Garden: Coming spring seems to have made our resident birds go delirious with joy (or sex drive, or whatever makes them sing). And it seems to be contagious. Today, as I walked in the garden, everywhere there seemed to be tiny green leaves sprouting up. It seems that the snowfall we had just a couple of days ago, as well as the fact that there are still some snowy spots in our garden, has gone totally unnoticed among the perennial plant population of our garden. I just hope the weather will stay nice. Especially, I hope that there will be a couple of sunny days ahead, because I don't think we have many days left to finish with the apple trees.

Sewing: My second dress/apron combination is ready- all I can say that it was rainy and sewing seemed like a good way to occupy my time . Really, the pattern IS simple and quick to sew- only the zipper produces me major problems. Pictures still pending...I'll get to them, I promise!

Hair: I did a s&d mission. For some reason, I spotted quite a lot of splits. I guess that it's due to lack of trimming this year, but probably it didn't hurt if I got more regularity to my haircare. Granted, at the moment I'm not totally neglecting my hair any longer, but neverthless, I'm not still even near the level where I was before we moved in here. Need to improve, need to improve...

Important things first! Here is what I got from BB and Curlgirl.   Thank you so much! These ladies really have deserved some kudos: in spite of having a big hairtoy collection, I didn't have anything resembling what I now received. I don't know what the red thing is really called, but it's clearly a tube where one can put her hair for sleep. The size is so generous that I can probably continue to wear this thing for ever. I will test it tonight!
  Besides the tube, I got two crocheted crunchies. They're super nice, made of thin yarn that makes them just perfect for my thin hair. It doesn't really show in the picture, but the tan scrunchie has little beads adorning it. Lovely!
And then, there was this very cute postcard that you can see behind the tulip.
Sometimes I think that we're basically just a huge bunch of psychics here at LL- how else could I keep getting just perfect presents every time?
      If anyone wonders, yes, I have made the tablecloth during this winter. It was quite easy but the embroidery took some time.





And here are two pics T took last night. Here I'm wearing my first homemade dress-apron combination. The hideous zipper doesn't fortunately show. I now make the inverted pleat in the shoulder a bit smaller, but it required me to alter the pattern so it doesn't really count as a mistake. I like this color a lot- it's perfect for spring.
As you can see, the matching apron ties at the side- I've started to really like the look. In my hair, I'm wearing a golden Primavera Maximas clip.

Speaking of simple dress, I think I have just started to realize, HOW simple things get once you throw the western conception of style out of the window. This newest revelation arrived me with the brochure of a big department store's sale days dropping to my mailbox. As is my habit, I started lazily to leaf through the brochure. Nice pair of shoes here...that's a pretty necklace!...what an interesting scarf there...and so on, until, at some point it hit me: this spring, I'm not going to buy anything. There are not that many shoe styles that go with my dresses (and I already possess such shoes). I realized that I had left the world of accessories behind me almost as completely as I had left my everyday trousers and shirts. I have to admit that the first thought in my mind was not "cool, I'll save a ton!" but "what have I done?". I had thought that I was a sensible, rather frugal shopper. It really took this huge simplicity experiment to reveal the truth of how false that conception had been. Suddenly, I felt liberated to such extreme that a void seemed to be forming into my head. What would I now do with all this spare time, money and energy? Could I find anything to fill the void this size and shape? Though it is obvious that it's not the best part of me that is suppressed by adopting a simple dress, it may be a big enough part to make being content with simplicity hard for me from time to time.
   In some ways, I don't think I can fill this void. It isn't obviously created by real need. It's not created by the desire to have and wear something beautiful. Mostly, the "need" that I have now stopped fulfilling is the need to consume, the need to get something new just because it's new and shiney, the need to participate in the religion of Shopping. I used to think how little dress matters...but now, as a result of my experiment, I now think that there is more to these issues than meets the eye.

Garden: It's waking up! And once my camera starts acting weirdly, I will post pictures. First snowdrops are flowering, first butterflies hav been spotted and the apple tree cutting time is over. We did finish our task of cutting all 26 trees during the weekend. Next year, though, I think we'll start cutting already in February. We just have so many trees! The whole garden seems now fresher and renewed and in beautiful spring weather, nothing could be better than spend some time working in there. Besides working with apple trees, we have now planted the first seeds indoors. In a month, I'm not sure if we'll have an empty horizontal surface anywhere near the windows.
  Beautiful weather has also meant clear skies in the evening. Last night, I got some very fine views on the Moon. It's amazing how the disk I have seen in the sky all my life feels suddenly new and exciting. Take my advice: there are things in the sky you want to see before you die, and the craters on the Moon are one of those things. I could travel to the other side of the globe and not yet see a landscape so alien and luminous as are the valleys and the mountains of the Moon.

