Popping Corn

Popping Corn

Oh, the sparkling eyes,
In a fairy ring! 
Ruddy glows the fire,
And the corn we bring;
Tiny lumps of gold,
One by one we drop;
Give the pan a shake;-
Pip! pop! pop!

Pussy on the mat
Wonders at the fun;
Merry little feet
Round the kitchen run;
Smiles and pleasant words
Never, never stop;-
Lift the cover now;-
Pip! pop! pop!

What a pretty change!
Where's the yellow gold?
Here are snowy lambs
Nestling in the fold;
Some are wide awake,
On the floor they hop;
Ring the bell for tea! 
Pip! pop! pop!

Flossie Plays School With Her Friends

 Dear Girls and Boys:

       Flossie Fisher has to study very hard indeed to be able to teach her pets all she thinks they should know. I know all of you can write good stories this month, perhaps better than ever before, for most of you go to school yourselves, and I am sure all of you play school. I am very glad, though, to believe that there are no children in the world as naughty as one of Flossie's pupils was!

Sincerely, 
Helen Nyce
(The original letter from the illustrator has been modified.)

       ''Read'' with your eyes the series of events from top to bottom, left to right, to discover what happens to Flossie and her little companions below. Then, write in your own words a brief descriptive narrative describing based upon what you see. Below is a introductory sentence to help student begin there own narratives...

       Flossie rings the bell to announce the beginning of the school day!

Click to download or view the largest version.

       Over 100 years ago, Helene Nyce organized children's writing competitions for The Ladies' Home Journal. The magazine editors would include her silhouette cuts to illustrate a series of adventures for a little girl named Flossie. Children would then write a short story to accompany the illustrations and submit it through the mail to win a prize.

Emeralds, representing nature and youth...

Emerald's in a tiara.

       It seems very appropriate that the emerald should have been chosen as the birthstone for May, the month when Nature, awakening from her long winter rest, feels the stirring of new life and decks herself in the green of spring. Long before the Christian Era the Greeks, recognizing the fitness of this association, dedicated the emerald to Venus, their goddess of love, life, and generation, while in far-off Mexico the Aztecs had instituted the same symbolism and pronounced this gem sacred to their own Earth goddess who controlled the destinies of growing things.
       The true emerald is beryl of the accepted green hue. This gem is obtained from mines in Siberia, South America, and Upper Egypt. It has also been found in very limited quantities in North Carolina. While we often hear of Brazilian emeralds, there is no authentic proof that the emerald was ever found in Brazil, and it is thought that green tourmaline, somewhat resembling the true emerald and found in great quantities in Brazil, may have been introduced into Europe as the Brazilian emerald and thus have given rise to the idea that true emeralds came from that locality. Emeralds from Siberia and South America are of the finest quality, the gems from the Egyptian mines being light in color and cloudy.

Emeralds cut and uncut.

 

       A fine emerald is the rarest of the precious stones, and throughout the ages it has occupied the first place in point of value. While it cannot be said that there is no such thing as a perfect emerald, such gems are so exceedingly rare that the flawless emerald has passed into proverb as an unattainable form of perfection. Practically all emeralds contain fissures, cracks, and small enclosures of foreign matter, which if present in great quantity, tend to make the gem cloudy and dull. Depth and beauty of color should be the first consideration in the selection of an emerald, after which should follow transparency and approximate freedom from flaws.

• All things emerald: Everything you need to know
• How to tell the difference between natural and created emeralds
• Kagem and Zambia, The World's Largest Emerald Mine
• 9 Famous Emeralds in the World

HISTORY

       The earliest source whence this gem was obtained is the so-called ''Cleopatra'' mines in Upper Egypt. The length of time during which these mines have been operated is not known. Implements found there date back to the time of Sesostris, 1650 B. C., but as emeralds have been found in the wrappings of mummies of a much earlier period it is practically certain that the Cleopatra mines were known many centuries before that time. During the Middle Ages the location of these mines was lost, but they were discovered early in the last century by a French explorer. They were, however, worked but little at that time, and were closed within a few years. About 1902 they were reopened and produced gems still.
       When the Spaniards grimly conquered Peru and Mexico and ruthlessly despoiled those countries of all treasure that could be carried away, immense numbers of emeralds, some of almost incredible size, were literally poured into Spain and eventually found their way into other parts of Europe.
       The Spaniards having seized nearly all of the emeralds that the natives had amassed in their temples, devoted their attention to searching for the source of these marvels of nature, and in 1558 they discovered the mines in what is now the United States of Colombia. These mines have been worked almost continuously since that time and are the principal source of the present-day emerald supply.
       As the natives, who met with gross injustice and cruelty at the hands of the Spaniards, hid all of the mines that were known to them and refused to give any information as to their location, it is possible that other emerald mines may yet be discovered. No emeralds are produced from either Peru or Mexico during modern times. It is believed, therefore, that the gems which the conquistadores found in the possession of the Incas and the Aztecs came from mines which remain unknown to us, or from the mines in Colombia.
       Perhaps the most extraordinary of the gems which the Spanish obtained from the New World at the time of the Conquests were the five choice emeralds which Hernando Cortes presented to his bride, thereby mortally offending the Queen who had desired them for herself. These had been fashioned into divers fancy shapes. One was cut like a bell and had a fine pearl for a tongue. Another was shaped like a rose, and a third like a horn. A fourth was fashioned into the form of a fish, while the fifth was hollowed out and shaped into a cup. These gems were lost on Cortes disastrous voyage to assist Charles V at the siege of Algiers, 1529.

