Pressed Flowers – Queen Anne’s Lace

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Although they appear to be the ideal subject for pressing, Queen Anne’s Lace can be tricky to press.  Because they radiate in smaller blossoms from a center stem, pressing the flower as a whole means the center stem will need to stay intact. I cut as close to the last floret petal stem as possible and then place the whole flower into a hard back book. I press under extremely heavy weights to crush the remaining 1/4 inch of stem flat. This usually works, and since the Queen Anne’s Lace is relatively dry, the flower presses well. I have also cut individual florets apart and these work great in smaller compositions.

You will find that Queen Anne’s Lace is loaded with bugs. There are microscopic bugs and then there are larger shiny black beetles. Be careful of squishing or handling the black beetles in any way…they put out a powerful and repulsive scent when scared or harmed. I usually work above newspaper and gently dump these bugs back outdoors.

A great article about Queen Anne’s Lace can be found here: Queen Anne’s Lace

Pots and Pans – Frozen Banana Bites

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Oh my…oh my…oh my! Once in awhile I come upon a perfect recipe. I found a recipe for Frozen Banana Bites on Pinterest, pinned there from the blog of “(Never Home) Maker.” The recipe on her blog post was for Vegan Frozen Banana Bites. Since I’m not a vegan I adapted my banana bites in my own way. Here is my adaptation:

Frozen Banana Bites

2 whole ripe bananas

1/3 C peanut butter

1/3 cup chocolate chips (I used Ghiardelli 60% cocoa)

Pecans for garnish chopped fine

The recipe is so EASY!!! Cut ripe banana into about 8 – 9 pieces. Set aside in a bowl. Melt the peanut butter and chocolate chips 20 seconds at a time in the microwave. It only took me 40 seconds in all to melt the chocolate. Don’t heat the chocolate too much or it will seize up on you and turn into a big lumpy ball of useless junk. Stir the peanut butter and chocolate until they are mixed and smooth. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet, dab a bit of chocolate on parchment, top with a banana slice. Spoon chocolate over each banana slice until they are coated. Don’t worry if the chocolate puddles out a bit…this makes an interesting shape and delicious chocolate bite. Top with chopped pecans or leave plain. You can also use coconut or rainbow jimmies. Freeze for several hours. Take off of parchment paper and eat or put in a bowl and pop back in the freezer for a later date.

Don’t feel guilty as you enjoy this treat. The bananas are loaded with potassium and other good things. The chocolate is full of antioxidants and facilitates good moods, the peanut butter is loaded with protein, and the nuts are full of vitamin E and protein too.

I have a grandson who has a peanut allergy. I am going to try and make these with marshmallow fluff in place of the peanut butter and use jimmies as the topper. I hope they work. I’ll update with a blog post when I try them out. Check out Pinterest on the internet, so many good ideas!

Here is (Never Home) Maker’s Vegan Recipe:

FROZEN BANANA BITES
 
What you’ll need . . .
 •2 large bananas
 •1/4 to 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
 •1/4 to 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
 •Unsweetened coconut flakes

Here is a link to her outstanding blog: (Never Home) Maker

Phrustration – Tomato Decoys

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My tomatoes are loaded with green fruit. They are just beginning to show deepening yellow, orange and red tones. Unfortunately, the squirrels have noticed too, and to my great “phrustration” I have realized I waited too long to thwart their voracious appetites for fresh tomatoes. I am annoyed with myself for I was prepared in advance for this problem. This past Christmas season I remembered the gardens of summer and bought what I had read was a preventative for hungry squirrels stealing tomatoes…cherry red Christmas Ornaments. I bought three packs at the Dollar Store and set them aside ready to be put to good use.

The trick: Before your tomatoes set fruit  place “Decoy” tomatoes on the branches. The squirrels supposedly will try to bite them and learn they are inedible. It’s a great idea, but I blew it…I waited to put the balls in place until the fruit was already showing red color and unfortunately had already been sampled several times.

I used up all my pungeant spices and baited the Christmas balls with a peanut butter glue coated with garlic, salt, onion powder and Adobo spice. For good measure I pounded a clove of garlic with a hammer and strew it in between all the tomato plants.

I hung my decoys near the lushest and best looking tomatoes. The variety above are Amish Paste. The next day to my dismay I found one of the decoys on the grass, torn off the plant and tossed around as if the squirrels had a late night soccer game.

Adding insult to injury, later in the day…

I spied this cheeky fellow on my lavender adirondack, eating one of my cherry tomatoes with another one waiting at his feet.

