Tour de Fleece Day 1

Here is my accomplishment for Day 1 of the Tour de Fleece. 

 I spun up 4 oz of superwash Merino wool from Wild Hare Fiber Studio.  

Colorway: Grateful Dyed

This is about 2 1/2 hours of spinning. 

PHEW! spinning fine takes a long time!

I am hoping that once this is plied, it will be a light sock weight yarn. 

This is 1/2 of my goal for Team Kromski.

Also this was in my "stash" so I will include this in my "Stashbusters" team

AND

I tried a new technique, spinning fine, for the Climbers team.

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean. 

Tour de Fleece 2012

I am participating in the "Tour de Fleece 2012" this year on Ravelry!  It lasts from June 30- July 22 which follows along with the Tour de France. (Get it?  Spinning bicycle wheels . . . spinning wheels?)  The idea is to encourage people to spin more fiber.

I have joined 5 teams so far:
 "Peloton" which is for everyone
"Team Kromski" for those with Kromski spinning wheels
 "Stashbusters" for those who have lots of fiber to spin
 "Climbers" for those who want to accomplish a skill that has been eluding them . . . for me, it is spinning cotton
 "Rookies" for those first time participants in the Tour

Here is what I hope to get spun during this event

A closer look:

If I get through all of that, I always have this to start on:

Plus, you will just have to trust me when I say that I have more . . . MUCH more fiber stashed away than what you see in these photos!!!


Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.

Latest Fiber Projects

Spinning Project
Fiber from "Sheepish Creations"
Colorway: Blue Diamonds
Blend of:  Merino, Alpaca, silk and firestar.
Two ply

Latest Completed Knitting Project
Pattern: Kwoosh Shawlette
Yarn from Wild Hare
Colorway:  Hope
A shawl for my friend, Anita who lives in Seattle.
I am a slow knitter and I found out that she
was going to be in town about three days beforehand.
I became a knitting machine to get this done in time!

Latest Spinning Project
Fiber from Wild Hare
Colorway:  Emerald
Blend of: merino, silk, other wool, angelina, firestar, mohair
I still have to spin this into a two ply yarn

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean. 

Gorgeous View

This photo was taken from one of my favorite overlooks.  

Just looking at this scene makes me feel calm and refreshed!

It would be a much cooler place to be during all of the hot weather we have been having.

Do you know where it was taken?

Hints: 
1.It is southwest of Roanoke
 2. Still in Virginia
3. Within 75 miles of Roanoke

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean. 

ANSWER: This was taken at Lover's Leap on Rt. 58 between Stuart & Meadows of Dan, Virginia. 

Do you have Prince Albert in a Can?

<BRRRING-BRRRING-BRRRRING>

"Hello?"

"Yes,  Do you have Prince Albert in a can?"  
<muffled laughter> . . .
"If you do, you had better let him out so he can breathe!" 
<raucous laughter>

<click>

Remember making prank phone calls when you were growing up?  We only had one telephone and it was in the living room, so we had to plan out when we could sneak around and make our prank calls.  A favorite time was when mom and dad were outside in the garden or doing yard work. I remember that sometimes we would dial the number of someone that we knew, a favorite being our grandparents and other relatives, but many times we would just dial the first three numbers of our exchange (952) followed by four random numbers. What was so great was that the party that we called had no way of knowing who we were since this was before the age of caller ID.  Back then, if you wanted to know who was calling, you answered the phone! We would also prank call the homes of boys that we liked, but we would usually chicken out when we heard his voice on the phone and quickly hang up.  Phew!  I'm very glad that caller ID was still years into the future!

In addition to the Prince Albert joke, we would also call and ask the unsuspecting person if their refrigerator was running.  When they replied "yes" we would choke out "then you had better try to catch it!" through our laughter.

Did you ever make prank calls? Did you have any standard pranks?

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.

19th Century Slang

Coon's age: a long time.  "I haven't heard from him in a coon's age!"

Absquatulate (1843):  to take leave, to disappear. "I had a cake cooling in the kitchen and my husband absquatulated with it, leaving me with the crumbs!"

