We are thrilled that school is out for the summer. Miss P kicked of her summer vacation with a Girl Scout end of the year camp out last night! We had pouring rain in the wee hours of the morning but luckily the torrential downpour was north of town and missed the campers.After picking up Miss P, we journeyed on to Ann Arbor to enjoy the Peony Garden at Nichols Arboretum while the Peonies are still blooming. The Nichols Arboretum Peony Garden is the largest public collection of historic (pre-1950) herbaceous peony cultivars in North America.The flowers did not disappoint.
You can see photos from last year's visit here.
Solstice
We went for a short solstice walk this afternoon.
I've been wanting to get back to using my DSLR every day like I did a couple of years ago.
I think it helps my state of mind to find something beautiful or interesting to document or remember each day. It provides a visual journal but also encourages me to get out and look at the world around me when I may be feeling more like a slug.
The solstice seemed like a good day to start back with daily photography.
I'll be posting my daily photos on flickr but some of them may end up here on the blog.
Misty Morning
Yesterday a friend and I went on a misty morning photo walk in the cemetery.
Picnic at the Playground
P and I are sad that our favorite items (the slide, merry-go-round, and monkey bars) at our favorite park in town were removed this summer.Last night we took a picnic dinner to the school playground where everything is very shiny and colorful.
I tried to ignore the giant inflated plastic objects scattered around the playground.
P had lots of fun on the swings and started thinking about going back to school and playing with her friends at recess.
P tells me that you know you're swinging really fast when your hair blows in your face! That is some fast hair!
We had lots of fun but I still miss the old park equipment.
A Great Ride
Thursday evening we watched M's last show with the Chelsea House Orchestra.
There were lots of fabulous shows, festivals, and fun times in the five years we were associated with the group.
This years graduates were making the most of their last show.
It was a real crowd pleaser.
Thanks to all involved with the group and especially Fritz. It was a great ride!
Muffin Better
Chelsea is the home of Chelsea Milling, the only place in the world where Jiffy Mix is made. I think it is fun to take visitors on the tour. Well, M's girlfriend said she had never been on the tour and since miss Petunia is now six, the minimum age for the tour, I thought we had to go.They renovated the visitor entrance and remodeled the auditorium where they give the pre tour schpeel. It is all very fancy.
They have a video featuring an animated Jiffy box as their 'mascot'. I kind of miss the old slide show and the mention of the "blue and white box with the red accent."Hair nets are still required, of course.
It was a fun time.
The big kids made a huge batch of brownies with our free boxes of mix when we got home!
Road Trip!
My bags are packed.M and I are heading south to North Carolina. The Chelsea House Orchestra will be performing at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. We are heading out in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow and will return in the wee hours on Monday morning.If your are in the area, come look us up and enjoy the music. I will be wherever the fiddle group is. They have performances Thursday evening, several on Friday and Saturday, and again on Sunday before we depart.Have a great weekend. I'll not have internet access until I return.
Buddhas, Baskets, and Bones
We spent the day in Ann Arbor seeing the sights at the U of M Museum of Art and
the Natural History Museum.
It was a great way to beat the heat.
Beat the Heat at Henry Ford
Yesterday we beat the heat by going to the Henry Ford Museum.P likes the silly cars in Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go and never believed me when I told her that I had seen a hotdog car. She was quite surprised when we walked into the museum and saw this car right at the entrance.
They have a collection of doll houses too. I liked the kitchen sink in this one. And that little baby in the walker was just TOO cute!
I love the Dymaxion House that is on display there.
Just look at all of the NEW materials that are in there.
The fabric in this 1950's shirt is pretty fabulous, I think.
Here is P in the seat on the bus where Rosa Parks was arrested. Yes, they have the actual bus on display and they let you get on and have a seat.
The bus is restored complete with mid century advertisements.
A day in an airconditioned museum was just what we needed. I enjoyed all of the mid century goodness on display.What have you been doing to beat the heat?
Black Dots
This week in art club we read the book Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews. We talked about a lot of things that the dots could become in a picture.I took my one inch circle punch and the students punched out circles from black paper and then created a picture.
They were very creative
and came up with a lot of good ideas for their black dots.
Next week is the last week of art club for the year. There will be an art show on June 4 from 1-3 at the Chelsea Center for the Arts. If you are local, come to the show and see what the art clubs have been doing. I teach K-2 art club but there is also an art club for 3rd, 4th, 5th and a middle school art club for 6th, 7th and 8th graders. Artwork from all three clubs will be on display.
Painting with Tissue Paper
This week in Art Club we painted with tissue paper. The technique is really fun and easy. All you need is some heavy paper that can take getting wet, tissue paper that will bleed (spectra tissue works really well), and a spray bottle of water.The first step is to tear the colored tissue into smallish pieces and arrange them on the heavy paper.
Next, spray the project with water. Make sure that all of the tissue is wet and touching the paper (the color will only transfer where the tissue touches the paper).The last step requires patience. - Let dry. As the tissue dries the color will bleed onto the paper below. Anywhere that the tissue colors overlap will give a blend of color that is sort of magical to watch.After the project is dry it is time to remove the tissue paper. If you remove the tissue too soon, the paper underneath may get damaged or torn.
