Oestrogen aborbed

Updates:

The Oestrogen gel has arrived late last week. I administered on Wednesday and Thursday mornings  -two pumps to outer upper arms. I did feel a little odd afterwards. I'm not sure if that was because I was expecting it to, or maybe placebo response. It was a bit like after having a strong coffee, I felt a bit more on edge that normal.

I was going away for the weekend and forgot to take it with me, so I didn't have any on Friday and Saturday. Started back again on Sunday morning. This time I went with inner thighs. 

I didn't feel as much of an effect yesterday, and not much today (Tuesday) either. I did wake up a bit grumpy today which doesn't normally happen.

Adventures:

Weekend before last - 

I went out in drab for a drink with my brother on Saturday, took the Morris Minor to show him, he's never been in it.  It was a nice couple of hours in the afternoon.  

I had thought about going En-femme but decided against it. I had got as far as shaving for it though. Sort of regret not doing so.  But we've agreed to meet up in a month's time, so I think I will set that as a thing to do for next time.

Since I had already shaved, I did do a bit of makeup practise in the evening, but the look I went with didn't really work. 

I was getting withdrawal symptoms from not being out dressed, so I headed into Leeds on Sunday for some shopping, and another excuse to take the Morris out. It was a nice afternoon, I visited a CAMRA pub - 'The Ship Inn', seemed like a bit of a dive really, but one off the list. I was driving so I only had a half, and made sure to have it a few hours before intending on leaving.

I tried a fish and chips place in a shopping arcade, it wasn't that brilliant - I couldn't find a café that didn't look rammed. Went around the corn exchange, did a few of the charity shops and had a drink in flamingos.

It was really good to get out though.

Weekend just gone - Midlands Morris trip :

I had three things available to me near each other for Thursday / Friday and Saturday, so I planned to stay overnight and make a weekend of it.  Thursday was Chams, Friday was Nottingham Invasion, and Saturday a friend invited me for lunch in Lincoln.

Chams 

I was popping into the East Midlands outlet on the way down, as Ann and Amber were meeting there for some pre-chams shopping, and was going to have a drink with them.

On attempting to merge onto the M1 , there was another Minor to my right , we waved at each other as he went past and I merged in behind him. It was a pale green two door.  I figured I would be able to get details off the dashcam , but unfortunately it records on a loop and I did too many miles this weekend, so it's gone. 

I made good time, and managed to get to the outlet in time to have a drink and a toastie at Costa with Ann and Amber, then we headed to Nuthall for the meeting.

The meeting was really good, really great to catch up with people, I think I had missed the last two meetings, one because my wife was doing something, and another I went to Wakefield as I just wasn't in the mood for a late night.

Met a new person - well they had returned after a very long absence, she was nice - might end up seeing her at Invasion too perhaps. Caught up with a few of the regulars. We had a quiz which seemed to work really well, broke the evening up a bit. There were enough there for it to split into lots of smaller conversations which was nice. 

I left a little earlier than normal, as I wanted to get to the hotel before 11pm. I was staying at the 'Days Inn' off the A50 near Donnington. It's about the cheapest place with a roof and bed you can get nearby. I was a bit worried about the car, but I had installed a GPS tracker, and removed lots of ignition components, nobody touched it though.

Derby / Nottingham daytime fun

Ann was free for a little while in the morning, so we arranged to meet up in Derby at a McDonalds for
breakfast. The breakfast at the Days Inn came in a bag apparently, so wasn't too appealing. 

We met up at 9ish I think, had a nice chat over our unhealthy food, then parted ways - I had decided to go into Derby to do some shopping. The Morris was not 100% right, it had developed a random vibration, and I didn't want to do too many miles in her, so shopping seemed more sensible.

I parked in the Derbion centre, accidentally choosing the entrance with the corkscrew route instead of the more pleasant ramp Ann had suggested - I got some good video of it though :)

I had decided to go visit the 'Museum of making' first, which was a little walk from the shopping centre. It had some nice exhibits, but wasn't that big so I didn't spend a vast amount of time there. There was a jet engine and an exploded car to look at. It was free so can't complain - nice loo's too :) 

I wanted to buy some hair straighteners, as I had failed to pack them as well as my brolly and my oestrogen due to rushing about at the last minute.  I had brought a wig for the evening, but that was more a plan B.  Unfortunately I couldn't find anywhere that sold them.

Looked around some charity shops, got a few bits of lingerie from Primark, and decided that getting to Nottingham might be a good idea, so headed there.

The sat nav took me in a rather unexpected route, and through some of the city centre which wasn't ideal as she is not fun in stop start traffic, but got there OK, not much in the way of the vibration issue.  I filled her up with fuel and parked in the Victoria Centre North car park.

I bought some straighteners on offer in Boots for £30, and also some heat protect spray, having looked in a number of other places first. 

A drink in the the 'Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem' was now top off the to-do list, but I needed food first. Randomly walking around looking for a nice café didn't work, so I opted for a Gregs sarnie, then headed to the pub. I suppose I could have eaten there really ....

