Cottagecore, Farmcore, Countrycore Aesthetic!

 

“Cottagecore” (Also called Farmcore or Countrycore) is a visual look that is inspired by a romantic version of life on a farm in places such as the U.S., Australia, England, Ireland, and Scotland. It is based on the concept of living simply and in harmony with nature. I tend to think of Little House on the Prairie, or the Hippie movement of the 1970s (only cleaner and sweeter smelling, with fewer drugs).

 It involves the subjects of self-sufficiency, growing and raising your own food, taking care of family and community, so forth and so on.  I was recently told about it by a friend who heard a segment on NPR (national public radio), and thought, “that is exactly the sort of thing Anna does!”  It seems to be a common theme that while I know what I am interested in, I don’t always know the proper search terms to use or what the current buzzwords are.  I frequently would search for “ferme ornée” (Ornamental Farm in French), which is what Thomas Jefferson’s estate Monticello was referred as… what one might once have called a “Gentleman’s Farm”. It also revolves around the idea of an aesthetically pleasing farm, where the animal enclosures, fences, structures, etc. should not be solely utilitarian, but also must be pleasing to look at. 

The one thing I found rather interesting is that apparently there is a political bent to some of this movement… being either very strongly LGBTQ, or the far-right based on traditional gender roles.  Kind of funny, huh?  I love the Cottagecore stuff simply for the aesthetic, and disregard any political leanings around the trend.

Of course, there has also been criticism because Cottagecore idealizes a refined Eurocentric farming life, which some think carelessly celebrates colonialism, as well as simplifies and underestimates the labor of farmers. (I mean, it wouldn’t be quite such a fun fantasy if you had to look at photos of underpaid immigrants laboring under the hot sun and all the human rights abuses that go on in the real world).  Then again, my argument would be that this is of course an ideal, visually appealing fantasy version of farm life.  I mean, come on, it includes fairies!

 

Useful Dry Erase Boards for Riders

I have designed a couple different dry erase boards to help around the barn and stable.  My most recent is this dressage test practice board. Perfect for drawing out your test repeatedly in order to memorize your steps.

I also made this Grooming Chart to track bathing, hoof treatments, and the like. So you can see your productive horse time, even if you aren't riding.

And finally, so far the most popular board, is this Horse Care and Feed Chart. I hope you find them very useful!

Flaxseed Gel, Chia Seed Gel, and Fenugreek Gel

Here is my latest kitchen crafty venture... Making a thickening gel from various seeds and spices.  I first came across the idea on a beauty forum, where people were raving about Flaxseed Gel as a hair and skin conditioner.  Super easy to make, all you do is boil down some flaxseed for a while, then strain the liquid through a sieve, and voilà!  You have a magic gel!  

Looking into it a little further, I also found references to gel from Chia Seeds and from Fenugreek (A plant frequently used in Indian cooking that has many health benefits).  Fenugreek is also referred to as methi seeds. So I have now made Chiaflax gel, Fenuflax gel, and Chiafenuflax!  Inventing some fun new words in the process.  The making of the stuff basically involves boiling the seeds together for a time, then straining the liquid, which will thicken as it cools. (I must note the recipes say you can "observe the mucilage form as the water becomes thicker." Sounds so appetizing, eh? Yummm, mucilage!)  Less liquid equals thicker gel, and vice versa.

Store gel in the fridge and make sure you use it before it goes funky. For skin and hair, you can add some essential oil for fragrance. Use it for what, you ask?  Well, here is what I do with it...

Bombproofing Ideas and Fun things

So I recently went on a buying spree for items to use in my de-spooking and bombproofing work on my young horse who developed an over-active startle reflex. (Is that a thing?  I think I just invented it! As in, "Oh no sir, he ain't spooky, he just has a light case of OASR.")  

At any rate, he had a few experiences that made him much more jumpy than his actual personality should warrant.  For example, I wear an air vest.  One day while riding with friends, I unthinkingly jumped off my horse (Atticus) to pick up a dropped whip. I totally forgot about my vest, and it inflated with a bang.  The youngster shied sideways at the sound, and his rider came off, which further frightened him into believing the world was ending.  For several rides afterwards, whenever I would dismount Atticus, the youngster would tremble, ready to take off. Had I not witnessed the precipitating event, I might have had no idea why he seemed to have such a strange phobia, but there you go. 

