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CountryGirl85
True Blue Farmgirl
225 Posts
Laura
Oswego
IL
USA
225 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 10 2005 : 8:07:05 PM
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Howdy!
How is everyone this holiday season? I don't know about where you are, but here in Oswego, IL it's pretty snowy! I signed up here a few months ago, but haven't really been on since, so I thought I'd introduce myself. My name's Laura and I'm 20 years old. Like I said before, I live in Oswego, IL about and hours drive SW of Chicago. It used to be a small town, but grows more and more every day. The county I live in, Kendall, is the fastest growing county in Illinois, and second fastest in the nation. It saddens me to see rural areas, once vast and prosperous, reduced to high-priced housing developments and shopping centers. Maybe I'm just too idealistic, but I want to live the kind of life where neighbors are also friends, where family is the most important thing, where the pace of life is slower. I love the outdoors! Camping, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, just being out in nature, I love it all! I was a counselor at a Girl Scout camp over the summer and I loved it! I'm actually homesick for my platform tent! I also love to garden. How I miss those homegrown tomatoes during the winter! Some other things I enjoy are sewing, knitting, cooking, reading, writing, playing the piano, guitar, singing in different choirs, playing with my 9 cats. I love animals! I'd have more if space and funds permitted. I hope all of you are well and have a safe and happy holidays!
Laura |
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Fabulous Farm Femmes
True Blue Farmgirl
792 Posts
Diane
Lakebay, Tacoma
WA
792 Posts |
Posted - Dec 10 2005 : 10:16:43 PM
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Welcome Laura. You sound just like my daughter, she's 22 and signed on here as the Pin Up Cowgirl.She is knitting right now! She did Americorps for a year and misses that outside life like you do with scouting.
It's cold here in NW Washington state but no snow on our side of the mountains...yet.
Hope you enjoy this web site..lots to learn and great gals to chat with! |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Dec 10 2005 : 10:46:50 PM
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I want to welcome you too, Laura..you sound great!! You will sure fit in here...and there are some other young'un's like you here! I bet I could learn alot from you!
Jenny in Utah
It's astonishing how short a time it takes for very wonderful things to happen...Frances Burnette |
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OregonGal
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Chris
No. IL
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - Dec 11 2005 : 9:11:59 PM
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Hi Laura,
Boy, I know exactly what you mean about the area and all the changes that are occuring there. My family owned 3 acres just northeast of Yorkville (back in '58) and we sold the property (long story) in 2000. But its not like it used to be back then. I am now out in Oregon (west of DeKalb) and its such a small town that it reminds me of how Yorkville and Oswego used to be. Don't have any water on my place, but there are three state parks and the Rock River by me and you can come here and pitch a tent - if you think you'd like hearing the coyotes and crickets at night and my roosters in the morning! I think that many others share your feelings of the disappearing countryside - but its not all gone yet, there's still alot of country left! One nice thing still in your area is the Sandwich fair - its still pretty much a country fair - you could enter some of that knitting and sewing in the fair! There's also a blue grass jam in Harding (not too far from you) where you could go and play with other kindred souls - a great bunch of people - back porch picker types. You will certainly meet alot of kindred spirits here, too. A hearty welcome to you. I like your attitude and your idealism - don't ever lose it.
"God, I can push the grass apart and lay my finger on thy heart!" |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Dec 12 2005 : 01:39:49 AM
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Welcome Laura!
My hubby and I are making the drive to Illinois (Cherry Valley in the Rockford area) for Christmas. Hubby grew up there, myself in Springfield. So I am familiar with your part of the country! I love it and am so happy when I drive those country roads between Cherry Valey and Sycamore. So pretty. I am much older (enough to be your mom!) and have watched the farmland disappear for a lot of my life. New subdivisions in once lovely cornfields. Guess developers think that is a better yield. Sad.
It is good to see mid-western gals, and young ones too, that love the land and the farm way of life. Keep it up and don't give up. As young as you are, someday, you can have a farm of your own!
Two years ago at Christmas, we were in Cherry Valley. I was in my father-in-law's kitchen talking on the phone when three deer ran through the back yard!
"Sell cleverness and buy wonder" |
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ali2583
True Blue Farmgirl
404 Posts
Alison
Winnipeg
Manitoba
Canada
404 Posts |
Posted - Dec 12 2005 : 10:53:11 AM
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Welcome to the forum! I just joined up last week, and love it a lot. I'm up in Alberta, Canada, just north of Montana, and just east of the Rocky Mountains. I'm a huge camping fan too! I mostly tent it, but we're thinking of investing in a 5th wheel someday. What do you like to cook? There's a lot of good recipes on this site too. Look forward to hearing from you!
"God's gift to you is life. What you choose to do with that life is your gift to God" |
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Meg
Moderator/Farmgirl True
974 Posts
Meg
Idaho
USA
974 Posts |
Posted - Dec 12 2005 : 11:20:33 AM
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Welcome Laura! Sounds like you'll fit right in around here! Tell us more about all your hobbies and fun things you like to do! I am just learning to knit and ALL my loved ones will be receiving a scarf for Christmas! I'd love to hear more about your piano, guitar and choir. I always wished I'd learned to play the piano. It is such an amazing sound.