Hair: Speaking of stargazing, I have discovered that a low bun is not the style to wear while observing. Especially not a low bun with instant bun clip. It is, as if my conception of a "sleek, country-appropriate hairstyle" is being nibbled at the corners all the time. It's just as well that I know that cutting would not be the answer.
Did XZ deep treatment on Saturday. I think my hair really likes the stuff, for colored hair or not.

Well, I for one love my Satin Sox! I wore it for the bed last evening and it was just perfect. It's big enough so that it really stays where I put it- out of my way, no matter how much I toss and turn. It's also super comfortable! For quite a while now, I have worn my hair to bed in different styles because I have not been really happy with any one style, but Satin Sox is really good- it may well make all the difference! Big thanks again!  

My happiness continued in the morning, as the mail lady came to our door with two packages. One contained my Ficcares. It seems that since the launch of their website, Ficcare has really improved their service!. I ordered one large Maximas in black -a gorgeous thing that will send my favorite fakkare to retirement, and one in light blonde. At first I thought the light blonde coloring looked kinda weird, as if it had had a yellowish green tint. But, when I tried it in my hair, it blended in extremely well, so it is a wonderful clip a fter all. Maybe my hair has a greenish tint as well...
   The other package was from Little Seven. I opened it and *THUD*. Their jewelry is absolutely gorgeous, and the pictures just don't do justice to them. In pictures they look like interestingly shaped spirals, but in reality they SCREAM quality, detail and art. It's easy to see why they cost so much compared to other spiral jewelry I have seen. So, you see, I had no choice but to do my final stretch to 10 g right away (without waiting for the taper to arrive...how typical...), with the help of some hot water, jojoba oil and my Squid. It's so cool that Little Seven jewelry can be used to stretching as it is tapered! With abovementioned aids, the earring slid in with no trouble. It did tingle a bit, but did not actually hurt -a sign of a good stretch. Right now my ear is a bit tender, but who cares since it has this *thud*ding piece of jewelry in it. My Squid looks different when viewed from different angles, 10 g is the perfect size for me, and well...this is true love! I think I will leave my newly stretched ear alone until it has settled down completely- when it has, I have this Mini Goddess spiral waiting.
   I have now reached my final stretching goal. To conclude, the stretching process was very easy and painless. I'm happy with the result too. I love the jewelry I am now able to wear, and love having a bit different ear.
    I certainly hope I will do well in tomorrow's job interview and will get the job, because I need to start collecting funds for next toys from Little7 and Ficcare. We weren't able to fix the memory card of our digicam yet, but when we have (or have bought a new one), I'll post pictures of my new gorgeousnesses.

Garden: This week is all warm and sunny and I have a problem: once I stick my nose outdoors, I don't want to come back inside before it starts getting dark and cool. After it's really dark, I come back though, more warmly dressed and carrying my star observation equipment. Yesterday evening we enjoyed of clear sky again, and I did a little galaxy hunting. I found my first Messier object, a galaxy known as M51 in vicinity of Ursa Major. It's amazing what surprises and wonders these familiar constellations harbor!
     Little birds are now checking out the nesting boxes we placed for them- they resemble so much people looking for a house to buy that it's funny. We haven't hanged the bat box yet though- we're still trying to think where the bats would like it best.

Curlgirl, after a little more testing I have to say that I'm really impressed of your Satin Sox. If you will let me know (by posting here or via pm) your contact information, I'd be happy to do a review of it to LHC's Products board. I'm sure that there are many longhairs who would love to hear of your products.

I think my job interview went well, and the department store would seem like a nice place to work part time. However, in the beginning of the interview they said that many of their former employees wanted to come back for summer and therefore they have only a couple of open vacancies. Seeing what the job market in this area is, I can't hope much. Job-wise, things don't look too good for me right now...it's kind of stressing, but there's only so much I can do, and I'm already doing it. So I try to focus on brighter things, hard as it is.
    In general, it seems that this spring has been quite hard for many people close to me. T is stressed in his job for various (good)reasons, my mother's health has caused her problems and to top it all off, I just learned that my good friend and colleague is in family crisis and his DH is moving out. Almost makes me wonder if there is some airborne misfortune bug spreading around.

Camera isn't working yet, and T has had to work overtime this week so he hasn't been able to sort the problem out. Until then, my "pictures to take"-list just keeps growing.

