Tradition- TRADITION!

The title is meant to be sung in the style of the song "Tradition" from the Fiddler on the Roof, and for this last post of the year, I thought it would be nice to talk about some family and holiday traditions. And with any luck for those of you that know the song I am talking about, then hopefully it is stuck in your head now!

I started thinking about this earlier in the month, mostly because my new (this year) co-workers kept asking me about Canadian Christmas traditions. Really, it's the same in Canada as it is in the UK. It depends on what you call a tradition, but the same year-on-year happenings unfold in a comforting way.

Stores start decorating and merchandising in November.

December comes along and you can start to threaten your children with being on the Naughty or Nice list for Santa/ Father Christmas- In the UK, people tend more towards Father Christmas, but like Halloween, an Americanized Santa seems to be creeping in more and more every year. With this, some kids will write (or e-mail or text) Santa their list. Most families have Advent calendars with waxy chocolate... I can affirm the quality of Advent calendar chocolate is the same on both continents. 

December also brings magical bliss like glitter, flashing lights, sounds of bells, a new Starbucks holiday menu, the ever-more-worldly-and-popular-German-Christmas-Market, and old movies on TV from either the 70's or 90's. I'm not joking, films like Fiddler on the Roof, the Sound of Music, Home Alone, and Die Hard are on repeat here and there. You put these old classics on to get you in the mood whilst you decorate the house and the tree. And if not the films, then definitely some Christmas tunes: Feliz Navidad and the Little Drummer Boy off of a record (in a light blue sleeve?) bring me right back to my childhood. They are practically the soundtrack to decorating the tree with my sisters- all the homemade decorations on the bottom of the leaning real tree and the nice glass baubles on the top. Not to forget the fight to who gets to put the angel on the top of the tree.

Socialisation increases in December- Christmas parties at work are similar across the ocean: You have a meal together, there might be a dance depending on the size of your business. You generally get dressed up in something that isn't very comfortable and eat an attempt at a Christmas dinner that will never be as good as it is on the actual day. I remember going to my Grandpa's work Christmas party when I was young: three things I remember in particular: 1) having to wear the itchiest white lace tights; 2) riding the train around the campus; and 3) playing the fishing game to win a present. Itchy tights aside (which have turned into shoes that "aren't-made-for-walking" let alone dancing), I remember really looking forward to it, regardless of how naff a Christmas party always is. You might also visit family and friends you haven't seen since someone's birthday or else Christmas the previous year- Aunties and Uncles and "Aunties" and "Uncles".

The shopping frenzy of what to buy your Aunties and Uncles and "Aunties" and "Uncles" and friends and "friends" is the same. Weirdly, Leanna- the most disorganised sister, is the most organised and prepared Christmas shopper. And I remember sitting with my Mom learning how to wrap presents (I am the better sister at wrapping)- how to tuck the corners in and how to wrap gift-baskets.

The baking and food preparing frenzy also begins sometime after the 20th. Shopping for the big day purchasing cheeses, crackers, pates, and nibbles that are a treat. Also baking more and more cookies, and pies, and cakes, and all the calorific goodness that is associated with comfort over the holidays. On the note of food, don't forget to leave your cookies and milk (and Whiskey) for Santa + food for the reindeer (carrots or oats) regardless if you are in Canada or the UK.

It surmounts to the big day(s) where you gather as a family, and maybe even an extended family, have a big meal together, and exchange gifts. Who you visit and when depends on the number of families you have to accommodate and their traditions. It was easy for us as kids with the Polish half of the family celebrating on the 24th and the Canadian half on the 25th. Most in the UK do the 25th and into the 26th. In all cases, the feast is so similar with a large meat or two (turkey+cranberry and ham are the most common), stuffing, steamed vegetables, supds often in more than one form, and various desserts/puddings. Brussel sprouts, trifle, and fruitcake/Christmas pud are UK staples- three items that I happily trade out for my Mom's marinated vegetable salad and my Grandma's chiffon pumpkin pie any day! You chat, you banter, you drink, and then you exchange presents: I must say I haven't had socks or a calendar for the past three years and they have been missed! You chat a bit more, you put on your new clothes, you drink a lot more, and then it's time for it all to end. 

