The Little Red Barn Farmgirls: Mary Jane Book on Sale

The Little Red Barn Farmgirls: Mary Jane Book on Sale: "News flash: as of Wednesday, there were five copies of Mary Jane's book 'The Stitching Room' for $5.99 at the 75% Off Bookstore in the..."

Next meeting November 12, 2010

Hi Chicks!

I can't believe it! November is just flying through our fingers! So much has happened since my last post, I'm not sure where to start.

First I apologize for the late post. I'm a good week behind after catching that icky stomach flu.

So. Now then. This next meeting is on Friday.  Rita will be chairing it since I and a few others are going to be at Kid and Ewe in Boerne, TX. This is a great fiber fest and one so many of us look forward to each year.   Farmgirls?  This just might be something you will want to get in on next year. I'm sure you too would have a blast!

Back to the meeting.
1) Let's make sure we all are signed up so we can get stitchn' on our membership badge. Let's make it a goal to have them completed for the Dec meeting (Dec. 10th)

2) The Dec meeting will be our Christmas meeting. An idea was to have a cookie exchange. Add more ideas to this and we will make a discussion sometime after Thanksgiving via this site.

3) Our badge study chicks Debbie and Jill are working on their badge (lots of reading on this one) and I'm sure they will be reporting as soon as they are finished. Can't wait! In the mean time, talk came up about a TOTAL group badge idea so we would all have a badge come the first of the year. I took this and ran with it and decided we should do an easy one for all of us, the KNITTING BADGE!! Could I get a volunteer to look up and review what we need to get started for this badge. That way all of us will have everything with us on the 10th so we can start the badge together at the meeting.

4) I'm going to get the patterns to the LRB so you Debbie will be able to code them for checking out and in.  Hopefully Gail will have a class date for us sometime in Jan.

5) Leslie? How are you doing on chapter chat with the MJ forum board?

6) Would someone take a few notes on all of this and by all means if all of you have something to add, GO FOR IT!!! I know I do and I'm sure you all do too, want to keep this group going. Already I've made new friends! That's part of what it's all about.

That should be enough for Friday and still give you time to eat, drink, talk and even knit a little!

Thanks Rita in advance for taking my place.

Would someone please take the trash and clean up a bit. Cindy is going to be at Kid and Ewe too.

Turn off the lights and have a safe drive home!!

Lovingly

Hen Mother

Reminders from HenMother

The first Friday of the month is here again! If you are coming for dinner the time is 6:00. We had so much food last time we could have stayed at the barn for a week! So a small dish (serves 4) of something will be perfect!

Recap from last meeting .. Rita thought she could bring a microwave for the barn, Debra agreed to put together a check-in/checkout system for the apron patterns, and Leslie was going to look into what we need to do to develop our "chapter thread".

I haven't heard just when Gail is going to be having an apron class, but I would think just like most of us, everything is being put off till after the 16th!! Well, that has been my answer to everything.

I have heard that there are a few "over achievers" that are working on their first badge!! How about that! Maybe she will bring the finished goods so we can sign her off for her/our badge. OOOOOHHHH our first. What a joy!!!

Signing off till tomorrow night

HM

Farmgirl 101

Our first Chapter meeting and potluck went off without a hitch tonight.  Not only did we share some great dishes (one was from a Mary Jane recipe), but the ladies came out to the pasture to help with our nightly chicken round up.  Armed with rakes and a great sense of humor, we formed a human wall to guide (most of) the chickens into the Chick Inn for the night.  Debbie took pictures.  I hope they don't show up on those magazines by the check-out line.  Leslie did not wear proper shoes for chicken wrangling, and will take some, um, souvenirs home on her feet.

Debbie also brought a friend, Robin, who was quite captivated by the alpacas.  And the alpacas were captivated back, allowing her to stroke them on the neck a time or two.

We'll have details on Gail's apron class soon.  It's looking like a Saturday morning suits most people interested in taking the class.  Start collecting fun stuff to embellish your apron, and keep it here for dates and times.

Other Chapter ideas for workshops keep coming: furniture refinishing (great for those junk shop finds that need a bit of TLC), journal cover making, twining, paper making, etc.  How about some cooking or food storage tips?  Recycling or community service projects?

 
Our next meeting will be October 8th.  Watch for interim news and ideas here on the blog...

Farm on, ladies!

The First Official Chapter Meeting

 Potluck at 6 PM and meeting at 7 PM...  Bring your sewing, knitting, food, questions, ideas, and smiles.  See you soon!

