2 years already?!?

Today marks the beginning of my 2nd loc anniversary. I had my install on 24/25 Jan 2008. So here I am 2 years later, I couldn't be happier.Y'all know that technically or dare I say officially, these ain't sisterlocks, b'cos I have DIY-ed since Jan last year(without taking the class). I've used tools other than the SL tools. I've used NL, Yarn, and Flat loc tools. (my main tool now is the flat loc tool, made by a Sls consultant). I've combined some, and started some new locs. I've braided new ones, twisted the ends of some, extended a couple with fake hair, wrapped a couple of weak locs with more fake hair LOL...so I can't say they are 'pure' Sls. Erm.... they are some sort of hybrid, but beautiful nonetheless. I have never used ANY of the SL shampoos or products. Recently I ordered the green tea kit, but due to a mix-up I changed it to just the reconstructor and moisturiser. So those will be the 1st ever SL products I'll be using since I got my locs. However I still refer to my locs as sisterlocks -(or Maybe DIY SLS will be the more appropriate description), seeing they were put in by an official trainee and maintained by a consultant for over 1year. Nevertheless, my DIY SLS are 2 years Old! Pictures will follow soon , hopefully in my next post.

Ara's pipe cleaner curls

1 mth shy of 3yrs, I curled her locs with pipe cleaners.
Took 2 days to dry LOL. This is the 3rd day so they've fallen quite a bit.
Some kids call her the hairy woman! Ha ha ha! They mean she has big hair.

We must do something!!!

The scale of the Haitian disaster is mind boggling. I read that very little relief is getting through and many of the injured who were initially rescued from crushed buildings have died due to lack of food, water,medical supplies and doctors. As if the situation couldn't get any worse, there are rampaging gangs with machetes, raping and pillaging and looting shops. I'm asking all who believe in the God who answers prayer to join in interceding for these people. The situation is desperate,food&water scarce, the stench unbearable. Thank God for all who are giving and those volunteering their skills. Let's pray that things get moving and supplies get to those who most need it. I pray the people themselves realise this is the hand of the enemy, and turn to God, and God, alone who is more than able to rescue. Let us give what we can. I believe various charities are stepping in including churches and christian organisations, and they will need our donations. I pray each one of us is led to give in the right place, not to those seeking to line their pockets off human misery and suffering. Every one can do something, even if it's praying for those trapped in this Nightmare, and those going into danger to help them.

Goodbye Lenrie, till we meet again on that great day...

I've just come back from a friend's funeral. She fought hard and long, lost the battle (unexpectedly), but won the victory. Dear Lenrie is in heaven. I did not see much of her, but those few times we met up, usually at an old school dinner 'do', Anne & I would be on the same table with Asabea (Len's good friend) and Lenrie. Of course, it was Asab who arranged it so we'd sit together, sometimes heckling the poor speaker. (Those fund raising dinners will never be the same without you Lenrie). We had a lot of laughs. I'm not exagerating when I say Lenrie could talk - fast, very fast. Nobody escaped her wit, sharp tongue and humour. How this woman managed to be to stay cheerful, devising ways to help others whilst she herself was in such pain, is a testament to how strong and courageous she was.
There were over 500 people at her funeral today - in the pouring London rain! Everyone who knew her was there. Old Achimotans, old girls&boys from the Cape Coast schools, Old guys from UST, work mates, relatives friends Oh my! I could see the undertakers were overwhelmed. They had to squeeze past us, just to get the coffin by. British funerals consist of 10-20 if they are blessed enough to have folks come.
They gave Lenrie a fitting tribute, and a send-off fit for the Queen that she was. The attire was black&white(signifying victory). Her coffin, drapped in authentic Ashanti kente, and old achimotan colours. The Ashanti funeral dirge was played on a flute, akan songs sang to worship Osagyefo, (the title to address His majesty God the King). Every song was well chosen. One of my favs was, 'it is well with my soul'. She is resting in the arms of the Lord, in perfect peace.
I wasn't able to take any pics, bc of the sheer size of the crowd.

The big freeze

the dog in the pic kept emerging emerging from some place and wagging it's tail at us. It seemed to be wandering around by itself, but wasn't lost cos he'd run purposely in a certain direction.

winter wonderland. we went for a wintry walk in the woods near my house.

hubby dared Joshi so he went running round the trampoline - in the freezing cold bare chested!

chemical dye(semi-permanent) after henna

I'm blogging about this b'cos I searched and researched for info on this subject, and it was very sketchy indeed. I know from various henna sites that you can use henna after using chemical dyes,provided it's unadulterated henna. ( If the manufacturer does not list all ingredients, you're in trouble. Liquid hennas, in varying colours are more suspect and more likely to have metallic salts added to them to create different colours. If you know that you've used a 'mixed' henna, you'll need the metallic salts stripped from your hair before trying to dye your hair).What I wanted to know was, is the reverse also true??? Could I go from henna to chemical dye without DRAMA? I couldn't turn up a straightfoward answer. Perhaps I was not looking in the right places. Eventually I established some facts.

1.If you're using henna, it must be pure body quality henna from reputable company that you can trust.

2.If your henna previously used is dubious, best stay away from chemical dye b'cos you could be in for a hairy ride as the chemicals react with each other and your hair.

3.It is possible to go back to using a chemical dye after henna, but you should leave a gap of several weeks to reduce risk and give a the dye a good chance to 'take'.(henna works by coating hair strands, so it can affect the overall look of a chemical dye. After several washes, it will fade, but it takes ages to get henna completely out of your hair!)

4 Do a strand, or rather loc test to see how the dye is going to take and how the loc will behave - as well as a skin test!!!

5. I would suggest a semi-permanent dye rather than a permanent one.

6. Pray.

OK. I wanted to dye my hair again to give it some depth. I henna-ed back in sept with lush dark brown henna. I didn't fancy going through the procedure again - I mean it's a hop, step and jump to apply, then another to wash it all out. So I started eyeing chemical dyes, hence my research to see if it was possible. I used Garnier movida semi-permanent mahogany colour. Mary( daughter) is a pro so she did the colour.But we did the skin/loc test before proceeding. Even though the leaflet inside states, 'DO NOT USE IF YOU HAVE COLOURED WITH HENNA', she determined by the test loc (this is the loc I accidentally chopped off a few weeks ago)that it would be fine. However, she purchased only 1 box and y'all know locs require 2 or more boxes. So we did the front half of my hair. The back half may be done tomorrow if I've bought the dye. Take a look at the pics. Actually you can barely see the difference, since the top half lays on the bottom half. The dilema came when we got to the condish. In the end I used only a 1/4 of the amount and that very diluted and thankfully everything remained intact.

all these gifts to wecome 2010

a few of the lovely pressies my kids and hubby gave me. I was so touched as I really wasn't expecting much, but everybody seemed to want to give me something. Even on 31st dec my friends had a big pressie waiting for me when I took the boys there. I got a designer shirt, perfume,some cool boots, lovely dolphin bronze statuette, aromatherapy oils& bath stuff from Lush, a big woolie hat that fits my locs from river island!! to mention a few things. Well I'm really grateful. But I'm even more thankful to God who has kept me and my family. We spent new year's eve in church, reviewing the past year and giving thanks to God for all he has brought us through, and thanking him for 2010 and the new opportunities he's bringing our way. Friends, I firmly believe in my heart that for me and my family, the best is yet to come! Good things are on their way to us this year. The blessings will flow, and we in turn can be a bigger blessing to others. God put this on my heart so strongly that I shared in church and from the response that came I gather God touched some others, in the same way.