Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Lynne Parmenter!!!
Lynne Parmenter (Sister #5089) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning an Expert Level Herbs Merit Badge!
“This year, I have planted six types of herbs: lavender, Italian basil, pineapple sage, oregano, parsley, and thyme. In the past years, I have grown herbs and always dry them to use during winter months and will continue to do so. I like to use them fresh during the summer and fall months. My family and friends have always taken some home with them, both fresh and dry.
I have grown mint and chocolate mint. With these herbs, I use them in drinks during summer and fall seasons, sharing with family and friends. Once dried, I shared them and we use them in many recipes. The chocolate mint was delicious in the crock-pot cakes when we were home and in the Dutch-oven cakes we made camping. This year is the first year growing lavender. I will dry it and include it in the grapevine wreaths I make in fall—which I give away—and I also want to make some sachets for fresh scents.
I have always done well growing my herbs. This year, I had to grow them in containers on my deck, but in the past, I have had them grow over their beds and when my husband mowed the lawn, you could smell their fresh scents. I have already used the herbs that I have grown this year. This is the first year for pineapple sage, and I enjoy using it when I prepare and cook pork. So delicious!!! I look forward to continue growing and using herbs. It certainly is enjoyable and relaxing.”
Nancy Chaney, mayor of my wonderful little town of Moscow, Idaho, was invited to attend the National League of Cities (NLC) Let’s Move! Cities, Towns, and Counties (LMCTC) meeting, and to be THE speaker to introduce First Lady Michelle Obama yesterday at the White House.
That’s right. THE White House. And THE mayor of Moscow, Idaho.
The celebration highlighted elected officials and their roles as participants in the Let’s Move! initiative across the United States. Thirty-nine officials—from mayors, to county commissioners, to councilmen and women—were invited to attend the event.
Mayor Chaney says of the event, “It is my great honor and pleasure to introduce our Nation’s First Lady, the incomparable Michelle Obama. I am awed by her intellect, her grace under pressure, and by her willingness to tackle a goal so daunting as solving childhood obesity in a generation.”
Nancy moved to Moscow in 1980, and has served as Mayor since 2005 after two years on the City Council. She has worked as a nurse, archaeologist, editorial and administrative assistant, and small business owner.
Mayor Chaney was also appointed in 2012 as one of 15 members of the National League of Cities (NLC) Nominating Committee that was responsible for recommending a slate of officers and board members to lead NLC in 2013. The NLC provides technical assistance for the the Let’s Move! initiative with an overall agenda to help city leaders build better communities.
What’s the Let’s Move! campaign?
Let’s Move! is a comprehensive initiative, launched by First Lady Michelle Obama, dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams. A total of 330 cities, towns, and counties from 46 states and the District of Columbia, which collectively represent more than 56 million Americans, have committed to the initiative’s five goals.
Here is Mayor Chaney as she was introduced at the podium.
She had a fabulous speech. And, she’s done some great work with the Let’s Move! program, earning our city 3 out of 5 medals. NLC has awarded more than 1,000 bronze, silver, and gold “medals” to recognize local elected officials who have completed each goal. Does Moscow love its mayor? It certainly does. And she made us proud today!
While Etta Jane is awaiting giving birth at the WSU Veterinary School, our attentions are turned to the other bovine beauties at my farm. We caught Sally O’Malley this week (you may remember “Scratching Post”) getting her itch on with what’s left of this dilapidated tree. Do cows purr?
Oooo how she was enjoying it. You could hear her smile.
Then, suddenly, who comes tearing across the field with gale force? None other than Ms. Maizy, who is one of the cows I milk every day. With an eyes-closed “huff,” she knocked Sally off her tree. “Can’t you read?”
Maizy is “herd boss” around here and quite a bit larger than most of my herd. Oh, and the one leading the pack when they all get into mischief. Maizy is the one who’s figured out how to open our gates (making it so I have double locks on everything).
3 …
2 …
1 …
“Salute British ingenuity. Behold, the ubiquitous mobile home, a two-wheel tribute to the British spirit of adaptability, and to the great and growing pastime of messing about—in caravans.”
So begins the video below all about the Caraboat.
Back in the late ’60s, a man named Tom Car dreamed up this little watercraft, which is truly a land caravan (glamper) that doubles as a houseboat. Using a 6 1/2-horsepower motor, this wasn’t exactly a seafaring vessel (think the Perfect Storm for about 10 seconds, then cut to credits), but what a sweet little idea.
The curtains are a nice touch.
I wonder how long it took to get those swans in the shot?
Only 64 of these beauties were made before they stopped production, rather quickly. (Click here for the rumored theory on why the Caraboat went out of production.) This caravan-boat is now highly sought after by collectors.
I saw this retro video and just about died. You’ll love it.
The music is divine.
The quality—fabulously ’60s.
And they even have tea on board.
*Listen for this line:
So yo-ho-ho-ho to you, too!
It’s a doozy.
Now, let me introduce its new and updated cousin, the Sealander. The German-designed Sealander has taken this idea and transformed it into a modern machine.
The two ads themselves are strikingly funny! Maybe in 60 years, someone will be laughing at our “modern” Sealander.
Oh, how times do change.
How often do you stop to consider the world around you
from a different perspective?
It seems that we get set in our ways,
comfortably nearsighted,
amid the routine of daily life.
Stepping into a different light, or a different pair of shoes, can make a world of difference in the workings of our hearts and minds.
I love those moments when I stop and gasp, “Wow! There’s a whole new way to see that!”
Take, for instance, the photographs of an elusive London artist known only as “Slinkachu.”
(Don’t you love the alias?)
Playing with perspective is this man’s passion, and his photos persuade me to ponder …
Photo by Slinkachu, courtesy of The Little People Project
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.
