The Dye Pot

My husband recently sold my faithful old dye pot.

The conversation went something like this......

"Where's my pot?"

"What pot?"

"The pot that was up there on top of the camping cupboard."

"Oh that beat up old thing....I sold it."

"You sold it?....Who to?"

"That sheila."

"What sheila."

"That sheila looking for saucepans for her son's flat."

"I don't believe you.  I don't believe you sold my beautiful old pot.  I've had that pot for 30 years!"

"Well you never use it.  We never take that pot camping."

"That's because it's my DYE POT......I don't do any DYEING when we go camping."  

.................(thinking that someone around here is about to die very shortly).

"Oh shit."

So the hunt for a new dye pot began.  It has taken me a very long time.  I've scoured the second hand shops, haunted the trash and treasure markets and visited the dump shop repeatedly.  It had to be a particular sort of pot. I wanted a pot that had character.....
a pot that would add it's own 'ambience & glow' to my fabrics.....
a pot that had been well loved and cared for by it's previous owner..........
and it had to be aluminium.



OMG.....I found one!!

Just rest your eyes on this little number.

How funky is it?

.....and what about the tap handle?  I've died and gone to heaven.  Dye pot heaven.

That's why I'm taking photos and blogging.  It's a pretty momentous occasion.

It would be nice to have a photo of my old pot though.  The pot that I used to clean and scour the wool I spun to knit my girls' jumpers. The pot I used to dye that very same wool with leaves collected in the Northern Territory.  The pot that has moved around the country and lived with me in almost every State.  The pot I managed to find a special secret hidy-hole for when we lived in a caravan.  The pot that is probably going to poison the young bloke it was bought for when he cooks his first 'stew'.......they'll no doubt blame his lack of cooking skills as they scrape him up off the kitchen floor!

All that poisoning aside, I'm so happy that I've found another pot to give new vibrant life to....an obviously well loved and looked after pot. Probably one that has sat on the stove for many long hours, fed a family nutritious and comforting food in winter, probably even pickled onions and made preserves...... 

And now it's going to start a whole new vibrant busy colourful life!