    My ear hasn't changed much. It's still a bit tender (when touched), but not worse in any way so I think that it just needs a little time to settle in to its new size.
   However, it seems that I'm hit with "the stretcher's problem", and now possess some nice jewelry that I can't wear any longer. I'm not sure if I can still wear my 12g jewelry (though it's just one ring that I really like), but 14 g and smaller jewelry is a goner. Of course, unless I some day decide to stretch my left ear as well. I don't see that happening though- unlike most conventional earrings, stretching jewelry seems to work very well when worn in just one ear. Most of the time, I don't wear anything in my left ear. If I want to have something in there, I just go for a plain small stud. I haven't figured out, what would I wear in an "evening gown" occassion where my Spiral would not be appropriate...but then, I haven't such an occassion looming anywhere in near future so there's still time to figure that out.

Hair: I know I'm repeating myself and badly, but Satin Sox is really the biggest event in the life of my hair for several months- in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it made it to the category of Great Hair Innovations with things like Ficcares, Longlocks hair sticks, Chagrin Valley shampoo bars and ACV. So I think I'm entitled to rave a little!
    
Simple Dress Experiment: Aargh, more brochures (this time, Gudrun Sjöden's summer brochure), more temptations. I'm not giving up -no matter what, I have decided to stick with this experiment until the end of the year- but I'm tempted neverthless. I don't need more clothes, and I think my dresses look nice...so, obviously, I just want stuff for the sake of stuff, and there's some strange link in my brain between seeing a pretty garment and getting this primitive need to own it right away. I think I'm better off if I can get rid of this connection...but obviously, it takes a lot more than just jumping into a simple dress.
    It's just for things like this I like to commit to my character improvement projects for a year at a time. It takes months for things to unfold and if I really hit a goldmine -like I think I have done with this experiment- there is enough food for thought for months.

Lumi's operation went well, but unfortunately her recovery hasn't started equally well. At the moment, she is not eating voluntarily (except the few tiny dandelion leaves I found from our garden), and she's not pooping either. Because rabbits are vegans who eat low-energy food, they need to eat a lot and often, so her fasting is not good at all. I called the vet this morning, and today we are supposed to force feed her every 3-4 hours. Something good about me being still at home- I can take care of Lumi while T has to work. He decided to be at work just half a day today and take some work to home, though. I'm glad of it, because even if Lumi is not in perfect health, she is well enough to put up a good struggle for a lone force-feeder. If she won't start eating voluntarily today, tomorrow she will have to go to vet again. Needless to say, we are worried to pieces. Loss of Liina is still too fresh a painful memory, I suppose.

So, my annual recipe-fetching trip was today. I was afraid that the doctor would give me a fine BP-related lecture because I was sure my BP would be off scale due to recent events. At least, that fear didn't come true. My BP was off scale, but the doctor was very nice and after I had explained her latest events, she just said that there's no point to even record my BP value. I know though, that at the moment, even on a day when I don't feel like climbing up the wall and down the other, my BP is probably creeping too high again because of my weight gain. One day, I will start to take fixing it to my to-do list again.

But, even this nerve-wrecker for a day had its good moment: my BAF order finally arrived! I received: 10g steel taper (obsolete! What made me buy it in the first place anyway?), a pair of white bone jasmin earrings, two pairs of Colorfront plugs (by GWS), plus of course, the ordinary assortment of o-rings.
     Bone jasmin earrings are wonderful, though of course, I'm still unable to try one on at the moment. The size is just perfect- not too big, but they have a bit more substance than my 14g spirals. Definitely better! I am going to order the horn spirals in 10g as well, as I am now sure that in this size they will be even more beautiful than in 14g.
    Colorfront plugs- well, they look very much like "conventional" ear studs (so, they are a "job saver"), just more comfortable. My plugs are seconds, but the flaws they have are practically unnoticeable. My plugs come in blue and mint, and both colors are much prettier IRL than in the pictures. I'm SO going to buy more of these in more colors.
      After some thinking, I changed my earring (yes, bad me!) to a plug. I reasoned that since the plug weighs almost nothing and doesn't move, it *might* be better for my troublesome ear for the time being. My ear did not like me changing earring again, but it settled down pretty quickly, and at the moment of writing this, it feels so nice that I don't think I did a huge mistake.

I washed my hair late last evening, and as it was still dripping wet when we went to bed, I decided to sleep with a plain ponytail. I was too stressed to sleep well, but not having my Satin Sox on probably didn't help either.
   At the moment I'm wearing a scarf bun, because of the doctor and perhaps also because it's one of the few ways to keep my hair behaving when it's clean.
CV is on vacation, but I'm planning to leave a shampoo order anyway. We are running low on shampoo bars again, and now they seem to have also lovely Scarborough Fair soap in stock.

