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Here I am cracking black walnuts this weekend. A tedious job to be sure but great when conversing with a friend or watching the news! The top picture shows the color that can be obtained from dyeing with Black Walnut. My cousin gave me loads of them; enough to dye at least 30 pounds of fiber! So now I will let the nuts dry, crack off the hulls and store them for future use. Here is my recipe for dyeing protein fibers (wool & silk) with black walnut hulls. I mordant with alum sulfate first to better accept the dye to the fiber, although many say mordanting first when dyeing with Black Walnut is not necessary.
Use fresh or dry hulls from Black Walnut trees. They fall to the ground in early fall. The hull is bright green with a spongy, dark inner area when fresh, and dark brown when dried. With a knife, split the hull away from the inner nut. I let the hulls dry out first. Use 100% dried hulls to the weight of fiber, i.e. 1 pound of fiber, 1# of walnut hulls. Simmer the dried hulls with water (3:1 ratio; 3 gals water to 1# walnut hulls) until the dye liquor is dark, maybe an hour or so at 200%. Strain off the dye liquor, and throw out the hulls and residue. Add the fiber to the dyebath, rotating the goods continually for the first 30 minutes, bringing temperature up from 100 to 200 degrees. Maintain 200 degrees for another 45-60 minutes. Let fibers cool in the bath and remove to rinse. Enjoy!
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Georgia wants to offer you a grace or two for your Thanksgiving Day dinner!
Lord, behold our family here assembled.
We thank You for this place in which we dwell,
For the love that unites us,
For the peace accorded us this day.
For the hope with which we expect tomorrow;
For the health, the work, the food
And the bright skies
that make our lives delightful.
Amen
Or a Scottish grace:
Scones and pancakes roun’ the table,
Eat as much as ye are able,
Eat! Leave nothing!
Hallelujah! Amen
Enjoy the feast
and may your blessings
be plentiful!
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This is a view from the barn this morning; layers of life from where I stand to the edge of the field…it’s been a miserable wet spell again, in fact the weatherman said we are 60% above normal precipitation for the period from September 1st to date with 16+ inches of rain, the normal being around 9″. But the winter berry is stunning in the gray drab of November. This time of year could appear bleak except what is colorful really stands out; the bluejays, the waxy leaves of the rhododendron, even the sky’s reflection in the brook.
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A school board member up north was retiring after having served his district for nearly forty years. A young reporter interviewed him for an article. “In forty years,” she said, ” you must have seen a lot of changes in the way the schools are run.”
“Yup” he said, “and I was against every one of them.”
an excerpt from Could Have Been Worse by Rebecca Rule
Keep a sense of humor this election day!
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Loved this view yesterday of the flock eating the morning feed. Lots of butts and happy hoofers!
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One night back in April of 1998 we heard all sorts of automobile sounds outside on the road, we didn’t think too much of it, someone just turning around perhaps. The following morning we found a black lab in our open shed, hiding in the back, not tied, but quite rattled, he sported no collar or tags. He absolutely would not leave the shed so we gave him a bed and a big bone to chew, called the humane society and they took him away. We felt his rightful owner may want him back. As it turned out we think his rightful owner was the one who left him the night before, not wanting to feed him anymore. We have an idea who but it doesn’t matter anymore. When no one had claimed him after a week, we decided to adopt him. We were told he was untrainable and should be put to sleep. We named him Sidney. The next few years proved to be a real challange for even our steadfast dog care and skills.He stormed anyone who came by the house, friendships were jeopardized and even police reports filed! By then we were in too deep to turn back. I used to call him the big black boogyman. His alpha personality has subsided, and at 8 years old, he is a complete mush with those he knows and likes; he loves this farm and his life here. He loves the fall and winter most of all. Anyone who knows Sidney personally knows that a kiss on the lips is unavoidable; no matter how hard you try to avoid him, he’s faster! We are thankful this great big crazy lab came into our life!
