We’ve got a new baby next door. I don’t know it’s name yet but it’s really small compared to it’s mom and really BIG compared to my Smiling Tree campers. The horse who lives next door and has been in the corral next to our parking has a foal! The baby is a filly (girl). I hope you’ll be able to see it next time you come to camp.
King Snake update: Well, we definitely have a resident king snake. As I mentioned in my previous post, king snakes are not poisonous but please if you see it keep a respectful distance.
One of our activities this month at camp will be an ongoing sewing circle. I have a selection of cotton fabric rectangles for the children to choose from. Our first project is a garden flag. To get the kids started I’ve threaded needles (real needles with sharp points) . We folded over a casing and safety pinned it in place. The kids used the poke and pull “method” of stitching to complete their first project. I love having the kids use contrasting thread so we can see every “perfect” stitch. The kids can make endless flags and string them together or…..when they’re ready they can make a pillow or maybe a little pouch. All these projects only require a straight stitch and a square of fabric. I’ll work with the older kids to thread their own needle but that can be frustrating for little kids and keep them from starting so I’ll thread the needle for anyone who wants me to.
The last day of each session of camp we cook. I have a great cook book with recipes designed for kids to make a small portion snack. We made cheese pretzels last week. The kids scooped and leveled, measured and stirred then kneaded their dough. These recipes are so forgiving; a little too much flour, not enough yeast didn’t knead very long, extra cheese……doesn’t matter all the pretzels were delicious and different. This particular recipe for pretzels is one of the better ones to prepare at home. The recipes for cookies or breads don’t make a lot of sense…might as well make a full batch but this recipe makes 4 pretzels and only has a few ingredients . YUMMMY!
We’ve had a couple really hot days at camp. So hot that I brought out popsicles for everyone and hooked up the mister to cool things down…..still too hot! It was so hot I could hardly get the kids to help me plant marigolds in the garden. They wisely preferred to explore in the shade of the pine trees and do crafts under the oak tree.
Zinnie told me she saw a snake….hmmmmm Yes, really, I asked was it this big? (gesturing a few inches) , no, was it this big? (one foot), no, this big? (arms stretched 2-3feet) YES!!! what did it look like? “A zebra”…… the king snake has come to visit!! We ran down to see the snake and a group of kids had gathered to see it slither through the tall grass. I have no pictures; the king snake’s black and white stripes make perfect camouflage in grass. We are happy to have a king snake in our yard. They keep out the more dangerous snakes and they like gophers. I only wish the king would move up closer to our vegetable garden because there’s a hungry gopher making tunnels and mounds near the tomatoes.
One of the kids asked if it was ok to touch the snake. I said king snakes are not poisonous but they will bite. I encourage the kids to leave a good distance from snakes and not bother the critters in nature. No one can resist picking up the little frogs that try to hide in the cool grass and I’ve seen some of the kids try to catch the blue bellied lizards that are always darting around. No one has caught a lizard yet this summer but plenty of frogs have been caught and released.
I didn’t get a picture of the snake but I did get a picture of a HUGE beetle Emma found hiding in the bark of a pine tree. I’m not sure how she saw it…..kids have better eyes, maybe more inquisitive then mine.
I’ve been teaching yoga everywhere it seems. I taught a pre-teen group recently at the RinconValley Library as part of their summer program emphasising healthy life style. I was at the Harmony Festival, and at Whole Foods. During the school year I taught at College Oaks Montessori, Proctor Terrace and Austin Creek Schools. I’ve used music rooms, classrooms, libraries, community rooms and we had a fun end of school yoga “party” outside. I’m looking forward to offering yoga in a real yoga studio. It’s great taking yoga to the kids but I think having them in a studio will enrich the yoga experience. There will be fewer distraction and it will be easier to focus. A yoga studio has a calm of its own.
The kids love picking strawberries at camp. A lot of the kids make a bee line straight to the strawberry patch as soon as they arrive. As you can see by the sign the kids are free to help themselves to the organic strawberries.
Here’s a little poem I read that speaks to the yes you can attitude:
I took some sweet portraits of the kids at camp with the idea that they would be part of a gift for Fathers’ Day. Because of the strange late rain I wasn’t able to get the pictures to the kids for a dad’s gift. They’re still fun pictures.
The kids had fun picking and shelling the last of the fava beans. The giant pods have a velvety lining. I blanched the beans then sauteed them in olive oil and garlic. Fava beans are extremely easy to grow; put the seeds in the ground in the fall and they’re ready in the spring. The prep is a little or can be a little labor intensive even with all the helpers picking and shelling. The skin on the beans can be a little tough so some people peel each bean. I cooked them up and suggested parents take the skin off for the kids. I don’t mind the tough skin so I eat the bean skin and all.
