The Blue Willow Journal

Preserving Hydrangeas

2011-08-27T15:13:59-05:00

Today is final preparations for Hurricane Irene, which is due tomorrow here in Rhode Island. When I was going down the list of what needs to be done I suddenly realized I had not "taken in" my hydrangeas for the coming year and if I did not take them in today they would be unusable once the hurricane arrived.

When I say "taking in my hydrangeas" I'm talking about preserving the semi-dried blooms for use in the house from now until next summer.

Here's what I do:

I wait until late August when the blooms are fading and drying on the bush. My hydrangeas are bright blue during their blooming season. At the end of the summer they are many different colors - lovely faded colors like purple, light blue, lilac, even some tinges of green - and the trick is that you want to have them retain these beautiful colors while completely drying.

When I cut a stem off the bush I remove all the leaves and also shake the bloom head to rid it of any insects camped inside.

I've been doing two large bouquets for the house, for one I use a frog for the other I don't.

Fill the containers you want to use about 3/4 full of water. Arrange your hydrangeas and then display them and DO NOTHING ELSE. Let the water evaporate over time - DO NOT refill with water.

I find hydrangeas preserved this way retain their gorgeous colors from the day you picked them, they dry completely and they stay this way until the next August! Pretty amazing.

This arrangement is done with a frog in the bottom of a large silverplate bowl:

This one I just stick the stems in and arrange without a frog:

New Brunswick, Canada

2011-07-18T20:41:38-05:00

I am spending July in New Brunswick, the large Maritime Province just over the US border. In an earlier post I talked about how Grand Manan Island, which is part of New Brunswick, goes unnoticed by Americans, even Americans who live very close to it. The entire province of New Brunswick suffers the same fate.

I guess I can understand this - looking at these photographs, why would anyone want to come here?

Cranberry Vanilla Jam

2010-12-28T12:11:25-05:00

My sister Beth has been visiting for the holidays and we both love to cook and bake. We just whipped up a batch of delicious, unusual jam. Probably nobody you know has tasted this before so this is a delightful gift to give special people. It has a gorgeous, clear-red appearance and it is very easy to make.

Here it is:

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

1 (12 oz) bag fresh cranberries

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/2 cup water

Scrape vanilla seeds from pod into a heavy saucepan. Add pod and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 20 minutes.

Jam will thicken as it cools.

Puree jam in a food mill set over a bowl, discarding skins and pod.

Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Makes 2 cups.

Deck the Halls

2010-12-11T19:18:49-05:00

Ellen Thompson

Flea Market Finds

2010-11-15T14:20:54-05:00

More amazing scores on the flea market front.........

A set of Villeroy and Boch china in the "Anjou" pattern:

and four perfect plates in Booth's "Real Old Willow " pattern:

It is unbelievable what turns up at the flea market we go to almost every Sunday from April to November. This Sunday will probably be the last one until the spring....good thing because I will soon need a barn all to myself for all the treasures I have found!

Table-top Maps are Great!

2010-11-15T13:57:51-05:00

Recently I did a workshop for pre-service and classroom teachers. Our main activity that day was trying out the new table-top map kits from National Geographic. These are the smaller version of the huge tile maps NGS intoduced a few years ago, some of which needed a gymnasium wall to display their full glory. All of these tile maps are now called Nat Geo Mapmaker Kits, and are available in the large wall version or the new table-top version. What is great about the small maps is that they require photocopying only eight pages (tiles) while the big maps could be 120 to 180 tiles in size.

Here are some teachers working with the Water Planet and World Political map kits:

The detail on these maps is superb and the possibilities are endless for grades 3 to 12. Check them out on the National Geographic website. You'll find them under "Geography Awareness Week" in the LEARN ABOUT FRESHWATER section.

Full Circle

2010-11-14T20:20:46-05:00

Every year, here in Rhode Island, when Geography Awareness Week is on the horizon, the Rhode Island Geography Education Alliance (RIGEA) tries to come up with something motivating and fun to involve kids and adults in the year’s theme. One year we had a cooking contest, another time we held a dinner with the menu coordinating with the GAW theme. This year we decided to focus on the creative arts, so in October we announced a “Rhody Freshwater and YOU” contest. Entrants were asked to create something which represented a form of Rhode Island freshwater and then explain what that particular freshwater meant to them.

