Author Archives: maryjane

Standing at the kitchen sink eating

Standing at the kitchen sink eating, I …

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Great Find: Pillow Cases SOLD

All three pillow cases (cow-donkey-sheep) only $8 plus shipping. Made by Miss Wilma of Kentucky, a Project F.A.R.M. (First-class American Rural Made) hand-embroidered product. Size is width by height.

19 x 14

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Today’s Recipe: Brandied Pear Upside-Down Cake

It’s that time of year again—time to pear down and eat cake!

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Come along with me/whimstanding

Do you ever just lay back, stare at the clouds … and take a moment out of the day? I did, and I wondered where this cloud wandered whilst it was whispering its whimsical story …

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Great Find: 1950’s Romance Short Stories purse SOLD

1950’s April edition of Romance Short Stories as a foxy little purse! This totally classy and vintage number will have your friends ooo-ing and awww-ing at the sheek exterior and donning their cat eyeglass frames to read the saucy and dreamy story on the inside.  Only $20, plus shipping and handling.

The front.

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Finding Peace at MaryJanesFarm

Ahhhhh, how sweet. My sis came weekend before last, arriving with her daughter and husband from southern Idaho. I decided we’d really, truly take the weekend off. No NOTHING on the agenda other than good food and conversation.

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Basil love affair

Oh my goodness. Just when you’re about to clip your basil because it’s flowering, harvest the stalks instead for a bouquet. The smell is divine. Once the basil aroma starts to fade after a day, simply brush your hand over a couple of basil flowers and POW! there’s that undeniable basil smell all over again. It lasts the entire day.

P.S. Hubby came in a few minutes ago and said, “What’s that smell? Basil?” Like I said, undeniably.

When city hall says GET OUT!

In 1969, when the town of Hertfordshire, Great Britain, sent bulldozers to oust May Savidge from her home in order to build a new road, she wasn’t about to go quietly.

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Intrepid Glampers

This is the last weekend for our Bed & Breakfast. We had four guests. Alyson Oüten and her sis, Kara, shared a tent. They cooked over the campfire, ate our homemade s’mores, drank wine, and took turns soaking in one of our outdoor bathtubs.

I woke up early this morning to feed my animals and noticed that my pregnant Jersey cow, Maizy, was missing. It was just getting light, so I grabbed my binoculars and scanned the nearby fields (covered in wheat stubble from the recent harvest). There she was, a fair amount away, looking just like an elk or deer. (It’s hunting season here.) Not wanting to waste any time, I broke into a run to …

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Feeling Tipsy Today

I’m in the mood to share some of my favorite tips:

I autograph my books with a permanent felt marker. Oops. Sometimes, I walk away with a marker stain on my hands. I spray the mark with hairspray and then scratch it off with a fingernail. Gone! (Good use for that can of hairspray I’ve had for ten years.)

Next time you bake a cake with raisins and you don’t want them to sink to the bottom, coat them with flour first.

I use an old-fashioned egg slicer to slice mushrooms.

Bad HABIT begone: Pick a habit you’d like to quell by putting the money you spend on it into savings and watch your account grow.

New HABIT that’s dead on: Suzie Orman recently challenged her followers NEVER to give coins to a clerk during a transaction but instead roll the coins once a month and watch your savings grow by investing it. Within a few years, you’ll be richer by the thousands.