Daintree Rainforest

The other thing to tick off my list while in Cairns was to visit the Daintree Rainforest.  I'm not sure why I really wanted to go but I think it's a case of wanting to see a proper rainforest.  So I without the help of the internet but rather the help of the tourist information dude, I booked this tour.

Our little tour bus.

A bush turkey and me being a tourist. I didn't even know Australia had turkeys.

Where the waterfall met the sand. Look closely - there are fishies swimming.  Our tour guide told us to fill up our water bottles with the fresh water - ew, that's disgusting. 

We went on a bus cassowary hunt but didn't see any. Neither did we see any crocodiles on our boat ride.  Boo.

A local, sick and tired of finding dead cassowaries modified one of the street signs to alert the speeding drivers.

Cape Tribulation.  Named so after Captain Cook's troubles. 

Our final stop on the tour was the Daintree Discovery Centre.

One of the aerial walkways through the forest.

I made my way to the Canopy Tower.

Oh here's the tower.  Yep I went right up to the top.

Not the most flattering photo but just wanted to make sure that you knew I was in a rainforest.

If I knew how to use an SLR properly (more importantly - had one with me) then surely today would have been a nice day to take some super-nice photos.  The tour itself was a bit vexing but that was more because I felt the tour guide was making up facts along the way.  Did I say so on my feedback form?  Of course not!  I don't want them calling me to discuss my feedback - I just ticked the 'I'll use your company again' box. 

Snorkel, snorkel

My intention of leaving Cairns for Christmas and Boxing Day was decided for me when I saw that return flights cost $800-$1000. Seriously... wtf. Aah well. This was going to be my only weekend in Cairns having spent the first weekend working/exploring central Cairns and last weekend in Sydney. If I didn't do the Great Barrier Reef, then it defeats the reason why I scheduled work here in the first place!

My Christmas was a bit ho-hum. I slept in until about 11am, had lunch, did a load of laundry and then went to the beach and read some of my book. Oh and then I remembered that I would need cash for my snorkeling tour and so I hopped into the car and drove in search of an ATM (which I found, of course). I had my dinner, watched a few episodes of Supernatural (Dean is freaking HAWT!) and then forced myself to sleep in preparation for my early rise. An 8am boat boarding time is not ideal.

My disposable underwater camera. Pretty cool eh? But if I could go again, I would buy a camera with a flash. The water dulls the colours of the coral and the deeper you go, the duller it gets.

I'm not the best swimmer and if left to my own skillz, I would be one of the first to die in the great big ocean. Thankfully the tour organisers make it pretty much impossible for anyone to drown out in the pretty, pretty corals. It wouldn't be a bad way to go though, but the fish, coral and future divers might not be too impressed with your carcass. Flippers and a swimming noodle are provided! With that kind of equipment, you could even be a non-swimmer! The swimming noodle doubled as a type of fish-nip, guaranteeing you some fishy action.

According to our tour organisers, Tusa Dive, the weather conditions were just perfect which permitted us to reach the outer Saxon Reef. We snorkelers had to wait for the scuba divers to head off first before embarking on our own more superficial exploration.

I was reminded that I was under water when I exclaimed 'Cool!' and my snorkel filled up with salt water.

It was pretty amazing and just like swimming in an aquarium, except it's not an aquarium - it's the ocean! It was soooooooooo cool to have all the different tropical fishies swimming past, getting on in their daily tasks. I didn't get to see the sea turtle which some other snorkelers saw :(

I don't suffer from motion sickness but after my first snorkel I felt a little woozy. Maybe I should have eased up a bit but I'm sure that my teech clenching on the mouthpiece also contributed to my headache.

I had a Cornetto in an attempt to counter my ill feeling.  This is what happens to ice cream in Cairns.  By the time we made it to Hastings Reef, I felt a bit better and was glad that I wasn't going to barf.

Yes, beneath the sea I will still attempt an Asian pose.

I found Nemo!