Country Living: Weather is getting cooler- we might even get some snow during the Easter. I'm not complaining though- such are Northern springs, and in reality this year has begun very nicely garden-wise. Speaking of Easter, T is still thinking that we should do some kind of growth/blessing ritual in the garden during Easter holidays. I think it's a great idea and am now trying to come up with something nice for us (of course, including chocolate eggs!). T has been curious of my faith, but has not requested to participate before. I have never done a ritual together with someone else before, so it'll be an exciting experience for me as well. But I'm sure it'll be nice and who knows- maybe the garden enjoys the attention as well. You never know about gardens, after all.

We don't have Petramalt here- I don't think I've ever heard of it. But, our vet is the best bunny expert in the country, so Lumi is in good care. 
     Anyway, yesterday she was forcibly fed with loose oatmeal or pineapple juice three times, and we also continued giving her anti-nausea medicine as instructed. I think that dandelion might helped as well, as they have intestine stimulating properties. In late evening, she finally became perkier and nibbled some hay and pellets. In the morning, she continued to show mild interest for food, and had also made a few droppings. But, since her metabolism was still pretty far from normal and Easter holidays were coming, we decided to call the vet. Good thing we did, because she agreed with us that though Lumi has started to make progress, it has been too slow. So, now she is again en route to vet with T, and there she will get injections of fluids and some vitamins. She is such a tiny rabbit, and sterilization is a relatively big operation for does, so I'm not surprised of that she is recovering a bit slowly. She seems to be in discomfort- no wonder, I'm sure that losing both uterus and ovaries makes stomach area feel funny and sore. But, I'm glad she'll get checked once more and then we'll have time to care for her during the Easter. And, I'm glad we have found our rabbit-expert vet. Most vets here are specialized in treating dogs and cats, and give rather poor care to rabbits. It's comforting to know that Lumi will get as good care as is possible in this country.

The weather has turned cold and cloudy again, so it's an indoors day for me. I don't mind, this week has been so full of stress that now that Lumi is starting to do better, I feel I really need to do everything in my power to relax. Doing chores is always good, and besides that I still have fabric for one dress, as well as my cross stitch project to work with. I'm also planning to meditate and perhaps to bake in the evening. My goal is to be so nice to myself that when Easter holidays are over, I'm once again full of energy for job hunting and ideas for my doctor's thesis.
     Because this day is going to be a quiet indoor day, I also decided that this would be a good day to wear hairsticks. MT's bunny pair was the only possible choice.    We need some rabbit energy around here.

Lumi thanks for well wishes!  She put a good struggle up at the vet, but they managed to give her the necessary infections and it seems that they have helped her recovery. Today she is almost back to normal (well, hard to say exactly, since at the moment she hasn't woken up yet).
    We have also another animal related happy news: one of the nesting boxes we fastened a couple of weeks ago has got inhabitants! They are busy building their nest, and we are so excited!

Hair: I caved in and had T trim my hair yesterday. I realized that the idea of wearing down didn't feel nice because I knew my ends were neglected. T trimmed about 2cm /(3/4 in? ). There was very little hair on the floor, so I guess the trim came in need. If I don't trim at all, I think that I may reach waistlength in July, maybe in late June if I'm lucky. That's not too bad!
    I keep forgetting to buy vinegar when I shop groceries- like TP, salt and sugar it seems to be one of those items that I imagine never runs out. So, at the moment, I have enough ACV to one hair wash only. I really need to remember buy more.
   Today's style is log roll with a pink claw clip: windy outside, work to do indoors, and I wanted to wear something else than the basic bun I wear every day. I'm glad I can use claw clips again. They are going out of fashion, so I hope that I don't have to find replacements for the prettier ones I have. Nowadays they seem to came mostly in black and tortoise- where's the excitement in that?

Chagrin Valley's website is up and running again, and I was finally able to order shampoo and a couple of bars of soap. Unfortunately Ida had already run out of Apple Cider soap, but on the other hand I managed to order a bar of babassu & marshmallow shampoo. As strange as it may sound- I'm almost glad that she doesn't have everything available at all times. If she did, I would have to order huge boxes of soap instead of large GPM envelopes, and then probably take a shower every day in order to consume them in time.
     Speaking of showers, I just came out of it, and am now waiting for my hair to dry a little before heading to bed. So, I managed to wait, though my hair felt quite hideous. It seems that the tolerance I developed during the WO experiment hasn't lasted.

Life: Still no sign of a job. Blah. Weather is windy and cool, so again a day without gardening. T is anxious about Friday, and about having a sore throat and fatigue today. I guess that this won't go into history as the best week of my life, but after the troubles and worries of last week, I have felt quite content and relaxed. It is spring, after all, crocuses are in full bloom and I still have enough stuff to do to keep me occupied- even if it doesn't pay.