Mather Mixed Media Project with Interesting results

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One of the reasons I take these Mather classes for seniors is to loosen up, experiment and work with new materials. After 45 years stuck in clay, I really wanted to spread my artistic wings and reawaken my childhood zeal over all art mediums. Mather offers everything from poetry, writing, crafts, exercise, educational classes free for seniors over 55.

Free online classes for seniors: Mather Classes

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Creative Mindfulness classes are based on mindfully centering yourself, then letting go, add a little art history which leads us to working with prompts based on a particular artist's art. 

This week, Ketki Fadnis was the selected artist. Ketki is a self-taught Pune, Indian artist who states, 

"Art is a healing process of body to mind and mind to soul".

How completely true. When I was going through my third knee replacement and had to wait so long...I soothed myself through watercolor painting.

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Ketki works in different medias, abstract as well as these amazing florals where she paints an entire canvas and then blocks out a background around a design, here she chose floral flower pots. I love the movement that crosses across her shapes. 

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We were given the choice of any type of different materials. Here I am working with my alcohol markers  on 12x12 cardstock. I really like how well the cardstock accepts any media with minimal stretching or peeling. 

Here we were encouraged to fill a page with shapes, lines swirls and doo-dads. This scribbling was very quick, maybe 3-5 minutes.

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I'm trying to empty this watercolor palette so I can clean and have a fresh start, so I was limited to what was left on the palette. Thinking I would use alcohol marker as the background in black..so I went bright in choosing my colors.

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You can see I was pretty random with the colors, but I like how the blue lines show lighter under the transparent/translucent water colors. We had to work very fast. 

Some people worked in pastels, oil pastels, crayons, charcoal, colored pencils (tedious),  or markers as well as watercolors. The recommendation was to do acrylics to do the back spaces.

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With a white (which didn't show up) then a black charcoal pencil I outlined my vases and then leaves. I originally thought of turning the paper around and cutting out my shapes an mounting them on another page, but I followed directions and used acrylic on top of the alcohol markers and watercolors. 

Since I used quick washes...the watercolors dried pretty fast. 

It took almost 3 coats of paint on the background to get it to this stage. I may enhance or add a table or line in black..as these are floating in space, which bothers me.

If I do this technique again, I'll wait long enough for it to be completely dry before doing the background. Bleeding was minimal but persistent, so that would be a good idea. Maybe working on three or four of these at a time would work giving you time to let everything dry. 

The Apple Barrel acrylic paint from a Mather kit (rate this as kid quality only) light blue acrylic was what I had on hand without trundling downstairs in search of some better paint...the class moves so fast. I would definitely use a better paint with better coverage and a more flat finish.

How About Give this Method a Try!

and HAVE FUN!

Even great for kids on a smaller scale, maybe turn the finished Scribble that's colored over into hand cut out shapes..houses, pots, plants cars and then mount them on colored paper.  Great dexterity project for all ages.

Thanks always for visiting, 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

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All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown.  

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission.  

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi 

Girly Game Day: 122 Year OLD RECIPE for Blueberry Muffins

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Wednesday was GAME DAY!

I had a half of box of Blueberries in the fridge, and I couldn't find my Blueberry Buckle recipe. I had limited ingredients in the house, so I dug out my Mom's ancient 

Settlement Cook Book. 

I always chortle at the, "Way to a Man's Heart" subtitle. This particular text is over 120 years old, but the Victory edition from 1944.

Gifted to Mom in 1944...from her dear cousin, my mom's writing at the top only, saying for her 'Wedding Shower!'...Gosh the war was still on, my dad was stateside for the first time in almost 5 years...and she was getting married in a month.

The History behind this cookbook is very interesting. First of all it was succinct, easy recipes, with a limited vocabulary and designed to be used by the huge immigrant population we had in every state at the turn of the century.

What a daunting chore to go shopping in the new world markets with all the signs in a different language than you spoke or read. 

We were a huge melting pot and Milwaukee was teaming with...Germans, Poles, Irish, Scandinavian, Beligian, Dutch, African American, South American, Hispanic... all piled into the manufacturing neighborhoods of Milwaukee, south all the way to Chicago, to Gary Indiana. The Great Lakes were the great industrial melting pot of America.

Mom's copy was the 26th edition of the book, labeled the Victory edition. Going back to simple ingredients and how-to's to survive in a war economy...it was always her GO-TO cookbook.