Anyway, I reviewed some of my prior horse training notes and did a little internet research, and found the best thing for him was showing him "scary" things, and convincing him to trust his handler or rider, and that way his reaction time would become shorter and shorter to new and frightening stimuli.  So here are some of the fun things I got:

Party noisemakers - These fun little mechanical things that twirl around on a stick, and actually do have slightly different sounds. Cheap and portable.

Little colorful wind spinner thingies...  So far I have just sort of waved these around, but I think maybe I need to drill some extra holes in a jump standard and have them poking out all over. 

                                   

Bizarre barking dog toy - This thing is also supposed to jump around, but mine didn't do a lot of jumping... it more sort of buzzed or vibrated (hmmm).  Otherwise, it is motion and sound activated, so my idea was to build a small, low sided plywood box to place it in, and have the horses have to approach it and then walk past it.  Sadly (or perhaps happily) my friend's 6 month old puppy fell in love with it, so I gifted it away.  Still a great idea, though! 

Bumble Ball  - Another toy to sit in the low plywood box. (Actually, I found something that would probably work better than the box that you can also order on Amazon!  Try this dog crate tray. You're welcome).   Makes super erratic, jumpy movements, sure to scare the Bejeezus out of any horse! Apparently more or less the same as the Chuckle Ball, but a little smaller.  Take your pick, I suppose.  

More favorite products and cool things for farm use

Alcohol wipes For cleaning off cell phone and tablet screens, wiping down general sticky gunk from surfaces. I have always carried a few in my purse and now habitually use them to clean phone screens and my car display screen.  Funnily enough, I just recently saw them marketed (for quite the markup) as "electronic device cleaning pads". Guess somebody stole my idea! 

Game sled for dragging hay bales and mucking stalls. I actually bought this sled to use on my small farm to drag hay bales in behind my tractor.  It works much better than I expected, and I plan to buy another!  Even though I don't use it on snow, but over a rocky driveway, it has held up amazingly well, and allows me (an average size woman) to easily transport 2 bales of hay down the hill to the horses.  I can drag it by hand, or with the tractor or truck.  Excellent item!  The bottom is now beginning to be a bit abraded, so I will look for some sort of reinforcement for it, but after a couple years over rocks, no surprise!

Hoof Rasp (Heller) - I frequently rasp my horses' hooves between farrier visits to keep them from chipping and cracking.  The difference a new, sharp, quality rasp makes is amazing!  Literally a few swipes, and boom, you're done!  I had purchased a different brand new rasp last time, and I may as well have been using a cheese grater for all the effect it had.  Just one note... when using this, wear heavy leather gloves!  It will shave the skin off your hand before you feel a thing, and it's very easy to do.  Excellent product. 

Mesh Laundry Bags - These things are super handy for washing stuff like polo wraps and leg bandages.  Also useful for washing tack cleaning rags, tack sponges, and the like.  I also use them for washing my makeup sponges and powder puffs and all my million hair scrunchies. 

Of course, I would wash dirty rags and anything that might have horse poopies completely separate from all other laundry!! In fact, if a saddle pad or something is really dirty, I normally hose it off and do a first wash in a large muck bucket outside before putting it in the actual washing machine.  Sadly, I do not have the luxury of a separate barn washer and dryer, although those that have them are lucky!

Handy Craft and Tool Items for Farm Projects

So, I consider myself quite the DIYer, able to MacGyver just about anything in a pinch. (BTW, did you know that "MacGyver" is now a recognized verb in the Oxford Dictionary?!)  Over the years, there are a number of products that I have found to be very useful for various things around the farm. I am sure there are quite a few more that I will come across and want to write about, but without further ado, here is a list of some of my top clever ideas with useful products:

Shrink wrap bags - for covering labels on bottles of fly spray, coat polish, hoof oil, etc. Also for long-term storage of things that must stay dry, such as medications and bandages.  You can sort of DIY your own first aid kit this way.

Shrink tubing made for wire - to use as agulets (those are the plastic things on the ends of your shoe laces) and to seal the ends of rope and string... frequently rope / string ends that I have crafted into halters or lead ropes.  Also good for covering sharp points sticking out (e.g. nail to hold tools). Also to replace lost keepers on bridles and other tack.

And of course, in order to shrink the above two products, one needs to buy a heat gun.

Electrical tape - wrap ends of rope after knots, replacement keepers. Comes in fun colors, like brown to match your leather! Oh yes, and it's the best thing to hold pasture braids in place... it actually comes off very easily, and doesn't damage the mane or tail hair. If you give lessons, it's very hand to use to mark where your student needs to hold the reins. I also use the white or brown colors as to secure the loose ends of electric fence tape. You can also use the brown to make replacement leather keepers for bridles and halters.