We plan to use these papers to make covers for books that the students will take home at the end of the year. I have sewn blank papers (copy paper folded in half) together for the middle section of the book. The covers will be mat board covered in our tissue painted papers. I think we will use black duct tape for the spine.Before I do any more on the books I need to make some graduation announcements and senior recital invitations for M. There is never a dull moment here on the farm.
Thank You
Sara, Ian, Lisa, Steve, Jed, Nathan, and Rick, I am SO glad that you live, play music and teach in our hometown. You all do great things to make our community a wonderful and musical place to live. You inspire all of us. You provide impressive music events which are gifts for all. You teach and make it possible for us to have music events by people of all ages. You help the young build skill and confidence. And you encourage them to come together in diverse groups to make music and new friends.We appreciate you. You are all shining jewels in Chelsea's crown. Thank you.
Merry May
We had a great weekend. It was finally warmish and we spent a bit of time outside and saw lots of signs of spring. Our bloodroot is in full bloom. The redbuds have a tiny hint of red and forsythia are blooming. We have several kinds of daffodils blooming all around the yard and lots of grape hyacinth.
The frogs are making noise in the wetlands.
We have plants coming up in the herb garden. Rhubarb and parsley are making a good show.
We also spent some time pulling up garlic mustard, an invasive weed which has gotten started in a few areas on our property. We pull it each year before it goes to seed. Hopefully we can eliminate it.Now I need to gear up for the business that is May. We are always busy with planting and weeding and general outdoor activities that have been neglected during the colder months. Everything grows so fast that it is hard to feel caught up with it all.May is also full of end of year school activities and will be even busier this year with M's graduation. The first of the senior activities will be the Concerto Concert this Wednesday. I am really looking forward to it. This year there will be thirteen performers. A few will play with the full orchestra back up. It always a great show and I love watching the kids who I have known since they were in Kindergarten or even preschool. P is also having her first concert this week, the Kindergarten spring concert.I hope I can fit in some sewing and crafting time this month.
Lady Bugs!
The spring session of after school art club started this week. It has grown so that I now teach two classes! We are doing some spring themed art. For this three week project they made butterflies, birds, flowers, and lady bugs! I just had to show you these cute lady bugs. I love how they are so different, yet the same.They drew them on mat board and then covered the lines with glue gel. Next week they will paint the whole board one color. Week three we will put black shoe polish over them.Trust me, they'll look great.We also started another project with watercolors. Busy. Busy.
Wordless Wednesday
Tiffany Balustrade - U of M Museum of Art
Movie Night
Movie night means more than just watching a movie. To me it means popcorn, knitting AND a movie!Some of us here really like our popcorn. I have been loyal to one national brand for a really long time. A few weeks ago, however, I saw some RED popcorn in our store. In addition to being red it was also locally grown so I had to give it a try. Am I glad I did? You bet! It has a much better taste; it actually tastes like CORN!Yesterday we tried their white popcorn. This popped even better and had a great corny taste.
There's another reason to support local - it might even be better. This is!Oh, and the knitting.I finished some socks for B. They are basic men's crew socks made from Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn.
I also started some fingerless mitts. I love this pattern. It is an easy to memorize rib pattern that I can even manage during an action/suspense film!
The mitts are from the leftover yarn from this hat.
Kandinsky Circles
Yesterday in Art Club we made concentric circles based on Wassily Kandinsky's Squares with Concentric Circles. I think they turned out great! A few of the kids finished. I saved them so that we can put all 12 out next to each other for the kids to see. They look super put together for a larger piece of artwork.
Everyone seemed to enjoy making these.
We love all the bright colors.
Unusual Roadside Attraction
The sun came out for a little bit yesterday and we went for a drive.
We were on a tiny two lane dirt road and came across this sight.
People do strange things.
I am a little curious.
All The Trimmings
I was asked to submit a photo and blurb about myself to the local paper to help promote the All The Trimmings show that I will be a part of on December 4.I am usually the one taking the photos around here and there are very few pictures of me. M came home from high school exams early so I enlisted his help. There was a bit of silliness during the photo shoot but we did get a few good pictures. This is the one I sent to the paper.
I am off do do my grocery shopping for tommorow's family feast. There will just be the five of us here this year but we will still make our favorite feast dishes. For us it is doesn't seem like Thanksgiving without the Harris family dressing and the Carson family corn pudding.What are your favorite feast dishes?
Little Red Hen Day
Yesterday B and I had the pleasure of helping with the Little Red Hen activities in P's Kindergarten class. We took in ears of Indian corn and our hand crank corn grinder.The kids planted some of the corn and read the story The Little Red Hen.They had fun shelling the corn and then going through all the steps to make Little Red Hen Bread. They each got a turn to turn the crank to grind the corn, then everyone helped add the ingredients and stir the batter. They even put a little cream in to baby food jars and shook them up to make their own butter to spread on the corn bread.We had a great snack after recess! I was so busy helping that I didn't get many pictures.I think the kids had a really fun day. There were corn kernels EVERYWHERE and it was also "pajama day"!! Fridays in kindergarten aren't called Fun Filled Friday for nothing.
