Saturday 19th February – Hair cut & Deal

I arrived at Stone's on time at quarter to 11. I was met by Alex from Cheeky Discounts and Colin, the photographer. Sam soon whisked me away to talk hair styles and decide what we wanted to do. We made a decision and she disappeared. Someone came to put the cape, etc on me. Then we went to take the “before” photos so the cape had to come off so that I'd be wearing the same for the end photos. I felt awkward having my photo taken so much with people I'd only just met and was regretting not bringing someone along for moral support. Colin was very good though. Front and side shots were taken. It was then back to my chair where some strange colour stuff was applied to my hair and bits were put into foils. Whatever was left outside the foils was then covered with something that was a strange gold colour. I was then given half an hour for it to develop. I was given a cup of coffee, which we ended up taking to the make up room. The coffee went cold as it was very difficult to drink and have make up done. Two girls painted me with bronze stuff and make up. Alex and Colin came along too and more photos were taken. The girls said that it's not usual to have make up done while wearing foils and hair dye. This was to save time. It was soon after midday that I was taken to the sinks to be rinsed off. Josephine did a brilliant job and made me feel very relaxed. While waiting for Sam to come back afterwards, I got chance to drink my lovely filter coffee. I couldn't play with my phone as the battery was going flat again. Sam then set to work cutting lots of hair off and styling with the dryer and the straighteners. She did a wonderful job. It is cut shorter at the back than the front. She showed me how to blow dry it to give it lift before using the straighteners. The colour is really great too. When we had finished, there were more photos to be done for the “after” look. I saw a few of them on the camera. I hope Colin is going to send them on to me.

I left there before 1 and headed home. We set off out straight away to get to Deal to join Terry and Irene for the afternoon. The weather was awful. When we arrived it very wet so I retrieved the umbrella from the car. Normally I wouldn't bother but with all the work that had been done, I wanted to protect it a little. Terry and Irene had been there since before midday with their friend, Emma and her lovely little girl, Dulcie, who is 5 months old. She is very sweet and not just because she let me have a cuddle straight away! Chippy, Ginette and Emily arrived. Both little girls were angels. Unfortunately, we were too late to get something to eat. After a half of the Cornish stout, I stopped feeling hungry anyway. I switched to the pretend lager after, Becks Blue. It was definitely not as good as the Stout but better than drinking lemonade. We had a lovely afternoon and stayed for ages, even after Dulcie had gone to her Dad. There was just 5 of us left. We had a few more drinks. We talked about going to get Chinese and taking it back to Emma's. We ended up going to an Indian restaurant that was within walking distance. Chilli's. It was down a dark alley and we'd never have found it without Emma.

In the restaurant, Dave gave the waiter a quick lesson on how to make chicken with the napkins. The older waiter was very difficult to understand. We worked out that he was offering us the meal deal of £10.95. This included a starter, a main, a side dish and a rice, where needed. This sounded like the best deal so I had some bhaji's. They were very good. I ordered Lamb Gosht for my main. It sounded really good as it was lamb, mint and ginger and chilli. It was rated as a “medium” so I thought it would be OK but it was a bit hotter than I like. It was tasty but I couldn't manage it all with the chilli in it. The rice was good too. We felt that they were quite small portions which suits me. We're not sure if that is because we were on the “meal deal” or that is standard. Unfortunately, the drinks bill came to nearly as much as the cost of the food. Maybe we'll go for “takeaway” next time!!