You pack up your new belongings and go home. You recover for a day, you make another indulgent visit and you cycle this until New Years where you have one last boozey feast of the year. You pack up your decorations (this time to the new CD you got, not at all festive) and you pack up the socks/sweater/jumper until the next December when you visit your family and "family" and friends and "friends" again. And you spend the next few months recovering and getting into the swing of all that will be good in the New Year- which for many of us is a comforting repeat of the last.

Happy New Year to all my family and friends and "family" and "friends" around the world. All the best and keep in touch!

Cultural Differences

The inspiration for this entry came the other day whilst at T1 at Heathrow en route en business and in need of a book to read. I hit the bookshop and found- 102 English Things To Do- Perfect! A (non)-fictional, list-type book that I can work my way through and blog about for the next year of UK Adventures. And apart from already passing (with a grade of 19/20) the Life in the UK test a year ago, I can follow this guide in pursuit of Citizenship (sometime) in the near-ish future.

Now, to find a place to sit down and read it: Caviar and Champagne bar- vrais Français; Giraffe- a typical American restaurant with quesadillas, burgers, etc., Est- an “Italian” Pizza/Pasta chain, and a little pub boasting "Great English Food"- why not start my 102 English Things To Do with an English meal. Fish and Chips (thing to do #95), Pie and Mash (#96)... Ummm… no vegetables other than potatoes on the menu brings me to standing there contemplating the awful stodginess of English cuisine. This equates to me participating unknowingly at the time in item #2 of English Things To Do= Dwelling on England’s Failures (where the author mentions that it is English to consider English Cuisine as a failure “despite the fact that in the last couple of decades English food has undergone something of a renaissance.”). I find the word “renaissance” an odd choice of words (the connotation is French and alludes to great change). It is quite ironic (don't judge yet and keep reading...)  that the author chose this word where “English” food hasn’t really changed nor can anyone really say what truly English food is apart from Pie and Mash and Fish and Chips. But, in the book you are to learn that the author is doing English Thing To Do #6- Be Ironic- “saying one thing and mean another”. Hmph. I settle on the Pizza/Pasta place where I know I can get a warm salad.

In this cultural pursuit, I ended up sat down next to a typically overweight American Dad (checked lumberjack shirt, jeans above his belly button, and a moustache that was not only for Movember) and Daughter combination eating the plainest cheese pizza (as a starter I found out shortly after sitting down and starting this entry) and a margharita pizza for the main and was time warped about 11 years listening to their conversation. 

“tell me what’s going on then? I’m not going to pass judgement, but I want to understand what’s going on”.

“meh”.
“can you tell me what’s working, what’s not working?”
“dunno”
“help me to understand you”
“I hate sharing”
“well, can you tell me what you don’t like about it- that should be easy?”
“I don’ wanna talk about it.”
Then about 20 minutes of conversation…and by conversation I mean Dad prodding and teenage Daughter meh-ing.

Then:
“one more question, can I ask you one more question?”
“meh”
“are you sure or are you leaning in a direction. Because before we set out on this trip, I thought you were clear on what you wanted. But it seems that you are more unsure now. Can you tell me why?”
“no”
“Come on”
“no, I don’t want to share”
"Is it based on facts or feeling"
"Dunno"
"Can you give me some direction?"
"No"
"What is it then?"
"I’ll give you a hint; I take into account more than just the education."- wow, she must be annoyed because she strung together more than three words.
"What, you didn’t see any boys?"

… more digging from Dad, more not sharing from Daughter. It brought me back about however many years because it was similar to how we worked (parents prodding, teens evading) and it’s only in my adult life that I can now appreciate how much of a pain it must be to have teenagers. Your parents want the best for you and want to find out how they can help you, but you as a teenager are entirely inconsolable and uncommunicative. And I know this is probably not a cultural difference, but it’s made me happy in my heart as an I’m-now-older-and-wiser difference.

