Dyeing to be outside

It's been several days of getting caught up in paperwork (Not taxes. I'm lucky enough to have an accountant for a brother. I feel for he and his family right now. They don't see much of eachother this time of year.) and we're into our 6th week of colds, the boys and I circulating them amongst ourselves over and over again. Fortunately, C hasn't gotten any of it, but he religiously takes his vitamins, drinks a gallon of water a day, and spices all his food with hot peppers and eats fresh garlic daily. I'm just not that dedicated, maybe too distracted to pull all that off.  Lot of brainstorming lately.  More on that later.

A little catch up on the week:

C's birthday fell on Easter Sunday this year and we used the day to fully relax and enjoy the day together. The day was gorgeous so since we could be outside, we figured it was as good a time as any to finally get around to using the tie dye kit R received for his birthday back in February. What the heck, you might as well start dyeing everything in sight while your doing the eggs, right? Apparently we weren't the only one who continued along those lines. The paper towels weren't spared around here either. We did manage to stop ourselves short of throwing any yarn in the dyebaths thanks to the fact that I didn't have any undyed yarn on hand, and also to the forewarning of this post. ;)

I'd forgotten how fun it is to tie dye. It's been awhile, about 18 years to be exact, since I tie-dyed a few white sheets in my parents' bathtub during college to make into throw pillows and a duvet cover. Can that really be 18 years ago? A word of warning for those averse to pink: One of the plusses about homeschooling is that we have children who haven't picked up as many strong cultural preconceptions about colors and could care less that the red turned out pink. I had some purple and brown Procion dyes that we used along with the other colors in the kit.

The shirts have been the daily uniform of the week and the bonus is that they don't show the stains from making Spring mud pies, or the dust from the gravel parking lot where C was fixing the other broken down van, or the chocolate ice cream for dessert, or the marker mistakes, or the spilled huckleberry smoothies, or the spilled cough medecine, or the ________ (fill in the blank), or my own spilled coffee or tea.

It is so good to get out and move and breathe and run freely without piling ourselves into all the snow clothes, and to be able to access places like this again now that the snow is gone. We saw this coyote from the car on the way back home. We don't often see them but they're a favorite of mine. We're back outside, out and about, doing and seeing things again!

Comments

[Linda S]

I love the shirts and the eggs.

How lucky you are to have spring weather! The weather here is still winter-like.

[Amber]

I love seeing your pictures of the area where you live---so open!

It's a treat to glimpse a coyote---they seem familiar (with their dog traits) yet so untamed. My mom has coyotes that have a den right near her house yearly... She sees the pups every year, too.

[Julia MacRobbie]

How nice to be outside again! Your pictures coney that feeling of freshness of fun. And I love coyotes very much too, and foxes. =)

[kayla_d]

Your tie dye colors turned out so vibrant! And what an amazing place to live. I would love that kind of view!

[Michelle]

I love to tie dye! I used to do that to all the kids' onsies with barf stains on them. Also, if you live in town and or go to a play date, dress your kids in tie dye. You can spot them anywhere in it.(:

[Rani]

love love love your blog! To see kids just running free - sigh -

Thanks for sharing that cabled hat pattern!!

[cassie kemp]

We were hiking in the desert this morning after breakfast and came upon a coyote loping along (we live in AZ). Then came home to see a photo of a Montana coyote...how sweet! As always, love your blog and photos. Happy Spring!

[maryse]

i love the tie-dye shirts and eggs. nicely done.

[celeste pinheiro]

Hello! I liked the pix of the bare hills. Occasionally we go camp somewhere like that(near Goldendale, WA) and there's nothing better than to go walk and feel the great wide open and all that lonesomeness. It's very different than the companionship of trees. Happy Spring!!