Perhaps my ploy might have worked if I had “followed the directions,” something I’ve always had a hard time doing, and placed the decoy tomatoes on the branches of the plants a few weeks earlier in the season.

Phascination and Pleasure – Western Scrub Jay

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This is Blue. He is a Western Scrub Jay. Blue is a frequent visitor to the yard of my Aunt Myrna. Blue likes to land on top of heads, especially if a peanut is awaiting him. He also will land on the chest of a person sitting in a recliner if there are peanuts to be found. I have bluejays in my yard, but they are not as friendly, or quite so brilliantly azure blue as a scrub jay. I hope to be able to travel out west one day and meet Blue.

Pleasures – Dragonfly

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There were quite a few dragonflies in the yard yesterday. This fellow, or gal, seemed to like being in my proximity. I decided to try and put into practice my “Dragonfly Whisperer” abilities. Sure enough when I offered my index finger and slowly nudged his feet, he climbed aboard. Fun!!!

There is a good article here about Dragonfly Whispering: Dragonfly Whisperer

Pleasures – Mantis Spotting

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I spotted another one of my baby mantis today…perching, or should I say hunting, along the front brick of the house. He is about three inches long now, and getting close to his full-grown size and appearance.

Project – Square Foot Garden & Container Planting Summer Harvest

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I am pleased with the start of my summer harvest. My Square Foot Gardens and container grown plants are producing the beginning of what I hope is a stellar season of produce. The tomatoes are just beginning to ripen, the spaghetti squash is huge and beginning to develop some color, the cucumbers are producing more than I can eat. The peppers and eggplants are still small, but for my husband and I, a smaller size is usually the perfect dinnertime serving.

I am thrilled with these small tomatoes I grew from seed this year. I am not sure of the variety of the cherry tomato, in truth I think it came from a free packet of mixed tomatoes I received from Baker Creek Heirloom seeds. They are delicious. The biggest, or should I say smallest, and one of the best surprises, have been the super sweet and delectable “currant” tomatoes. I believe they are an heirloom purchased from The Sample Seed Shop. They are very small…check out the dime for scale. I can’t seem to wait to eat them in a salad, they are just so easy to pop into my mouth as I walk by.

Links for Seed Sources and Square Foot Gardens Official Website:

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
The Sample Seed Shop
Square Foot Gardening Official Website

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Pressed Flowers – Using the Heat at Hand

On By TimelessladyIn Pressed Flowers22 Comments

We are having quite a heat wave here in the Mid-Atlantic states. I decided to take advantage of the heat at hand.

I picked quite a few of my hydrangea flowers last night. They are beginning to show streaks of contrasting colors as they mature. I have always had a hard time getting the hydrangea blossoms to dry without brown spots appearing. I have tried the traditional method of pressing in between pages of a book. I have experimented with the microwave. I have had no luck with either method. This time I am trying something new.

I pressed the hydrangea petals in between the pages of a book, and then I put that book in the back seat of my car, covered with another book and a weight, and backed up the car into the hottest part of the driveway. I’ll update the results in a day or two.

I also decided to use the heat to flash dry some parsley that is on the verge of going to seed. I lightly rinsed it and laid it upon a towel draped pizza sheet and put it in my trunk. The heat inside will quickly dry the herb, and the darkness will help retain the color…I hope.

I’ll update the progress in a day or two.

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Peculiarities – Butterfly Salt Lick

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Butterflies are attracted to salt. For male butterflies especially, it is a vital nutrient. I decided to help them out and make a butterfly salt lick for my garden. I washed out a glass bowl, found an old discarded metal stand and glued them together.

I buried the legs of the stand into my garden soil near plants attractive to butterflies.

I brought home some of the Delaware Bay’s sandy beach.

I added a piece of driftwood, a few shells and sea glass shards as butterfly perches.

A bit of water to activate the salts and minerals in the sand was the last step. My project is finished. Hopefully, I will be able to capture a few photographs of butterflies drinking up the salt.

Click here to read why: Butterflies need salt?

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Plants & Posies – Gladiolus Part 2/Making a Glamelia

On By TimelessladyIn Plants, Posies3 Comments

The picture above is a sample of an old-fashioned corsage technique called a glamelia. This type of corsage uses gladiolus petals, wired and bundled together to create a large flower that resembles a camellia or a peony. There are stunning examples of these bouquets on Pinterest: Click here to view Glamelia Wedding Bouquets.

