Today We Dye

She didn't usually make her way down to this particular territory during the winter - it was a bit uncomfortable to get wet when it was so cold, so swimming the river to get to the other side wasn't great and neither was fishing or gathering clay, and the water didn't freeze in the big river most years either. But today she'd taken a big kettle down to the riverside intending to dye some roving from that year's sheering and some yard already spun, so it was bubbling over a cheerfully blazing fire, the madder already infusing the water she'd been gathering. A teapot was still steeping next to the fire, kept warm by the radiant heat. Between her paws a bowl of tea steamed with a spicy scent that warmed as much as the hot water did, and she sipped at it as she sorted through the yarns and rovings to separate them out and ready them for their bath.