Nappilicious Issues

I was on LHCF earlier today, and was responding to one of the ladies complaining about her tangles and knots and etc, and how it's considered 'standard' that tangles and knots are something that nappys have to deal with.
Another poster responded with this picture, and in my response, I got a little long winded, and a little ranty, and a little journally, so I figured I would just C&P most of it to here, and post something addressing the OP's concerns there.

Anyhow - this is a picture from a Benin Oba and Queen Mother Commemorative Heads website, and thus starts my response........

Ooh, how lovely! I'm adding that to my inspirational stuff. I can't wait til my hair is long enough for a gibson tuck! I wish that pic had more detail - their hair looks like it's not braided/twisted, but just pulled up into a high bun? I was looking for pictures of african hairstyles a while ago, out of curiousity as to how Africans wore their hair. I'm thinking that I'm going to have to do a search using tribe/region names in order to be able to pull anything up. That picture actually looks like it was scanned from a book - ah! It was - 'Royal Art of Benin - The Perls Collection' Interesting. It's almost time to go home, so I might check out Benin women hair in a googlefuu later on......

I'm natural, figure I always will be, and I have single strand knots and tangles and split ends, and it's like - so what? *lol* None of those matter unless I'm trying to wear my hair straight - because with the curlies I have, you can't see them/tell they are there.....
I don't know - but then, I also don't understand the idea that if you wear your hair up all the time, you aren't 'enjoying' it - as if the only way you can enjoy your hair is if it's loose. I mean, really - as if having it in a bun, or in twists, or in any of the other styles besides 'loose' are somehow less lovely than having your hair 'out'.....

I KNOW I can't wear my hair in a puff or a fro. without HAVING to deal with tangles, knots, broken off curly ends, and all those other issues. That's how my hair rolls, and if I want to grow it long, I have to roll that way with it. So, I wear my hair up 99% of the time - and it's forcing me to be more creative with my hairstyles and my hair routines. Right now, I'm down to using a comb in my head once a week, on soaking wet hair slathered in conditioner. I'm trying to figure out how to stretch that out to twice a month, but I think I'm going to have to wait for my hair to be longer so that my styles will 'stay' better.

I think one of the reasons that little black girls had such thick lovely hair as children (back in the day where the difference between grown and not grown was enforced - not in todays prostitot age) was because it was only 'down' for special occasions. For the day to day wearing of it - it was up, somehow - whether in braids, or in a bun, or whatever. It wasn't combed daily (cuz momma ain't have time) and it wasn't subjected to glue and chemicals (because that was far too grown). Even now, so many women comment on how much the health of their hair changed once they hit puberty - I think it's less the hormones flowing through us, and more the fact that we don't have our mothers hands in our hair anymore.

Horrifying Beauty

Canopus
Originally uploaded by Pierre J.

I saw this on The Daily Irrevalent and showed it to C, and we talked about how horrifying gorgeous it was.

I wanted to learn more about it, so I clicked through - and through, and through - and ended up at flickr.

From there, I realized that not only could I add the picture to my favorites, I could also blog about it directly from flickr.

And there are those who doubt that science and magic can co-exisist.

Hrrm.

I suppose I should actually talk a bit while I'm here, before I get sucked back into c-birth or C2PP.

Going to FOS this weekend - I'm still debating checking in Thursday night and staying Thursday, and then coming to work on Friday morning, going to accupunture appt @ 12, and then heading up to the park again - that really would be lovely, I think.

I'm debating if I want to sleep away from C for that long, though. *sigh* I don't know. It seems like the right thing to do, as I'm partially comped in for voluteering for kitchen duty - it seems only right that I'm there full time.

Ohh, I must find the cords from our wedding.......

I need to pack - most of tomorrow eve I think I will spend offline - I have to pack, and gather, and clean a little, and - etc, etc, etc....

And dammit, why do I start bleeding harder as soon as I get home? *sigh*

Well, off to bed soon, I think.

The hilarity that is my product stash!!!

