Gardens, dyeing and a busy, busy week

The tree peonies in the yard are blooming. The one has gorgeous pink flowers which are almost the size of dinner plates! One day it was tiny small buds, the next it was flowering. The white tree peony blooms only lasted for a few days this year, so I snapped a photo while it still looked so pretty. I'm rather fond of pink flowers.

I've been fussing with the Oseberg loom. I warped it up with some 16/2 cotton, using cardboard cards. It took me a few inches to get back into the rhythm of tablet weaving, since it's been a few years since I've done any. However, once I got going, I found the 2 uprights made it much easier to weave on than the other tablet weaving loom I have ( 2 rollers on a flat base) The only problem I had was that the card stock started disintegrating after weaving a few feet. Eventually, I couldn't turn them anymore and had to cut off the project prematurely. Still, it was quite enjoyable to weave on this loom, once I got going.

My summer has suddenly gotten a little bit busier than it had been - with having sold a house, having to buy a house, with all the ensuing stress and hassle of moving house, my daughter's wedding, plus now I've been put on vigil for the laurelate in the Kingdom of Ealdormere. I will admit that I am rather chuffed and totally overwhelmed by that, but having a personal good thing happen in the midst of all the other, is rather nice. Mixed in there are a weekend OHS spinning seminar, a 3 day living history demo and a weekend which I'm taking off to spend with one of my kids who hasn't been home since before Easter.

However, this has meant that I'm going to need to appropriately allot time to necessary projects. First on the list was getting personal obligations done. I told a friend that I would dye her veil and cap yellow, with period plants. This morning I cut back the Yellow Bedstraw for the second time this year. I put in with it a few fronds of Dyer's Greenweed because sometimes I've found the Bedstraw, when flowering, can have a bit of a dull yellow. This was to be a soft colour but I wanted it a pretty yellow as well. It turned out quite nicely I think. The vat still seems strong enough that I could dye something else in it. I just have to find some yarn or fibre that hasn't already been set aside for a specific project. I wonder if I have anything that isn't packed away?