LAZYBONES - 12.57 pm

This is me at just before 1pm,having just woken up (can you tell?!)
I do not think I look too bad for an early-ish 40's year old who has just got out of bed, do you? also, you cannot see the silvery hairs that have begun creeping in. They are easily covered up by Lush's Caca Noir which is obviously the same colour as my hair so doesn't make a difference to the color, but does make it really shiny and also make it really stand out in strong light and does cover the grey bits HA! Mind you, the last time I did it I decided to see what would happen if I covered it with clingfilm (that's Saran wrap to you Americans) - as I have seen people suggest it would turn red. Oops....it came out a murky brownish colour, um a bit like expresso and I didn't like it one bit. I think it only makes a difference if your natural colour is lighter.

I think I look a bit pale today, could be the light - blinds are not fully open - could be the end of my flu thing which I had last week, or could be just that winter lack-of-sun thingy. But if you notice, I look particularly pleased (well,my default mode is content anyway) and this is because the postman brought me my lovely Limited edition Lace lambswool/cashmere yarn from Wild Fire Fibres....and it is even better than the photo suggested.

The yarn also looks a bit light in this photo (so it must just be the camera not dealing with the poor light in this room - it is a bit of a dull grey day, but what do you expect this far north in November?!) The yarn is so gorgeous and soft....and so I have ordered more - this time BFL laceweight yarn in the shade Plum but she is going to overdye it to make it even darker. What a star!!

I also received some balls of Twilley's Freedom Spirit in the colour Desire, which I got on eBay for about £2.00 and which will do for a pair of gloves. I took this photo from a different angle and it has made a difference to the outcome - look at the difference in the colour of the tissue paper's purple colour in the two pics; the bottom photo shows more like the true colour, and the yarn shade is practically spot-on here too:


It is Thursday and I have a meeting at 3pm at the women's hostel where I am starting voluntary work next week. I'm going into Newcastle afterwards to replenish some essentials at Lush and Fenwicks. For the bathroom, we need some shower gel and shampoo, we normally get something like Happy Hippy and Tramp because they smell nice enough for me to find them acceptable but without being feminine because obviously Rob and Josh use them too. I desperately need some conditioner for my yak-like hair, which tends to coarsen up in the winter. While I am promoting Lush here I may as well mention that it is possible to buy old favourites which are discontinued for the stores but are available online. It used to be the case that they would only make a batch once enough people had put in an advance order, but they were so popular that they are now available all the time. My favourites are Narcotik and Happy For S.A.D. both shower gels, and Reincarnate, a sort of hair treat for dark hair. I need some ink for my proper pen too, as I am sick of using crappy little biros which make one's handwriting look like a school child's.

As I have spent so much time waffling on about - and looking up the URL's for - Lush products etc. I no longer have any more time, so I will have to leave it here and get a move on, as I am not even properly dressed yet! How blogging sucks your life away!

Oh....and it is 'Bonfire Night' this evening so we will have to put up with the noise of loads of fireworks.

LATER......I was right about the noise.

And I wanted to mention something that wants me to put my foot through the TV....it is the advert for the new album by 'The Soldiers'...something about this is somehow wrong. Serving soldiers basically taking advantage of the 'War Against Terror' (as governments of the United States of Amerbritanica call it) to sell records. Is it right to make money out of the fact innocent people are dying just so the West can control the oil reserves in the Middle East? Is this somehow hero-worshipping men who have chosen to do a job which involves killing and maming and destroying in the name of 'Peace'? The actual advert itself is so...what the Americans call schmalzy....it makes me want to pick the TV up and throw it through the window of No.10 Downing Street. It just shows how thick the majority of the conformist consumerist British public are, that they would disagree with the War yet still buy the album, which raises money for 'the wounded' (presumably British wounded rather than Afghani or Iraqi wounded?) The album I called 'Coming home' and I won't go into a psychological explanation about how this title in itself would be cathartic for a target audience consisting mainly of people who are unfulfilled and who use transient objects and material gratification to feel a sense of contentment and 'rightness'. Unsurprisingly it has its own website and the fact it is top of the list when you run a search for 'The Soldiers' and 2nd top of the list for 'soliders' basically says it all for me and makes me feel that there is something very very wrong with the world and that we have our prioroities completely skewed.

As I write I am watching Dragon's Den on TV, and I am absolutely gobsmacked to see one of the people pitching for money to develop a product which you attach to the bottom of a pram and which rocks the pram foryou.....um, isn't that what we have arms for (I don't mean to rock the pram but to hold the baby!!) How much time and effort is devoted to contraptions to save parents from having to hold or even touch their infants? I'm sure this is directly proportional to the number of children being treated with drugs for depression, ADHD etc. I'm sure there will be a future post dedicated solely to this on my blog soon, given that I am now going to be working with women who have - many of them - grown up in 'Care'.

I went for my visit at F.House today and my god, I knew it would be grim but I wasn't counting on being able to pick up so many of the vibes from those poor women. Yes, it is a 'safe place' for them, but although it is, essentially, their home, it is still, whichever way you dress it up or paint the walls a trendy colour or put a nice rug in the lounge, institutionalising them. Nicola, who I will be working with at first, said there is a real problem of getting the right balance, i.e letting them stay there long enough to try to get themselves sorted and for some get their heads together, but without them staying so long that they become dependent on the place and the staff and wouldn't be able to cope without it. I met a few of the clients, one woman about my age (but looking fifteen years older) and another who had only got out of bed to get her medication...and another who looked about 14 (but had to be over 18) who just looked completely shellshocked and bewildered at being there. But the staff are lovely: like me, down-to-earth and realistic with an (appropriate) sense of humour. I think it will be okay there and I might even apply for a full time position after my training in the New Year. Well, I was told the rules etc. and I start next Wednesday evening and will be doing Wednesday/Thursday alternately at first while I am still having to be 'shadowed' (due to CRB check not through yet as it has only been a week or two)

I am wasting valuable yarning time again!