I had a day off from work on Saturday, and had amazing plans of going to the gym or just for a long walk to stretch my legs a little bit. But what did I do instead? Do my hair. Again. I used a very warm, redish colour a few weeks ago, and I really should learn to just give up on anything red. All the red pigment had washed out ages ago and my hair was left so ugly and messy, I just couldn't keep looking at it anymore!

The 'before' picture! :D

I went for my usual set again - Colour B4 hair colour remover and two packs of Garnier Olia hair colours. I knew the colour would go a lot darker than what the pack shows, so figured that it'd be a wise choice to pick a tone few shades lighter than I was after.

The colour stripping process is quite a lengthy one. I use the one designed for darker hair colours, so I actually need to leave the mix in my hair for an hour. On top of that I have to wash my hair for ten minutes afterwards to get the colour molecules washed off properly. As my hair is getting a bit longer now, they recommend covering your hair with cling film to keep the heat in and speed up the process. I always get really funny looks from my other half when I do this.


As I've been colouring my hair red for years, the red pigment has permanently stained my hair. The end result of the colour remover was a very ginger monstrosity, I'm just very glad I bought the hair colours as well. :D If I didn't like red hair so much, I'd probably get back to my natural colour every time I did this.


There's one thing about Olia that still annoys me - the amount of bottles you get in the packs! The applicator bottle is empty instead of having the developer cream in it already, which just makes the colouring process a little more awkward! I mean, who gets all the cream out of the tube? Why couldn't it just be in the bottle like in every other hair colour you buy?


And ta-dah! The colour does look a bit darker in the picture than it really is, but I'm very happy with the result. :) A nice, even colour without any patches - and changing the overall tone from warm to cold is quite refreshing.


And just to finish this post with a bit of food heaven - amazing Tesco's Finest beef burgers with wholemeal buns, sweet potato chips and fresh salad on the side. This kept me going for the entire hair operation, hah!

I actually made these weeks ago, but never got around to posting the recipe! And now that I actually took the pictures out of my camera, I realised how unattractive I made them look like! These burger patties are incredibly delicious and easy to make, so there's no need to spend hours in the kitchen!


Beef & sweet potato burger patties

500g ground beef
2 medium sweet potatoes, grated
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 egg
salt & pepper
your favourite spices for seasoning

Pre-heat your oven to 220C and make sure you take the beef out of the fridge a good 20 minutes before you start cooking. This will allow the meat to rest in room temperature, so the meat won't turn watery and bland when cooking in the oven.

In a frying pan, heat up a little bit of oil (I also use a dollop of margarine to give the onions fantastic flavour). Fry the onions and towards the end add garlic and any spices you fancy (leave the salt and pepper out, though!). If needed, throw a few tablespoons of water on the pan to really get the flavours mixed up properly.

Once the onions and garlic have cooked, take them off the heat and let the mix cool down. Meanwhile mix the beef, salt & pepper, egg and grated sweet potato in a separate bowl. Once the onion mix has cooled down, add that to the beef mix and turn into patties (this is to prevent the egg from scrambling). This recipe makes about 4-6 patties, depending on desired size.

Place the patties on a baking tray and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional). Cook for 20-25 minutes and serve with carb source of choice - they're really great with even just a side salad!

What a lovely Sunday! Probably one of the more eventful Sunday in a while. Instead of sitting indoors all day my other half actually wanted to go out with me. And that's never a bad thing, gives me the chance to dress up and make myself look all pretty!


We keep driving past this pub really close to our house and every time it's sunny, it's absolutely packed. People just seem so happy sitting there in the sun, having a drink and a bite to eat with friends or family. As it's been so sunny, we thought that we wanted to be a part of that. I was very pleasantly surprised actually! Apart from the very whacky wallpaper (even the ceiling was covered in it..) it was a very nice place. I wasn't going to order anything big, but then I saw the organic beef burger on the board and couldn't help myself. I was so glad I went for it instead of a salad, it was one of the best burgers I've ever had. Very nicely cooked and the portion was just big enough to fill me up (without making me feel like I wanted to roll out of the door!).

I ordered pudding simply out of pure curiosity. They make Sambuca flavoured sorbet!! I've always loved liqourice and Sambuca is probably one of my top spirits, for me liqourice is a piece of my childhood.

I am so going back to this pub. Highly recommend The Walnut Tree if you ever happen to pass by.




After lunch we popped into this Pick Your Own garden at a nursery close to where we live. They have so many things you can go and pick is amazing - strawberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, peas, a few different types of beans, apples, blackberries... Unfortunately only the strawberries and gooseberries were in season today, need to go back in a few weeks to get some more stuff! Especially looking forward to getting some peas and blackberries, yum. My choice of clothing was completely wrong for today, though! It was so incredibly windy so I had to hold onto my dress to keep it down. Not a fan of the thought of flashing everyone near me!



Half of the strawberries are just gonna be eaten like that with a bit of sugar, rest will be used to make a pie or a cake. :) Haven't quite figured out what to make with the gooseberries, but I'll most likely end up making jam. Just need to get some jars to store them in.

Let's start with yesterday's stuff before going into all this pancake business. You can probably guess that the ankle's not getting any better. I even tried wrapping some wound dressing around it to give it some support but even that did absolutely sod all. My other half was so kind and even massaged it last night but nothing seems to help. Off to doctors on Monday it seems.

Because I was feeling sorry for myself I wanted to make burgers for dinner. As in, making the bread and patties myself. I probably would've even made the chips if I wasn't feeling so lazy. :D I absolutely love cooking and trying new things so did a little experiment with the burger patties. Using a bit of rosemary made it all taste so much better, they were probably the best burgers I've made so far. It's amazing how one small change just transforms the entire dish. Yummy.


Ok, done talking about last night now! I've had a mad craving for pancakes all week but we ran out of eggs like the day before so I've had to suffer with my craving until today! I asked my other half to take me to the shop around the corner just to get eggs, blueberries and a lemon (I like my pancakes with blueberries, he has his with lemon and sugar). I always use the same recipe, it's the basic Finnish style pancake. Or well, they're more crêpes because they're thin. Anyways! I decided to puré the blueberries to get a nice gooey sauce this time, added a little sweetener and a splash of vanilla extract. Craving 0 - 1 Panda.



Oh and every time I use the lounge mirror to take pictures now I just keep having the phrase "cute as a button" in my head. I mean how many people honestly need to stand on coffee tables to be at the same level with the mirror..? :D