I started with all the stuff I rarely use, and my more used stuff is at the bottom

I've never used either of these on my hair, but they are SUPPOSED to be for hair (the lighter is to seal the ends of fake twists/braids)




The Empty bottles, tubs, and jars for my custom mixes....




The stuff I could use, but almost never do....




Mystery concontions.....



The stuff from my previous hair life (ie, stuff I NEVER use)



Now, for the stuff I actually USE on a regular basis

My pitiful collection of hair 'toys'




My stash of butters:




My stash of oils:



Herbs (there is a huge pack of Fo-Ti powder under all that... and I forgot to pull the henna out of the freezer to add to this), and that lush thing is Caca Rouge



The 'chemicals'




My essentials...I didn't grab the carrot oil I use in my hair, and my Elasta conditioner is in the next pic......



And finally - the parade of conditioners - this was all that I had in the house, minus 3 or 4 bottles that I left in the bathtub.




Ahh, the joys of a PJ! And this is the stuff I just had on hand - I'd add another 10-12 products that I tried, ran out of, and never brought again - and stuff that I haven't restocked on, like HoneyHemp, and the food stuffs I use in my hair (honey, lime, coconut milk) that I didn't take a picture of.....

Seriously? June 20th? Holy cow!!!!

Urm, okay, lets start with comparison pictures (I'll update the photo thread with these as well)

Now:




Then: (Nov 2006)





Lovely, isn't it? *happysigh*

I haven't really been doing much new with my hair - I've been hennaing every month, and HLC'ing whenever I feel like it. :lol: Urm, I haven't trimmed in a while, and it doesn't really need it, based on how it acted in twists. Still using the same products.......

I'm really boring, in other words. I'm going into the more shedding/slower growing period, and I'm considering a topical potion to charge up my temples (yes, another one) because honestly - that's the ONLY part of my hair that I'm anything less than totally pleased with.

I'd like to put my hair in yarn twists for most of the winter, but I'm being a lazy git, and not only haven't found the yarn, I also haven't praticed one bit (though I've stalked MANY a fotki).

I've been hanging around LHCF for the last few days out of boredom, and it's inspiring in me a vibe to try some new stuff, mix up some stuff out of the ingredients I already have.

I actually need to go back through my journal and IDENTIFY some stuff - I have no clue what some of my mystery mixes are.

Okay. I'm heading home, but I'm going to post a pic entry once there.....

Hair & Lies

OK, here's the deal.

Everybody gets to ask me 3 questions. They can be about anything.

Two of them I will answer honestly.

The answer to one of them will be a complete fabrication.

Then you get to guess which one is the lie.

Heheheee.....

 

---

 

And, after the many demands, here is a bad picture of my hair.  I should have taken it on Monday or Sunday, or something. *laugh* By the end of the week, it's fuzzy & full. The red & black picture is a comparison of my hair in twists in - November, I think.  It's hard to really see the huge difference in thickness of the twists, I think, but it's very easy to see/feel IRL..... It's about the same length at this point as it was in Nov - but without all the dyed & fried ends - which is a HUGE part of the added thickness....

          

*frowns at face*

I think I've gotten fatter.

 

Shit & Sunshine

I always start by saying I don't have much to say, and then ramble on for three or four screens, so...I'mma be honest with myself and you and say I don't know what the hell I'm gonna say, but the fingers felt like typing.

Let's see.

My cat died. Mauled by a dog, apparently. Thank all the heavens, C found him while I was out of town as I might have plain out lost my mind. With the wee bit of distance NOT discovering him provides, I just leak occasionally.

 

I'm ever so glad I decided to play with my camera a few months ago and get some semi-good pictures of him. *tear* I'mma miss my furry little fatboy.

There. That's the misery out of the way.

Can you BELIEVE it's almost SEPTEMBER? *goggles* Holy shit, seriously, what happened to the year? I can feel fall peeking around the corner - the morning sunlight is - different. And the birds are starting to flock. And praise all that is holy, the mosquitos are starting to be a little LESS - biting.

