Oh Canada!

I was thrilled last evening to see that Canada had won a gold medal at the Olympics already (and I think it may possibly have been the first one of the Games?). I'm fortunate to have two countries to support in international competition. Great Britain doesn't do so well in the Winter Games and Canada often doesn't excel in the Summer Games, but the other way round I always have someone to be proud of. I found out four years ago where my loyalties really lie, though, as I was devastated when the British women beat the Canadian women for the gold in Curling - well, after all, something like 75% of the curlers in the world are Canadian!! - so I'm really hoping that the Canadian rink can redress the balance this time. And of course the Canadian Women's Hockey team had all us Canucks leaping about screaming last time. I feel so honoured to be Canadian, it really is a dear and wonderful country, so I would imagine I was the only plump middle aged woman in purple hedgehog pyjamas in Cambridgeshire leaping about, shrieking and waving a Maple Leaf flag last evening when I found out about our first medal!

Today's definitely going to be a Pyjama Day after yesterday. We had our annual charity auction, and that's always the most stressful Saturday of the year for me. We've been doing these auctions for years (I think that was our 13th) and it was all very well when my ex and I were married and I organised the thing and he got all the glory as the auctioneer. I never quite got my head around everyone asking me to thank him for the wonderful auction, but I guess it was ever thus - behind every great man there's a thoroughly hacked off woman!!!!!

But now that we're divorced it's even more fun, as his girlfriend can't get it into her head that I do not ever want him back, not if he were the last man on earth, but that he and I are the best of friends - like an extremely fond brother and sister. So now there's all the stress of the day coupled with beady-eyed (and I apologise for sounding so b*tchy but she really does have beady eyes) glares from her all day.

Anyway, the main thing is that we raised £812 for charity and all went away knackered but rejoicing. Plus I got four really nice dining room chairs and a great little hardwood drop-leaf trolley table for the grand total of £22. Now all I have to do is a major reshifting of furniture in these tiny rooms, as the new purchases are still stacked up in the tiny kitchen, making it impossible to do anything out there except make toast.

But if these are the worst problems I ever encounter, I will be leading a charmed and blessed life.

Love to all,
Nance

Middle Aged Delinquent

Hi Folks, sorry for my prolonged absence. I've been busy, I guess - rehearsals for the murder mystery, all kinds of WI functions and duties, organising my church's annual charity auction tomorrow, burrowing through my stash and listing it on eBay, and I seem to spend a lot of time wrapping up brown paper parcels and going to the post office. I'm developing a wonderful relationship with the two gals at my local little PO! They apparently miss me on days I don't stop by.

For some silly reason I thought that if I removed 100 bags of wool (none of this 3 bags full malarkey for me!) from my house that it would be tidier in here. Just goes to show how wrong a girl can be.

I had a rather funny brush with the law on Wednesday. I had to go to Stamford (in Lincolnshire, I think) to pick up some stuff that I'd bought at an auction up there last Saturday - Rule Number 1 of selling things at an auction house - DO NOT GO TO THE AUCTION OR YOU WILL SPEND EVERYTHING YOU'VE MADE. Anyway, Stamford is a dickens of a place to park (as are most cities, towns and villages in the UK, I must add for the benefit of those in other parts of the world). When you couple that with my innate inability to find my way around while driving, I was having a white knuckle moment when I found myself driving through a pedestrian precinct. I was doing my best to ignore all the glares I was getting when I was accosted by a policewoman on foot. Now, in all honesty, if I had to wear the uniform that she has to wear, I would be out of sorts on a permanent basis as well. She started blathering away about just how many offences I was committing, and I was shrinking (great way to lose weight, I think) behind the wheel by the moment, and repeating a mantra of "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'll never do this again" while expecting a public flogging at best, and beheading at worst. Anyway, she fell for my feigned contrition and said that she'd let me off just that once, and directed me to where I wanted to go, and in 30 seconds I was at the auction house - with nowhere to park except the taxi rank in front. I dashed inside and said that I was going to try to find a parking space, which I did after 15 minutes, and then went back, paid for my stuff, and then got my car and pulled up once again into the taxi rank. The porter carted out my stuff and I was good to go. I was just about to set off in my quest to figure out how to get out of Stamford when who should stroll up but - you guessed it - the same not so friendly WPC. I rolled down my window and she said "It's not you again!!!!! Do you realise that it's illegal to park in a taxi rank?". So I figured the game was now up and I was going to be hanged as soon as they could cobble together a gallows. I reverted to a slightly altered version of my mantra of apologies, saying that I had just been there for 2 minutes while picking up things from the auction house and was on my way out of town, and if she thought it best I'd never ever return to Stamford. She said, "Well, I could never tell you that", and I thought, "Yeah, but I bet you wish you could, you officious little madam". So I managed to get away with it. I'm delighted! I have a long history of talking my way out of fines and points on my licence with MALE police, but this is a first to get away with it a woman, let alone twice in the space of half an hour - Wahoo!!!!

Thanks for dropping by, and if you want to have a look at my stuff on eBay, there's a link in the sidebar on the right. There's a bunch more stuff that's scheduled to start during the next week, 'cause I'm off to Prague week after next and I've tried to time things so that nobody will have to wait for long for their purchases.

Have a great weekend, and happy Olympic knitting!

Love,
Nance