OK... So as a child I remember fondly spending time at Grandma and Grandpa's farm in Ohio.
There were so many things to do and many ways for the 8 of us grand kids to get in trouble. (Of course I was the baby so it was never my fault! :) )From popping tar bubbles on the bridge and dragging tar into the house, getting chased by the bull, getting trapped on the telephone poll bridge with cows on either side, getting in moss fights in the creek, running through the corn field, eating all of the cookies out of the yellow owl cookie jar, playing on the door to the tornado shelter, slamming the door to the summer house, getting into grandpa's stuff in the barn, setting the bull frog traps off at the pond, messing with the raccoons... you name it we did it... Oh what fun memories!
No mater how much mischief we got into Grandma and Grandpa never stayed mad at us. They always spoiled us with their love!
One thing I thought I remembered vividly was dying Queen Ann's Lace flowers. I remember going out to the field and picking the beautiful white lacy flowers then taking them in the house to put them in water dyed by food coloring. Just as vividly I remember the miracle of watching the flowers turn the color of the water over night! It was amazing! Or so I thought I remembered...
Wanting my kids to experience the sheer brilliance of Grandma Shultz we stopped on our walk to pick the lovely white flowers. Then we rushed home put them in water and squeezed in the liquid food coloring, stirred the water and waited for the magic to happen.
The kids had so much fun doing this. They kept saying "Tank you Mowmmy!"
After we stirred them we sat them in the window and waited... and waited.... and waited... three days we waited....
After we stirred them we sat them in the window and waited... and waited.... and waited... three days we waited....
and this was all we got.
I thought maybe I did it wrong... So we tried again with daisies too. I tired mixing the color into the water before I put the flowers in... Nope... All we got was pretty water. The blue water tinted the flowers a little tiny bit, but the other's did nuthin'!
So there you have it... My memory doesn't serve me as well as I thought.
Happy pretty water day! :)
Happy pretty water day! :)
8 comments:
Try it with Lily of the Valley. The veins in them will turn color I promise, only they are a spring flower.
Did you ever throw water on the electric fence so it would send the shock back to you? I could go on & on! Those were the days of REAL entertainment!
Love, Aunt Nancy
We would use carnations in school. Be sure to freshly trim the stem before putting them in the colored water
was it possible that gramma worked some "magic" while you were asleep?
How long are your stems? I think they need to be 5-6 inches long. Try it again and let us know.
I don't remember the cellar door being called the tornado shelter. That's scary and I thought that cellar was scary enough!! It gave me the creeps to walk down that hallway thing and turn the corner. Yikes!
My memory was right there with you. I would have told you those Queen Ann's Lace turned just as colorful as the water. At least the glass jars of "pretty water" made Pierson and Maylin smile.
Oh, and don't forget "rock climbing" on the car port and tossing "boulders" on the frozen pond to see if we could walk on it...
How fun! You are making your own memories with P&M. Even though it didn't work as yet, they will reflect back some day and laugh at how hard mommy tried. As you well know, it's the one-on-one time that registers and sticks with them.
Grandma Fresh used to color the Queen Ann's lace, also. Believe the stems were longer, she put the dye in the water first so the stems didn't just drink-up the clear water. At least, the colored water looks pretty in the clear glasses! Doesn't sound like Maylin and Pierson were one bit concerned that the color didn't go into the flowers. Your time with them was the important thing to them.
I bet the food coloring has changed because I know Queen Anne's lace hasn't changed! ~Kate
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