So much here...dying eggs with onion skins brings back memories of Grandpa. All year long, on our ranch, he saved onion skins in a brown paper bag. Closer to Easter, he saved eggs from his hens. Today before Easter, he gathered up my sister and myself, and we dyed the eggs with the onion skins. First he tied string around the eggs in different patterns, then we dropped them into the pot of boiling water with the onion skins. I can see, now, my sister and I on chairs crowed in front of the stove as we peered into the boiling pot (Grandpa did not seem concerned about us upsetting the pot and getting scalded!) to watch the transformation of the eggs' shells into that rich, golden brown. When the eggs had boiled long enough, Grandpa removed them from the pot, then removed the strings, and there were patterns on the eggs from where the strings had kept the dye from coloring the eggs. Just like your patterns, which are amazing. We never thought to try flowers and leaves. Also, I've never encountered anyone else who colored their eggs with onion skins.
Thank you for the book recommendations as well as the coffee suggestion. Coffee is at the top of my list of life essentials and I am always on the lookout for the best and most sustainable.
The loss of your woodlands is heartbreaking. I love hearing your farm report, too, and what is happening around. Have you seen this website for bird migrations :https://dashboard.birdcast.info
Just enter your county and it will tell you how many and what kinds of birds flew over the previous night. Incredible.
Those are the coolest, prettiest Easter eggs I've seen. You inspired me to do something special for next year's Easter -- something for you. All I did this year was write a lousy essay on Easter morning about the metaphoric quality of the resurrection. Maybe that was for you too. Love all these images from Red Earth in spring. Makes me want to add one more person to one of your days soon. When you're in Eatonton in June, think about taking a detour to our farm (about 20 miles west). You're welcome to stay with us, too. We'll put you up in a comfy room.
I loved the naturally dyed eggs. I was drawn to my yard for some Easter cleanup and a short walk in the canyon preserve near our home. Then friends joined us for dinner. No hot cross buns but I did make a ginger cake for dessert.
Thank you for the reminder to dye eggs naturally. When my boys were young, our egg hunts also took place around the homestead. But sometimes snow limited where we could hide eggs. My family's gathering celebrated a simple meal and afterwards I taught my 6 yr old grandson how to stomp on oak galls to make a loud pop. He loved it. I am so sorry about the heirs murdering trees. What a tragic loss.
re the dust bath / not dust bath, i just came across this on accident - vultures and snakebirds do it, but i never thought of other kinds of birds doing it. i don't know how scientifically accurate this is, but something to ponder: https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/sunning-doves
Well, only the lowest part was flooded- a quarter of the total boardwalk, I'm guessing...maybe 8" deep or so. We did feel like we got the Total Swamp Experience :)
The eggs are stunning! I’ve never thought about dyeing eggs in such a way and now I might try it myself.
In my adulthood, I find Easter to be challenging to celebrate. It’s something I do with my family — and we HIDE!!! the eggs — but there are religious connotations that make it hard for me to wish folks a happy Easter.
Easter came early and this year I didn’t hear about it til a few days before— in a way like the Super Bowl when people ask which team I’m for and I have to ask who’s playing, my answer to ‘what are you doing for Easter?’ was ‘when is it?’ We’re still catching up after everything everyone did related to xmas holidays and different big trips that required coordinating cat sitting, childcare and dog sitting. Coincidentally Meg came from NYC for the weekend in honor of her 42nd bday and to spend time w the little ones. In a way it was a relief to let official Easter slide by, last year it was a mayhem of family gathering focused on a dozen cousins for egg hunts, games, food…
I love to dye eggs, too, in much the same way as you described except I used boiled cabbage, boiled beets, Celestial Seasoning Red Zinger Tea, and tumeric for my dye baths and then apply the plants materials from our/neighbor's yard with pieces of cut-up panty hose and bread ties to secure them while the magick happens. I use a mix of brown and white eggs and even tho' I apply the same methods every year, the batches are always different: sometimes autumnal shades, sometimes pastel tints, and sometimes more jewel tones. I share them with neighbors and clients and their kids and I have to say it's just about my favorite rite of Spring. And your eggs were beautiful BTW. My mom used to dye some of our eggs with onion skins and your picture made me nostalgic for hers. I may add that variation to my dye bath selection next year.
I love those eggs! I *just* got a Slovenian cookbook in the mail and it has directions for those, as well as negative-image ones made with a slightly different process. It arrived after Easter, though, so I'll have to try them next year. I did make hot cross buns for Easter, and spanakopita and a lemon curd ice cream merengue cake, plus salmon and roasted potatoes. We had two kids home from college and the bigger kid getting ready to go out into the world, so possibly our last Easter as a family, plus some assorted in-laws and friends at loose ends. To be honest, I would rather go hiking on Easter, but with it falling on March 31st, who knew what the weather would be like ahead of time (it turned out beautiful, but nor'easter blizzard today, so you never know), and the older people appreciate the meal and get-together after a long winter.
