Blog entry

Portulaca

It's very hot with temperatures in the 90's and high humidity.. Outdoors really smells like summer.. The scent is both sharp and sweet. It reminds me of summers past.

The heat makes it hard for me to work on anything besides spinning hemp fiber into yarn. and dyeing it with indigo.

I've also kept up dyeing the silk thread.

Silk threads dyed with indigo, coreopsis flowers,walnut hulls and madder

bBloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

 Suddenly it's warm! The garden is joyful and beautiful. The back-yard colors inspire natural dyeing.

These silks were dyed with walnut hulls, coreopsis flowers, weld and indigo

Crocus

Violet shades from madder, lac and indigo

King Alfred Daffodils

Greens, yellow and blues from weld, coreopsis flowers and indigo

The very brave Scilla

Indigo

Warm morning sky

I'm very grateful for this rare, lovely and warm Spring day.

A little snow and ice fell overnight.

Yesterday I made a path through the mud with old Christmas tree branches. The birds are making their own path of footprints.

Walnut brew left outdoors

Indigo dye project left out overnight

Sweet, furry Daisy seems to like the cool on her tummy.

Most of the peach tree leaves have fallen straight down without changing color.

Hiding in the leaves

 The temperature fell to 17 overnight. The rhododendon is a good weather gauge - it really shrivels in the cold.

The first snow has fallen. As usual, I'm in the middle of an indigo dyeing project. The cold complicates this a little - mostly it's just less pleasant to work outdoors.

There are still dozens of daffodil bulbs to plant. Winter is beautiful, but I'm just not ready yet.