Ever since Wool Week ended, my three friends have been staying on here to do a little visiting (and resting) before returning to their homes. Alas, there always comes the time when everyone needs to get back to their families and pets. Yesterday was the day for the girls to prepare for their journeys home. While they were packing their bags, Eliot and I took a break in our Old Schoolroom -- Eliot tending to his genealogy work, me trying to catch up on some reading.
Suddenly, we heard very loud and heavy footsteps coming through the hall, and Georgiana burst in, carrying a large bin of wool and roving. She was breathless and struggling under her load.
"We've been trying to get all of this stuff into Brighton's suitcase for fifteen minutes now," she gasped. "We keep trying to tell her that it won't fit, but she says that she's not leaving without it."
"We've been trying to get all of this stuff into Brighton's suitcase for fifteen minutes now," she gasped. "We keep trying to tell her that it won't fit, but she says that she's not leaving without it."
Before Georgiana had time to finish her last sentence, Natalya burst in with yet another bin of roving. "Here's more of Brighton's stuff. What are we going to do with all of this?!"
"Wait for me!" Brighton hollered, as she struggled into the room, dragging a very large bag of wool behind her. And what a bag. It was larger than her suitcase!
"That one alone has 43 different kinds of wool and fiber in it," Natalya managed to sputter, as she and Georgiana sat down to catch their breath.
"That one alone has 43 different kinds of wool and fiber in it," Natalya managed to sputter, as she and Georgiana sat down to catch their breath.
"If we weren't running out of time here, I wouldn't mention this just yet . . .", but Georgiana couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. All eyes turned to stare at her, as she announced that there was "another whole bin out there". Eliot, always ready to simplify, offered to bring it in, while the rest of us "composed" ourselves. I just stared at the mountain of wool. How were we going to pack all of that into Brighton's luggage?
Eliot quickly returned, laden with another large load of Brighton's purchases from the Wool Show, with that look on his face that says "I think you've got a problem." Brighton was very happy looking at her wool but drooped with sadness at the thought of not taking everything home with her. I tried to comfort her but wasn't exactly sure of what to say. After all, it was a lot of wool to take home, and one girl travelling with one suitcase . . . Well, let's just say we needed to . . . I know . . . "Keep Calm and Choose Wool"! It was there, right on my bulletin board, the whole time!
Eliot said "I've got it!" and left the room. Eliot doesn't say a lot . . . and he's always calm . . .
A few minutes went by (during which we all tried to cheer Brighton up) before Eliot returned carrying a huge and empty box! "Why not send it home in the post?" he asked.
What a perfect answer to our dilemma! If we sent all of this in the mail, Brighton would only have to take her little suitcase home with her on the train and the airplane. Eliot gave us orders to start packing, while he went in search of some strong packing tape. Brighton was excited again, but Georgiana was a little skeptical. She still wasn't sure we could fit everything into the box. No amount of skepticism was going to stop Brighton, though, so she stuffed the large bag of wool into the box.
Wow! It fit in, but there wasn't a lot of room in there for everything else. Uh oh.
"I've got an idea," said Natalya from the sofa. "I tried this in the bedroom with the suitcase. It didn't work then, but it might work now!"
"I've got an idea," said Natalya from the sofa. "I tried this in the bedroom with the suitcase. It didn't work then, but it might work now!"
Georgiana and I pushed down on Natalya while she sat on the box. It worked! Now there was a little more room. Ever the optimist, Brighton picked up one of the bins and dumped the whole thing into the box.
Uh oh! There was still a lot more to come. Natalya bounced on the box a few times to try and squish it all down in there, and it worked . . . sort of.
We were still working on it (and Natalya was catching her breath) when Brighton grabbed an armload of Leicester Longwool locks from the first bin. "We need to find room for these, don't forget!" Hmm . . . this wasn't going to be easy.
Natalya got up again to sit on the box, but the flaps weren't going down very far. Georgiana and I got on each side of her and leaned as hard as we could on her shoulders. After a lot of hard work, huffing and puffing, we actually managed to get everything squeezed inside and the box flaps down!
The three of us were feeling very happy with ourselves when Brighton popped up from the corner of the room with another armload of stuff to take home. Not soft, squishy wool. Oh, no! This time it was a bunch of posters, brochures, books, a pot of lanolin cream and her blue stone prize from the bran tub!
"Don't worry! I'll make it fit!" squeaked Brighton, as she crammed everything into the top of the box. Sure, it didn't fall out again, but the flaps were sticking up. The big question was, how was that box going to close now?
"No problem," said Brighton and Natalya together. "We've got it covered!" (And they meant covered.)
I guess that enough bouncing can squish just about anything down into a box. After a couple of minutes, the girls stood up and the box stayed closed. Three cheers for good friends!
Time for a rest, while we waited for Eliot to get back with the tape. Only Brighton seemed to have boundless energy, but I think that was because she was so excited about all of her things going home with her. We relaxed a bit and talked about our favourite parts of Wool Week, making plans to do this again next year.
Eliot returned (too soon) with the tape, and we were reminded that trains don't wait for packing problems!
Eliot really is a handy brother to have around. In no time at all, he had that box sealed up and clearly labelled. There was no way it would get misdelivered now, and Brighton was sure to have her box in her fiber studio in just a few days.
It was almost time to load everything onto the scooter and head off to the train station. No one really wanted to say goodbye (I think even Eliot was going to miss the company), but then we got a great idea! We'd have Eliot take a picture of us, and that way it would be something nice to remember our time together.
It took a minute for everyone to smooth their beautiful red hair and "say cheese" . . .
Now it really was almost time to go, but I had the girls wait in the Schoolroom while Eliot took Brighton's box and the suitcases downstairs. There was something that I wanted to give them -- a very special souvenir of our time spent together! There was a needle felted sheep for each of them! I'd been working like crazy every evening since the girls had arrived to get them done on time (only after they were asleep, of course -- in my "spare time").
There were Leicester Longwool sheep for Natalya and Georgiana (made of some of the locks from Albie's real-life father) and a grey Gotland for Brighton (as she's very partial to grey sheep).
The girls were so happy with their "three-of-a-kind" sheep that everyone started talking at once. It's fun to make something special for your friends!
Everyone had just enough room in their luggage to take the little sheep home. (Brighton's had to go in her suitcase, because no one was going to ask Eliot to open that box again.) The four of us put on sweaters and walked to the train station together (only a short distance from home), since Eliot needed his scooter for all the luggage. I was sad to see everyone go, but they all promised to come back again soon!
It was late in the afternoon by the time Eliot and I got back home. The house was a little empty with just the two of us, but we were rather tired from all the fun. We returned to the Schoolroom to relax before dinner, each of us picking up a favourite book and agreeing that this had been the best Wool Week ever. So, remember, "Keep Calm and Choose Wool!"
It was late in the afternoon by the time Eliot and I got back home. The house was a little empty with just the two of us, but we were rather tired from all the fun. We returned to the Schoolroom to relax before dinner, each of us picking up a favourite book and agreeing that this had been the best Wool Week ever. So, remember, "Keep Calm and Choose Wool!"