sunday

It is Sunday this time. I checked.

Right after morning chores, Piper and I headed to the pond.

Our trip had three purposes.
The first was, of course, Piper Entertainment.

By the way, it is really difficult to get pictures of Piper lately.

She deliberately avoids the camera.

As soon as she sees it, she swiftly ducks her head

and looks at me reproachfully from the corner of her eye.

Like this:

It's truly bizarre.

All I can think of is she has started her own blog

and resents my use of her images on this one.

~~~

Secondly, our trip was part of the new

Cloud Harvest Cashmere Capture and Release Program.

Specifically, I am live-trapping chipmunks and mice in the goat barn,

and releasing them in a lovely location with natural shelter,

abundant food sources, running water,

and a lack of human habitation for miles in all directions.

I wouldn't do this when wild food sources are not available,

so it is important to do it now, well before Winter.

Plenty of time for the critters to make cozy nests

and gather up supplies to replace the oats

they've been stealing from the goats all day, every day.

Piper hasn't made the connection yet,

but every time the little traps close,

she gets to go to the pond!

Yesterday we went three times.

I will not be surprised if we do the same today.

Current tally: Mice 3, Chipmunks 4

~~~

The third reason for our trip this morning was to collect goldenrod.

Dyepot time!

I only took about 20 stems, because the flowers were being

enjoyed by thousands of tiny mystery insects.

Any entymologists here?

The bugs were thin, less than 1/2 inch long,

with orange heads and dark grey bodies. Very stylish.

They did not wish to leave the flowers.

I had to touch each one gently so it would fly to another flowerhead.

Back at home, google failed(!) to identify the bugs.

I am just hoping they do not destroy vegetables,

because despite my careful efforts

I'm sure I brought a few hundred home.

Since I took so few goldenrods,

I added a bit of Queen Anne's Lace

and a little yarrow.

(It's an experiment. It's ALL an experiment.)

Then I took every whole, clean leaf from each goldenrod stalk.

For some stalks, this meant nearly every leaf.

For others, it meant almost none.

When I was finished, Piper checked my work:

The clean leaves went into a quart jar

and boiling water was added.

I recently read that goldenrod leaves make a nice tea,

so I'll try it and report back.

The dyepot simmered gently all afternoon,
and is now cooling.

It smells nice.

At least, I think so.

But I've heard people complain about a black walnut dyebath,

and I think that smells nice, too.

If this was a scratch-and-sniff picture,
you could all weigh in!

When I first tried botanical dyeing, I intended to keep detailed records:

weights of plants and fiber, temperatures and times, and so on.

And keep samples of all results: fiber, fabric, other.

(Because I have that sciencey mind, you know.)

However, that approach soon seemed pointless. And joyless.

Because the variables are many, and some are uncontrollable.

Replication is, in a word, unlikely.

Now I approach each dyeing experiment

as a potentially lovely surprise.

And some have especially sweet associations:

plant materials collected for me by a forester I used to work with,

or the dye made with leaves and twigs of a tree that meant a lot to me,

and which is now sadly gone.

(Piper killed it - on purpose - but we don't talk about that.)

I don't plan to use today's dye immediately,

but when I do I will post about it.

Have you ever dyed with plants?

I'm sure some of you are far more experienced than I am.

I'd love it if you would share your thoughts - 

or even a link to your favorite dyeing blogpost? - 

in the comments!

~~~~~

between the storms

We've had some massive thunderstorms lately,

with another due any minute.

There's thunder rolling right now,

and the goats are all tucked in.

Again.

But Saturday...

Saturday was perfect.

It was a Perfect Summer Day.

Clear, not humid.

Sunny, not hot.

And breezy.

Better than breezy...

there was a good, steady wind.

Very unusual.

Blowing from the North (of all places!)

As soon as I had finished the morning chores,

I changed my clothes,

Because the baby goats loooove me

and Piper and I headed for the pond.

~~~

A tangle of yarrow was blooming by the gate.

Don't you love yarrow? Such delicate leaves.

The tall stalks had been flattened by torrential rain the previous night,

but were slowly lifting up their heads again:

Achillea millefolium

In a little sunny patch along the woods road,

I smelled Comptonia and stopped to take a snap for you:

Comptonia peregrina

Something flew past my face, 

and  landed on that little maple sprout above the Comptonia.

Can you see it?

How about now?

~~~

On such a glorious day - especially on a Saturday - 

and the first truly nice day in weeks,

I expected to find lots of other people,

and possibly dogs, and horses,

enjoying the woods.

But to my astonishment, Piper and I were very lucky.

There was no one else around, and no need for a good dog to be on a lead.

Piper explored and rolled and sniffed and splashed

and ran loops around me while I took pictures.

Of this plant, for example. Do you know it?

Medeola virginiana

I remember this one from my childhood rambles.

"Indian Cucumber" is what we called it.

It has an edible root, but it is tiny.

I recall eating one, once, about a hundred years ago.

These days, maybe if there were thousands of these plants in one spot,

I might be tempted to eat some...

Nah.

I'd find a cucumber in my garden or at a farm stand,

and leave the wildflowers to grow.

Because look how magical:

~~~

The wind was so strong and steady, it actually kept the biting bugs away.

It was nothing less than miraculous.

So when Piper and I walked back to the car,

I stuffed our usual post-walk snacks into my backpack,

grabbed one of the small cushions

(my car is full of various back-supports),

and we turned right around and walked back into the woods.

I chose a spot on a slope at the south edge of the pond,

with the wind blowing straight at us.

(There was one mosquito. I laughed at it.)

Piper and I sat down under the trees and shared a picnic.

We had crackers and cheese and a banana and water.

It was excellent.

This was Piper's view: 

And this was mine:

~~~

 Perfect.

~~~~~