Woo-hoo !!!!

Well I decided to do both. Pictures and go out and.... well of the five frocks that didn't used to fit.. four now do and the fifth fits but a little more weight needs to go so it looks right.
So 200 odd pictures done and me out the door by 10.30 not bad. Glorious weather so its down to Camden and a stroll round. By the time I have parked the car and walked down Chalk Farm Road I am ready to divest myself of the white cardigan and its tattoos out in my halter neck flowery frock.

It is just not possible to convey the feeling of being out en femme. Its not exciting, its not and never has been a turn on. The only way i can describe it is liberating that it feels natural to be who I wish I was and should have been.
Aaaaanyway I digress, much to my disappointment the gothic lolita japanese frocks are all still too small and always will be but it doesn't stop me looking. I did however find a nice little shop with two divine frocks. Both my favourite halter neck,one short and one more modest. It was the pattern that attracted me. Both with a white backgound and what i can only describe as very 80's type facial representations, very angular, quite delightful but a waste of time as is any purchase in the middle of a diet. Its no good buying that bit small as you never know where the weight is going to disappear from. Ah well.
I'm not sure which got more looks me or the tattoos LOL. Had a nice wander round CyberDog. Not been in there for ages, Stephanie and I never seem to venture in there mores the pity. I do wish shops that play music would put up a sign of what is playing. I'd love to have bought what was playing in CyberDog.
All too soon its homeward bound as lunch is beckoning and Camden has nothing for the diet concious. After lunch madame and I decide its sitting in the garden time so off with the frock and stockings and on with the pink swimming costume. My afternoon nana nap eludes me but no matter as the sun has got his bestest hat on and a nice breeze blows.

It's a beautiful day.........

A lovely day in prospect and a days rest from decorating and a girlie day. Nails done, eyebrows plucked so its off out or is it? Not decided, in for photo's or out and about, hmmm, decisions, decisions. Of course with such a lovely day it does seem a shame to waste it and it would mean a pretty summer frock, if I can get into it but then again which one?. Have I lost enough weight? Only time will tell.

Now I know I do not have a lot of patience with whinging trannies, well whingers of any sort really but I must take issue with the BBC and their report on yesterday's Pride march. Well not so much the report but the byline on one of the pictures. Two drag queens with the byline "MPs are currently considering the Equal Marriage Bill". What is it with people who assume all T-whatevers are gay? True all the 'drag' performers of my acquaintance are, but these aside I personally know they stretch across the complete sexual spectrum. I have no problem with being perceived, because I wear a frock, or even when in drab as gay it is just that the statement, if that is what it is, is not true. To me being perceived as gay has more upsides than down. Women, my only preference, are more friendly in the main and straight men tend to shun me which again suits me perfectly. Gay men on the whole never pester me one way or the other, after all it takes one to know one if you get my drift.

Simply ages

Oooo this tiling is taking simply ages, it not having enough room to swing a cat. Have to cut the tiles outdoors as the noise is unbearable too, so its in and out, in and out then there is the measuring and the pattern matching or should I say random placing which is more time consuming than pattern matching.
The son and wife came round yesterday afternoon as it was his birthday too but by then I was sooo tired I'd stopped work for the day. At least I didn't have to cook yesterday, just make salads although I did recover enough to do the ironing in the evening. These 50's style frocks and skirts are all very feminine and lush but oh my do they take an age to iron! So much material, but it is worth it.
Two days now without any pounds disappearing, just the one stone lost. Getting impatient again, I thought I'd be well on the way to the second stone gone ! I must admit I am enjoying the diet, all fresh food, none of this additive and half cooked stuff anymore and I do actually feel better for it. Of course it could be the weight loss or it could be a more healthy diet... or both.

Inclusively exclusive

Oh dear the trans community is at it again. Surely Pride events are supposedly inclusive, they do after all promote themselves as LGBT and yes I know that it is part of the Brighton Pride list of events but to have a transgender pride the week before Brighton Pride is self defeating. It may be alright but as someone who doesn't live there am I likely to travel down there twice in two weeks? No I am not. I may, most probably, as last year, 'give it all a miss' but surely one parade is enough. What is it with these people who think they are a special case? A special case for treatment more like. More than likely it will be 95% drag queens anyway and be as far removed from those who are truly transgender as it is possible to get.

