My Favorite Origami Ornament

Every year, a week or two before Christmas, when I'm not making cookies, I like to make origami ornaments for the tree. Some for giving, some very tiny for my feather tree and some just for hanging around the house. 

I collect origami books.  These 3 books were the first books I "read".  I didn't have to know how to read to enjoy them.  I just followed the diagrams and made something to play with!

 Tree for tiny origami.


I am going to attempt to write directions for my modular origami ball.  (This is really for me, because I keep taking a ball apart every year, because I forget how to do it!)

Pick 12 square pieces of paper.  It can be wrapping paper, pages from a magazine, and of course origami paper.  Its fun and good for the environment if you make it out of paper that has been recycled. 
(These are 4 inch squares.)

Fold in half and then fold to the center line on each side.

Fold the corner up.

Then the other corner down. 

Tuck each corner inside.  You need to make sure each piece is folded the same way.

Turn each piece over, and fold up the ends to make flaps.

The first three pieces fitted together. The flaps fit into pockets on another piece. 

Six pieces together.

one piece left. 

Finished!

Making Quince Jelly

There are two quince trees (they look more like bushes) near the house and garage at Blue Button Farm.  I don't know how old they are, but if I had to guess, maybe they were planted in the early 1950's. Quince trees were common in colonial America. There was at least one in every orchard in New England ( they are self-pollinating) and they are in the same family as the apple, pear and rose. Quince fruit was not a favorite because raw, they are hard and sour, but when baked, the white flesh turns red, soft and sweet.  Quinces naturally contain a large amount of pectin, which makes them perfect for making jelly.  

The quince tree in the Spring.  The flowers have a wonderful fragrance. This fruit bearing quince should not be confused with the ornamental Japanese flowering quince.

When ripe, the fruit turn a golden yellow and give off a floral fragrance. This usually happens in October around here.  This Quince tree needs to be pruned. Even with years of neglect, it still produces fruit.

First step in making Quince Jelly is to collect only ripe fruit.  They should be yellow and the blossom end should smell fragrant.

Chop the fruit up and discard the cores.  Don't bother trying to peel the fruit. Add enough water to cover plus an inch. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the fruit is soft ( about an hour).

Using a potato masher, mash the quince to the consistency of slightly runny applesauce. (Notice the change in color of the fruit.)

I strained the juice from the pulp by pouring it through two layers of cheese cloth draped over a strainer. This may take a couple of hours .





I had about 4 lbs. of chopped quince and it made 10 cups of liquid.  Bring the liquid to a boil and add 8 cups of sugar.  Stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved.  Hang a candy thermometer on the side to monitor the jelly temperature.

As the jelly cooks, skim off the foam that comes to the surface and sterilize your jelly jars and lids. 

The jelly stage can occur between temperatures 218 and 220 degrees.

To test for the jelly stage, pour a teaspoon of the jelly on a chilled plate. If it feels firm and "wrinkles" it is done and ready to be poured into hot jars.

Making Moss Garden Terrariums

Monday I am making Moss Garden Terrariums with a 4th grade class.

4th grade was a very important year for me.  It was the year I learned about CONSERVATION and ENDANGERED ANIMALS.  It was the year I learned I love SCIENCE!

We are making terrariums to learn about a simple, but valuable plant, the moss and to learn about the cycles in a closed ecosystem.

Down the trail, past the barn, you will find an outcropping of rocks left behind by a glacier.

Here we are seeing the first steps in Ecological Succession. Lichens cover the rock creating organic matter for the moss to live on. 

The lichen and the moss are becoming more established.   
Both lichen and moss are primitive plants that are able to break
down rock into useable material for other plants to grow on. 

By the pond, moss grows very well. Moss like an environment that is moist and shady.

The moss creates organic matter (soil) so vascular plants (plants
with stems such as ferns and small trees) can grow. 

This is a rock on the edge of the pond.  It is covered with fine Sphagnum moss.  When dried, it can be added to top soil to help retain moisture.

In the classroom, I was able to use the Smart Board to show the photos from the farm and my diagrams.

The plastic containers were donated by our local Stop and Shop.

Here are the amounts of gravel, sand, charcoal, and soil needed.

Samples of Sphagnum moss ready to be handed out.

Samples of "cushion" moss.

Samples of Lichen.

It was great to be able to do this project outside!

Adding sand. 

Placing the moss in the terrarium.

Observing our terrariums.

Using a hand lens for up close observations.

The terrariums were sprayed with water and a plastic creature was added.

The next day, condensation could be seen.  We talked about keeping a journal of observations and making sure the terrarium had some sun so the plants can continue to carry on photosynthesis.

View from the top.

I had a great time and I recieved some beautiful "Thank You" notes! 

Goats and Sheep: How are they similar, and how are they different?

Yesterday, Cub Scouts came to visit to learn about goats and sheep.

I asked everyone to sit on the rocks in silence with their arms folded and just watch the animals.

All the goats came over to see the children.  Where were the sheep?  Everyone concluded that goats are more curious than sheep!

We shook a pail of feed and the sheep appeared.

All the goats were very eager to get a taste! 

Physical Differences:

Goats   Buck, Doe                                   Sheep   Ram, Ewe

Tail up                                                     Tail down 

May have a beard                                    No beard

Hair not as wooly                                   Very wooly 

Most have horns that are narrow             If horns are present, they are curled

How are they similar:

Both are ruminants, mammals with 4 part stomachs, have divided hooves and don't like getting their feet wet. 

Behavioral Differences: 

Goats are browsers, they eat leaves, twigs, vines.        Sheep are grazers, they eat grass and clover.

*will seek shelter when raining                                     *will stay out in the rain

*will rear up and come down to butt heads                   *will back up and charge to butt heads

Goats are more independent.                                       Sheep have a stronger flocking instinct.

Goats are NOT sensitive to copper.                             Sheep are sensitive to copper. 

Fiber differences:

Fiber Goats, called Pygoras, can be sheared twice a year. 

After the animals are sheared, their fiber was sent to a mill to be processed.  The brown wool roving is from Cody( sheep) and the white is from the 2 pygoras, Munchkin and Sundae. One sheep made twice as much roving as two goats. 

To see the differences in the fibers, our scouts tested fiber samples, first by just gently pulling them apart with hand carders and then felting them with handmade soap and hot water. 

We also tried samples of Jacob sheep.

Scouts used soap and hot water and found out that the wool felted better than the pygora fiber.
The pygora fiber felt softer and was not oily.  The sheep wool felt rougher and was oily.

They also enjoyed using the drum carder.

Just for fun, we made felted beads from dyed wool roving.