Thanks for advice and encouragement- my plan is just to persist, and trust in that my 50th dress will be perfect.

Things here have been busy -as always, I suppose. My hair is about as neglected as this hair journal. Today I snipped off some splits, and the day before yesterday I did a very short deep treatment with XZ conditioner, but otherwise I have pretty much kept haircare as easy as humanly possible.

Simple Dress Experiment: Yesterday was May Day eve, and we had tickets to a club gig of a good Finnish band (PMMP, if any Finnish lurkers are curious  ). A few hours before we had to leave, I realized that my jeans had been tucked safely into a storage box with a firm decision not to wear them until the end of the year. I have to say, going into a rock club in Helsinki wearing my simple wine dress and apron felt strange at first! But, then I noticed that people were dressed so diversely that I blended in surprisingly well. At least I didn't notice anyone staring at me. So again: I need to stop worrying beforehand and keep in mind, that most people have something better to think about than what I am wearing.
   As an interesting detail, I can report that I saw quite a few people with stretched earlobes. All wore big gauges though- from 00g up, I'd estimate. Stretching must be a new trend, though I don't know if everyone is scalpell happy or what. You'd think that you'd see some people who were "in the process". Hmm.

Work: No work, but there might be an interesting opportunity developing. It is possible that I get invited to do space research in Germany. Good thing: someone might pay for me for doing SPACE RESEARCH . Bad thing: it is in Germany, and I have a family and an orchard. So, arranging this will be challenging.

Stars: Speaking of space, observation time is is ending soon. Last night when we were driving home from the gig, the clock was around 1.30-2 am, and though it was still what I would call dark, the sky wasn't nearly as dark as I remember it being. In Southern Finland, we don't get real white nights as the sun does go below horizon even in midsummer. It just won't go much below it and so, the sky isn't classified as dark at any time during the night from early May until late July. In midsummer, sky is very light through the night, though it is said that with very careful observing, stars up to 4 magnitude might be found. Obviously, that's not with MY observing skills! So, I hope that the skies will be clear for the few dark nights I have left before late summer, and that I may still make some good observations. Last night, when we had come home, I observed a bright, reddish star near the southern horizon- today, before going out, I will have to check if it was Antares of Scorpio. It would be so neat to see something of Scorpio that is such a difficult constellation to find from our skies.

Thanks, Kiraela. Zippers are difficult, but I am more stubborn than they are! Besides, my zippers are getting better- there is huge difference between my first dress and the latest two. I'm learning slowly, but slow learning is still learning.

Note to self: Don't whine. a) It doesn't suit you and
                                    b) You'll feel silly when you find out that you're doing just fine.

So, as you probably remember, here I was whining that I can't afford buying new Ficcares RIGHT NOW. Well, what do you know- it seems I am going to get not just one but two Ficcares I have coveted- via LHC swap, without paying a cent except the postage. I get to swap two of my three medium clips that are too small for me to Larges.
I have loved the colors of these clips and have wanted to get them both in Large for a long time. So, long live the Swap board.
   Now that I'm excited, I am toying with the idea of doing a bigger cleaning in my hairtoy closet. I have some quality hairtoys that I don't really use- as nice as they are: France Luxe, Maiden's Treasures and I think that there is even a pair or two in my LL hairstick collection that I could bear to swap to some other LL pair...hmm... And, of course there are some hairtoys that though not highest quality, might still interest people like Taiwan clips and such...but we'll see!
   
Stars: I'm glad to report that the star I saw the other night was really Antares. There is no other star like it in the area I was looking at. Now, summer may come for all I care- I really wanted to see Antares and now I did.

greek lady, Swap Board is a forum on The Longhair Community. Members can swap hair related items there. They have a trader rating system.  
   As I said, I am toying with the idea of putting some of my quality hairtoys for swap there. At the moment, I have just a growing list of items I could swap- but if you (or anyone else) is interested in seeing it, I am happy to pm it to you. At the moment, the list contains hairtoys such as Mamacat, France Luxe and Maiden's Treasures, as well as some cheaper but interesting stuff. I am happy to swap with members in good standing here (over 50 posts, and I have some idea of who you are), no need to go via LHC.
  In general, I plan to swap between items of approximately same value (an exchange of a bunch of cheaper hairtoys to one more expensive item would be ok). Since no one lives in Finland, I am planning to ship worldwide.
At the moment, I think I could bear to part with four pairs of hairsticks from my Longlocks collection, one of them being a Special Edition pair. However, I will swap Longlocks only to other Longlocks hairsticks!
Finally, I am not planning to sell anything.

Life: I had a flu yesterday. Guess what it is like to be me and have a flu.
T (coming home from work): Where are you? Are you feeling very ill?
Me: Quite ill *sneezes*.
T: What are you doing?
Me: Not much. Thinking.
T: Thinking? Are you THINKING? Haven't I told you that if you are sick, you must not think!
Me: But I'm thinking only a little. I'm answering some of the questions Dr. L sent me, regarding my thoughts on aliens. So you see, it's not really work at all.
T: Nonoonononoo. Stop right away and go to bed. You are not allowed to think about aliens before your temperature is back to normal.
Me *goes to bed, grumbling*
T (in two minutes): You are not thinking there in bed, are you?
Me: Very little.
T: Don't think of those aliens!!! You won't get well if you keep thinking of them.

