Summer Camp Game #3

So, this field mouse may not look terribly frightening, but it's one of the worst fears I have! Mice are not my favourite creatures by any stretch of the imagination, even if all the photos I saw made them look kind of cute. They are not so cute in real life! In any case, when I faced my boggart, I yelled "Riddikulus!!!" at the top of my lungs and turned him into a tap dancing ladybug, top hat and all. [I am hopeless with modifying photos, so bear with me!]

Summer Camp Games #2, Part 2

My unscrambled quote is:

When in doubt, go to the library! (I actually got "Phen gn doubt, go to the lgbrary!", but I think that's my fault somewhere...)

I think Hermione Granger said it.

ETA: Wrong! Turns out it was Ron. Oh well, fun fun fun for my first 15min at work today...

Summer Camp Games #2

Let the anagram solving begin!

In the second volume of the HP books by JK Rowling, The (#1)Chrome Cab Festers, we continue to learn the incredible adventures of Hogwarts student (#2) Parry He Trot and his friends (#3) Oral Weensy and (#4) Angering Her More. Belonging to the house of (#5) Dry Off Grin, they attend Defense Against the (#6) Ark Darts taught by Wizarding celebrity (#7) Oracle Dorky Light, a none-too-bright fellow who cannot even handle pixies!

In The (#8) Chrome Cab Festers, we also meet Dobby a (#9)See Flu Oh for the first time. Determined Dobby seeks to sabotage the return of (#10) Parry He Trot to Hogwarts and is pretty persistent but is unsuccessful. After a few weeks at school, the deceased Ravenclaw student who haunts the girls lavatory, also known as (#11) My Molten Grain, shows (#12) Parry He Trot and (#13) Oral Weensy an old empty diary that dropped through her ghostly form out of thin air!

Many nifty things continue to happen for the next several months… we won’t go into all the juicy details right now… however, the ending is prime reading indeed!! (#14) Parry He Trot finally kills Tom Riddle’s (a.k.a #15 Mold Voter) sneaky diary (which we now know is a #16 Crux Rho) and saves the sister of (#17) Oral Weensy, (#18) Gayly Nine Sew!!!

Oh! Of course, we must mention that the thickheaded (#19) Oracle Dorky Light unintentionally erased his own memory, so he won’t be back for book three, The (#20) Snob In A Froze Parka…

1) Chamber of Secrets
2) Harry Potter
3) Ron Weasley
4) Hermione Granger
5) Gryffindor
6) Dark Arts
7) Gilderoy Lockhart
8) Chamber of Secrets
9) House Elf
10) Harry Potter
11) Moaning Myrtle
12) Harry Potter
13) Ron Weasley
14) Harry Potter
15) Voldemort
16) Horcrux
17) Ron Weasley
18) Ginny Weasley
19) Gilderoy Lockhart
20) Prisoner of Azkaban

Finally, my patronus!

It has taken a couple of weeks to get the spell right (and a lot of practice), but I've finally produced my patronus! I should've known it would turn out this way, but in any case, it's exactly what I would've wanted: a sea turtle. Very wise and ancient, and travelling tonnes in order to get to their destination, we're very much alike. I probably could've saved this for a future blog post, but I was just so excited!!! I will need to remind myself to use one of my weekly posts for my well-loved owl, Sofia...

Oh, and I love how it looks like she is flying. ;)

Oh, and ETA: I have visited 22 different countries, 3/7 continents. Lived in England for 3 years, Switzerland for the last of the three. They are:
Africa:
Kenya
Tanzania
Tunisia
Europe:
England
Scotland
Ireland
Switzerland
Austria
Hungary
Poland
France
Italy
Greece
Denmark
Lichtenstein
Belgium
Portugal
North/Central America:
Canada
US
Honduras
Costa Rica
Nicaragua

Happy Pride Everyone!

Cool & rainy in Toronto today, but still happy because it's Pride weekend! Rainbows galore, and lots of parties, BBQs and happy get-togethers with friends. I wish I knew how to use photoshop so I could edit our favourite headmaster with some Pride flags, but for now thoughts of rainbows will just have to do!

Summer Solstice!

