Collect Peels. I used Aldi’s “Mandies”. Mandarin oranges are full of Vitamin C and easy to peel. You can also use any orange or lemon peel. Save them in a gallon zip bag. You can keep them in the freezer till you have enough to play with. Three bags of “Mandie” peels made a nice dye.

Put the peels in a saucepan, add water and simmer a couple of hours. I used an old enamelware pan which is NOT food-safe, and that’s why I use it for dyeing. In general, you should never dye anything in pans you cook food in. (Also, it is white, so I can judge the color of the dye more easily. This little pan is great for sampling dyes.) This dye is non-toxic, though, so you can use any pan. You can even use a big pot and lots of water. It will make your house smell great! Don’t let it boil dry.

Now, put the wool you want to dye (I used a “Bundle of Fluff”: Romney sheep’s wool roving from Three Sheep Gallery and Workshop) in a quart of water with a cup of white vinegar in it.  Let it soak for an hour or so, then gently drain it. (You can put baking soda down the drain and follow with the vinegar water. Keep your drain clean!)

Carefully strain the peels out of your dye. Remember, don’t pour the dyebath down the drain! I took the peels right out of the dye, squeezed them to get every last drop—this will not stain your skin, but Black Walnut will—and put the saucepan back on the stove. Put your soaked, drained wool into the saucepan, and bring it to a simmer.

Don’t stir. Stirring wet, hot wool is a wonderful way to make felt. Felting is lots of fun, but do it on purpose, not while you are dyeing. After a couple of hours of simmering, turn off the heat and let the pot cool. Let all the dye attach to the wool. (The vinegar in the soak helps the dye do that.

When the dyebath was cool, I took the roving out, rinsed it in cool water and let it dry. I combed some on my wool combs, and spun it into yarn on my drop spindle. You can see all of them in one photo—original roving, dyed roving, combed wool spun into a single yarn on the spindle. I love the color—I would call it “saffron”.

I made two balls of the yarn, and spun them together to make a double-ply yarn. Cool yarn from what would otherwise be thrown away!
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If you don’t spin, you can still dye—find an old, light-colored wool sweater or some wool yarn and have fun!

​That’s the headline. (And this is pre-Oprah interview, so still a slow news day.) So, what’s the greatest Murder Mystery? Jack the Ripper? Princess Di? The Earl of Leicester’s wife?
But noooooo…it’s the Princes in the Tower, and Richard III did it. Of course he did. Because the not-yet-sainted Thomas More resided in the same town as the children of one of the confessed murderers. Case solved, after 538 years.
Not that we have a body. Those bones found in the Tower? For all we know, they belong to two girls who died in Roman times. Forensics in the 1700s were primitive. And I struggle to believe that someone dug under a stone stairway in a royal palace/fortress, buried not one but two bodies—and no one noticed! It’s not  impossible that the burials predate the stairs, and the Tower of London itself.
You should know that I’m a Ricardian—used to be a regular contributor to the Ricardian Register, the newsletter of the American Branch of the Richard III Society. I provided art for them, back in the days before desktop publishing made printing photos possible. I am more than familiar with the world of Ricardian fiction—I even added to it when I wrote The Wizard’s Shadow.
So, I know that novelists have been solving the murder of the Princes in the Tower for well over a hundred  years. The chosen suspects include: the Duke of Buckingham, Richard’s cousin; Cecily Neville, Richard’s mother and grandmother of the Princes; Anne Neville, Richard’s Queen; Dr. John Argentine, who made them vampires; disease; unfortunate accident.
Or, not dead at all: sent into protective custody; entered religious life; fled into exile at the court of Margaret of Burgundy, Richard’s sister and their aunt.
So, let’s not pretend the mystery is solved. Such early days, for that. And as I list out the suspects, there’s one I don’t recall anyone using: the Princess Elizabeth, future wife of Henry VII and future mother of Henry VIII. Firstborn of Edward IV, heir presumptive for years, as sister after sister was born. Until her brothers are born, she is a precious possession of the crown. Eldest child of the King of England. A valuable chip in a high-stakes game. Without her brothers, she’s Queen, whether she marries Richard (as was rumored); marries Henry Tudor (as happened); or in her own right (if Richard and Henry had both died at Bosworth).
Richard took the throne—at Parliament’s request—after his brother’s children were declared illegitimate. If the Princes were alive when Richard died on Bosworth Field, then how could Henry Tudor bolster his shaky claim to the throne by marrying the Princess Elizabeth? If she’s legitimate, then they’re legitimate. So Henry’s a suspect.
England’s Greatest Murder Mystery Solved? It’s been solved dozens of times, I think. And that’s as close as we’re going to get, until someone invents a really good Time Machine.

I am honored to announce that my Flock to the Fair design, "Agri-Cultural", has been chosen by a sponsor. Thanks, Farmer's National Bank!

Thanks, Canfield Fair Marketing, for coming up with such a fun project. I can't wait to get started! Now is when those photos I have taken at the Canfield Fair year after year come in handy.

The rooster will be covered with all things "Farm". The base will be covered with Ohio produce, giant pumpkins to raspberries to corn and soybeans.

Fruits, vegetables and grains on the base.