San Francisco

Good morning sunshine! … from the 20th floor of the historic St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Come on out and play the day away …

Continue reading

  1. CJ says:

    Very interesting! Thanks for sharing all this. I am one of the very, very fortunate Farmgirl Sisters to have a complete bedroom of MaryJanes bedding, which was my totally AWESOME and ABSOLUTELY APPRECIATED gift honoring me as Farmgirl of the Year: 2010. Cottage Hill has wonderously transformed my bedroom. Thank you Mary Jane . . your team!

  2. Debbie says:

    Thank you so very much Mary Jane and beautiful crew for sharing the story on how your bedding gets it start and end.(to our bedrooms)
    Everyone looks so very happy and I see it is all about families, yours and theirs.
    Thank you again so very much for sharing Mary Jane and Team.

  3. Paula says:

    Thank you for this story; I want to buy MADE IN USA products as much as possible; I support the theory of what MARY JANE is trying to do. We need more companies like this in USA.

    The story and the commitment that goes into the MARY JANE bedding products is truly amazing and the fact that you want to share with others the story is refreshing.

  4. Pingback: GIVEAWAY: Chenille Bedspread | Raising Jane Journal

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Julie Beck

Julie Beck, 4th from right (okay, lefties, 5th from left), former farm employee, lives in San Francisco.

On Tuesday night, we took her and hubby, Doug, out to dinner, along with my daughter and her husband, Lucas. (I’m behind the lens.) The reason we were in San Fran, City of Charms, is yet another post I’m working on. Bedding. We were there for a meeting regarding my bedding line. Using pics I snapped, I’m going to walk you through the process, start to finish. Stay tuned for that!

Lucas, Doug, Julie, Meg

Mexican food. The best I’ve had.

And the street entertainment was upbeat. Five-gallon white buckets and gallon cans, along with a photo of the drummer getting a hug from Will Smith. (Darn GOOD stuff! The musician I mean. Will ain’t too shabby neither.)

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

New Addition to the Farm

Our newest addition to the farm is Alicia Baker who will be working here as a graphic designer. When her aunt found out she started work here, she found some of my fabric on Ebay and turned it into a proper farm purse. Welcome Alicia!

 

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sweet Dreams

From this…

to this…

Come visit our little Sweet Dreams store in Moscow, Idaho, 425 S. Jackson, open noon to 6 pm.

  1. A very nice store – I wanted to purchase something as soon as I stepped inside, but really did control myself. I no longer purchase things just “because”; however, needing some bed sheets, I shall return soon.

  2. Lana says:

    What a lovely shop! I wish it was much closer… I’m in TN.
    I have a friend who lives in Boise ~ I’ll mention it to her! 🙂

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name That Partner!

Okay, grrrrls, who has a husband/significant other/life partner they adore but said pard-ner has more than one name? Here’s my dilemma.

Mine is a man of many talents, er, names. And if I’m going to do this here blog/journal thing, I can’t be all over the hunny bun map. Or can I? What do you think? This could be like, Where’s Waldo? or rather, What’s Nick?

Continue reading

  1. Linda Day says:

    My hunny too goes by many names. Some can not be repeated in cyberspace but usually Dale gets the job done. The grandkids call him Papaw, his daughters call him Sam and sometimes Grumpy! The one that I love is when the girls who range in age from 40 to 35 call him Daddy. Always will they be Daddy’s little girls and that is the hat he wears most proudly.

  2. Jane says:

    When we were first married…….38 years ago…….a family with a little boy lived next door to us. My husband had been outside many times doing this, that or the other thing and the little boy had been out there watching him. One day while my husband was at work, there was a small knock at the door and when I went to the door there stood the little neighbour boy. He wanted to know if my “hubsand” could come out and play? So, among my favourite names for him, Hubsand is still one of them.