My teech clenching got the better of me and I found way back to the refuge of the boat. If you ever head to far north Queensland, it would be an utmost shame to not snorkel or dive out in the reef. Even if you can only just float, that'll be enough to do basic snorkeling.  IF you can't swim, you can do an underwater reef walk!  Fun for all!

Humidity

People keep asking me how I'm handling the humidity up here and I have to say 'I don't mind it!'. It's good for the eczema prone skin and it's not the same yucky humidity you get in polluted cities like KL, Bangkok and Hong Kong. That being said, I've been told it does get worse. Nevertheless, I'm quite content with the 'cleanliness' of the humidity here. I would compare it to being in a womb. It's all safe and soothing, you're not really breathing proper air and I have the urge to siesta constantly.

Good thing I don't like tanning or else I would turn all leathery from my naps on the beach.

Wedding at the Harbour

As a break from the relaxation that is Cairns, I made my way to the Big Smoke to attend the wedding of R and J (and catch up with a few buddies hehe). 

Judging from the photo below, could there be a nicer backdrop for a wedding?

R and J certainly spoiled their guests at The Quay with the food and uninterrupted views of the iconic harbour. Given that 80% of the guests made the journey from overseas, I'd say this was a pretty nice way to thank them for their efforts. Even though I've certainly spent my fair share of time living in Sydney, I couldn't help but be a tourist once more.

The view from my seat.

J's dress was utterly adorable in it's simplicity and tea-dress length.

Mmmmm...cakes.....mmmmmm

Cheers to R and J!!

Mmmm.... chicken

Lenard's Chicken rocks.  Seriously the best idea ever.  Eating alone has it's gripes. Buying ingredients for one is such a hassle.  But with Lenard's I can just get a single schnitzel, a single cordon bleu, a single small chicken roast, a small serving of chicken wings (the list goes on) and I'm all set!  No wastage, no having to buy in multiples.  Food prepared daily.  Minimal preparation.  Organic chicken (I think - maybe not.  Someone verify please).  Yippee! 

No Longer a Security Threat!

Good news!  *excited gasp* Knitting needles are now allowed on Australian domestic flights!  Yippee for me and all the grandmas out there! May your flight pass by more quickly and may you no longer be escorted off the plane!

Exploring Cairns

I’ve got the day off today and thought I should use it to visit Rusty’s Market and stock up on tropical fruits.  No, not the Jamaican imports you’d find in Tesco, but locally grown goodies.   Heading out in the middle of the day ensured that I felt the maximum heat but hey, that’s what air-conditioning is for.

I have no idea what I’m meant to paying for produce (that’s what happens when you get used to UK supermarkets) but I’m convinced that $3.99/kg for lychees is pretty damn cheap.



$2 for a pineapple.






No wait… here are some for $1!!





WTF!!! Here are some more for 50 cents!

Suspect-shaped food likes to follow me as did this suspect-shaped mango. They ranged for $2 - $5/kg. 

I was dying for some sugar cane juice but they had ran out.  Poo!

I kinda went a little nuts and bought a large fruit supply which included an entire pineapple, a quarter of a watermelon, three mangoes, half a kilo of lychees and a bunch of sugar bananas.

All this for less than $20!  It was pretty heavy to carry :(  I was a little poo-pooed to find out that rambutans not yet in season.

After stocking up my fridge, I stopped by the beach again. :D The water was so warm, a lovely 27 degrees and didn't give you the ice chill fright of other south east coast beaches.

Heading back to Cairns central I was joined by a gelati cup.

I thought this was pretty cool - a free public pool in the city centre.

Tonight I ate the pineapple for dinner.  Not the most balanced meal but I didn’t want to keep my freshly cut pineapple overnight and I overestimated how full I would feel after eating the entire thing - I had planned to eat additional food afterwards!  Have you ever eaten so much pineapple that the acid starts to eat away at your mucous membranes?  Well  that’s what happened to me and Mr. Pineapple no longer remained enjoyable.  My lower lip started to puff up and sting.  Upon inspection, I observed some miniscule cuts.  I had to discard the final pieces after reaching breaking point.  Serves me right for pigging out on fresh fruit!

