Everything was withdrawn as far as possible,

indrawn: the tide far out,

the ocean shrunken,

seabirds in ones or twos.

The rackety, icy, offshore

wind numbed our faces on one side;

disrupted the formation of a lone

flight of Canada geese; and blew back the low, inaudible rollers in upright, steely mist."

- Elizabeth Bishop, The End of March 

Dear Sisters,
Do your " girls " talk to you? Come on, you can tell sister Deb. I won't have you admitted if you say yes cuz mine do! The other day while I was out doing chores Gladys poked her head out of the coop and asked, “Where is spring?" You mean, sunny, warm days with evidence of new life at every turn? It's on its way, I replied. Gladys clucked back, “good, because I'm tired of being cooped up, looking at colorless gardens and I miss my dust baths in the sun! Me too I said, me too. Except for the dust bath in the sun part...Feeling my toes in the warm sand would do it for me right about now! Let's fast forward to sunnier days to come shall we? I bet we can find spring then!

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Two Years and Growing

Dear Sisters,

 Can you believe it's been two years since we had our first visit together on the shorelines? Me neither! I feel so blessed to be able to reach out to you from my beach chair in the sand twice a month! I can't help but feel sentimental about this little farmgirl milestone of ours. When I think back to what my life was like before MaryJanesFarm, before the Beach Farmgirl Blog came to life, before I even knew what being a farmgirl truly meant, life was good. Heck, what am I talking about, life was GREAT! But it's richer, tastier, and healthier and way more fun than ever before now! Let's walk and talk all things “farmgirl “shall we?

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Feedsack Florals and a Glamper Hamper

Dear Sister's,

 Happy March! Only 20 days until spring and I'm counting each one! I've got a case of cabin fever like you wouldn't believe. We New Englanders almost skated by with another mild winter but February brought the Blizzard of 2013 leaving thousands without power for as much as a week or more followed by more snow, rain, sleet, wind and colder temps. The BEACH farmgirl is living with a house full of Crabby Patties, herself included! No wonder I'm craving the sight of spring florals, lace, colorful, crisp, cheery linens, sunshine, and a warm breeze blowing through my hair. That's not likely to happen anytime soon so while the wind whips outside I've been whipping up some farmgirl sundries that SCREAM SPRING for my booth at the Antique Mall...

 Come on in and check out my one- of- a -kind Feedsack Floral pillows and the GLAMPER HAMPER I made to help chase away those pesky winter crabbies.

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A Little Romance Everyday

Dear sisters,

Happy belated Valentine’s Day! What did you do to celebrate? Dinner out with your sweetie? Dinner IN with your honey? Something simple? Something tradition- al? Do you go in for those mushy store bought greeting cards or do you make a one of a kind valentine for your loved one? I learned a long time ago not to go overboard for Valentine’s Day and here's why...  A little Romance can be found EVERYDAY if you know where to look for it...

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On Purpose

Dear sisters,

 It's great to be back here amongst friends. I hope this note finds you in good spirits and ready for the last full month of winter.  I’m counting the days till spring but in the meantime I've been up to my eyeballs in “STUFF “ with the influx of items coming in daily from EBay for Burlap and Bling. If that isn't enough to clutter things up while I sort and price items I decided to tackle a few boxes, closets and dresser drawers while I'm at it! What brought on this early spring cleaning frenzy? Come on in and I'll tell you what I've discovered. PLUS, we'll take a trip to the Antique Mall for a sneak peak at my booth and more!

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Farmgirl Heaven

 Dear sisters,
Do you dream of handmade aprons like your granny used to wear as she went about her daily rounds? How about a soft, warm, delicate crochet coverlet with an embroidered pillow case too pretty to sleep on? Do visions of tables covered in vintage tablecloths of floral prints or lace set with the prettiest of mixed china, glassware and silver with a bit of tarnish sparkling on your table as the morning sun streams in dance in your head? Me too! Someone pinch me! I think I've died and gone to FARMGIRL HEAVEN! I'm noticing a trend in the items I'm collecting for my booth space at the Antique Mall. You might agree there's a little (okay, A LOT) of farmgirl style influence in my pick'n.

I can't wait to share last week’s pretty farmgirl finds with you! 

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Debbie Bosworth, on the beach

Debbie Bosworth,
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, offgrid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”

“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘Make Each Day their Masterpiece.’”

Column contents copyright © Deb Bosworth. All rights reserved.

Farmgirl on the shore, chicken in tow

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
– Mark Twain.