Helga bird



      Good day!  It's Monday and it's time for the Twobirds inspiration outfit! (Sara Rue. Don't know who but love the red hair!)  I was really excited when I saw this one as I was sure I had something similar.  Strange then, that I couldn't seem to find anything suitable in my wardrobe in terms of colour!

However, I thought of the dress I'd worn to go and see The Artist with CBC on Friday.   It seemed to bear a similar shape, ruffly neck in a V.  This dress came from a Northumberland department store, Beals, it was part of a Fashion link initiative, where a company had donated these dresses to be sold in aid of Save the Children. It was only £5! 

These would have been outdoor shots except that the wind was howling like a wolf so I imagine I would be showing my underwear in the shots if I'd have persevered out there!  It's so funny, so many days have started gloriously, then the wind kicks in and finally the rain (pelting it down as I speak!).  Therefore the light and the shadows are all wrong in these shots! There are also pale legs but let's not go there!!!!

 Worn with Aldo kitten heels, gold bangles Primark, silver belt: Kush, plaited hair headband Asos, vintage gold Oak leaf earrings, St Francis hospice. (2 shots so you can see the ruffles better)

 I really like doing my hair like this!  I keep meaning to try and actually do it with my hair as it's long enough and I've read Lauren's tutorial on how to do this, but I'm not exactly skilled with my hair.  Anyway, I've always been lucky with these fake hair bands as they always match my hair-shade.  I've got about 5 of them of various sizes, dating back from the first one I bought in H&M in about 1999!  I always feel like a Helga, Gretl or Heidi when I wear my hair like this!

 The smile isn't quite reaching my right cheek as my gum is still swollen around my wisdom teeth, meaning it's sticking out and catching between my teeth! How tiresome! It's making me feel somewhat miserable, but I'm trying to keep spirits up! I have to confess, that once again I broke the shopping ban as I was feeling sorry for myself and I found these gorgeous 24 carat-gold plated oak-leaf earrings in the ST Francis Hospice shop along with 2 cute chiffon dresses.  It did make me feel a bit better!

Aldo shoes, which couldn't be seen in the main shots properly.  Very comfy! Bought after I borrowed a pair from a medical student when I had forgotten to bring dark shoes for a concert some years ago!  Luckily, she had size 8 feet like me and had a spare pair of shoes with her! I'd never heard of Aldo before then, but I went along pretty sharpish after that!

I had a lovely time on Friday seeing The Artist  at long last.  I think the thing I loved most was the two main characters' smiles!  They surely must have been chosen purely for their beguiling and infectious smiles!  I cried lots at crucial moments and laughed lots at the darling dog's antics!   It reminded me a lot of Singing in the rain, probably because of it being the end of the silent movies era and beginning with 'talkies'.  No wonder it won so many prizes- it was something refreshing in an era, saturated with the same old films!
The costumes were utterly amazing!  I saw several hats, coats and dresses that I was itching to have a closer look at!

On Saturday night, we went to a party which a friend of CBC had.  It was held in a wonderful flat in Covent Garden, London.  I never imagined anyone living round there, just shops, but above the shops, a whole host of sensational flats are lurking.  It was wonderful vintage chic with uber modern touches.  Simply wonderful and such a range of characters there- ranging from professional dancers to Saville Row tailors, bookshop owners, hair-dressers and environmental workers! I always feel incredibly shy when encountering new people, especially where I really don't know many people, but it's always a pleasure to hear about people's lives!

Anyway, go and look at the Twobirds link for more lovely bright, ruffly dresses!

Cinderella, The Crystal Maze and wisdom teeth

Hello!  Greetings from under a loud accompaniament of percussive rain on the conservatory roof!  Wow, how rainy it has been!!! Let's start with the positive!  I always smile when I wear this M&S Per Una knitted dress as it was the bargain of the century some years ago.  I like the fact it looks like fringing!  I tried to wear it with a Peter Pan collar top underneath today, to give it a bit of interest but I'm not sure that colours really go.   Also pleased as, like Cinderella, I got my missing shoe back!  One of these boots has been missing for a year!  It was in a drawer!

One really fun part of my day today was having to be the teacher in the knowledge and understanding area (i.e. science and stuff) in Reception.  One of the activities that had been set up was a series of half-pipes which were balanced in a downhill of great length from the water-tray to a bucket down the other end. 

I challenged the children to get the balls (lots of them) from the water tray to the bucket without touching the balls with their hands!  So they used the water! It was TOTALLY a Crystal maze challenge from the Oceania zone!!! Do you remember it?  I always wanted to go on the Crystal maze as a child and to my delight, I discovered they show Richard O'Brien repeats of the Crystal Maze on Challenge TV on a Saturday morning!  We had great fun and a great system going until I made the mistake of issuing the challenge to a very bright child of getting the ball to go back uphil from the bottom and applying the right science of needing a greater force, he dumped the entire bucket of water from a height onto the pipe in order to get enough force to push it back up!  Let's just say I was a little wet afterwards!

On the converse, last night, the area around the gum of where my impacted wisdom tooth wishes to come through began swelling up and being sore.  It started coming through a few weeks ago or so - well part of it through a flap of gum!  I felt a bit like a teething baby.  I brushed at it because I know the importance of not allowing any bacteria to build up!  However this morning it was really swollen to the extent that it was catching any time I shut my mouth properly and ate. It was really sore!  All sorts of thought ran through my mind thinking I had an abcess or something and I managed to secure an appointment with my dentist for after school.   He said I'd done the right thing in brushing it (but not so strongly!) and said that's it's because my tooth is at such an angle and because the other tooth above it coming through into the cheek so it's digging into the gum where the other one is coming through!  He suggests that if it continues to cause grief (I have gel and optional antibiotics), I might have to have the TOP one out, as that can be done as a local anaesthetic whereas the bottom one is in a very difficult position and the roots are very near the lower jaw nerve so I'd have to go to hospital!   Eeeeeek for both options!!!! I want to know if anyone has had these procedures done and what it was like and any issues!  I really dislike any dental procedures!!!

Anyway, I'll leave you with the dove of Peace to end on a positive hippy vibe! Peace man!