Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

In the middle of Broad Street, close to the old horse trough, the raised, cobbled area in front of the houses has been covered in flowers and grasses this summer (I use the term 'summer' loosely, considering the weather we've had). Among the wild flowers growing there were teasels. I've had my eye on them for a while, wondering if I could sneak out after dark with a pair of secateurs to pick a few. They're useful to me as part of my display for medieval spinning and weaving, as teasels were used to raise the nap on cloth as part of the finishing process. They made brushes out of them with wooden frames and handles. Teasels are still used today to raise the nap on the green baize on snooker tables. Of course, those are the Fuller's Teasel, and the ones on Broad Street are ordinary teasels, but they're close enough to give the general idea.
This morning I just happened to be taking Islay out for her morning walk as a chap was starting to strim the area. I went over and asked him if I could have the teasels, and he was quite happy - it meant he didn't have to dispose of them. I went back home to get a pair of gardening gloves, and when I got back, Mary had popped across the road - she's had her eye on them for a while, too. I divided them in half - and there were plenty for both of us.
As I took Islay off for her slightly truncated walk, I met Karl Showler and told him how pleased I was. He told me that he'd had a visitor, a few years ago, who was researching teasels. He came from Virginia, where teasels had been taken over with the early colonists for their woollen industry. Now they're seen as a weed there, and he was looking for ways of controlling them.