I Joined The Club

For years I have enjoyed reading a magazine called "Mary Jane's Farm", which talks about things like gardening, sewing, camping, outdoor cooking (and bathing, which I would never ever do). Snarky Jamey sometimes refers to it as my 'hippie commie magazine' (I like to remind him that the early Christians also had communist leanings, if you think about it, although their motivation was quite different). One day I was chatting with my neighbor and she mentioned a 'farmgirl sisterhood' she had started, and I recognized the term from Mary Jane's mag and asked her about it. Turns out there are several women who gather at her house every other Monday to do 'farmgirl' stuff (although I think if any actual farmgirls knew about all this, they would just laugh in our faces). They made aprons, created an all-organic lunch of soup, salad and bread that they made mostly from their gardens, started a beehive, and have hiked all over the county to view wildflowers. I, being a farmgirl wannabee, have been to two of these meetings. I helped to weed a neighbor's garden, and, along with about 10 other ladies, I helped to make this beautiful soap. Out of goat's milk and lye. Lye is nasty - it is difficult to find and purchase (you have to convince the pharmacist you are not making meth, apparently), it really stinks, and it burns the skin instantly, so we had to wear goggles and gloves (for more lovely photos and goings-on, you can check out the blog at wildatheartfarmgirls.blogspot.com). I learned that it is MUCH easier to buy soap at the store. I really appreciate soap manufacturers, in fact. Then, I went to the store and bought myself an apron. Our next meeting is on Monday and I'll let you know what we do or don't do next!