Listening to Gungor.

Gungor is a Christian band. Some of the lyrics of some songs are a bit new agey and wishy washy, so I don't like them. But mostly they are harmless and cute, nice background music with rich instrumental and vocal arrangements (The Fall, Every Breath). A standout though is the one from the prophet Ezekiel.

Ezekiel.

I found you naked
I found you lying there in blood
Your mother left you
Your father threw you out unloved
I clothed your body
I washed the blood and earth
from your hair
I gave you jewellery
I gave you everything I have

I gave My heart, My heart
My love
I gave My heart, My heart
My love

You became mine
You were a stunning bride
And the world, they saw you
And how you loved their eyes, My bride

You broke My heart, My heart
My love
You broke My heart, My heart
My love

You sold your body
Exposed yourself to all, My love
You slept with strangers
You gave them everything we had

Come back, My love, My love
Come back
Come back, My love, My love
Come back.

A Splendid Summer Picnic.

This is a party in a park, hosted my my friend on the weekend. She was "inspired" by my elaborate birthday picnic this year, where I went to great lengths to fancy up a picnic by bringing lace tablecloths to cover the picnic blankets, and made cloth napkins, and baked bread, and brought along proper crockery. She went about 1000% more amazing than that, sewing about 40 metres of gorgeous vintage-style bunting, arranging a literal feast and seating everyone with proper table settings (my lace tablecloths made a special appearance!). She got a lot of ideas from Pinterest. It was fabulous, like a really casual funky wedding lunch. It was a very one-off event, and the effort she put in made it very special. I do not exaggerate when I call it 'splendid'! Here are some photos.

Vintage dress [1980s] #1 part 2

 This is the 80s dress pattern I got off ebay this year. I have sort of finished the dress! I need a belt for it, and one side of the neckline is a bit baggy, but that should be easy to fix. I finished the dress the weekend before last, but photos were trapped.

This is the bodice I made some months ago. Note the ruffle neck. This looked awful. So I picked it off, cut the neck a bit bigger and put a simple binding on. It needs tweaking to sit properly but it's far better than the poufy ruffle.

New neck.

 Dress before waist elastic and hem.

Finished dress. It's for wearing to work.

My hair: a truly narcissistic post.

 It's not special, and I normally don't like it much, but it's very long right now because I grew it for bridesmaidery. My poor attempts at fringes have grown back and don't need pinning anymore, and I'm LOVING the length. The bridesmaid bun was so comfy and efficient I have been doing a high bun every day ever since and it's perfect for this sticky weather. Although not good for wearing under an umbrella because they bump the spokes.

Buns look a lot better if you have more/longer hair in them. I've never liked buns on me because they looked too small for my head, but now I've got the volume. I've also discovered that it's easier to get a firm and full bun if you keep a bit of natural tangle in your hair. So I brush it into a high ponytail so it is smooth on my head, but don't brush through through the length of the pony—leave that messy. Then I usually split the hair in half and twirl the two bits into a bun with 3 bobby pins. Or I just half pull it through the hairband and do the folded pony bun. The messy hair holds better, like when hairstylists tease your hair.

The above picture is a low ponytail, which you make a hole in and pull the hair through the hold a few times then pin it in the end. Quite effective too.