AN UNFORTUNATE TEST

       We are told that many fine emeralds were destroyed through the ignorance of the Spaniards who believed that it was the nature of the true emerald to withstand the blow of a hammer. Of course no gem would stand such a rigorous test.
       Lake Guatavita, on the Andean plateau of Colombia, was the chief holy place of the native people of that locality hundreds of years ago. Gold and emeralds, unknown to their impoverished descendants of our day, were then plentiful among them. It was customary for these natives, at their semi-annual festivals, to cast great quantities of gold, emeralds and other precious stones into the lake as propitiatory offerings to the divinity who was supposed to dwell therein. During the ceremony, the Casique (tribal chieftain), having covered his body with an adhesive clay over which was then sprinkled gleaming gold-dust, would paddle to the center of the lake bearing the choicest offerings, with which he would plunge into the water. Having washed away the gold-dust, he would swim ashore. The Spaniards, observing this procedure, called the Casique "El Dorado" (The Golden One). The term is now generally used to signify a place where gold is found in great abundance.
       Attempts have been made to secure the treasures of Lake Guatavita by drawing off the waters of the lake, but they have met with but partial success. One of the early attempts at least resulted in the recovery of so much treasure that the government's three per cent share is said to have amounted to $170,000. In none of these essays, however, was the lake effectually drained. It is probable that in order to secure the treasure it would now be necessary to dredge forty or fifty feet below the present lake bottom, the religious custom which we have related having prevailed among the natives centuries ago.

RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS

       Not among the indigenous peoples alone did the emerald possess religious associations. In Rabbinical legend it is related that four precious stones were given by God to King Solomon. One of these was the emerald.
       This gem was one of the stones in the breast-plate of the Jewish High Priest. In Greek mythology there was a gem-city (the City of the Islands of the Blessed), the walls of which were of emerald. The first Mohammedan heaven was supposed to be composed of emerald, and in Revelation this gem is given as the fourth foundation stone of the New Jerusalem.
       The Sacro Catino a cup preserved in Genoa, was long believed to be made from a single immense emerald. Investigation has since proved that it is of no more valuable material than green glass. A legend still current in the early part of the sixteenth century represented this cup as having been used by Christ at the Last Supper. At one time when the government was pressed for money, the Sacro Catino was offered to a rich merchant of Metz as a pledge for a loan of 100,000 crowns. He was loath to take it, as he probably recognized its spurious character, but was finally forced to accept it under threats of dire vengeance in case of refusal. When some years later the Genoese were ready to redeem this precious relic, they were puzzled to learn that no less than six different persons claimed to have it in their possession. The merchant had fabricated a number of copies which he had succeeded in pawning for large sums, assuring the lender in each case that the redemption of the pledge was certain.
       It seems not amiss here to state that while we sometimes hear of ''synthetic" or ''scientific'' emeralds, there is no such thing. All attempts on the part of man, to fuse emerald chips, or to otherwise evolve a gem which will stand the tests that are used to identify the true emerald, have failed, and imitation emeralds can easily be recognized by one who is familiar with the character of the true gem. 

LORE AND SUPERSTITIONS 

       The superstitions that are attached to the emerald are many. Thus it was believed to predict future events. Whether this was accomplished through images seen in the stone in the manner in which such images are seen in crystal spheres, or through some power to confer prophetic vision believed to be inherent in the stone, is not plain. As a revealer of truth this stone was an enemy of all enchantments and conjurations, hence it was greatly favored by magicians who found all their arts of no avail if an emerald were in their vicinity when they began to weave their spells.
       Many other virtues were supposed to be peculiar to the emerald. If one wished to strengthen his memory or become an eloquent speaker he was sure to attain his end by securing possession of a fine emerald. The gem revealed the truth or falsity of lovers oaths, sharpened the wits, enhanced the honesty of the wearer, and cooled all passion. It was also believed to be fatal to the eyesight of serpents.

THERAPEUTIC USES

       The emerald was employed as an antidote for poisons and for poisoned wounds. It was also used as a cure for epilepsy, dysentery, leprosy, and many other diseases. It was considered most efficacious in the treatment of diseases of the eye, and so general in the early centuries was the idea that the pure green hue of emeralds aided the eyesight and rested the eyes, that gem - engravers were said to have kept some of them on their work-tables that they might look at the stones from time to time and thus relieve the eye-strain caused by close application to their delicate tasks.

LARGE STONES

       Tradition and unauthenticated accounts tell of phenomenally large emeralds. Most of these stories are without foundation, the number of large emeralds in existence being extremely limited. One of the largest of these belonged to the Duke of Devonshire.
       This gem is a South American stone, badly flawed but of good color. Its weight is 1347 carats.
       The finest cut emerald known is a gem of thirty carats which belonged to the former Czars of Russia.

FAMOUS EMERALDS 

       Of the famous emeralds perhaps the one most deserving of mention was that which belonged to Nero. This gem, famed far and wide, was believed to possess many powers. It was fashioned into a lens and through it the Roman Emperor was accustomed to view the gladiatorial shows.
       In ancient times green was used as the mourning color for those who died in the flower of youth, an emerald being placed at times on the index finger of the deceased. In the tomb of Tullia, the dearly beloved daughter of Cicero, was found a large and rarely beautiful emerald. This gem passed into the hands of Isabella da Este.
       A famous talismanic emerald, once the property of the Moguls of Delhi, ranks as one of the finest gems known. It possesses an unusual depth of color and weighs 78 carats.

THE EMERALD TODAY

       It may be truthfully said that the emerald is the most beautiful of the colored gems, and it is to be regretted that so few of them are to be had. In recent years this gem has become increasingly difficult to obtain and one who possesses a fine specimen is indeed fortunate. The small stones are more plentiful and are used in many of the most beautiful rings and gem-pieces in conjunction with diamonds or other precious stones to lend a touch of that superb color which is characteristic of the emerald alone. Wood

• Back to "What Are Birthstones?"

"Bite To Eat Diner" verses "Seaside Diner"

        The My Generation Diner itself includes: a checkered black and hot pink faux linoleum floor, a pink pay phone, a chalkboard for the menu, a juke box (plays music) at the table for two, a shuttered window that moves, a large counter-top with faux marble look, a spinning cake and desert display unit, the counter lights-up with neon lights, a wall that attaches to the back of the counter that looks like stainless steal.

• The most detailed description at YouTube is by DeenaandBeena

The Food Accessories In "Bite To Eat" Diner: Again, I will link into crafts that I have posted to replace those pieces you do not have for either Diner set in the near future...

