When I was little, I used to spend a lot of time with my paternal grandmother, Esther Mae Sharp Harness Johnson, who was named after a neighbor that lived down the road from her named Esther Parker or Esther Parks (I think that is the name). As a child, they lived in Jacksboro near Macedonia Baptist Church. My Granny lived on Main Street in Lake City after being widowed by her 2nd husband, Hugh Johnson, a miner. One Saturday before Easter when I was about 7 or so (this would be about 1979 I guess) I was spending the day/night with my Granny. When I called home to see what everyone was doing (which I frequently did because I was nosey) I found out that my sister and brother were dyeing Easter eggs. I was VERY upset because I had foregotton we were supposed to do that. I was so upset, that my Granny took out some eggs from her refrigerator and told me that we would dye some together. We got out some greens that she had put up in the freezer, pickled beets, and onions. We put 2 eggs in a pot with the onions and boiled them. We put 2 eggs in with the greens and boiled those. We placed 2 eggs in with the pickled beets that she had put up the previous summer. I ended up with 2 yellow eggs, 2 mint green eggs, and 2 pink eggs. She told me that is how she had dyed eggs as a child. At the time I wasn't too impressed with that because I was used to dipping eggs in mugs filled with dye and vinegar. It wasn't until I got older that I came to appreciate the simplicity of dyeing eggs 'the old way'. Jennifer Harness Ayers Chattanooga, TN **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home. (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001)

That is the neatest story! Wish I had kids / grandkids of egg-dying age, as I would definitely try this method. Maybe blueberries for blue, carrots for orange, etc.? When I was working at a reconstructed *pioneer* village, we dyed raw muslin cloth with natural dyes. Mulberries from our mulberry tree, beets, onions, tea leaves, strawberries - and other stuff that we experimented with. Of course, my teen-age docents had to dump all the dyes together when they were done. A "lovely", dark, murky color came out. My daughter also dyed raw wool with natural products for an art class and ended up with some really lovely pieces. Thanks for sharing this story - just in time for Easter egg coloring. Nancy ----- Original Message ----- From: <JennH13@aol.com> To: <TNCAMPBE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 1:27 PM Subject: [TNCAMPBE] Story: Dyeing Easter Eggs; Sharp, Harness Family > When I was little, I used to spend a lot of time with my paternal > grandmother, Esther Mae Sharp Harness Johnson, who was named after a > neighbor that lived > down the road from her named Esther Parker or Esther Parks (I think that > is > the name). As a child, they lived in Jacksboro near Macedonia Baptist > Church. > My Granny lived on Main Street in Lake City after being widowed by her 2nd > husband, Hugh Johnson, a miner. > > One Saturday before Easter when I was about 7 or so (this would be about > 1979 > I guess) I was spending the day/night with my Granny. When I called home > to > see what everyone was doing (which I frequently did because I was nosey) I > found out that my sister and brother were dyeing Easter eggs. I was VERY > upset > because I had foregotton we were supposed to do that. I was so upset, > that my > Granny took out some eggs from her refrigerator and told me that we would > dye > some together. We got out some greens that she had put up in the freezer, > pickled beets, and onions. We put 2 eggs in a pot with the onions and > boiled > them. We put 2 eggs in with the greens and boiled those. We placed 2 eggs > in > with the pickled beets that she had put up the previous summer. I ended > up with > 2 yellow eggs, 2 mint green eggs, and 2 pink eggs. She told me that is > how > she had dyed eggs as a child. At the time I wasn't too impressed with > that > because I was used to dipping eggs in mugs filled with dye and vinegar. > It wasn't > until I got older that I came to appreciate the simplicity of dyeing eggs > 'the old way'. > > Jennifer Harness Ayers > Chattanooga, TN > >