Savage as a Meat Axe (1835): extremely savage. "He was sitting there sharpening his knife looking as savage as a meat axe."

Conniption fit (1833): a fit of hysteria. "She threw a conniption fit when she realized that he had lost his wedding band."

Seed (1825): used instead of saw or seen. "You can say what you want to about him, but I seed him do it!"

Hang up one's fiddle:  to give up.

Hooter (1839): a bit; a tiny amount.  "Politicians don't care a hooter, so long as their own selfish ends are obtained." (I would think that the more commonly used, "hoot" has it roots here.  i.e "She does not give a hoot about anything.")

Man alive (1840):  popular exclamation expressing surprise, shock. "Man alive!  I can't believe that you just smacked that big bull!"

Wrathy (1834): angry.  "Some folks get might wrathy if you pick on them about their looks."

Tuckered out (1853): exhausted. "After weeding the whole garden, she was plumb tuckered out."

Sour on (1862): to get sick of something or someone.  "Listening to her go on and on about her needlework just totally soured me on the thought of even trying it myself."

The only ones that I have never used or heard used are absquatulate and wrathy. Which ones have you used?

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean. 

Mystery Item Answer

The mystery item is:

A whetstone for sharpening knives.

This one belonged to my Grandpa Burnette.  This was one of his tools that I was not allowed to mess around with because he was always afraid that I would drop and break it. Just about anyone can put an edge on a knife, but depending on how it is done, it will either last a long time or it will need sharpening again soon.  Grandpa was very good at putting a nice, sharp and lasting edge on knives.  Interestingly enough, my Grandma was even better!

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean. 

Grandma's Attic Find

Rawleigh's Liniment Internal

When I was getting my grandparent's home ready to sell several years ago, I found so many interesting items.  I want to start sharing some of my finds with you through my blog posts. I will be calling this series "Grandma's Attic Finds".  

I remember Grandpa and Grandma Burnette always talking about using liniment for everything.  Many was the time that I heard them say that it was shame that you couldn't buy it anymore.  I think that after you read the ingredients label, you may see why it was no longer available!

Wow, let's look at the list of active ingredients:  48% ALCOHOL!  Wooo-WEE!  Take a dose of this and no wonder your aches would go away!  And just look at the dosage:  1/2 to 1 TEASPOON.  What a tiny amount! I wonder if that dosage was always followed?

Look at the other ingredients:  Capsicum, Camphor, Sassafras Oil, Hemlock Oil, & Spearmint Oil. 

Capsicum:  oh yeah, this is what gives hot peppers their fire! It is a circulatory stimulant and analgesic. 

Camphor:  It has a very strong odor.  This is where Vicks Vap-o-Rub gets it smell.  Also believed to suppress coughs, and repel snakes. 

Sassafras Oil--sassafras has been used to make a tea.  The extract was used as a flavoring in root beer. The FDA now frowns on sassafras since it has been linked to various cancers.

Hemlock Oil--good for coughs and tightness in the chest.

Spearmint Oil--used as a flavoring in  food, chewing gum, and toothpaste and it has some anti-fungal abilities. Also used to treat stomachaches and gas. 

 I just love that it is good "For Man or Beast"!

I can see where this would probably feel really great if massaged into achy muscles and sore joints.  I have used modern day medicines that contain some of these same ingredients.

I would NOT be as enthusiastic about taking this internally!

Do you need a dose today?


*****************
Thanks to information from Dave & Doris, I have found that the Rawleigh Company is still in business!  Visit their website.   They have everything from liniment to salve to cooking extracts and spices! They even sell pie filling and gravy mix!
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean. 

Mystery Item

Can you identify this mystery item?

Leave your best guess in the comment section below.

The correct answer and all comments will

be published on Wednesday.

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean. 

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!  

It does not seem possible that you have been gone for 11 years.

My Daddy was always willing to do anything and I do mean ANYTHING to help me,

but the one thing he would never do was tell me what I should do when 

I had an important decision to make.  He would discuss it with me,

but he would always tell me that I had to make my own decisions,

be they good or bad, so that I would learn.

