Just because it’s so daggum, mind-bendingly pretty:
Reminds me of an old-fashioned clock, somehow, only the inner parts are the feature attraction. And it’s a hummingbird, hovering.
Tripping the art fantastic, wouldn’t you agree?
Check out more of Derek’s sculptures here.
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sherrilyn Askew!!!
Sherrilyn Askew (Sherri, #1350) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning an Expert Level Shopping Green Merit Badge!
“Last year, I spoke with my new-to-me chapter about having a bag swap and the importance of reusable bags (I was preaching to the choir). This November, we were finally able to have our sew-in and do a bag swap (YEAH!).
We had fun!!!!! We originally started with 7 people and 1 virtual member for our bag swap, so I tie dyed 8 canvas bags with blackberries. Due to attrition, we only had 4 people in the swap, but I made pockets for all the bags anyway.
The bags were barely dry and had no pockets when my daughter decided which one was going to be hers (I still need to complete the pocket). Using some of my hand-dyed fabrics from another badge, I made pockets and stitched them onto the bags. I then flipped the bags over and using dyer’s crayons, stenciled a bug on the back side of each bag.
MaryJane sent our chapter several blank canvas bags that we have since proceeded to decorate. I made a pocket for one of the blue and white bags. Watch the mail, as no swap is complete until you receive a bag in return.”
John Froelich was born on this day in 1849. Who? John Froelich.
John was the inventor of the first gas-powered tractor, an invention that dramatically changed the lives of farmers everywhere. Prior to John’s invention, farmers relied on either horse-drawn field equipment or bulky and dangerous steam-powered equipment that resulted in frequent fires.
Evolution of sickle and flail, 33 horse team harvester, cutting, threshing and sacking wheat, Walla Walla, Washington, 1902 via Wikimedia Commons
photo by Brunswyk via Wikimedia Commons
In 1890, Farmer Froelich tried something new: he mounted a one-cylinder gasoline engine onto the running gear of his steam-powered thresher. (Gasoline, or internal combustion engines were a new invention; Karl Benz, founder of Mercedes-Benz, had just designed the first automobiles in production in 1885.) With his experiment a success, he went on to found the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company, and continued to work on his engine, but by 1913, he had sold only 20 tractors. That didn’t stop John though—plowing through adversity is something farmers know well. John continued to improve his tractor engine, and considered it a success when he sold 118 tractors in 1914 alone. He named his hit The Waterloo Boy and went on to sell 8,000 tractors by 1918, when plow-manufacturing company Deere & Company (later renamed John Deere) bought the company for over 2 million dollars!
The Waterloo Tractor Works, in Waterloo, Iowa, is still owned by John Deere, and is one of the largest tractor factories in the U.S.
Thank you, John, for your visionary invention.
Organic farming?
Check.
Spectacular network of farmgirl sisters?
Absolutely.
Heritage Jersey Cattle Registry?
You betcha.
DIY dairy farming?
Done deal, darlin’.
All (and much more!) fall within the ambit of MaryJanesFarm.
Operative word here?
ambit (AM-bit), meaning scope, range, circumference.
Bottom line?
I am so grateful that YOU are within my ambit!
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.
