A blur of continuous motion

Between Tour de Fleece last week and graduation ceremonies after graduation ceremonies where some 6000 students were pushed across the stage the last week was bit of a blur of continuous motion. I did a lot of ceremonies and my hat goes off (and it was off most of the time any way) to the speaker who read those 6000 names. It was big ask to get every one of those 6000 names correct. She did and did it well. So it was a blurr of what ceremony, seating area, group of students, part of the ceremony and where are we up to in the vice chancellors speech. The VC retires this year, so the speech which has basically been the same for the last 8 years, twice a day for five days once a year has had its last outing.  I can say it word for word...  You know its bad as I have a crap memory.

Look hard you might see a harried academic checking seating cards

I have used my mommy voice, my teacher voice, my large lecture theatre voice and finally to the law students on Thursday my police parade ground voice. Most of the time students were great with having their name cards ready but the Masters of Law students took the cake with their telephone usage and unruliness. No you can not sit with your friends. Get off that telephone and put it on silent. Repeat rinse and reapply.  

The back row of the Post graduates

The other side to Thursday afternoon is that I had some business post graduate students who were nothing like their faculty counter parts (it is Business and Law) whom also graduated through the largest ceremony of the week at 900+ students.  These boys where the back row as in the absolute last of the last on the platform of the super ceremony.  So here they are in the correct seats early, present and accounted for.  Notice the empty seats in front that is the Master of Law.  Sorry MMMC but you mob in the Law Department are absolutely bonkers and some of your counterparts I wanted to slap silly.

We had a great speech from the Chancellor. He always is really cool as he has been both a parent of a student, a long time student and recent graduate not just a legendary rocker. The problem I had in his ceremonies was that I had the earwig of a malapropism of another raveler's (rrevbdd) child of one of his band's classic songs running through my head all the way through the ceremony to the point I was mumbling it out loud. As in to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody...I'm just a poor boy..., I need no sip of tea. To which one wit in one of my ushering rows suggested that I needed a cuppa with a strong dash of something like rum cause obviously I was having a hard days night - Scousers yah gotta love em and not a bad idea.

Caught giving directions in my normal hat.

Lot of knitting graduation pressies were given out - my shawl cupboard is absolutely bare. I had to do some super fast shawl knits cause I was a little short as in 3 pressies short on the Saturday before the start of graduation. I must get the photos of the projects updated and sorted as I just made it... like last minute steam iron assistance to get the blocking finished. I also managed to do at least a bobbin of the Moorlit fleece spun each day and I am finally over the half way mark. Not very far over it but I have finally made it to the halfway point. Hopefully I will get the rest of the fleece finished by the end of the Tour de Fleece. Then I just have to start knitting it up for the hubby's cardi. I need a drink just thinking about knitting for him again... I think I will head over to the Rav Tav yet again.

120gms of Shetland already in working its way into a shawl

I got a phone call this morning from another institution whom I also work for and have in the past been an active participant in graduation ceremonies with a cheeky request of if it was possible I could help out this week as like this morning since I only live round the corner.  Nope Nada I have done my lot.  You should have asked me months ago as I need to plan and schedule my valuable time xP. I started another Haurni shawl over the weekend to help with my BP issue (missing house guests) in the 120gms of coloured Shetland from WonkyKnitter aka Anne that I spun up on Day 5 of the Tour. So I will keep on knitting like the clappers and try to treddle my way through the rest of the fleece by the end of the Tour. Bye now I have a bobbin to finish tonight.