Farmgirls Have Mobilized

Great first meeting of a gaggle of Farmgirls yesterday at the Little Red Barn!  Rita was embroidering away on her badge, Gail modeled her newest apron, Jill brought blueberry scones, Laurie showed off her incredible shrug design out of old blue jeans (seriously, it's amazing), and Mother Hen Maryann helped us get an idea of all Farmgirls has to offer.  Dina brought some cool recipes, Leslie got to be with us again and Barbara and Marlene came along for the ride.

Here's a run down of what we talked about, for those who were not able to attend:

Meeting times for the rest of the year: Second Friday night of the month - September 10, October 8, November 12 (I just noticed that's the Boerne weekend!), and December 10.  In discussing the meetings, we thought it might be nice to start at 6 PM with potluck for those who can make it, and then the "regular" meeting would start at 7 PM and end at 9 PM.  I mentioned it might be good for us to be on the lookout for folding TV trays to eat and craft on in the barn, rather than trying to manage a large table in that small room.

We talked about some of the badges, their requirements, and how to earn them.  The descriptions of all the badges are on Mary Jane's website.  Small groups might like to form around a common badge project.  Let us know which badges appeal to you and put a team together!

We talked about some classes we'd like to share with each other: Aprons by Gail, Twining by Marlene, Tri-loom weaving, Papermaking, and others.  Looks like Gail's apron class will be the first one on the schedule, stay tuned for details as they are worked out.

 We'll also be talking about field trips we'd like to take, so think about that and make a note of anything that might be fun for the group.

Please comment on this post if you have anything that occurred to you late, or that you'd like to contribute if you weren't able to attend.  Check in here for updates, and we'll see you September 10!

Gail's newest apron is highlighted in these photos.  She's working on getting a class put together to make aprons like this, so let us know if you'd like to be included.

Time to Stretch

Look how far she's come!  Our Jill was out in the paddock the other night, feeding our herd of hungry alpacas without so much as a bead of anxious sweat!  She's even smiling!

This is the same lady who several years ago coined the phrase, "too much nature" to describe situations in our rural environment that included flapping, wriggling, buzzing or beady-eyed critters.  And now here she is, Farmgirl Jill, toting a bucket of sweetfeed and braving the sea of peckish camelids.   She did a great job, too.

We can all stretch and grow, can't we, Jill?  That's the Farmgirl spirit!  Is there a merit badge for courageous 'paca wrangling?

BREAKING: Orientation Meeting This Saturday

 Hi Farmgirls!  Sorry for the last minute decision, but leader Maryann asks if we can have our very first orientation meeting this Saturday, at 2 PM?  We want to get together to put our monthly meetings on the calendar and begin to look at the activities we'd like to start, like

• Sewing our membership badges,
• Planning field trips,
• Choosing merit badge projects
• Swapping patterns, recipes and project ideas...

Not bad for a start.  Comment here or e-mail Maryann (sbswy11@gmail.com) to RSVP either way - we want to know you're interested even if you can't make it on Saturday. 

Farmgirl Up!

You Know You're a Farmgirl When...

...the smell of freshly mown hay, freshly turned compost, and freshly baked muffins fill you with equal delight.

You're Going to Want One of These

When Gail starts brainstorming, it's best to get out of the way, hide in the bushes, and watch.

The other day we were casually talking about how fun it would be to make aprons out of overalls, and the next thing I know, she had picked up several pairs at the thrift shop and was off and running.  Her passion is contagious and her style is the sort they write books about.

Look what I found on my front porch today:

Check out the details, up close:

Yeah, you want one... I bet Gail will show us how.  That's the Farmgirl way!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go impress the chickens...

Chapter Launch

It's almost time.

We're collecting feedback about the best day of the week, and then we'll pick a date for our Orientation Meeting. (A Friday is way out in front at the moment.) Chapter Leader Maryann has asked me to announce a few items:

• Please go ahead and join the Farmgirls Sisterhood at the Mary Jane's Farm site before our first meeting. This gets your personal materials, including your membership number and badge, on the way.
• Think about activities you'd like to do. Some ideas we've already had include a trip to the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Junk Shopping in some neighboring small towns, Craft Retreat at some cool B&B-type venues, small groups working on badge projects together, etc.
• The overwhelming sentiment of the group is that this will be an adult chapter with adult-only meetings. The Farmgirl Sisterhood has options for younger ladies (Farmerettes and Young Cultivators), and these will need to be developed with separate meeting times and with adult mentors. I'd love to see this get off the ground once our Big Girl group is established. Adult Farmgirls and Young Lady Farmgirls have different needs and interests, and we want to remain sensitive to that.

Now, the next announcement will be the date and time of our Orientation meeting, so watch for that soon.