• two pink and orange stools
• one cake/cake stand with domed lid: strawberry cake with white icing and chocolate covered strawberry topping, drip styled strawberry icing too (one slice may be removed)
• one banana split in a transparent plastic dish
• silverware, two of each: fork, knife and spoon
• two blue bowls
• two plastic cups
• a plastic pitcher
• two dinner plates and two dessert plates matched set
• a faux metal napkin dispenser with one napkin
• large sugar shaker for table
• salt and pepper shakers with colored glitters inside the pepper
• one vinegar bottle (empty)
• vintage, plastic ketchup and mustard bottles 
• one hamburger that comes in pieces: lettuce, buns, beef patty, pickles
• a grilled cheese sandwich
• a hot dog with a bun that comes apart for play
• 4 Entrees attached to dinner plates: smoked meat sandwich with pickle, spaghetti and meatballs, fish sticks with lemon slice and red dipping sauce, and pancake stack with butter slices, maple syrup and three blue berries on the side
• 1 dessert attached to desert plate: brownie, whipped cream and cheery on top
• Loose single serve foods that may be stacked separately on the empty plates: eggs sunny-side-up, two slices of bacon, loose stack of sausages (3)
• One bowl of tomato soup with saltine crackers
• 1 plate of french fries and red/white checkered napkin
• 9 doughnuts iced: lime, strawberry and chocolate
• 6 heart-shaped cookies with jelly filling and glaze icing
• cupcakes 3 of each: red velvet with cream cheese icing, chocolate with pink strawberry icing, vanilla with fluffy white icing + each has a cherry on top
• A lattice work blueberry pie that can be removed from a faux tin pie plate: it comes with one slice of pie that can be removed and served separately
• 1 dish of pink ice cream and red syrup, the dish has a pedestal base
• one blue cup of coffee with saucer
• One coffee pot filled
• 2 sodas: grape and coke come with straws
• 2 juice drinks: grape and cherry with straws
• 1 strawberry milkshake with whipped cream and cherry and straw
• paper money, plastic coins
• chalk for writing on the menu board
• order forms for the diner treats and meals

       The American Girl, Maryellen's "Seaside Diner" itself includes: an attached vintage milkshake machine, a black pay phone, a white counter top with stainless steal edging, faux glass blocks at one end, a neon "Seaside Diner" sign that lights up, clips for orders, two stainless steel stools with vinyl-like blue cushions, tiled counter sides and floor. This unit is very authentic 1950s retro design with accurate colors: pastel pink, blue and white. The primary unit also plays conversations and music.

       The seating unit includes a coral colored top with stainless steel edge and grey metal table leg. Two bench seating covered in authentic glossy vinyl upholstery.

• dollidays reviews this set in detail at YouTube here.

The Food Accessories In "Seaside" Diner:

• a vintage paper hat with "Seaside Diner" logo
• 8 paper trays for fast food
• paper money and plastic coin for pay phone
• Seaside diner advertising cards
• 2 paper menus
• one sheet of many advertising stickers, daily menu and clock
• paper order forms 
• 2 orange bowls with fruits
• a jar of maple syrup with a metal-look spout/lid
• bacon 3 attached pieces
• two sandwiches with olive on top, very detailed
• salt and pepper shakers
• four ceramic plates 50s designs
• 2 Milkshake cup
• Mac and cheese separates
• grey serving tray
• stainless steel condiment tray, round with handle, attach menu
• spinning diner sign, stainless steel detailing
• extra paddies for the grill
• milkshakes: chocolate and strawberry
• a working bell for the counter
• four stainless steel forks
• Loose breakfast foods: two eggs over easy, 2 toasts, one waffle, one stack of pancakes
  
• 2 hot dogs with mustard
• vintage, plastic ketchup and mustard bottles 
• two stacks of crinkly fries
• a special apron with "Seaside Diner" logo

School Days

        It is early morning a week later and the family is busy around the house. Pablo stops piling up the firewood. ''You are lucky, Tono,'' he says to his little brother. ''All day long you can play. You don't have to work or to go to school.''
       ''But I have to stay in the patio all day,'' complains Antonio. ''I want to go out into the street. Won't you take me with you today?''
       Pablo shakes his head. ''You are too little,'' he says.
       Antonio, like the other small children, is kept in the yard, or patio, unless his mother or older brothers and sisters will take him out. It is very boring, he thinks. He tries to amuse himself by playing marbles like the big boys.
       Nearby his little sister Felicite is playing house with her rag doll. ''Mama,'' she begs, ''may I please have just a little bit of corn to grind so I can make my doll a tortilla?''
       Antonio, Felicite, and their brothers and sisters have very few toys. They play with sticks and stones and corncobs and are very good at make-believe.
       Antonio is tired of the marbles and throws them to one side. ''Let's play we are going to the fiesta,'' he says. ''There is going to be one at Santa Catarina and we are going to it. Make a circle now and we will dance. See, I am a man on horseback.'' He does a skipping step like the dancers of Santo Domingo who performed at the last fiesta.
       There is a bustle in the patio as Pablo leaves to do his farm chores before school. Antonio and Felicite watch enviously. Little Felicite will be six next month and then she can go to school too. Last year her parents wouldn't let her start for fear too much learning would ''hurtt her head.'' Most of the children in the town start school, but many drop out each year until by sixth grade there are few left.
       Maria, Pablo's older sister, was very sad when she had to stop school and stay at home. She cried a great deal. But Pablo couldn't understand. He would rather roam the country or even work in the fields. He doesn't like school.
       ''I have to work all the time when I am home,'' Maria explained. ''I haven't a minute to myself. In school I was away from hard work for six whole hours and I could play with girls of my own age as well as study. I loved it.''
       Pablo and the boys have more freedom than the girls. They like to play hooky and sneak away for games or a walk to another town. During fiesta season, many stay out of school to enjoy the excitement. Then there is time lost in helping with the chores, bringing home water from the fountain, or helping on the farm. Every day Pablo drives the cattle to pasture and afterwards he likes to loiter along and play a game or two. His parents have never minded if he was late to school. ''Farm duties come first,'' they always said. ''All the children need to learn is a little reading and writing.''
       But the teachers think differently. When they saw that no one paid attention to the clock in the town hall striking the hour, they decided that the bell in the great church in the central plaza should be rung every morning and afternoon to let everyone know that school had begun. They even set up a game between the different grades to see whose record of attendance and promptness was the best. Though people in Tepoztlan still feel one hour of daylight is as good as another, Pablo and his friends have found it is best to get to school on time. 