Cairns

Prior to moving to London, Cairns was on my places-to-visit-but-use-work-to-pay-for-it list.  I didn’t manage to cross it off when I was working for the Big Evil but now, I’ve managed to find my way and here I am in tropical Queensland.  Mmmm… humidity… so good for the eczema prone skin.  I’ve finally looked properly at the map and have just realised ‘Hey!  I’m really far up north!’  I’ve been provided a car for my travels and while that might seem extravagant, public transport doesn’t really exist here and nothing could be more painful than waiting in the heat for a bus to arrive. 

Me and me Holden, mate.  Actually, it’s quite a nice drive and a pretty ice-blue colour too!

I'm a bit annoyed with the accommodation I've been provided for my stay in Cairns.  Sure, it has it's own pool and is a short walk to the beach - don't be stupid, I still drive to the beach.  I have a car to get around, so what's to complain?  Well, this place has no accessible internet.  I could go to any telco and purchase my own personal wireless account but why the fark should I  have to do that?  For times like these when I'm traveling for work, all I ask for is dial-up internet.  That's right.  Dial-up internet.  But....I don't even have a phone line in this stupid apartment!  So, for the rest of December I'm dependent on internet cafes.  *grunt* I hate internet cafes.

Now…. I’m off to the beach!  Not to tan but to exfoliate my feet and then sit in the shade and read trashy mags :D

Fanks Peeps!

Judging from the below photos, my alternative career as a hand/wrist model isn’t about to take off anytime soon.  Too limpy and hairy.  In all fairness, it is a bit difficult to photograph one’s own hand in a most flattering pose. 

The purpose of photographing my wrist was to display the lovely Links bracelet I received to mark my significant day.  Thanks peeps!  You know who you are!  I also received a handbag which was still given to me despite my I-don’t-get-what-the-big-deal-is-about-those-bags rant.  Fear not dear friends – a girl can never have enough bags!  I will learn to love thee!  

I think I have singlehandedly managed to drive sales down with my dead, limpy wrist. 

In case you’re wondering, F stands for Pooey.  Duh!

The Journey....

The brain is no longer mushy, so I can now recount the most stressful journey I’ve ever had to Heathrow and blog how I nearly missed my flight home. Independent factors combined forces to thwart my journey to the world’s most hated airport.

First, it was raining. Not just pitter-patter but pissing down rain.  Yeah, look I can deal with rain.  Rain isn’t anything new.  Next, the person using our rented Streetcar returned our car 15 minutes late.  Grrrrrrr…. Smee and I loaded up my luggage and began the drive westbound.  Unfortunately, it seemed the rest of London needed to go to Heathrow too.  Rain slows the traffic - we all know that - so I wasn’t terribly surprised to see a minor jam near Harrods.  However, this was a sign of things to come – from then on, cars were bumper to bumper before the M1.   Still, I’m a pretty Cool Cat and despite it being 8pm (my flight leaving at 9.55pm), I was confident that we’d get there by 8.30pm.  That would give me a comfortable 85 minutes before departure and 45 minutes before boarding.  My flight didn’t allow online check-in so I needed to also have that sorted. 

By 8.26pm we had barely covered the majority of the freeway journey, the GPS indicated that we still had 30 minutes journey time and yes, I was getting a bit antsy.  Our GPS then indicated we exit the M1 .. wtf…   I’ve only ever travelled to Heathrow on the M1!  The previous driver of our Streetcar had so kindly left us next to nothing in the petrol tank and we HAD to interrupt our drive to fill up the tank or risk breaking down.  At 8.46pm I bolted inside the servie station to pay for petrol while Smee filled up.  The attendant couldn’t have taken more time to process payment.  He had to cancel our transaction (his mistake) which involved printing off not one, but THREE receipts before he was able to re-enter our payment!  Moron!

Smee caught every light possible red traffic light on the remainder of the journey which also included driving through the most claustrophobic tunnel I’ve ever been in.  It was like driving through a 1 kilometre-long single car garage!  We pulled up to Heathrow at 9pm (55 minutes to take off!) and I made my way to the check-in counter while Smee parked the car.  Luckily there was no queue and I dumped my suitcase on the conveyor belt while the attendant began the check-in process.  She then told me “You’re not on this flight, you need to go to Counter G, not F”.  Eeek!  I pulled my suitcase off the conveyor belt and ran to Counter G. 

