I thought that over-straightened hair was a bit passe. Not so in the hairdresser I visited yesterday. My hair is wavy. I told the stylist it was wavy. She could see it was wavy. I asked her for advice about maintaining the curl and reducing the fly-away-ness of it.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand naturally, following all that, she dried it straight and plonked a load of serum on top to reduce the fluffiness from blow-drying it.
Weirdest of all about this, she had very nice wavy hair with well defined curls and waves and no straight fluffiness in sight!!
Pfffffft.
The search for a good hairdresser continues........
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Delicious day off
Today I had the day off and went out for a marvellous lunch with Mr Bookworm and 2 of our friends. It was my friend's birthday on Feb 1st and it's mine on 18th so the lunch was a treat and a celebration.
We had wanted to go to Morston Hall, but sadly it doesn't do weekday lunch :-( So we chose The White Horse at Brancaster Staithe. http://www.whitehorsebrancaster.co.uk/.
We had a nice leisurely drive up to the coast in perfect sunshine, stopping off in Wells along the way for a coffee and a bit of window shopping.
Back on our way we saw lots of people with binoculars and long lenses by the side of the road - I wonder what bird they were looking for. We saw a Barn Owl which was a surprise at 12.30 in the afternoon. They are huge!
Then we got to The White Horse which is a lovely pub with a lot of flint wall, and pale blue paint. It has a very pretty setting looking out over the north norfolk marshes to the sea. Our table was in the conservatory right by the window and a view.
I'd already had a pre-emptive look at the menu, not that it helped with choosing as it all sounded delicious. It's a relatively small menu for lunch but I was still stumped - we all were, even Mr B had 4 veggie choices available. Being on the coast there was a lot of fish and shellfish and for a moment 2 of us wavered over choosing a sea platter. Or oysters. Or mussels. In the end I chose bouillabaisse and a pork belly porchetta with truffled butter beans and crayfish tail sauce.
The bouillabaisse was rich and delicious, and came with a really nice rouille and a gruyere toast. It was a big and satisfying dish, tomatoey, slightly aniseedy from dill and pernod, and packed with pieces of fish, prawns and mussels. Then the porchetta which was really good - a small hit of chilli in the rolled pork belly, lovely white beans, lots of crayfish tail and a lovely sauce with truffle and crayfish and something creamy. The meat was really tender from long cooking, that dead giveaway of soft fibrous meat that gives at a slight pressure of fork, and the beans were a delicious contrast. I would not have thought of putting pork with crayfish but it really worked, and there were lots of them.
We were too full for pudding!
Then we had a stroll along the edge of the marsh and spotted lots of birds - Curlew, Avocet (we think), Starling, a Redshank, Gulls and many others that I didn't know.
Then we returned home, taking a different route through Blakeney,Cley and Holt.
It was such a lovely day that we think we might like to do this perhaps once every few months.
A fab day with friends and delicious food - what more can a person ask?
We had wanted to go to Morston Hall, but sadly it doesn't do weekday lunch :-( So we chose The White Horse at Brancaster Staithe. http://www.whitehorsebrancaster.co.uk/.
We had a nice leisurely drive up to the coast in perfect sunshine, stopping off in Wells along the way for a coffee and a bit of window shopping.
Back on our way we saw lots of people with binoculars and long lenses by the side of the road - I wonder what bird they were looking for. We saw a Barn Owl which was a surprise at 12.30 in the afternoon. They are huge!
Then we got to The White Horse which is a lovely pub with a lot of flint wall, and pale blue paint. It has a very pretty setting looking out over the north norfolk marshes to the sea. Our table was in the conservatory right by the window and a view.
I'd already had a pre-emptive look at the menu, not that it helped with choosing as it all sounded delicious. It's a relatively small menu for lunch but I was still stumped - we all were, even Mr B had 4 veggie choices available. Being on the coast there was a lot of fish and shellfish and for a moment 2 of us wavered over choosing a sea platter. Or oysters. Or mussels. In the end I chose bouillabaisse and a pork belly porchetta with truffled butter beans and crayfish tail sauce.