We hiked at my church which is Aucilla Sinks. Lovely morning seeing all the new green leaves and hearing the water fall at Big Dismal. BTW it’s not dismal. I’ve now designated a box under my sink for onion skins. Lovely eggs.
Thank you for those beautiful eggs! Easter eggs are one of my favorite annual rituals and due to various circumstances, I didn't get to experience it the way I usually do, so this brightened my weakened Easter spirits. In my childhood there was always a family gathering at the old farm, with a pair of competitive egg hunts (guys against the girls, then kids against the grownups, with winning teams getting a flock of chocolate rabbits), followed by equally competitive croquet matches. We have re-created that ritual most Easters since we got the farm back, but not this year. Since we couldn't get to the farm, the grandsons and I dyed a few dozen eggs, and invited some of their younger cousins and neighbors over for a home based hunt, which turned out to be a decent substitute.
Breaks my heart to hear of those old trees. Youngest grandson says penalties for cutting trees should be similar to those for murdering a human, especially since we need more trees and already have more than enough humans. He has some interesting ideas about what kinds of laws should be enacted to protect the rights of trees.
Wow, mulberries ripe already? I should check my tree but when I looked last week they were still green. Usually it's mid-May for us.
Easter: I still have a little one who is 9.5. We've typically camp since it is a three day weekend and that's what we did this year, too, but I've also gone to my parents for Easter where he has cousins to hunt eggs. The cousins are older now, 15 and 12, so their egg hunting days are waning rapidly. We hunt eggs at camp and the Easter Bunny arrives and fills the basket with some goodies. I'm trying to savor the last year or two of what we have for that. Kiddo is asking us to stay home one year (we did in 2020) so EB can come to our house instead of camp! We never make special food for Easter when it is just the three of us but when I go to my parents they make a meal. And it was only this year I saw hot cross buns for sale at our Kroger. It's always only been just a nursery song for me. I've never had them before!
So much here...dying eggs with onion skins brings back memories of Grandpa. All year long, on our ranch, he saved onion skins in a brown paper bag. Closer to Easter, he saved eggs from his hens. Today before Easter, he gathered up my sister and myself, and we dyed the eggs with the onion skins. First he tied string around the eggs in different patterns, then we dropped them into the pot of boiling water with the onion skins. I can see, now, my sister and I on chairs crowed in front of the stove as we peered into the boiling pot (Grandpa did not seem concerned about us upsetting the pot and getting scalded!) to watch the transformation of the eggs' shells into that rich, golden brown. When the eggs had boiled long enough, Grandpa removed them from the pot, then removed the strings, and there were patterns on the eggs from where the strings had kept the dye from coloring the eggs. Just like your patterns, which are amazing. We never thought to try flowers and leaves. Also, I've never encountered anyone else who colored their eggs with onion skins.
Thank you for the book recommendations as well as the coffee suggestion. Coffee is at the top of my list of life essentials and I am always on the lookout for the best and most sustainable.
The loss of your woodlands is heartbreaking. I love hearing your farm report, too, and what is happening around. Have you seen this website for bird migrations :https://dashboard.birdcast.info
Just enter your county and it will tell you how many and what kinds of birds flew over the previous night. Incredible.
I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your adjacent woodlands.
Those are the coolest, prettiest Easter eggs I've seen. You inspired me to do something special for next year's Easter -- something for you. All I did this year was write a lousy essay on Easter morning about the metaphoric quality of the resurrection. Maybe that was for you too. Love all these images from Red Earth in spring. Makes me want to add one more person to one of your days soon. When you're in Eatonton in June, think about taking a detour to our farm (about 20 miles west). You're welcome to stay with us, too. We'll put you up in a comfy room.
I loved the naturally dyed eggs. I was drawn to my yard for some Easter cleanup and a short walk in the canyon preserve near our home. Then friends joined us for dinner. No hot cross buns but I did make a ginger cake for dessert.
So much sweetness in your world, thank you for sharing about hunting eggs over and over and over again, a story of joy on many levels!
