Thursday 26 June 2008

Getting it all out in the open

A little while ago, in a fit of energetic enthusiasm, I signed up for the Bristol SunWalk. If you haven't heard of this, you may be aware of its big sister, the MoonWalk, which is a walking marathon that is held overnight. The SunWalk - as the name suggests - is a daytime version, and it also covers shorter distances: there's a 5k and a 10k, as well as a half marathon (or 13.1 miles), which is what I'll be doing.

I signed up for this event because the cause is important to me - the event is run by Walk the Walk, which is a grant-making charity that benefits a range of breast cancer causes (if you're interested, you can read more about their work here). Several years ago, a good friend of mine lost her fight against this disease, and recently I have known too many people who have been hit with it - although the good news is that more and more folk seem to be coming out the other side.

The trademark of Walk the Walk events is that participants are encouraged to walk wearing highly-decorated bras. It's just over a week until the SunWalk, and my walking pack arrived a few days ago, containing my bra to decorate. So, the main crafty activity that has been going on chez chicken has involved planning for bra-adornments, so that I can turn this...


... into something a bit more like some of the designs on display here. I have quite a few ideas knocking around in my head, but if anyone has any good decoration-suggestions, I'd love to hear them! The colour scheme for the event is not what you'd call subtle, as you can see from the hat I have to wear:


I'm tempted to make my bra a bit more subdued, but maybe I'll throw caution to the winds and attempt to co-ordinate!

And speaking of throwing caution to the winds, I'm starting to get very nervous about the whole prospect of walking through the centre of Bristol on a Sunday afternoon with my undergarments on show. It's far scarier than the actual walking-13-and-a-bit-miles thing (although that is making me pretty antsy, too...)

Anyway, I've rambled on quite a bit now, but one last thing: just in case anyone would like to sponsor me, I've added a widgety link in my sidebar to the online fundraising page I've created. Do feel free to pop over and have a look. Also, if you happen to have any particularly rich and philanthropic friends, do please point them in my direction :o)

Anyway, I'm going to shut up now and go and rootle through my crafty supplies: I've got me a bra to decorate....

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Back on the blogwagon...

Hello all,

AWOL chicken here, reporting for duty again... after quite a long time away.

Ever since I finished my dissertation, I've had much more free time (especially during the fortnight that NBM was away), but I've been finding it quite a challenge to actually get on with anything in said free time. I've been flitting about and doing odds and ends, but I haven't really accomplished anything note-worthy or blog-worthy. Equally, I've fallen by the wayside with blogging itself. I'm just hoping that my blogging mojo will return at some point soon.

So, I'm not feeling especially inspired, but I'm checking in just to say hello. And to find out whether squatters have moved into my blog whilst I've been gone :o)

I do also have a quick pic to share, in the form of ISTWIWOAAAILI Saturdays #5 - this week, brought to you in the very rare and exclusive Wednesday edition!


More street art (with a rather dapper-looking gentleman in the background - although he does mar the look a little with the addition of the Sains bag, I feel). I love street art. I warn you now, I have quite a lot of other street art piccies stored up for future ISTWIWOAAAILI posts. But I'll try and spread them out a bit, for those of you who aren't so keen :o)

Anyway, that's all for now... but, like Arnie: I'll be back :o)

Saturday 14 June 2008

ISTWIWOAAAILI Saturdays #4

This week: puppy sculpture! Hurrah!

I'm glad you all seemed to enjoy the stone fish / dolphin / dragon picture last week. To answer the various questions: it's not at ground level - it's actually quite high up, above the doorway of a building, so looking closely is a bit tricky. And yes, Charlie P, it's in Bristol - you can have a very small prize if you can work out where!

In other news, the NBM is back - a little grumpy from the jet-lag, but otherwise right as rain. Only she's standing here looking like she wants a shot on the computer, so I'd best pootle off.

Cheerio for now...

Saturday 7 June 2008

ISTWIWOAAAILI Saturdays #3


I like this stone. A lot. I walk past it every day, but I didn't really look at it properly until recently. Funny how that happens sometimes. Anyway, now I can't stop looking at it! I particularly like the flared nostrils :o)