Granddaughter Activities

 

Breaking up the frozen zucchini to make cake

My granddaughter and daughter from London are here for a visit. I asked what was on my granddaughter's to do list. Cooking came up first. We baked a rhubarb coffee cake which she said she liked; but, didn't eat much of her serving. 

Adding the toppings to zucchini cake 

We baked zucchini cake which she said was okay; but, ate every last morsel. Chocolate is a favorite food. I think she liked eating the chocolate chips that I placed on the counter best. I said those were for her and her tummy!

We also made a green salad. She loves peeling. . .the large carrot that she started with was pared to a small size by the time she deemed it was ready for shredding. She did a great job tearing the lettuce into bite sized pieces. Of course, she needed to "test" the tomatoes and cucumbers to be sure each was "good!"

Watching squirrel antics

She marveled at the antics of a squirrel eating a nut in the yard one morning. She helped bring home the recycling containers from pick up day with her papa. She watched the horses buck and play in the field  next to us.

The best seat in the house

One of her favorite positions was sitting/laying on the arm of the couch. This way she could see what was happening outside as well as keep an eye on the activities inside. She is so much like her mama in this trait!

Cutting batting scraps for stuffing the memory bear

We did do some sewing. Well, she did some batting cutting for me. I'm to the point of stuffing the memory bear. She LOVES cutting. It took several tries to find a pair of scissors that fit her hand well enough for her to cut. She probably cut for 20 minutes and recycled a small pile of batting bits for me. She even stuffed the bits into the memory bear. Stuffing, she told me, was boring. She actually said her hand was sore from cutting and needed to stop!

Her favorite activity is painting. We use watercolors. She has definite ideas about ensuring that there is a frame first on her paper. This time she wanted to make shapes similar to mine. She practiced. She also wanted to know how I achieved some of the colors. I showed her about mixing colors. . .I didn't share that the colors came from her wild dipping into the paint palette. I was working to clean the palette!

Our painting progress

She doesn't not like working on wet paper; but, she does like using a paper towel to dab excess paint and to create textures. She likes to paint on different surfaces and then is disappointed when the paint soaked through the paper!

This time, she was better at cleaning her brush in the dirty water and then dipping her brush into the clean water. She still paints on the table instead of the newspaper because she wants to see what color happens when the surface is brown instead of white. Again, she is so much like her mama!

Watercolor on regular paper

She returns from a long sleepover with her auntie, favorite uncle and cousins tonight. I'm sure she has been living her best life! She and her mama leave for London at the end of the week. It's been great having them here!

Sitting for sewing is still painful for my knee; but, I do keep trying the activity. I find I can manage about 15 minutes once a day. Fifteen minutes is a short time; but, it's better than no time! I had hoped to be sewing five weeks after from surgery; but, I'm not. 

I did get a pain prescription from the surgeon and that has helped me move a bit more fluidly. I am currently working on training my brain to believe that this new appliance is working great in my knee. Convincing my brain that I don't need protection from the muscles continues to be an ongoing project!

Linking to: Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell and To Do Tuesday.