Granny's Homemade Ways: Valentine Decorations, Snow Ice Cream and Stories for Boys and Girls-February 4, 2010

The sun is out today which makes the even the cold weather easier to live with but here at Tickle Belly Farm, we had some chores that had to get done. Today Papa and I had to clean all the stalls right down to the floor mats. This is done daily while the horses are outside. Normally we have two young men, James and Anthony, who clean the stalls daily but both of them had special plans for today: they are about to take their exams to get into college. So Papa and I plus a few of our friends, spent the day cleaning all the stalls. Whew, what a job cleaning 20 stalls can be!

While I was shoveling and cleaning, I noticed that the cats were all acting a litle strange. They were gathering in one of the stalls where a horse named Ace lives. Upon closer inspection, I found what had caught the cats' attention: a mouse hole in the corner of the stall. The mice were smart enough to leave the stall and hide but their scent was enough to cause the cats to sit at attention and stare at the hole in the wall.

When it came time to clean Ace's stall, I tried to shoo the cats out but they wouldn't budge. It took a few aggressive barks from Daisy, our cattle dog to get them to move out. Moving them out of the stall wasn't enough for Daisy, she then "herded" them into the main barn aisle and kept them there until we finished cleaning all the stalls. The cats did not appreciate having their hunting expedition interupted by a dog. Mice and dog 1; cats nothing.

If you are a regular visitor to Tickle Belly Farm, you know that we are having a special Valentine's Party here on February 14. We have made our invitations and hand delivered them to our friends and family; we have made some extra valentines and even a valentine tree and now we need to think about some party decorations.

I wanted to show our guests how important they are to all of us here at Tickle Belly Farm and so I am making a centerpiece that will include pictures that I've taken of our guests at different events on the farm.

To make a picture centerpiece, we will need:

• family and friend pictures (I made copies on my printer/scanner)
• scissors
• construction paper
• pencil
• pipe cleaners, cut into various lengths
• white glue
• markers or glitter glue (optional)
• a container for the "flower" arrangement
• florist foam or styrofoam block 

1. Cut an assortment of faces from the photos. The faces will form the centers of the flowers, so they should be roughly circular, about an 1 inch in diameter.
2. Fold a piece of construction paper in half, then trace several flower shapes on one of the folded sides. Cut out the flowers (you should have two matching shapes for each flower.)
3. Create some assorted "leaves" for the flowers. Since this is Valentine, you might want to cut out some hearts instead of flowers to hold the pictures.
4. For each flower, lay one flower shape on a flat surface, then lay a pipe cleaner over it so an inch of the pipe cleaner is on the flower. Spread white glue around the paper edges, then press the matching flower shape on top. Use the same method to attach the leaves onto the pipe cleaners.
5. Glue the photo to the center of the flower (or heart). If desired, decorate with markers or glitter glue.
6. If you are using styrofoam or florist foam, fit it neatly into the container. You can also use a vase to hold your photo flowers.

 A long time ago, my grandmother (the original Granny Good Earth) made this treat for her family during the Depression, when real ice cream was a luxury. When snow arrived, the children were thrilled to make "snow ice cream".

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups of half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 quarts of CLEAN fresh snow
• chocolate syryp

Pour the half-and-half, vanilla and sugar in the bowl. Whisk together and add a pinch of salt. Quickly stir in snow until mixture reaches ice cream consistency. Spoon into bowls and add chocolate syrup. Enjoy!

Here is another story from "The Mammoth Book" which was published by Whitman Publishers, Racine, Wisconsin in 1924 but does not list authors.

Squeaky and Scamper were two little field mice. It was too cold for them to stay out in the field all winter, so they made their winter home under a loose board in the corner of a big red barn.

Scamper enjoyed his winter home. They found plenty of grain and corn to eat. Squeaky was not satisfied. He was a restless little mouse.

"Let's run over to the farmhouse, Scamper," he pleaded.

"Oh, no. That is too dangerous," said Scamper.

"But think of all the tidbits we could find to eat," said Squeaky.

"We have plenty to eat here. Besides, how would you get through the snow?"

"I would run on top of it," said Squeaky.

"You are a silly little mouse," said Scamper, turning around.

When he looked around again, Squeaky was nowhere to be seen. After a while, Scamper became worried. He went to the barn door. Peering out, he saw a long tail sticking out of a hole in the snow.

Scamper grabbed hold of it and pulled. Out came Squeaky. He looked so funny with his face full of snow that Scamper giggled.

"Ka-choo!" was all Squeaky could say.