I'm still vaugely irked at the assholes of the world, but I've been - withdrawing - in general, lately. I suspect I'm sliding gently into one of my 'fuck the world' phases (slowly, says she) and I'm quite alright with it. Or, maybe just one of my Screw you guys, I'm going offline moments. Yes... that might be more accurate.

Still not pregnant. Roughly five months, the start of roughly my fifth cycle (3rd, really, as the last one and one at the start of spring were annovulatory). I'm still decidedly dragging my feet about seeing a doctor, because, well, I don't want a doctor involved. *shrug* I've got an accupunturist appt. on Friday, and they have a TCM practioner there too. Yeah, I'll drink a nasty ass mixture of herbs and berries before I'll pop a pill. What can I say, I've become much more - fuck the system - lately.
Okay, not quite fuck the system, but I question EVERYTHING. I'm a doubtful, doubtful, downright suspicious Nellie.....and - I don't know. I'm listening to myself, and there is no fear just DEEP aversion.

Still gainfully employed. *pullshairgently* Speaking of which, my hair is doing wonderful, amazing, fabulous things - I need to pull out my camera and take a picture before it gets all muddled up again. It's growing like a weed, it is, and has gotten amazingly thicker, as well.

C is still working at the same place! Almost 9 months! It won't truly be a record til he breaks 2 years though, and he's already starting to get restless. *bangs head against wall* There are oftentimes - many times - that I wonder if me not being pregnant yet is a good thing.

But I was told to stop sending mixed bloody messages.

But I don't know how to accept it, and to accept that there ain't no good reason for it. I mean..... *sigh* I do try to force everything into something logical. *snort* You would think, 20 odd plus years of being on this planet, I would have grapsed the utter futility of that in certain situations. You WOULD think.

House is still wonderful, though the back half is starting to turn into a jungle. Garden finally gave up the ghost - I had a realllly crappy dirt mix. *sigh* But, each year is a lesson learned, and thank all the heavens that we aren't RELYING on it yet.

Hrm. What else?

I'm taking (asslaggingdragging, more accurately) a Homeopathy 101 course. I suck, as I jsut got the books over the weekend. I'm also still going to First Realm class, which had a high point in usefulness a few weeks ago, and since then have just been - blech. *shrug* It's okay though, as I'm not certain what I supposed to be learning, so whatever I'm learning is good enough. My shrine has been sadly, sadly, sadly neglected.
I'm a very bad little pagan. Or am I? What is the judgement of a good/bad pagan, as there are no books of dogma, and even if there were, they most likely wouldn't apply to my path.
At least I was wise enough to stay away from opened statues.
Gaaahd, I can't wait to quit.

Long weekend! I am 'working from home' on Friday, since my appt. is early in the day, then a friend is coming a visiting (must run that past the boy, and get him to help me with the futon), and then Monday is a holiday AND I took Tuesday off too, cuz I fucking rock like dat.

Only leaves me 3 days (I think) left for the rest of the year, but *shrug* whatever.

Haven't done a blessed bloody thing in the house for a while - we need to come to a consensus on whether the kitchen is 'done' - if so, I have many bottles to wash and rearrange. And why do boys think that 'cleaning' a room leaves room for dirty shit still left piled up in the corner of the room? A clean kitchen means CLEAN - not one with all the bloody pots & pans and other icky stuff your dainty fingers are far too fragile to wash still left heaped on the counter. That. Isn't. CLEAN. I'm far too tempted to throw many of them out. Faaaarrr too tempted.

I need to be sewing. And painting. And installing. And leveling. And weeding. And other useful type shit around the house, but instead I go home, pop right back online (I'm trying to catch up on a yahoogroup with 41K+ posts - from the START) and read and absorb and relax, somewhat. Or sleep. Oh, sleep is SO wonderful - esp. when it's hot.

Hrm.

I think my brain has run out of random things to spew. I'm averaging about 3 times a month now, eh?

I try to visit almost daily, but I'm about as crappy of a noter as I am a poster.