The kids had so much fun finding frogs and caterpillars at camp. There seemed to be an abundance of frogs so I had to remind the kids to use gentle hands and be sure to put the critters back in a cool shaded place.
River found a little frog and with Hannah’s help the two of them collected all the goodies they thought would make a perfect froggie habitat. Don’t they look proud?
Here are the photos of my “beautiful” napkins…..yes, I am a freak!
Ironing Napkins
I grew up ironing; everybody ironed or had someone iron for you (15cents a piece if I remember correctly). I did not like ironing! Somewhere back in 19 and 80something I stopped ironing except for special occasions and tea parties. Ah yes, that’s another story, I use to host tea parties with a neighbor. The venue was the Finely Center in Santa Rosa and we served everything from cucumber sandwiches to petit fours with real China cups and saucers and of course starched cloth napkins!!! We both had 3 children and we put together these grand tea parties for as many as 75 people (maybe more?). …what were we thinking?!! It was great fun but so much work! Least of which was ironing napkins.
Last weekend I decided to organize and clear out my linen closet. I let go of some pillow cases and sheets and a few polyester napkins. What I discovered was a stack of laundered but not ironed napkins including some 22inch square white damask beauties! (anyone else out there have a weakness for beautiful old linens?….I know you’re out there) Anyhow, I went through all my napkins; bleached and spotted them and then ironed them. Who knew pressing a hot iron over a flat square of fabric could be so relaxing and satisfying? I now have a stack of 14 beautifully ironed 22” white, fresh napkins and an assortment of equally beautiful smaller napkins. ….silly!
I use cloth napkins almost exclusively. Besides the white beauties I have a stack of brown and red cotton napkins that I’ve had for over 20years. I keep a stack next to the dining table ready to grab. These napkins have been laundered so often that they are soft and wrinkle free. FYI this is how I manage daily cloth napkins: Once a week I do a load of laundry that is exclusively kitchen towels and napkins. I don’t worry about spots, just throw them in the washer……….easy……no ironing!!!
PS I know that if someone told me they spent their Sunday afternoon ironing napkins I would say they have too much time on their hands. Now I remember the simple pleasure of a simple job done well.
This recipe was sent to me via foodnetwork.com. I’ve made it several times now and it gets the kid and husband stamp of approval. These little muffins are called cupcakes, MagicFruit & Veggie Cupcakes but I think they’re more muffins than cake. At any rate I usually don’t like the idea of hiding vegetables. I think kids should just “eat their vegetables” but I know that’s not always the case. You can choose your combination of fruit and veggies. I made a batch with dried apricots, apple, pear, spinach, zucchini and carrot. I made another batch with fresh pineapple instead of the dried apricots and my last batch had small cubes of cooked beets plus all the other stuff and chopped nuts. I like these muffins but think they could be a little sweeter (for me). That being said I would not sweeten them for kids…..why add more sugar when they like them the way they are. I did make a batch with a crumb topping and another with a sprinkling of brown sugar before baking. There are a lot of ingredients but good ones. I suggest buying some of the ingredients in bulk so you only have to buy the amount you’ll need. When I bake something like this that I know I’m going to bake again I measure a second batch of dry ingredients. I’ve got everything out already and it’s almost like having a mix when I’m ready to bake the next time.
Magic Fruit and Veggie Cupcakes
1/2 cup all- purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 TB soy flour
2 TB wheat germ
1/2 cup bran flakes cereal or old-fashioned oats or combo (I used oats)
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt (I added a little more)
1 large egg
1/4 cup packed brown sugar, plus more for topping – optional
2 TB extra-virgin olive oil
1tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup plus 1TB milk
3/4 cup grated or finely chopped veggies (carrots, zucchini and/or spinach)
3/4 cup grated or finely chopped fresh or dried fruit (apples, pears, pineapple and or raisins)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees . Line 24 cup mini muffin pan with paper liners or mist with cooking spray
Whisk the flours, wheat germ, bran flakes, flax seeds, baking soda, baking poqder, cinnamon and salt in large bowl, set aside. Beat the egg and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the olive oil, vanilla, milk, veggies and fruit and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and stir just until blended.
Spoon batter into prepared pan, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Sprinkle tops with brown sugar, if desired. Bake for 20-24 minutes. Remove from pan cool on a rack
We live in “wine country” so visiting guests often leave wine box carriers at our home. When I saw the doll house that Joel from madebyjoel.blog created I just had to try it and how cute is this!!!…(not a question!)
of course I had to make some furniture too…..love it!
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I think it would be fun to have a parent workshop to make “Joel toys” for our kids. I’m definetly buying his book when it comes out….I love everything he does.