  3. CJ says:

    We’ve been married 43 years and his name is Richard William . . legally. He’s always been called “Bill” . . (remember that hippie song about “Bill, I Love You Bill”?) Our step-grandchildren call him “Pappy”, our son (who has Down Syndrome) calls him “Popper-A”. Our daughter calls him “Poppy” or “Dad’.
    What do I call him? Well, it depends on a lot of things, sometimes it’s “honey”! Sometimes it’s “Sweet William” . . . and sometimes it’s “Bad Billy”. 🙂 🙂

  4. Match finder says:

    Cute nicknames for your husband. Love it. Noted down to call my husby 🙂

  5. Dear is also good name for your partner. You can call your partner as Mr. Dear

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Gift for Gab

There are well over 100 million personal blogs. Seriously. Where have I been? While I hammered away at books, put out a magazine, and ran a farm, I kept seeing something out of the corner of my eye.

Continue reading

  1. Amy says:

    I, for one, am so excited that you are blogging now!

  2. Katie says:

    Your words of wisdom have filled me since I first started reading them in the first issue 2002 ? I’m now here on my own farm, living off grid, growing my own food, flowers, bread and eggs. Even trying to write as you suggested to me.

    Your voice is gracious and inspiring and timely, yet the best thing is that it feels like I’m visiting with a friend . So consanguinity to all us farmgirls. So glad to read more of your inspired thoughts in these dark days. I hope I can pass it on in my life in even a small way.

  3. Rebekah says:

    All I can say is IT’S ABOUT TIME!!
    Well, that, and also, I’M LOVING it!!!
    Oh! That and that, and also, a big, fat, gi-normous THANK YOU!!!!

  4. Kimberly says:

    Welcome to the world of blogging!
    When I received your Lifebook three years ago, I never thought of where it would lead me. I knew as I read it the first time that I was holding the book that put together the pieces of my random thoughts on the changes my Sweetheart and I were wanting to make in our lives. We were living in a Denver suburb just coasting through life like everyone around us. But we wanted more. A lot more. And it started, oddly enough, with wanting less. Less stuff, less busyness, less buying and more making. We began a massive purge of belongings and felt so much freer for it.
    In our quest to simplify, we looked long a hard and not just our possessions, but what kind of a life we wanted to live. Over the next few months, I read more and more and learned, mostly from blogs, how to make many of the things I had been buying. And I shared what I was learning and doing on my blog.
    Fast forward three years. (Those three years and the changes are listed in blog posts under the page Simple Living Posts at the top of the blog for anyone interested!) We are now living on a farm. In a little town in Idaho, of all places, with our three kids, two goats and five chickens. We moved in January. We’re growing everything organically and loving our new life. It’s hard. Very hard some days. But I’d never go back!
    I now make almost everything we eat and use from scratch. From milling the wheat for all our baked goods, to making our lotions, herbal balms, and more, to milking my goat twice a day, and canning and preserving food, my days are filled with wonder (and work).
    In fact, I have pickles processing right now on the stove and a few gallons of plums I picked to preserve tomorrow. But I make sure to take the time to pick flowers, go on solitary hikes in the forest down the street, forage for food, and relax in my hammock. You’ve inspired me to life a life I had once only dreamed of and to blog about it! Thank you, MaryJane and all the Farmgirls out there who have showed me it can be done!

  5. Welcome to the world of blogging. 🙂

    I just love the birthday message your granddaughter left you!! Soo sweet!

  6. Kathy says:

    I don’t think I have ever heard the word “sibship” before! I like it! Just read every post after having discovered your new blog. Inspiration and so sweet. Thanks so much for sharing – I’ll be watching for you on the airwaves!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sally O’Mally

Look what Kim brought back today from Kansas — our newest addition to our mini-Jersey family, Sally O’Mally.

  1. Deborah Mcclure says:

    Love it!!!! Her name is soo cute, wish i had one.

  2. CJ says:

    How sweet!! I was wondering how that turned out. My daughter and I were visiting at the farm at the time Kim and MJ were talking about buying another bovine! Glad she’s safely “home”.

