Yesterday my granddaughter collected a lot of violets and today we are ignoring snowflakes in the air — we made it into violet jelly.
Yes, it will be nice on a little thin bit of toast, but I am looking forward to a violet jelly cocktail!
I definitely could have sourced jars with non-clashing lids, but there you have it… I used this recipe.
Now I want to make dandelion jelly!
bits & pieces
- Don't forget to register for the Center for the Restoration of Christian Culture's conference on Who Owns Your Children?: Home Education in an Authoritarian Age. May 13! Great speakers on many topics touching the relationship between family and state.
from the archives
- I realized I hadn't updated my Talks and Podcasts page with the Freed from Feminism interview — so be sure to there and give it a listen!
- Don't forget that I have lots of homeschooling help for you, including how to teach your child to read. This post has the links for the others in the series. Put down the Zoom and let your child learn to read without so much stress.
liturgical year
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Mrs. Bee says
“Devil’s bridges” are a feature of Italian folklore as well, there are lots of them. Here are some examples: https://www.elle.com/it/lifestyle/viaggi/news/g1418247/ponti-del-diavolo-in-italia/
Yes to painting ceilings! I dream of “porch blue” ceilings all over my house…
appleava says
Perhaps you already know this, but I recently learnt that ceilings on southern ranches are often painted blue so that hornets, etc…mistake them for sky and then don’t nest from there.
Mrs. Bee says
I didn’t know, and I love it: another great example of a useful function executed through beauty!
Leila says
I have heard that they are painted blue to ward off the Devil (much the same thing!) (JK) (not really)
Julia says
The piece about children’s literature is prompting me to share a wonderful resource I recently discovered. For those of you with large swaths of time at home with your children I highly recommend this amazing, FREE set of audiobooks (narrated along with the pages turning so you can see the beautiful illustrations): https://goodandbeautifulstorytime.com/video-category/ages-2-5/ There is also a set of books for ages 5-8, but really all of my children have enjoyed both book lists regardless of age recommendation.
Christina A says
Yes, a wise proviso!
Leila says
Great resource! Just a note to readers in general: as I remind you, we don’t always recommend everything linked on any site unless we say so. This one is Mormon, just to let you know.
Mrs. Bee says
I have stopped taking the children to the library: I’m not saying it’s totally impossible to find a good book for them there, but now the routine is that I check the catalog online and go pick specific books up without them. Spending time at the library is not pleasant anymore, as the chance we’ll run into junk is not a chance anymore, but a sure thing. It became all a “Please don’t look at that book”, “This is ugly, we don’t look at what is ugly”, etc – what’s the point? It is also disturbing to me to see how many children’s books have become like self-help books, and they contain no story at all: it’s all about coping with the failures of their parents or teachers.
One also has to conclude that a lot of children’s book illustrators never really learned to draw in the first place, but that’s not a drawback at all: after all a disgusting book doesn’t need to be accompanied by serious artistic effort.
Victoria says
I feel your pain. Everything has been closed for two months anyway, but I stopped taking mine for the same reason–I got so tired of saying “no, not that one” and then trying to explain why to a four-year-old who thinks you are exaggerating or wrong. And then there are the different permutation of “pride” literature and promotion of “romances” directly the line of sight of small children. It’s a place I have to be hyper-vigilant and I don’t have much emotional bandwidth for it these days.
Kate says
The Devil’s Bridge tale reminds me of the legend of Tartini’s “Devil’s Trill.”
I hate going into the children’s section of most libraries. It’s so different now than when my older kids (who are 30ish) were young. I find that small, rural libraries still have some gems because they can’t afford the newest books. My youngest two are teenagers and we rarely browse in the library any more. Our library is part of an extensive inter-library loan system, so we look for something online and then ordered it through they library. We mostly use the library for picking up and dropping off books. Sometimes I’ll go in and look at the permanent used book sale. That’s where I find the good stuff.
NV says
Can I just place in the fridge? I don’t have a boiling-water canner. 🙁
Leila says
Yes, they can go in the fridge. I am not going to boil them.
Dyan says
The violet jelly looks wonderful! My daughter made redbud jelly for the first time this year. Yes, she painstakingly pulled redbud flowers off the trees…and made jelly! It’s delicious!
Rebecca says
The article on children’s books is good food for thought. The author mentions Sandra Boyton books several times as being among the “bad” books, and I confess that while I try to provide lots of outside time and quality literature for my 15-month-old (nursery rhymes and Each Peach Pear Plum, from your library posts, thank you!), my husband actually bought several more Boyton books after receiving a couple as gifts specifically because he loves to read them with our daughter. They are certainly not of quality as far as the illustrations go, but the sing-songy rhymes and silliness help him to enjoy reading to her. Does it do our daughter a disservice to continue enjoying these books with her father because they aren’t quality literature, as the author of the article suggests? Now I am feeling a little conflicted!
Anamaria says
I also enjoyed the book post but took umbridge to two parts, one being the repeated inclusion of boynton. Is barnyard dance on the same level as Fierce Bad Rabbit or Each Peach Pear Plum? No. But it is not pandering to adults or distorted drawings of children or any number of things so many children’s books are. It’s just rollicking good fun (and has induced a fair number of square dances in our house). To me, boyton can’t be the main diet but is a great dessert! (While others are simply poison.)
(The other issue was the idea that enough good books at the right ages could replace real experiences! No. Send them in the yard, take them to a swimming hole, green space, deserted state park!)
Josie says
I intensely dislike Zooms and I put a stop to them quickly in our “pandemic online education”-I love the advice to put down the Zooms! Also, I am FINALLY reading Hannah Fowler…as as I get to the end, I am reading more slowly because I don’t want it to end! For years I meant to read it. The quarantine slowed me down enough to order it! I just love hit.;)-
Keelia says
Violet Jelly, how delightful. It gave me a nice glad feeling to see the photos. 🙂
Cami says
I feel silly asking this but here goes. We recently found out we have a lot of wild violets in our grassy areas of our property. My 5 year old daughter was picking them and bringing them to me all wilted (but I love the color!) so we looked them up. They seem to be called dog violets. So tiny, I had no idea. And now I see I can make jelly! My question is about washing the blossoms. They seem rather delicate. However, our front yard is on Main Street and therefore is exposed to dogs, cars, and anything the town applies. Our back yard is not fenced from neighbors and is very busy with wildlife of all sorts. We’ve only lived here 2 years so I don’t feel super acquainted with our plant-life. I feel like I’d need to really wash something pulled from the ground. What do you recommend?
Leila says
Cami, yes, I rinsed ours. I think a good rinsing is all that is necessary; you are going to boil this all up. Of course don’t use them if the lawn has been treated with lawn chemicals.
Ruth says
Violets have some medicinal properties. Should you end up with another bumper crop, you could try this for coughs and sore throats:
https://learningherbs.com/remedies-recipes/violet-syrup/