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... ;)