The bouillabaisse was rich and delicious, and came with a really nice rouille and a gruyere toast. It was a big and satisfying dish, tomatoey, slightly aniseedy from dill and pernod, and packed with pieces of fish, prawns and mussels. Then the porchetta which was really good - a small hit of chilli in the rolled pork belly, lovely white beans, lots of crayfish tail and a lovely sauce with truffle and crayfish and something creamy. The meat was really tender from long cooking, that dead giveaway of soft fibrous meat that gives at a slight pressure of fork, and the beans were a delicious contrast. I would not have thought of putting pork with crayfish but it really worked, and there were lots of them.
We were too full for pudding!
Then we had a stroll along the edge of the marsh and spotted lots of birds - Curlew, Avocet (we think), Starling, a Redshank, Gulls and many others that I didn't know.
Then we returned home, taking a different route through Blakeney,Cley and Holt.
It was such a lovely day that we think we might like to do this perhaps once every few months.
A fab day with friends and delicious food - what more can a person ask?
Monday, 7 February 2011
Daydreaming
I sometimes spend a few moments in idle fantasy about living elsewhere - not that I don't love my home, I just wonder about other lives in other places. An alternative me perhaps.
Sometimes it's a place I know well, other times it's completely based on nothing more than a travel feature or a good photo.
One of these elaborately woven dreams comes from our summer holiday 2 years ago. I fancy I'd quite like to live on Jura. Well, I'd like the life of a girl we met in the tea tent at Jura House. She made cakes and gardened and did 'stuff'. It sounded rather idyllic, on a beautiful island with the gulf stream and some rather fine whisky and stags.
And then I remember that the island population is small and one's personal business might not be as personal as a person might like!
And on a day like today, when all is gusty outside and I'm seriously wondering if my car will actually stay anchored to the road or if it's going to go all "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore", I wonder if the wind would drive me bonkers.
And that's when thoughts turn to a high-ceilinged apartment in an old palazzo, with tiled floors and a balcony or two, and the sea nearby. And a bit less wind TYVM. And southern Italy's beauty and loveliness on my doorstep.
Today it's an Italian day.
Sometimes it's a place I know well, other times it's completely based on nothing more than a travel feature or a good photo.
One of these elaborately woven dreams comes from our summer holiday 2 years ago. I fancy I'd quite like to live on Jura. Well, I'd like the life of a girl we met in the tea tent at Jura House. She made cakes and gardened and did 'stuff'. It sounded rather idyllic, on a beautiful island with the gulf stream and some rather fine whisky and stags.
And then I remember that the island population is small and one's personal business might not be as personal as a person might like!
And on a day like today, when all is gusty outside and I'm seriously wondering if my car will actually stay anchored to the road or if it's going to go all "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore", I wonder if the wind would drive me bonkers.
And that's when thoughts turn to a high-ceilinged apartment in an old palazzo, with tiled floors and a balcony or two, and the sea nearby. And a bit less wind TYVM. And southern Italy's beauty and loveliness on my doorstep.
Today it's an Italian day.
Location:Work
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Expectations
There are certain things I expect from my work/employers. Simple stuff like being paid on time, or having some direction. Or having a manager.
Most of these seem relatively easy to fulfil, however, the whole manager thing appears to be beyond the ken of my employers.
I'm not going to get into extensive employer-bashing, but I would quite like someone to approve my leave, or check I'm not overloaded, or set some objectives. Or give me some feedback...
It's all a bit wearing really.
Most of these seem relatively easy to fulfil, however, the whole manager thing appears to be beyond the ken of my employers.
I'm not going to get into extensive employer-bashing, but I would quite like someone to approve my leave, or check I'm not overloaded, or set some objectives. Or give me some feedback...
It's all a bit wearing really.
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