Ah, my favourite holiday of the year. The longest, with the most sunshine hours, though I do enjoy the night as well. Solstice always has a lot of meaning for me, and a couple of years ago, when HP5 came out, I was able to be at Stonehenge (like, amongst the stones), and it was one of the most memorable events of my life. It was also one of the craziest, as we picked up my copy of HP&GoF at midnight from my local bookshop (Corbett's, in West Byfleet) and drove all night to Stonehenge, needing to make it much before the dawn at 5am. There was a myriad of witches & wizards, goblins & muggles, the muggles somewhat perplexed by the magic they saw before them (but not to worry, their memories were somewhat modified afterwards :P). I, however, was impressed with the majesty of the stones, the timelessness of their presence, and the sheer enormity of them. Who were the people that formed this circle? What powers do they bring? For what purpose was the circle? Questions that most likely will never be answered, but intriguing nonetheless.

I usually use this day as a time of reflection and new beginnings. This is the first year I haven't needed to start a new journal, as I'm only halfway through the one I have now, but I think I'm in a place where the new beginnings can come from the ends, and so I walk into another year and another Solstice.

WINGO info

I should probably type up which WINGOs I am, and give you some info to boot!

W1 I live in Waterloo, ON Canada
W2 Ravenclaw, Erumpent cabin
W3 Not sure of my patronus yet: Sea Turtle!
I3 I've been to many castles, most notably Leeds, Warwick, Tower of London, one in Portsmouth, Hamlet's Castle in Denmark...
I4 Born in December
N1 Love chocolate
N2 I'm new to HSKS!
N4 I play the flute, and know piano
N5 I've been on many trains, from Woking to London, London to Paris, Neuchatel to Venice, etc.
G2 I have 46 items in my queue
G4 I left my cat, Griffin, at home over camp
G5 I speak French
O1 I'm from Canada

Summer Camp Games #1

First off, my spoilee is Helga ze Horrid--exciting, and my spoiler is Lizzy Wychwood! She who's won the best kit last two swaps! OMG, as if I don't feel like the luckiest witch alive!!!

Now for another 'task'. It's a lovely summer-ish day, and let the games begin!

Part 1: "What's in your trunk?" List 10 items beginning with the same letter as your first name that you brought with you to camp.
socks
stickers of my favourite Quidditch team (will edit later)
sweaters for those chilly evenings around the campfire
snacks (chocolate frogs are my fave!)
silly string
songbook of campfire songs
striped pyjamas
steamy romance novels (for reading out loud on rainy afternoons!)
seven pairs of shoes
stamps (gotta mail my muggle friends from camp!)

Part 2: WINGO! This is going to be a bit hard and I may have to come back to it, but here goes! ETA: I made a line! That is enough for today.
W2: In Ravenclaw (not in my cabin): Emma Gorodok
W4 Has been in HSKS before: Bevin Rae Mooney
I2: More than one sibling: Draco Firewalker (borrowed from Hermione!)
I5: Hufflepuff not in my cabin: Antonio dela Weasley
G1 Is in Slytherin (not in my cabin): Honoria Beckett
G2 Is new to HSKS: Ambyr Phoenixfyre
G3 Makes stitch markers: Hermione Bagnold
G4 Brought a pet to camp: Intarsia Bindoff, iguana
G5 Can speak another language: Helga ze Horrid, Danish
O1 Is from another country: Lizzie Wychwood, England

Part 3: Get to know your Spoiler & Spoilee Go through your spoiler AND spoilee’s projects on Ravelry (I think everyone has at least 1 thing I’d hope!) and comment on or favorite something you like. This is another way to get to know them better.

Spoilee: Helga Ze Horrid
Commented on the unnamed red poncho she made for her DD--so cute!

Spoiler: Lizzie Wychwood
Commented on the Brae mini-sock keychain she made for Hermione in a previous swap. Quite fantastic!

3 Truths and a Lie...

Hello all! ::waves frantically::

So excited for this summer, it's been so long since I've been to summer camp!
OK, OK, focus, have a task to complete, know it's fun but still don't want to get bogged down with other things...


In random order (because it wouldn't work otherwise)...

- I have visited 20+ countries
- I was hit in the head with a shotput
- I've been bitten by a dog 3 times
- I once watched Bridget Jones' Diary twice in a row

Summer '09

Just setting up for HSKS8...................