Shamphree - week 2

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Loads more Shamphree info at CAREFUL KIM.

I've made it through another week of Shamphree. This week was interesting and a small variable threw a spanner in the works. It was my birthday and I travelled home to stay with my parents for a few days, from Manchester to Northamptonshire. A mere 3 hours on the train but enough to seriously mess with my experiment. I'm putting it down to the water.

After a bit of research (just now, I just googled 'hard and soft water', ha!) it seems that Manchester (where I live) has 'very soft' water. In Northamptonshire the water is 'hard', meaning it is rich in minerals. That will explain why the tap water at my parents' house tastes really good and the water in Manchester tastes like chemicals. I found that the 'hard' water at my parents was RUBBISH at washing the bicarbonate of soda from my hair. Useless. 

I Shamphreed my hair twice in the second week, compared to 4 times in the first week. This was because I had so much hard work, and just couldn't be bothered. Also because the bicarb didn't really come out, so my hair was kind of bulky with it. In a way, it was alright, I had thick hair that had a lot of body and it would kind of 'stay' when I tried to body it up with my hands. But I couldn't run my fingers through it. It looked good, but it didn't feel good. It also didn't feel greasy as quickly as in the first week, probably because it had the bicarbonate just sat it in for days. 

Both times I washed it at my parents' house, I had to re-rinse afterwards. This didn't help much. It was frustrating, I felt like I had ocean hair for days, without the lovely ocean. On the plus side, I found peppermint oil at my parents' so I tried this with my 'conditioner', and it smelled incredible! My head felt so fresh and tingly. The only other change was instead of cider vinegar, I used lemon juice. That could possible be the reason that it was so hard to get the bicarb out, but I don't think so. Of course, I'm no expert. There could be complicated reasoning for my Shamphree headache in Northamptonshire, it could be down to the composition of the water and way that reacts with the alkali bicarbonate.... but I don't know for sure.

Also, I've lost my camera cable, so no lovely pictures of my trip, my caked in bicarb hair or my birthday. 

I've now just done my 7th wash, the first of week 3. I'm sat here with wet hair waiting to see what this wash will bring! It's always an adventure. It's hard to tell, because of the bicarby hair I've had for almost a week, but it seems like the greasiest hair I've ever had (wash 3?) is behind me. I'll keep you up to date.

Oh, I have this picture already, a delicious whisky and lemon cheesecake I made last week. The recipe is a James Martin one... from here. It was very.... indulgent, calorific and delicious. 

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Mum and Angie come to visit... part 2

These are a few more pictures from my Saturday afternoon wandering the Manchester city streets, Mother and Auntie in tow. Fascinator shopping got old, and I got carried away. There was a lot happening in the Northern Quarter it seemed... wedding parties, guitarists and trumpeters, good smells and busy streets.

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Mum and Angie come to visit... part 1

Last weekend (I'm really behind schedule) my Mum and her sister Angie came to visit in the middle of the Mancunian heatwave. They arrived late Friday and I managed to get the Saturday off work to spend a lovely 2 full days with them.

I always enjoy a day or a weekend tour of places in Manchester, my favourite places, for the benefit of visitors. This weekend was North Star Deli in Chorlton and a tram ride to town on a never ending search for a fascinator. My Mother tried on every hair decoration in the city and bought nothing. She better have something spectacular in her hair come Lee and Dani's wedding in August.

We ate at Simple, NQ for lunch and Bar San Juan on Beech Road, Chorlton for a tapas dinner. All the food was spectacular. 

Here are the highlights from Saturday morning....

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Camille came to stay, Part 2

Saturday, we had brunch with Katie and Jill at Tea Hive in Chorlton. A pricey ricotta, banana and chocolate toastie was on the specials menu. It was tasty, but I'm glad I split one. Then we headed to town to meet Alan and sat in Picadilly Gardens with the masses. We gorged on Rice and cheap China Town snacks.

