Civilization HO!

I'm  baaaack!  Here are some last-minute parting shots of my wild-wild-east, Central-Asian, rocket-attack-ducking adventure: 

Civvies wear cadpat too!!! (but no guns....)

...at (rocket-attack-siren) times, with helmets!!!

A very fond goodbye to my dear friends (with guns)...

...each week's growing crowds of running mates...

...and sleep-deprived coffee buddies (nb, made-by-me running top)!

...and Hello, sewing machine!

Well.  That was then... and this is - three months later - now. My sewing machine's on the table, with the chosen fabric - a gorgeous navy wool-silk blend - and the pattern, a classic shirt dress - nearby, all awaiting my attention.  But - ever since I got back, family life's been interfering with my selfish sewing plans.  I've been focusing on, ahem, intellectual matters - meh! big time unproductive!  So, this week, let's see if I can get my scissors & needle in gear!

Maid in the Shade :)

43 degrees tall!

In this environment, I typically prefer dressing in jacket over sleeveless shell  - the combination gives good coverage against the fierce sun and dust, and, since the jacket is invariably unbuttoned, excellent ventilation.  But I have only so many jackets here, so I like to vary the look every few days.  Since the look of the day (always Groundhog Day, remember!) is long slacks and sleeves, my range of variations is limited.  I posted the above shirt  when it was just sewn, and here it's as part of an ensemble.  The slacks are the Jalie jeans pattern, and I like them enormously. Not so much for the fit any more, they're very loose nowadays - but the fabric, some sort of nylon-dominated, maybe with cotton, technical stuff that doesn't stick and wears extremely well. Thank you, Fabric Mart!

Much cooler than two weeks ago!

So, I made three of these McCall's 6035 shirts, and I wear them with great pleasure.  Below I'm wearing another. Its cotton is coarser than the other two's, but that only makes it even more breathable, ergo perfect for this place. 

All clear - all clear - all clear!

 Why the strange pose and mis-matched headgear?  Well, periodically we have little episodes of excitement, called rocket attacks, and plopping down on the ground when the siren goes off (think London Blitz, I kid you not) is the standard way to minimize risk to one's stylish attire.  So there you go.  The grey slacks are another version of the Jalie jeans, in stretch cotton that I like but would love if they were a tad lighter weight.   The camera jitter is due to..... use your imagination!

Civvies get medals too!

I feel honoured to have received it from our Commander himself. 

This is actually a sewing-related post!  For the ceremony I picked my "almost-camo" outfit, which consists of wide leg trousers and matching bias-cut tank top (seen peeking out from beneath the jacket) in a very soft, loose weave linen (Fabricland), and the Vogue 1036 Today's Fit Betzina jacket in a cross-weave tan-peach linen (Gorgeous Fabrics).  You already saw the jacket on a coat hanger here.  Colour-wise, this is the closest I have to our Canadian combat fatigues, and it generally blends in beautifully with the local colour scheme, not to mention the locals:

Blending into the local scenery

On an average day (which is every day - think Groundhog Day - each day is just like the one before)  I can be exuberantly colourful:

The Last BBQ at TFK HQ

Again, wide leg trousers and a tank top covered by a lightweight, unlined jacket, all in linen. 

Our combat mission is now over, and I too shall be coming home. Soon.  Hello, my beautiful green Ottawa!!!

Guess Who Came To Dinner?

The big flag at the main entrance to Canada 9 is not usual - so that means the guest must've been someone special, right?

 Indeed, 'twas so:  we were honoured by our PM, Stephen Harper (speaking above), who arrived in the company of the two big guns of defence (Minister of Defence and Chief of Defence Staff, also above).

 Better yet (for some), they brought with them two young ladies from the national women's hockey team (they won gold in the Vancouver winter Olympics, thus the medals), and Jarome Iginla from the men's Olympic gold-winning hockey team (teal shirt, and he modestly left his medal at home) .

And the band played on.... a wonderful, international ISAF folk band, made up (left to right) of a Brit, Canadian, and two Americans.  They were all good, with great voices, and the Canadian fiddler  superb - I wondered if he was of Nova Scotia's musical heritage.

What am I wearing?  My blue zebra linen suit (I joke I'm the decoy - it's very non-camo!) over a printed silk crepe sleeveless top with a pleated neckline. Linen from Fabricland, silk from Fabric by the Yard, pattern, well, I'll have to look it up.  All comfortably loose and cheerful.  I get a surprising number of compliments on this blue zebra look, and frequently get asked for photos. People here are starved for a little normalcy - living in a world of camouflage, even international varieties of it, does get monotonous.  Me, I'm sooo looking forward to a dress!!!!

A Different Kind of Embroidery

The famous KAF Boardwalk is a quadrangle of sea-cans - ie, sea containers - with windows and doors cut into them, all facing inwards.  The central area houses an imported from Ontario all-Canadian hockey rink, a fenced-in basketball court that doubles as a mini-soccer field, a couple of volleyball nets, and a wide expanse used by football (the American kind), baseball, and rugby afficionados.  The Boardwalk is really truly a boardwalk, and it's nicely roofed against the blazing sun.

The seacans house a miscellany of shops, serving up fast (and not so fast, when available) food, cold and hot drinks (espresso over ice!), Afghan jewellery, scarves, woodwork and of course carpets, internet, banking, barbering, alterations, and, surprisingly, embroidery.  Let's take a peek into the embroidery shop, shall we?  Here's one of the machines:

They're serious, dedicated, computerized workhorses.  You won't find any flowers and butterflies coming out of them, though - the customers just aren't the butterfly types.  They need serious insignia, and that's what they get.  C-IED right above my right hand, for example?  That's counter-improvised-explosive-device, and the brave fellows who wear them disarm deadly home-made-mines, if you please.

I'm wearing a Vogue Montana jean jacket in grey linen from Michael's, with matching wide-leg pants, btw. Wrinkled of course, but since everyone around me parades in fatigues, I dig being a little rumpled.

 The shop is a family business, and the owners (mother and daughter, I presume) are Russian-speaking Kazakhis.  For the right price, they'll embroider any design on anything you please - flowers and butterflies included. The name tags hanging off the counter are luggage tags - ingenious!

How many nationalities can you spot on the wall?

It's really, really hot here now.  The day after I took this pic, the little thermometer topped 50 degrees Celsius, and upon cooling, promptly gave up the ghost (the surface tension at both ends broke the bead into a bunch of discontinuous little lines).