Back to The Index

School Days in Modern Rural Mexico:

• A Day at School in Mexico
• Most Dangerous Ways To School in Mexico - children of Sierras 
• Education in Rural Mexico - posted 2020

Popping Corn

 Popping Corn

Oh, the sparkling eyes,
In a fairy ring!
Ruddy glows the fire,
And the corn we bring;
Tiny lumps of gold,
One by one we drop;
Give the pan a shake;-
Pip! pop! pop!

Pussy on the mat
Wonders at the fun;
Merry little feet
Round the kitchen run;
Smiles and pleasant words
Never, never stop;-
Lift the cover now;-
Pip! pop! pop!

What a pretty change!
Where's the yellow gold?
Here are snowy lambs
Nestling in the fold;
Some are wide awake,
On the floor they hop;
Ring the bell for tea!
Pip! pop! pop!

Fritillaria

Fritillaria meleagris.

We ring, we ring, "Here comes dear Spring.
Awake ye nymphs and fays,
Your webs and paints and brushes swing‚
Come, Larks, strike up your lays.

       How many of you children know the Fritillaria or Checkered Lily? It is sometimes called the Mission Bells and sometimes the Rice Root. All its names fit it well.
       It looks quite different from the bright colored flowers we have been studying. Perhaps you wonder if so dull a dress will attract insects. Just kneel down by a Fritillaria for a few minutes. See, she has many visitors. When you study her, it is easy to tell why.
       After becoming acquainted with Blue-Eyed Grass, you know that, in some flowers, the calyx and the corolla look alike. This is true in Fritillaria. You see a beautifully shaped bell. It has six parts, all colored alike. You will find that three are joined to the stem a little farther out than the others. These are the sepals.
       Both sepals and petals are woven of a thick material, quite different from Poppy's thin satin. Fritillaria seems to use this thick material so that she can drape each part into graceful curves. She just dotes on curves. She does not even hang her leaves in straight lines.
       As for her sepals and petals., she compounds her curves in them. Each part is arched along its long line. It curves its sides toward the center. Its edges are wavy all around. You see Fritillaria is an artist when it comes to lines.
       She does not seem to care for color. She gives her head a toss, and exclaims, ''No copying of Sun and Sky for me! The colors of Mother Earth and her soft Grass are good enough for my gown.''
       But really, she does take care in arranging her browns and greens. She mixes them together in checks and in spots. Sometimes, she adds purple to her dye. Sometimes, she bleaches them out to palest green. I really believe, Mrs. Fritillaria, that you spend as much strength in getting your dress perfect, as Baby-Blue-Eyes does in copying the Sky and Clouds, or Poppy in copying the glorious Sun.
       Down at the bottom of the bell, Fritillaria puts an oblong shaped dish of sweets. It lies open for any one to see. Its fragrance floats far on the sunny air. You may be sure that Mrs. Ant is not slow to accept the kind invitation the Breezes carry to her.
       Inside the bell are the six stamens, each with an oblong anther on top. The pistil rises inside their ring. Its stigma is divided into three parts, each of which curves gracefully outward.
       Even if you happen on Fritillaria when she has not visitors, you know how they help her. As they feed at the oblong honey dish, they stumble against the stamens. The oblong anthers open, and down falls the pollen.
       When the visitors go into the next Fritillaria, they carry this pollen with them. It is dusted off on to the stigma and is sent down to make the ovules into seeds.
       Fritillaria makes her seed-case along beautiful lines. She curves it in and wings it out. She packs in it six rows of thin flat seeds. Watch it as it grows old. See how its material changes. See how it gets its seeds scattered.
       When you are older, you can study the different kinds of leaves Fritillaria has. You can tell the age of this plant by its leaves. Some people, you know, can tell a horse's age by its teeth. Well, one who has studied the Fritillaria can tell by looking at the leaves, just how long ago it was that that plant was a tiny seed. There are many things you can learn about plants as you grow older. You cannot learn everything the first year you study them.
       Now, you need only notice that there are different kinds of leaves on the same flower stalk. Notice that they are fixed differently on the stem. See what a deep green the stem is and how it wears a soft powder over its color.
       When you hear Fritillaria called ''Rice Root'' you know  she must be making something odd underground. She is. If you dig up a root, you will find many little bulbs around it, shining white like rice. Be careful not to hurt any of them. They will all grow into beautiful plants if left unharmed. You can transplant some roots and start a Fritillaria bed of your own in a shady spot.
       The Spanish Californian children called Fritillaria ''Mission Bells.'' You can easily see why. Her brown blossoms are as beautiful as the bronze bells that were brought from Spain and hung in the Mission's belfry. They were rung to call people to church or on news of gladness or on news of sadness. The ringing of the Mission Bells always meant that people would come together to think about the same thing. 
       There is old flower lore of why the Fritillaria is dark and why she has such great big drops of syrup in her cup:

       "Flower lore tells that before Christ was crucified, the Fritillaria was pure white and held her flowers open up to the sky. While Christ was hanging on the Cross, all the flowers hung their heads and wept. All but Fritillaria. She stood proud and straight. When Christ died, a darkness passed over the earth. Then, Fritillaria suddenly became sorry for her pride. She hung down her bells. She changed her white dress to dark mourning. She shed tears of sorrow. She has not stopped being sorry yet. You can see for yourself the down-turned bells, the dark dress, and the ever-present tears.''

       This story teaches us some things we should learn. We must never be too proud to show sorrow for any one's sufferings. Then, we will never have to shed tears because we had been proud.

Back to "Little Blossoms" Doll Summer Camp Index 

Wild Hollyhock

Hollyhock, with fragrance laden,

Curtsies gaily to the Breeze.

That old Gossip steps out lively

To spread the news among the Bees

       When the Poppies and Buttercups, the Cream Cups and Baby-Blue-Eyes are all coloring the fields, you see spots of pink here and there. Then, you know Wild Hollyhock has come to town. Her color is delicate, but she is well built to carry on her year's work.

       Pick a stem. See how the lovely bell-shaped blossoms are all crowded to its top. Look at one blossom. It looks as if it were made of dainty pink gauze. It has many heavy white lines leading down to the center. You exclaim, "A ha! Miss Hollyhock is calling the insects."

       Even if your eyes did not see these honey paths, your nose would tell you she was making honey. And such honey! Sweeter even than that of Baby-Blue-Eyes. You find the little bowls well filled. Over each bowl is the curtain of fine hairs. These hairs are so fixed that if any drop of dew falls on them, it will slide off without dropping into the sweet dish, which is thus kept pure. The bees just love this feast and come for miles around to get it.

       Look again into Miss Hollyhock's bell. Look well at the stamens. In Baby-Blue-Eyes, you found five stamens standing up on the corolla. In Hollyhock, you find them standing close together in a ring. They look like a little vase. Divide this vase into two circles of stamens. Now, you only need see that the little anthers are a lovely rose pink and their pollen is a creamy powder.

       You will find that the pistil is inside the stamen vase. The pistil does not grow out until after the anthers have thrown their creamy powder away. Then, it grows out higher than the stamen vase. You see it gets ready to make seed too late to use the pollen from its own stamens. These were ready so long before, that their pollen was carried away. It could not get any pollen to make seed, if Mrs. Bug did not bring it some from another flower.

       But with such a bright gown and with such delicious honey, Mrs. Bug is sure to come. And after a taste, she is sure to go into another Hollyhock for some more of the good food. She visits one Hollyhock after another. In some, the stamen will be sure to be ready to throw out the pollen. In others, the pistil will be ready to receive the pollen. So, Miss Hollyhock is sure to make good seed, and Mrs. Bug repays her forgetting out the good meal.

       After the pollen has fallen on the pistil, Miss Hollyhock does not need the bug any longer. She does not make any more food. She is a very honest person. She does not wish to bother Mrs. Bee unless she is going to pay her. So, she changes the bright pink of her corolla to dark purplish color. This sign means ‚"No more parties in this flower."

       "Hmm!" hums the Bee. "Is that so? Well, I'll go to a lighter colored Hollyhock."

       And she swings into a newly opened Hollyhock and helps it do its work.

       When the seeds begin to grow, the corolla falls off, but the calyx clings on.

       In the flower bud, you can see how the sepals fold together to keep the flower safe. See how furry they are outside and how silk-lined they are inside. You see there are just as many sepals in Hollyhock as petals, five sepals and five petals.

       If you look at a flower stalk, you will see that the buds nearest the ground bloom out first. When their corollas fall off, the next higher buds bloom out. And so the pink flowers creep up the stem higher and higher until the very top one waves. Look at other plants and see if they all bloom this way. Do those in your garden at home bloom from the bottom of the stem up?

       Look at the leaves. Some are nearly round. Others are cut into parts. Put a round one on a sheet of paper. Draw a pencil mark around its edge. Now put a cut-into leaf down. Draw around its outer edge. You see the leaves are the same shape. You will find it easy to draw a Hollyhock stem if you will remember the outside line of the leaves. The buds are not hard to draw. The flower is not hard to draw. A stalk of Hollyhock makes a pretty picture.

       Are the round leaves just the same color as the cut-into leaves? Are the leaves the same color on their tops as on their lower surfaces? Have both kinds of leaves hairs on them? Have the leaves near the flowers got stems as long as the leaves near the ground? 

       Do you use the Hollyhock seeds at your pretend parties? Look how the seed-cases divide. We used to play that they were parts of an orange. They are good to eat. Watch which birds come to eat them at a feeder.

       Miss Hollyhock has a sister who is a greater help at a Doll's Party than she is. This is Mallow who comes into many gardens. She comes up along all the streets, wherever there is the tiniest bit of earth. Now, do not turn up your nose and sniff, That weed! Her seed-cases are the "cheeses'' children all over the world play with.

       They are dented just to be cut up like pies. We call them "cheeses" and so do the children in England. The children in France and the children in Spain play with them and call them "cheeses" in their own language. 

       Isn't it fun to think that we are playing party with the same kind of seed-cases that children in other countries are playing with? Mother Nature sends along many interesting things for children.

Back to "Little Blossoms" Doll Summer Camp Index

Baby Blue Eyes: Lesson 1

A little bit of sky
On Mother Earth's kind breast,
With smile of welcome shy,
Rewards our eager quest.

       Is there one of you children who does not hail with delight the first Baby-Blue-Eyes you find in the Spring? Have you ever grown tired of this dainty flower? Even if you live next door to a whole field of Baby-Blue-Eyes, you will still love them. Their bright blue faces seem to be smiling up at us as sweetly as babies smile.

       But if Baby-Blue-Eyes does remind us of a sweet little baby, she is not helpless. She is very well able to carry on her work. She is also very honest. She wishes to pay well any insect who helps her.

       She waves her blue corolla above her leaves to invite Mrs. Bug to dinner. This lady is very glad to accept the invitation. She does not wait to send an answer. She hurries along herself, quite hungry for the feast. When she reaches Baby-Blue-Eyes, she finds several pleasant surprises.

       Mrs. Baby-BluerEyes has not dyed all her corolla bright blue. Down near the center, she has kept it white. Lest the insects may not care for plain white, she has scattered dots of dark blue and black over the light places.

       When Mrs. Bug comes near Baby-Blue-Eyes, her nose begins to tickle.

       "Honey! Honey! Honey!" she hurries along, humming in time to her wing beats. "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"

       Look and see what she will find. You see the corolla is shaped like a bell. There are five petals, fitting nicely together to make a circle. Now look inside the bell. Each petal has set out food generously‚ not one dish, but two. Think of that! Two dishes of honey to each petal. Now, do you not believe that Mrs. Baby-Blue-Eyes has a generous heart?

       There are little honey paths leading to the dishes. If Mrs. Bug should happen to have a cold and cannot smell the honey, she could still find it by using her eyes.

       Mrs. Baby-Blue-Eyes does not want the smallest bugs, who can creep in without touching her stamens, to seat themselves at her table. She is willing to set out a good meal, but she wishes fair payment for it. So, she has hung a screen of fine hairs over her honey bowls. Your parents put screens at your windows to keep out the flies, don't they? Just so, Mrs. Baby-Blue-Eyes hangs up screens in front of her honey to keep out the bugs she does not like. Larger bugs, who will help her, can easily bend the hairs aside and stick their tongues in between.

       Mrs. Baby-Blue-Eyes has shaped her little brown anther like an arrow. She turns it out toward the petal, instead of in toward the center, as many flowers do their anthers. When Mrs. Bug alights on a petal, she starts down a honey path. She knocks against the foot of the stamen. Like a flash, the anther springs open and pours fine grey pollen over her. It is like when you flip the switch on the wall and your electric light flashes on. Just that quickly does an anther open when Mrs. Bug touches the foot of the stamen.

       When Mrs. Bug has eaten all she wants in that Baby-Blue-Eyes, she goes to another. Here, as she goes in, her head is sure to brush against the stigmas. She leaves some pollen on them. They send the pollen down to the ovules and the seeds are started.

       If no Bug comes to Baby-Blue-Eyes, after a while, she turns her anthers around, so that they face the center. Then, they open and the pollen falls on the stigmas in that same flower. Then seeds are made in the seed-case. Baby-Blue-Eyes likes better to have the pollen of one flower go to the ovules of another. It makes better seed. All plants like to have the pollen of one flower get to the ovules in another. That is why they invite the insects to help them.

       Baby-Blue-Eyes feels sure that her plan of work is a good one to get the insect to help. So, she lifts up only five stamens. Remember how many stamens Buttercup and Poppy and Cream-Cup raise aloft. They could lose lots of pollen and still make seeds.

       Sometimes, the wind carries away the pollen from a flower and it falls on the stigmas in another flower. Do you think it is sure to fall on the same kind of flower? Is it as sure as if Mrs. Bug carries it?

       Baby-Blue-Eyes does not depend upon the wind. She sets out to please Mrs. Bug and she succeeds. Mrs. Bug finds her honey so delicious that she is sure to try the same kind of flower for another taste of it. Some days, you just like chocolate soda, don't you? No matter what kinds are offered you, you still choose chocolate. Some days you choose strawberry instead. Well, it is the same with Mrs. Bug. Some days, her fancy is set on Baby-Blue-Eyes honey and no Buttercup soda or any other flavor will satisfy her sweet tooth.

       The Baby-Blue-Eyes seeds are healthy. You can plant them in your gardens and they will grow into good plants. Florists have sent the seeds all over the World. Do you know what a florist is? I thought you did. The seeds grow well in far off countries. They grow healthy and send out many flowers. Their flowers are pretty to the people there, but they would look a little faded to us. The corolla is not so bright a blue as our wild flowers wear. Baby-Blue-Eyes, to be really beautiful, needs to look up at the California sky.

Wander in fields of Baby-Blue-Eyes or 

Nemophila with Mochi Mochi My

Read more about Nemophila

Back to "Little Blossoms" Doll Summer Camp Index

"Little Blossoms" Doll Summer Camp

Sample crafts for the "Little Blossoms" Doll Summer Camp: flower crown,
daisy flower bed, backyard pond, and watering can.

 

Lessons For "Little Blossoms" Doll Camp: Our flower camp for dolls includes lessons below by Chandler a teacher who lived and taught and wrote several science readers for the Primary Grades based upon the flora and fauna of California.

1. Buttercup: Lesson 1  - Ranunculus californicus, commonly known as the California buttercup, is a flowering plant of the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It is a native of California, where it is common in many habitats, including chaparral and woodlands.
2. Buttercup: Lesson 2 - You can also find California buttercups in Oregon and on islands between British Columbia and Washington.
   
3. Parts of the Flower - A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants. Identification chart, parts of a flower.
4. California Poppy - Eschscholzia californica, the California poppy, golden poppy, California sunlight or cup of gold, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae, native to the United States and Mexico.
5. Cream-Cup - Platystemon is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the poppy family containing the single species Platystemon californicus, which is known by the common name creamcups.
6. Baby-Blue-Eyes: Lesson 1  - Nemophila menziesii, known commonly as baby blue eyes or baby's-blue-eyes, is an annual herb, native to western North America
7. Baby-Blue-Eyes: Lesson 2  - ''Baby-Blue-Eyes has several sisters, natives of California...''
8. Wild Hollyhock  - Iliamna is a small genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, endemic to North America. It is related to the bush mallows of California.
9. Filaree  - ''The Filaree gets its green rosette placed early in the year. Then, it can send out its flowers early...''
10. Miner's Lettuce  - Claytonia perfoliata, commonly known as miner's lettuce, Indian lettuce, or winter purslane, is a flowering plant in the family Montiaceae. It is an edible, fleshy, herbaceous, annual plant native to the western mountain and coastal regions of North America. How Native Americans cooked this plant.
11. Wild Portulaca  - ''Some people call Wild Portulaca, Red Maids‚ because she wears such a beautiful red dress, but I think more people know her by the name I use..."
12. White Forget-Me-Not  - This flowering plant is native North America, Alaska, Canada and the United Kingdom.
    
13. Wall Flower - ''If you wish to study a flower that looks like a party and smells like a party, just take a wild Wall Flower...''
14. Shooting Star  - Primula hendersonii is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae.
15. Trillium - 'Trillium was called the Wake-Robin in the East because soon after it blossoms there, the robin begins to sing..."
16. Iris: Lesson 1 - Some people call this flower the Flag, but as Iris, she is known to all the World.
17. Iris: Lesson 2 - "What an odd flower Iris is! She has caught the curves and the colors of the rainbow and has brought them down to earth...''
18. Blue-Eyed Grass  - ''"Blue-Eyed Grass'' we call these plants because their leaves seem so grass-like...''
19. Fritillaria - The flowers are usually solitary, nodding and bell-shaped with bulbs that have fleshy scales, resembling those of lilies. They are known for their large genome size and genetically are very closely related to lilies. 
20. Soap Root - Botany facts and how this unique plant was once used by minors, pioneers and Native Americans...
    
21. Azalea - Wonderful odor but toxic to eat...
    
22. Johnny-Jump-Up: Lesson 1 - ''Every boy I have ever known, whether his age was seven years or seventy, seems to have a tender spot in his heart for this golden beauty...''
23. Johnny-Jump-Up: Lesson 2 - ''Not many insects visit Johnny-Jump-Up. Perhaps they find her honey too hard to reach...''
24. Farewell to Spring - pollinated by butterflies
    
25. Wild Cucumber  - Root system the size of a man!
    

Flower/Garden Themed Doll Crafts:

• Craft a Doll's Flower Crown (and the child too...) - fit it to any doll or child!
  
• Craft a Daisy Flower Bed for Dolls - Fill it with your doll's favorite flowers, if not daisies.
• 30 Tiny Floral Embroidery Ideas for Doll Clothes -Use these designs to decorate an apron, dress etc. for a child and her doll's clothing.
  
• DIY American Girl Doll Potting Bench - An important piece of furniture for your doll to store her garden tools in and also to learn how to prepare her plants on before transplanting them.
• Daisy Gives a Paper Doll Garden Party - Cut and display lovely paper dolls in a garden setting as long as the wind doesn't carry these away.
• How to craft felt roses for your doll doll camp activities - Every doll wants a garden filled with flowers so that she may display them inside her dollhouse.
• Craft a Watering Can for Your Doll's Garden - Even pretend flowers and plants need fake water to keep them happy and growing day by day...
• Assemble a garden pond for your dolls... - This craft can look new everyday if the children wish to plan it that way.
  
• Antique Floral Postcards for The Dolly Mail  - Dolls can send their friends and family news about the progress made in their lovely gardens through the dolly mail.
  
• How to craft felt carnations for your doll camp activities - Take the Spring flowers into the dollhouse to give it that special gardener's touch.
  

The Flower Children Garden Crafts and Flower Dolls - Miniature pages for young ones to download and print out a book for their dolls to read aloud, in simple verse. Plus new crafts, poems and stories about flowers are also included among these posts as I find them in the archive.

More Flower Poetry:

• Little Spring Verses - Short and sweet little rhymes for young students to recall and recite.
• Welcome, Little Seed! - ''Welcome, little seed,’’ said the sunshine ray, “You must burst, burst, burst, from your coat today.”
• Buttercup Land by Rose Henderson - ''Come, little girl in the new blue frock...'' and illustrated as well
• Rose, When You're Bored With Blooming  - ''I'm glad that there are roses, Roses, Are you glad there's me?'' and illustrated

Flower Songs for Young Children:

• "I love tulips song" CBCKids
• evokids sing "Daisy, Daisy Daisy Bell" - about a girl named after a flower
• Here is The Beehive Song from Super Simple Songs

More Youtube for The Young Gardener:

• Let's plant a garden by SciShow Kids - Young students can learn the basics for growing their very own veggies to eat.
• ''The Tin Forest'' brought to you by Reading Rainbow - Gardens or even forests can grow with dedication and hope in places you least expect...
• ''A Flower for Ambrose'' read aloud by A Book Outside - One of my favorite books to read from my childhood.
• ''Flower Garden'' read aloud by Karen Dzwoner - How does a little girl make a garden grow in the middle of her city?
• What's Inside A Flower? read aloud with author Rachel Ignotofsky - from Brightly Storytime
• Growing a Greener World - Crafting a meadow for children to observe wildlife daily!
• Transform Your Lawn Into a Wildflower Meadow -  Your backyard can become a classroom.

Bluebell

Bluebell softly, gently sways

Through the long hot summer days;

Lives where nothing else can grow,-

That's why we all lover her so.

       Assemble a mini doll sized book: Right, is the Blue Bell's illustration and verse. Visitors can collect all the flower illustrations and verse from "Flower Children" to print and construct a small book of verse for their dolls. Simply drag each png. into a Word Document, print, cut out all of the images the same size and staple the pages together at the left edge. Squeeze out some white school glue along the stapled edge of the pages and attach a cardboard cover.

The scientific name for Blue Bell is Mertensia virginica. Read more about these woodland blooms here.

• Back to the Flower Children Index. 
• Capturing the beauty of bluebells with Katy McIntyre-Brown
• Common Bluebells by GardenClips
• Project Diaries takes a walk through the bluebells...

Antique postcards of wildflower dolls. I especially like the bluebell gentleman!

Sweet William

 Young Sweet William, sad to tell,
Rang the Canterbury's Bell,
"Just for that," his father said,
"William, come out in the shed!"

       Assemble a mini doll sized book: Right, is the Sweet William's illustration and verse. Visitors can collect all the flower illustrations and verse from "Flower Children" to print and construct a small book of verse for their dolls. Simply drag each png. into a Word Document, print, cut out all of the images the same size and staple the pages together at the left edge. Squeeze out some white school glue along the stapled edge of the pages and attach a cardboard cover.

The scientific name for Sweet William is Dianthus barbatus. Visit the botanical garden to read more about these flowers here.

Back to the Flower Children Index.  

More Links to Fairy Flower Children:

• Color Sweet William Fairy
• Raggedy Ann and The Fairies' Gift
  
• Color the Night Moth Fairy

This Sweet William paper doll was designed by Elise Reid Boylston.

Learn About Nancy Drew...

Millie Benson.

       Nancy Drew is a fictional character appearing in many American mystery book series, movies, video games, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwritten by six different authors and published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Created by the publisher Edward Stratemeyer as the female counterpart to his Hardy Boys series, the character first appeared in 1930 in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series, which lasted until 2003 and consisted of 175 novels.

       Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson (July 10, 1905 ‚ May 28, 2002) was an American journalist and writer of children's books. She wrote the most popular earliest Nancy Drew mysteries and created the detective's adventurous personality from 1929 to 1947. She contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew mysteries, which were bestsellers. (listed below)
       Although Nancy Drew was conceived by Stratemeyer, who provided Benson with index card thumbnail sketches, Benson crafted Nancy into a spunky, plucky personality, with a daring, adventurous spirit. Beginning in 1959, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams revised and updated the Nancy Drew books written by Benson.    

       Benson never anticipated that the books would be so popular but she knew, as she was writing them, that she was writing something that girls were going to like because the heroine was unusual for her time. She said, "I always knew the series would be successful. I just never expected it to be the blockbuster that it has been. I'm glad that I had that much influence on people."

• Missing Millie Benson
• Storied Life of Millie Benson
• Mildred Wirt Benson Documentary
• Celebrating 75 Years of Nancy Drew

Three Nancy Drew book covers.