Thank you for the reminder to dye eggs naturally. When my boys were young, our egg hunts also took place around the homestead. But sometimes snow limited where we could hide eggs. My family's gathering celebrated a simple meal and afterwards I taught my 6 yr old grandson how to stomp on oak galls to make a loud pop. He loved it. I am so sorry about the heirs murdering trees. What a tragic loss.
re the dust bath / not dust bath, i just came across this on accident - vultures and snakebirds do it, but i never thought of other kinds of birds doing it. i don't know how scientifically accurate this is, but something to ponder: https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/sunning-doves
Well, only the lowest part was flooded- a quarter of the total boardwalk, I'm guessing...maybe 8" deep or so. We did feel like we got the Total Swamp Experience :)
The eggs are stunning! I’ve never thought about dyeing eggs in such a way and now I might try it myself.
In my adulthood, I find Easter to be challenging to celebrate. It’s something I do with my family — and we HIDE!!! the eggs — but there are religious connotations that make it hard for me to wish folks a happy Easter.
Thank you for the beautiful naturally dyed eggs. I’ve never seen or heard of it before today!
Easter came early and this year I didn’t hear about it til a few days before— in a way like the Super Bowl when people ask which team I’m for and I have to ask who’s playing, my answer to ‘what are you doing for Easter?’ was ‘when is it?’ We’re still catching up after everything everyone did related to xmas holidays and different big trips that required coordinating cat sitting, childcare and dog sitting. Coincidentally Meg came from NYC for the weekend in honor of her 42nd bday and to spend time w the little ones. In a way it was a relief to let official Easter slide by, last year it was a mayhem of family gathering focused on a dozen cousins for egg hunts, games, food…
I love to dye eggs, too, in much the same way as you described except I used boiled cabbage, boiled beets, Celestial Seasoning Red Zinger Tea, and tumeric for my dye baths and then apply the plants materials from our/neighbor's yard with pieces of cut-up panty hose and bread ties to secure them while the magick happens. I use a mix of brown and white eggs and even tho' I apply the same methods every year, the batches are always different: sometimes autumnal shades, sometimes pastel tints, and sometimes more jewel tones. I share them with neighbors and clients and their kids and I have to say it's just about my favorite rite of Spring. And your eggs were beautiful BTW. My mom used to dye some of our eggs with onion skins and your picture made me nostalgic for hers. I may add that variation to my dye bath selection next year.
I love those eggs! I *just* got a Slovenian cookbook in the mail and it has directions for those, as well as negative-image ones made with a slightly different process. It arrived after Easter, though, so I'll have to try them next year. I did make hot cross buns for Easter, and spanakopita and a lemon curd ice cream merengue cake, plus salmon and roasted potatoes. We had two kids home from college and the bigger kid getting ready to go out into the world, so possibly our last Easter as a family, plus some assorted in-laws and friends at loose ends. To be honest, I would rather go hiking on Easter, but with it falling on March 31st, who knew what the weather would be like ahead of time (it turned out beautiful, but nor'easter blizzard today, so you never know), and the older people appreciate the meal and get-together after a long winter.
We hiked at my church which is Aucilla Sinks. Lovely morning seeing all the new green leaves and hearing the water fall at Big Dismal. BTW it’s not dismal. I’ve now designated a box under my sink for onion skins. Lovely eggs.
Thank you for those beautiful eggs! Easter eggs are one of my favorite annual rituals and due to various circumstances, I didn't get to experience it the way I usually do, so this brightened my weakened Easter spirits. In my childhood there was always a family gathering at the old farm, with a pair of competitive egg hunts (guys against the girls, then kids against the grownups, with winning teams getting a flock of chocolate rabbits), followed by equally competitive croquet matches. We have re-created that ritual most Easters since we got the farm back, but not this year. Since we couldn't get to the farm, the grandsons and I dyed a few dozen eggs, and invited some of their younger cousins and neighbors over for a home based hunt, which turned out to be a decent substitute.
Breaks my heart to hear of those old trees. Youngest grandson says penalties for cutting trees should be similar to those for murdering a human, especially since we need more trees and already have more than enough humans. He has some interesting ideas about what kinds of laws should be enacted to protect the rights of trees.
Wow, mulberries ripe already? I should check my tree but when I looked last week they were still green. Usually it's mid-May for us.
Easter: I still have a little one who is 9.5. We've typically camp since it is a three day weekend and that's what we did this year, too, but I've also gone to my parents for Easter where he has cousins to hunt eggs. The cousins are older now, 15 and 12, so their egg hunting days are waning rapidly. We hunt eggs at camp and the Easter Bunny arrives and fills the basket with some goodies. I'm trying to savor the last year or two of what we have for that. Kiddo is asking us to stay home one year (we did in 2020) so EB can come to our house instead of camp! We never make special food for Easter when it is just the three of us but when I go to my parents they make a meal. And it was only this year I saw hot cross buns for sale at our Kroger. It's always only been just a nursery song for me. I've never had them before!