Anyway for game day I chose the simple 100+ year old recipe for Blueberry Muffins. I did make a couple of changes, I used Almond Milk, and good quality margarine (Land-0-Lakes---I am a cheesehead after all) because one of our gals is lactose intolerant. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla, have to ---I'm half Danish.

At our age, we have changed to Almond Milk, for the taste, as well as it has a longer shelf life than milk...extra calcium also. 

This was the smallest muffin...and just chock full of blueberries.

The recipe took very little sugar...so I served with cinnamon/sugar on the side for anyone who wanted it.

Of course Tea or Coffee is mandatory with a muffin.

We are group of four ladies that meet an afternoon every two weeks to play games and Hostess's choice. We are flexible on dates and each take a turn as hostess. 

Senior socialization really is a must...I still haven't joined the local Senior center---as I look at everyone and think I'm not that old...but probably soon. LOL.

The 'GIRLS' ended up playing OLD MAID...with a lot of laughter as the mean age is over 77 for this group. And then 10 rounds of UNO. 

My muffins were a hit...sweetness really just right.

Here is the recipe:

I really like how easy and quick this was, and really can use just one bowl. I have a new stove/oven...and I followed the directions for 425 degrees, despite that my oven usually runs really hot. And they came out perfect. I did give the filled tins a spritz of oil spray to encourage browning.

Again, Almond milk worked well with the Margarine, instead of butter.

Taste and texture was excellent!

PS....I never did one hand of UNO out of 10...which should be 

STATISTICALLY   IMPOSSIBLE!

Thanks always for visiting, 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

Join me at these fine blog parties:

Home Matters

You're the Star

Metamorphosis Monday

Handmade Monday

Craftastic Monday

Really Crafty Linky

Senior Salon Pitstop

Farmhouse Friday

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown.  

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission.  

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi 

Midwest Gardenign 2025: Planting, Watering, Recording and Heating a Greenhouse.

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So, it's Thursday March 27 and mildish outside but still a bit chilly, but perfect working in the greenhouse.

With a forecast of some warmer temps tonight and tomorrow I set the timer for the heater for Dusk to Dawn.  I began by re-arranging more shelves for the starts I will do today.

Besides heat and extra sun, the greenhouse needs water. Hopefully we can turn hoses on soon. Meanwhile, I'm schlepping water in the cart, three 5 gallon containers at a time with my little garden cart. YIKES that was a heavy pull. I do it at the end of the day so the water has time to warm up by the next day.

Before I do more planting, I want to show you how the new plants are doing from weeks ago. You can see a bit of green here, and a newly planted tray also.

The four railing planters with Veggies are doing great. Onions, radishes, lettuce and more radishes.

Here are some of my Dahlias beginning to sprout...YAY!

This tray of Romaine Lettuce that was planted last week, these will have to be transplanted.

I moved these to a top shelf...more Onions, Radishes and Spinach.

This is a top shelf---Dill is in the middle, and the other pots are Caladiums, and more Dahlias that take forever to come up. I'll be watering them tonight.

The Dinosauers are old sandbox toys, they come in handy to hold down the plastic lids when the windows are open.

 

This is a scribble log---I know what it says...all entered for 3/27. I also write on the seed packages, bags, where, when and how much I planted and the date.

My dirty work surface. These are bags of seeds squirreled away from plants last year, and sometimes the year before. I started an entire rectangular tray of Petite Marigolds, Red Zinnias, and Tall Marigolds from new/old, and older seeds.

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Seeds saved from RED/Dk PINK Zinnia blossoms last year. These I plant heavy because not every seed will be pollinated.

Last of my Popsicle sticks or Tongue depressors. I have two packs of 50 plastic sticks for when I begin transplanting. I use wax pencil or permanent marker to mark my plant trays.

These are Sunflower heads from the nicest sunflowers I had last year, in a clear doll bag...it almost looks like a watercolor. I may have to try that...love the beige and brown tones.

Until all the shelves are filled with plants...it's a bit chaotic. I clear the shelves with the best light first. This lower shelf area will be perfect for Coleus, eventually I can move the excess planters and pots to another storage shed. But, at this point I just don't know what I'm going to need to do all the transplanting that will begin the second week in April.

My soil bin is becoming depleted. This will be filled with some pots in the yard that have dirt with added peat moss and vermiculite. We are trying to not purchase too much packaged dirt. 

