Oooh, pretty colours

Last Saturday the lovely ladies from my spinning group got together for a dyeing day.

It started off with the intention that we would do natural dyeing, and to begin with we did do a little of that.

Th orangey ones are all done with a solution of dahlia flowers.

But soon the lure of all the pretty colours from the synthetic dyes proved too much and we went wild.

It was great fun experimenting with all the different colours and some different fibres - that bright pink is some beautiful silk. We couldn't have picked a better day as the sun shone and it was really hot - if anything it was a bit too hot to be standing over a pan of steaming wool!

I don't believe I updated you on Bubba's progress after his visit to the vet. He's doing well, the vet is pleased with him. There's some loss to the muscle tone on that leg but that's only to be expected and we've stepped up the intensity of the hydrotherapy to build that back up for him. Fingers crossed there should be no need for him to go back to the vet.

This week I've been reading The Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor. It's a historical novel set during the potato famine in Ireland and is about the journey of a boat across the Atlantic with a cargo of people heading for a new life. The intertwining stories of the various people are fascinating and it's well-written. I actually picked it up beacuse I have a copy of Redemption Falls, O'Connor's latest book and I thought I'd better read the other one first. I'm not sure there's such a great degree of link that you would need to read both, but I'm sad and obsessive about these things! I like to read books in the right order. Redemption Falls is set at the end of the American Civil War and I shall probably save it to take on holiday with me.

It's been a little light relief (if death and disease can be light relief) from The Road by Cormac McCarthy which although beautifully written is not an easy read. I'm enjoying it immensely but every now and then I need to get away from the unremitting despair of it and read something more cheerful (you know, something with serial killers and psychopaths).

Most importantly I've got hold of a proof of the new Ian Rankin novel (due in September). Called Doors Open, this is his first book since he pensioned off Rebus and I'm keen to see what he'll do. The premise sounds good - an art heist from the National Gallery of Scotland. I'll let you know what I make of it when I'm finished.