this and that

it has been a very strange week – like living on another planet

this is the sun at 3pm – smoke from the fires south of us

the smell is always there

and, like fog, sound is muted

Canada Post suspended delivery for 2 days due to poor air quality

 just thankful we don’t have the fires to worry about

I’ve been staying inside but today I needed some fresh/smoky air and did a quick trip around the block

definite signs of Autumn are everywhere

the river birch is peeling – look at the layers, wonderful texture

the neighbour’s garden is bright and beautiful

Autumn crocus are abundant

and the squirrels are frantically gathering – blending in with the lichen

we’ve had rain for the past two nights

mushrooms are scattered along the boulavard – Birch Bolete – edible – but I’ll pass

these are a different bolete

I read somewhere that some of them give a dye but there aren’t enough to try

 then a trip to Knotty by Nature

one of Ryan’s customers brought him an entire bucket of Lobster mushrooms

they give a good dye- shades of pink

I bought 1 1/2 lbs. of Romney wool

it is very clean so I hand carded some and tried spinning but it is quite greasy

tomorrow I’ll soak it in a bucket of hot water to make it easier to spin on the Turkish spindle

I do get excited about some nice fleece

I spun the medium grey Corriedale last week (in the middle)

and then put a skein in the exhaust bath of the dark purple hollyhocks

the camera has trouble capturing the colour but it is khaki –  oh, la la!

the tapestry is progressing, slowly – as tapestries do

and I’m stitching and gathering tightly a meter of the linen fabric to dye a checkerboard pattern

each little bobble has to be wrapped and tied in plastic wrap so this will take some time

I’ll let you know how it goes