Again there was no queue because I WAS THE LAST PERSON TO CHECK IN.  I dumped my bag on the conveyor and was then informed that it weighed 28kg.  I knew it was heavy, I had problems dragging it into the terminal but I always intentionally over-pack (half of it were gifts!) and manage to get away with it.  I was not in the mood to be cute so I tried reasoning with the dude, I tried looking pathetic and I even kinda tried being desperate when I said ‘I have a one way ticket!’ but to no avail.  Bastard!  Either I pay £240 or re-pack 5kg from my suitcase.  Well really… there was only one option.  I heaved my suitcase off, flung open the lid and started moving stuff into Snowball, my faithful backpack.  I had no intention of taking out 5kg and put my suitcase back on the belt at 25.5kg.  “Is that fine?” I queried.   “That will do”.  It was obvious that he just really wanted to go home.  He closed the counter after giving me my ticket and a curt “You need to go to your gate NOW.” 

Smee and I ran to the security gate and the most time we had together was separated by a velvet rope as he watched me queue to present my passport to security.  There was no time for shopping, no time to pee and my departure gate was a far as it could get. 

My shoulders started to ache with the weight of Snowball on my back.  I didn’t want to find out how much she weighed but I estimate about 12kg.  I got to my gate… only to find that boarding was delayed by 10 minutes.  GRRRRRRR… well at least I wasn’t crying like the girl next to me who had been waiting at the wrong gate. 

The LHR-SIN leg was uneventful which was just GREAT!  I squeezed in two movies and got a little shut-eye.  We stopped over in Singapore which gave me enough time to clear the pipes (no time to shop as our flight was late) and begin boarding for the second leg of the journey.  Let’s just say I’m not a fan of Qantas International.  Despite being a FF member, I’ve always considered their planes a bit old, their menu a bit meh and service as nothing outstanding.  The only incentive for travelling with Qantas is my FF membership - otherwise I’ve cannot recall a flight which has won me over.  This particular leg only reiterated my less than favourable opinion.  We were informed that for the next 8 hours the entire plane would have NO INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT.  W…. T…. FAAAAAAAAAAARRK!?! 

I downed just enough red wine to make me sleepy and grew a zit on the plane.

Ta-Dah!!!

.... and with a puff of smoke, I have magically appeared in the Antipodes!

My brain is a bit of mush right now cos I'm fighting the big fight against Mr. Jet Lag (must... hold.... out...... for... another.... 6.... hours!) so a proper post will follow in the next few days or so.

Biggest complaint so far about being in the Southern Hemisphere in December?  It's too sunny!!  Oh woe is me :P

Goodbye Goblin Boots

It's now high time for me to get out the suitcase and begin the packmule-ing duties.  I had stored some flat ankle boots away for the Summer and forgotten about them until tonight.  Smee had endearingly called them my 'Goblin Boots'. 

After Smee pulled out my suitcase, I saw my boots and happily retrieved them from their storage hell.  But it appeared all was not well.... especially the right boot. 

The right boot's toe had completely folded over on itself and when viewed from the front, it resembled grumpy old man's face.  It also kinda looks like the Sorting Hat from the Harry Potter films.

I could have salvaged them - the sole was just made of cheap bendy plastic courtesy of Primmy hahaha - but the boots were worn out in the heel so I've given them life in the Big Ol' Bin of Shoe Heaven.

I am now the proud owner of...

...my very own iPhone!  It was given to me as a parting gift before I return to my 'real' job.  Well, I guess it's well deserved because I mean....you know....  I am pretty damn awesome! Wahahaha...

You could say that I have jumped on the bandwagon, but it's a bandwagon I've been meaning to get on but the horse kept dragging the cart away from me!  The downside is that all iPhones in the UK are locked and I will have to overcome that little hurdle somehow.  Poo!!

