My baby's 18yrs today!

My little sulupops Caramel Cream is 18 this day. Happy birthday Angel. So beautiful, so responsible, with a heart that follows hard after God, a heart for the lost youth of today and a vision so BIG, God must have put it in you when you came from heaven. The vision is for an appointed time and it will surely come to pass. Keep doing what you're doing, keep praying, keep standing in faith, keep reaching out to those God brings across your path.

Updo.. er,well ,sort of.

Growth at the nape

I see growth

Folks, do you see how the locs at the nape of my neck has grown? This area had very little hair. Locs rock! and for me sisterlocks have transformed my hair into a thing of beauty and...I cant wait to henna it some more. Thank you lord for leading me to locs and making it possible form me to get sisterlocked! So..

I was inspired to try an updo for church today. Actually, my hair was too short to do it, but I modified it to suit me. I parted my hair from ear to ear, 3/4in the back half, in a ponytail. I parted the front down the middle and curled one side. The other side I 'brushed' across(I was meant to tuck it into the ponytail but I simply secured with pins. Then I added a few accessories. The bit you see sticking up (the hair pin) was actually put through the ponytail, so it wasn't just sticking up randomly, the way it looks in the photo. Unfortunately the style was a bit messed up by the time I got home and the curls had fallen. I pulled the pin out and was about undo it when i thought of taking some pictures. Still you get the idea of what it looked like when I 1st styled it. I must say although I don't style much, I'm getting keener on trying simple styles.

I confess, I quite like 'messy' updos. That nifty little hair thingy you see sticking up was a pressie from Mary from Spain... but I'll do a post on all my hair accessories later.

another way to save a loc-wrap it in hair!

afro kinky

*ignore the str8 weave on the package*

some strands

begin braiding

Loose hair(left)-loc(right)

I was about to wrap a combined loc with afro kinky human hair, when I realised I should really do a post on it. I combined 2 locs by interlocking the roots, leaving a 2 header. 1 loc was on it's last legs and both had thinned out dangerously. It still looked quite thin between the middle and the roots so I decided to 'fill' it in. So, this is another way to strengthen a loc that's weakened in the middle or somewhere along the shaft of your loc. As long as the roots of the loc is healthy, you can take a small piece of afro kinky (human hair) and wrap it(like you would thread wrap) either the whole length of the loc or focus on the weak spot. (Don't make it as thick as the peice of hair in the photo, I made it thicker, so it'd be clear in the photo.)Make sure you wrap a little below and above the weak area to secure it. Begin by 3 strand braiding the hair - with the loc in the middle. After 2 or 3 turns, begin the wrapping motion. You can end by 3 stand braiding/2st twisting or even make a small knot at the end.

Note: Do this only if the roots are healthy and if the thinning is happening somewhere other than/away from the roots. Just another option to save a loc for the DIY-ers.

If you ever saved some of your own hair from when it was loose, you can use that....I wished I'd kept some of mine.

finished loc

product reviews-shampoos both old and new

You know I'm always on the lookout for new good quality affordable shampoos. Also I prefer sulphate-free shampoos, with sodium laurel/laureth sulphate being the ingredient I'd most like to avoid. I found got2b unglued shampoo by schwarzkopf in the £ shop. I bought a couple, but I'm really sorry I didn't load up on this one 'cos it's an excellent shampoo at £1.00 per bottle. This one's Arashia's fav. And no wonder. It's leaves her locs 'clean' without drying out,has a wonderful pineapply smell and contains hydrolysed wheat protein, biotin, ascorbic acid,panthenol,tocopheryl, retinyl palmitate.....Goodguide gave it 9.2 for healthy shampoo. So if you come across this shampoo, it's well worth getting.

Waitrose baby shampoo: I bought this only because I was after a mild sulphate-free shampoo. I knew I was going to henna my hair and thought I should use a mild shampoo. Well it's OK, but nothing much to write home about. It smells of vanilla and contains aloe vera, vanilla, lavender and mandarin oils. It cost about £2.50, so it's quite cheap.