Only a t-girl

Only a t-girl would get up, shower, shave, makeup and dress in multitudinous outfits and take over 300 pictures, make and eat lunch and then, then mark you, then in full dress and makeup decide to grout the tiles she put up yesterday. Madness, sheer and utter madness. Well at least I took the high heels off.
Mind you a lovely surprise, with this dieting a few corsets are coming back into the fold and the odd one or two will be leaving soon as they will be too big !

Moving

Well the cupboard got moved a smidgeon and one wall got tiled. I think I'll have a day of rest today and start de-tiling tomorrow, not something I'm looking forward to.
So if its day off today I think a shower and total shave is in order as is dressing up. Time for the woman in me to appear.

We should have gone out last night, the irregular Magic Theatre in deepest darkest Brockley at the totally kitsch Rivoli Ballroom but with madame not being well again and moi not exactly filled with joy at the prospect of trolling all that way I didn't go either. So I elected to finish off the bit of tiling instead. I'd rather have a day of Ann than just a few hours plus of course I'd rather wait until I can show off a more slender me, patience is after all a virtue, not that I could be called virtuous.

Oh so butch. A little light horticulture on Wednesday cutting the grass. No not the lawn, we do not have a lawn, we have grass. Then yesterday it was time to start, I've put it off for weeks. Yes it was time to start on the kitchen. Paint the bars on the suspended ceiling then strip the wallpaper and wash the paintwork. Today was painting, which I finished by 9.00 am then later off to the tile shop.... Oh dear what a lot we have to spend. Not really looking forward to getting the old tiles off though. I have to move a cupboard tomorrow and might start the de-tiling.

A hot loss and a chance to curry favour at the hairdressers

Of course after the initial weight off rush it has slowed to a crawl but as always I am in far too much of a hurry and therefore get very impatient. I must admit last night was the first meal in ten days that I actually felt I had eaten enough, a rather delish homemade vegetable curry. Oh how our tastes change over time. There was a time that even vegetables were viewed as the devils food. I mean who would want to eat green food, green means something has gone off! As for spicy food, my, my you'd be lucky to get me to eat that but now... I suppose the only food I dislike is Thai. Too hot and too watery, all that semi-clear anemic liquid with a nice slick of oil floating on the top, oh how yum, not! I suppose it is coming from an age when such things were unavailable, well almost unheard of.

It always intrigues me, how one can be so wrapped up in something until you give it a miss one day, that day turns into another and so on. Time was I would spend ages on Flickr, posting pictures, looking at the statistics, having a nose round and now its been over a fortnight since I logged in and realised what a waste of time it was, a very similar feeling I got when I left Fastbuck. I just post pictures to Ipernity and log off again. One might say even that is a waste of time but it does both give me something to do with the pictures I take and a reason to take more. I know some people think comments on their pictures almost give them a reason for living but to me they are just opinions especially when I used to see some of the comments put against utterly dire pictures. Not just esthetically dire but out of focus snaps that would have been deleted at first glance by me. I wouldn't even want people to know I'd taken them, that my level of skill had sunk so low. Mind you this place is not much better. Having received hits from some 'odd' places I investigated. Seems some porn sites hit blogging sites just so you trace them back as they get paid per click. Well the discussions over this are amazing, people placing so much importance on how many times they are getting hit and how they really need accurate statistics. Oh get a life.

Well the internet comes to the rescue yet again. Sally's the hairdressing supply company no longer sell 12%/40 volume bleach to the general public only that weaker useless stuff, so a quick look on Amazon and no end of people wanted me to buy it and cheaper. Ordered Friday and got here yesterday, brilliant. Lets hope the 100 blank DVD's I ordered yesterday get here as quickly.

Excellent but disappointing

So a trip to Camden today, all togged up and off I went if a little dubious of the weather. Lovely as it was Camden, like everything else, has changed. It is sooo tourist orientated from the weekend only charges for the loo's to the things to buy. It really is just tat, well alright 95% tat.



