Fremont Solstice Parade 2010

Bring bring! Bring bring! Who could be calling us at 7.45am the night after the float roll? Uh-oh. It’s the band. They’re at the float and it’s raining. Hard. Cue last ditch trip to the hardware store for miles of plastic sheeting and duct tape…. We ripped off the float’s lantern fittings and turned them in a makeshift roof – too busy to take photos, sorry!

Luckily, by the time Gilles and the other pushers turned up (and Doug there in the background with pineapple mimosas – yum!), the rain had drizzled off. Turn to earn our keep!

Not quite as glamorous as the actual dancers mind…

Here’s Karen and me before we got all sweaty…

And we’re off!

Huge crowd this year – about twice as many as 2009, despite the weather, from our viewpoint.

Just so much fun watching the crowds, enjoying the music, kicking the wooden can-can legs on the float and spinning our very own moulin rouge!
 

Here I am again! A bit more tired this time, just before I took over back at the front – and promptly dumped the float into a pothole. I broke the pushing pole extracting it but no real harm done.

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By the time we got to Gasworks Park (about 3pm), we were utterly cream-crackered. Too tired even to enjoy the bands, beer garden, boozed up hippies and all the other paraders…

In fact, we got right to work dismantling the float and getting it ready for another 11 months back under Ballard Bridge.

All in all, a really fantastic day – roll on 2011!

Float roll 2010

It’s the night before Solstice and the Powerhouse is pumping! A dozen things to saw, hammer, cut, drill and stick before we’re ready for tomorrow. And the weather’s not looking good…

Quite happy with the design at T-12 hours.

Thanks to the pushing/decorating team for showing up late on Friday. Now push! Or, more accurately, hold it back from running off down Fremont Avenue and int o the lake…

Hey, here’s Trika, fresh from Afrika! And Troy to help her stay awake.

Nancy and Neva take a well-earned rest.

And while we’re at it, here’s a photo of Karen and the GiraSol troupe dancing up a storm at the Bahia Streets Benefit the week before…

Sunshine and ice – Annette Lake hike

Karen’s old workmate and good buddy Ben Elliss (he also shares my birthday!) popped over from Slough for a work visit so we piled into Chippy and hit the road – along with another Amazonian, Maiken.

It was one of the first hot days of the year, so naturally we headed out of town and up to the Cascades. Cue babbling brook. Higher up, the lake itself was still covered in a thin layer of ice. And before you ask, yes I did take a dip! It was lovely!

 

That didn’t tire us out sufficiently, so we took a very warm walk up to the old Snowqualmie rail tunnel. It used to be a bike trail beneath the pass but was closed off (not very efficiently) a few years ago after bits keeping falling off it.

And yes, before you ask again, I do intend to go back with a bike and risk the darkness/water/mutant rats to ride through.

Here’s Karen, Maiken and Ben at Snowqualmie’s Big Log.

World Cup brunch party – England vs USA

Everyone is (still) very excited about the World Cup – in fact, among my Seattle mates I reckon it’s a bigger deal than the Superbowl, the World Series and March Madness put together. With a side order of Stanley Cup. See if you can guess who’s supporting whom…

We had a little help from Winnie and Her Maj.

Anyway, we decided to throw a brunch for the first game in Group C, Limeys vs Yanks. Naturally, the house stood a little Anglicising…

We had a pretty turn out – Bart and Ella, Alison, Hart and Dash, Scott, Bill and Christy and Jonathan all assembled to ingest vast quantities of doughnuts, muffins, pastries and – naturally – gallons of Bucks Fizz.

Rainy Memorial Day at Harstene

Looking back at the gloriously sunny photos from the same time last year, it’s hard to believe we spent most of this Memorial Day weekend getting wet, getting dry or stoking up the fire. Here’s Karen with Jack and Zora – Mike and Michelle’s kids.

We had great fun digging for clams on the Sunday. Put your back into it, Jack!

We dug many fruitless holes until we hit the mother-lode at the tideline. Clams, shrimp and moon snails galore.

Here’s Karen, Mike and Zora making a break for it in the row boat. They’ll be back for mariniere. No one can resist fresh clam mariniere.

 

The Monday was brighter (just as we were about to leave – typical!). Here’s the official Crab Bothering League of Hartstene in action.

How about this picture of the Lafons? Cute!

Does this float float?

It had better. To the accompaniment of driving rain, storms, drizzle and a very occasional glimpse of sunshine, Karen and I have spent the last few weeks bashing the GiraSol samba group’s float into shape for the Fremont Solstice Parade. Here’s a quick photo run-down of our progress, starting with Bill bravely volunteering to hoist basically the entire parade from Ballard Bridge up to the Powerhouse.

A year under the bridge has left our float in sorry state – covered in bird poo, dust and a few scraps of last year’s design. First job is to brush, wash, clean, re-panel and put a primer coat down.

Not bad for one and a half weekends, eh? We had HUGE crews this year so thanks to everyone who came out to clean, paint, saw, hammer, paint again, cut, fix and generally bodge it together.

Weekend two involves some background painting and cool silhouette stencil’s from Nancy’s son, Leo.

 

Hmm, that windmill looks a bit weedy.

Weekend three and the pressure’s on. Our artistic guru John starts adding in the details.

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While Karen waxes the legs into shape. Remember, taking pictures is really hard work and counts just as much as this practical stuff.

Here’s where we’re up to with just a week to go….

Expect a few surprises on the day – don’t miss it! 12noon, June 19 @ Fremont.

Rounders with friends

Karen was in organisational over-drive and ‘meanwhile’ had booked us tickets for the Mariner’s game that Saturday night – and got Bill and Christy along, too. Cue giant foam fingers, Mariners headwear and lots and lots of Cracker Jacks.

We had literally the back seats on the highest row in the stadium but who cares about seeing the M’s go down 1-0 to San Diego, there was warm beer to drink!

Then out to the Arctic Club to discuss opera with Raleigh, Scott and pals.

Before the inevitable and much-anticipated hotel room 80s dance party at the W.

My head hurts just remembering it…

So that’s it. A whirwind week-long extravaganza of Manwich, Batter Blaster, PBR, LIttle House on the Prairie, Taittinger and British snacks galore. Come back anytime girls – Seattle misses you already!

Seaplanes to Wee Brtain

Or Victoria, on Vancouver Island, as they still insist on calling it. The experience of taking a floatplane was well worth the early start – plus free brekkie at the Portakabin terminal. Love it!

With stunning views of Vancouver and the Sound from the windows, the 45-minute flight, well, flew past.

The plane landed right in the middle of town, just walking distance from the Fairmont Empress – our destination for the night.

Yes, it’s as fancy as it looks, so dressed up and headed down for High Tea, complete with several bottles of bubbly, sandwiches for 10(!) and more dense, chocolately cakes than even we could sink. Karen flew in from Seattle too – how classy is that?

Karen and I rolled out of there and into the Parliament building next door. Extremely cute. Watched a little light legislating before heading back to the Fairmont for a dip in the pool. Aaaah!

The next day, it was a little more shopping and nosing around, then a ‘whale watching’ tour that – from Badger’s face – you can probably tell involved no cetaceans.

Lots of sea-lions, though!

Finally, a crowded trip home on board the Clipper and just time (it’s always time) for Taco Time. As long as you’re driving a car.