Weekend Results

My Saturday was spent doing... you guessed it, more shopping.  It appears that this is blog is beginning to become merely a display of consumer goods. 

J, Lil Miss J and I planned for our shopping adventures to begin in Covent Garden at 10am on Saturday.  This is a mighty big ask from me, as I am one who relishes the weekend sleep-in.  I set my alarm for 9am and yep, didn't wake up for it and only rose when J messaged me at 9.30am.  It must've been my day because I was on the bus to Covent Garden by 10am and got to the meeting place at 10.10am.  Ten minutes late - it's very acceptable!  J had under-estimated my super-powers and was still at home when I called her at 10.  I began shopping alone (no biggie) and started ticking off the remainder of my list.

David & Goliath was the first stop where I picked up a few cheesy tshirts.  Note of warning- their tshirts are US$1: £1 on their US site.  If you're buying a few (and by a few I mean probably more than 6), then dish out the US$50 (!!) UPS fee and get them from the US. 

I couldn't help but succumb to this t-shirt.  Nevermind that it was a bit tight.

Lil Miss J and J finally joined me and I showed them the Le Sac dress.  Lil Miss J gave me a little verbal smacking and agreed that we could indeed make the dress. 

Next we ventured into Cath Kidston where J insisted she gift me with this adorable necklace.  We had an small "Asian-restaurant-who's-paying-the-bill-type-of-fight" at the counter.  We didn't take it to the level of wrestling but hey, it's a small store and we would have guaranteed some weird looks.

I like bows!  Fanks J - you're the best! Muah, muah!

A few more items were ticked off and we marched on despite the burgeoning Christmas crowds and the less than sprightly weather... well... it was just an endless umbrella fight down the West End.  We managed to get some wardrobe building blocks for J (yay for 30% off Gap) and our KK gifts for Sunday's Christmas gathering (yay for Muji!).  Btw, my KK gift rocks!! (A portable hairdryer which Lil Miss J cleverly bagged).

Our day ended at M&S where we stocked up on brassieres.  We all agree that M&S rocks!  Thus ended our 9 hours of shopping. 

Sunday was our early Christmas celebration at OKR Paddington-style and mulled wine was served.  Mmmm... mmmm...mmmm that's all I have to say.  The Christmas meal of the day was Asian Steamboat.  Mmm... Christmassy...?

After filling up, we all had a shot at the KK sack and we could endlessly argue who got the best gift, but I do have to say Smee did bring home an Elephunt.  That's pretty cool and the winner in my opinion!

Le Sac Dress - DIY

Well I seem to be getting some feedback about the Le Sac dress, except from Moo who only grasped that her knees are ageing along with mine.  While I do like it, I still look at it with slight contempt.  Anyone with very limited sewing knowledge could make that dress in an instant!  I made a drawstring bag in high school, I can make the dress!  I think the worst part is, despite my sewing *cough* prowess, I still bought it anyway.  I guess this is the price you pay for laziness and US-based labour.  I should be thankful that laziness is such a privilege. 

For anyone who wants to make the dress *wink wink nudge nudge SuBoo*, there are plenty of tutorials online but I thought this one was pretty clear cut.

American Apparel: Le Sac Dress

In the spirit of my previous blog post, I went on a small shop-wander in Covent Garden on the weekend.  Among the shops which I entered was American Apparel.  I always knew that they did a good selection of cotton basics but never bothered to buy for a number of reasons: -

1.  The US$ price is visible and almost 1:1 to the GB£, which up until recently equated daylight robbery;
2.  Most of the items were cotton and I had more than enough of plain, cotton garments (thank you Kookai);
3.  They tend to cut their clothes tight which is not very flattering for my frequent bouts of bloating and;
4.  The other stuff on offer - leotards, shiny tights, weird stuff - were not my cup of tea.

Not expecting to find anything to buy, I saw that they had a cotton spandex version of the Two Birds convertible dress.  'Hmm' I thought, 'This could be handy for summer'.  A unfussy fabric meant that this dress would be more casual than the Two Birds bridesmaid variant.  So into the fitting room I went with a size M. (I told you they cut their sizes small!  I also have gotten a little plumper hehe.)