Anyway, had a nice half in there, and sat out on the benches outside, I didn't want to drink too much as would be doing so in the evening. By the time I had finished my drink it was time to check in to the hotel, so I wandered back and did so. I was in the Hilton, which although is very expensive is very convenient for the car park and the Invasion starting/ending venue.

After checking into the hotel, and getting my bags from the car I had a bash with the straighteners. I was pretty pleased with the outcome.  I have not used them that often at all, but it looked a lot better than when I started.  I also put some 'Bed Head' shine spray on to make it look a bit more glossy, and a bit of hairspray to hold it in place a bit. I went back to a side parting, I had been rocking a centre parting during the day.

I put on my dress for the night, and some heels and headed out in search of food - I had googled for nearby restaurants and found an Italian place that looked nice.  I did feel a bit self conscious as it was still quite early - about 5pm, and not many people were dressed nice at that time.

The lady at the restaurant was really welcoming, she asked if I wanted to sit at the back - I wasn't really fussed about hiding away, maybe she thought I would be !   I opted for a three meat lasagne, still not sure what the three meats were but it was nice. Not huge though - I think the one I had at Gino's in Leeds earlier in the month had swayed me to expect a big one.  

I wasn't that full so I decided on a desert - Tiramisu, which I had spied another patron having and it looked nice, and it was ! 

It was only  just after 6:30pm when I finished, and another few hours until there would be anyone at the pub, so I went back to the hotel for a little lay down.

Invasion 

On entering the Foresters I spied a trans lady I hadn't met before sat on her own, I waved and went and got a drink and joined her. She was friendly enough and we chatted for a bit until some of the other regulars turned up. I think there were 9 of us in our bit, and a few more sat by the dance floor.  

We were in there for an hour and half or so , then moved onto the 6 Barrels just on the other side of the shopping centre.  Had a nice pint in there, and then we moved to the Lord Roberts.  

A few of us departed at that point, so we were down to six of us.

The Roberts had an event downstairs and the pub was a bit empty compared to normal but it did mean we got some nice seats.

They refused to serve Jennifer half a snake bite and black - would only do pints of it, so she wrote a poem about it, and I think i got a mention :)  - she's not posted it anywhere yet though. 

It was past midnight when we left, they were all heading to back to the Foresters, but given I was going to Lincoln the next day, I decided to be sensible and head to bed. 

Lincoln

Not sure if it was the food or beer or both but my digestive system had not been too happy overnight, but breakfast helped - went to McDonalds next to the hotel for a bacon roll.

Getting to Lincoln was fairly uneventful and was parked up near the Brayford pool by 10:45am. The meal wasn't until 1pm so I did some wandering.  Looked in a few charity shops, headed up steep hill to see if anything was going on.

There was a market at the top, and some people looked to be doing some rope climbing training, or a
demonstration on the big arch you walk through to get to the Cathedral.  I had a quick look inside the Cathedral but had been before so didn't fancy paying for the privilege and headed out.

I popped into the museum just to use the loo, and then sat out on a bench in a park at the back of the art gallery for a bit. It was soon time to go meet my friend so I headed back down to the restaurant - The Botanist.

Met Alice and Helen outside and we were shown to a table upstairs. Neither of us had met Helen
before, so we did the usual sort of chat about our past, and journeys. It was very nice. Food was pretty good too - I had a spicy chicken burger. 

After the meal myself and Alice did a few more shops, then I decided I should probably get back home so said my goodbyes.

Got home fine, didn't do much driving over 60mph which is better for the fuel economy too. 

All in all a very nice day and weekend !

 

50's Seaside fun

 

Updates

GenderGP  - they have provided me with a link to an online Pharmacy which will fulfil my prescription. There is a payment problem, but hoping I will get my gel through the post soon !

Laser - I got sunburnt at the weekend, and they didn't want to do my face because of this :(  . But they are not going to charge me for it, as I did manage to get the unaffected parts of my torso done.

Think I am feeling a bit down, didn't want to attend my group tonight. Some of it was due to the heat and the fact the café can get very warm. My social calendar is looking a bit sparse this month too, not much to look forwards to for a while, probably some post event comedown too.

Adventures 

The previous weekend was a very good one, it was Leeds First Friday as normal, then off to Morecambe for a Vintage event for the Saturday and Sunday. 

LFF 

I was trying Roomzzz for the first time, which is a 'Aparthotel' - so it's like a bedsit.  It was really good, had a little kitchen and seating area, dishwasher and washing machine too. It wasn't really much more than I would have paid for a hotel room. 

I did some shopping, met up with Alice and the gang in the afternoon, and was joined by Arabella for a few drinks before I checked into the room.  

Had a fab Italian in Gino's in the Marriot for evening meal with Alice, Cindy and Lexi. I had a lasagne, it was very filling, tasted like proper pasta, lots of layers.  I was hoping to hate it, as they were there reason why we lost access to the Marriot bar when they bought it, but it was all quite good. 

Service was a bit slow, but I think we broke their system by not wanting to order drinks before food.

