Blog entry
April 4 2025
Volunteer indigo seedlings between the bricks,
I'll try transplanting some of these
The madder patch is waking up.
March 27. 2025
The bloodroot surprised me yesterday afternon.
How amazing the way the flower buds push right through the earth!
Each wrapped in a leaf.
The snowdrops are almost done.
These seem like early spring colors.
A visiting lady.
February 12 2025
Yesterday evening's moon, rising softly in the east.
A little later there was a ring around it with snow clouds moving in.
This morning the clematis is furred with flakes.
The geese are visiting the schoolyard.
Overdyeing some marigold yellow threads with indigo.
January 31, 2025
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Shaking out the vegetable matter.
Fantastic shagginess!
Indigo dyed Merino fleece
Carded into batts
September 2024
The Japanese indigo is flowering.
I've been experimenting with the Japanese indigo in a few ways. I love the beautiful teals of an ice water blender bath, but a few days ago, decided to extract some pigment for later use, before the indigo content of the leaves decreases too much.
The temperature has been around 90. This is after 1 day.
After 2 days, here is the beautiful metallic sheen!
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After beating and adding some lime.
Now to wait for the indigo the settle down to the bottom...
August 15 2024
The finches love the sunflowers. If you look closely, you'll see him. Every spring I say there's not enough room for sunflowers, but a few plant themselves anyway. They're great! I really have to plant some on purpose next year.
I've been working on dyeing more silk threads, though it's really too hot for much outdoor activity.
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These madder roots were dug up last fall.
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May, 2024
One rainy morning we discovered this little guy in the kitchen. He was hiding in a corner, surrounded by the cats! Luckily, they seemed pretty puzzled by him. We shooed the cats out of the room, and It was pretty easy to coax him into a cat carrier with nuts and peanut butter on bread.
I put the carrier outside under the cherry tree, but he finished the rest of his trearts before scampering up.
Spring arrived soon this year. Peonies, delphiniums and roses are blooming about 3 weeks early.
November 7 2023
Madder roots
I dug up some of the madder roots that have been creeping toward the neighbor's yard. This part of the patch has been growing for over 10 years.
These were very easy to chop with the garden clippers. I'll let them dry for a while, but it's hard to wait!
August
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The garden is so full of color!
Late delphiniums tiger lilys and coreopsis
Dahlias
December 11 2022
Madder root dye on wool yarn
Wool yarn dyed with madder.
The variety of shades makes me wish I had much more yarn and madder!
Elsewhere