All the posts are here, all the adorable pictures of all the adorable kids and their parents, recipes, books, they’re all here, we’re just working on changing the header/logo, and reconfiguring things a bit so you’ll want to stay a while. We’re even going to make it easier to leave a comment….I didn’t know you had to login to leave a post!!! what?! So take a peek around and come back again.
Thanks for dropping by
Gail
PS I’m working on setting some dates for our parent/child summer camp by the way, you do know I don’t charge for siblings under 2years…right? I’m also teaching kids’ yoga at Austin Creek School, Proctor Terrace and will be at College Oak Montessori School soon!
This year we had two cookie decorating parties, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. As each child arrived they put on an apron, washed their hands then took a plate and filled it with cookies of their choice to decorate. Kids and parents were free to decorate and eat as many cookies as they wanted. We went through over 200 cookies! This year our craft projects were an easy bead candy cane ornament, popcorn to string and little felt trees to stitch. A couple kids had the patience to sit and stitch several felt trees…..so cute. Everyone left with a plate of cookies they decorated plus their craft projects.
Each child had their own individual dish of toppings . They shared bags of frosting and shakers of sprinkles but I’ve learned from experience that it’s best that the children have their own little candies and raisins to dip into.
We had a real art show. I gathered all the kids’ art, mounted it for display and added photos of each artist with their names. With the help of Pam Lewis , one of the artist-partners of the Graton Gallery we created a show worthy of the gallery. Moms, dads, grandparents, siblings , friends and of course the kids were so proud to see the Smiling Tree Kids’ art featured during the Art Trails preview weekend.
Most of the art was created by the children but some pieces were works by their parents, painted at one of our art workshops. Such fun to see the kids’ work next to their parents’…. same paint and subject, different interpretation. I think the grown ups have as much fun at the workshops (and camp) mixing paint and putting brush to canvas as the kids do.
We started our day with a tour and game of “I Spy” at the Graton Art Gallery then everyone came back to Smiling Tree to “play” with art. We mixed colors, and painted a still life on stretched canvas then did some print making by drawing on styrofoam sheets then painting on the sheets and transferring the designs onto paper….printing! So much fun to have grown ups and kids working together side by side exploring and experimenting with paint on canvas.
We’ll have trays of cookies, frosting, sprinkles and everything you need to decorate a plate full of cookies to take home. There will also be a simple craft, songs to sing, popcorn to string.
Tea and hot chocolate will be served with a sampling of cookies and cupcakes.
As I look through my website/blog I see I didn’t post a lot of pictures of all the fun things we did last summer. The last photos were of wheelbarrow rides and making muffins in the spring, we’ve done so much since then. Here you go:
There was laundry to do in the washtub and hang on the clothesline. We worked on early sewing skills by “stitching” recycled cardboard disks and lengths of straws to make colorful mobiles. We picked fresh lavender from the garden then continued our sewing sequence by hand sewing cotton squares to make sachets. There was lots and lots of painting.
We did a fun “tie dye” project. The idea came from Steve Spanler’s Science website. I found using the permanent markers from the Dollar Store worked better than the more expensive markers. Both parents and kids had fun with this project….it does seem a little magical. We let the fabric dry in the sun then used a hot iron to set the color (adults’ only of course). Continuing our sewing sequence we stitched the tie dyed squares to twine and made tie dye pendants…..tah dah!!!
Maya loves Tink, our little adopted pug. (we love Tink!!!) While getting ready for camp Maya asked her mom to give her Tink ears…………..I think she did a pretty good job! Two cute little girls!
The black berries were great this year so I made up some cute little picking “buckets” for the kids and we all went out and picked berries together. Some of the kids left their buckets here at camp and stayed after or came early to pick berries several weeks in a row. A couple moms brought containers and took home enough berries to make jam……….I love summer! We also made nests. of yarn and fabric strips dipped in watered down glue and wrapped around balloons Then we covered emptied egg shells with colored tissue paper to make colorful eggs to put in our nests…….fun project.
Here’s the recipe for Apple Crisp topping. At camp I went ahead and pre-measured all the ingredients into a heavy duty ziplock bag. Throughout the morning we passed the bag around to all the children and adults for them to squish and mix the topping. All the kids took a turn peeling and slicing apples using my handy peeling/slicing gadget. I put the peeled apples in a baking dish, topped with the oatmeal crisp topping and baked……….we all shared apple crisp at lunch time. Another day we made apple raisin cookies. The kids measured out the ingredients and grated fresh apple. They mixed their cookie batter and had just enough for two or three cookies……..yummmm
We made fairy doors out of wood and sticks and moss we found in the garden then painted details. There was some “spray painting” and tissue paper “stained glass”……what a fun and creative summer!
