A DAY IN THE SUN

There was a huge sigh of relief when I announced that I was not making any more handmade natural soap today.

The sun was shining so we drove down the road and found ourselves 13 miles away in Taplow. Taplow is home to The Thames Valley Adventure Playground. We have been visiting this wonderful place for the last 5+ years and had a fab day.

WONDERING WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO??

..... I have been a bit busy with work. I managed to add new products to the Cioccolatina natural toiletries' range. and here is a collection of recent soaps - some will be available soon

ON THE WINGS OF THE LIVER BIRD

I recently found myself visiting Liverpool. Liverpool is a city in North West England and is known as the home of the Beatles, the European capital of culture 2008 and for me personally, the home of the best football team (Liverpool FC). It is the only UK city with 2 cathedrals (Catholic & Anglican) with the latter being one of the largest in Europe. Apart from gaining wealth through the slave trade [....], it has also amassed a wealthy selection of fashionable shops.

The last time I visited this city was years ago when my sole intention was shopping for clothes. Now with 2 rascals and a husband in toe, my attention was what I could enjoy on foot. The city is just amazing with a lot of pedestrianised streets - it reminds me a bit about Brussels.

I found myself behind the Liver building after a long walk through the rather beautiful well structured centre. My feet were aching and it was just the perfect time to hop onto the sightseeing bus and this is just a few of what I managed to capture with my camera.

I could not help but notice a rather odd looking building close to the Liver building. My sincere apologies if you own a bit of this building. I am no architect but this must be one of the hideous buildings I have ever set my eyes on.

If you want to see what is happening in Liverpool, then I would advise that you get yourself a comfortable pair of shoes beforehand ..

IN LOVING MEMORY

Remembering all those who lost their lives 7 years ago today.

STAR GAZING UNDER CANVAS

I don't mind where I sleep, provided I have a good pillow and dry surrounding so when I overheard the boys discussing camping, my heart just sank. Camping is definitely not in my vocabulary. I have occasionally been on a 2-night "trial" but never really got the hung of it. However, this time, I had 2 rascals to consider so my "selfish self" went out of the window.

A 3½-hour drive through busy Reading and weaving through lanes on the motorway took us to the glorious English Riviera - Paignton. Although the campsite is a bit "run-down", I was pleased to notice that it had facilities for the disabled and the demarcations were good. Unfortunately, both the diner and take-away were closed so we had to go to the nearest pub for something to eat. Blagdon Inn is just a 10 minute walk from the campsite with ample parking space and good food. It was very busy the time we got there as it had been raining so there was hardly any seating area.

We managed to travel on the "Round Robin" River Link starting at the very quaint Queens Park station in Paignton and briefly stopping at old fashioned Churston station. It was time for good old pasties after arriving in Dartmouth. The Thai chicken pasty at Presto Pasty was just what I needed after battling through a park of sea gulls.

After a picnic in Buckfastleigh paying £1 for 4-hour parking (I hope Reading Borough Council members are reading this), we drove through a very picturesque countryside to Dartington cider press. The kids enjoyed some Chilly Billy™ whilst I enjoyed some cream tea at the more restaurant - well, you can't visit Devon and not enjoy cream teas.

Did I enjoy camping? Well, it was more of counting the rain drops than star gazing under canvas. However, I am already planning my next expedition!!!

GOURMET TREATMENT FOR THE HAIR

My hair is constantly in braids these days as I find it easier to manage. However, this can play havoc on your hair with the constant tugging and can lead to traction alopecia. With this in mind, I tend to feed my hair with nutrients both internally and externally to help combat this.

My intensive treatment tonight took about 2 hours in total.

These are the ingredients I used - please read through:

• 1 large avocado - I used fuerte as it is soft and very easy to puree
• 1 x 400ml coconut milk - the only listed ingredients were coconut + water
• 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp of micronized rhassoul clay
• 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar

I pureed the avocado, coconut milk and olive oil together. I split the batch into 4 parts and froze the remaining 3 in little pouches for later use.

I added the rhassoul to the batch I was using tonight and massaged it in my hair - not forgetting the scalp. This was done after I had shampoed my hair with authentic African Black soap.

The rhassoul mixture was left on my hair for 1½hours under a shower cap and a heavy towel for insulation. Rinsed the whole concoction out of my hair. My final rinse was the apple cider vinegar diluted in enough water.

My rather kinky afro hair is now soft, shiny, healthy and ready for the next set of braids.

Mama Mia, Pierce - Non si può cantare!!!

It was a relief to send the rascals away this weekend. It has been rather hectic here in Berkshire and I finally managed to organise some quality time for myself. As part of my plans, I dragged my DH to the movies. The last movie we watched at the cinema was The Bourne Ultimatum last year which was rather intense. This time round, I decided to go for something more humorous and starring one of my favourites - Pierce Brosnan.

The movie itself is "great" with a lovely performance from Julie Walters and Meryl Streep (who I refer to as the gorgeous female Michael Caine). I was somehow disappointed when dreamy Pierce started singing. It was a bit like Chas and Dave. Pierce, I know you read this blog so please please stick to the suave actor you are and give up the singing.

If you fancy a bit of humour, big heels, flares and lovely scenes of Greece, then this flick is for you.