Day 32 | Lulu? C'est Moi!

Bonsoir mes amis et mama! I'm sliding in a bit late - with the pics of today's little ensemble. So Apols the light isn't great for a phone selfie. Truth is - I've had a very lazy Saturday sans enfants, avec le podge! We got up and I broke my juice 'fast' with clean and lean pancakes, bacon, black pudding, grilled baby toms, a wonderful mushroom melange wot I make and some agave syrup - which is a perfectly good alternative to the Maple Syrup I went to Tescos to get and forgot yesterday!

Nana Alert...

We've been pottering around our neighbourhood all day. Spent a lovely half hour in the Amnesty Book Shop and had Rooibosch and an Americano at the Boston Tea Party - a locao Bristolian cafe chain - well worth checking out if you're in the SW. We did Sudoku, read a Beidecker on Rome, and pondered the big question about who will replace Brucey on Strictly Come Prancing.

We're settled on Julian Clary - who isn't in the running, but should be.

The Dress: Worn inside out - I feel less dumpy in it this way.

The Rest: Lovely little Benetton jumper with 3/4 sleeves and a V. Gap Cardy - best charity shop purchase ever - cost me a quid in the 'sale' had it 7 years - and it doesn't owe  me a penny! Grey marl tights, green plastic ring. Betty's ring and a little grey beret...

The Shoes: Glorious faux snakeskin clompers - a sort of dull green. Ted Baker. Also bought in a Sale - years ago and dragged out every Spring. Might be my fave platforms. (My treasured De Havilland's had to be discarded after a freak accident involving my crystal ball - I am NOT lying!).

The Doo: Woefully undone and messy - you couldn't drag a comb through this haystack!

The Pancakes: 100g organic oats, 200g ricotta/cottage cheese (I use a combination), 4 eggs. That's it! Beat them all together (I grind the oats a bit if they're big). Add a little soy milk to loosen the batter.

Use a really good pancake pan - and you don't need to butter it.

Pop a ladle of mix onto pan and jiggle it to level it. (These make thick pancakes not crepes).

When you see little bubbles popping over the whole surface - flip for a few more seconds.

Pile up, interleave with grease-proof paper if you can be faddled.

Yahoo! So good for you it's perfect!

Day 31 | Balloons and Shoes

Good Evening! We had a proper job Spring day in the SW today - culminating in a big balloon launch. I love this time of year when the big hot air balloons go up. They were flying incredibly low over our street earlier. Your first clue that they are near is the unmistakable whoooshrush of the burners.

Then you rush out to wave - the baskets were so low - I had a chat with the chaps in the Tattinger Balloon. How lovely is that?!

I've lived here over 8 years now I think and I've never been up in one - we had one at Somerfield but I didn't manage to wangle a ride. Ah well!

Today is the last day of the Juice Spring Clean. I finally feel like I usually do on Day 2! Quite bouncy and clear. The TV has gorn bung - and iPodge has been 'hijacked' by one of the teams. They wanted me to trekk into town to hang out - but I'm not in the mood for boozy 'shop' talk.

The Dress: Worn conventionally under a jumper. It's not that warm yet!

The Rest: Gorgeous raspberry V neck. Purple Waterfall cardigan - I think it was supposed to be pjs. Silk scarf as before. Raspberry cropped trews. Coast. Acid Green, plastic knuckle duster.

The Shoes: Purple, John Richmond, vintage, winkle picker, stellies - there you go all your happies in one pair of shoes.

The Doo: Accidentally looking fairly good on the tumbly curl front - but this whole 'get back to natural' go grey - inbetweeny thing is getting a bit tedious. I think its looking well dodgy. The day is fast approaching when I must decide if I can dare to chop - like Li'l Sis. Who recently chopped her big hair and it looks great.

The Balloons: Tattinger and the Bristol Balloon Company went overhead. Hooray!

Day 30 | Monsoon Stripe

Hello. Here we go!

Caffeine headaches have completely cleared - I reckon that was a full 96 hours to ditch the physical habit this time - but 'tis done and in a few more days - I'll stop looking longingly at the flat whites being handed over the steel and concrete counters of my fave java shops up and down the Gloucester Road. *sigh

To celebrate, I have got dressed and even wielded the mascara brush and rotated the lippy tube. It's hours since I did and I've drunk lunch - so you won't notice it in the  pic - but I did and I'm counting it as feeling better. I am very un-girl in that respect. I shove it on once and hope for the best for the rest of the day.

So to the outfit. I'm still struggling with the necessity for layers and jumpers - and by Day 30 I'm feeling dumpy and a bit frumpy in this daily combo. So I've dragged out some beads and bangles to jingle and jangle. Oh and a very, very posh cardigan!

I'm not bothering much with matchy, matchy either - but we're still in the same tonal range. Just.

The Dress: Worn conventionally - I'm rather glad there's only 10 more days of the challenge to go - I have renewed respect for the chic that wore the same dress for a whole year. There are only so many ways to make a jumper and boots look interesting!

The Rest: Thermal, lace, long sleeved vest. M&S. Gorgeous stripey cardigan with tiny buttons. Missoni. (Oh yes you read that right!) - If I were rich I'd be clad head to toe in this label. One of my all time faves - even before their renaissance. Burgundy thermal tights. Black and green plastic beads, green printed perspex bangle, wooden bangles. All collected on my travels.


