Dehydrating, Spiders, Using Dyes, and More Cleaning

I am continuing to dehydrate Swiss chard, along with the stalks.  

The recent rains brought up some nice green onions.  I am dehydrating some of them today also.

We are now at war with spiders.  I clean the webs down, and they rebuild the next day.   We have also seen wolf spiders in the garage about 3 inches in diameter.  


My mother has armed us with 3 bags of hedge apples. They do have a funny smell, so I hope they work.  I'll be placing these bad boys around the house, garage and barns today.

I am starting to experiment with natural dyes.  We have many outside animals, as well as inside animals, so I am trying to work with dyes that I can easily dispose of without harming them, or our septic tank.


I crocheted this flower vase doily with 100% 2 ply cotton yarn.  I then boiled red onion skins in a designated pot for dye purposes.  I discarded the skins, and heated the water with the doily.  I turned the heat off, and let it sit overnight. 


For this, I did not use a mordant, however an alum mordant would hold the color longer.  To experiment in how long the color will last, I purposely did not use a mordant.

It turned out to be a beautiful golden color.  The dye water actually appears red, but the color of the cotton is golden.  


I'll be delegating cleaning to the kids later today.  I've been sick and have developed a bad cough.  I am grateful for the sunshine and wind today, so my laundry will dry quickly.

Mushroom Update

This is a photo of the mushroom yesterday.

 The mushroom today.  Is it Shaggy Mane?

Another one growing.

I am still deep cleaning.  I actually think that when the kids see me, they are either inspired to help me, or help me out of quilt (watching me do it myself).  My son helped me in the kitchen.  I am now pulling out drawers sweeping inside, inside the drawers/cupboards, removing anything that don't use (using the box method), and reorganizing.  I think we cleaned 6 drawers and 2 sets of cupboards.  Unfortunately, my old kitchen was re-done with mostly drawers (by the last home owner).  I have very little cupboards.  It makes it very difficult to store items.  My mixer and food processor are stored in my living room (in a pie safe).

While cleaning yesterday, I started dehydrating my Swiss chard.  I am even considering growing some inside this year.  I think it would work if I grew it in the warmest room, next to the wood burning stove.  

I am so excited that we found a thrift store closer to home.  I needed to go there to look for a pot to dye yarn and fabric with.  I ended up, not only finding what I needed, but found these small bowls.  I need to go back to look for an old picnic basket or basket with a lid, to hold library books in.  I guess it will be fun looking anyway. 

Well, it rained all night.  However, today it's extremely windy.  I need to dry bedding outside today, so I hope it doesn't end up in the next county - ha ha ha ha!  At least it will dry fast.