The little shop selling Hell Bunny frocks has gone from next to Black Rose, The Collectif has nothing to tickle the fancy, perhaps I should try their Spitalfields branch, I would imagine their Covent Garden branch might, just might, seeing as its a little off the tourist map, have something new and mildly exciting.
The other shop with Hell Bunny frocks has not only shrunk in size, has changed their stock to a more tourist friendly collection. Oh its all so unexciting. Camden used to be exciting, interesting, amusing, now its just an alternative high street. Don't get me wrong its a nice enough for a wander of course, somewhere to while away a couple or three hours.

I got hardly a glance, its is quite amazing, people just pass you by. I don't know if that is good or bad. Do I want to be spotted or ignored, ignored is preferable I 'spose.

Bah humbug!

Whether to believe the weather forecast or not. There I was itching to get out and about and what happens? The weather says, start nice then by lunchtime.... crap. So I decide not to go and do pictures instead. By lunchtime, when it is supposed go all go wrong the weather cheers up instead. Still a bit drafty but definitely not the cloud and rain forecast. Mmmm, ok Brent Cross it is. Well it was a lovely couple of hours trolling around, as I said previously thoughts of taking advantage of sales would be pointless what with the diet. Shame really as I saw so much I would have loved. Aaaanyway I leave Brent Cross to find the sun has definitely got his hat on and all is well with the world. Damn, I could have gone up town. Oooo it does annoy me, all this money poured down the bottomless pit of weather forecasting and they can't get it right a few hours in advance. I wouldn't mind but checking the forecast when I got back it showed what we were actually experiencing. We can all look out of the window and change things but weather people we really do plan things by your forecasts so try to get it right, occasionally.

A trip

A trip to Brent Cross today, no reason in particular which of course means unexpected spending. A visit to the Kurt Geiger shop and their sale results in Madame exiting with a pair of loafers, very tasteful. A little treat, a coffee in Starbucks, ooo that was nice. We take a stroll around Fenwicks, a few nice frocks, very nice but as we are on a diet it would be waste of money. I need some eyeshadow so we pop into Boots and I exit with a couple of Revlon palettes, a selection of browns and a selection of greens.

It is so nice to be able to discuss these things with someone, even better when it is your significant other. What with my appauling colour eyesight it does make my life rather difficult. I can see colour but someone with good or perfect colour vision could convince me virtually anything is not the colour I am seeing. Many colours I just do not know what they are, I know there is a colour but what it actually is, is a different matter entirely. Of course I am certain that many of the assistants know that it is for me and not my partner but as I say I am proud of what I am, I see no shame in it whatsoever.

We stroll into John Lewis, again lovely frocks but of course a waste of money if I manage to slim down a size or two.

All done

Well that was a mammoth task, reloading the website that is, took absolutely ages. Gone are all the older pictures and the videos. I really must now get down to doing pages for all those pictures I took for use as backgrounds.

Of course I do not wish to bore you all with constant updates about the diet but it is going rather well..... so far. Madame has lost 8lbs as of yesterday a.m. and as of today so have I. Amazing isn't it, I mean I've never eaten so much in my life ! We have not been large eaters either, just goes to show that we were not eating the right foods, just all the wrong ones. As for eating lunch well I've never been one for that, just a quick sandwich and that was that but I haven't eaten bread for four days, no spuds either, just a smidgeon of milk too.

Aaaanyway I can't sit here nattering all day, I've got the ironing to do, change the beds and the cleaning and a trip to Tesco's, oh my a woman's work is never done is it.

Reload

Well Seriously Frivolous is being reloaded, all 2Gb of it don't work don't panic.

Day two

Oooo goody, two pounds lost! Madame has lost four ! Mind you she is in detox hell whereas I have my fags to keep me sane LOL. I have now kicked the sweeteners, I reduced them from two to one yesterday, now its none and its decaff coffee as from this morning.
I forsee problems after the first week. Its the trying not to mix the foodtypes, carbohydrates and non-carbohyrates. Be expensive too what with all this fresh as opposed to processed food.