Hair Fitness Shampoo. I love this one cos it's packed full of nutrients. The downside is, it's pricey. £9.95. I bought this shampoo at some craft or hair show (I can't rightly remember) just b4 I locked my hair and put it away cos I couldn't use it on baby locs. I looked through my stuff and found it. It's a lovely shampoo. Smells tropical- mango/pineapple with herbs and contains hydrolysed wheat protein, amino acids,cystein, vit b5,silica,vit E, vit A&D,allantoin,biotin,oatstraw, saw palmetto, alfafa, horsetail,comfrey, coltsfoot,evening primrose oil,selenium zinc calcium, essential fatty acids...phew and that's not all. It doesn't have any sulphates,MEAs,TEAs,or DEAs. I'd say it's worth paying for, wouldn't you? It does leave your hair soft, so don't use it unless your locs are settled. But you wouldn't need the conditioner(which is equally jam-packed with nutrients).

MEA,TEA and DEA are chemicals in most shampoos bubble baths,lotions, creams etc known to be toxic, and hormone disrupting. They also form nitrosamines in conjunction with other chemicals and can be cancer causing....well a little chemistry lesson. So here is something else to avoid if you can. Otherwise just pray and trust God.

As always, my african black soap is on standby.

henna results (18mths SL-ed)

texture shot

Here are the results of henna-ing my sls. You can see it's a deep coffee colour, blends in the greys - with a reddish tinge. To be honest the greys are still there, only not so noticeable. The colour will improve with further henna application. Also I've been locked for 18 mths so these photos give an idea of how my hair is doing. This is a result of a 'braid-out'. I don't do much styling, but braid-outs are my fav style cos it's so easy.

Check out the freezee texture. My locs appear very frizzy indeed, and the majority of loc ends are still open. Frizz comes with the territory.(I don't mind cos it makes my hair look fuller). This will gradually change as each loc becomes more condensed and tight. I daresay the henna has given me MORE frizz.

Henna(caca brun) you need like 4 arms to do this.

I'm in the process of henna-ing my locs. I added a goodish dollop of instant cofee to make it darker. A couple of weeks ago, I tested henna, one with cofee, and one without on some ol loc ends that snapped off. The one with cofee seemed slightly darker hence..... but we shall see. So I mixed it in a casserole dish over a steaming pan on the stove, allowed it to cool slightly and applied to my hair. I put it in one of those colour applicator thingies - which would have saved me a lot of hassle except...except the mixture was either too thick or had lumps so it did not flow. Note: It really does save you dealing with mess if you put the mixture in dem applicator bottles and apply to your hair. I can't imagine what would.ve happened if I tried to scoop up that mess to put in my hair. Anyhow, I took the top off and used it that way and it still worked except for the odd blob that went it's merry way. Good job I decided to put some newspaper over the sink, bath and floor, 'cos those odd blobs dropped in unexpected places. Infact I was so paranoid about making a mess that I'm not sure I've applied thoroughly ie every strand aint covered, but hey I thought I'd quit while I was still ahead of the game. (y'know how everything's gone well and you think, let me just go over it once more then something you dont want happens? Yeah, so I thought, I've covered all the main bits(hair) no disaster, stop now.) I'm now waiting for x amount of hours to pass then I'll wash it out. I was going to do all this outside, but the way the wind was blowing, my mirror, newspapers and towels went flying so I retired to the bathroom. Erm, the instructions say 'cover your head if you want it redder or leave uncovered if you want it browner.' I cling- filmed my head for 1/2hr to stop bits going everywhere and removed it for the rest of the time as I want it brown-ish. I have no photos, my camera went to spain with my daughter Mary. I'm on the lookout for a new camera 'cos that one's old anyway.
Stay tuned for the results. So far, minimal mess, so good. We'll see when I come to wash it out.. aah, but I have a plan. Hopefully, I'll take a photo when Mary returns tomorrow.