Is it just my imagination, or are the conversations in this marriage a bit strange?
Well, T might have been right because later in the evening I got a headache that continued through the night. Today I have thought just a little, but mostly, I'm trying to rest today. Though it's very hard NOT to think.






   

I guess you didn't get my pm either !  I have a pretty pink crystal flower hairclip you might be interested in for a swap of some LL sticks!!  I'm still hopeful that you might want a pic!

Curlgirl64 & greek_lady I was able to read your messages, but could not send replies- the system posted an error message and my message just disappeared. However, everything should be well now. Bikerbraid helped me to deal with the problem, and I think I have now managed to send replies to you both. Please let me know if that is not the case!  

Speaking of bikerbraid, I think she is interested to see this:


This is my version of her ingenious bun. I can just barely make it (and I think it helps that my ends taper so much). It is a very nice bun- I love how elaborate it looks, though it is very quick to make.

Hair: I got my new Ficcares from trollkjerring: large Tiger Eye and Large Caramel. The swap went super smoothly, and I love both the clips. I was a bit unsure of the color of the Caramel clip -on some photos it has looked fabulous, but the catalog picture looks almost orange. So, I got a quick visit to the state of mind known as hairtoy heaven, when I saw it for real and discovered that the color is fabulous. Not orange-y to the least, but true caramel color. The gold border accents it perfectly- even T who rarely comments my hairtoys said it looks gorgeous, and I might add that IMO, that's an understatement. I think it's the most gorgeous clip in my collection.
The color doesn't match perfectly with my yellowish hair, but the clip is so gorgeous that it doesn't matter a bit.
In any case, I like it much better than my Light Blonde clip. And therefore...I am officially putting my large Light Blonde Ficcare to the Swap train as well (preferably to other Ficcares   ). Again, I wish to give the first chance to those reading this journal.

As a very pleasant bonus, trollkjerring sent me BPAL samples as well. They are all new to me- I'll have fun testing them.

I discovered that the site where I ordered my kitchen caps, Prayercoverings, has increased their snood selection. I liked their cloth snood (that I lost when we moved) a lot. So, when I finally got around to checking the site with a plan to order a new one, I was pleased to notice that they are now offering it in a small size. I'm quite sure that a snood that hangs only very little will look and feel even better on me.

Yesterday, when I spent a long day in Helsinki, I stumbled upon a decent-looking and cheap straw hat at H&M. It looks silly, but I really need it only when I work in a garden on hot days, so if it keeps me comfortably covered, that's all I care about. Because it is a regular hat and not bonnet-type, I will have to learn to adjust my bun so that it won't be a problem.
   If this style doesn't work, prayercoverings offers a bonnet-shaped straw cap. However, I think it looks too prairie for me, so I hope I can manage it with the straw hat.

Simple Dress Experiment:
  So far, I have received two comments on my dress, and both have been positive. In general, I still haven't seen any reactions from strangers- except that sometimes, I think, people are more polite around me. I don't know why that is, because in my culture, the style I wear is truly unique and not associated to any groups. But it certainly is nice!

BB: I noticed the bun's sturdiness as well. I spent a very long day away from home with it, and when I came back home it was still in perfect shape. It's a great bun!
 
Then, today's show and tell: Ficcare & ear pictures!


Black large Maximas with ponytail loop bun. In my ear: Mini Goddess spiral 10g. I never wear this style- it's just something I whipped together to show off the Ficcare.


Large Caramel Maximas with infinity bun. Cameras are not friends of this clip- again, in the photo, it has this strange orange-ish tint. IRL, it is caramel brown, not orange. Trust me.


Large Gold Matte Maximas with what tries to be a cinnamon bun but in fact resembles a seashell. Which is kinda nice though.


Large Tiger Eye Maximas with a rather pitiful rope braid bun. The bun is pretty, but why does it have to make my hair shrink?


Finally, the ear picture I promised: 10g bone Tigerlily earring. It doesn't look that big, really...

So, as you can see, swaps have gone very well- I received the Gold Matte Ficcare yesterday  . All my new clips are wonderful. Especially that caramel one that does so badly in photos!

As I typed my reply to Curlgirl64's pm, I remembered that there has been a dramatic hair incident I have not yet told you about. Well, there have been many similar type minor incidents, but I'll tell about just the worst.
      You see, though I have brainwashed myself to wearing a bun as a "default" style, here among the apple trees it just isn't enough to protect a longhair. Last weekend, when T's father was with us, I made the classic mistake of running outside "just for a little moment" without a headcovering. I didn't even venture into the big garden- just to the front yard. But, as I tend to forget, our front yard has over ten trees as well, they are just cleverly planted so that the area looks open.
Well, before I knew it, I felt a painful yank. A plum tree had struck. As usual, I tried to pull myself free. But this time, it didn't work. The branch had somehow managed to wrap my hair around it into a tangle. The more I pulled and twisted, the worse it got. Finally, T had to free me- which he did with admirable skill, but also a big smile.
Ouch.

Stars: Deep space observing season is over. Only few brightest stars are visible. And of course, Moon and the visible planets are still there, but that's not really much. I am thinking of observing the Moon during the summer though. It is quite a different sight with binoculars than with naked eye, and summer would be good time to get to know it better.