We may have a load delivered for the two big planters 4'x8'x2' that will go in the garden, and hopefully with an arched trellis between them.

More containers for planting...the bottom one has Nasturtiums, Cosmos, Zinnas/tall Marigolds. I try to move the lids to the plants first starting.

This long boot tray is perfect for putting large planters on...and is waiting for newly planted containers. I've planted a bunch of everything-mostly flowers today. 

Next week we will start the Squashes, large Sunflowers, and begin transplanting the overgrown plants from the kitchen.

WILL I HAVE ENOUGH ROOM?

That is always the question........

Next WEEK: We'll start on the clean up of the Veggie Garden...so Hubby can rototill here and there. I hope to clear the root crop areas and later get the new raised bed planters assembled, the bottoms covered with cardboard  and all the debris placed inside, too. 

Hubby said the compost pile may be ready for tilling, if we don't get too much rain. 

YAY!

How are Your Plants Starts Growing?

Thanks always for visiting, I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

Join me at these fine blog parties:

Home Matters

You're the Star

Metamorphosis Monday

Handmade Monday

Craftastic Monday

Really Crafty Linky

Senior Salon Pitstop

Farmhouse Friday

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown.  

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission.  

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi 

Midwest Gardening 2025: Prepping and Planting in the Greenhouse

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Well, we have a few temps moderating...today is a balmy 70 ish....nights are still quite low, and the heater goes all night long in the Greenhouse. Our average frost date here is listed as MAY 7 which is a long ways away.

My goal for April is to get everything out of the kitchen and into the greenhouse by April 11th, so I can get my house in order for Easter.

This week I Prepped a bunch of containers for planting after I watered and cleaned out the greenhouse to make more room for more starts.

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We bought quite a few on sale LARGE POTS 

last Fall at the end of the season.

This is a 20" double walled pot 

that we needed for PEAS. 

My Peas and trellises blew over several times last year...so I will have to dolly this monster out of the greenhouse later. 

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Here's my hand to give you scale, and that's a 7" wide pot upside down to eat up some of the space in this huge pot. 

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I stuffed a bunch of old stems, wood and dried garden waste in the bottom and then

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Stuffed dried leaves into it also.

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Two 8" pots full of dried leaves. These were tamped down, and then two more pots of leaves.

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Then a thick layer of a heavy potting soil. 

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Then alternating layers of my bin potting soil with peatmoss and vermiculite. This is getting down to the bottom, but the compost pile is still frozen. I have a few pots around the yard I can add to the bin and then modify the soil.

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The layers were stirred around...mixing the damp hard soil with the loose starting soil from my bin.

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I then stuck in my 6' bamboo sticks in and wire tied them at the top. When the PEA Sprouts begin to come up I'll add some fabric trellis around. This will be kept in the greenhouse until it has 3' tall plants.

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Another 14" sale pot was started with two Canna bulbs. I will split these later. Hopefully it is warm enough on the floor in the greenhouse to get them started.

UPSIDE some of my Dahlias in small pots are up about 2-3"---YAY!

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I had to move lots around in the greenhouse to make room for these big planters on the floor and some on the shelves.  All will be started with flowers/vegetables/herb seeds and watered. I have a paper record and sticks to put in for Identification.

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This one I will use by the fisher kids pond...Nasturtiums, Allyssum, some Cosmos and a few Peppermint Zinnas. Some are old seeds, so I plant those heavy.

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I planted 4 of this size railing planters with veggies a few weeks ago, but now we will be starting with flowers.

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I made a second 16" pot for Peas with bamboo. Then I had to rearrange the greenhouse some more.

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Tomorrow I will plant Evening Sun sunflowers in these pots, and some more

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This sad little railing pot will be to be transplanted with  coleus eventually and maybe some bought Impatiens. I think I will move it off the desk to outside--the rim is cracking off from the UV rays and the heat we have been having the last few years. These railing planters I've been using for up to 10 years, so as they die, we replace them. This will be the last year for this one and it will be designated for shady. plants. That's it for Wednesday. I'm all out of water, so planting will have to begin tomorrow. 

What are you Prepping for Planting

 in your neck of the Woods?

Thanks always for visiting, I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

Join me at these fine blog parties:

Love Your Creativity

Home Matters

You're the Star

Metamorphos Monday

Handmade Monday

Craftastic Monday

Really Crafting LINKY

Senior Salon Pitstop

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown.  

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission.  

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi