What I've Been Up To . . .

Wow!  I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted!  I guess it's true that time flies when you are having fun!  Well, at least part of the last week has been fun!  Most of last week I spent doing a long over due house cleaning!  I mean, from the carpet up to the vaulted ceilings and back down again!  The reason for the mad dash to clean up the house???  This . . .

Do you know how hard it is to get a decent picture when there are three women, all laughing, talking and cutting up involved?  Pretty difficult!  These are my sweet friends Sue (l) and Phyllis (r), and they came over to my house for a little gathering on Saturday.  The purpose for the gathering?  To form a new chapter of the Mary Janes Farmgirls organization.

If you were reading this blog back last spring and summer, you'll remember that I joined a local chapter, and immediately jumped in with both feet, volunteering to create and maintain our blog, and about anything else that needed doing.  I became what I thought was close friends with the chapter leader, and spent several months riding the roads in our area, talking up our chapter, and having loads and loads of fun!  As soon as school was out, Phyllis (above) joined us in our fun, and we all became quite close, but in August the chapter leader decided she didn't want me around any more, and pushed me out of the chapter.  But she wouldn't tell me what happened, if I had said or done something to offend her, and all I got was her last email that said "I don't know what you think happened, but it's all in your imagination"!  Now, I know I did not imagine her bringing me all my personal items from the henhouse, nor her asking me for my key to the henhouse!  So I still don't know why she pushed me out.  I have some theories, but they are only theories, so I'll stop with that.  Anyway . . .

Since I left the other chapter, I have stayed in contact with several of the members, including Sue and Phyllis, and over the last few months we've been discussing starting a new chapter and making it live up to the principles laid down by founder Mary Jane Butters: 

"A farmgirl believes in the strong arms of friendship, community and the just plain fun of being together. A farmgirl takes joy in the quiet satisfaction of making things with her own hands. She exudes kindness, grace, humility, gentleness, patience and generosity, and loves the simple pleasures in life. A farmgirl is loyal and caring, especially when it comes to her family, friends and community. She gives generously of her time and talents. Farmgirls love to get together to share their ideas. She can be with or without fields and stock. Farmgirl is a condition of the heart."


 

So we decided to wait until the holidays were over, and the first date we could all get togeter was last Saturday.  We had a great time!  I had spent a good bit of time with Phyllis, and some time with Sue, but neither of them had spent much time together, so I didn't know how things would go, but they were great together, and we did a whole lot of laughing and talking and laughing some more!

We had a brief 'discussion' of starting the chapter, and I got online and set up our new chapter on Mary Janes Farm website.  We are officially now the . . .

Sunshine Sisters!

A chapter of the Mary Janes Farmgirls Organization!

We talked about what we wanted our chapter to 'look' like, and we all agreed that we aren't interested in being the biggest and best chapter, nor being in competition with any other chapters, but we want our chapter to be the most close-knit, caring and sharing chapter!  We also call our meetings 'gatherings', because we don't want them to get into a rut of being too 'official', but rather more laid back.  And we are in agreement that there is no one 'leader'.  I am the official contact person, but we will decide TOGETHER how our chapter is to go and flow! 

After our brief discussion, we moved to the dining room table where we took a regular composition notebook and decorated it to be our official 'journal'.  And we agreed the label 'Beautiful Journey' fit very well, because we know this is going to be a really special journey.  For the time being our gatherings will be on Saturdays, but starting in June they will probably be on weekdays, which holds many different opportunities!




Sue, Becky, Phyllis
(It's so hard to set a timer on a camera and then run, sit and compose yourself before it clicks!)


You can find more info about our chapter on OUR BLOG.  If you live in northern Georgia and are interested, we'd love to have you join us for our next gathering on March 5th!  You can email us at sunshinesistersfarmgirls(at)yahoo(dot)com for more info as well!  I am very excited about this new journey, and I will share tidbits with you from time to time. 

Thanks for visiting today!  Next post will be to share a very special gift from a very special new friend ~ Genie ~ who was my partner in A Swap For All Seasons fabric collage swap.  See you soon, and remember to . . .

Be Joyful Always,  Becky