Entirely culturally warped this time, the next phrase did come out of the American’s mouth: “the suckiest thing ab-OWT it was…”- In the words of my Uncle Rick- Holy Moly! I haven’t heard that since the last time I watched Full House! Other words like Cool and BAY-sil, not BAH-zel are things that I like about being North American- I will not conform to the English language with my pronunciation. I will conform, however, in the upcoming months by following the 102 English Things To Do to the best of my ability- purely for blogging reasons (and because it’s probably cute and quintessentially English to politely follow the crowd or else apologise for not doing so- #13/#14).

I will finish off with my cultural observations when awaiting my gasp- late Lufthansa flight to Hamburg- yes, there were audible gasps of disgust from the gathered passengers upon the late announcement.

Standing in a mass, not a queue or line-up among the smartly dressed and overtly annoyed Germans, here is a description of the general dress sense of my fellow passengers, and I do so because it is most unlike the dress sense of a crowd of English or Canadians or Americans waiting for their planes: 

 Example of Irish dress (non)-sense.

Men with neatly styled coifs- their hair is a length where it is styled and cut with scissors, not shears, yet not too long for it to look a-wry. They wear collars, and sweaters, and perfectly placed scarves under their tailored jackets on top of jeans that are not so tight that you can see what underpants they are wearing, nor are they so loose that you cannot tell what size they might be; with leather shoes and black or coloured socks. The women with a-line skirts and tall leather boots- polished; dark tights; also collared shirts, with sweaters, and elegantly printed scarves in a trendy mass around their necks; hair loosely, but not messily pulled into braids or twists. They are all tall or seem tall because they stand straight. And this is the mass that is German (or Dutch) and never English. They are conservative in their overt language and look forward to the Wurstsalat that they serve on the plane. I like this. (not the Wurstsalat).

Vintage and Domesticated

October has flown by and I seem to be writing this month's report because I have to rather than that I feel like I want to- Off the top of my head I can't even think about what's happened (apart from smashing my half-marathon personal best- toes are looking pretty purple), but I look back into my photo folders and see that October has been productive: so, what have I been up to?

October 6th- Vintage fair weekend in search of a Christmas party dress; and if you remember, I said not to get me started on "vintage hipster" because the concept makes my head want to explode. I love it and hate it- love the classic-classy 40's and 50's junk, hate the pretentious hipsters that think that they are individual with their grandpa sweaters, over sized specs, and "wanker beards"-  if you were truly individual, you wouldn't all be exactly the same to the extent there is an entire genre named after you! I hadn't planned on coming back to this concept, but on the back of watching a skit this evening that summed up my summer ("Harry and Paul- Series 3, Episode 1"), it has brought the idea back to the boil. I can't seem to find the skit that I want to link to on YouTube, so will dialogue it for you instead:

Scene: Summer Music Festival: Market-style clothing tent: 40-something woman with a gold headband pressing down her centre-part- you know the one. Woman (Nutella) approaches a 50's something man (Marcus) with longish hair, tortoise-shell framed glasses, and a "wanker beard" (trimmed lower goatee). They exchange hellos with about eight cheek kisses. He explains he has a clothing tent now because the posh thick-os don't visit the store on the weekend. She explains it's because they all go to the festivals- Fleeced, Cashtonbury, Pay-on-Wye (I think this is the one I go to), and Platitude. Nutella then sees the "cheap gum boots" that Marcus has for sale- he says because they have hand painted flowers, he is selling them for £30 a boot or 3 for £100. She buys 3. She talks about feeling like she's back in the 60's; he says "Ah, then you'll like this S£!+" and points to the rack of vintage clothes. As Nutella flicks through the rack, she asks if they are vintage or retro. Marcus says "I'd say they are horrible, you'd probably say they are vintage". Nutella asks what the difference is between vintage and retro. Marcus explains "vintage is old and horrible, retro is new and horrible, but made to look old and horrible". 

