New, Shorter Hair

 I am a skilled procrastinator, and I may have been putting off getting my hair cut, for a while. I had been at the point of making an appointment when the first lok down happened, and then after things re-opened, I kept putting ot off  . . . after it gets past a certain point, it's easy to look after...

before

So, I finally got around to it. Took myself to the local salon, convinced them that yes, I really did want it all off, and we got going. 

before #2

Since there is so much of it, I decided to donate it, so it was put into three plaits which were then cut off to go off the the little princesses trust, which makes wigs for kids with cancer, and then once that was done, it was a case of shaping and tidying. 

after

I like it. Although I suspect I will be wasting a fair bit of shampoo in the next week or so...

The Red Dress at Tyntesfield

I've been aware for a while of the Red Dress Project for a while - for those whose aren't familiar with it, it's an artwork consisting of a dress which has been made / embroidered by over 350 people (mostly women) in 15 countries, including refugees, asylum-seekers, and professional and amateur needleworkers.

The Red Dress

It's been turned into a touring exhibition, and has been at Tyntesfield for the month of May, so I decided to take the opportunity to go and look at it. (Also, despite it being fairly close by, I've never visited Tyntesfield, so that was a bonus!)

I was slightly frustrated that the dress was displayed in a room where it's not possible to walk round it to see it from all angles, and on a red carpet which didn't do it any favours! I think had I been organising it, I might have tried to find a different place to put it! 

It's fascinating, and there must have been so much work done by so many people to create it.

After seeing the dress, I spent some time looking round the rest of the house

There is a rather nice library (with a rocking horse which has escaped from the nursery) and the house has it's own chapel (there were members of the Oxford movement, so very High Church), and the chapel has some  mosaics...

And also some rather nice mock-medieval stained glass! 

I also went for a short walk in the grounds, but it was rather hot and getting busy, so I decided to head home for lunch.

Nut I enjoyed my trip and I'm glad I got to see the dress!