We were excited to receive quite a few entries, and although the contest was open to any Rhode Islander, all the entries came from either elementary or middle school students. The elementary students sent in projects which seemed to emphasize freshwater conservation, while the middle school students reflected more on specific rivers or lakes or ponds that had provided them with fond memories.

We are pleased to see so many Rhode Island kids learning about freshwater and growing up to be careful consumers of this limited resource.

Here are the winners and their projects:

1^st Prize:

Miranda Peloquin “Memories of My Lake” V. J. Gallagher Middle School , Smithfield, RI

Honorable Mention:

Joshua Hersey “Water, Water…..Boy I Wish I Had Some” Winsor Hill Elementary School, Johnston, RI

Madalyn Moore “Ahhh! Refeshing” Sarah Dyer Barnes Elementary School, Johnston, RI

Ashley Shilko “Stump Pond” V. J. Gallagher Middle School, Smithfield, RI

Alison Izzi “The Brook in My Backyard” V. J. Gallagher Middle School, Smithfield, RI

Here is Miranda’s prize-winning entry, a great poem superimposed over an artistic background. Included in her comments about what this lake meant to her is the following: ”I have so many memories here it’s way too many to count but I know one thing is that I love this lake and all the people who enjoy it. I would love for other people to come enjoy this lake just like I do”.

The honorable mention winners made conservation posters, created artwork and poetry:

Ashley writes: “The sparkling of the water as the sunlight shines, Is the most beautiful thing, I could watch it all the time”.

Alison says: In everyone else’s view it is just a brook, but I look at the small stream of water in my backyard as a part of my home”.

Madalyn reminds us on her poster to “save water while you can, don’t waste it”.

And Joshua includes information about estuaries (of particular importance here in Rhode Island because we live on Narragansett Bay, a huge estuary) in his entry.

In examining who entered this Geography Awareness Week contest, something interesting is afoot here. And something that should not surprise any of us. All the children who entered are students who work with educators who are active in promoting geography education.

The V. J. Gallagher Middle School kids have Cathy Pleau (cpleau@smithfield-ps.org), as their assistant principal. Cathy and I were roommates back in 1993 when we trained for two weeks during the summer to become Rhode Island Geography Education Alliance Teacher Consultants. Cathy has conducted countless geography initiatives and events for kids, parents and colleagues over the years and is presently a member of our alliance strategic planning team.

The Sarah Dyer Barnes Elementary School winner is the student of Deb Ramm (rid21594@ride.ri.net), another long-time Rhode Island Geography Alliance teacher consultant. She, too, has spent her career infusing her classroom days with connections to geography. She told me this year her 4^th grade class will focus on water all year. Her kids will be testing pond water quality and studying watersheds, pollution tolerant animals and water treatment. She’s also planning on an Electronic Field Trip with the National Park Service during this year’s water study.

Rayna Ciano (rid26156@ride.ri.net), teaches at Winsor Hill Elementary School, where another winner goes to school. I see Rayna at almost every event RIGEA puts on, and she always comes up afterward to talk, sign up for something or ask questions. In September at our annual Kick-Off meeting for the year I was telling the audience about a terrific Japanese international friendship project involving an ambassador doll traveling around the world, stopping to stay with hosts three weeks at a time. Rayna not only had signed up for the program but she had her Japanese ambassador doll with her to so she could take photographs with the little fellow and our members.

The effort these educators put in every day is working to produce geographically literate people here in Rhode Island. And that is exactly what is supposed to be happening.

Congratulations to all our winners!

Swedish Spice

2010-08-27T15:05:18-05:00

My grandmother was born in Finland so I am part Scandinavian. My grandmother, although Finnish, spoke Swedish to her mother on the telephone and most of the traditions and food around my grandmother's house at Christmas, especially, were Swedish.