I am the Batman! *whirls cape and vanishes dramatically*

miscellinia

“Oh ye Egyptians, they may say to you that I have not made an expedition hither for any other object than that of of abolishing your religion, but tell the slanderers, but I have not come to you except for the purpose of restoring your rights from the hands of the oppressors.”

- Napoleon Bonaparte July 2, 1798

“Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators. It is the hope and desire of the British people, and the nations in alliance with them, that the Arab race may rise again to greatness and renown among the peoples of the earth.

- Sir Frederick Stanley Maude, Commander of British Forces in Baghdad, March 19, 1917.

“Unlike many armies in the world you came not to conquer, not to occupy, but to liberate.”

- Don Rumsfeld, speaking to US troops, April 2003

---

---

I had to write a paper in four days (well, I HAD a month and some change, but opted to wait til four days before it was due to start working on it), and that sparked, I think, my first return to MY world. *lol*

Anyhow, I'm reading again. I'm balancing three books now (one car, two home), and I'm seriously considering getting the Harry Potter set, and reading that. Right now, I'm reading Misconceptions, and it's sad, scary, amazing, enlightening, absorbing, and terrifying all at once.

Any ideas of something new to add to my library?? I'v been on a mad bookbuying spree for a while (how I love thee LibrarySale! How I adore your variety, BookCloseOuts.com!)

---

Tis a Gaia goddess pendant, handblown by a wonderful artist friend of mine. I've been wearing it for the last two months, we've (I've?) been trying to get pregnant for the last four. I'm finally ready to mention it - publically - so to speak.

It's possibly the most - nerveracking thing I've ever done in my life, and I'm trying to not obsess about it everywhere. OD is my almost only babyfree area, and - I kinda want to keep it that way. This is for ME. When I was a preteen, I wrote to create my own space - my own identity separate from my mother and fathers child. When I was a teen, I wrote to help me understand and explore the woman I was growing into. As I woman, I write to ground me in myself, and to give me free room and space to explore and grow. As a mother, I KNOW I will need a space that is mainly for me - a space where I can still be just A'ishah - not Mom. That's one of the main reasons I sprung for a lifetime membership while I knew we could afford it - I NEVER want to have to chose to give up my safe space because of financial tightness. If OD goes under, I've got my backups, and I'll make a blog, and I'll miss you all dearly.

So. It's out there. But don't expect to hear much - directly. :lol At least not HERE.... I might be throughly Eve&Eve and make another diary. But honestly? I doubt it.

At least for now. ;)

As I've learned/learning, what I'm certain of changes almost from day to day.

---

I'm still stretching out my ears too (thanks A!).... my front holes are 6g, and my second holes are being stretched to an 8g as I type.

My collection of earrings is - delightful and wide and I really need to take a picture of them all (once the other three? four? pairs show up *shamefulgrin*). I think I'm going to stop at 6g, seriously. Maybe. *grin*

I want to look into making fimo earrings. My favorite style - the dangles - dont come in very many sizes, and I'm sure I could figure out how to make some GORGEOUS earrings.

It's a thought.

We shall see.

Dinnner's done. ;)

---

A thousand words....

Why must all cucumbers look naughty?

ETA: *LMAO* The keys are there for size reference only - the camera was in C's car, so I had those handy. ;) But something tells me if the cuke WAS going somewhere, well. He would get carded. *LMAO*

 

Because I was feeling all artsy and shit.

The yellow ones hadn't bloomed yet - they were half open when I left yesterday, they should be fully open today, I'm guessing.

I can't remember what color these were supposed to be, but the purple on the edges makes me eager.

 

And it's raining!! Only since I've become a 'gardener' do I really feel the full joy of rain, now. *lol*

 

Life

I feel like I should write. Not for you guys (though I'm certain you're hanging on my every word), but for me.

I feel like I should be taking pictures and singing in the rain and dancing for no apparent reason - like I should be doing these things, you must understand, not that I want to.

I don't want to be at work - only 48 minutes left, and I don't want to come back tomorrow, despite work having been - well, for the job that it is, it's been pretty darn sweet.