So what did I think?  The dress was so-so.  The single shoulder style probably looked best along with the plain bandeau strapless.  The sweetheart strapless style (which I dearly wanted to work) didn't really suit me and would probably work better on a flatter chest :-S  The halter neck made look like I was gonna bust out.  The other looks were ok but I wasn't loving it and deduced that if I bought this dress for the £34 it was going for (cheap by British standards but still wtf, it retails in the US for $43!!), well I was only really gonna utilise two of its looks. I was pretty happy to leave the store at that point.

However, the (surprisingly) helpful fitting room assistant had handed me a "Ways to Wear It" pamphlet to help sort myself out with the bandeau dress.  She should well be pleased she did because this resulted in a purchase after I saw a picture of their Le Sac dress!

The very unimpressive Le Sac Dress. →

Let's face facts. I essentially bought a rectangular piece of jersey fabric with a jersey string. Shout out to Suboo - you must make me a replica!  I'm still too lazy to sew at this stage!

Still not so impressive on the hanger.

Oooh well this dress seemed to work much better for me.  The 'sackiness' of it all meant that it would be accommodating for fat days and the Le String (such a stupid name) gave me some looks which I preferred. 

Four of the looks I liked most.  I'm not the greatest poser and ok, I do look a bit flabby in the second pic. Also, is it me or are my knees ageing? Note to self - remember to wear a bra. 

I headed home pretty content with my purchase and raring for the many wears I would get out of it with the upcoming Aussie summer.  Yippeeeee!  On top of that, American Apparel doesn't exist in Oz...... but wait.... after coming home and beginning THIS actual blog post I discovered.....WTF!!!  They do have a store in Oz!  Since when?!?!!?  Obviously I've been away for some significant time *sigh*  Poo!!

Well at least I can revel in consolation that the strong AUD made my purchase in the UK cheaper than it's retail AU price.  Hmmph! I need more consolation than that!  Maybe I should go and buy more stuff?  Hehe...

Filling up the suitcase

In the build up to heading back to the Antipodes for an extended period (maybe forever, but yay! No London Winter!) I am fulfilling other people's shopping requests.  Of course whilst wandering in and out of stores, I have succumbed to making purchases which were otherwise not on the list.  One....can't.... help..... themselves!

For now, I'm leaving all my Winter gear in London and bringing back just the essentials.  You would think that would make my suitcase light, but I already can see that it's going to be full of crap.  Not my crap either!  In addition to men's shirts (hai Spuey!), silly romance books (hai Moo!), here's some of the other stuff I bought on the weekend.

A winter jacket from Zara.  Not the wisest thing to buy given that I will be missing the London winter.  But I will justify myself because 1. I really like it, 2. the winter jacket range in Oz is atrocious, 3.  it was reasonably priced and way cheaper than an equivalent jacket in Oz, 4. when I finally do bring it to Oz, no one else will have the same jacket!



I don't really 'do' big jewelry but this necklace was only £3 from Primmy. I'll find something to wear it with.  Either that or it will sit nicely in the bottom of my drawer. 




A bubble hem strapless dress from Zara.  At £36, well I'm not going to get such a dress at home for the same price.  It fits pretty much perfectly, the hem cut just above the knee and with a pair of killer heels, my legs also look pretty damn good in it.  Also, Mooey can wear the dress!  Yay! *clap clap* 

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

It was only after I recently began playing Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box that I remembered one of the numerous causes of my blog backlog - playing my Ninny.  No, I wasn't attending to Sparkie and Buzz (those poor doggies), but rather Professor Layton and the Curious Village.  Knitting, blogging, Ninny-games, reading.... it's all just one vicious time-consuming cycle.  There are not enough hours in a day!

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box plays in the same fashion as it's predecessor.  In order to progress in the game, you must solve puzzles.  I like puzzles!  The brain teasers on offer hark back to my primary school days when the 'Maths Mobile' (I can't remember the actual name) came around for their monthly visit.  Us little 6-7 year olds were given tangram puzzles, river crossing riddles and other mathematical dilemmas.  Of course they were presented under the guise of wooden toys and colourful playboards.  The nerd in me developed early!