This doesn't mean that I think that the entire vintage concept is wrong- it works well in many ways and there are people that make the entire look work for them (I'm hoping to make it work with a vintage dress-up photo shoot next weekend, but that's besides the point). These are the people that embrace it all- they keep their decades separated- not mixing 50's with 80's just because it's old- keep your Cosby sweaters away from your below-the-knee pleated skirts. Brogues and woolly leggings and late 80's acid-wash denim shorts don't work, neither did fringe in any time other than Woodstock. 

Rant over and I have spent most my weekends in October as a 50's housewife in the kitchen-  my power bill on the up and up with the oven on for much of the time. Drying fresh herbs from the garden, pickling 4.5kg of onions, meatloaf, stews, pumpkin pies, chocolate banana loaves, and- the highlight for me: mastering- well, beginners luck, with a chocolate roulade. I'd talk you through it all, but I think that I will leave it for this month, and end with a photo diary of my kitchen adventures.

Sage, lemon balm, oregano, mint, lemon oregano in the "airing cupboard"

Roulade

  

Meatloaf

Pickled Onions

And some more...

The momentum of events from August spilled into September where I truly cannot believe how quickly the month has passed. The adage "time flies when you are having fun" holds true. Here is what I was up to:

As promised, a short report (and more than one pic) of the Broome Farm Cider Festival. The girlies were absent last year, so ensured that we doubled our presence for this year's festival. With cracking weather, ten of us set sail down the M50 to anchor ho' in our regular plot o'land in the orchard. Two big tents and one luggage hold-come-dressing tent was where we settled for the weekend. It was as good as we remembered it and we were remembered (and missed?!) by more than a few of the regulars.Who doesn't love the girls from Brum crashing a posh-party in the countryside ;) Ceilidh on the Friday night and a line of up bands (and pirates) on the Saturday prompted us to let loose and have a good weekend boogie. And before you ask, there is no good reason (nor bad one) for the fancy dress- rather: Why not?! What else ensured... well, what happens at Cider Fest, stays at Cider Fest... but here are a few pics.

Ceilidh Dancing (essentially Gaelic line dancing)

Cider Market

Cream Tea

Hair wraps and make up to pass day.

The Girls!

From Cider Fest, it was straight to Loerrach, Germany for work for a 3 day on, one week off, one week on stint at the Milka factory. Hooray! 

In between my weeks in Germany, I managed to squeeze in a wine tasting session. Yay for Groupon! 14-squids for a two hour wine tasting session + tapas. This was either going to go really well or really wrong- and I was feeling in a particular bossy-pants mood on the evening (thus setting it up to lean to the latter). I was pleasantly surprised how well the evening went (perhaps with the lubricant of all of the wine), and only managed to Hermoine the host once to correct him on the term subjective vs. objective response in detecting specific flavour notes. He  took the correction on and still sent me the wine list from the evening. 

The wine list was surprising- three whites, four reds, and a Muscadet all from the High Street. A mix of varietals and a mix of flavour profiles. What was nice was that all of the wines on the list were affordable and interaction was encouraged throughout the night- much different from any of the vineyard tastings that I have been to where they serve you the smallest drop and push you to purchase lots of anything. Different nights throughout the month were focused on a different region, and one thing that I miss from being in Edmonton is a selection of Zinfandel (Red!). So if I was to get anything off affirmative from the evening, it was to be where I can buy a good bottle of Zin.

I also managed to sneak in a quick trip to the big city to check another band off of the list: Beirut. It really pays to like bands on Facebook, because when they are in a city near by and the tickets go on sale (or they have tickets they haven't fully sold), an update usually comes along. I've managed to purchase tickets three times in the past two years in this way, rather than patrolling the Ticketmaster website. Win!

