Tour de Fleece Begins July 2nd

Yes, folks, the Tour De Fleece 2011 begins today!....now there are a lot of folks out there who are scratching their heads and wondering what the heck that is, and why is Sally so excited? Well, pull up a chair and I can tell you about it.

The Tour de Fleece was thought up several years ago as a way for spinners (of yarn, not tales) to process all the fiber they have sitting in bags in the closets, just waiting to be spun.

Based on the Annual Tour de France bicycle race, this version uses spinning wheels, drop spindles, and anything else that can be used to spin fleeces into yarn. Well, fine, you say...but Sally doesn't spin...she doesn't own a spinning wheel or any of those spindle things...why is she so excited?

I've been thinking about learning to spin...but the cost of buying even a beginner's wheel is so high that it's stopped me from proceeding. Then a friend suggested a drop spindle. Those are really inexpensive and can even be made from a dowel, a cup hook, and a cd disc... so I got an inexpensive spindle and some fiber and allowed myself to be talked into competing in this year's Tour de Fleece. Each spinner spins each day that the race goes on, with one of the days to be a challenge day (that's the day the bicyclists go up the hills in their race) and there are 2 days that we don't have to spin at all cause they are resting days. I've committed to spinning 10 minutes each day...I figure if I spin more than than, fine; if I only spin 10 minutes each day, then my spinning will improve slower, but I'll not put any pressure on myself...heaven knows, I don't need any more self-inposed pressure.

John left on Thursday night to spend 10 days with the grands in Salt Lake City. As usual, something happened about 2 hours after he left - the a/c unit stopped working in the house. I noticed it was getting a bit warm in the studio - it's the warmest room in the house but it got really warm. I looked a the thermometer and it read 79°...not what we normallyhave in the house. I walked down the hallway and checked the thermostat - 75° and it was set to turn on at 70°...did all the standard checks and nothing happened. Called John on his cell phone and he gave me some ideas to check and then I called the repair man - at 10:00 at night and on the start of a holiday weekend. Got the ceiling fans going....and hoped the guy could get it fixed the next morning. Here we are now on Saturday - still no a/c! That guy spent all day trying to get it fixed and gave up on Friday nite around 8:00...we called someone else from Springfield (45 miles away) and that blessed man came out last night at 10:45 to see if he could figure it out. Evidently, the circuit board wasn't bad, as was first thought, it was the motor...an $1100.00 motor! AND he can't get the part till Wednesday. In the meantime, it is sweltering in the house...this morning it was only 84° which was down from the 89° temperature from last night. Fortunately, today is the last day of 100° heat so we might get a bit of relief between now and Wednesday. Will be spending the next 3 days of my holiday in very short shorts, a tank top, and no bra....so beware if you come to visit. It's hot and so am I!!!

Wishing you all a wonderful Fourth of July Holiday....Thank you to all military members and veterans, police officers, firemen and women, farmers, and anyone I might have forgotten to mention who is responsible for making and keeping this country the great country it is.

God Bless America !