Nancy Drew Books by "Carolyn Keene" Aka, Millie Benson:

1. The Secret of the Old Clock
2. The Hidden Staircase
3. The Bungalow Mystery
4. The Mystery at Lilac Inn
5. The Secret of Shadow Ranch
6. The Secret of Red Gate Farm
7. The Clue in the Diary
8. The Clue of the Broken Locket
9. The Message in the Hollow Oak
10. The Mystery of the Ivory Charm
11. The Whispering Statue
12. The Haunted Bridge
13. The Clue of the Tapping Heels
14. Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk
15. Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion
16. The Quest of the Missing Map
17. The Clue in the Jewel Box
18. The Secret in the Old Attic
19. The Clue in the Crumbling Wall 
20. Mystery of the Tolling Bell
21. The Clue in the Old Album
22. The Ghost of Blackwood Hall
23. The Clue of the Velvet Mask

Read more about the many other authors behind the Nancy Drew novels...

The Bad Temper of The Princess, Part 1

The Bad Temper of The Princess by Marion Burton

       Once upon a time, in a dainty little kingdom all parks and rivers and cottages and flowers, there lived a jolly, red-faced king named Rudolpho. Every one of his subjects loved him, the surrounding kings were his loyal friends, and the neighboring kingdoms were on the best of terms with him. Indeed, they had a happy way, these old kings, of exchanging thrones for a week now and then, just as some preachers nowadays exchange pulpits - to prove, I suppose, how very good their own is, after all. This king about whom I am telling you was stout, of course, and looked very like our good friend Santa Claus.
       Yet, strange as it may seem, with all these blessings - a rich kingdom, faithful subjects, and a loving wife - this good king was not happy. There was one cloud, a very pretty silver-edged cloud, but yet a cloud, which hung just in front of the sun of his happiness and cast a great big shadow.
       The king had a daughter, the Princess Madge, his only child; and though she was obedient in everything else, she just wouldn't, wouldn't, marry. Now the king was very anxious for her to marry and settle down on the throne, because he was growing old. Every morning for three weeks, just before breakfast, he had had three separate twinges of pain. The queen said it was because of his rheumatism, but he knew better; he was sure that it was old age, and it made him very eager to have the kingdom in the hands of the new son-in-law king before he died.
       Of course there were plenty of princes and dukes and barons and lords who would gladly have wedded the pretty princess for her own sweet sake alone, to say nothing of the prospect of being king some day, but she wouldn't have one of them. There was not a man in the kingdom nor in any of the surrounding kingdoms who suited her capricious fancy. Princes of haughty mien, princes of gentle manner, handsome princes, ugly princes, tall princes, short princes, stout princes, lean princes, had been introduced at the court, had been encouraged by the king and queen, and had sought to gain her favor. She had been showered with gifts of rare flowers and precious stones, and had received thousands of little letters smelling of perfume; but from prince, from jewels, and from written vows of love she turned away with the same cheerful determination.
       A princess is a lonely little body, you know, and custom was so rigid in the time of the Princess Madge that she had no one to talk to excepting Pussy Willow, the royal kitten. She had no brother, no sister, no cousin, and no dearest friend. She didn't even have a chance to speak freely to her own father and mother. It is true, she took breakfast with them every morning at eleven in the great breakfast-room,
but the butlers and waiters and pages and flunkies were always standing about, with their ears pricked up and their eyes bulging out, so that no one dared whisper a secret or have even the jolliest little family quarrel. It is true her royal - mama came at precisely ten o'clock to kiss her good night every evening, but there were always a dozen maids and ladies in waiting, and it -was impossible to have a real good talk. But Pussy Willow was her constant companion, and to Pussy she told everything. That friendly cat was the only living thing in the whole kingdom that really knew that the princess intended to marry sometime. That was what worried the king and queen so much; Madge made them believe that she would never marry any one, never, never, NEVER, but would live alone to the end of her days and leave the kingdom to any one who wished for it.
       "Pussy, I wouldn't tell a story to the king and queen for the world, but isn't it fun to see them take on so? If I really thought that papa was ill and likely to die, I would be as good as gold; but those little pains of his are only rheumatism, I am sure, so I don't mind teasing him just a little. You know. Pussy, that when my ideal comes - oh, you need n*t look up and blink in such surprise, for I really have an ideal, and I will tell you all about him I" Whereupon Pussy shook her head till her gold-bell necklace tinkled loudly, then she yawned a little and began to wash her face. She looked very wise as she sat there stroking her whiskers and thumping thoughtfully on the floor with her bunchy tail. After thinking thus seriously for a few minutes, she suddenly began a sympathetic little purr-song which seemed to say:
       "Go on, little mistress ; I am all ready to listen, and I'll not tell a soul." Then Princess Madge continued :
       "I don't care whether he is prince or pauper, high or low, handsome or plain; but he must in any case be contented. You know what contented means, Pussy - satisfied with what he has until he deserves and can get something better. If he is like that he will always be unselfish and happy. Oh, yes, and I shall be happy, too. Now I am going to write a letter to papa and tell him that I will marry if he will find me a contented man.''
       Quick as thought, the princess opened her rose-wood and gold desk, drew out some paper with her crest on it and a jeweled pen, and wrote daintily and carefully. It took her a very long time. Pussy Willow thought
       "Now, kitty, listen; I will read it to you:

 

"To his Majesty the King, from her Royal Highness, the Princess Madge.

       "Dear Old Papa: I have at last decided to be married if you can find a man to suit me. Now read, my dear papa, and remember that this decision is final. I will marry the first contented man you can find, no matter who he is. Read this little poem ; it is my guiding star at this very serious time: 

"There is a jewel which no Indian mine can buy.
No chemic art can counterfeit.
It makes men rich in greatest poverty,
Makes water wine, turns wooden cups to gold.
Seldom it comes, to few from heaven sent,
That much in little, all in naught - content.''

"What I have written, I have written.
" Your own

Madge.

       "That sounds very well, doesn't it, Pussy? I am going to fold it so, and so, then cut off a strand of my hair - see, Pussy, it is nearly a yard long, and it will go around and around this letter and tie in a great golden knot. When the king sees that he will know it is very important. Now I will go to the door and tell the page to run with this to papa, and then - oh, I wonder what he will say I"
       She ran to the door, spoke a few words to the page who stood just outside, then returned to the great cushioned chair by the window. Pussy climbed into her lap. They both winked a few times and blinked a few times and then fell fast asleep.

"Her mother came at precisely ten o'clock to kiss her goodnight."

part 1, part 2, part 3