Experiementing with grey

I must confess that my hair has been going grey for many, many years. Normally because it is dyed some vibrant colour no one would ever guess that I am dying it just to cover the grey. I mean let's face it no one has hair the colour mine normally is naturally!

However I've become concerned about the environmental effects of both the dye itself and the containers it come in. Hence I am experimenting with more natural alternatives. Henna is great and I intend to use Caca from Lush to get gorgeous coloured tints. However I've also read good things about sage.

So over the weekend I made a very strong infusion of sage and popped it in a little spray bottle. I tend to spray my grey with it every night and see if it works as those on line claim it does. Watch this space....

A rod for my own back

Last year I attempted to start my own Christmas tradition. I've become concerned by the amount of waste that Christmas generated. So I decided to make drawstring bags (with cute little designs on them) for presents to go in. I used old curtains and all kinds of bits and pieces from my sewing cupboard. They looked absolutely gorgeous. I really wish I had taken a picture. I'd even done fabric gift tags with initials on them so they could be used as a glass charm after.

My big , forward thinking idea was that these would be used year after year for presents instead of paper. I put my initials, the date and 'please reuse me' on the back. I imagined looking back in years to come and remembering who had made various present bags and when they had first been introduced. I rather hope that some other family members might have come up with their own versions for this year (or re-use the ones I made last year).

However this means that I have got to produce around 20 bags for this year's gifts to go in. I'm going to make bags that fold over at the top this year with little ties rather than drawstrings. I suppose I'd better get to work on them tonight or I shall be burning the midnight oil and sewing when I should be enjoying mulled wine by the fire!

Pants!

I was alarmed to read recently that apparently the average life of a pair of knickers is 3 months! As I have some that are celebrating a decade of so (albeit in a rather greying tatty state) I began to wonder what this 3 month life span is based upon. I suppose if you only had say 8 pairs and were endlessly washing them they might well wear out after 3 months. Isuppose it also depends on your definition of worn out!

Is this a call them for the capsule underwear wardrobe? Just enough pairs, in neutral shades with a few brights for nights out?

The snag is you need different colours and type of underwear to go under different outfits and for different situations. Although I have (during my 'wear only black' decade) gotten away with one colour and minimal bras things have changed. Dear Heart's Mother bought me some adorable green lace knickers for Christmas and since then I been buying and wearing all kinds of colours!

Just in case anyone is wondering I did finally get a trouser suit from New Look. It was in the sale so I was able to justify buying 2 pairs of trousers to go with the jacket. I'm not sure why it was so reduced as it also seemd to be on sale at full price elsewhere in the store. And Ok it wasn't grey, it was black with a sort of stripe pattern thing. But it just shows that the wardrobe fairy is watching. Mimi - take heart - you will find your perfect bridesmaids dresses, just maybe not in the form you expect.

I did buy a blouse but had been thinking about the glamour of Dita Von Teese when I was browsing so it turned out to be less suitable then I imagined at the time. I'm sure it will be good with a coloured vest underneath to cover my pride.

I find shirts under a suit jacket are a real pain. They are just so fussy. Happily when I tried on my green galaxy top it looked fabulous and much sleeker. I can't believe that I've always bought skirts suits before (not even sure why). A trouser suit is so comfortable and easy to wear. I think I may need a to acquire a few more at the January sales...

A new suit

Somehow I've managed to pick completely the wrong day to buy a new suit. I though that the shops were always full of suits. Well today they seem to be full of Christmas party wear. I used to wear black for a preference but now it seems a little harsh. Given the shops are supposed to be full of grey I didn't think it would be a problem. Alas there is very little grey indeed and anything that is non-black suddenly turns out, on closer inspection, to have glitter strips or something else making it unsuitable for the workplace.

There also seem to be a tendency for shops to lure you in when you spot some nice looking trousers and there discover that there are no matching jackets. Am I doomed to a life in separates?

It must be the time of year

It seems so long since my last post and although there's been a bit of upheaval in my life jobwise in the last week that doesn't really excuse the week before that. What have I been doing with myself? How did it get to be November? Mimi at Little sips of tea is back so I guess it's time I was too.

Well I enjoyed a few divine days at Henlow Grange. I'd like to say relaxing but I was rather taken with the variety of classes on offer. During my short stay I managed to fit in Aqua mitt (good fun), Sinatra Swing (hard to hear ol' blue eyes for the pounding of feet), Aqua body conditioning (circuit training in the water and I was the only person mad enough to show up for the class), Aqua fit (almost as much fun as Aqua mitt) and Wake up work out (guess who was always out of step?). I just loved being able to wear my dressing gown for most the day. The food was absolutely marvellous.

On the subject of food I've become rather taken with home made soup. I only have the tiniest of blenders so all the soups I've made recently have been chunky. I was kicked started by my approximation of Cauliflower and red lentil from Dolce Vegan. It was so good that at the supermarket I purchased the missing ingredients that should have been in it (such as fresh ginger) and the following week made a broccoli and green lentil version. This week it's tomato and cabbage. It's so good, the soup cooks while I sort out the recycling and before I go to yoga on a Thursday night. I have a portion after yoga and take the rest for lunch the next day. There was quite a bit of the broccoli and green lentil (added rather a lot of lentils and Quinoa) so I took some to work for a Monday morning breakfast. Total yum! It doesn't even need bread.

I've also been enjoyed a renewed burst of energy and enthusiasm in my allotment. Determined to clear all the patched that are over grown and keep the edges neat.

Guess the next thing I need to start thinking about is Yule. What can I buy everyone? I probably shouldn't speculate to much here. I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.