MaryJane's daughter,
Meg
megan@maryjanesfarm.org |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Dec 12 2005 : 7:56:10 PM
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hi laura .. and welcome!!!! you're gonna' find lots of fun farmgirlfriends here! xo, frannie
True Friends, Frannie |
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Lavender Cottage
True Blue Farmgirl
273 Posts
Ellen
USA
273 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2005 : 05:02:47 AM
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Welcome Laura-glad to have you with us. I'm not far from you in SW MI. Pretty snowy here too!
Ellen in MI |
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CountryGirl85
True Blue Farmgirl
225 Posts
Laura
Oswego
IL
USA
225 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2005 : 11:59:12 PM
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Thanks everyone for the wonderful welcome! I feel at home already!  Meg, I'm also in the learning stages of knitting. My boyfriend will be receiving a lovely blue scarf for Christmas, which I am still working on. So far so good! And as much as my youngest sister dislikes the idea of homemade presents, she will also be getting a scarf. Even though we're so different, I love her to death! She's a store-bought gal, I'm a handmade gal; she likes hotels, I like tents; she likes malls, I like hiking trails. As for my music, I've been singing for quite some time. I sang in school choirs from forth grade to my freshman year of high school. I also played the clarinet in jr. high, which I loved! I left public school to be homeschooled the middle of my freshman year. I went through some difficult times during high school that took a toll on my music, but I never drifted far. I took piano lessons and have played around with the guitar. I would like to focus and really excel at at least one instrument. At the moment I have the urge to play the fiddle! Or the banjo. I guess I've got a bluegrass thing going on! But I really should stick to what I own, at least for the time being. I'm a member of the local community chorus and a local university choir. The university choir does a madrigal concert in the winter, which was a wonderful experience, and a pop show in the spring. It's hard work but it's fun! The woman who directs those choirs also gives voice lessons, so I've been studying with her for about a year. Ali, I haven't been tent camping in quite some time, not since my family got a pop up. I spent all of last summer in a canvas platform tent. I got so used to sleeping outside, even when we had stretches of 90 degree days. There's just something about fresh air! I think it's one of the best medicines out there. All that sun and exercise and fresh air made me feel better than I had in quite a long time! What I'd really like to do is go backpacking, something I've never done before. I like to cook anything! I'm a vegetarian so that limits things a little, but I love trying new things! I like to bake, too, although my youngest sister is really the baker of the family. I think my favorite thing to make is soup! I just love soup in the winter and there's so many different soup recipes. I have some good ones I'll have to dig out and share. And since my grandmother is Polish and my grandfather was Italian, it makes since that I like to cook, and eat! We always have Italian food for Christmas. This year we're having ravioli and eggplant parmigiana - my absolute favorite! Jp, where do your husband and you live now? It's so hard to see all the farmland being built on. I was driving home last night from Kankakee and on a stretch of road right before you get into town, I didn't even recognize where I was! Oregon, your place sounds wonderful! I can't think of anything I'd like more than the sounds of cayotes, crickets, and roosters! I wish I lived on a little bit of land, I'd love to have animals! But I don't think my current neighbors would be too fond of chickens and goats in my backyard! The subdivision I live in isn't very old, but isn't one of the newer ones and we had a cornfield behind us for 16 years. I didn't realize how much I loved that field until it was gone. Now there are houses there and I'm still not used to having neighbors in the back (gotta think twice before walking around in your underwear!) I know there's still a lot of country out there, I just live in the wrong place! Being in the middle of the sprawl, I forget how much is out there, forget that every small town isn't exploding like mine. I do like the Sandwich Fair! I didn't go this year, nobody wanted to go with me! I'll definitely have to check out the bluegrass jam since I'm on my bluegrass kick! I think I know somebody who plays there. Well, I've written enough for one night! Wow, it's late! Time for bed! Thank you again for all your kind welcomes! You are all such wonderful people and I look forward to getting to know all of you! |
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lolli
Farmgirl at Heart
8 Posts
Linda
Paradise
UT
USA
8 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2005 : 7:42:04 PM
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Hi! I'm sorry the corn field is gone, it is sad isn't it. I guess to each their own. My husband's brother is the type to build a cookie cutter house, live in it for a while, make some money off of it and do it again. He's building right now in a small town. He says how much he likes the town, because it is small, mayberry like. I asked him then why are you building a home there? Buy an existing home, because by building, along with the others in the new subdivision, you will be killing what it is you love about the town.
Paradise Girl |
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medievalcat
True Blue Farmgirl
256 Posts
Cynthia
White County
Arkansas
USA
256 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2005 : 10:34:30 PM
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Welcome to the list! I just joined up too, I live in Arkansas in what feels like a town in hibernation. It's been in the 60's. We are desparate for rain... so if you have any send it our way!
You sound like you are so busy with life! Wow! I've never learned to knit, I have no cordination with my fingers.. typing and kneeding bread is about all they are good for. I hope you like it here and we can read more about you!
Happy New Year!
Cynthia |
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**Welcome Wagon: Hey ya'll! |
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