I can't believe that it's already the last day of Wool Week! With all of the fun going on, the time seems to have flown by. Once we're all rested up from this excitement, I think I'll start working on next year!
Yesterday ended with a bang! Once everyone settled down from the excitement of the Animal Competition, it was time for Brandon to bring out the Bran Tub. This is a popular game at festivals and fundraisers in Cornwall and something that my family has enjoyed for generations. You take an old tub or barrel (Brandon had a great old barrel to use) filled with oat bran and hide all kinds of fun little prizes down in there. The player donates or pays a nominal charge for the fun of sticking their arm down in the bran and pulling out a prize. It's quite exciting, because you never know what you'll end up with!
For the bran-tub prizes at the Wool Show, Benny secretly donated a large pile of colourful polished stones that he'd brought back from his holiday at Disney Springs in Florida. The crowd eagerly gathered around the barrel (in their usual orderly and courteous manner, of course), wondering what they'd find!
The locals let the three out-of-town guests go first, so Natalya stepped up to the tub and stuck her arm way down in the bran. Out came a shiny green rock that she said reminded her of cherry leaves.
Brighton reached in next, sticking her hand in a little more timidly than Natalya and pulled out a beautiful shiny blue rock. She was sure she knew just the perfect spot for her prize on one of her shelves in the fibre studio at home.
Now it was time for Georgiana to take a turn. She took a deep breath, bent way down and got her hand very near the bottom to find her prize. She came up with a lovely pink and purple stone that actually matched her outfit!
The girls were so excited that they had to have their photo taken with their prizes -- just to send home for their families to see!
By this time, Eloy could hardly contain his excitement, so he couldn't wait to step up to the tub to find his prize. He took a long time digging in that bran, but when he finally pulled his hand out everyone had to gasp in amazement. He'd gotten a really nice pineapple yellow rock -- and we all know that Eloy's very favorite fruit is pineapple! (I wonder if he could feel the pineapple color. Was that why he was in there so long?)
As the crowd continued to enjoy the Bran Tub, the time approached to draw the winning ticket for the door prize. The wool store had put together a basket of special items from the shop, including some hand-knitted socks (not soggy ones), yarn, roving, a sheep toy and a jar of lanolin cream (oh, and don't forget the flyers with necessary information about sheep species and wool types). Once everyone had had a chance at the Bran Tub, Harold announced its closure and directed everyone to the Admissions window.
Mabel stepped up to the counter and announced the drawing. Boy, you should have felt the floor shake! It sure didn't take more than the one announcement for the crowd to rush over (all holding their tickets) to see if they had the winning number. Harold reminded everyone to "Keep Calm (and Choose Wool)".
Mabel drew the winning ticket and called out "It's number 29!"
A buzz went around the crowd? Who had #29? Quietly, a hand popped up at the back of the crowd waving a little green ticket. "It's me," squealed the happy voice.
The crowd moved back to see who it was, and there was Amabel -- holding her ticket in the air and smiling from ear to ear. George was sooooo happy for her!
Amabel came forward to show her winning ticket and claim her prize. What a wonderful surprise, and she already knew where she would display the little sheep toy at The Mango Tree. (For anyone who missed the previous entry, Amabel is the proprietor of Islandshire's one and only health food shop.) Mabel wrote down the winner's name, and the crowd cheered.
Well, that's all, folks! The crowd, tired and full of fair food, took themselves (and their goodies) home for a much-needed break before bedtime. The rest of us had a quick bite to eat and put on our working clothes. In the end it took us until after midnight to tear down the bulk of it, leaving about six hours of work for the next morning. (Even Eliot devoted himself to helping.) I can't really believe that it's all over. This has been the most amazing Wool Week ever, and I'm already planning on how to expand it next year!
While the Show may be over, there will be a few more blog entries in the next week or two explaining the making of our Wool Show and spotlighting all kinds of Behind-the-Scenes photos. I've received lots of questions about individual items and hope to answer them all. If you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
I'm going to take a break for a couple of days and enjoy the good company of my three out-of-town guests. Georgiana, Natalya and Brighton will be going home soon . . . and I'm just a bit skeptical about Brighton getting all of her stuff in that little suitcase . . . Eliot just put on the CD with Bryn Terfel singing "Lazybones". You make what you will out of that . . .
While the Show may be over, there will be a few more blog entries in the next week or two explaining the making of our Wool Show and spotlighting all kinds of Behind-the-Scenes photos. I've received lots of questions about individual items and hope to answer them all. If you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
I'm going to take a break for a couple of days and enjoy the good company of my three out-of-town guests. Georgiana, Natalya and Brighton will be going home soon . . . and I'm just a bit skeptical about Brighton getting all of her stuff in that little suitcase . . . Eliot just put on the CD with Bryn Terfel singing "Lazybones". You make what you will out of that . . .