Thanks for compliments!

I agree- fascinating is the right word about this type of earrings. So far, I have seen some stretched ears IRL, but not anything like I'm wearing myself. I'm so glad I decided to stretch- I have never enjoyed earrings (well, just one) this much. I do think that in the picture, my ear looks still rather small...I'm fighting the little voice telling me that going up to 8g might be a good idea after all.

Once again, I am thinking of how to make covering my hair so easy that I actually do it every time I need to. I totally agree with you- trees seem to get some pleasure out of reaching out and yanking at long hair.
So far, I have been wearing:
scarf caps: bandanas pinned to scarf shape. A pretty option, but obviously pinning requires so much work that it's not practical if I have to hurry out for a moment or two
Whatchamacallit scarf caps I bought from Headcoverings las year: These are really good, as far as functionality goes. They still need a clip & pin combo in front in order to stay in my head among the trees. Besides, I only have one in red/pink floral and one in violet floral, and I would prefer to have something more plain. Usually, if I pin a scarf cap on in the morning, I don't take it off before the evening. Meaning that I would like to be able to go shopping groceries and visit post office without having to take my headcovering off. I don't think I have yet guts to go doing those things wearing a big, flowery thing on my head.
On some days, I wear bandanas and pin the to my head but don't close them into caps. That is relatively quick and easy, but not entirely safe: if I'm unlucky, the wind flips the scarf just when I'm passing under a tree and *yank* happens.
  At the moment, I'm hoping that the small snoods I ordered, will be a good solution.

I'm so excited of all the swapping going on!   You ladies make my week!   I can't wait until we've worked out the swaps and I can resume stalking the mail lady again.

I just found out, that T had snatched digicam to work, so Mamacat pictures will arrive this evening to those who have requested them. Sorry for the delay!

Weekend: Busy. Saturday was like a work camp day for me. T's father came to build our terrace, and besides my normal chores and working in the garden, I ended up to be his helper until T showed up from Sweden. Since I don't know anything about working with wood, I ended up just carrying it where needed. I learned, that building a moderate size terrace requires LOTS of carrying work.
When T's father left, we finished with doing some garden work and at 9pm we were so tired that we just fell to the bed.
    On Sunday morning, I woke up and realized that every muscle in my body, from toes to neck and fingers was hurting. I had planned to finish my shoveling work in the garden, but ended up spending the day doing lighter work instead. The day passed quickly, and before 10 pm, we were ready for sleep again. This reminds me of latter part of last summer so much.
     Today, it's a weekday and I feel almost like resting now that I can spend some time writing, sorting my email ands such. Though, it's nice and sunny outside...

Hair: At least, the busy weekend gave me a good opportunity to test my new straw hat. I've been very pleased with it! It's great sun protection and if I manage to make my bun as small and low as I can, the apple trees don't knock it out of my head more than twice or so a day. Way to go!
     I am trying to remember to cover my head when going to garden (as well as not wandering into garden absent-mindedly). So far, I have managed.
    
Butterflies: Since wonders of the deep space aren't available to us for the next couple of months, we have turned our attention to animals in our garden. We are keeping a list of species we find: mammals, birds, butterflies and other critters. Of these, butterflies are my speciality.
     According to my butterfly book, a bit over 120 species of butterflies have been found from Finland. Of course, this number includes a large amount of rarities (even species with just one recorded sighting have been entered), as well as some Lappish species. Neverthless, we have every confidence in the attractiveness of our garden from butterfly perspective, even before we have had time to plant the "butterfly oasis" we have planned. My goal is to find at least 12 species during the summer. Since I don't catch butterflies for identification, I have to run after them and hope that the object of my interest is cooperative enough to sit down somewhere long enough for me to be able to identify it. Great exercise!
At the moment, our species list is four species long- a good start.

Mamacat pictures sent!

Curlgirl64: I have seen monarch butterflies only in pictures. They are gorgeous! Managing to capture butterflies in photos is a kind of dream of mine- at the moment it seems that it may be a long while before that happens. It's hard enough to keep up with them without a camera!

lol!Galadriel!  Yes,it's true!  Blink your eyes and their off on their mission!  I have never seen one like I did that day with all those colors.  That image will stay with me for a long time!

thank you for that pic!

For a change, I got some hair news.
Inspired by writing this journal yesterday, I decided to do a deep treatment. While searching for my trusted XZ deep conditioner, I found a brand new, untested hair mask waiting. So, a quick change of plans was in order!
The hair mask I tried was L'Oreal ElVital hair mask for long hair. You don't see products targeted for long hair too often, and this also looked quite promising in the store (no silicones or other alarming stuff). It takes just a minute to do- also something I want from my products in these days. I used it after washing my hair, as instructed. Now, I can tell that it made my hair feel nicer than it does after an average wash, but I can't actually describe how. However, I think this is an ok product. My hair is just in such a good condition in these days that no special treatments make dramatic difference.
     Second, and perhaps smaller news is, that today I wore a pair of hairsticks. Haven't done that for a while. But since I was going to Helsinki, I decided to seize the opportunity to wear a hairstick style instead of my everyday Ficcares and scarves. Caramello pair was the lucky one.

Otherwise, this day was one of those days when you start feeling by mid-afternoon that you should have stayed in bed, grabbed a good book and some cheese. Why can't the Universe let us know such things in the morning while one could still do something about it??? A few little accidents, a generous sprinkling of bad and just not so good news and just every possible little thing going slightly yet clearly wrong... what a joy it was to return inside the fencing of my little realm, away from the world that just doesn't like me today.
    Now, I'm waiting for my olive bread to rise and when I've finished baking, I'm just going to curl up in the sofa with T (who has also had a bad day today) and watch some Babylon 5 eps (since the Stargates we ordered some three and a half weeks ago from Australia haven't still showed up...*grumble*).
    Tomorrow must be a better day. It's a national holiday- free day for T- and we are going to spend it working in the garden and doing everything nice. At home.

Thanks for compassion, Sakina!

Yesterday ended well, and today has been again a genuinely good day. Weather has been warm and beautiful, so we have spent a lot of time outdoors, doing work-work, garden work and just relaxing. I can't wait until our terrace is ready so we can also eat in the garden.
      Hair is, as it is on a typical garden day: bunned, Ficcared and put safely under a pinned light green scarf cap. I have to give some more kudos to ElVital's hair mask though. Usually, when I have done a deep treatment, I notice the difference immediately but it soon begins to fade away. But this hair mask is different- if anything, my hair feels more clearly nice than on an average second day. I think I have found a new good product!