What I Did on My Summer Vacation -Day Three

 

We started the day with Riley at 5:30 am.  As you can see she woke up happy and ready to play.  Grandparents and baby survived the first overnight babysitting gig.

 

As we left Sanford, we were talking about what to do with our Sunday.  On a whim, we headed to Carolina Beach, had lunch, flew kites and enjoyed the sand and surf. 

It was picture perfect.  I walked on the beach and collected seaweed and broken shells for some more eco-dyeing.  We didn't get home until 10:30pm but it was worth it! 

The Rogallo Kite Festival, Dare Day and more.

The giant lobster takes flight.

Reed's favorite kite shirt. 

The wind made it hard for this octopus to fully inflate and fly. 

Parrots and fish oh my! 



Colorful Premiere kite.

I took a kite break and went to Dare Day.  This is a festival held the first Saturday in June on the Manteo waterfront.

 

 

Fishy crafts.

Pretty boats

More boats.

My favorite thing, a llama with a fascinator!

 

We ended the day with more kite flying and a walk on Hatteras Beach.  I think this is my favorite place in the whole world.

Crafty Memorial Day Weekend

Flying high at Fred Liske park in Cabarrus county.

 

Spinning on my Little Gem II

More eco-dyeing.

I enhanced the blues and purples by adding iron to the dye pot.

Bits of yellow from some "weeds" gathered along Fort Dobbs road. 

Rose leaf prints



Red from bits of madder root and gold from onion skins, pennies and copper pipe added to the dye pot

Deep purple from iris blooms

Blowing in the breeze. 

 

Busy Saturday

 

Reed and I drove to Sanford to visit with Ryan, Emily and Riley.  We went to Big Bloomers Flower Farm.  This is an awesome place for perennials, annuals, herbs, hostas and more!

After Big Bloomers we had lunch together and then headed our separate ways.  Reed and I went to a nearby roadway and deadheaded a hatful of poppies.

Next up, a stop at Lake Crabtree to fly kites.  The recent rain brought the lake level up considerably.  Very little field left for playing.

 

When we got home, I prepared four more bundles for eco-dyeing.

 

These bundles with the iris blooms are being wrapped around driftwood and will be placed in water with iron added to it to hopefully enhance the purple.

This pot had the poppy bundles, I used the mordanting water and added pennies and additional pieces of copper pipe.

Working for a Living.

I spent last week working in Elizabeth City, in the evenings I explored a bit.

 

 

I discovered a lovely shop, Two and a Half Women and found some gifts for family and friends.

Reed drove up on Thursday night and he spent Friday and Saturday at Jockey's Ridge flying kites.

Biker weekend at OBX.

This is a 21 foot lobster made by Premiere kites.

This is a 14 foot clownfish Reed made.  It is amazing!

Found this awesome hat at the kite store.  Reed refused to buy it for some reason.

 

I joined Reed at the beach Saturday afternoon.  Severe storms had moved through the area on Friday night and there were several sting rays on the beach at Hatteras.