Victory over hyperemisis!! Grandbaby's here.

Not many people look this good when they've just given birth. Ara and hubby looking very pleased. I should think so too bc this was no easy pregnancy. 2 weeks into the pregnancy Ara came down from scotland to be with me bc I had lost my mum(her grandma). Suddenly she went went from normal to experiencing severe sickness. I had no idea what hyperemesis was..but I soon found out. Then began the many visits to hospital. Infact on the day I flew to Ghana, she was flat on her back living in our lounge with bucket lemony water blankets etc around her. I had to go and bury my mum, so I had no choice but to leave her. She went to stay with my friend Eni, until I returned. Her husband drove down to take her back to scotland. His job means that he's away a lot and this was the difficulty and delay in taking her back up there. But we comitted everything to God. This has been one challenging incredible journey. I've lost count of how many times she had to go to hospital and have drips injections and the like. What I do know is the faithfullness of God. I prayed like never before. Visited them in scotland and spent countless hours on the phone, encouraging, praying and listening. (Thank you Lebara for all the free calls and texts!!) Finally, last night she told me she was getting some cramps. She timed them 8 minutes apart..then 5 minutes. I told her to call the hospital. At midnight they told her to stay home till the next day. Now this is where I said,'this is it. It's began. Get ready to go in. Don't wait too long My labours are quick and yours will be too'. So she went in at 3.a.m and Myckah arrived at 6.am.
I do apologise-There's something wrong with uploading the picture so I shall try to add them later.

Guava and plantain pudding(courtesy of Patricia Sloley)

This is beyond delicious. Try it with cream, ice-cream or on it's own.

Serves 4
2 over-ripe plantains
½ tsp mixed spice
115g/4oz sultanas
½ tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tin guava halves, drained, de-seeded and quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
150g/5oz plain flour
2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 180oC/fan 160oC/350oF/gas 4.
1. Peel, slice the plantain lengthways and remove the seeds. Place in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the mixed spice and nutmeg, sultanas, vanilla extract, guava and olive oil and gently mix. Sieve in the flour and baking powder and gently mix again.
2. Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake in a pre-heated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Serve warm with ice-cream or mascarpone.

You can substitute or have it with freshly sliced mango, tinned pear halves and blueberries

Mina Evans Collection.

Thees are from the collection of a dynamic young Ghanaian fashion designer. Mina Evans. She's the daughter of a very good friend and I'm so glad to see some of her work. Classy,yet incoporating traditional modern all at the same time. Fantastic! Can't give credits to whoever took these photos cos I don't know, but whoever it is congrats and well done to Mina.

Ghanaian Toasted corn dish(aprapransa)

You know how you suddenly remember some obscure dish that you used to have back home, back in the day? Well it's called Aprapransa or apklijiin and it's made of toasted corn. Traditionally made with palm-nut soup and seafood like crab. My mum taught me a shortcut way to make it so I wouldn't starve to death when I went to KNUST.You need zomi(spiced palm-oil),ground smoked fish,smoked shrimp and toasted ground corn aka tom brown. So here.... I recreated it. Aprapransa with black-eye beans and boiled egg. Sorry it isnt better presented but, I had started eating it when I remembered I'd better take a pic. It's really very filling so might make you go to sleep.

Temporary loc extensions and fillers

Top Photo:
My locs at 4 years. I had a couple of inches trimmed off in an attempt to even things out and get them to lay better. I've got my loc filler in. You can see the different colours.

Seiwa's temporary extensions. They look really good. It doesn't show in the pic but the middle of her head hasn't got the extensions in. It's the type of thing that if you or I try, we will look wierd, but she gets away with it!

Blogger comment problem FIX

I dont know whether the problem was Blogger or Internet explorer. Some people couldn't leave comments. So if you're having similar problems and have the feature for imbedded comments, try changing your settings to 'pop-up' or 'full page'. That should do the trick - I hope! Happy blogging!

Latest Client E

This is my latest client install. God's given me a special technique to speed the installation process and make the loc tight to minmise movement within the loc. She

has very fine delicate hair, extremely coily, but it should plump out and begin locking quickly. She would have a little less than 200 locs in total. It was a pleasure to work on such a spirit-filled woman.

Arashia's 5 1/2yr old locs

The growth is phenomenal. Pregnancy + about 9 months unretightened = massive growth! If and when we retighten it will lengthen by another3-4 inches.

Growing...

A few close-ups to see how my hair is growing. Most of the new hairs growing is white and wiry. I don't mind that too much. Mainly- I want it to grow so it can come in any colour although dark brown would be nice please Lord? Thanks :)What you see isnt build-up....it's plenty of white hair in the locs.

A little bit of Ghana culture, pictures from the past...

ReTi after 15 weeks!

I left my new growth for 15 weeks. You can see what it was like in the 2nd pic. The hair style in the next pics is 2 knots tied on my head. I started reTi in that 1st pic. Tis is what my locs look like at the moment.

Give and it shall be given...

We are helping our friend Josh raise much needed funds for his upcoming course starting this sept. He found the strength and determination to make his life count while helping others too. I hope you will find it in your heart to give for a worthy cause. Many thanks and God bless every person who supports in any way even if it's a word of prayer.

Crowdfunding

Baking Soda shampoo and vinegar conditioner

So I'm using totally natural products to wash and condition my hair. Baking Soda, aka Bicarbonate of Soda in a solution(the big bottle/bottom photo). 2 washes with this and rinse. The final rinse is with diluted ACV(Top photo). The recipe for the shampoo is here: http://www.how-to-boost-your-immune-system.com/baking-soda-shampoo.html
I always wondered why B-soda didnt work for me (from back in the day when I had braidlocks). Now I know why. It's due to hardness of water in the UK. You have to approach it a little differently as you will see when you read  the link above. I think it's great. I got VERY good results. My scalp was clean clean clean. What's more the ACV rinse that followed conditioned  beautifully. I mean it left my hair really soft and fluffy. Here CV rinse   http://www.how-to-boost-your-immune-system.com/vinegar-hair-rinse.html
I just thought I'd give this a  go. Apparently using a baking soda or Borax solution to wash your hair/scalp is very healthy and the only way to deep clean. The borax also kills every unwanted fungus, bacteria excess sebum etc to give a happy environment for your scalp. I havent got any borax, but as soon as I do Ill be here with the recipe. Meanwhile you can get a deep clean this way. You can aslo inhibit unwanted scalp issues(both seen and unseen) by putting neat acv on your scalp and let sit overnight. Rinse out in the morning. Be careful not to put it on cuts/bruised areas. It can sting a little but that ok. Just remember you do this entirely at your own risk. I did it and it was fine.

I CUT MY LOCS!!!

Not really. I got my locs cut or rather layered by Mary. What you see on my head is a lacefront wig. The idea was to hide my locs away under a wig...only...I'm encountering some problems. Namely, my locs are too long and thick in the back to fit my wig on properly. And this texture was the closest I came to finding a LF kinky/nappy textured wig. You're now wondering why I'm even bothering. I'm tired of trying to conceal scalp on top of my head. I think my hair is filling in, but after combining locs on top of my head it just looked so-sparse. Does anyone have ideas? I use scarves, hair bands etc. I put in loc bridges for fullness etc but that's time consuming. I 've made a few, but I find the hair isnt always a good match. Maybe it isnt noticeable to others, but it is to me. My daughter says I'm obsessing over hair and to just leave it alone. That's why I've got this LF wig. Perhaps a nappier texture will wing it. Sorry for whingeing...I should be grateful for what I have..Anyway I do apologise for the make-up-less face. Hope it isnt too scary lol. Cheerio...I'm sure I'll find my way and bring more positive news next time. Till then - oh I'll take some pics of my loc-cut and post them. It actually falls better and all the annoying bunching/lumps on the ends have gone.
* I have yet another idea to help fill my  locs in. Like I say it's all time consuming. Does anyone in the uk offer such services I wonder. Well I'll come back and reveal the latest idea....

yarn intergreted into my locs

I have found a way of adding locs to my locs using a combination of yarn and fake hair. It's nearly undetectable. The only drawback is, it takes a bit of time to do. Eventually it will have to be taken out and re-done. I'm sure I can offer this to ppl, but you can't really DIY (I managed with lot's of help). It really has to be done by another person bc they can see the gaps at the top or back of your head and you can't.

Not bad eh?

loc pictures from Ghana

Ama & Amba

4 locked heads. Ama,Amba,me,Akweley(my sis-in-law loc convert)

Amba & I

With a loc filler in my locs....

Ceremony

It started on friday 23rd 2012. We woke early. The house was filled with relatives and close friends of my mother. Huge pots of Okra, meat stew bubbled merrily away. Mountains of fried fish, pepper and kenkey. Akara(bean doughnut) Coco(millet pap) gallons of tea/soft drinks bread. We were asked to present the sponge soap perfume etc(pictured) for our mum. Traditionally for washing the body, now a ritual. After this we went to the funeral home to prepare mum.( I had help wash her bc Im a daughter. My older sis couldnt hack it) The hearse took her to her dad's then mum's houses amid gunshots singing dancing etc. Finally they brought her home. We'd decorated a room for her.She was laid in state. We added a few finishing touches to her make-up and dress...family and friends did the file past. To be contd.

Mum's send-off

My mum went home to be with the Lord on21st feb. My b'day was 23rd feb. couldnt celebrate. But...I went to Ghana for her funeral. T'was lovely. I read the girls tribute, one from me, one from my sis. We danced for her....That's my bro standing next to me and my half-sis dancing with me.