Anyway, this game is keeping me up at night and is great at filling in dead-time on the bus/tube.  I haven't resorted to finding a game walkthrough yet, because struggling with the puzzles is part of the fun!  I've already put in a request for Smee to get me part 3 and part 4 once they're released in English.... which may not be for a while :(  If you're interested, you can check out the official Professor Layton link here and play some demo games.  Now if you don't mind, I'll be getting back to playing my game!

Applied Knitting

Well the little recipient of the knitted baby set has grown up a bit (all 8 months that he is) but it's been a fair while since I've seen him.  He's already outgrown the beanie and the mittens are a bit tight, but if I really wanted to I could force them on. Hehehe...  But it's good to know he still fits the booties (if only just). 

Here are his little tootsies - aww baby appendages are so cute.

Happy Halloween!

Smee has waited an entire year for Halloween to come around again.  Not that either of us were brought up trick-or-treating and not that I even care for the pagan 'tradition'.  I'd be the first person to pretend I'm not home if trick-or-treaters came around.  Nope, Smee wanted Halloween to come around so that we could carve pumpkins togethers!

The pumpkins grown for this time of year come cheap at £1 - £2 depending on the size.  Smee and I did get excited at the prospect of having roast pumpkin and pumpkin soup but upon carving off the top, it was immediately apparent why the pumpkins cost next to nothing.

Yes they are a genetically modified bunch, or at least specifically bred to have no edible pumpkin flesh inside!  I don't squirm at much but here's an inside view of our pumpkins.

I couldn't help but think of the contents of an aggressive tumour after seeing the mess inside.  Ewwww...gross.

 Smee and I each carving our pumpkins. Smee getting right in to the stabbing spirit.

My empty pumpkin shell.

I carved a classic Jack O'Lantern face while Smee attempted a more happy design.  Here's the completed product with and without a tealight candle.  Ooooh spooooooky!

You don't need a really sharp knife to carve the faces, just a butter knife will do.  Next year, I'm going to do a more complicated design.

Me, the Witchy-Poos getting into the Halloween spirit and putting on my best crazy face.

Our pumpkins tried out the kitchen bench and then the coffee table.  They couldn't decide where they wanted to stay.

I recommend everyone carve a pumpkin in their lifetime!  Happy Halloween!

Product of the Month

No, my 'XYZ of the Month' posts are not going to become a regular thing.... yet.  I've just happened to come across a second product in October which I am thoroughly appreciating - Original Source Mint and Tea Tree shampoo! 

Sure, it's not the first minty shampoo on the market and it's not the first minty shampoo I've used but something about this particular one... I'm liking a lot.

You see, I have skin which is easily irritable :(  I have a daily moisturising regime (time consuming but necessary) and I use certain products to minimise skin flaking, which consequently minimises ezcema episodes.  Dermatologists are a nice bunch, but I don't really want to see them too often.

I've never really fussed too much about the scalp/skin on my head.  No matter what shampoo I used, my scalp would eventually start flaking to the point that I found it essential to periodically switch to using Head & Shoulders or some other anti-dandruff shampoo.  I tried using baby shampoo and that was great but .... it's baby shampoo and I want to use adult stuff!  I also realised that Herbal Essences and Garnier products make my scalp itch as soon as I crack open the bottle.  I'm not keen on using tar shampoo (bleah!) or anti-dandruff shampoo daily.  That just sucks.

Smee had used the mint shower gel previously and was keen on trying the shampoo.  I do like the minty smell so I tried it on my own hair.... and I really liked it!  My scalp felt really clean and better still, no itchiness has developed for past few weeks!  I can throw away those anti-dandruff bottles!  I think it might be the tea-tree.

I like this shampoo so much I would recommend it to anyone who has flaky scalp issues.  At £2 a bottle, it costs less than most of the sandwiches at Pret and I have seen it on sale for £1 at Boots.  I think I might start stockpiling it! :D