Yuk!

I took a lovely fleece and made it bad! The cats look far from impressed! 'We're not eating that!' they wailed!!!

It looked less disgusting when it had dried, but thank goodness I only used a small amount of wool. I thought it was and old shetland fleece, but realised after combing it that it was the Polwarth! I'm going to over-dye it, probably with turmeric, as that's a good strong colour.

You can see the two fibres here. The right side is without dye and the left with.

Here are the two colours side by side. It's not what I was hoping for at all! I've come to the conclusion that if I want bright, vibrant greens, then I should probably collect the plants in Spring, when they're full of bright green sap. I expect that the only colours I can achieve now are the browns and reds of Autumn. I guess it makes sense that I have to look to the colours around me and dye accordingly and go with the seasons. This is a lovely lesson, in many ways, as I've come here to live with the landscape and the plants have told me clearly how I need to approach this new hobby of mine.

I have a big pot of walnut husks bubbling away in the Cave. They're just fermenting in their juices at the moment. When I want to boil them up for the colour, I'll have a fire at the back of the field. The smell from the last pot has only just left the house!!!

We had a lovely time yesterday with our French neighbours and they were extremely hospitable. They commented that my French was passable and helpfully corrected some of my silly mistakes, mainly, calling everything 'he'. There was so much laughter despite our differences and limited communication. I'm looking forward to our next gathering and have found a renewed energy for learning the language :D

In a few days time, I'll be meeting the farmer who will supply us with hay. Again, he speaks no English, so I'm learning all about feeds and forages. You can't find any of that in a phrasebook!