The gig was good- better than good, it was fab! My cheeks were sore from smiling the entire night. The experience was fab because instead of playing their songs as they are on the albums, each song was played in a slightly different style and you knew that this was the only time you would hear the song played in such a special way. And who doesn't love to hear the musicality and power of a brass section live!

With the Saturday in London to myself, the question of the morning was- which market to visit? and I chose to wander back down to Camden. In this visit I decided that Camden trumps Portobello. They are both samey-samey (within themselves rather than comparatively) year on year, where you probably only need to visit once and any return within the same year would be to purchase a known object. But having not been to Camden in over a year, it felt as fresh as it did when I first visited. I like the variety in Camden, there really is more of something for everyone. Portobello is more antique-y, cute, and vintage hipster (and don't even get me started on vintage hipster- I have at least one blog's worth of observations for another time); whereas, you have all of that in Camden next to a stall that sells gas masks and fetish next to a stall that sells fluffy cartoony key rings and bags to the Manga crowd- the mix is what I love.

Back to Brum to go back to Germany to come back again and fill the rest of my September at home cleaning and ironing and ticking tasks off of the list. And I can say that I have (well, Craig did) finally kicked my butt enough to finish one of my arts and crafts August projects- my cork board. My problem with arts and crafts is that I see a good idea and think- I want to have a go at that- I accumulate all the necessary items, start the craft, and get angry with myself half way through. But, I can't stop, so I keep on going and growing angry because of the internal dialogue in my head going "why did you start this?" "because you want something cool and hand-made in your house" "but you could just buy it" "but then you can't brag and say I did it" "why don't you just finish up for now" "because I probably won't ever start it up again" "why don't you just hurry up and do it" "because I can't do it crap- it needs to look good" "AAAARGH but it is so painstaking" "stupid linear OCD"... see, this is why I should steer clear in the first place. And now it's making me anxious because I have one more project that I want to do which is for decorating the dining room. I haven't started yet (apart from accumulating materials), but can't think of any other way in which I want to decorate the dining room, nor can I think of any good excuse to get out of starting. Sigh. In any case, I will leave you with my cork board and the answer "no, I did not drink all of the wine; but, had I thought of this task two years prior, then I would have had all personal corks to attach".

Moving and Grooving

I know I said that this month was to be Arts and Crafts August... but with the amount of comings and goings and ins and outs we have had this month, my arts and crafts have truly remained buried in the garage, and at the side of the sofa, and firmly in my brain. However, I did manage to secure one of my crafty projects in the hair of my good friend Jackie for her wedding... you'll see....

After a pretty eventful July, the momentum kept up with the opening of the Olympics in London. I was in two minds whether or not to stay clear or jump on the band-wagon and as the hype intensified, I had a feeling I would be joining in. Some twisting of my rubber arm from my Mom (just go, you never know when you will get to be a part of it again) cemented it and I bought some tickets to see Canada play South Africa in the Women's Soccer. It was nearby (Coventry) and the stadium was maybe 1/3 full, but all geared up and ready to shout De-Fence, I was ready to take it in with other passionate Canuks. Victory was ours and this taster was enough to get me addicted. I managed to convince Craig and some other team GB supporters to watch the Canada vs. GB quarter final match, where even Craig was impressed with the calibre of our women (he was also not at all impressed with the calibre of refereeing, but everyone is a critic). What impressed me most was the inclusive and family atmosphere in the stadium when I was a lone Maple Leaf in a sea of GB, where usually such seating arrangements are heavily tabooed. I was able to raise my flag high in support of the goals the girls scored- apart from a deathly scowl I kept getting off a well-trained 8-year old football fan. The only thing I hadn't done to this point was paint/tattoo my face with a group of fellow Canadians, but Corinne soon fixed that. Her Mom had a spare ticket to give me for the Equestrian in London and at last I was truly going to be a part of the best Olympics to date.

Splitting the Western and Eastern Hemispheres at Greenwich. I have now stood at the North/ South (Equator at Quito, Ecuador) and East/West (Greenwich,UK) divides!

