An Outlander Treat

Spoiled! That's what I am. Cluxewe (Melinda), the best Ravelry Outlander group partner ever, sent me the most incredible package yesterday. It arrived looking like it had been run over by a truck and it might have been--if so, the truck belonged to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

So, what was in the box, you ask? Well, this:

Isn't it pretty? It's a huge felted bag made of Icelandic Lopi. And it was filled with

all this! There's yarn and soap and tea and candy and stitch markers and magnets and so many dragonflies I can't even count them all. Most everything comes from Melinda's "neighborhood": the Campbell River area of Vancouver, BC, an area I've never been to, despite having been born in Seattle. She even sent a visitor's guide that makes me want to jump on a plane today!

What about the USDA? Well, apparently agents of our government, determined to protect us from those sneaky Canadians, rummaged through the box to find some kind of pet treats that were being smuggled across the border. (Can't you picture the German Shepherds, in black suits, earpieces, and sunglasses, sniffing out those treats among all the boxes coming across the border? Get 'em, boys -- treats for us tonight!)

So, no pug treats but by God, the border is safe from dog treats! And a lovely candle lantern was broken--I suspect it was collateral damage from those treat-sniffing dogs!

Thank you, Melinda! What a fun package--even Mr. Pug was impressed. He kept saying, "more? there's more?" as I continued to pull items from the bag. The pugs seemed mostly unimpressed but I did hear Buddy muttering something about government interference.