My life is dull, I think. It's wonderful and it's peaceful and it's lovely and it's occasionally (more frequently than I would like to admit) lonely, but - in general - it's dull.

No. Dull isn't the right word. It's dull like the ocean on a still day. It's dull like a perfectly cloudless sky. It's dull like a dead tree, carved and sharpened by sand.

The little things perk me up - like C bringing home meatloaf, or finding the perfect pair of earrings or hearing my favorite song.

And it's not like it's a rut either. And for once, I can say it's definitely not limbo.....it's just my life. And perhaps I've gotten to used to it - but I not (looking around for the tricksy hand of the gods) ASKING for it to be shook up, just to be clear. A wee shake-up would be very nice, and much appreciated, though.

I'm going to get a tattoo this weekend, I think.

I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but I realized (in one of those melodramatic flashes of insight), that I'm unbalanced - tattoo wise, and being wise. I - I can't walk that delicate middle line - social, but not to social, open but not too open, wise but not a smartass, silly but focused, eager but cautious. And I want to walk that line - I'm not asking for it to be easy - but I would like to feel a bit less like a drunken sailor.

Anyhow. The only tattoo I have right now is fire.... and to balance it, I'm going to get three more - water, earth, and air. Water is going to be my next one - perfectly balancing fire (which is on my right hip) by being on my left hip. After that, I suspect me & C might finally get our 'matching' tatts, if I can ever finish designing them.

Then Earth, low on my back, right over my spine. Then Air, on my shoulders.

I don't know how long it will take me, but I know it feels enourmously right. I got fire first, oh so many moons ago, because I felt like I lacked passion. I've learned, over that time, that I don't lack in passion in the least - I just wasn't trying to bring my passion to bear on the RIGHT things. Now, I feel like I'm ready to accentuate ALL of my aspects.

My hair, she is growing.

My ass, is shockingly enough, staying the same damn size (too large) without me fighting to keep it there. Even MORE relieivingly, my 'stable' weight is ten pounds LESS than it used to be. Go figure. We have almost finished putting together the fitness room - I need to order another packages of matting, and we need some fans and an A/C unit, and then I can start working on reducing the size of my ass.

My garden, she is growing like wild things - the cukes and the pumpkins are plotting on how to take over the world, the sunflowers are taller than me, the strawberries are finally producing (though, I don't think I like them, and might buy a new strain next year) the peppers are moving slow, and all of the tomatoes I PLANTED flipped me the bird - but a volunteer from LAST year showed up. It is green, and glorious, and dear god, I'm never going to want to eat another cucumber again.

(left side is pumpkins, right side is cukes). At least I can freeze pumpkin puree.

C is doing wonderfully, working his ass off and his heart out and really making that hotel BETTER. And he loves every minute of it. We've been together for almost seven years, and it feels like barely the blink of an eye. We still ain't perfect, but I never even pictured we would be this close to it.

The FatCat is still ruling the roost - though we think he encountered a snake a while ago, as he was skittish as all get out - he damn near levitated when I shifted the hose suddenly, and he's met a dog (and learned that the tops of cars are wonderful places to hide, much to C's dismay) but he still thinks he's the shit. And of sweet heavens, he's shedding like a..... like a.... like a double coated cat in 90+ degrees temps who spends equal amounts of time outside and in an unairconditioned house, and if I ever get into the yarn/spinning thing, I could totally make a sweater. A full body sweater.

The house... well. This has been the last thing we've worked on.

Going from this:

to this:

One thousand, four hunded, and twenty, if you were wondering how many books there were. And I still need/want/crave/desire more. I've come out of the book dragon closet, and I'm proud, dammit.

So. See? It's life. It's quiet, and peaceful, and comfortable and calm, and as much as I dance on the edge of wanting a sudden squall to sweep there - I'm happy - really happy - as it is.

How YOU doin'???

Well, it's been a NICE little while since I last updated. As usual, I'll start with hair, and move to holes.