Post-Olympics and with an entertainment comedown (as they were calling it in the media), I had to focus on the next big task- learn to solder! Yes, I can solder (and I can also use a bandsaw), and I learned to do it so I could make Jackie's wedding hairpiece. At first when I volunteered my efforts, I suspected sticking some feathers and sparkly bits together on a hair comb with some hot glue; but when she showed me the intricate pearls and rhinestones that she wanted, I did panic. I thought I could either say, Sorry- you'll have to buy it yourself, or else give it a go. 

As I have a bit more free time these days, I thought I would give it a try. The first hardest bit was to find the silly decorations! I had a heck of a time finding metallised rhinestones on silver sticks to attach to a hair comb. In the end, I ended up purchasing a few different "cheap for you" pre-made combs from some e-bay shop in Hong Kong. Step 2: learn to assemble the disassembled bits. This is where YouTube is handy. Type in Jewelry Soldering and you get a good selection of middle aged American women teaching you how to solder. If they can do it, I certainly can, and I certainly did. Into the garage for a solid few hours, set up my "helping hands" to hold the bits in place, and fire up the magic-screwdriver (this is what my very cheap soldering iron looked like- a screwdriver with a very hot tip). And Voila... the fruits of my labour for a very happy bride.

Jackie and Rob's wedding was a part of the comings and goings I spoke to earlier; and the event was a mash up of North vs. Midlands: the Mackem FCP Crew vs. the Brum gang... it was all going to go either horribly wrong or incredibly well, and I can say (and so can many others) that their wedding was truly one of the best wedding we have ever been to. An entertaining day with the best of old chums coming together to celebrate our good friends' marriage. Cheers to Rob and Jackie!

As part of the support for the wedding we hosted nos amis de France: Fred and Aud for five days and four Mackems for one night. My liver was pickled from Wednesday to Monday (the recycling box was looking very healthy, and by healthy, I mean overflowing). The good thing about hosting visitors (apart from seeing good friends you haven't seen in a very long time) is that it means I can go see a castle (to Kenilworth it was) and eat at nice restaurants (I highly recommend Lasan- winner of Gordon Ramsay's F-Word). But, by Monday all I wanted to do was lock myself in a room and not speak to anybody... for a long, long time.

All the visitors gone, and you would think I could get a bit of rest or have a relaxing Bank Holiday camping trip to the south coast with our favourite camping crew the Nowell's- but no, all the camping sites were booked. So unfortunately, my yearly coastline pics have been replaced by a weekend away to a lovely fishing lake in Evesham where Craig managed to jump in the lake to catch his rod (and not the fish) and a large chunk of time (3-days) was spent trying to hash out a 6-block wooden brainteaser puzzle. What I can promise you for next month though, is a report, well a picture, as I more than likely won't remember much of what happened, from the Broome Farm Cider Festival. Yarrr... ;)

Jazzy!

Jazzy, you say?! What the heck is she going on about? I always find it hard to think of some sort of "jazzy" or catchy title, so why not just title it as it is.

So, Jazzy:
adjective, jazz·i·er, jazz·i·est.
1. Pertaining to or suggestive of jazz music.

2. Informal . active or lively.

3. Informal . fancy or flashy: a jazzy sweater.

Well, I have truly had a "jazzy" end of June/ July on all three levels.

Starting off with the first meaning and first occurrence (end of June) where I thoroughly enjoyed an evening of Trad Jazz out at Mosely Park. Pure mid week after work bliss: sunshine, picnic, Pimms, Lynda/Tracy/Brooke, and some well-groovy-old-school-big-band jazz. It was a mid-week teaser that Tracy found on the Internet, and being able to go to this sort of thing is another reminder to me that I made the right decision this year to work closer to home. The work-life balance is in check! Or maybe more the life-work balance, which is why I came this way.

End of June turned very quickly into another "jazzy" week in July where we went to London for a jam-packed four days of fun... well, in my head it was going to be fun. Not so fun is dragging someone around London when they don't want to be there- lesson learned. Four days of fun= seeing friends, Canada Day in Trafalgar Square, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Regina Spektor at the Royal Albert Hall, and Wimbledon. 

