a color fix

No calls today for subbing, but I was up bright and early just the same. Spring time means I walk around the house with one eye toward the sky all day long. I woke to a hazy morning sunrise, but the weather forecasters are promising a thunderstorm by late afternoon. 

I hope they're right. My garden needs rain, the dusty roads and my father's new planted oat seeds, they all need rain. This morning we were talking about rain, about lightning to be specific. I read recently that every time lightning strikes the earth it fixes nitrogen in the soil. That's why it looks so green and fresh after a rainstorm. Yes, all of the plants just got a big gulp of water, but at the same time they also just got a fresh batch of nitrogen to feed their hungry roots and leaves.

Lightning is one of the ways mother nature 'fixes' the color green, and here I thought I was pretty snazzy with my dye pot and bottle of white vinegar. The fiber above and to the side comes from my mother's CVM romeldale sheep. I dyed it with red oaks in mind. There's one red oak tree that sits at the end of my parents' driveway, every fall it turns the most fantastic shade of golden molten burgundy. 

I plan on spinning fingering weight singles and then combining them for a worsted weight double ply yarn. We'll see what I end up with. It's never quite what I had planned. 

Pray for lightning, everyone. (And have a nice weekend.)