Capturing our photos-of-the-day is always an adventure. Three of us, Ace, Karina, and myself, somehow manage to find a few minutes each day for a quick snap here and there around the farm. Ace’s recent dandelion photo was a real dandy taken entirely on the fly.
Karen England says:I don’t think I told you, but I sure told everyone else and now I’ll tell you that I think this photo is an award winner if there ever was one. Bravo! I love getting Raising Jane blog new posts alerts in my inbox and, that this photo is in the gratitude section of the blog, seems a fitting place for me to say thank you for blogging! …Carry on.
As I was flying by Ace, stopped on one of our many pathways, I saw her (in between campfire food photos for our next magazine) tossing dandelion fluff into the air and then aiming her camera into the direction of what was raining down. I wondered what she was up to. Later that evening, when I sat down to conjure up a post for the next day, I put two and two together when I saw her photo waiting for me in our Raising Jane media library.
Karina’s photo of today’s teacups turned into yet another photo-of-the-day … along with giving her a fright. She had wandered up to our pond to stage a photo with some of our more delicate, vintage teacups on the pond dock (the glistening water makes a great backdrop sometimes) when something huge and hairy (and breathing hard) thundered into the pond right next to her, making a HUGE cannonball splash.
An adorable Bullwinkle it wasn’t.
Remaining somewhat composed, even though her heart was about to stop, she carefully gathered up the teacups (somehow managing not to break them) and ran into one of our nearby B & B wall tents. After catching her breath and quieting her shaking hands (and staying back a safe distance), she snuck back out for a few photos of a totally drenched moose at play.
If Moose could talk, I’m sure this one would have said as he galloped by, “Hey, Karina, watch this!”
“Does the hitch come with the truck?”
Glampin’ Jane was fielding questions from a prospective buyer with a hankerin’ to haggle.
“Yes, ma’am. The whole shebang,” she assured.
“How about the seat covers?”
“You bet,” Jane agreed. “The full monty.”
“I’m gung-ho about going glamping in a pick-up truck,” the customer confessed.
“Will you throw in that little luggage rack for a couple hundred more?”
This gal drove a hard bargain, but Jane was set to sell,
lock, stock, and barrel.
Jane extended her hand.
“It’s a deal,” she said. “Take ’em both, neck and crop.”
Whoa …
Neck and crop?
That’s right:
the whole enchilada,
nine yards,
ball of wax ……….
The origin of this uncommonly uttered phrase is sketchy, but most say it had something to do with a horse (or maybe a rider) taking a spill.
I would have guessed it had something to do with a chicken.
Featherbrain!
In any case, “neck and crop” has come to mean completely, wholly, altogether, and at once.
Done!
Bring on the butterflies, moths,
and, of course, the bees!
I can’t hide my penchant for pollinators.
“The Wonder of Discovery: Pollinators All Around” by Carolyn Vibbert
It’s that time of year …
Blooms are bursting open around the farm, spiffing up the place with color and fragrance. I welcome the annual buzz and whir of those wondrous little magicians who make food happen. Last weekend, I was showing my grandgirls some flowers that were covered in our honeybees. I explained how it all ended up as honey, but more important, I explained that without the bees buzzing around the flowers on our blueberry bushes, we wouldn’t get blueberries. (Blueberries are Mia’s favorite food.)
Photo by Aiwok via Wikimedia Commons
Six years ago, the U.S. Senate unanimously declared the third week in June as “National Pollinator Week” to help address the declining pollinator crisis, and Pollinator Week has blossomed into an international celebration.
This year, the party kicks off on June 17, and the Pollinator Partnership website offers ideas about how you can get involved.
For my part, I’m focusing on some of my garden’s most charming guests:
hummingbirds.
Have you ever wondered whether the money you spend ends up funding causes you oppose? Like an industry that hurts honey bees?
That’s the burning question posed by a new app called Buycott …
and it’s out to find the answer.
“A buycott is the opposite of a boycott,” explain the app’s socially conscious creator, Ivan Pardo. “Buycott helps you to organize your everyday consumer spending so that it reflects your principles.”
How?
After you download the app (free from iTunes), you start “buycotting” by searching for and joining available campaigns—or creating your own—in order to establish a profile of your social conscience.
Then, you can scan a product’s barcode with the Buycott app and it will set out to determine what the product is and who owns it. Buycott will then trace the product’s ownership back to its original parent company and cross-check this company against campaigns that you care about, from homelessness to GMO foods and beyond.
Conflicts between a company and your campaigns will send up a red flag, helping you make an informed choice about how you spend your money.
Buycott already boasts over 100 campaigns and the list is growing. If your cause can’t be found, it’s quick and easy to add it. All you need is a goal and a list of companies that you know either support or undermine your cause.
Did you catch my musty book coffee fix post earlier this year?
Just the mention of “musty” makes my nose crinkle (although coffee is a pleasing antidote).
With our noses now inside a book, let’s turn the page … or pick up another edition?
Something like that.
Last week, on a spontaneous hunt for poetic inspiration, I spied my old copy of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass—the one that survived my house fire many, many years ago. It has been sitting unopened for so long, tucked inconspicuously among other faded fabric spines, I was prepared to pinch my nose upon opening it.
Courtesy iPad E-Book Library
But, there was no must, no mildew …
just that heavenly “old book smell.”
Ahhh.
Courtesy Eakins Press Foundation
Do you remember the last time you fumbled upon that nigh forgotten fragrance?
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.
