Spring always seems such a long way off when I’m attempting to over-winter the garden. Garden furniture gets put away, dog toys brought indoors, the last of the summer flowers are dead headed – and most of those dried on sunny window sills for natural dyeing. By mid November I look out and see all the bits I missed and think how much of a mess it all looks. Spring finally comes back round and I can’t wait to tip all of the dead stuff on to the bonfire, get the chairs out, sweep the deck and start planting out. There’s no routine to all of this, just ‘as and when’.
No two years ever feel the same weather wise so I like to just take the warmer days when they come and make use of them. This year I dusted off the outdoor kitchen much earlier than usual and had at least five good sunny dry days in March to use up the last of my dried winter dye material. Weld, Goldenrod, barks, some Marigold and Coreopsis (but not much). Previously I wasn’t impressed with dried Goldenrod but this year it yielded beautiful deep yellows with the same strength as fresh. Dried Weld had previously given pretty much the same shades of acid yellow as fresh but this year I found it was much deeper in colour. Admittedly no weighing ever goes on now but my methods are probably similar every time I have a dye session. I have dried Birch leaves to use up and these have also given deep yellows previously. The lightfast tests for Birch leaf yellow have been repeatedly good but it’s not always easy to get a good hoard of leaves without preying on the neighbourhood pruners!
We handed over the van in February, it’s now late April and the absence of a daily vehicle is really becoming difficult. It’s no secret that I would never have chosen this county or house but several things were making it bearable and one of those was being able to take the dogs out to a hassle free place, no silly rules, no people and no leads required. Just being able to get out of the same four walls once a day made all the difference, even better that I was able to make a coffee on the little gas hob and read a chapter of a book while the three dogs had a post walk snooze. It’s been a lot like lockdown but with the rest of the household coming and going as they please. Weekends have been tense with M wanting to stay at home after a working week and me desperate to get as far away from the house as possible. Plans for our annual trip to Sussex had to be shelved, it’s just not practical to try and find dog friendly accommodation with two puppies and a third dog.
On the plus side every time I insist on finding somewhere new to explore, we usually manage just that. Mostly only local places and some of those just because we’ve taken a wrong turning trying to find something actually documented on a map. Once the dogs are suitably worn out we find coffee and sometimes sit and dream about future van trips, though frankly the holiday goalposts seem to be forever moving so I have no idea when they might happen and I strongly suspect I will be taking some solo trips this year in order not to end up resentful that holiday allowance hasn’t been taken (by choice not necessity) and the van has been sitting unused after all the expensive of restoring it. I’m sure it will all work out somehow. I’m always optimistic if nothing else.
The pups have been pure joy and hellish hard work too. It’s all levelling out now with less mud and less chewing but they do still get hold of random things like rubber gloves and bits of cardboard and shred them. They are so responsive to training I really haven’t had to try very hard though they are easily distracted by each other especially when there’s a stick involved. On our walks we walk partly down a little used narrow track. It leads to a farm but there’s rarely any traffic, when they hear a vehicle they move to the verge and lie down, not because they know they’ll get run over but because they anticipate a stick being thrown. Sometimes in the excitement of all this they shuffle backwards, Arthur particularly, because he likes to get a head start on the fetch part of this game so I have to make sure we are as far back on the verge as possible.
There are no signs that Woody has a metal screw in his elbow at all. He certainly runs as fast as Arthur who has no metal parts and also much longer legs. In fact Arthur has grown much more than expected and we’ve been wondering what overnighters in the van will be like now that they are both fully grown. If they take to the front cab hammock bed designed for children we’ll be ok. Riley is 13 now and that means old age privileges like bringing your comfy home bed along for the ride and warm blankets over you. We did the same for Harvey and he was as snug as a bug in a rug. Woody still needs to gain some confidence as a solo dog and not always as part of a group of three. He seems to base all his decisions on what the others are doing and is less sure when he’s on his own. All going well with dodgy backs and things I’m really hoping I can take them on individual walks this summer so that I can really train them properly. Whistle recall is usually superb at least.
I’ve had a busy start to the year with natural dyeing, hook carving and making small wooden toadstool and mushroom stitch markers. All things that I love to use myself and create a greater sense of connection to nature and the process of making things from natural materials. As always I like to be continuously learning and trying new things. I’ve taken on a huge Jacob’s fleece to wash, card and prepare for spinning. I take my wheel outside when the weather is good but try as I might my spinning doesn’t improve much from ‘art yarn’. So much so I’m thinking I need to embrace the art yarn and make a few more vessels for felting. Felting always seems incongruent with crocheting nice baskets only to hope the fibres matt together but when it works it creates a beautiful sturdy bowl/basket which will stand up to much more vigorous use.
This year was also the year I finally plucked up the courage to try a collaboration with a fellow natural dyer. We both seem calm, unflappable types and it worked well. Keeping it simple was key and so the Hooky Hens were born, using my naturally dyed wool and Hannah’s naturally dyed pure wool felt. We launched them well ahead of Easter but in fact woolly chickens are not just for Easter and would look suitably cheerful all year round. I had fun making a nest for them and writing up the pattern for anyone to use but especially Hooky Hen guardians.
Although I didn’t learn and wasn’t tempted to even try ‘reels’ for Instagram this time I did learn how to do a link to a product or blog page which resulted in having to update all the free patterns I’ve written since joining Instagram. There were quite a few and the aim was always to make sure they were basic and useful. I find those the most satisfying when I really can’t sit still in front of the tv without a crochet hook on the go too. They also make ideal car journey projects when you need to stop and start or chat too. In fact I often pack cotton and a suitable hook for a journey knowing that I will have made two fresh face cloths for that particular break by the time we’ve arrived. Seeing the patterns as a vaguely cohesive collection has spurred me on to write a few more.
Crochet productivity has slowed somewhat. I’ve almost finished the bobbled waistcoat shown above. The design was shown in off white with red cherries but I didn’t have either of those in pure wool and I knew that if I made it in anything else I wouldn’t enjoy it. The yarn I used is recycled which seems to break very easily so goodness knows whether it will wash well. I’ve swapped the cherries for lemons and kept those to just the lower half of the garment so that it’s not overwhelmingly busy. It’s a bit different to anything else I’ve ever crocheted so it’s enjoyable in that respect.
Easter bank holiday weekend has been and gone. It was beautifully sunny though quite difficult to be cheered up by that fact, knowing that we should have been sunning ourselves on the south coast with the dogs swimming in the sea every day. M was able to start building a simple car port for the van’s return albeit with great difficulty now that his balance and general mobility is compromised. J helped in between gaming and other commitments.
I’m finishing this entry in the middle of May. Lots of jobs have been ticked off. I’ve given my dye kitchen a much better tidy up and sort out than the above photo shows and it’s easier to work out there now. I need a couple of new additions this year. One is to finally get round to building a base for our second butler sink and fixing the water butt tap at a level suitable for water supply. I can drain the water into the watering can for re-use on the garden. I seem to have started off quite a large number of dye worthy flowers this year. Siting them higher than Arthur’s mouth will be a big challenge. More recycled wood building may be required!
simplenaturalhandmade 