Right Place Right Time (I Think) Changing Plans

Last week we went to the allotment to get some fence posts in. I say we but really I mean me doing all the lifting and my other half doing his best to keep the fence posts level while I concreted them in. The intense pain from a hernia is preventing him from doing anything more than that.
Anyway he held them steady for me while I used the postcrete I had been lucky enough to win on eBay at a bargain price. 4 new posts in and a couple of old ones pulled up and refixed.




It was a reasonably quick job and I intended going back the next day to get the rest done but the weather and other commitments have prevented that.
As we were getting ready to leave a workman from the estate shouted across that he had some fencing and did we want it. He leant it up near the allotment gates and I carried it all over to our plot. Arms were killing me after that but it was free and I wasn't about to refuse it.




So yes right time and place I think. It means rethinking our original plan of chicken wire and spiky plants. I have no idea how its going to fix to the fence posts as some are round but at the end of the day it's an allotment and doesn't have to be perfect. I'm still going to use spiky hedging as I've got some rosa rugosa and climbing roses already. I'm also going to put chicken wire on aswell to stop those pesky critters burrowing in.

Nails Inc Freebie Motcomb Street and Top Coat (plus Glossybox Update)

First of all Glossybox. In my review of the November Glossybox I was rather disheartened that I had received Olay three months in a row. I emailed them and got a reply which basically said tough we know we've done it and aren't prepared to do anything about it. That wasn't acceptable so I emailed them back telling them. At that point I also went public with the reply I had got on their Facebook page. I then got a reply saying they would be sending an extra item in my December box. I will report back on that in December :-)


Now onto the Nails Inc. I got a freebie nail polish with Glamour magazine a couple of weeks ago which I thought was black. I've only just got around to opening the magazine and the polish (yes I know!) Turns out it isn't actually black at all and is a navy blue called Motcomb Street.




I've never used Nails Inc before and have to say I was very impressed with the ease of application and depth of colour. My application of nail polish leaves an awful lot to be desired and probably will be replaced by something a lot paler tomorrow. I need to get my paws on one of those corrector pen things. For now though I will embrace the gorgeous shine and unexpected colour haha :-)




Definitely a product I would recommend and as a magazine freebie this is fabulous.

I also used the Nails Inc top coat from the Glossybox mentioned earlier and I love it.

Nails Inc you have a big thumbs up from me.

Bremen Muster Socks

I can't quite believe it but I've managed to complete a knitting project for the first time in ages.

The pattern is Bremen Muster socks. It's a pattern which only gives the cuff pattern bit and you do your own heel, foot and toe. I decided to do a short row heel and carry the pattern on along the foot.




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November 2012 Glossybox

Mmmmm not quite sure what to say about this month's box.

Here is the picture of  the contents:

It is meant to based around stocking fillers.


I'll start with the positives.


Alison Claire Natural Beauty Mango Body Butter 50ml - A delicious blend of organic mango and cocoa butters will leave your skin feeling wonderful. Original product £15/200ml - which makes this worth £3.75.

I love this product. It's in a pump dispenser which is quite unusual for a body butter and whilst I'm not a fan of mango it doesn't smell too bad. I tried a bit on my dry hands and it sunk right in. A winner I think.




Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant - 13g. A unique rice-based powder that gently exfoliates skin, leaving it noticeably smoother and brighter. Original product £38.50/75g - so this is worth around £6.67 so I guess with this and the body butter I've got my money worth. 
I have heard of this product before but I didn't know anything about it. I am quite excited to try it.




Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top coat/Porchester Square/Notting Hill Gate  - 3 nails inc best sellers including traffic stopping brights and the award winning Caviar Top Coat.  Original product £11-£12/10ml
I read that to mean there would be all 3 in the box so I was disappointed to find there was just the top coat in a meagre 4ml size.  Obviously I didn't read it in the way it was intended. However I do like Nails Inc and I don't have one of their top coats so am looking forward to trying it.


I did say I was doing the positives first so I'm getting to the more negative ones as you can tell by the comments about the nails inc.




Next up is Wei Beauty Jujube Age Control Serum 4ml - This all in one anti aging serum renews, revitalises and restores suppleness and elasticity. Original product £60/30ml so this is a hefty amount of moneys worth at £8 for a sample which would probably last for two applications. 
It is nice but I'm fed up to the back teeth of skincare stuff lately. I'll elaborate on that in my summing up at the end.




Lastly (can you hear the sigh as I'm typing?) for the second month in a row Olay Regenerist 3 Point Treatment Cream and the third month in a row for Olay.
Yes I like their products but three months in a row is not acceptable and two repeat products in as many months is definitely not acceptable.

So my opinion this month -

Good points - the body butter and Dermalogica and maybe the Nails Inc had they included all 3 as mini samples as it reads to me.

Bad points - my beauty profile with glossybox specifically stated when I resubbed that I preferred to receive make up, body and perfume products not facial skincare.  They changed their website and we had to do a new beauty profile which is now not able to be viewed. There wasn't an option for your type of product preferences just what sort of skin you have, hair type etc and I can see that maybe they have to send skincare products depending on what they can source from suppliers that particular month.  I'm not over the moon about it but I can live with it.  What I am not happy about is getting the exact same product two months in a row and I've emailed Glossybox to complain about it, query the nails inc wording about 3 products and also (this makes me sound really greedy) to ask why there wasn't a full sized product in my box this month.  That doesn't bother me too much and maybe if the Nails Inc had been a set of 3 minis I wouldn't have queried the full size thing but whilst I was emailing them anyway I took the opportunity to ask. 

I will of course report back on what they have to say if I get a reply to my email.

Hope if you got a Glossybox this month you were a bit more satisfied with your loot.

One Small Thing

I've just got one small thing to say

my jeans are a size SMALLER :-))))))))

Allotment Update

Quite a bit of a change from the last time I spoke about our plot.

One husband now incapacitated and unable to do a huge amount of anything let alone gardening until he sees a consultant next month to arrange surgery so it's all down to me now for a while.

Anyway I've dug a trench for our chicken wire fence which needs burying a few inches down to prevent rabbits digging their way in.





Which brings me on to the main development - see that pile to the left hand side? Well that is what is left of next doors dilapidated pigeon loft plus our bonfire pile. Our visit on Tuesday this week was perfect timing as a council man and his digger were just finishing off putting next doors rubbish on that pile so I asked him if he would take our rubbish pile too. The weather hasn't been particularly good for bonfires and we would be waiting a long while for it to dry out anyway.




It was mentioned that the pile would be there for a day or two and if we wanted anything else removing then we could add it and they would take it away.

The rest of our plot is overgrown grass because we've done the hard bit with digging weeds (most of them anyway). Those nettle roots are crazily long and I have every confidence they are going to take a long time to totally remove. There was a corner though at the top that needed clearing of yet more nettles but more importantly rotten wood. I couldn't let the opportunity pass by to have it taken away and got to work.

This is before



and after



this is what it looks like from the top now the pigeon loft is gone



Much better but I was a bit miffed that the council man had dug over next doors plot so I asked the council why I couldn't have mine done. I got a message yesterday to say that a team had been in and it should have been done. We went up today and I'm actually quite glad they haven't done it like next door. They do look to have done something though. Just not dug it over. The most likely explanation is they have driven over it while they were removing the rubbish.




We had a walk round to the bottom allotments on our way home and a couple of plot holders who signed up when we did had hired a man and a little tractor and their plots were looking good. I'm not sure what sort of machinery the tractor man was using but it made the soil nice and fluffy and level. Definitely not like the deep ruts the council has left our neighbours with.

So I've arranged for a gardening company to have a look and quote me for doing something similar and I guess we'll take it from there.

Next door were there aswell today and they are talking about going halves on a proper fence put up by professionals. Not sure we can afford that! I'm guessing we will be sticking to our original chicken wire and hawthorn idea. I really love the idea of a hawthorn hedge.