“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
Whether we’re living off the land on a farm full of crops and cattle, tending to rows of flowers and veggies in a little backyard garden, or potting an indoor herb garden 15 stories up surrounded by an urban jungle, we’re finding ways to live out our farmgirl fantasies …
Have you been in a conversation lately and heard any rendition of jury-rigged? I was in a conversation the other day when I heard “jimmy rigged” for the first time, so I decided to figure out which one is right …
Altiloquent?
Me?
Surely you jest!
I merely marvel at the lilt of language, the superlative subtleties of speech, the phonological possibilities present in every crisp, untrodden page that lies like an open road before me.
There’s nothing quite as serene as the wide, rolling hills of the Palouse here in Idaho, especially in springtime, when everything turns every shade of green you can imagine. But in order to get all that green, we do have to put up with some rain.
Speaking of rain …
Girls, do I have some words to dish to you about.
Or, maybe I have a dish to have a word with you about.
Actually, it’s both.
Have you ever heard of something called scotch woodcock?
Hint: It’s food.
Another hint: The recipe calls for no scotch (disappointing), and no woodcock (not disappointing).
So, here’s what it is. Ready?
Why resort to a knapsack, rucksack, or packsack, when a portmanteau is waiting for your flip flops, aviators, high-wasted jeans, and let’s-hit-the-road grin?
Are you ready? It’s National Glamping Weekend!! We’ve packed our bags and we’re heading out for a fun-filled weekend sitting by the campfire making s’mores, fishing in the nearby stream, board games, jigsaw puzzles, and fun in the sun.
Say it with me: portmanteau—a large traveling case made of stiff leather, especially one hinged at the back so as to open out into two compartments or,
portmanteau is also used to describe a linguistic blend, namely a word formed by blending sounds from two or more distinct words and combining their meanings … such as Spanish and English into Spanglish, or smoke and fog into smog, or,
in Lewis Carroll’s book, Through the Looking-Glass, Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky, where “slithy” means “lithe and slimy” and “mimsy” is “flimsy and miserable,” OR
glamour and camping into glamping!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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.