Shrinky Dinks / Shrink Plastic - for halter / bridle tags.  Also tags in tack room.

Dremel Tool - Clean rust off metal buckles, conchos, etc. Use soft brush to clean leather crevices, use the grindstone to sharpen tools.  I also frequently use the sanding attachment to trim the dog's nails... sort of like the tool advertised for pets, but more powerful. The one I have linked here is cordless, which makes it handy to use down around the farm.  

One of the uses I had for mine was sanding off the rust on my electric fence gate connectors that hadn't been used in a long time, so the electrical connection is good.

I would love to hear about clever hacks, tips, and tricks that others have tried or use.  I sometimes seem to come across something in a horse forum, or perhaps on Pinterest, but other than that, there doesn't seem to be any one website or location to find these things.  So if you have something nifty and clever to add, please let me know in the comments!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small amount from qualifying purchases. However, anything I write about is a product that I really do personally endorse.  

Cottagecore!

I was recently introduced to cottage-core by a friend who heard a segment on NPR (national public radio), and thought, “that is exactly the sort of thing Anna does!”  So of course, I promptly asked the Google about it, and this is what I learned:

“Cottagecore” (Also called Farmcore or Countrycore) is a visual look that is inspired by a romantic version of life on a farm in places such as the U.S., Australia, England, Ireland, and Scotland. It is based on the concept of living simply and in harmony with nature. I tend to think of Little House on the Prairie, or the Hippie movement of the 1970s (only cleaner and sweeter smelling, with fewer drugs).

It involves the subjects of self-sufficiency, growing and raising your own food, taking care of family and community, so forth and so on.    It seems to be a common theme that while I know what I am interested in, I don’t always know the proper search terms to use or what the current buzzwords are.  I frequently would search for “ferme ornée” (Ornamental Farm in French), which is what Thomas Jefferson’s estate Monticello was referred as… what one might once have called a “Gentleman’s Farm”. It also revolves around the idea of an aesthetically pleasing farm, where the animal enclosures, fences, structures, etc. should not be solely utilitarian, but also must be pleasing to look at.

The one thing I found rather interesting is that apparently there is a political bent to some of this movement… being either very strongly LGBTQ, or the far-right based on traditional gender roles.  Kind of funny, huh?  I love the Cottagecore stuff simply for the aesthetic, and disregard any political leanings around the trend.

Of course, there has also been criticism because Cottagecore idealizes a refined Eurocentric farming life, which some think carelessly celebrates colonialism, as well as simplifies and underestimates the labor of farmers. (I mean, it wouldn’t be quite such a fun fantasy if you had to look at photos of underpaid immigrants laboring under the hot sun and all the human rights abuses that go on in the real world).  Then again, my argument would be that this is of course an ideal, visually appealing fantasy version of farm life.  I mean, come on, it includes fairies!

Tracker for elderly or sick pets

I designed this dry-erase board to help me keep track of Zoey's medications, bowel movements, and feedings. Between my SO and I, it can be hard to know when she ate and when she took certain meds.  I found this super helpful, so now I am selling the design if anyone else can benefit.  

I also welcome any suggestions for improvement!

Pet tracker

So after the popularity of this design, I went ahead and made another one that I myself use in the stable to keep track of my horse care, vet visits, deworming, and so forth.  Here it is if you would like one as well, for yourself or a gift!

horse care tracker

A few more products created for the horsey set...

Which design do you prefer? A nice english trotting horse throw pillow and equestrian clock... horse pillow 

Elegant old fashioned horses equestrian clock
by OrchardCreek

Snow, snow, and more snow!

Zoey just loves the snow!

I must say, fresh snow is charming and fun for the first day or so, but when you have a farm, it gets old quickly. I again thank my lucky stars for my 4 wheel drive tractor, and the bucket that works quite nicely as a snow plow when needed.

Saturday was mostly fun, plowing the driveway and the neighbor's drive before the snow got very deep, admiring the clean blanket of white over everything. Before bed Saturday night, I noticed with a bit of surprise that it was still snowing, but not until Sunday did I realize how much! It took me quite a while to get hay to the horses, as the snow was deep enough that the tractor frequently got stuck and the wheels would just spin. So I'd have to get down and dig out by hand for a bit, before traveling another 5 feet or so.... it took me much more time and muscle power than I had anticipated! Perhaps I should have kept ahead of the snow more on Saturday....