Let it Snow

This past week we've had lots and lots of snow, long over-due and beautiful.

Yesterday the sky was blue for the first time in a week, everything was crisp and clean.

 

And what have I been doing this past week during the storms (besides working)? Dyeing wool fabric with natural dyes, trying to get the right shade to make myself this jacket. Not that I'm good at sewing clothes but the pattern says "3 HOUR Jacket". I figure I should be able to have it done in 7 hours and hopefully it will fit right!

I got this wool fabric from a friend, beautiful wool but I'm not a mauve color girl. I wanted a rusty-red.

So I started with cutting up madder root and simmering it on the wood stove, along with cochineal in an other pot.

 

Simmered overnight then added the wool to the madder root, it hardly changed the color at all.
I then added the wool fabric to the cochineal.

It became a little too berry bright for me with lots of pink undertones. Still trying to get a Autumn rusty-red color I brewed up a pot of Osage-orange tree bark, put it in the pot and simmered it overnight...

and I got a good color with lots and lots of undertone colors. These pictures are not great at showing the true colors but I took pictures everywhere trying to show the color and these were the best.

I wan't sure how overdyeing with natural dyes (except indigo) would work but I'm very pleased.

right to left:original color, cochineal, finished color.

This week I also made a batch a ginger tea. A friend from Korea gave this recipe to me and it is heavenly. First my husband and grandson peeled fresh ginger root (with a spoon is the easiest). I then put it in my food processor and ground it up.

Mixed it with equal amount of honey. I do one cup of each at a time.

Keep it in the refrigerator. I add a heaping teaspoon to my cup of black tea everyday. Ginger is good for the digestive system and for the joints.

Also this week school was closed and the grand kids were home. So what do you do on a snowy day? We made hot chocolate with lots whip cream and then made snowman. We started with premade snowmen bodies I bought awhile ago. They stuffed them,

and carefully sewed them shut.

Then they cut a scarf and a hat made from the finger tips of gloves.

Each ended up with their own cuddley snowman.