Thursday 29 August 2013

Hair today, gone tomorrow

A few weeks ago now I posted about my shampoo ponderings and whether I was brave enough to make some radical changes to my hair routine. Brave has happened. And it truly is radical. I'm a little bit scared but also a bit excited about this hair freedom.

Since posting I have stopped using shampoo. I did a whole heap of research about this, jumping from blog to forum to website. In the end I found a truly great website for curly girls and I took my advice from there. I haven't gone down the baking soda route, mainly as I was nervous about what this would do to my scalp. The whole point of this exercise is to try to restore my very damaged scalp to some kind of normality and there were a few alarm bells from people with similar scalp conditions to mine. Instead I am now using conditioner to "wash" my hair. And I am also combing it through on a night to stimulate my scalp too. In terms of how my hair looks, I think it's fair to say it's transitioning. I'm mainly keeping it tied up as the combing is making it Hermione-bushy. I have invested in a big head scarf and become slightly obsessed with Pinterest and bandana styles. I am grateful that Wavey is used to my slightly bonkers ideas and has barely raised an eyebrow over my slightly crazy hair, definitely a distinct advantage to this exercise to start out with big crazy hair in the first place. I am still only half way committed as am using up hair products that are chemical based but have taken more advice from the curly girl website and am now putting this in whilst my hair is soaking wet and leaving it wrapped to dry. 

The next radical thing is that I have cancelled my hairdresser. I have found a health food store that sells natural hair dyes and will be going back to dying my own hair using these. I am highly nervous about this but I truly feel that it's time to make this change. I have yet to try this but will let you know how it goes! 

Products wise I have found this really great company called Jason who have been committed to natural beauty since 1959. So far I am using their conditioner and have just started on their Aloe Vera face moisturiser which is lush and silky and my skin is really loving it. It feels so good to be doing this. I want to be responsible and avoid chemicals and I want to still look good whilst doing it. There's a lot of people out there who have really inspirational stories and look fabulous. Here's hoping...

Wednesday 28 August 2013

C'est ma vie!

In typical Dizz fashion, the first successful application I have made for weeks and I am unable to attend the interview due to being on holiday. They can't change the interview as it's a new store that is not yet open and head office peeps are coming down especially for the interview. Ho hum. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather be on holiday but talk about bad timing! Oh well, once again, back to the applications I go...

Tuesday 27 August 2013

Creepy

Is it just me or does my kitchen look like a set from Dexter?

Sunday 25 August 2013

Pasta Making!

T came round today for what is fast becoming a tradition of baking Sunday. The items to be created were Madeleines and trying our hand at homemade pasta for the first time. T being a Master Baker and me fast becoming a rocking apprentice the Madeleines were created in no time at all, and a quick sampling declared them to be yummy. Several alternative fillings have been discussed so I can see them becoming a regular feature. And so pretty:


Next up came the pasta fun! We had very much been prepared earlier and stirred, mixed, and kneaded the dough ready. T handily had a pasta machine that had not even been unearthed from its wrappings, and thus the pasta making began. Bit by bit, folding and winding, folding and winding, adjusting the settings, bit more folding and winding:




It was definitely a two-man job! But soooo much fun. As can clearly be seen in this picture where I appear to be laughing hysterically at some funny moment whilst T continues folding and winding:


The end results are all drying out. We have heaps. Think we need to reduce the amount of dough we make next time. Below are a couple of photos of the finished product, our very own home made pasta:



Oh and Fizz helped too! Although really she just came round for a cuppa tea and a Madeleine *chuckles*

Thursday 22 August 2013

You have entered too many characters for this field...

How is it possible to present any kind of skill and experience summing up in 200 characters or less? I despair...

Monday 19 August 2013

Invaluable

When I had a job sitting at a desk I have to admit that I was one of those people. One of those people who thought that unemployed people were exaggerating about how hard it is to find a job and I'm pretty sure I will have spoken out loud the immortal words: how hard can it be? Turns out, pretty damned hard. 

I've been at this game for a few weeks now. I know that in unemployment terms that's nothing, some people have been unemployed for years and would no doubt mock my newbie status. I spend several hours each week, sometimes each day, trawling the web on the hunt for jobs as this is how all jobs are advertised and applied for. Long gone are the days when you could trawl around with your CV knocking on doors, or actually hand write an application. Sometimes I find something worth applying for and I spend the time thinking about how I can fill those tiny boxes. Other days I find nothing. Most often I get back rejection emails. I'm sorry but...we regret to inform you that...this time you have been unsuccessful...please do not hesitate to apply for other positions. In the last 2 days alone I have received 3 of these emails. I think the one that really got me was when the email informed me that I hadn't scored highly enough from their watch this video and answer these questions and therefore my application would not be pursued any further. Yes, they won't even look at your skills and experience if you don't answer their stupid video questions correctly. These questions were highly ambiguous and very much open to interpretation...the whole thing sucks. This was for a 12 hour job to stand at the front door and say hello to customers.