  3. Pingback: when she grows up … | Raising Jane Journal

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

New Design Studio

Okay, all good things take time. But this one’s a doozey. My house/business burned down in 1996. With the help of some neighbors and volunteers (and our teenage children, who threatened to divorce us based on violation of child labor laws), we started to rebuild.

But the “house” in my head was really a commercial enterprise and BIG. Do you know anyone who builds a 12,000—square-foot commercial facility on cash flow? We’ve all heard of repossessed farms, so I went with …

Continue reading

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Oh Wow, what a beautiful space!! My Mom always taught us that “All good things are worth waiting for!” !5 years is a long wait but it looks like my Momma was right again!

    So looking forward to all of the creativity that will be coming out of these new spaces!

  2. Jeannie Pierce says:

    I have wanted to see your place for a long time! It is so good to get a peek. This week at the church, I had a “light” delight happen too. On our stainless steel elevator door was a reflected shimmering cross. It was the reflection of the cross cut into the church door with the sun shining through and hitting it just right. How I wished for my camera then! Love you blog, and will be a faithful follower!

    jpbluesky

  3. Katie says:

    I love that comment about taking one step towards God and that he/she/universe will take nine steps towards you.

    How hard to get these important snowballs a rolling. Taking that first step.

    But it looks like you have an office, workshop, creating space, photo studio, teaching facility. I hope you also get a home one of these days.

    You have been a great example to me as to the financial concept of not risking the farm, or Gene Logsdon’s idea that if you have a farm that is paid for you might be able to make a living farming. We are almost out of debt on our project/ farm and have only built new structures if we had the money.

  4. Raynita says:

    So happy for you and your design team. I would love to hear Carol’s laugh in person one day…lol We live in a log home that we have been building for over 15 years with very minimal debt only at times we felt absolute necessary. So far baseboards and trim haven’t been considered necessary…lol….I personally have decided to find baseboards and trim overrated anyhow:) Thank you for sharing your life with me and my family. What you do matters to us greatly. Looking forward to your next issue always, Raynita

  5. Donna Marie says:

    I love your website and enjoy my magazines – again, and again, and again!!! Please keep up the wonderful, inspiring work. Hugs to all.

  6. CJ says:

    I’m so glad you all have been able to move in! It such a delightful pleasure to have been given the tour while we were visiting the farm in July . . . just before you were to start moving in! It’s BEAUTIFUL!
    It’s spacious, and gloriously creative and colorful! YAY for all of you!!!

  7. Thank you so much for sharing the photos and the story of your rebuit space. I can only imagine the laughter that goes on there and the environment is soooooo inviting creativity. I Love the inspiration.
    Thank you for being a huge inspiration in my life. And the people I’ve met online through the farmgirl sisterhood are so wonderful. I log on daily to visit chatrooms, join swaps and read articles.. love your blog, magazines and books. Don’t stop! Ever!

  8. Jeanette Beard says:

    Unbelievable! I have wondered about your production team.

  9. Pingback: Moon rock? | Raising Jane Journal

  10. Pingback: Family Tree Removal | Raising Jane Journal

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sowing and Reaping

Sometimes our grandgirls have not just one grandma at the farm, but two. Son-in-law Lucas, who works here, invited his parents, brother, and sister-in-law to join us for the weekend.

Of course, Gigi (grandmamma name for Patty), showed up in proper attire.

Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Canary Coop

I admit it. At first, it struck me as weird too. But then I realized how going to the chicken coop to “steal” eggs seems somehow perfectly pastoral, right? And normal.

We reach under their soft feathery tummies, grab their eggs (especially if there isn’t a rooster around), and never feel a bit of guilt. After all, isn’t that what chickens are for?

Side story. (Okay, I drift at times….) We invited a schoolbus load of kindergartners, accompanied by several parents, to the farm this past spring. I walked out holding my pet chicken and …

Continue reading

  1. Pingback: Visit to the Farm Cont’d | Raising Jane Journal

  2. Pingback: Great behinds stink alike. | Raising Jane Journal

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *