THE BARN CHICK

A Big Thanks

2011-05-24T00:22:00.002-04:00

Today, like most days, I have been visiting my farmgirl sisters on the Mary Jane's Farm forum...I have so many sweet kindred spirits there. That is where I get a lot of encouragement, motivation, ideas, and support. They are like virtual neighbors that walk over and sit a while on my front porch over tea. They make the small things sweeter and more meaningful. They remind me about the good old days and how the simple things in life are so rewarding. Most of them will pray for you when you have a need, send you a card just to see how you are, or email you when they haven't seen you in the forum in a while. I have always (from a VERY young age) had an appreciation for the old days, farms, antiques, crafts, and how women ran their households and supported eachother back in the good old days. I am very thankful to my mom, my mom-mom, Mamaw Amerine, and Grandma Lane for telling me about the simpler days, and for instilling an appreciation for them in me. I always look SO forward to getting together with my grandparents...we always talk about the way things use to be done and talk about crafts we would like to do or are working on. I'm also greatful to my Grandma Branch for introducing me to The Good Old Days magazine. One day, when we were little,my sis and I were snooping around on her back porch and we found a big box FULL of very old issues. We were hooked...and they kept us busy for years...yes, there were a lot of them.
Well, I could go on for days. Mainly, just wanted to thank all my grannies and mom for instilling in me a love for all the simple things, old things, and for things a lot of women do not take the time to appreciate...and thanks to Mary Janes Farm for all my farmgirl friends and for giving me the gumption to try so many new...and old things. Most importantly, God brought them all into my life, so He gets the biggest thanks :)

Proud to be MJF's Farmgirl Sister # 241 and founder of the Southern Indiana Barn Chicks MJF Chapter.

www.maryjanesfarm.com

Broken Crayons?

2011-05-02T22:46:00.001-04:00

I'm so tired of all those broken crayons in Cooper's box! We fixed it with a quick little project. I took a metal cookie cutter and laid it on foil (on a cookie sheet) then folded the foil up and around. We peeled the paper off the broken crayons, then filled our cookie cutter mold up about half way. We put it in the oven on the lowest setting until they melted, then we let them cool (you can put them in the refrigerator for a bit, too). Now Cooper has a BIG crayon and I don't have to find all those little broken crayons everywhere anymore...well, at least until he breaks some more :) We had a sweet time together being creative. I love doing little projects with my boys...Corbin is growing fast and will actually be able to join in on the fun soon instead of just watch. Can't wait!

He really enjoyed helping!

2011-04-27T13:57:00.001-04:00

I Love Lemons!

2011-04-27T13:03:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, my son and I made homemade lemonade. We don't have a juicer of any kind. So, we had to do it the REAL old fashion way using the tools God gave us...Cooper really enjoyed himself and it kept him occupied for a good while. He really enjoyed drinking it after we added sugar. It was soooooo good. After we made lemonade, I used the lemon leftovers to clean... it's a miracle worker on hard water stains around your stainless steel sink. Just use a half of a lemon as a little scrubber then rinse and dry... it's important to dry after rinsing. Otherwise the water left from rinsing will create a new hard water stain. Lemons make my house smell so nice!

Inspiration

2011-04-26T12:57:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm not getting my blog pretty like I wanted to...I guess there's plenty of time for that. I just wanted to blog about a project that I have been wanting to do. I have a toddler and like to have foods on hand that are easy AND healthy. I am in the process of collecting recipes to freeze healthy snacks for when we need something healthy fast. I would like to set aside one day a week or maybe every other week to cook and freeze snacks and main courses in bulk to stock up my freezer. My goal is to use organic and whole foods and veggies that I grow myself or from my family, friends, and farmer's market. This way, I don't have to worry about antibiotics in our chicken or chemicals in the veggies. This is an ongoing project for me and I hope it inspires you :)

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Under Construction

2011-04-15T09:47:00.001-04:00

I am officially putting my blog under construction. I will not be posting for a few days so that I can take time to figure out how to make it prettier :) Talk to ya'll soon!

Cooper's Lunch

2011-04-12T12:48:00.000-04:00

So, I was trying to get creative with lunch today because I'm somewhat limited on supplies at the moment. My 2 1/2 year old is a light eater and I need to get some veggies in him. I thought about spaghetti and hiding spinach in the sauce, but spaghetti is common around here. So, I decided to make a spaghetti style bake/casserole...only I used rotini noodles instead. I'm sure he enjoys a change of noodle once in awhile. I boiled a couple handfuls of rotini until they were almost done. Drained them. Poured in some spaghetti sauce, 1 egg, a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese, and small handful of canned spinach (canned or frozen in a bag is less stringy than frozen in a box and is less of a choking hazard for small children). Then I put it all in a small casserole dish, topped with more mozzarella and some pizza/pasta magic seasoning and placed in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. If only I had a "smell this" button you could click on!!! Mmmmmmm. I do my best to use whole wheat, organic, and whole foods. But use up what you have. If you don't have spinach, use carrots, or corn, or squash from your garden. Here is Cooper's lunch...I think he will thank me with a big saucy kiss :)

2011-04-11T14:11:00.001-04:00

2011-04-11T14:10:00.001-04:00

Just some of the beauties blooming around here...

A Fresh Start

2011-04-11T12:47:00.001-04:00

Wow, it's been forever since my last post. I have two really good excuses...Cooper and Corbin...my gorgeous boys. I started this blog when I was pregnant with Cooper and have been so busy ever since that I forgot all about it! I really want to work this blog into my schedule because I feel like it will help me feel connected to other women with my interests. I get really overwhelmed with everything I wanted to blog about! So, for now just to ease back into it, I will make my comeback short and sweet. We are getting ready to plant our garden, my flowers are starting to bloom, my boys are perfect, my husband sweet, ideas are growing, and God is great!

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Just an Update...

2008-06-29T21:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Corey and I bought tons of landscaping supplies and spruced the house up a little. I planted 34 impatients, 2 rose shrubs, and a hydrangea bush ... all while being 38 weeks pregnant! I had a blast... and hoping I go into labor VERY soon! I will post pics of what I accomplished as well as some pics of my property as soon as I download them. I may not post very often due to the fact that I am about to give birth. Also, I would eventually like to post some pics of things that I have made. I know this is a short post, but short posts are better than no posts... so until next time...

My Newest Creation...

2008-06-23T00:53:00.000-04:00

This is my newest creation... a seed organizer. I have a lot of friends who give me seeds and I needed a place to store them until I'm ready to plant them. This box is pretty and functional. Not to mention, I recycled the box and didn't have to buy anything extra! I hope it stimulates your creative side. I will post more of my creations later. I sent in an application to the Farmgirl Sisterhood to hopefully earn a merit badge for it... not sure if my application went thru or not... I will have to email them to find out if they received it.

About Me...

2008-06-22T17:01:00.000-04:00

~ I have the most awesome husband in the world! Corey...He loves me unconditionally, supports my MANY endeavors, is very encouraging, wonderful around the house, hardworking, smart, VERY handsome, is very honest and is full of integrity... Plus he thinks I'm beautiful with no make-up and when I JUST wake up... and I know he's not just saying it.

~ I am 37 weeks pregnant today. My son, according to my midwife, could come at any time now. I cannot wait! I am sooooo ready to hold him in my arms!!! His name is Cooper and as soon as he's born and I have pictures, I will post them. I think Corey talks to my belly more than I do! We are getting impatient for our little sweetie to be here!

~ I am an identical twin. My sister's name is Bethany and we are inseperable! We do pretty much everything together. We are very different, but oh-so-much alike!

~ I am a nurse, an LPN... still working on my RN. I work on an Alzheimer's unit... very interesting, I must say!

~ I'm an old-fashioned sort of girl... I LOVE to learn about the past and about how women back in the old days lived, helped eachother, decorated and made do with what they have. I think that young people today do not have enough appreciation for things of the past... I hope to encourage my friends and other people I come into contact with to appreciate things of the past, too.

Welcome To My Blog!

2008-05-30T17:25:00.000-04:00

Hello! My name is Cecily. I am 27 years old and live in Indiana. I have always been a 'country girl.' When I was younger, my grandparents had a farm with cows, chickens, pigs, ducks, and goats. We grew corn and tobacco. My brother, sister, and I helped them take care of all the animals. I especially LOVED to bottle feed the calves. My grandparents moved from the farm after I graduated from highschool and since, I have craved to have my own farm someday. My family is and has always been VERY close and loving. We have a long line of very strong women with many talents in my family and I am proud to say that I have inherited a lot of craftiness from them. For example, I love to quilt, crochet, create scrapbooks and homemade cards, sew pillows and aprons and clothespin holders, Cook, grow flowers, ... pretty much, if I can think of it, or see it, I can probably make it... finding the time and getting organized enough is a whole different story... I'm working on my organizational skills! I also endeavor to learn how to can and freeze veggies (just like my great grandmother use to do). Hopefully I will get to learn soon. My great-great grandmother, Edna Lane was the most accomplished quilter I have ever met in my life! She has recently passed away, but the legacy she left is still very much alive in the remaining 5 generations she left behind. My great grandmother pieces quilts and my grandmother quilts them for her as well as quilts her own. When me, my twin sis, and my cousin were about 11 years old, Mom-mom (grandma) put together sewing boxes for each of us and bought 12X12 quilt squares with scenes on them for us to learn how to quilt on. So, we would have our little quilting bees with mom-mom and the knowledge I gained from that has been SO important not only to the craft of quilting itself, but also to how I view that time spent with my family. It was such a special time.

I am new at this blogger thing and I feel that I may get overwhelmed if I don't take my time. I guess I will just have to put a little of my life story in at a time. One of the main reasons to create this blog is because I have been so inspired by all of my farmgal friends' blogs on the Mary Janes Farm Farmgirl Connection and I want to use this site to reflect my vision of what farm/country life is all about and how I view it... In my opinion, there is no better life than life on the farm! Even if it's a VERY small-just-getting-going farm... the charm and simplicity is still there. OH, and the satisfaction of learning new gardening techniques and other new farmish tidbits! Also, since I am getting ready to move soon and can't really delve into creating my farm yet, I will be educating myself on the simple farming/gardening info that I will need for when I move and actually do start my small farm. This will be my learning experiences as I learn them, so I hope my experiences will be of help to you as well... hope you enjoy.