"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.