Uglemors have -- MotherOwl's Garden

Her er Haveuglen. Den vogter over, at alt nu går rigtigt til i Uglemors have. Den må ofte tude misfornøjet, for Uglemor har mange andre jern i ilden og vejret passer den sjældent.

This is the GardenOwl. It keeps watch over MotherOwl's garden, and controls that everything is done the right way. GardenOwl is often emitting unsatisfied hooting sounds. MotherOwl does not always do things when and how GardenOwl wants her to. And the weather ... it's not as it should be.

Dette forår har været ualmindeligt køligt. Der er mange planter der slet ikke kan lide det. Selv inde i domen er det koldt, og Haveuglen synes at Uglemor har sat alt for mange planter ud i domen alt for tidligt. Til sit forsvar siger Ugelmor at de ikke kunne blive stående inde i vindueskarmen alle samme.

This sprin has been very cold so far.  Lots of plants do not like it at all. Even inside the dome shaped greenhouse it's cold, and GardenOwl thinks that MotherOwl transplanted the plants too early and far too many. MotherOwl defends her actions saying that she was out of room on the window sills.

• Her ses to lidende planter, en vandmelon øverst og en lille agurk. 
• Two sugffering plants a watermelon and a small cucumber. 

På den anden side er der også nogle planter der virkelig synes om det her vejr.

On the other hand some plants like the weather.

Citronmelissen trives. De brune blade skyldes et par varme dage tidligere i maj.
Lemon balm is thriving. It looked sad after a few hot days in the beginnig
of May, but now it's fine again.

Der er nu også gode nyheder i domen:

We have some good news as well.

• Sibirisk huspeber skyder endelig , den er en overlever fra sidste år
• Siberian chili sprouting anew. It survived the winter

Så går vi udenfor. På terrassen bliver der varmere, og Haveuglen noterer med tilfredshed at laurbærplanten skyder på ny.

On the terrace the effects of the cold is not felt as much, and the GardenOwl notices with glee that the bay plant is bringing forth new leaves.

Den russiske esdragon, der blev omplantet til det store krydderurtebed, overlevede faktisk omplantningen.

The Russian tarragon, that was moved to the big, new herbal bed, actually survived, and is now green again.

Jordbærbedet blomstrer og ser lovende ud. Haveuglen kritiserer lugningen, men Uglemor har en god grund.

The strawberries are flowering, it looks promising. GardenOwl is not satisfied with the weeding, but MotherOwl has a reason.

Se her. En valmue er spiret frem. Det er den slags behagelige overraskelser, man får, hvis man ikke luger helt i bund. Årets birkes er reddet.

Now look here GardenOwl. A poppy has germinated here between the strawberries. That's the king of surprises you get when not weeding too much. The poppy seeds for the coming years baking is safe.

Men dem her - stakler. Squash og japansk indigo må pænt blive inde indtil det bliver lidt varmere. Bønnerne ligge også stadig i deres poser og venter på at blive sået.

But those poor ones - Zucchini and Dyers' knotweed - have to stay inside still. The beans are also still in their bags waiting for milder winds.

Så er der absolut lyspunkter i haven. Disse smukke tulipaner var helt gule, da jeg fik dem for et par år siden, men om det er jorden eller vandet ellet hvad, så er de nu stribede.

One of the bright spots according to GardenOwl who stood here last year are those tulips. They were all yellow when they arrived here some years ago, but now they're striped.

Pia fra Colour Cottage praler med sit smukke håndtag til drivhuset. Haveuglen vil ikke stå tilbage, og fremviser stolt lukningen af drivhusdøren. Den er stormsikker.

Pia from Colour Cottage is shoving off the handle for her greenhouse door. GardenOwl won't be left out and proudly presents how to close the greenhouse door in a stormproof way:

Smuk grøn snor og tagpapsøm klarer problemet.'
Nails with big heads and string solve the problem.
Please notice that the string is green. 

Så er der jo også gang i farvegryden. Og planterne gror lige udenfor i haven. Der gror nælder, skvalderkål og rejnfan. Forleden lærte Uglemor at vild kørvel også duede til at farve med. Modvilligt måtte haveuglen indrømme at det vist var meget godt, der ikke var blevet luget henne om hjørnet. For se nu bare.

The dyepot is busy too. Last week MotherOwl learned that wild chervil can be used for dyeing as well. GardenOwl reluctantly admitted that it was good that MotherOwl did not manage to weed along the far side of the terrace, because there it was:

• Vild kørvel og oregano - begge farveplanter - blandt andet ukrudt. 
• Wild chervil and marjoram - both good dye plants - among assorted weeds. 

Men så det bed derhenne, påpegede Haveuglen, det er da en skændsel. Alting gror bare vildt. Uglemor er, ikke overraskende, ikke helt enig.

But that bed over there, GardenOwl persisted, Everything is growing wild. It's no good.MotherOwl did not agree.

