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There is an old elm tree growing between our house and the neighbor's house.

This tree is beautiful. It's branches are like an umbrella, giving deep shade on summer days and even some cover from the rain. Ive seen so many birds in the branches - woodpeckers, thrushes, nuthatches, robins, cardinals, blackbirds, finches,warblers,and of course, the sparrows. The squirrels race up  and down and use it as a  pathway to their home in the hole they've made under the gutter. One day I saw a racoon sleeping on the edge of the roof.

Moms'  Birthday

Goldenrod  (Solidago)

My Mother was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 29 1930

I miss her every day.
 

In some ways, August feels hectic and difficult. School is about to start. When my children were younger, it included the stress and expense of shopping for school supplies, bookbags, uniforms, and shoes. With 10 children, this was a big deal!

Annoying, insects, (fleas, pantry moths, yellow jackets, fruit flies and mosquitoes), seem to increase, multiply and  thrive in August. Maybe they know their time is growing short.

Basket of Japanese indigo leaves

One of the nicest things about growing indigo is dyeing with the fresh leaves. It's a quick summertime treat. The colors are different from vatted indigo. The shades are greener, like robin eggs, turquoise, or mossy water.

Strained dye

Dyebath, rinse water, and leftover leaves

Little particles of indigo leaves in the rinse water

Silk embroidery threads

Organza silk before the final rinse

After washing and rinsing

Undyed wool loops

Years ago, a dear friend shared a huge 5 pound bag of pure wool pot holder loops with me.. Little did I know at the time just how valuable and hard to find these would become. I dyed the loops with natural colors, and made potholders for gifts and for sale.

Hemp is  oine of my favorite fibers to spin and dye. Of course it doesn;t drink up color like silk or wool, but I love the gentle shades of natural dyes on the yarn.

Indigo on 2 ply hemp yarn

I don't work in a very scientific or mathematical manner, so every skein is different. Some are more firmly spun.

Some skeins are soft and loose.

The results of the pansy dye experiment have been interseting and a little suprising. The purple and blue pansies gave beautiful shades of green to the silk organza.

Silk organza soaking in purple pansy brew

The silk looks a little bluer in the jar. Maybe it's the reflection of the blue and purple flowers in the water.

The silk fabric dyed with yellow and orange pansies is a greenish yellow.

Yellow and orange pansy dye

Green and yellow silks from pansy dye

I like these shades, but I'll keep experimenting.

Since May, I've been picking pansy flowers and saving them in the freezer. At first I kept individual colors in their own bags - purples and blues together, yellows and oranges in their own bags, etc..Lately, I've just been stuffing them all together so now I have to separate them.

A few fresh blue pansies  for the brew

There are mostly purples  and blues in this jar, but since I wasn't very careful. there are a few bits and pieces of pinks and yellow flowers

Yellows and oranges

II've been dyeing silk threads in colors inspired by the velvety shades of  petunias

Combinations of lac, logwood, madder and indigo

 The milkweed flowers have begun to bloom. The air is filled  with their heavy sweetmess. The tender, muted pinks seemed like the perfect color for some handspun wool yarn I've been saving.

Milkweed  (Asclepias syriaca)

Handspun wool yarn soaked overnight in alum.