My hair is - it's amazing, really. It's slowly turning into something - someting wonderful. It's growing (man, is it growing!) but more importantly, it FEELS happy. I was just reading my last journal entry, and realized that this weekends henna is supposed to be a henna/coconut/lime mix - hrm, that should be interesting. I can't remember if I left any henna powdered, like I was supposed to! *slaps forehead* I'll go home tonight and check.

Okay - pictures!

February to June comparison:



I posted this in my photo journal, and several people commented that it looked thicker and shinier (and obviously longer) and it IS. It's MUCH thicker - I'm not sure if it's just as it gets longer, it 'poofs' more, or what - but it's WAY thicker than it was - but it still compresses down to about nothing. It's also shinier - that, I assume is the combination of continual henna'ing and jsut general improvement in it's overall health.
When it's wet, it's - wavy - really, and it LAYS DOWN. I'm sure KeenKitty will talk about me flashing again ( :laugh: ) but I'll have to take a fresh out of the shower picture jsut to show what I'm talking about - hrm, I think I'll do a before/after picture this weekend for the HLC treatment.

It's also gotten ALMOST long enough (if I twist right on the edge of my crown) that I can put my hair into two flattwists down either side of my head. I haven't been able to do that since I cut the last of the bleach/dyed hair out.
It's interesting, because the nape hairs don't seem INSANE long anymore - but they aren't SHORTER than they used to be, the rest of my hair has just caught up.

Hrm. I ran out of the Creme of Nature stuff that I had been using in my hair, and forgot to pic up a new container, so desparate, I broke into the Hair Souffle that I had tried before and hated. I don't remember WHY I hated it (I'll have to scan back and see if I talk about it) but it ROCKED on my hair Sunday. I have two WHOLE containers of it, and it's rich, so I only need to use a little bit, so if my hair seems happy when I take it down this weekend, I'll continue to use that.

*thinks* What else, what else? I'm starting to see breakage again, and I think it might be the MTG I was putting in my mister - so I'm stopping that once I empty out the last of this mister bottle (tomorrow or Thursday, I'm sure). The breakage isn't NEARLY as bad what I was getting before, and I've noticed that if I don't 'swish' my hair around (I take it out, comb it straight back, condition it straight back, dentangle straight back, and then twist/braid as needed) it stays MUCH less tangled, and seems happier, in general.

Or, it could be that I've skipped my protien treatments the last two months - hrm, maybe my hair is getting TOO soft. I need to read back and see my logic for determining when my next HLC treatment would be - as to me, that works as an INTENSIVE protien treatment. I think doing it every other month - even skipping the week 3 protien treatment, might be overkill. *Thinks*

Month 1 - HLC/no protien
Month 2 - henna/no protien
Month 3 - henna/protien
Month 4 - henna/no protien
Month 5 - HLC/no protien

Hrm - that's kinda spread out - I would only do a HLC twice a year on that schedule - I think I wanted to it it every 3 months..... I'd much rather do that treatment, and just totally dump the week 3 protien treatment, and replace it with something else.
Hrm. I've also been kinda 'skimping' on the clarifying on week 4 - I REALLY don't use much in my hair (though, I've started back with the Burnt Sugar this week, so I'll definitely need to clarify) - so I haven't felt the need to 'strip' my hair. If anything, I've mixed a wee bit of BS with my conditioner, and run that through my hair RIGHT before I henna.

So, if I dump the protien treatment it would be -
Week 1 - Henna
Week 2 - Deep conditioner (Still in love with the Elasta - though, I've started 'craving' something new.....)
Week 3 - ????
Week 4 - Clarifying, if needed, otherwise another DC

and

Month 1 - HLC
Month 2 - Henna
Month 3 - Henna
Month 4 - HLC

Hrmm.. moisture/protien balance is the crucial thing. I don't want to over moisturize (and shockingly enough, I think my hair is getting to the point where that MIGHT be a possibility) and I KNOW my hair gets grumpy REAL quick if I over protein. Hrrrm.
Maybe I'll start experimenting with various herb washes/treatments on Week 3 - that might be fun.