At the time, I would be very frustrated because I might not

know what decision to make, but I am SO glad that

he didn't tell me what I should do.

I made some pretty bad decisions sometimes, 

but I learned to look at an issue from all sides 

before making a decision.

Thank you for that gift, Daddy.

Dads are special people.  Be sure to give yours a hug today.

Me & Daddy

Daddy, Rosie, & me

The last photo I have of Daddy & me together
(That is Grandma Burnette in the pic with us.)
ca. 1993

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean. 

Folk Speech

beestlings or beeslings--The first milk that a cow gives after birthing her first calf.  It was believed that pouring this milk over the rump of the cow would make her a good and docile milch cow. (I have never heard this word used, have you?)

slab-sided--having flat sides like slabs, tall & lank.  "You better start feeding that horse better because he sure is slab-sided." (I can remember my dad using this one all of the time.)

draggletailed--Untidy;  bedraggled. "You sure are looking all draggletailed after taking care of those kids all day!"

pissabed--The dandelion flower.  Children are warned not to pull it because it will make them wet the bed at night.

draw-bar--A bar or set of bars in a fence which can be drawn back to allow passage. "I hope that you remembered to secure the draw bars so the horse doesn't get out."  (I had not thought about this word in years, but when I was growing up, I had a horse named Black Beauty.  Yes, I know....I was not very original!  To get to the barn, I had to lower the drawbars to get through the fence to go ride.  Black Beauty had a foal named Midnight and she was VERY talented at rubbing against the drawbars until they fell to the ground, then Midnight would show up at the front porch where we were all sitting. Grandpa had to finally put removable pegs into each bar to keep that horse in the field! That horse would follow my Grandpa around like a dog when he was in the fields too.)

belly-aching--whining and complaining.  "She just needs to stop all of that belly-achin' and be content with her life." (I think that just about everyone in my family used this term!)

monack-- (moonack)--A woodchuck or groundhog.  (I have never heard this word used either!  Have you?)

nubbin--A small or imperfect ear of corn.

 Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.

Folk Superstitions

Are you familiar with any of these sayings?

If you shiver someone is walking on your grave.


If scissors fall and stick up in the floor, it is a sign that someone is coming.


It is bad luck to plant gourd seed. You should just throw the seeds at random to come up.


You can't grow good gourds unless you cuss them.


The more you cry, the less you piss.  This is said to children that cry too much.


Never cross a funeral procession or count the followers or you will have bad luck.


Sneezing three times in succession is a sign of a stranger coming.


Stumbling on the sidewalk is a bad sign.  Stumbling when going up steps a good one.


To put up an umbrella while in the house will bring bad luck.


To rock an empty rocking chair is bad luck.

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean. 

"Where Am I?" Answer

And the mystery location of the giant peach is:

Gaffney, South Carolina

For more information click here. 

Thanks to everyone for posting your guesses!

Where Am I?

Do you know where this photo was taken?  Leave your best guess below in the comment section.  The answer will be revealed on Thursday.

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.

Latest Fiber Adventures

It seems this past week has been so busy, but when I look back at what I have actually done, I'm really not sure WHY it seemed so busy!

I have not posted anything in a week. Mainly because I have been working on updating the appearance of my blog.  I am still not satisfied with the new look, but I figure that I can tinker with it as time goes by.

Last Friday, I FINALLY sent off a Texel sheep fleece that I bought over a year ago to have it processed into roving so that I can finally spin it.  I used to always hand card all of the wool that I spun, but after doing that whole process for over 20 years, I just want nice, clean roving to work with!

Here is a photo of a Texel sheep.

For more info on this breed, click here. 
(This photo is from that website)

  In addition to sending off the Texel fleece, I also sent off a beautiful, fawn colored alpaca fleece that I bought last October.  Here is a photo of the fleece:

Misty Morn's fleece

and here is a photo of the alpaca that used to wear the fleece!

