Baby, it’s cold outside! With temperatures at zero and the windchill factor scheduled to be in the negative twenties, we’re all noticing where the cold is creeping in. Hubby is home installing that storm door we’ve been meaning to get to all fall and my dad is out hanging plywood to the milking parlor and hay barn. Our animal shelters were built with their openings facing east because our winds always come from the west, but the winds are coming cold and fast from the east like they never do … go figure.
And me, well, I’m also finding ways to avoid the chill. Christmas shopping. For cold weather attire none-the-less, and perfect for any farmgirl …
Handmade, cozy leg warmers. Love them! And it’s a beautiful story. Owner of Grace and Lace, Melissa, was moved by the loss of her infant daughter to get busy with her hands, thus evolved a line of hand-knit items for sale. I mean, how cute are these?
And this tiny pair? I can think of a few farmgirls I know that need a pair of these. Precious! Thanks to Melissa for sharing her story and her fabulous knitting skills.
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Barb Keefe!!!
Barb Keefe (#5355) has received a certificate of achievement in Make it Easy for earning a Beginner & Intermediate Level Let’s Get Physical Merit Badge!
“My goal for this badge was to get in some exercise 4 days a week, starting gradually and progressing. Daily exercise would not be realistic. I purchased a calendar book to document what I did.
My routine started out with a total body range-of-motion exercise program since I had not been active for a long time. I did each body part for 7 repetitions.
For strengthening, I did the following exercises targeting uppers one day and legs a different day. For the most part, I did 2 sets of 12 repetitions and if I felt real good, I did 3 sets.
Upper exercises:
-Bicep curls, starting with 3 pounds and progressing to 8.
-Triceps, starting with 3 pounds and progressing to 8.
-Press, starting with 3 pounds and progressing to 8.
-Bent over row with scapula retraction, starting with 3 pounds progressing to 8.
Lower exercises:
-Straight leg raises, starting without weight and progressing to 7 pounds.
-Hip abduction, starting without weight and progressing to 5 pounds.
-Hip abduction, starting without weight and progressing to 5 pounds.
-Hamstrings, starting with 5 pounds and progressing to 7.
-Bridges, starting without weight and low reps, progressing to 10 pounds 3 sets of 25.
-Abdominals, variety of curl ups, “100’s”, bicycle, planks
After 2 months of this, I needed a change and started yoga at home. I bought a couple of books and watched some programs on TV. It is much harder than it looks! It was very motivating to get me to do something, and I am still at it.
I continued with my exercises as described in the beginner level and started really paying closer attention to what we are eating. I did some Googling around on GMOs, all natural make-up, organic fruits. I subscribed to VeriaLiving channel on DISH for $5 a month. This has really increased my knowledge about many areas of health that are more holistic. I have started a home yoga routine. My groceries are changing to more organic, such as apples, spices, bulk tea, and herbs. I bought a ¼ beef from a local farmer that does not use hormones or antibiotics and I buy my eggs from a friend or get the organic-fed, cage-free variety even though they are more costly. I have yet to find any local chicken, however. In the long run, it evens out because I am not purchasing a lot of junk food.
While shopping at a second-hand store, I was able to “upcycle” a food dehydrator and am trying that now. Normally, I do not cook with beans very much and have tried a couple bean dishes and am planning on starting meatless Mondays. Moving forward, I want to drink more water and have started to drink a glass when I get up, at lunch, and when I get home from work. From now on when something needs refilling or replacing, I am going to do it with the most healthy natural choice.
This has changed a lot more than I thought once I was writing it all down to report. One thing at a time will make it easy and it does add up. It has increased my awareness and will make me healthier.”
Way to go Barb, keep up the good work!
Have you heard of Team Rubicon, a group that provides disaster relief? Here’s a letter we received yesterday:
I just wanted to let you know that we love your product. We were on the ground in Tacloban, Philippines, 4 days after the storm hit doing relief work and setting up operations for our teams out there. Conditions that first week were challenging and extreme. We never complained, and your instant (just add water) pouches of food sure helped.
We ate the awesome Outrageous Outback Oatmeal in the mornings and fought over the Shepherd’s Pie in the evening. We didn’t have the luxury of taking a lot of them, but when the 15 of us were able to sit down to eat them, it was all smiles.
I have some photos of us enjoying it, if you’d like them. We’d love to stay in touch and take them with us on our next deployment. We’re exploring the possibility of heading back there in the coming weeks.
Thanks!
Kirk Jackson
“The story of Team Rubicon was written by a team of eight who travelled to Haiti to provide aid immediately after the 2010 earthquake. Today, that story is continued through the service of over 8,000 strong. The phrase “burn the boat” refers to the general, who upon landing on the enemy’s shore, orders his men to burn the boats so that there is no path other than forward toward victory. From Joplin to Burma to Rockaway Beach, we’ve crossed the Rubicon. Now, we burn the boat.”
Find out how you can support or join the team at http://www.teamrubiconusa.org.
And take a minute to watch their awesome video. Just AWESOME!
Look who we found while shopping for a few Thanksgiving ingredients at Whole Foods last week…
I should clarify… Mia hollered, “Nanny!” and ran up to give the snowman and Nanny a big smooch. After that excitement, I enjoyed a big salad for breakfast just because the salad bar at Whole Foods is so fun to pick from with so many options. Then we headed back to the house where we were staying to get cooking! (Excuse the quality of the photos of our pie; I’ll get better at taking pictures!)
The ingredients looked pretty yummy, but the end result was even better.
When temperatures drop and the forecasts fill up with snow, many of us feel irrepressible urges to create.
You’re feeling it, right?
Me too.
Thoughts of knitting, baking, and holiday decorating …
But when I caught wind of a sonorous story lilting from the frozen waters of Siberia’s Lake Baikal, I realized …
Not all cold weather creativity happens indoors.
Needless to say, the Russians are a hearty breed, and a particular group of intrepid percussionists have not let sub-zero temperatures keep them cooped up inside.
Sergei Purtyan, a member of the Etnobit Percussion Group, discovered themagically melodic potential of the world’s deepest lake when his wife took a tumble on the ice.
Let’s just say, a new form of holiday music was about to be made …
“As she landed on the ice, she made a very musical ‘boooooom’ sound, so nice and deep that her husband, who has a very good ear, said ‘Hold on, what was it? How did you make that noise?'” the group’s founder, Natalya Vlasevskaya, told the Siberian Times: “She laughed, but then got curious, too, and they started touching and drumming on the bits of ice, realizing it was making a melody. He recorded it on the phone, got back to Irkutsk, and let us listen, asking if we might want to go together to the same spot and try and record our ice drumming.”
For some reason, as yet unknown, the specific spot where Purtyan’s wife fell has unique resonance and harmony when thumped, and Etnobit was thrilled to try their hands at ice drumming.
“Never mind that it was a six-hour drive to that particular spot!” Vlasevskaya says.
Ice in other parts of the lake, which reaches depths of 5,387 feet, doesn’t produce the same sounds. The group’s natural masterpiece was recorded with only about 15 feet of water below them.
“You see your hand touching the ice, you hear the sound, but your mind just can’t take it in,” Vlasevskaya explains. “You cannot believe that, yes, this beautiful clear sound is indeed produced by ice.”
It is lovely, as you can hear for yourself in this video:
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.