I totally stopped using the Lenzi's Request - *shrug* it jst seemed to be more of a headache than it was worth. I has started using the MTG I got in a swap - shaking up the bottle, dipping a qtip into it, and just dabbing alng my hairline. I did that for about three weeks, didn't see any change, and was like - screw it. So, that's that for the topical treatments - I'm so happy to see my hair GROWING, that the speed is - eh. It'll happen as it happens, ya know?

*LOL* I have flyaway hairs that are long enough to get into my EYES when I'm driving - not many, mainly from that odd section of hair right behind my ear, but it's throughly amazing and amusing all the same.

[b]Okay! Holes! [/b]

I've stretched up to 6g! The jump from 8 to 6 has been the MOST painful one - my left ear seemed okay with it, then it went all wonky, my right ear was PISSED from the start, and once the left ear went wonky, decided it was satisfied and healed totally in like two days. :eyeroll: Anyhow! I'm wearing 'small' 6g's in my ear now - lemme see if I can dig up the pic... Ah! Found it!

I call them small 6's because of the way they taper in the middle - I liked that, because I figured it would help keep them in my ears at night (snort, that TOTALLY doesn't work - I still wake up every morning missing at least one), but I know my ears can ACCOMODATE a 6g, because I have to slide the 'thick' bit through to get there.
I LOVE these - they are heavy and curly curvy, and just lovely.
I still have 10g in my second holes - I'm debating taking them up to an 8g - but I'd have to find SMALL earring to go there. I had a perfect set of spirals, but one got sucked into a black hole in my bedroom somewhere (I went to bed wearing two, woke up wearing one, and haven't been able to find it since) so my second holes are mismatched - but I don't mind - it's funky. And, it gives me a way to use that non-mirror image set of short helixes I got - a spiral in one ear, and a helix in the other.

I'm itching to buy some new 6g stuff - I've experimented with horn earrings, and I really don't like them - at least the ones I've had - because they are too LIGHT. I like the feel of something substanial dangling from my ears - it makes me feel grounded.
I want to try some wood, but I suspect they will feel too light too.

And I think I'm ALMOST ready for a set of goddesses. Oooohhh. But, I msut go a wee bit more ebay crazy, first. :laugh:

I thnk that about wraps it up... I'mREALLY going to try to be better about posting/hanging out here - it's just that truly - besides the CONDITION of my hair - nothing's changed. I've hit that wonderful place where stuff WORKS, and I know what to do when it DOESN'T work, and - :grouphug: I really owe MOST of that to the wonderful folx here.

Thanks ya'll, on the real.

She's ALIVE!!!!

Yes, I haven't suffered an untimely demise.

In fact, I'm just fine.

Work, is workly.

House, is WUNDERBAR. Here, this is a bit of what we've been up to. This transformation took about, oh, 8 MONTHS, but still - it looks quite nice, if I do say so myself.

And can I say that BigLots is my personal home decor store of choice? That place ROCKS.

The garden is going along - all that stuff (when I update) is on the dirtydirty MySpace blog - link to that is on the front page.

Urm.

I've realized that I write VERY few FO entries, and my favorites list is crazy long, so I think I'm going to have to pare it down... that's one of the reasons that I come here so rarely - I'm scared of all them there updates.

But really I don't read em all.

Um.

I think that's it.

I might redecorate later.

I havent' been chatty journal wise, cuz I've been SO chatty forumwise. I *heart* my forums.

Oh, yeah - my little experiment. So far? My worst has been 37 miles per gallon. Right now, I'm shooting for 40, I think - I've got half a tank left, and 220 miles on the trip meter. Mwuahahahaaaaa! Take that, Prius!

What's Growing On?

I haven't posted for a while about the garden - not much has been going on. I've got LOTS of stuff sprouted now, and I've been watering once a day/every other day - assuming it's not going to rain, that is.

I stayed home today waiting for our counters to be installed - so I spent some time out there, thinning the Skyscraper sunflowers, and spraying the garden with Kiya's Crunchy Food & Pesticide Mix... I need another sprayer doohickey ALREADY! The one I have now sends more water back onto me than it does into the container, and the mix ratio doesn't seem to be right. I think leaving it out in the freeze cracked something. Oops.