• Hvad gror der da: Akelejer, perikon matren og sæbeurt. Alt sammen enten kønt eller nyttigt - eller begge dele. Og så er der de der store i forgrunden. Uglemor håber at det er vaid, men sikker nej det er hun ikke. 
• What is growing here in that unruly bed: St. John's wort for dye. soapwort for gentle washing, fewerfew and larkspur because they're pretty. And then those big ones. MotherOwl hopes - maybe in vain - that it's woad.

Haveuglen må nødtvungent indrømme at det kan være godt ikke at luge grundigt over det hele og med det samme. Men, kære Uglemor, den der mynte. Den har du altså talt om at flytte i mindst et halvt år nu.
     Uglemor har selvfølgelig endnu en god forklaring.

Well GardenOwl has to admit that something is to be said for not weeding everything and everywhere. But, MotherOwl, why did 'nt you move that mint? You've been talking about it for months now.
Of course MotherOwl once again has a good explanation.

• Det groede mynte sidste år, og selv om bedet blev gravet grundigt igennem, er der små stykker rod tilbage. Og nu afslører de sig. Se nu bare denne her. Det lille stykke rod til højre skød et skud i hele pilens længde, brød gennem jordoverfladen, og havde allerede fået fire små blade. 
• Mint grew here last year ads well. And even though MotherOwl did her very best digging and sorting out the roots, little pieces were left. Just like this one. The thick root to the rigth was left in the ground, grew as long as the arrow shows, broke through, and had four tiny leaves revealing it. 

Uglemor forlod Haveuglen og gik ind til sin farvegryde. 

Leaving GardenOwl to its mumblings MtherOwl went inside to her dyepot.

• Overfarvning af små bundter svampefarvet garn med lugtløs kamille. Det skulle være blevet orange, men den røde farve nærmest smeltede. 
• Mushroom dyed red yarn, small skeins are overdyed with scentless mayweed. MotherOwl went for orange, but got brownish yellow. The red almost disappeared. 

Og dagen endte smukt med solnedgang bag disse dramatiske skyer.

And the day enden wiht a beautiful sunset behind dramatic clouds.

Blækhatteblæk igen -- Shaggy Mane ink Revisited

     I denne gamle blogpost fortæller Uglemor om nogle blækhattetegninger, der blev lavet med blækhatteblæk året forinden. En oprydning i en gammel bogreol bragte en af tegningerne frem i lyset, og den var ikke fra sidste år. Nej den var helt tilbage fra 2010, altså allerede 3 år gammel på det tidspunkt. Nu er den 4½ år gammel, og vel er den falmet lidt, men den vil være læselig mange år fremover.  

 

In this old blogpost, MotherOwl tells that she drew some pictures, (that now had gone missing), as one year ago using Shaggy Mane ink. Cleaning in an old bookcase, MotherOwl found said drawing. It was actually 3 years old already, dating back from 2010. And now it's 4 ½ years old, It has faded, but not much. I suppose it will be legible for many years to come.

• The caption says: Shaggy Mane dravn with its own ink. 
• REAL INK (on the inkwell)
• The Japanese lettes are just practise. 

Gult garn -- Yellow yarn

     Plantefarvning er på menuen i det lille hjem for øjeblikket. Og alle maj måneds planter farver øjensynligt gult. Men det er dog forbløffende hvor mange gule farver, der findes.

. o O o -

Plant dyeing is much of what's going on right now. It seems that the plants of May all dye yellow.

l-r: Wild cherwil 1st bath on grey & white wool.  Marjoram 2nd & 1st bath. Tansy 2nd  & 1st bath. Scentless mayweed 2nd & 1st bath.

     Lugtløs kamille, der er ophav til den lysende gyldengule farve, er en værre primadonna. Den kan hverken tørres eller fryses uden at blive en skygge af sig selv. Så nu vil jeg forsøge at koge en suppe, dele den i fem, fryse de fire dele ned og farve med den ene nu. Så vinder jeg også fem ens bundter garn og markerer med datoer. Jeg tror at 14 dage, en måned, 3 måneder og et halvt år vil være fint.Så den 25. november vil resultatet foreligge.

- o Yarn Along o -

Scentless mayweed, theat yields the wonderful sunshine yellow is a stupid plant. It cannot be dried or frozen, and still dye anything.  MotherOwl likes experimenting. One dyebath was split into five equal parts. One was used yesterday, the other four froxen dow. The yarn was wound in five skeins of same weigth. One put into the remaining dyepot, the other four hung on a hook with labess on them: To be used on June 8th, June 25th, August 25th, and November 25. (Two weeks, one month, 3 months and 6 months from now). In November the skeins can be compared, and the experiment called a success or a failure.

Det var vild kørvel og ikke skarnyhder.
This was Wild chervil and not hemlock. 

Lugtløs kamille ude i marken.
Scentless mayweed groving in the field

En stor tingfinderpung, som Uglemor har strikket af svampe- og plantefarvet garn. Uglemor har glemt hulrækken, men den bliver altså ikke lavet om lige nu.

- o O o -

Big treasure pouch made from plant and mushroom dyed yarn. I forgot the holes, but I don't want to frog it.




Hvad jeg læser: Der kommer snart nogle honningbolcher og måske nogle andre. Ugleungerne er blevet store nok til at varm bolchemasse i køkkenet går an.

