I had a severe case of spring fever today. It was an open the windows, go outside, stop and smell the flowers, kind of day. This morning we took Maggie for a walk in the Rhodie garden. Every time I go, there are more Rhodies coming in to bloom in luscious colors that I have never seen before. In addition to the Rhodies, there are many other flowering plants that have bolted in to bloom.

I found an article from the Food Network website on dyeing eggs with natural dyes. Normally, I would have put it out of my mind because I would have no one to share the activity. BUT, now I have Steph and M & M to share my crazy ideas. So this morning after breakfast, I cooked up several dye concoctions: spinach, red cabbage, paprika, pomegranate juice and cranberry juice. Each had to be boiled with vinegar for 20 minutes and then strained and cooled. Here are the red cabbage and paprika mixtures:

This afternoon my invitees showed up and we arranged hard cooked eggs in bowls and poured the concoctions over. We then put them in the fridge to give them a nice long time to take the color. I was so busy orchestrating the activity that I forgot to take pictures!!

Then the four of us went back to the Rhodie Gardens to feed the ducks and enjoy the beautiful day some more. There is a Japanese Maple that takes my breath away. The colors go from deep red at the bottom and gradate to a softer value at the top. We found a carefully made nest with several eggs along the path. I am afraid that it was made too close to the humans and has been abandoned.

Tonight I took the eggs out of the dye bath and here they are. I think they are quite beautiful. Tomorrow, I will deliver these to M & M.

Left to right: cranberry juice mixed with red cabbage (the cranberry didn’t work on its own), spinach, paprika, paprika mixed with cranberry, pomegranate juice, red cabbage.

Oh, almost forgot to mention that Sharon Rexroad, one of my frequent blog visitors, was the first to see the acronym for the Second Tuesday at Somebody’s House – STASH! So she is getting a little something in the mail.