...and they're away!

Today was the day of dragon boat racing, right in the middle of Sydney, in Darling Harbour!

There were many teams from near and far.

There were bakers 

 and pirates

and animals

Some people got tattoos.

We were the Blackheath Ark.

We raced.

We got wet.

We got tired.

And we came 13th out of 29.

We raised $2730 for breast cancer support and the whole event raised nearly $168,000 - what a fantastic effort.
Thanks to all our friends a family who supported us and made it a fun and successful day.

Are we going back for more next year?
YOU BET!

Bandannas for boating - my creative space

Maybe not so creative but it involves scissors, measuring and cutting!

And 10 metres of fabric!

Making bandannas for my dragon boat race team for the Dragons Abreast event on Sunday at Darling Harbour in Sydney.
Here are the 22 triangles I cut - they are a bit rough and ready - but should do the trick.

Dragons Abreast raises funds to support those affected by breast cancer.

If you are in Sydney come along and cheer us on - there will be races going on all day from 8.30 to about 3pm I think.

On other matters I am going to a local school fete at Springwood on Saturday. They are calling it Festival of the Green and it's a huge celebration of growing and gardens - Costa from the TV is going to be there and they are having gardening workshops and all sorts of things.

So I thought these sweet flower bracelets from a pattern designed by Stephanie Eddy would be appropriate.

I'm joining in with My Creative Space hosted by kootoyoo over on Village Voices - pop along and have a look why don't you!

What have I said "yes" to? - Dragon boat racing

Have you ever said "yes" to something and then wondered why the heck did I do that?

Well that was me this week.

I have got roped into a dragon boat race and although it's for a very good cause*, afterwards I thought "can I do this?" "what about my sore hand?" "will I make something else sore?" "will I make a fool of myself?"

Well, of course if you thought like that all the time, you'd never go anywhere, or do anything!

This morning was a free come-and-try-it at my local regatta centre (that is one thing I am very grateful to the Sydney Olympics for!) where a good deal of dragon boating goes on.

When I got there there were a lot of people in bright club tshirts and their own special paddles and of course they all new each other.
Then there were us newbies in civvies standing around awkwardly like 7th graders on the first day of high school.
Anyway once things got going they moved at a cracking pace, we were given a safety talk, signed some forms, got in a boat and away we went!

Well it was more fun than I can explain!
Then we had a race with 4 other boats and we won! And we reached a top speed of 12.7 knots!
Are you impressed?

It's on again tomorrow and I'd love to go  but it's dear daughter's birthday lunch, and anyway I'm not 100% sure that I won't be a wee bit sore tomorrow.

But I'm hanging out for my next practise.

*The good cause is Dragons Abreast Australia which is an education and support group for breast cancer patients and survivors.
The teams in this dragon boat festival pledge to raise at least $2000 per boat for this amazing cause.
If you'd like to sponsor my team in the dragon boat festival on 28th pop over to my team page.
You can donate anonymously if you like.

Or maybe you'd like to join in  this event is in Sydney, but there are teams from other parts of Australia taking part.