silent but busy

Well, it's been a while since the last post, and there's no other reason than that I've been busy and/or tired.
The life here is certainly different than it is in big European cities (I am not speaking for small towns, where I suspect, some things may not be that different). Birmingham is supposedly a big city, but I can't tell really. Cycling to work, training and grocery shopping is fun and sometimes hard (well, cycling uphill with a bike that's wobbling from everything that's piled on it, is hard. I cheat by pushing the bike some). There's no window shopping, compulsive buying here, contrary to what can happen in London or Paris. Does it mean that the lifestyle here is healthier? I wouldn't say that. And I will avoid discussing processed food, because that would be a full post in itself.

However, good raw or unprocessed products can be found and I have finally been able to make my own yoghurt and bread. I have invested in a large yoghurt maker (2 quarts) which can hold a glass jar. I will not recommend using solely dry powdered milk for that. Since milk here is mostly sold pasteurized, the milk has to be sterilized/boiled in a pan before incubation. I am using "1 quart or more milk + 1 to 2 spoon(s) dry milk + 1 fresh yoghurt" all whisked together and placed in jar, inside yoghurt maker overnight. The yoghurt will set over the following day, once placed at 4°C.
As for bread, a colleague lent me "the bread bible " by Rose Levy Berenbaum, a book I plan to buy now. I am not sure I would try most of the bread recipes there, but the introduction to principles of bread making is very good. There is a recipe for sourdough starter and breads. All recipes are in imperial/US and metric units. The whole recipe does take all sunday afternoon/evening for handmaking the bread. The simple hearth bread is the one I keep doing (with variations). I am starting to get a better feel for it, even though I have made it several times already and been very happy with the results. Both smell and taste.

I've also completed two crochet shawls since August, just in time for the slight cooling off. Since that means, 25°C, it still feels warm, but I now have the option to wear one in the evening!
For one I used a hand-dyed silk skein my mother gave me. I chose a simple chain motif based on Cécile Franconie's tutorial (and shells + chains for trim) in order to let the colours  take center stage. More complex motifs disappeared in the changing colours. Not having a pin to close it, I thought I would crochet a flower with a chain and a smaller flower at the other end, which I could pass through the holes on each end of the shawl to keep it closed. That works pretty well and I may improve the whole design in the future.

The second shawl is based on the japanese flower motif shawl, which has been very popular on the web. I used the alpaca fine yarn from Peru that I received last Xmas. Since the yarn is finer, I had to increase the number of rows to make a shawl of good size, which used all 2 skeins.

Next planned is another shawl (there's never too many) with Araucania wool yarn I bought. Possibly the Maia Shawl by Lisa Naskrent, with the two skeins in the middle. The rest is stash for now (apart from the malabrigo baby merino colourway arco iris, which will be a gift, either as is or made into something).  Those colours are beautiful...

Lastly, I will talk about exercise. Now the Tai Chi practice is doing fine, could be take up more of my time and I do work on that.
But I want to talk about BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu). I am now in my 4th month, still enjoying it very much. I found quite a lot of interesting blogs by women when (after, it's not as if I had planned to start BJJ) I started, like this one
http://bjjgrrl.wordpress.com/
which has very nice info and lots of links to other girl's BJJ blogs.

I still had to do a bit of research to get set-up properly and I'l still struggling with a few things.
So here are the few tips for BJJ gear I've found so far:

- sports-bra. Yes, finally, it's much easier to deal with washing. I got mine online and it's just right as far as pressure/maintain is concerned. The Nike elastika short.

- shorts. Same source. Nike Pro essential.

both are good value I think.

I'm not too happy with my gi, as it is very thick and rigid, but it does the job. Cleaning it is the problem. I naturally wash it after each class, and leave it to dry (not drying machine). It takes 1-2 days to be ready, so it's just ok for 3 times a week. But with the low efficiency of the washing machine I have available, I am not perfectly happy with the results.
Non pre-shrunk gi are supposed to be washed machine-cold.
Disregard that.
There is no way to clean a gi in cold water!!!!
If anyone wonders (and I did): medium temperature + washing liquid + oxyclean for regular washings and once a week on hot with same ingredients. Leave to dry at room temperature (unless the weather's too cold I suppose).
I am much more happy with my short white gi pants, than I would be whith longer, yellow pants!
That's my tips on caring for my gi.

BJJ torn fingernail treatment? plasters/band-aids won't stick, so I tried nail-varnish (thick). Quite stylish I think....

What I am struggling with is skin care. Bruises I don't mind (trousers, great). But the skin of my hands is starting to crack and abrade on knuckles (see pic). That and a torn fingernail meant I bled over my partner's gi last time. I have not found much info on the web about "minor" skin lesions like this in BJJ. It is minor, but should be taken care of. Obviously, hand cream will have to play a big role here.
But then, bleeding hands have been a recurring problem for me. Strike that, it is a constant problem, except for the 2 summer months, if I don't use too much detergents at work (hospital or lab)... If I find a solution, I will post it, in case it can help someone else.