Second lesson learned- don't bring a non-Canadian to a Canada Day event. However, it was nice to see that we can take over The Square and it was really fabulous to see the number of people that turned up to the festivities in an array of hockey jerseys, red and white face paint, flag-capes and various Roots Canada shirts. Next year I will go back with some of my native friends and stay for the bands.

Slightly disappointing was the weather over the four days in London, which literally put a damper on our Wimbledon experience. We were lucky to see Andy Murray in action as his fourth round match was split over two days due to rain and we also saw the start of Agnieszka Radwanska's quarter final match. The grounds are truly impressive and so where the prices on some of the merchandise- £500 for the official Official's Jacket- you know, the navy blue and white trimmed one. Ugh! I really wanted one, as well. 

On the positive side of this summer's London trip- Regina Spektor was truly fantastic, as expected; and, I have put the V&A Museum on my official Must Do List for London. It houses impressive material items like sculptures, tiles, ironworks, furniture, display rooms, period clothing, and casts of some of the world's most detailed and renowned sculptures. 

Getting back from London, I had a team treasure hunt through work where I had to put together a pretty "jazzy" pirate outfit. I bet you can guess who decided to make the work team dress up for their event (hee hee). I really recommend such events for group activities in the future. It was more of an Amazing Race type activity, rather than a treasure hunt; but it was super good fun running around the city centre dressed as a pirate unlocking clues via GPS and accumulating points through different questions and picture challenges.

Continuing on with my jazzy (active and lively) July was my fourth half marathon- it was the third time I raced this particular event, and you might remember the near-disaster I had getting to the race the first time. Well, I would say now that I am a seasoned participant and seem to improve 10 minutes each time I do the race! I am really proud to say I finished with a p.b. of 1:53:38 and I feel that this goes back to getting this life-work balance thing right. 

Running half marathons is a funny thing for me: I see sports people on TV that get emotional (happy tears, fist pumping, celebratory arms in the air...) and have never really understood that feeling or show of emotion. I think "get on with it, it's your job. Surely if you are training, this result is not a surprise". I can never think of a time when I skated where I finished something and an immediate reaction of celebration was made- sure I bawled when I knew I screwed up, but never fist pumping. To me it was like: I've trained for this and a clean skate is normal. End. Or, I've been throwing myself around for a year trying to land a double axel, it's about fricking time I landed it. Where when I finish these races, I have some sort of emotional reaction- I was teary my first time and as I crossed the line after this race, I double fist pumped. I didn't think I was capable of double fist pumping. Maybe I have been watching too much football/soccer. I can say I feel the fittest I have in probably four years- I'm not even "training" per se- it's more that I am able to lead an active life and it contributes to my overall fitness level. Unofficially, I have also met my goal of the year to run 10km in under 50 minutes, as at the 10km marker, my time was 48ish minutes. Now I just need to enter some 10km races to get this to an official time.

July of course is birthday month which is the last bit of fun to report- this year I hosted a Chilli Off to really test who has the best chilli. You know the story- "... I make the best chilli..." oh yeah, is that so? Let us put it to the test. This is my kind of event- a cook off mixed with a bit of Sensory Science: 11 3-digit coded entries + mayhem in the tasting area + a mix up of two numbers + some ranking statistics on a spreadsheet= winners Si and Lou. My Mom's secret recipe officially came fourth (behind a can of Stagg Dynamite Hot Chilli)... I like to think it truly came third. 

The rest of July is to be a lot less "jazzy", but I can say I have some "jazzy" DIY projects to get going on: wedding hairpiece to build (I am going to be learning a new skill with this), cork-board project, and some painting inspiration I have taken from the V&A in London... so watch this space for Arts and Crafts August.

p.s. apologies for the formatting... don't really know what the heck is going on, but I am tired of fighting with the website.