Anyhow - pictures!

First - my little friend who was hidden SOMEWHERE in the strawberry patch. I went over to look at my strawberries (which have COMPELTELY recovered, by the way!) and he came hopping out. He was a bigun, too!

 

Look at how big he is compared to my GORGEOUS strawberries? I love the little red edging around the leaves. I hope that's not a BAD thing.  

 

In the same box, we have two kinds of lettuce, the sunflowers across the front, onions, marigolds, and spinach. The last three are still pretty spindly.

This box seems to be doing the best - I'm not sure if it's the screening that I put up for the strawberries shading the soil, the mix of clay/sand that's in there from the dirt in the old bed, or what.  I'm kinda kicking myself for using JUST compost and peatmoss in my boxes - I'm wondering if it's got enough nutrients in it.

I need to start digging out more lettuce seed, as it's high time that I sow some more - I might try it in one of the beds that's kinda *waggles hand* Eh.

Okay - in the next bed, we have the two kinds of green beans. I suspect the first picture is of the heat resistant ones, as they are doing much better than the others. I'm going to thin the threesome down to two, once I can clearly see which two are strongest. Right now, they are all growing beautifully.

 

 

The cukes are looking pretty good too.

There's other stuff in this box, but none of them have moved as impressively as these. I haven't seen a peep from the cauliflower, and the brussels and brocolli are looking kinda weak too - I think it might have gotten too hot for them already. If I don't see anything serious from them in two weeks, I'm going to write them off as a VERY early spring/fall crop.

 

The next box has the 'runners' in it - pumpkin:

 

Squash:

And watermelon!

 

I'm finally getting a WEE peep out of my tomatoes - well, at least I HOPE these are tomatoes, and not a random windborn weed. But I don't think a weed would be quite so organzied.

I think that the peppers are starting to break too, but I'm not sure....no picture yet. This box looks - it looks like it has the potential to get really full, really quick. I tried to plant the runners in the middle, so that I can run them BETWEEN the other taller plants, and if need be, (and they get that big!) I can run them OUTSIDE the box too. Mwauauahaha. And the peppers and tomatoes are going to be trellised (I need to start thinking about that soon) so, that'll free up a little more ground space.

 

Lastly, the flower bed.

The morning glories appear to be rather snackable to SOMEONE. Hurmph.

And the sunflowers are, as usual, doing wonderfully. These are the ones I thinned  - also the ones that make me worry the most about nutrients. The peppers looked a LITTLE yellow I thought, but the sunflowers have several yelllowish lower leaves. I know they are VERY thirsty plants, so I'm hoping it's just low moisture right now, and be sure to triple water them every time I water.

 

I'm going to get back on a STRICT every day watering schedule, and I'm trying to talk myself into waking up a little earlier, so that I can go outside and water BEFORE I go to work, so that they are good and moist during prime sun time. *sigh* I know it's for the best, but ICK.

I figure, between regular watering and the lovely food I gave em today, things should improve.

Notes for next year - get screening for ALL the boxes when going right into the ground in late spring. Early spring (ie, Feb) not so much. Late Spring (ie late March/early April) definitely. Also - go with all heat resistant - hopefully by the end of this year, I'll have figured out enough to feel comfy in buying some full price heirloom seeds. Also, next year, I'm going for some fruit trees.

 

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In other delightfully domestic news - no, the countertops did NOT get installed.

Well, one did. *lol*

The longer ones (around the sink) were MISMEASURED. *asplode* *sigh* So, it was too short, and they have to come back Wednesday. Thankfully, I'm salaried, and take any chance possible to escape from work, so I don't mind TOO much - but still! Dammit! I want my countertops!

Once nice perk - they put in the lift BEFORE they realized that the counters were too short, so we will still be able to install the dishwasher!! They also installed our gorgeous new faucet, so whoohoo! *sigh* I was so hoping that Sunday would be the last time I had to wash dishes. *LOL*

Murph.