Do you ever wish, in this age of click-and-text, that your child could be a little more in touch with pen and paper?
Call me old fashioned, again …
I love letter writing,
Photo courtesy of Collar City Brownstone; http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com/2011/01/the-letters-of-a-visual-life.html
and I want my grandgirls to know the delight of holding an unopened envelope in their little hands (not to mention develop lush letter-writing skills that transcend LOL and BFF).
Vintage photo of girl licking envelope; unknown date; http://nursemommylaughs.com/2012/11/19/grandparents-bond-memories-to-treasure/
Of course, computers and social media sites have made it easier than ever to connect with people far and wide, but these instant avenues to acquiring “friends” don’t come without a modicum of risk, especially where our kids are concerned.
(That’s grandmotherly apprehension for you.)
Anyhow, this train of thought led me to lament the fading of a lovely tradition: pen pals.
Enfant écrivant by Henriette Brown, 1860-1880, V&A Museum Londres; http://doudou.gheerbrant.com/?m=201002
“Having a faraway pen pal is not only a fun way to boost reading and writing skills, but also a window into other cultures, or at least other parts of the country,” writes Teri Cettina of Parenting.com.
I couldn’t agree more!
But … where can a blooming Jane find a pen pal these days?
Right here: Amazing Kids.
The Amazing Kids! PenPals Program is a non-profit, literacy-based, traditional letter-writing program that is available to all children ages 5 to 17 worldwide.
Perfect!
(One could get carried away with the exclamation points, couldn’t she?)
Amazing Kids! Founder and President Alyse Rome explains that the program’s mission is to help inspire kids to discover their own unique gifts and to use them in positive and productive ways to make a difference in their lives and in the communities in which they live. “It offers one of the few remaining choices for finding an established, safe, and trusted traditional letter-writing pen pal program for children.”
Now, that’s what I’m talking about (!!!!!!!!!)
To all y’all who entered a giveaway last week for a chance to win Junk Gypsy Swag … the waiting is over!
So who do the Junk Gypsies get jiggy with at their JuNK-o-RAMA prom?
Why, the stunning and talented … Miranda Lambert!
So I gathered all of your answers, put them in my Junk Gypsy bucket, turned my back for a second … and look who came to help …
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Nicole Christensen!!!
Nicole Christensen (Texdane, #1155) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert Level Heirlooms Forever Merit Badge!
“For my gardening season 2012, several friends gave me heirloom plants, including different varieties of tomatoes, herbs, and flowers. I read the book Gardening with Heirloom Seeds by Lynn Coulter, and was introduced to several heirloom seed catalogs by my dad’s wife, Karen, and my friend, Valerie. I marveled how beautiful the heirloom plants were growing in my garden, and wondered how many people before me had the same beautiful plants. (Prior to these heirloom varieties, my seeds have been organic in the veggie bed).
Seed saving always seemed like it would be difficult before, but I was very inspired by some of the beautiful heirloom varieties of plants I was given by some good friends, including some farm sisters! At the end of the season 2012, I learned how to save seeds, using seedsavers.org as a guide.
Fingers crossed!
Here’s a nifty idea hatched on the East Coast that I hope will soon head its wagons west …
Greenbean Recycle (or “GB Recycle,” as all the cool kids call it) is an innovative approach to keeping cans and bottles—both plastic and glass—out of garbage cans.
Image by Benoit Rochon via Wikimedia Commons
The gist:
The Greenbean machine will happily keep tabs on recycling competitions between you and friends, too.
Photo by Jarrod Jones, MIT Department of Facilities
“When users see their names on a leader board, they are more engaged to come and continue recycling,” says inventor Shanker Sahai. “Recycling is a boring chore and sometimes you don’t know how your effort makes a difference or even if it is recycled and re-used, so by showing a user that even one bottle or can makes a difference in real time, the user is encouraged to keep recycling.”
And, hey, the Greenbean makes fun crushing sounds.
I am so very pleased to announce our Farmgirl Sister of the Year! Meet Karen Price. Karen has been a Sisterhood member for five straight years, but this is the first year she’s applied for Merit Badges because, as she puts it, “I recently changed my occupation to allow for more fun stuff.” Karen has gone after some of the more difficult badges—like Entrepreneurial Expert, Ink Slinger Expert, and Farmgirl Spirit Expert—that require extra effort and have a net positive affect on the world.
Karen spent 18 years as a Methodist Minister throughout Michigan before settling in Fenton, Michigan, two years ago. Read her wonderful blog here.
Karen and 10 other women comprise the Dandelion Farmgirl Chapter. They’ve been meeting once per month for the past four years. “We usually make or create something. We’re very hands on, things like ‘puttin’ up a swap’ or canning or crafting. For our last meeting, we made terrariums.” Karen says she loves a good swap and has been active in the swaps on our Farmgirl Connection chatroom.
We couldn’t help but fall even more in love with Karen when we found out she fought for a change to local ordinances in her hometown to allow for backyard chickens. You can read about it here. She showed up at the city council meeting in a chicken-embellished dress. Walking around the room, she pulled white plastic eggs from her chicken purse, asking those in attendance, “Have you hugged a chicken today?”
Successful in her attempt to change the law, her hens Cagney and Lacey are now members of her family. (Stay tuned for the Oct-Nov “Turning the Page” issue of MaryJanesFarm, where our Urban Homesteader will give you tips on how to change the zoning laws in your community.)
Let’s give Karen a loud and raucous round of clucking!!!!!!
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.
