Camping at Bear Creek Lake

We recently took a camping trip with our Sunday School class. We got 5 campsites at Bear Creek Lake State Park in Cumberland, VA.

We had several families, 3 dogs and a few babies and kids. Eden was the youngest little one there, but she did great as always! We had warm days and cool nights (and mornings). It was nice to actually have to use a sweater in the end of September!

Our campsites were right on the lake (this is the view from our picnic table area) and gave us the opportunity to do some canoeing and fishing.

Eden got filthy crawling around the campsite, so, I gave her a bath in our dishpan! She loved splashing around in her little "bathtub" and hammed it up for the camera!

Dyeing on the Deck

My friend Julie and I spent the day at my mom's last Monday. We brought our girls (her daughter Evelyn is 18 months old) and their play pens and set up shop on the deck. We had beautiful weather.



Our day was spent dyeing silk. We used acid dyes and some natural dyes , and a variety of techniques. We painted rainbow playsilks for the girls, and worked on some Christmas gifts as well.

My mom is always so patient with the novices, and helps us get just the look we want by adding different chemicals to the fibers. We had fun cooking the goldenrod (hand-picked that morning from a nearby field) and came up with a gorgeous yellow dye. Our indigo pot was fun, as always.



The girls did great while being ignored most of the day. They played together, ate and napped outside all day with little complaint. Eden has loved her silks and ironically, "silk" is her first perfectly clear word!