Goldenrod goodness

Over this weekend we went on a nature walk to collect goldenrod flowers for dying yarn. Originally the plan was to make flying stars for Michaelmas however that will not be happening so I may just use this fun yarn for another project.

 

I found this process to be fairly simple however I am unsure of how color fast it is. Only time will tell after the final projects are made.

We chopped off all of the flowers and threw them in a pot of water then let it heat for about an hour or so without boiling.

I then strained the flowers through some muslin fabric and a colander with a toddler underfoot and managed not to spill any of the hot liquid on his newly bald head. Score!

I threw about half of the tiny bottle of Alum powder in and it clouded within the dark brown and turned to a super bright gold. Chemistry is awesome. I threw in about half of a skein of the wool yarn. This dye will not work on acrylic yarn so if you try this at home please don't waste your time!  

Rinse and let dry in the ucky bathtub which is highly overdue for a cleaning but obviously I'm too busy crafting instead.

It is still drying currently from last night but I cant wait to make something from it!

Sorry its been awhile...

 

Some time to reflect on the last few weeks and share some things that have made me grateful.

 No time to be depressed when you are happy for what you have.

******************

growth within work although its now crazy stressful for the unknown...

a successful camping trip...

seeing my rainbow of flowers...

butterflies...

movie night with the littles...

early morning uninterrupted yoga...


a trip to the museum with husband and baby...

successful mission trip...

taking my littles to the children's museum alone all while loving every minute of the slowness and peacefulness of play...

my littles enjoying their reenactment...

crocheting in the grass while our last week in our old office...

some flowers picked along the trail by our home...

a dog with a tongue up his nose. he never fails to make me smile, except for his excessive screeching at 5 am...

I am sorry for the delay in posts as it has been a madhouse here with mission trips and craziness at work all while battling a fibro flare. More updates on their way!

a golden afternoon

 Alice:

You can learn a lot of things from the

flowers, for especially in the month of

June. There’s a wealth of happiness and

romance, oh...

Flowers:...the golden afternoon!

Although its not June quite yet, I felt it was close enough. to tie in the end of our botany unit study we chose to go to a local favorite. Cantigny is a small war museum on the property of Robert McCormick who made a ton of political and influential improvements in his time. This location has huge gardens, 30 tanks for the kids to climb and enjoy and tours of his home.

The kids love the tanks crawling under and on top of them. I view it as a great proprioceptive activity and an exciting change.  

sureal {picture heavy}

Some time to reflect on the last few weeks and share some things that have made me grateful.

 No time to be depressed when you are happy for what you have.

******************

... the feeling when all 3 of your boys must touch you while they sleep. We have had a trying and emotional few days and to know they view me as their rock and stability even in their dreams is priceless. occasionally makes up for the sleeplessness and foot in my back.

...knowing all my kids are home and safe. Nanners got seperated from us at our local state park. This park is over 300,000 acres and huge so we had the scare of our lives when she was missing 45 minutes. We are blessed a hiker found her following another group and brought her to the state and ranger police we had called in. She was near the trails the officer and Randy walked 3 times over but managed to keep missing each other.

...watching your husband talk with the boy about running and standing water.

...seeing flowers and discovering deer trails in our walk in the park.
 

...a new promotion and raise.

... Koda's sweater finally done.

...Giddy's new haircut. He looks like a big boy.

...processed asparagus the first time.

...a new to me car.

 

I am sorry that this is very photo heavy. We have had such an emotional,crazy week and I am very grateful to have documented all of it. 

What are you grateful for today?