a family trip to the beach...

on saturday i headed out to a beach a bit north of my home, a provincial park actually. i was meeting there with the rest of my family for an afternoon picnic and get-together. in the end all came except one brother-in-law, so it was really nice to have us all together as well as in a place many of us haven't been in years. the tide was in, so there wasn't as much beach exploring as i would have liked, but it was still fun for visiting, and watching the kids brave the cold water, and meandering along the shore.



there is a breakwater that juts out into the sea, that i ventured onto with two of my nephews and my niece. when he reached his farthest point with me, my oldest nephew (9) announced "i'm going in! i'm doing it!" and proceeded to strip off his shirt and hand it to me, whereupon he jumped into the water. the sea stays shallow for quite a stretch there, so it was not as adventurous as one might suppose - he landed gently on the sand in waist-deep water and continued wading back to shore. silly guy.



while we didn't get to study any tide pools or build any sand castles, there were lots of little shore crabs to be found, hiding under rocks. and bull kelp to pull along, and rockweed to pop- always fun things to do at the beach!



i just walked over to the mailbox and discovered two packages waiting for me. the first was my awesome new totebag, that i won over on the bookhou blog. so excited to start using it and feeling very lucky. thanks arounna! and the second parcel was from maiwa - some new dye supplies! hopefully i will get my indigo vat started this week.

and on the natural dyeing front, there are two jars patiently working away outside on the bench, despite the (mostly) lack of sun this morning. the lupines are blooming in vast numbers along the sides of the highways these days, so i stopped on my way home from the beach on saturday and picked a bunch. I stripped the purple flowers from their stems and simmered them for a few hours, before straining the liquid into one dye jar. i also did the same with some of the leaves. i wasn't sure what to expect, but the fabrics in the blossom jar are turning a pale greenish-blue, and the fabrics in the leaf jar are a cheerful sunny yellow - a surprise indeed!

hope you had a great weekend and the week ahead is looking bright. :)