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Camille came to stay, Part 1

Camille came to stay this weekend. We've known each other since school and I usually see her for 2 hours at a time when I come home to Corby, or for the odd hen party (which seem more commonplace these days, is that just me?). It was such a treat to see her for a whole weekend, have time off work and not just catch up, but do things we'll remember next time we meet. (Camille is not fond of having her picture taken, as you will see.)

It's also the start of the British summer. It should have started a while back but June was wind and rain. It's hot outside! The sun is out and I have to wear factor 50 everyday! I'm pale and ginger, so you wouldn't naturally associate my kind to this weather but it won't keep me inside. It feels so good to be in the sun for a whole week. It certainly feels like a holiday. I can wear shorts and tshirt cycling to work each day, that's a treat. 

We spent Friday evening at a pub in Withington, then making mojitos in Chorlton park. It was on the cheap... mint from my garden, the cheapest white rum going, 23p bags of tortillas... you know the kind.

The mojito recipe we used is here, and we were inventive with our tools whilst making them in the park!

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The Week In Pictures.

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Yes!

Super nerdy day in today. I spruced this site up a wee bit and I'm so pleased about how it looks. It feels like a real thing now :) even though it is just to record my day to day and send back to my parents when they miss me. 

Yesterday Oliver and I went to get coffee at Takk in Manchester, but didn't check it was open first. It wasn't. Closed Sundays. Who closes Sundays? Well, they do. We decided to head to our default coffee place in town, North Tea Power on Tib Street, but, unsurprisingly, it was mobbed. If you haven't been, you should. The coffee is top notch. They do fancy coffee prep, the kind I've only seen in Berlin, at The Barn, and in Liverpool, at Bold Street Coffee. The cakes are not that great in my experience, they always have a lingering staleness, which is a shame.

Instead we popped two doors down to Fyg. I've never been before. It's a little quieter, has an impressive deli, and a few too many bad Beatles covers. We ordered a Manchego and Serrano ham open sandwich, with crushed garlic tomatoes and a honey mustard dressing that I'll need to find bottled. It was very good.

Food pictures aren't quite as sexy when you've half eaten what's on the plate.

We watched Star Trek: Into Darkness, with dream villain Benedict Cumberbatch. He wasn't as attractive as when playing Sherlock, but I still found him fairly appealing. I enjoyed the film a lot.... I don't have an especially sophisticated taste in films these days. Not that I ever did (Unstoppable, anyone?). It really hit the spot. It was a dreary and miserable day, but a pretty nice one.

I did some eBaying when we got home. I didn't sleep well the night before, stressing about our travel budget, so I put my worries to practical use by trying to sell off all the crap we've accumulated. Today has been a good day too. I made budget 'whatever's in the cupboard' scones...

What was in the cupboard? Sugared rose petals that I usually nibble on from the jar. I did a little bit of planting in my concrete jungle.

And that's that. Work tomorrow. Sigh.

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Impromptu Birthday Cocktails

I spent an unexpected post payday Monday with Alanna and Jenni to celebrate Jenni's 25th birthday, and her first in Manchester. I spent more money and drank more cocktails than I had planned to; but I can't complain because we had a dream day.

We shopped about and I treated myself to this wee necklace. That's £10 I can't spend in South America, but I am very fond of it!

Hula Bar and Lola's are both in the half of the Northern Quarter closer to Piccadilly station than the Printworks. I like the hidden away gems and mid week happy hours. On my current budget, 2 for 1 is the only way to drink cocktails. Lots of the places opening recently have a very European feel and make me think I'm in Amsterdam or Berlin. Days like this help to convince me I'll be living here in future, after travelling.

We ended on a late night search for a Chinese buffet. We were desperate, without a care for cost or quality, but every door closed on us with a 'sorry, closing now'. We settled on McDonald's and called it a night. I missed Game of Thrones. That's how much fun I had.

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