I am experimenting and playing with natural dyes, and, have saved the leftover "tea" from our last few batches of hydrosol. The water lleft over from distilling the eucalyptus hydrosol was a really, REALLY interesting red color. I used some of the actual eucalyptus plant matter to compost dye some silk squares...those won't be ready for a few weeks, so I don't know what they look like. But I dyed this roving with the eucalyptus "tea" and think it's a really pretty color! Next, I'll try the leftover tea from the lemon eucalyptus we did a week or two ago. :)

FROST!

We had our official hard freeze on Wednesday night. *sigh* I had some lemongrass, lemon verbena, and a bit of lemon eucalyptus that hadn't made it into the still yet, so I cut those and they are in the drying shed now. I'll distill them as soon as the weather cooperates. Those were the most "tender" herbs I wanted to save. I still have rosemary to distill, but it likes the cold, so it will be okay for a while! It's always sad to have the first frost come....but also kind of a relief in a way, because that means the bulk of our summer work is done!

John took this picture of a spider hanging out in our garden. We love spiders!