- o O o -

Reading: Hov to make your own candy. Honey drops and some other ones coming up. The Owlets are big enough now that HOT candy in the kitchen is OK.

Vejen hjem -- 21 -- On my Way Home

Så lykkedes det. Solen skinner, rapsen er gul, træerne er grønne og himlen er blå med hvide, drivende skyer.

. o O o -

Success! The Sun is shining, the flowers are yellow, the trees are green, and the sky is blue with white, puffy clouds.

Og så ud over markerne. Så bliver det ikke meget smukkere.

. o O o -

And the wiev over the fields. It does not get much better. 

 

Dagen er lang, meget lang, og det er herligt.

. o O o -

The days are long and brigth. Perfect. 

Solopgang/solnedgang: 4:42/21:33, dagens længde 16:51, tiltaget 10:01

Svampe- og plantefarvning. --- Mushroom and Plant Dye

En blog om noget af det, der har optaget mig den sidste måneds tid: svampe- og plantefarvning. Til ære for min engelsksprogedel læser - måske e der mere end en - er billedteksterne på dansk og engelsk.

One of the things keeping MotherOwl busy for the time being is plant dyeing. This time only the photos will have captions in English. But the colours are international, so please enjoy. The text will eventually be translated.

 - o O o -

     Det begyndt med en svampefarver-workshop, hvor jeg bragte en madkasse fuld af svampe med hjem. De farvede rødt, og de skulle afprøves.

This time MotherOwl began the dyeing binge by visiting a workshop on mushroom dye. The mushrooms were given to whoever wanted them in the end, so MotherOwl returned with a lunch-box packed with slimy mushrooms. They were frozen because of busyness, but now the time is right to thaw them up again and have a go.

Farvning med cinnoberbladet slørhat -- Cortinarius semisanguineus --  Dyeing with Red-gilled webcap

Fra venstre: 2.+3.bad på uld (samme omgang garn i begge bade). 2 x 2. bad på alpakka - altsammen alun og tinbejdset. 1. bad på alunbejdset (det lille) og alun-tin bejdset  (det lange) uld, og på alun-tinbejdset alpakka.  Det grå er ikke farvet
l-r: 1st and 2nd afterbath wool (1 skein got both). 2 Alpaca skeins alum-tin mordant. 1st bath alum mordanted wool (the smallest skein),  Alum-tin mordanted wool (the longest) and alpaca. The grey is just along for the wash and dry part of the process.

Så måtte jeg til at plantefarve igen. Nogle af planterne har man lige ved hånden. Den her for eksempel:

Then MotherOwl was unstoppable. The plants for dyeing grow in abundance in May and MotherOwl has joined a group of plant dyers. Some of the plants are easily found - like this one

Ground elder for dye.

For ikke at tale om den øverste her på billedet. Stor svaleurt er en forsøgsplante, det kommer:
And the top one here. It grows in our garden. The bottom plant is celandine. It is rumoured to give a blue dye when fermented, but how?

Stinging nettle and greater celandine

Først gjorde jeg som vanligt 80 grader i en time. Det gav nogle fine, men lidt lyse farver. Så halvdelen af hver bundt fik en ekstra halv time ved 85-90 grader. Det blev noget mørkere.

With nettles and ground elder, I followed standard procedure. One hour at 80 degrees. It gave green colours, but a little to the yellow side. Half the yarn was given an additional half hour at 85-90 degrees. That was better. 

Ground elder to the left, nettle to the right.

Så i dag på vej hjem fra bussen kunne jeg ikke holde øjnene fra grøftekanten og fandt noget lugtløs kamille. Den lever så afgjort ikke op til sit navn, når den simrer, den stinker.
Men når man ser den smukke gyldengule farve, er man helt indstillet på at tilgive den.

On my way home I stumbled upon the first scentless mayweed of the year. It's name is fitting when you smell it in nature, It is NOT scentless when boiled.
But when you see the golden yellow, everything is forgiven.

Scentless mayweed.

Lige fra gryden --  Fresh from the pot

Og sammen med nogle af de røde svampefarver. Den lyser nærmest

And with the mushroom dyed red skeins. It's almost glowing

Lige nu er 2. bad ved at køle ned. Det ser lysegyldent ud.
Jeg fandt også regnfan. Det kommer i gryden i morgen

The afterbath is now cooling down in the pot. It looks a paler golden.
Tomorrow tansy will be in the pot.

Tansy

 
Og så den sidste plante, jeg fandt, Det skulle være vild kørvel, men jeg frygter at det er skarntyde. Se lige de røde stilkender. Men eftersom giften ikke er varmestabil, kan det vel komme an på en prøve.

Supposed to be wild chervil, I fear it's actually hemlock.
Look at those red stem bases!
But as the poison is unstable when heated, I might as well try.

Et sidste projekt er de mange padderokker fra en hyggelig plantefarver-dag, der hænger og tørrer på en snor. De skal være ordentlig tørre for at give en god farve.

One last project is dyeing with horsetails from a good day with the plant dye group. It has to be dry before it yields its colour. Patience!