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Friday 30 September 2011

Hang in there

Hi, I hope anyone dropping by doesn't think I've given up on this blog, I will be absent for a while though as I'm in the middle of a tornado of things - moving house, going abroad, starting a new course, doing a project!!! Mainly I'll be without internet because of moving house, so I bid thee good day and hope to see you again soon!

Friday 23 September 2011

Hair today gone tomorrow!!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!
It's late as I write this. So I got my hair cut, I thought it would be interesting to document, seeing as it's not been this long for a long long time or ever. Here's the before pic (excuse my face) in order to hide the fact that I was tired and had pretty much just got up, I've added effects to the image.






I asked my hair dresser to cut off my hair in a chunk so I can give to a charity that makes wigs for children who have cancer or have hair loss for other reasons. I thought, if I didn't want it, then someone else might as well make use of it! It took a while to hack through it. When I got home I weighed it! (I know it's a bit sad, but when else do you get to find out the weight of your hair?) It weighed almost 2 oz. 


The end result! I was very pleased with it! I went to Bad Apple Hair in Birmingham and had Pippa cut my hair, I've got to say she is probably one of the only hair dressers who has really understood my hair! Even when it was long, she managed to take the weight out of it without making it puff up. When I went to her with a picture of Alexa Chung, she knew exactly what I wanted and said that she likes it when clients bring pictures and it helps make sure you are on the same page with what style you want. She was great, I recommend her highly! The whole salon is pretty good, my partner had his hair cut by someone else and they were good too. Brill!

Can you tell the difference? Eh!? Ha! yea I know, I'm not Alexa Chung, I like her hair though.

Fall Fleurrs

Here's the day before my big hair cut, by now I am pretty fed up with my hair, it's long it's needs at least a trim and it's kind of annoying. On this last day I attempted to make use of it in a nice way and put it in a side fishtail plait, even in a plait it's unruly and doesn't even hold in the plait, maybe it's my styling skills (probably). Anyway, I've got it in my head now that I want the chop!


This is my second pair of jodhpurs! They'r great, possibly a bit too warm to wear until the winter, but never mind, I learned by sweating all day. I got these off ebay, they're proper jodhpurs, not the ones on the high street, you can buy them for half the price that way. I got this flowery top at my local Oxfam, which has been getting better and better everyday, it's a bit dangerous there's so many good things in there at bargain prices. So I found this top and altered it to have a more cropped shape. It brightened up what would have been just another big shirt with ease! woo! I like it when that happens.


Outfit:
Shirt: thrifted
Flowery top: thrifted
Jodhpurs: Ebay
Shoes: All Saints



Thursday 15 September 2011

Free food part 1

After the Elderberry excursion, I decided to take a small trip around our local park to see what other fruits I could find. I remember form precious walks in this park that there are a few other fruit trees and while it's still autumn I wanted to make the most of the free loot.



First I came across some more elderberries, they looked pretty good so I picked a few bunches. Then I got distracted by all the squirrels around, there were loads! Doing the same as me I suppose, except I wasn't going to bury all the things I picked. I looked around in some places I thought I remembered seeing plum trees, but found nothing, I think it might be a bit late for plums. Then I found a huge apple tree with an abundance of apples. I had to clamber through some brambles and grass but luckily I was wearing jeans so it wasn't too bad. Make sure if you go foraging to wear sturdy clothes, leggings or tights wouldn't have cut it, or rather I would have got cut if I were wearing them...get it? Good. So I picked a few apples, not loads, I didn't have a massive bag to carry them in, plus I can always go back if I want more.




After wandering around a bit more looking for plums I found another fruit tree that looked like it was in the apple family, the fruits were small and pear shaped, I picked one to take home and find out what it was.



Then I finally actually found some plums! But they were way too high to pick. I thought about shaking the tree, but by this time there were a few dog walkers around and I didn't feel like drawing that much attention to myself.



A little further down the path I found some Sloe berries, these are related to the plum but they're much smaller, they're used to make Sloe gin! I picked a few, but again there weren't many.


After this, I called it a day. I ended up with a few good things, apples are obviously a good and substantial fruit to make pies with so I was pleased with those.


If you feel like going foraging, make sure you know what you're looking for, don't eat anything you're not sure about. It seems from my experience that most black or dark berries are edible to humans, but red berries are not. Don't swear by this rule as I'm no expert but I would say, when you're out for a walk somewhere, no matter what time of year, look out for trees you recognise and maybe get to know what fruit trees look like, so maybe you can go back int he autumn and get some free fruit!



Tuesday 13 September 2011

My Miu

I like to think I look smart in this outfit, I think I look a bit like a school teacher, more like a cool teacher! Yea! No really, I like wearing shirts, what's wrong with that? This shirt was a good find, it's basically made of plastic, pure polyester, but it has a great little pattern on it, which I neglected to photograph, instead I messed about in Picnik to try to make my pictures look nicer. The pattern looks like a dog in a cemetery, with some pink clouds that's how I interpret it.


The outfit kind of reminds me of previous miu miu designs circa spring 2010. Yes? A tiny bit? The shoes are my favourite ever, I think I need another pair, I may have worn them too much.


It was my birthday this weekend, didn't get up to much but it was a nice weekend. Went for some Sushi and to see a film on Tuesday. Kill List.....hmmmm interesting.


Outfit:
Dress: thrifted
Shirt: Vintage
Shoes: All Saints

Sunday 11 September 2011

"Your Mother was a Hamster and your Father smelled of Elderberries"

I hope no one is insulted, if you don't already know, the title is a quotation from Monty Python's Holy Grail film. It's also linked to the subject of this post...elderberries! This is the season of many berries and fruits here and the elderberry is probably one of the more underrated berry.


Apparently elderberries contain high amounts of vitamins and anti-oxydants. If you can find yourself a good area where elderberry bushes grow, they are really easy to pick. Elderberry bushes usually grow in overgrow areas, parks, country roads etc...it's best to find some where off the road as pollution can find its way into the plant or onto the berries, which I've heard isn't very good (surely the plant filters the pollution out through photosynthesis?? Sorry I'm not a biologist, I don't really know) either way, it's nicer to have a walk off the road to pick them.





The berries are dark almost black, like the colour of blackberries and come in clusters of tiny berries. Make sure you know what you're picking before you pick anything and eat it!


You can easily pick them by cutting the whole cluster off, then when you bring them home you can pick the berries off the clusters.


Some people like to use a fork to 'comb' them off, I found it good to gently tease the berries of the stalks. Then I washed them carefully, trying not to squish them all and put them in the freezer for a later date.


I love these tiny berries, they are like a tastier less seedy version of blackberries, a nice addition to an apple pie!