The Juice: Minty Sunshine.I made mine with an orange, a red grapefruit, carrots, mint and ginger. Happy juice in a beaker.

The Shoes: Blue, DM boots - extra socks.

The Doo: Pobbles trusty Bobbles!

Day 29 | Dress and Blankie Combo

Hello! I'm rushing through again today - because although I have pulled the LBD over my head - I am still feeling a bit miz and so I still have half  of me jammas on! If it wasn't for the LBD Challenge I'd still be in full nightgear hopping about in a sleeping bag.

I'm still doggedly sticking with The Big Spring Juice Thing - today is Berry Banana Crunch Day - which means narnas and berries all smushed up with soy milk and juiced apples with added ground seeds and whatnot. Delicious and blissfully cold for my sore throat. (My berries are frozen).

I'm half way through and can report that the caffeine headache and sugar withdrawal symptoms have abated. Which leaves me with a common cold. So I'm feeling better - doubly busy now all the things I didn't manage yesterday are coming home to roost today. Pah!

For form sake then...

The Dress: Yes I am wearing it - you can just see the bodice. Conventional way round.

The Rest: Black jumper - Sussan. Black Long Cardi - Harrods. Big wool, silk pashmina - brown - from the mummyone. Jarma Bottoms - Gap? . Betty's ring. Large Cuddle Blankie - worn as a wrap/skirt for warmth. Sort of no colour in particular. TK Maxx.

The Shoes: Doovette Booties - Ikea

The 'Juice': 1 large narna, two handfuls of frozen mixed berries. 2x apples juiced. 2 cups of soy milk. 2 tablespoons of mix ground seeds. (hemp, pumpkin, flax & sunflower). Whizz in the blender.

Tommorrow I will have to get dressed because I need more supplies and I'm going to see 20 Feet From Fame with Bristol Bestie.

Day 28 | Jammies Day

I've been a bit poorly today. So I've stayed in my jammies. Which means no LBD. I could wrap a hot water bottle in it! But tbh I've done 20 min stints & then rest. 

#fail 

Day 27 | Purple Poesy

Oooh Dear! I know a few pals who will be wincing with the wrinklage. I care not a jot for your irons and your judgement. I've been home alone all day - and the sun went back in AGAIN! So It's jumpers ahoy and pin the rose on the donkey for fun.

Yes that is a loo roll you can see in the bevel of the mirror - the door is a little bing-bangy so we jam it shut with an empty bog roll... What?

Today I began The Big Juice Spring Clean - 5 days of juice only. I follow Jason Vale's plan. I've got the app and a map but I don't tune into all the coaching videos these days. It's all the same and he does them every season. I'll be doing mine for 7 days - and I'm expecting a bit of a caffeine withdrawal 'heed' in the next day or two.

Time to just tough it out. Although I confess I've had a fairly illegal (in juice terms) cup of soy milk & water with hemp oil. It's miserable and I was cold. Plus - rules schmules. My juice feast - my way.

In my defence your honour I didn't have juice number 3 at 4pm. Heading for final supper juice @ 7pm - and I'll be cooking iPodge lamb burgers, new potatoes and greens. I am officially a SAINT!

The Dress: Worn inside out - which is why you can see all the creases. Hey hO!

The Rest: Dark purple cardigan with little buttons on the sleeves - M&S? Lovely mauvey grey corsarge. Dunno but I'm guessing either Debnems or Accessorize. Black jumper worn underneath as a vest. Sussan. (N.Z./Australiarrr). Black tights. Acid green knuckle duster. Betty's Ring.

The Shoes: Red or Dead Booties - Green Suede and thick rubber soles. I very heart these.

The Eyewear: Prada, purple.

The Doo: Washed and loose for once.

Day 26 | Biker Boots and Posh Bag

Hello and Happy Mammie's Day to my beautiful mamma. She She. We had skypey doo dah chat this morning and talked about the usual mix of nothing and everything the way you do - when it's your mamma and you are still in your jammies!

So we toddled off to the Mall for a Full English and then bought up the veggie aisles of Diddle Dee Dee. I am all set for a week of juicing and double duty exercise. It's time to shake off the blues of last week and step into Spring.  Hooray for Day Light Savings and lighter evenings.  Hooray for a sunnier day. We had coffee outside one of our local caffs this afternoon.

The Dress: Worn conventionally - it wasn't quite warm enough to go without a jumper!

The Rest: Simple approach today - I wanted to wear orange felted scarf and orange sandals but it wasn't quite sunny enough. So worn with wonderful silk, wool - fine knit from FWM. Betty's ring and M&S tights. The main colour today came with my gorgeous red, tan, orange and beige concertina bag - from Venice! It has a big toggle and metal beads which bang and clack like one of those clacker toys we had in the 70s that were banned in the playground. I did have my red mac, orange fingerless mittens and a multicoloured scarf with orange in it - but by the time we got to the Mall - I'd discarded all of them - it was just too warm.

The Shoes: Ancient pretendy biker boots, bought in a shop on Park Street with the first pay check I received in Bristol. Which makes them sound exxy - they weren't - £10.00 in the sale. They don't owe me nuttin' by now.

The Doo: Scraped back - I tried a couple of different ways - but it just wasn't working for me today.

The Score: I bought some new mascara and a fancy new eyeshadow pencil in Boots and scored a cute box with lots of goodies in. To be honest I'm happiest about the box. I'd take a pic - but supper is almost ready. Maybe later...