I’m curious. How did your significant other show-you-the-love on V-day? Me? I got not one (apparently he didn’t give me gooder grammar), but three, THREE baby dripping-with-sweetness, organic watermelons. (An out-of-season delicacy that had me swooning and spoonin’ in no time.)
And, AND … organic kale for my chickens. I kid you not. I’ve picked my greenhouse kale down to its very nubbins and was saying how sorry I felt for my chickens this time of year. “Poor things, I’m out of greens.” So what did hubby really give me in its most finest final form? Dark yellow yolks again, that’s what. (You know that’s what gives your homegrown eggs their vibrant color, right? Chlorophyll.)
Rascal was born on Valentine’s Day, and so naturally, we had a party yesterday to celebrate!
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Colina Washburn!
Colina Washburn (rubyleesmom, #3408) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning a Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert Level Recycling Merit Badge!
“Our community offers many opportunities for recycling. We have 2 recycling centers as well as many containers throughout the county for cardboard, glass, newspapers and plastic. It makes it very easy and convenient.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
“Introducing a groundbreaking technique that seamlessly merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques, first-time director John Kahrs takes the art of animation in a bold new direction with the Oscar-nominated short, “Paperman.” Using a minimalist black-and-white style, the short follows the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York City, whose destiny takes an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with a woman on his morning commute. Convinced the girl of his dreams is gone forever, he gets a second chance when he spots her in a skyscraper window across the avenue from his office. With only his heart, imagination, and a stack of papers to get her attention, his efforts are no match for what the fates have in store for him. Created by a small, innovative team working at Walt Disney Animation Studios.”
Let your mind drift back to the ’80s…
Remember the “The Love Shack” song by the beehives ‘n bling band, the B-52s?
I know—how could you forget?
(And now you’ll have it stuck in your head the rest of the day.)
The love shack is a little ol’ place where
we can get together …
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Now that I have you humming, come along with me to the decidedly deco desert getaway dreamed up by the B-52s’ red-headed bombshell, Kate Pierson.
LivePict.com (CC-BY-SA-3.0) via Wikimedia Commons
Kate has created her own oasis in Landers, California, that beckons visitors to bask in the exuberant glow of retro.
It’s called Kate’s Lazy Desert, a vintage-inspired resort destination housed entirely in re-fabbed Airstream trailers.
It all began a few years ago when Kate was tooling down a New York state back road in her orange VW bug …
“That’s when I first saw a gleaming silver Airstream with a ‘for sale’ sign on it, and I screeched to a halt … I called the number posted on the window, met the owner, and sealed the deal.”
That was Airstream number one, which became known as “Tinkerbell,” the first official Lazy Kate love shack.
Photo courtesy of Kate’s Lazy Desert
“The other Airstreams seemed to steer their way toward us by some magical force,” Kate says.
Are you buying your partner some flowers for V-day? (I’ve been known to give my man flowers.) If not, how are you making the day special for your significant other? New fishing gear? Dinner for two—at home? Out? Lunch box love note? Coffee in bed? Breakfast in bed? Homemade card? Nothing:)
Love letters …
Feel your heart rate quicken?
Who doesn’t love the prospect of a good love letter?
There’s a little something seductive about them,
and I’m not just talking about scented stationery and wistful words.
Love letters have a timeless quality, luring our imaginations through the pages of history like no textbook ever could, preserving memories for generations.
When my parents were finally tucked into their graves, we discovered a secret box my mother had kept in a cedar chest in our basement that contained every love letter, note and card my parents had ever given each other, some of them dated before they’d married. The letters my father had mailed back home while he was away at war made it seem like my parents were the stars of a movie we’d discovered for the first time.
You can imagine the thrill of an elderly California couple who were recently reunited with their own long-lost love letters after 40 years.
High school sweethearts Lloyd and Marian Michael married on Dec. 31, 1942, only to be separated shortly thereafter when Lloyd joined the Army Air Corps to serve as a mechanic in Europe during World War II.
Image courtesy of Graphicsfairy.blogspot.com
“I just lived for the day when the postman would bring a letter,” Marian said. “You know, it was the only way we communicated. The only way we had any touch with each other.”
(There’s that tingle again.)
Eventually, the couple accumulated a steamer trunk full of missives and memories that they treasured for 30 years of their marriage until their home was robbed, and the trunk of letters was stolen.
“We were devastated to think someone would steal our love letters and probably throw them to the wind,” Marian remembers.
The couple had long given up their letters for lost when Lloyd received a phone call from a stranger, a fellow veteran who had tracked him down through the military. Although he apparently had no connection to the robbery, the man had the Michaels’ letters in his possession and was compelled to help them find their way home.
“And they came home,” Lloyd said.
Just in time for the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary.
Makes you want to spritz a pretty piece of paper and start penning your heart out, doesn’t it?
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.
