10 things

There's so much fizzing about my head at the moment.

• Cam came back from yesterday's Closing Ceremony rehearsal covered in blue body paint.
• He has been rehearsing with some Very Famous People and is not remotely star-struck.  I am though.
• I have finished my first crochet project.  What started off as a blanket, morphed into a shawl, and then eventually ended up as a scarf - because I had become so bored with making Granny Squares.  I love the final article though.  Full details on Ravelry.

• Becoming a nurse means that I have to have a whole range of vaccinations.  Most of these vaccinations require blood tests first, to see what levels of antibodies I have for those particular diseases.
• This means that I have been stuck full of needles today, and have loads more to come over the next month.  I have a sore, bruised arm and am now very sympathetic towards patients who require endless blood tests and injections.
• I've made a rhubarb and orange cake today.  It smells very good indeed.
• I've downloaded the Isles of Wonder soundtrack, and it is much better than the grumpy review in The Guardian would have you believe.  It is quite wonderful in fact, and takes me back to the euphoria of the Opening Ceremony in an instant.
• I have been doing anatomy homework before I start University.  Did you know that the proper, anatomical name for your big toe is hallux?
• We're off to the Olympic Park again tomorrow - this time to see a whole morning of athletics.  Absolutely cannot wait.  We will be seeing Mo Farah in the 5,000 m heats.
• I never saw Downton Abbey when it was on the tele.  I have now got Series 1 from LoveFilm and can see what all the fuss was about.  The costumes and the hair are quite as wonderful as Maggie Smith.

Lazing about in front of the TV

The Olympic rings come together in the Opening Ceremony dress rehearsal

I stayed awake until the very last minute of the Opening Ceremony coverage last night.  At the dress rehearsal Cam and I went to on Wednesday, we were shown everything up to the start of the athletes' parade. However, two crucial elements had been hidden from us: the Queen's scene with James Bond, and the Mr Bean scene with Rowan Atkinson.  We knew that something big was planned at these points because the screens around the stadium went blank, and we were reminded to #savethesurprise.  The helicopter that the parachutists jumped from in the actual ceremony hovered low over the stadium for about a minute during the rehearsal, and then buzzed off.  Cam and I speculated for hours about what was going to happen at that point.  We didn't even come close to guessing right!

Danny Boyle addresses the stadium, as a cloud floats by

Danny Boyle spoke to the stadium before the show, thanking all the volunteers for their immense hard work in putting the show together and asking us all to reveal nothing about the ceremony until after Friday evening.  It was a clever move, because the thrill of feeling like we were all in on a big secret was more appealing than telling everyone what to expect.

My favourite part of the whole show was the NHS section, which was just awesome.  All the children on the beds were doing incredible acrobatics, and the dancing was fantastic.  Cam and I had spent most of the show exclaiming, gasping and clutching at each other in excitement.

After staying up until well past 1am last night, I have been lolling on the sofa for most of the day today, watching the OIympic coverage on the TV.  It feels outrageously lazy to spend so much time watching TV, but I have been productive in my laziness.  I have discovered that when you're weaving in the ends on 40 crocheted granny squares you really need something exciting on TV to stop you from losing your mind.  The mens' road race did it for me today - I was willing team GB to speed up and get Mark Cavendish to the Mall at the front of the peloton, but it just didn't happen.

The ends are now weaved, and I am off to settle down in front of the TV again to seam all the squares together while I watch this evening's swimming finals.  All this lazing on the sofa is going to be very good for my knitting and crochet.

Crocheting

I'm having one of my annual frustrating explorations into the world of crochet.

Sweet little wooden hooks

This year though, I've finally managed to produce a granny square.  In fact three whole granny squares!

Three granny squares

I am totally getting carried away and imagining an entire crocheted blanket draped elegantly across the sofa before next weekend.  And it will only be the work of 5 minutes to darn in all those ends, right?