Day one

Well its day one of the diet. I am deeply suspicious of anything that involves detox, far too tree hugging for me, but we shall give it a go. I still maintain that avoiding certain things that do not in any way have the slightest thing to do with gaining weight are just a matter of will power. All this avoiding sweeteners as it creates a craving, so what just ignore the craving. What does concern me is the amount of cholesterol as the diet involves a fair amount of eggs.

Walkabout

Well eventually I girded up my lallies and got myself out and about in the Ted Baker frock. There I am sat sitting there watching the world go by as you do when the little old lady next to me asks me about my bracelets. I've been sitting here she says looking at them and realised they are made of safety pins with beads threaded on them. Yes I say. I think about the next bit before I say oh my partner made them. Well I didn't want her thinking strange thoughts if I said my wife had made them.
Off the bus at Selfridges and a nice wander. Searched the food hall for some hibiscus tea to no avail, I wonder where, apart from Fortnums or Harrods I can get some. I do a tour of perfumery. I'm looking for a palette of eyeshadows. I don't want separate pots but apart from Revlon no one except Chanel seems to do them. Well I know MAC does but they have far too many colours and are aimed at makeup artists. It doesn't help that I'm appaulingly colour blind so I need help with colour co-odination. Then its up the escalator to Womens fashions and the shoe department. Oh those Gina shoes. So shparklay and dainty and oh so expensive. Far to much for an OAP like me and the same goes for these delish offerings....



Selfridges done I venture into Oxford Street. Its getting crowded as midday aproaches. I pop into John Lewis. Up to Womens fashions. They have the Ted Baker frock I love but not the matching handbag which is disappointing for me but not my bank balance. I go up to the fourth floor and into haberdashery to see if they have any nice summer material and they have, one, that is all that takes my fancy, that is until I see this bolt of white lace with hand embroidered daisies and beads. Still at £300 a metre I can't see a frock being made from it. I go up to the fifth floor, a quick look at the Nikon lenses, mmm the 18-105 looks rather tasty. I leave before I spend. Off to luggage. With the reduction in size of hand luggage by airlines it would seem a good idea to get two medium sized cases and pay for them to go in the hold and to be hands free.
So I exit John Lewis and into a hot and sunny Oxford Street, stroll along with the lunchtime crowds and dive up St Christophers Place and into Selfridges via Miss Selfridge. I get waylaid by the Ted Baker concession, again not only no handbag but no frock either! I cut through the food hall and into Marks and Spencer. A troll through womens fashions and I see a larger than lifesize picture. An absolutely gorgeous jacket, white with small flowers. Off I go on a hunt, twice round the Per Una department and........ nothing. Why oh why do shops do this, its isn't the first time and I bet it won't be the last, it is sooo infuriating! Aaaanyway I make my way up to fashions on the next floor and nothing takes my fancy so its down to the basement to get something for lunch. Mmmmm a NY deli pastrami sandwich and a little drinkie and its off to the bus stop and home. So I'm sat sitting there, as you do, on the bus, munching, and I think do I carry on to Brent Cross or not? No, go home and go by car, that will make it easier to get back. I'm about to leave when I hear the front door open. Madame has returned. After telling her of my adventures of course I've gone off the idea of Brent Cross and retreat to the garden.

A new day

Well that bit of horticulture certainly tired me out. Front garden most respectable now, and then, and then I decided to attack the back garden too. Oooo I must have been mad and got got myself stung by a stinging nettle. I'd only cultivated it for the butterflies, just goes to show, you do something for the environment and what does it do, it bites you.
So do I sally forth today or not? Still undecided. I've cleaned the shoes at least. Silly really, new shoes and what is the first thing I do, go out in the rain, tsk, tsk, tsk, silly girl.
I 'spose if I do go it will have to be Oxford St, its just that if I window shop alone I tend to do it at a gallop. Whatever mode I'm in its always at a gallop, whereas if I am with someone I linger. Ah well as I say we shall see.
Still waiting for goodies in the post. But if they come then, well I'll just have to go and collect them. The lens hood arrived yesterday, cheap nasty plastic thing and horror of horrors doesn't have the word Nikon on it, but if it does the job then that is fine.
I think, I hope that Howards website is not done and dusted, everything lines up and links together seamlessly.