It's 9.45. I've just finished washing the henna out. I wasn't sure whether I'm supposed to shampoo or just rinse. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and then shampoo-ed with waitrose baby shampoo and again with hair fitness shampoo then did some prolonged rinsing. Then I rinsed with diluted ACV. Oh my back! My hair looks dark brown coffee all over. Some grays are still trying to peak through especially where I wasn't careful to slater it on properly.
Conclusion: Henna works. It conditions your hair, adds body to it. The colour isn't bad. You can repeat it deepening the colour with each application. However, washing it out is a job and a half! The smell is strong and lingers for hours. Fortunately I didn't mind the smell, but my daughter said it made her feel sick.

See the Action!

This photo shows the christian hurdling his way to silver at the English schools athletics. The boy in green was the gold medalist. However Christian intends to go for gold in the Nationals in 2 weeks time so he's training hard. Apparently the boy had a better start on the blocks so Christian is training on the blocks.

fewer strong locs vs many skinny locs

I've just completed another retightening. It took just about 5 hrs over the course of 4 days.
Day 1: 2hrs
Day 2: 1hr and a bit
Day3: 1 1/2hrs
Day 4: 1/2 hr.
I'm doing OK with this retightening thing. I've got a rhythm going. I've also combined most of my smalls to medium and dramatically shortened my sessions. I've also saved many locs from premature death. So far, I lost 1 loc and I'm not about to lose any more. Like Nubianlockedprincess said "Small locs are great, but you have to know when to draw the line with large loc numbers! They too come with a price!"
I guess I lost my desire to have gazillion locs especially bc I DIY. Also I just can't stand to see a skiny loc hanging by a thread. I saw the size of dewdrops locs and I thought, those look pretty sturdy and healthy whilst still maintaining the sisterlocks look so why not strengthen some of my own weaker looking locs. So I did. I'm very pleased with the results. I still have around 360-ish so it's still a high number, but I'm comfortable with that.

cape coast(Ghana) angry with obama

Taken from the 'Ghanaian Journal'

"Some Chiefs and people of the Oguaa (Cape Coast) Traditional area are angry with United States President, Barrack Hussein Obama and his security detail.
A number of Chiefs and other Cape Coasters who spoke to TODAY on President Obama’s visit to Cape Coast and his subsequent visit to the city’s ancient Castle, expressed serious misgivings about the refusal of the security detail of the Obama entourage to allow them carry through with the elaborate programme drawn up by the Cape Coast Traditional Council to welcome the US President to Cape Coast last Saturday.
What irked them most was the refusal of the US security personnel to allow for the conferment of an honorary queen-mother title on Mrs. Michelle Obama, who many Cape Coasters believe, has an ancestral link with the former capital city of Gold Coast.Although she conceded that the programme was unique, Central Regional Minister, Ama Benyiwah Doe, was equally not happy about the hard-line posture of the Obama security, which invariably curtailed most of the programmes line-up for the Cape Coast visit.
“I think it’s a very good and successful programme, although I am not really happy about the way the US security is handling affairs here”, Mrs. Benmyiwa-Doe told a section of the press. Her concerns were shared by other top government and party officials like Kojo Mensah-Bonsu, Lawyer Barton Oduro and Nana Sam Brew Butler, an indigene of Cape Coast.
TODAY’s investigations established that the US security did not allow for the coronation of Mrs. Obama, which would have included conferring on her an honorary Cape Coast citizenship, because that would have affected the tight and strict travelling arrangement of the American President.
The Obama security detail did not also allow for an elaborate address of the durbar of Chiefs and people of the Oguaa Traditional area held at the fore court of the Cape Coast Castle, citing the similar excuse that if the Obama address were extended, it would have affected the return journey of the US President.
Some of the Chiefs and people who the paper spoke to said they were really humiliated and indeed disgusted about the sudden turn of events. They were equally not happy about the almost three minutes address by the US President after his tour of the Cape Coast Castle.
“As far as we are concerned that address by President Obama was his personal observation about the Castle, its symbolic role in the Slave Trade and the its central importance in ensuring that it remains a global monument that will remind us of some of the inhuman treatment meted out to some group of humans”, a sub Chief told this paper.
The anticipation among many of the people who gathered at the Cape Coast Castle was that President Obama would have given a proper address at the Cape Coast Castle durbar just as he did at the International Conference Centre in Accra, prior to his departure to Cape Coast.
“That was the more reason why most of us defied the scorching sun to travel miles away from central Cape Coast to attend such a unique event, only to be disappointed this way”, Mildred Hutton told TODAY.
Mildred thought it was indeed an insult on Ghanaian tradition for a Chief to be carried in a palanquin, paraded in the streets, be seated for hours without proper recognition and respect. The Christians among them said they even went on their knees, praying to God, days before Obama’s Cape Coast visit, “so that the weather will be perfect for such an august visit”, Brother Andrew, a Catholic Brother of the Holy Cross, disclosed. "

Not suprising since such treatment is tantamount to lack of respect, and ignoring the honourary queen-mother title is very insulting in their eyes. No doubt, better communication and greater understanding of the culture would ensure that neither side gets offended.

We meet at last, nubian and I at agape hearts' celebration

me,eni,nubian1

loc huddle

olori oko (kpanlogo)dance

fashion show

These pics are from the agape heart celebrations at Spring meadow barn last sat 4th july. Quite a few natural heads turned up.

We (ie daughter's and myself )were taking part in these celebrations organised by a friend to raise money for a bore-hole(well) in a village in Nigeria. I invited Nubian and she came!! So we've met at last. I can tell you right now, that even with my shoes on I'm only up to her shoulders. YES-SHE'S THAT TALL. She had to stoop for the 'loc huddle' amongst us shorties hehehe. (I hope your knees are ok sweetie). Arashia said 'your friend ought to be a model, she's got the height.' Not to mention, her kids are lovely. Her daughter is gorgeous. We thoroughly enjoyed our day. Nubians' locs look just as good in real life as in pics. Her henna colour looks so good.

Among other performances, we - arashia mary and I did an african dance to some amazing Nigerian music. I'd like to put it on my blog, but I don't know how. Arashia sang 'amazing grace' with the band. Joshua delighted us with a rendition of 'fur-elise',. Mary's dance/drama group 'crown jewels' performance was just 'gripping'. There was plenty of african food, (I had 4 portions of moi moi/beans)an auction and video to show us the village back in Nigeria and the beautiful inhabitants. (These poor people depend on a rather stagnant brownish river/stream as the only source of water.)We all finished the day by dancing to some Nigerian gospel. All this in the back drop of beautiful scenery, a valley of pine trees in acres of woodland. This is 'spring meadow barn' owned my dear friends who kindly open up their premises for use by christian groups.

homeschool persecution by homeschoolers!!

As some of you know, I home- educate my children and am part of a large homeschooling community. Recently there's been a review by the govt more or less smearing homeschooling based on totally unfounded accusations and recommending unprecedented powers for officials, including barging into homes to interview kids on their own without a parent present! Understandably H-Edders are up in arms about it- doing the usual stuff, writing to MPs pettioning, lobbying, organising protests etc. In conversation with some parents I revealed the fact that I was praying and was asked to put a prayer on the forum we share, so others could join in. I did. WOAH!That's when ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE! Although I wasn't in violation of forum rules, I was shamefully attacked by some. The moderator was mercilessly harrased b'cos of it and asked me if she could delete the prayer. I agreed, since my intention was not to create strife or cause offence, but rather get any/all who wanted to join in praying the opportunity to do so. Whilst this fuss and ruckuss was carrying on, I've had email after email of people declaring their support and agreement. I was overwhelmed. Even non-christians supported me.
It's been a pretty rough ride, b'cos even someone I considered a friend did some back stabbing. As Mary said'mummy it mst have been some powerful prayer cos the devil sure doesn't like it'. However today at church I was really refreshed and encouraged by God. I went up for prayer and a lady came to pray for me. It turns out that she home-ed'ed her own children, knew all about the review causing concern and understood my situation completely. She gave me a word from God...it was refreshing. Thank you Lord for noticing me and being with me in trouble.

Can this be true?

Read the article for yourself. Jordan Chandler recants the molestation charges agaisnt MJ! My eyes filled with tears when I read this. Can human beings be so wicked? Why did he wait until his death to recant?

http://www.ampedasia.com/forums/jordan-chandler-michael-jackson-did-not-molest-m/e-t-15028.html

I pray it all comes out. May the truth be known by all. I do not want to be in JC's father's shoes if indeed they did such a detestable thing, for the bible says if you sow the wind you'll reap a whirlwind - and vegeance is mine says the Lord. It's a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living GOD.Nevertheless, he can still repent - publicly. Same way he raked the poor guys name through the mud.
Just what Did happen? Only God knows and he knows how to vindicate.

some photos from back- in -the -day

6 yrs, all natural

14-15yrs still natural. Afro hair, curled with thread, take it out to get a chunky 'fro

14yrs-chunky'fro.

Back to my roots with locs - Me, dad and mum at mum's 8oth
birthday party. Note my dad's cloth, typically worn by akans(ashanti). White or light coloured cloth means celebration.

Older Sis, mum and me with my braidlocs.

Athletics - (under15s ) County champion 2009!

WELL DONE Christian!! Christian is my 2nd son and 4th child. He's 14yrs old and thoroughly enjoys his athletics. He trains 2-3x a week and takes part in every championship we allow him to go to. He won the GOLD medal in the under 15s hurdles in the county schools athletics(the only home tutored youngster), much to the officials' suprise as he's never competed with the schools. He's no stranger to winning though - he has quite a collection of medals and trophys, most of them gold. He was really excited when he smashed the club record the ff week in both hurdles and long jump, also taking the lead in high jump. Now ranked no.1 in the county and no.4 in the country, his success was reported in the local newspapers. Now he's been selected to represent the county in the English schools athletics championships in sheffield. It's a 2-3 day event and will be televised(sky sports). He's a real credit to us. A very gentle boy, Very quiet, very focused, and unassuming, he's remained humble through all this, making sure to give the glory to God. I'm glad to say he takes his academic work equally serious and his average score is 98-100% in his pace work.

2nd award

This is my 2nd award in a short space of time, so I will not nominate anyone...yet. However, I would like to thank Maxizone for honouring me with it. I hope to step up the game and do some serious blogging. But, here are a fews thing I like......

I love to curl up with a good book. I used to be an avid reader (in my teens) and would finish a big bk in 1day. My dad introduced me to reading when I was about 6 and he loved to take my brother and I to the library. He also organised reading competitions between us, and the winner often got a new bk. Now my fav is real -life stories of stalwart men and women of God.

I enjoy eating a meal cooked by someone else. That's bc I cook almost everyday.

I like watching my son Christian doing athletics.

I like making wax paintings(when I'm totally undisturbed)

It's a real joy to chat with friends.

I enjoy a good/sound sleep

Hearing a good uplifting faith building challenging exciting sermon is so worth it.

Loc statistics.

Install date : 24-25th 2008

Install time: 25+ hrs

Starting length: 1-6ins

Texture: coily and fine

Colour: Dark brown and silver

Lock size: medium/large

Lock count: 370 ish f(or now), combined several.
(2-3 locs grew where there was none.)
Pattern: R3PT - I'm not sure if this exists in SL literature. I may have departed from the fold.

Tool: Yarn needle

DIYing since Jan 2009 ( I went faithfully to a consultant for my retights for 1yr, 1mth)

ReTi: every 6 wks over 4 to 7 days.(I'll try and pick up speed).

another reTI, I'm becoming a veteran.

My hair is coming along nicely. I've finished retightening. It took 4 days. (About 8 hrs). I guess I'm getting a little faster. I must say this time it was relatively pain-free. I've combined around 11 locs. I prefer a decent root bed, than locs hanging by a few strands. So now I think I have 370 locs, but I don't know. I've given up counting bc it no longer matters. Strange how we change huh? I'll wait a week or 2 so then give this henna a go. (I may have to be ready to do another reTi if slippage occurs).Hubby and I might be going to Switzerland next week. I still dont have a camera, but I will post pics when I get it asap. I 'm getting more creative with some simple styles like half- updos etc. I have quite a few accesories to help e.g tomokas twists, homemade hair ties, victoria's handmade, various head bands, some with cowrie shells. The longer my locs get the easier to style. Till next time.....

Caca brun and bio-identical progesterone cream

It's been a while. I'm thinking of dyeing my hair - finally. I've got a box of 3 or 4 different dyes(rinse, semi permanent, demi- permanent, permanent), but I can't bring myself to use any. I'd rather avoid all and any chemicals so.... I'm going for Henna. Lush henna to be precise. I was encouraged by nubian1's results so I've ordered caca brun. I don't do much with my hair. Freestyle mostly, occasionally crinkles. Also it's time for another reTi already. I should be very happy my hairs sprouting so, but I wish I could spend that £50 and get Angela to do it. But I won't complain. I can do it. My arms are much better. The pain's lessened a lot. I don't know what that was all about. Dr didn't know what it could be and mentioned fibromyalgia which I promptly rejected. I had been experiencing strange symptoms, hot/cold flushes, pains+aches, insomnia etc so dr wanted me to go on HRT. I refused and decided to do some research as is my habit when confronted with something I don't understand. I came across Natural progesterone and found out that the majority of women ( and men too!)are lacking in this vital hormone ( especially for women,during perimenopause/menopause, production can be down to zero, and lack of it gives rise to all manner of symptoms such as PMT, bloating,PCOS, hot/cold flushes,fatigue,hair loss, depression. This is because we're exposed to so many eostrogenic foods and chemicals. Infact xeno-estrogens are everywhere and it's causing people to become eostrogen dominant. Read more about it on this website:http://www.progesteronetherapy.com/progesterone-therapy.html Supplementing with natural progesterone cream over weeks and months helps to restore the right balance. I ordered some bio identical progesterone cream and with my Dr's blessing, started rubbing it on my skin 2x day.Not all over, you rotate the area each time e.g chest arms legs etc. Initially the hot/cold flushes intensified, and I felt drowsy, like a zombie, but I'd been warned this might happen. I persevered and now all my symptoms have been reduced. I'm not there yet, but I'm steadily improving. My sleep is much better since I started taking melatonin, another hormone that regulates sleep. I expect renewed hair growth too, that part of the condition that natural progesterone can correct. I do not have a camera right now (I loaned mine to my bro cos he broke his here en route to Ghana) but I'll get it back soon and will update with some hair photos and also what this progesterone cream looks like.

Look, I got an award..

I got nominated for creative blogger -(thanks Thandi). The rules are: List 7 things you love and tag 7 people who then pass it on to 7 more people.

I nominate:

Amba

Kalia dewdrop

lilydot

Nubian1

Europhia

Nihuru

Sophia

Ok. I love God and I love Jesus. I love his word and his prupose as revealed in in the BIBLE.

I love my family and friends including some online friends I've never even met.Everytime I see my family I feel so blessed.

I love to pray. It's exciting to know that prayer is the means to touch God and bring down a bit of heaven. Nothing blesses me more than to see God answer and intervene in a person's life and /or bring a lasting solution to their problem - in response to our prayer.

I love spring/summer. I love the flowers, green grass, birds, trees, squirels,rabbits...everyone is so upbeat and cheerful.

Water- my favourite drink. Ice-cold on a hot summers day.

I love my sisterlocks. They're so easy to manage and they're ALL natural and ALL mine.

My queen-sized bed. It's just a bed. But every night I thank God for a warm, comfortable, safe place to lay my head. Many people have been abandoned, rejected,deprived, living in a very dangerous place or fleeing for their lives.

My bro visited with us..on his 50th b'day

My brother&cousin

cousin&me

My brother visited from the USA for a few days on his way to Ghana. He arrived on his 50th birthday, so we went out on the town. We went to our good friends Ghanaian pub in Milton Keynes. We had banku+tilapia and pepper sauce knocked down some beer/shandy. We took some cake and our friend supplied some champagne.