Her name is "Misty Morn" and she lives at
Walnut Knoll Farm in Canon, Georgia

I am finally getting around to blocking a shawlette that I finished a couple of MONTHS ago:

And I have been spinning this gorgeous fiber which was the Wooly Belle April Roving of the Month

Fiber from Sheepish Creations
Colorway: Blue Diamonds
Fiber Content: Merino/alpaca/silk/firestar

And doing some dyeing:

Colorway:  "A.J.'s Delight"

Colorway: "Storms are on the Ocean"

Colorway: "Grandma's Flowers"

I guess I HAVE been a bit busy with my fiber stuff!

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.

Ticks

I can still vividly remember the first time that I ever found a tick on myself when I was child.  I spent the afternoon picking wild raspberries. My leg felt itchy and when I started to scratch it, there was this BUG attached to me.  ICK!  My grandpa explained what it was, removed the tick, doused the area with alcohol, and that was that.  I spent my whole childhood playing outdoors and in the woods.  In the first 20 years of my life, I found only three ticks on myself. So, they were never very high on my list of things to worry about.

I worked for the National Park Service for 5 years. I was in the woods and fields quite a bit since I mostly worked at living history sites. I did go hiking in the woods fairly often back then. In those five years how many ticks do you think I found on myself?  NONE.

Then, the last several years that I worked at Explore Park in Roanoke, Virginia, it was nothing unusual to find several ticks on myself almost everyday.  I was not wading through tall grass or even getting in the woods. Those things were everywhere! I stayed in a high alert tick mode all of the time.

I have gotten so creeped out by ticks that I don't even really enjoy being outdoors anymore. If I am outdoors, it is usually to sit on my porch or behind our house in an area that is covered with asphalt and concrete.  Pretty tick safe, right?  WRONG. It is gorgeous weather out today and I wanted to sit outside and enjoy it, but I felt something tickling my leg and there was a tick crawling madly up my leg.  <shudder>

I know that some of you are probably laughing and thinking that I am being silly. Well, if you could talk to one of my dear friends who is fighting the horrors of chronic Lyme Disease, you would understand my fear. I actual have quite a few of those same symptoms myself, but finding a doctor who will believe me and treat chronic Lyme Disease is no easy task. I was reading something the other day about how Carilion doctors do not treat chronic Lyme because they do not recognize it as a problem.

I wonder why ticks are SO bad now compared to when I was growing up?  Any thoughts?

To  learn more, click here
(Photo from the CDC)

June Facts

The month of June gets it name from the Roman goddess, Juno. June has always been popular for weddings since Juno was the goddess of marriage    "Married in June, life will be one long honeymoon."  (Dang, I KNEW I should have gotten married in June!)

June 4--The Full Strawberry Moon
June 14--Flag Day--This day commemorates the day in 1777 when the Continental Congress adopted the Stars & Stripes as our official flag.
June 17--Father's Day
June 20--This year, the summer solstice (when the sun is at its most northern point) is on June 20. We will have daylight for 15 hours and 9 hours of dark.
June 24--Midsummer Day. This day is associated with magic, witches, fairies and dancing. Bonfires were often lit on Midsummer's Eve to protect from evil spirits that might be roaming about as the Sun begins it journey back to the South and the days become shorter. It is believed that if you gather Calendula flowers and St. John's Wort on this day that they will have miraculous healing powers.

"A calm June puts the farmer in tune."

"If June be sunny, harvest comes early."

Cyrus McCormick was granted a patent for his reaper on June 21, 1834

Eli Whitney applied for a patent on his cotton gin on June 20, 1793

Virginia ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788

The rose is the flower for the month of June.

The birthstone for June is pearl, Alexandrite or moonstone

"Mine is the Month of Roses; yes, and mine

The Month of Marriages!  All pleasant sights

And scents, the fragrance of the blossoming vine,

The foliage of the valleys and the heights.

Mine are the longest days, the loveliest nights;

The mower's scythe makes music to my ear;

I am the mother of all dear delights;

I am the fairest daughter of the year."

                     --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.