At last

Well at last I have used the new camera in anger instead of just fiddling about and playing. Good feature is the remote can stay active for far longer so it gives me time to change outfits etc. As with everything, until you get used to it there are pro's and con's and it is just a question if the pro's outweigh the con's
Can't wait until the new card arrives for it, I'm restricted to about 150 pictures until then. Who would ever have thought that in days of yore when I got a 400mb drive for the old PC, and I thought I'd never need another, that you would be able to get 32gb on a tiny card ! Mind you in those days a digital camera wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's eye, let alone a picture being 24mb.

I was going out today, posh frock and all but have decided that the front garden needs my attention more. It is rather overgrown and scruffy, to the point where someone knocked and asked if we needed it doing. Plus of course the postman is expected with goodies although of course if one plans for their arrival you are assured that they will arrive the next day.

A new one

Well my lovelies heartily sick as I am with the way Flickr have, as they put it 'enhanced your experience' or as I say mucked about and ruined their layout and way of working I may, just may, move my loyalties to ipernity.com. I've set up an account with a minimum of content just to see what happens.
Of course there does not appear to be much content yet from our community but we shall see what we shall see. If enough of us publicise our moving then perhaps others will follow. Ever the pessimistic optimist I get the feeling that many groups on Flickr are not actually being run by anyone, more that those who set them up are long gone but have never deleted their accounts.
Ipernity does seem like the 'old, old' Flickr that is the incarnation before the last changes let alone the current ones. Let us hope they do not feel the urge to follow in Flickr's footsteps.
Of course I shall now have to update my own website which initially will be a pain. I haven't updated it, apart from the Berlin trip, in the last six months. Well it all takes so much effort and there are better things to do especially now we might be getting some descent weather. Now that statement might actually make me a optimistic pessimist.

They do and they don't

A little miffed, but only a fraction. The new camera, some of the lenses don't work with it. Well they do but they don't autofocus, thankfully they are not the ones I use and in reality are not mine, they are madame's. Unfortunately one of them is the Tamron which is a home picture favourite but its range is covered by two other lenses that do autofocus . The other two are telelphoto so thats no problem as I very, very rarely use them and thankfully the wide angle zoom does work. I would have cried if it hadn't. Its all down to the fact that this camera requires the lens to have the motor to focus rather than the camera moving the lens. Ah well never mind and they can still be manually focussed thanks to that lovely viewfinder.

Oh this new Flickr is a pain. I just can't be bothered with it. Gone are the daily updates and the constant checking. I just log in once a day, see if anyone has asked to be a contact or sent a message and I log out again. Still I'm just waiting for my refund from the cancellation of my pro-account.

and again

So yesterday off we set for another visit to Oxford St. Off the bus at Selfridges and on another down to South Moulton Street. Madame wants a pair of shoes in the Kurt Geiger sale. I must admit t-girl or no t-girl I have always loved shopping. While madame tries on the shoes I wander the shop and see these wonderful platform high heels... Luckily I'm not 'dressed' and I also have more expensive fish to fry ;-)

Shoes bought we retrace out steps and off to John Lewis. Up to the fifth floor for breakfast and then into radio and TV. Now fortunately or unfortunately, as I stop to look at the cameras. Oh did I mention I was in the market for a replacement of my Nikon D90? No? Well I am. Aaaanyway as I say, fortunately or unfortunately as I am looking for a new one a nice assistant asks if I need help, not only that but he actually works for.... Nikon. By-the-by we find out that it is really pronounced Nick-on and not Nye-kon. Apparently nye-kon is the American pronounciation which as usual, is wrong. Anyway I digress. So I get him to get out a D5200 and very nice it is. I tell him I need a replacement for the D90 as its done 120,000 exposures and he appears to be taken a little aback but agrees it time for it to go. Needless to say it is the last day of the cashback offer so I get one. He also tells us that John Lewis have bought all the remaining stock of the D90 so it indeed has reached the end of its life. I was sorely tempted by the D7100 but apart from the expense why buy something that is bigger than the one you have and heavier?