Here is a link that will take you to excellent instructions on how to create a glamelia corsage or bouquet: How to make a Glamelia

Plants – Gladiolus Arrangement Part I

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I love gladiolus stems. They are very economical at this time of year. My local supermarket sells bunches of ten for under $2.00. They are a great flower for a Fourth of July flower arrangement.

I also took several reference photographs for future close-focus paintings. I am certainly getting a lot of mileage out of the money I spent.

Floral Arrangement Tips for Gladiolus: Cut stems on an angle with floral snips. This enables more of the stem to soak up water. To force gladiolus florets to open quickly pinch off the top tips.

More tips can be found here: Gladiolus Tips for Floral Arrangements

Projects – Mom’s Fourth of July Hats

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I decorated some hats for my Mother-In-Law and her friends to wear on the Fourth of July. She and my Father-In-Law are part of a handful of original members of their church congregation who are riding on a float in the local parade. One of the techniques I used was melting the edge of sheer polyester to prevent raveling and give the blue flower a decorative look. Below is a quick tutorial on how to do this with ease.

 

 

Plants – Bread Seed Poppies

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I have certainly had a lot of posts about poppies in the past week or two. I might as well add one more. My Bread Seed Poppy pods are beginning to dry out and I harvested a few of the seeds.

The pods are the perfect container for the hundreds, perhaps thousands of seeds they contain. To harvest the seeds, I lifted up the cap, gently peeled it back, and easily poured out the seeds onto the waiting plate.

I’m letting them dry out a day or two longer on top of the refrigerator, a warm place where they won’t be disturbed. My next task will be to begin making cookies, muffins, etc., with my harvest.

Painting – Red Poppies

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Here is the finished painting. I opted to change the color of my reference photographs into a brilliant red and black flower with a green-blue center. They are lightly shaded with no shadows. The flowers are a rendition of the Bread Seed Poppies growing in my Square Foot Gardens. Three artists inspired this work. Georgia O’Keeffe for her pure, oversized flower paintings. Vincent Van Gogh was definitely in my thoughts as I created the swirling movement around the sun. Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh, and O’Keeffe are all in my lack of dark shadows. I wanted color, color, color…not distracting blotches.

Kathy’s Poppies – June 2012 – 24 x 34 Acrylics on Stretched Canvas

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Painting – Poppies/Update

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I put in the sky with Aqua, a hint of foliage with Hauser Green and Warm White, and added some swirling brush strokes where I planned to put the sun.

Loved, loved, loved the look of the sun. I almost stopped and called the painting finished right here, but I wanted red poppies, so red poppies I must paint.

Here are the first strokes of red. I am not sure about all the shading I am trying to add. I have only dabbled around with acrylics in crafts and have never had any luck actually trying to paint a picture with them. This will be my first large painting. I am sure I have a lot to learn, but I am having FUN! Compared to watercolor painting it is like being on a roller coaster versus a merry-go-round. The pace is fast and furious and a bit breathless. I’ll post the finished painting tomorrow.

Perspective – Baby Bunny

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There are so many rabbits in my neighborhood they run around in packs. I have about four or five who live in or near my yard. My gardens and many of my flowers are personally acquainted with the crunch of rabbit incisors. But…there has been the littlest, sweetest, most adorable baby bunny in my yard for a few weeks. He doesn’t eat my garden plants, at least not too much, he munches on the clover and other yard weeds instead. (This is one of the reasons why I put no fertilizer or weed preventative on the back yard grass) He also is quite friendly and doesn’t run as soon as I come out the back door. I can get quite close before he gets nervous and scampers away.

One day last week I heard a pathetic mewling cry in the back yard. I was sure something had snatched away the baby bunny, a wandering cat, a large hawk. Every time I went outdoors the baby bunny was nowhere to be seen. Oh the joy of it when a day later he once again was in the yard eating clover. I know he will grow up to be a big bothersome bunny who has lots of babies of his own, but for now, he is welcome in my yard.

Projects – Tie-Dye Shirts

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Every summer our family gets together and creates beautiful tie-dye T-shirts. We have fun together and then have the extra bonus of keeping a shirt to wear all season long. Tie-dye kits are available at most craft stores. They are a bit pricey, but I keep watch for 50% off coupons and purchase the kit at that time. I have found that the boxes of dye, such as Rit, do not do as good a job.

Tie-Dye Tip: The kit I bought this year had a large assortment of colors to use. To make color choice easier I numbered the bottles with permanent black marker, did the same on an old T-shirt, and put a splotch of corresponding dye color on top of the marker number. It was a great guide to the color choices available. The color guide won’t be wasted. I’m going to keep it to wear when I paint with acylics.