Diane took a fifty pound feed bag and
stuffed it full of goldenrod in prime bloom. As the goldenrod
cooked down in the brass kettle she put in the entire contents of
the fifty pound bag.
The goldenrod was cooked over the fire for
over an hour and then left to cool. The liquid was then strained
and set over the fire again.
Diane mixed up some ferrous sulfate with
water and put it in the dye pot. The pre-wetted white handspun
skeins of yarn were put into the dye pot. The dye pot was put
over the fire for another hour. Two pounds of handspun yarn was
dyed in the dye pot at once.
Below are some of the colours that Diane
has harvested through the years from the goldenrod plant. The
colour from this year's dye pot is the last skein below.
Autumnal afternoon tea in Diane's old
kitchen. A freshly brewed pot of Tasha Tudor's Welsh Breakfast
Tea and Welsh Tea Cakes are served. The tea cakes are made from
scratch, rolled out, and cut into circles. They are then baked
atop the stove. After cooling the Welsh Tea Cakes are dusted with
powdered sugar. Absolutely delicious!!! The old kitchen also
serves as Emily & Ethlyn's Potions & Perfumery, the
corgyn's pretend apothecary where Diane keeps some of her old
apothecary collection. The corgyn are always bringing some
seasonal bloom into the apothecary. Diane went up the hill with
her bucket and picked a small bouquet of goldenrod and asters to
enjoy with afternoon tea. A handspun and handwoven linen cloth is
beneath the tea. A captured Dr. Cupid Corgi keeps watch under an
old garden cloche. The apothecary shelves are full of delightful
smelling dried herbs and tussie mussies.
Diane's 3rd
great grandmother Mary Ann (Cook) Perry wove 23 yards of
linen in 1864.
The old wood cook stove is perfect to warm
the chill of an autumnal morn as well as to make a treat to
accompany tea. As the warmth of the day increases no more wood is
added to the fire but in the chill of the evening the fire is
rekindled for warmth and the evening meal.
Diane spun and dyed with goldenrod the
yarn that she knit into the sweater above.