You know what all this does? It really makes you feel like crap. It makes you begin to question your own worth and intelligence and how stupid must you be if you can't get past those stupid video questions. Today I went for an interview. When I say interview, well, I was there for approximately 2 minutes, I'm pretty sure that my suitability was evaluated within the first 10 seconds, and the whole thing left me feeling kind of bleurgh. 

But always seeking the silver lining, I am considering this experience an invaluable life lesson. No more will I dare to even think that it's easy out here in unemployed land. The constant grinding down and rejection is making my hide tougher whilst bashing away at my confidence. I can now see and feel for myself the rollercoaster that is job seeking. There's plenty of seats spare but I wouldn't recommend the ride at all.   

Friday 16 August 2013

The (non) Working Week

So I'm still not working, but I'm not not working if you get what I mean. This week, Monday to Friday, I have:

*Painted a bench and a pathway:




*Completed two projects that have been waiting in the wings for quite some time:





*Voluntarily completed two exercise programmes

*Agreed to project manage (eep!) all the house stuff and repairs that are needed

*Applied for one job, and spent the last 20 minutes trying not to hit the table out of sheer frustration whilst trying to apply for a second as their web application process is clearly in some kind of jam nightmare and will not proceed past page 2! I shall return to this again today in an attempt to get to at least page 3

*Enjoyed lunch with old friends and looking forward to a coffee and catch-up with a new friend from the evil-job-that-was

*Dined on noodles, cos Wavey was away

*Discovered that there is a place not that far away from here who are making entirely natural beauty products. And they don't cost a fortune. I am definitely looking into that more closely

*Contemplated making my own beauty products. But where does one find shea butter and how do you grate butter? These are questions that may never be answered

*Admitting to being a bit fed up and bored due to lack of job. Gave in to it for the afternoon yesterday but trying to "keep pecker up" (direct quote from Ma)

*Started sorting out stuff for our holiday in 2 weeks. 2 weeks! Yippee! 

*The End. 

Sunday 11 August 2013

My Town





Friday 9 August 2013

Self 4: The Mirror


Worrying Trends

Not only have I emptied, cleaned, and rearranged all my kitchen cupboards this week, I have also cleaned both the front and back windows...

I have actively started seeking out the Top 40 music that I listen to in the car to listen at home as well. I even contemplated adding some of my favourites here, but then I had a word with myself...

I completed four sewing tasks that I have had on hold for quite some time. And used a sewing machine to do them. The lines were even almost straight...

I made a decision to not buy any new clothes for the next year. This alarms me somewhat and I'm not sure it will happen but no money means no luxuries...

I considered going back to dying my own hair. The bathroom protested. Loudly...

I laughed out loud at a chick flick. Lots of times. It was The Heat, and I do love Sandy, and I reckon that Melissa McCarthy is a comedy genius. Actually I take this one back. I'm not so worried by this one. 

I have been eating salad almost everyday. And I am really enjoying it. So colourful! 

Worrying indeedy...

Thursday 8 August 2013

Self #3

Cut-down jeans.
Battered belt. 
Freckled knees.
Each paint streak has its own tale... 

Monday 5 August 2013

Shampoo Wars

I keep on stumbling across all these blog posts and pins where people are switching to no poo. The first time I read it I thought say what? People really will write about anything these days! But I quickly realised that it actually meant saying no to (sham)poo. Ah, light bulb moment. The more I read about it the more intrigued I am and the more I think I would like to try it, but there are so many buts! 

First of all, if you switch to no poo then you're essentially saying no to chemical products and trying to restore natural oils to your hair. But if you say no to those chemicals then what about all the other stuff? Could I live without hair products? Squeal. Not so sure about that. Plus I have my hair dyed like every 6 weeks and I'm a slave to loving my colour, but that is big style chemicals. Yesterday I read that someone uses organic henna on her hair to keep it red and it did look really good. It's a bit of a battle for my barnet! 

Do I go whole hog and say no to all chemicals even though my hair would look like a crazy thing without product. Do I go low poo and switch to a no sulphate shampoo and seek out organic hair products. Do I say sack all this no poo bonkers and keep on with this chemical madness. Tis a tricksy one for sure. It's fair to say that I do spend a fortune on my hair, but it's a big part of who I am. Literally big. But the articles I have read seem really positive and their hair does look amazing....the real question is am I brave enough to try it? Watch this space...

Saturday 3 August 2013

Self 2

Backlit. 
Zoomed in.
Red! 

 

Friday 2 August 2013

Self

I signed up to take part in this 30 Day Self Portrait Challenge but haven't really been doing a very good job. In fact I've been doing a terrible job. I've taken exactly one self portrait:



I feel bad for not making more of an effort. I thought I would feel really inspired but with a gloominess about the lack of job I just haven't wanted to take a portrait of that self. I'm pleased to say that I am coming out of the gloominess and starting to feel more positive again. 

The self above was captured yesterday morning. The overnight rain had left everything in the garden looking so lush and green and I practically skipped out with my camera. Yes I was in my wellies. And my Wee Willie Winkie nightshirt. Not glam. Not stunning. Not gorgeous. But definitely me, my self.

Thursday 1 August 2013

Green