Sunday, August 3, 2014

Camp NoFun Redux


Twenty-some years ago, our nieces Genie and Amelia would spend a few weeks of each summer with us. We called it Camp NoFun and one of the activities was always dyeing Queen Anne's Lace. (And playing dress up.) 

So now Genie has a niece of her own and the Queen Anne's Lace is in bloom . . .

Out came the ancient food coloring (I rarely throw things away.)


A little water, a lot of food coloring, and a bit of patience as, slowly, the blooms take on the different tints.


There was no dress up -- but I do still have the hat so Genie and Lily posed for an update to the Camp NoFun album. . .


And there were Cuban sandwiches -- of which, more tomorrow. . . 


12 comments:

jennyfreckles said...

Ooh, I didn't know you could dye those flowers. (Tucks info away in brain file marked 'Good Granny Tips') What do you do, just leave them in the coloured water to soak it up? How long does it take?

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I had no idea you could dye lace flowers. How fun. I'm curious how long you leave them in too.
Sam

Brian Miller said...

oh ....cuban sandwiches...no fun....just became endurable...ha...cool on the queen anne dying...they look cool...

Vicki Lane said...

It takes about an hour -- the one that did the quickest was the green because there was a higher proportion of food coloring to water. In the future, I'll use less water and more food coloring.

Barbara Rogers said...

Yay for grandma passing along "summer camp" ideas. My friend, Marsha, just had 5 grands with her for a week, and did lots with clay, as well as vigorous outdoor things. I even remember my days as a summer camp counselor. Clover daisy chains was my favorite activity.

NCmountainwoman said...

Sounds more like Camp Lotta Fun.

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

The flower dyeing looks great fun ! A lot more fun , in fact , than anything I'm supposed to be doing tomorrow ...

Friko said...

Camp NoFun?

NoFun? There must be some mistake . . . .

Darla said...

Kudos for entertaining the young so beautifully! These two posts with family were a delight; it's great for kids to make memories on farms, I think it gives them an earthing that not much else can do quite so solidly. I treasure all my memories on the farms of my grandparents!

Frances said...

Vicki, I think that your camp needs a new name...for a still sort of new century?

Queen Anne's Lace takes on all sorts of unknown beauty under your hands. As a child I was always warned off touching this wild flower...ticks. It fun to see that ticks might not go for coloration...tell Ted Turner.

Hoping that made you smile a little.

This post was a summer delight. xo

Victoria said...

CampNoFun? Sounds like a whole lotta fun is there to be had...

katy gilmore said...

So I'm curious, too, how did that seemingly so inaccurate name come to be?