Before, during and after......

But first, a confession. Despite having remembered to pack the camera in the businesslike attache case, as well as plenty of batteries...there was no time to use it on Day 1, and it was too effing hot on Day 2. So - there are no photographs of Woolfest at all, at all.

Where to begin? Beginning at the beginning and going right through to the end is a plan. But, you know me, is anything eve that simple? I'll try - I'll jump in and swim on.

The beginning, the very beginning was that the cats totally misbehaved, and Thursday started out as a disaster. Eventually, it boiled down to a choice between 1) me not going; 2) me driving up at some point unspecified on my own in my car; or 3) the DSM coming back the 55 miles from the coast and helping. We did plan 3) and in the end, all was well - it meant that we had heard about the horrendous tailbacks on the M6, and could take a back roads route, so we actually arrived in Cockermouth at exactly the time we had said we would.

Set-up was a breeze; the B&B had not lost our booking; we found a reasonable place to eat. So far, so peachy.

We had expected that Friday would be the quiet day. It was not. Friday, the tide flowed in through the door just after ten am and did not stop all day, pretty much. The atmosphere was incredible, such a high! In fact, Midsummer Night's Knitter, the lovely India, was completely of a dither and it seemingly took her all day to calm down. I will find out more next weekend! I look forward to a good story.

I did, in amongst it all meet lots of email listers, bloggers and even - a podcaster! I was talking to someone, and the brain suddenly clicked into something approaching gear, causing me to shriek "I know that voice", which she took very well. My favourite podcaster, too. That was an unexpected bonus. I did get to chat to lots of super people in amongst all the work - but then, it is the sort of work that is fun, n'est-ce-pas?

OK, Saturday was good in many ways, sheer hell in others. We were joined by Jonathan and Sheila Bosworth of Journeywheel, who also make the spindles we sell. Jonathan spent a lot of the day with us, mostly talking about his charkas to show visitors, which went down really well, I think. Didn't do the spindle sales any harm, either! It wasn't such a busy day - maybe the footie made a difference? (Say no more, say no more, nudge, nudge.) but the heat and humidity inside the auction mart was......bad. I have never seen so many dripping and scarlet faced people gathered together in one place before.....

I'm running out of steam, and need a drink of water (hot again). We came back yesterday, good day pottering down past Crummock, lunch in Seatoller, home - through the most massive thunderstorm I had ever seen, until an hour after we got home when an even bigger one struck. Well, actually, I think, if I remember last years discussion by the local weather man, it was one of these 'ere new-fangled super-storms, which boomed, banged and flashed around over our heads for a couple of hours. Fortunately, we never lost power - it went off and on instantly several times, but never for more than a couple of seconds. Very exciting end to the day, eh?

More might surface later. 'Nuff for now.