I love Swedish anything. Swedish design in textiles, hand knit sweaters, Christmas decorations, furniture....Ikea is my favorite store. Lately I've been looking on eBay and at flea markets and have turned up some charming Swedish finds:

.......from an auction in Sweden, a great copper mold featuring a Swedish Dala horse and a handsome striped handwoven table runner.......

and a box of old recipe cards called "Ing's Swedish Kitchen Notes"!

We've also had a long-standing Scandinavian baking tradition going. Long ago my grandmother, whom we called "Mimi", taught my husband, Steve, how to make her famous Swedish biscuits, which are divine cardamom-scented breakfast rolls with a buttery-sugary top. Steve is the yeast-dough baker in the family and these are quite a project but well worth the all-day effort. He also does Finnish Nishua braided breakfast bread at Christmas for us, also cardamom-scented. Cardamom has got to be the national spice of Scandinavia.

What has been fun for me in the last year or so is the discovery of several Scandinavian baking books with a huge variety of delights to make that don't involve yeast - my kind of baking. One of the best recipes has been little almond shells made in tiny Swedish molds which are filled with whipped cream and topped with lingonberries. Here's what the molds look like:

I've found recipes for and made cardamom-almond bundt cake, midsommer almond cake, Swedish thin pancakes and crumb-topped cardamom coffee cake - all wonderful and so Scandinavian! Gearing up for the holidays, I've earmarked some new Swedish gingerbread cookie recipes - lots to choose from. Below is apparently the most popular baking book in Sweden, and also a Swedish tomte (little gnome) cookie cutter I just found at a resale shop.

Having Fun Being Green

2010-05-07T12:43:34-05:00

Finding wonderful things at resale shops, flea markets and garage sales has become such a fun pastime, not only for me but my whole family. We all head out on a regular basis with a few dollars in our pockets never knowing what we will find.

Besides being fun, practical and even lucrative at times - this habit is green! Giving these things a new life saves them cluttering up the landfill and avoids the need to buy new items when these are often far better functionally and aesthetically. As an additional bonus, these vintage items often lead to furthering one's education on the most unexpected topics. Not a bad deal all the way around!

Here are some recent "scores":

a Spode cup in perfect condition......

a stunning bird plate from the 1860s.....

intricately embroidered linen napkins.....

and crocheted pillowcases in a great pink for summer!

The Elephant/Kid Connection

2010-04-10T09:51:19-05:00

About a year ago I became a docent at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence and as I've mentioned in a previous post, it's been a joy.

Recently one of the more experienced docents asked if I'd be interested in participating in a collaborative project between the zoo and a school in Massachusetts and of course I said "yes". When I heard a full description of what this was all about I was smiling from ear to ear.

Someone working at the zoo with connections to this Massachusetts school system came up with this idea about four years ago. One of the schools has all its second grades (about 8-10 classes) study elephants. Then a team of docents and the head elephant zoo keeper from RWPZoo travels to the school and works with the students telling them all about our three elephants, Kate, Ginny and Alice, showing them many current photographs and answering LOTS of questions.

Here comes the great part. After the zoo team leaves the school schedules a math family night. As part of the evening there are questions on elephants. For every question the kids get correct they raise money from sponsors to benefit the RWPZoo elephants.

The first year this school did this they presented the zoo with a check for $4,000.00 !!! These kids, teachers and parents have made it possible for the zoo to provide enrichment equipment, special dirt (a very important and expensive item the elephants love) and a host of other provisions for these beloved creatures.

After their fundraising each year the teachers bring the second grade classes to the zoo for a field trip so they can see both Kate, Ginny and Alice and many of the things their work has provided for these animals.

As an educator I find this to be such a terrific model of exactly what we ought to be doing in educating children. First we have kids learning about an endangered and fascinating animal species. Then we have real world people who work with and educate others about elephants visiting these kids, talking with them and answering their questions. Then we have the school showing the kids how they can take some action - through their own hard work - and do something positive for these animals. And finally, these children come and see the fruits of their efforts and enjoy the animals themselves.

I call this brilliant as the English would say!

Here's Alice having a great time in the elephant pool and Kate enjoying the dirt: