The Locksley-Oakenshield Academy of Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy

[ComeIntoTheSinisterGardenMaud]

All specialisms catered for. We offer courses in

Hairdressing, whether for long hair or a more conventional short back and sides

Manicures

Skincare: facepacks and other beauty treatments

Body art

Advice on styling and personal grooming, ranging from
formal evening attire to casual wear, with specialist sessions on military uniform.

Those cords in the blackcurrant (trans = purple) ones are even nicer but she already has purple trousers.

I am having a nightmare with trousers, I am so out of proportion that trousers are nigh on impossible. Due to 2 C-sections and much eating of cheese, my stomach is seriously about 3 clothing sizes bigger than my legs. So by the time I get anything to fit over my tum then they are insanely baggy and hanging off me around the bum/legs. Ridiculous. Dresses are much better option but then in winter I have the same problem with tights that I have with trousers! I'm actually thinking of buying some maternity tights to see if they are any better!!

I bought this dress a few weeks ago and it's amazing, very flattering for women of our decolletage, Maudy. Doubt it will last long for a tenner but I love it.

MissD's wardrobe is 99% hand me down from a couple of friends with older Dds. I very rarely have to buy her more than a couple of t'shirts and a pack of knockers each year. Most of it is Mini Boden, M&S, M&Co and H&M. The Boden clothes have usually been worn by at least 2 other girls before they reach us and it is all in perfect condition, the quality is just amazing. If I was organised enough to resell it on Ebay I'd invest in a few new pieces for her but I know I'd just end up giving it all away!

And the award for the funniest typo of 2011 goes to.... LadyD!

:o

The other problem with reselling is that they often end up stained, so they don't sell for as much money. And then I end up not putting them in the Boden clothes in case they get dirty and it ruins my resell price. Which is, clearly, INSANE.

I was a mixture of amused and horrified the other day when MissTwigs got tomato sauce over something the other day and said "Oh no, but it's Boden!!" :o

:struggles in:

I've been so poorly that I couldn't even face clicking on your kind links earlier! Even know I've not much energy.

On the clothes front we are the same lady d DD's clothes used to be all good quality hand me downs and now she doesn't need much due to school uniform I buy from all over preferably in sales! DS I can safely say I've only bought about 15 items of clothing excluding underwear as rest are hand me downs or presents!

The colonel managed to get home early for 6pm do he's put kids to bed and hopefully will now deal with the chaos of a house that has had nothing done housework wise all day. Think he's seeing that I do a lot when he thinks I laze about all day!!

Thats my energy sapped -time for another nap!

:Looks back with bleary eyes:

see I even missed lady D's knockers!

To be honest I can't remember the last time I did proper clothes shopping for DD as virtually every other time I go to my mum's she's bought her something (usually Tesco's or charity shop).

DD is not only fussy but heading for Amazonian proportions - she's 52.4cm and the 9-10 pinafores we got her for new term in September are already starting to look as if they won't see us through the winter - and she's just gone into a Size 3 shoe!

DH insisted we took her into Gap to try and get her jeans the other week. Knowing what their sizing is like, and what shape DD is, and the fact she doesn't even like jeans I advised against it and got an earful for my 'negative attitude'. Needless to say nothing went anywhere near her and I ended up in tears.

I soooo don't want her to end up like me.

Wow! That dress, Twiggy, is my dress - all my dresses are essentially a variation on that style which, as you say, works well for those of us with surplus blubber feminine curves. We have a huge Asda nearby. I must go and splurge a tenner investigate.

Is Miss Spiro thick in the waist as well as tall, Spiro? Another benefit of PP is that near;y everything has an adjustable waist.

The Girl has just started to get sniffy about charity shops and Ebay - she dislikes the idea that someone else has worn it first. Except for the stuff she inherits from her cousin, which she will wear however naff age-inappropriate it is.

Vampy - Go and have a bath. Everyone else is out at the moment so I exploited that by having a lovely soak with best smellies and candles. The steam even helped my cough. But I'm hungry, as I just watched Nigel Slater caramelising apples. Yum.

Oh drat. That dress is sold out online except in sizes 8 and 10. I suppose I could stitch two together.

knickers, clearly.

::employs proof reader::

52.4cm what? Hoping not high!!

That's my biggest problem with my DD she's 145cm tall. Going to be out of VAT-free clothes before long!. Also I don't want her wearing teenage fashion when she's 7! She's still a little girl!. My mum used to make a lot of my clothes for the same reason but I'm rubbish at that sort of thing!

I've perked up probably due to painkillers and finally eating something but quite want to milk some more sympathy from the colonel - that's mean though isn't it?!

A lot of ladies do buy their knockers, LadyD, but probably not at MissD's age!

Ooh maud. A bath!!! What a fabulous idea! Haven't had one of those without children trying to climb in for as long as I can remember!!

So tempting to summon the colonel by power of the text message to run it for me!! That really would be lazy!!

And twigs yes - I like that dress!

Go for it, Vampy! Leave the Colonel in charge of the Cadets and go and wallow in the bath.

::Sends virtual luxury soap and posh candles::

Having the colonel on duty this evening means the cadets are already both fast asleep! Could almost hear the Captain Von Trapp whistle blowing!! Never heard bedtime go so to order!!

Sorry that should have been inches (133cm - obviously not that tall relative to Miss Vampy!)

Yes Maud - she is 'tummyish' - can vary massively during the course of the day though. She has been having tummy related issued for quite some time and we have finally been referred to paediatrician who we saw for the first time yesterday and she is having blood tests done next week for coeliac disease.

TB brutally honest she will never be skinny.

Haven't had one of those without children trying to climb in for as long as I can remember!!
So tempting to summon the colonel by power of the text message to run it for me!! That really would be lazy!

Does no-one have a lock on their door these days? We were having this conversation at work yesterday. Bath time is me time in our house. I tend to have one every night after putting DD to bed, and I get myself sorted and lock the door. If I go up later and know I'm likely to be in there a while I relocate Mr Spiro's toothbrushing gear to the 'spare loo'. Both he and DD know that if they interrupt me mid-bath without extreme extenuating circumstance there will be hell to pay!

OMG! My friend has just commented on my FB re-post of The Hobbit vid:

We stood in Commet the other day with the 3D glasses on, looking like twats, but it was amazing, you really felt things coming towards you!

ROFLMAO!!!!

::Whispers::

We're in the fortunate position of having the Boy's Bathroom and the Ladies' Salon de Splendour, so I can be fairly sure of having it to myself. We don't have locks on any of them but I have been thinking of adding one when we replace the door to my Salon.

Me time is not something which often occurs here and no no locks! no other upstairs loo either. In our last house we has sinks in every bedroom and a separate loo upstairs - much prefer the lay out of this one!! But anyways, bath is run so I'm off to sink!

I suppose I could stitch two together.

Don't knock it, that's what my aunt did with a dress I wore to my cousin's wedding :) It was made in several panels, so she added in two panels in from a second dress...

You're quite nifty with a sewing machine, aren't you Maud? I'm sure it wouldn't be that tricky to sew them together.

Coo. That is serious tailoring, Twiggy. I suppose I could go back to dressmaking, but where does one find the time?

::Greek chorus: Get off MN!::

I resorted to looking at patterns for Miss S earlier and having a proper go with my much-neglected sewing machine, but there's nothing very interesting out there at all.

Funnily enough, earlier today I was pondering on the fact that my sewing machine is nearly 30 years old and wondering whether to buy a new one. I always thought I would make lots of The Girl's clothes but it hasn't really happened - partly because patterns have become so expensive that it's cheaper to but stuff.