After food we joined the Newbie event in the Bridge - we didn't want to change into our final outfit of the day, in case we looked a bit intimidating 🤣

Met some nice people in there, one from Scotland who runs a Glasgow event, and who I can't remember her name now.

After a while I nipped back to my room, which was visible from the pub window to get changed into something a bit more adventurous.

We got some nice photo's in the Viaduct, and then I headed out around some non-LGBTQ bars with Arabella.   We did 'The Botanist' , then 'Rolands' for cocktails (next to Northern Guitar), then into Revolution De Cuba for 5 mins, before heading to 'The End' for a final drink. 

We were both driving to Morecambe in the morning, so didn't stay out late, or drink much for fear of being unfit to drive !

Vintage by the Sea 🌞🍹💃

I had been buying dresses and shoes, and a petticoat for this for a while before the event, and was really excited to be going. My friend Arabella attends lots of vintage events and had suggested it.

https://www.vintagefestival.co.uk/vintage-by-the-sea/

I had even contemplated taking the Morris Minor, but she has been a little unreliable of late, and initially we were thinking of only taking one car. The train strike put pay to that plan, and we both ended up driving in the end.

We both managed to get ready in good time, and after a brief stop at the Lancaster park and ride to get everything into my car (so we didn't have to pay to park two cars)  we headed into Morecambe which was rammed, but we were lucky and got a space within 20 mins or so.

We did a bit of shopping at some vintage stalls setup inside a theatre, and slowly made our way to the Midland hotel which was the main focal point for the event.  There were lots of vintage cars parked up in front of it, and had a good look around those - well I was mainly looking at the other Morris ones :)

Then we headed inside the hotel where there were more stalls - and we soon spied a bit with some hair stylists doing some vintage do's on some women. I probably wouldn't have signed up if I was there on my own, but with Arabella wanting to, I signed up too.  We had about 45 mins to look around before our slot, so we did a few more stalls and I got a bottle of coke.

The stylist was really nice, she asked me what I wanted and I said to make me look as vintage as possible, and we agreed on some curls - she was a bit unsure if my hair was long enough, but seemed to like a challenge.  I think it took about 30 mins, there were at least 6 hairpins, and lots of curly and half a can of hairspray, but I was really pleased with the results.

 Arabella didn't seem so pleased with hers, but I thought it looked really nice too. I was beaming for a while after we had it done, I was most happy.

We went to check into the Travelodge after this, as was past 3pm.  They were having the carpets redone and it all smelled like a carpet warehouse and was a bit grotty. The rooms were red hot too. 

So we didn't stay long, and headed back out to find food.

The woman on reception had recommended a pub, but it was a bit rough inside and we decided to look elsewhere.  Unfortunately didn't find anything great, so we ended up eating fish and chips on a bench in the park. 

We did a few more photo's next to a bus, then headed back for a bit of a rest , before changing into evening attire.  

I was in a British Retro dress, with Irregular Choice shoes.  I decided not to wear my petticoat in case I got too warm dancing in it, but still thought it looked fab.

We had bought tickets for the afterparty, which was in a big tent out the back of the Midland hotel. 

It was fairly dead when we arrived, but it soon started to fill up. 

The bar wasn't staffed very well, and it got progressively impossible to get served, so we didn't end up drinking too much !

We met some lovely people, Arabella is good at talking to random people, and attracts interaction so you are never lonely for long.  Met a middle aged woman with her daughter and son in law, had a really lovely chat with them. 

One of the DJ's was a famous fashion guy, and I ended up stood next to him for a bit, not having a clue who he was - Wayne Hemingway , he seemed like a fairly ordinary nice chap !

Arabella had some trouble with a few rowdy girls who tried to pick her up, which put a bit of downer on the night - but overall it was really good, and would definitely do it again. 

We finished the evening sharing a kebab and meandered back to the hotel. 

Day 2

The stylist had suggested that I sleep with a pair of knickers on my head to preserve the hairdo - it worked mostly !!!  There are no pictures of this fortunately. 

I did get Arabella to help smooth some loose bits - I had seen the stylist use a technique where she sprayed hairspray onto her hand, then rubbed her hand along the loose hairs to get them to stay. This worked when we tried it too, which was nice !

Having not worn the petticoat the previous day, I did feel the need to put it on, and was really happy with how it all looked.

After checking out and stuffing our bags back into my car, we headed back to the Midland and I got a photo with a fab lilac Morris Million !  Then we did the vintage stalls in the old station building opposite.

I had my first experience trying to go to the loo in a petticoat - I ended up taking it off and hanging it on a hook on the toilet door :) 

Had some nice chats with some of the stall holders, but I didn't buy anything, We had pizza from one of the vans parked out the front of that. Then I nipped to Morrisons for some supplies.

Arabella was meeting one of her friends in the afternoon, we wandered down the front with her and her little girl, and got some traditional ice-cream. Then I left them all to talk for a bit and wandered down the stone pier to see what was down there.

I met back up with Arabella mid afternoon and bid farewell to her friend, then we decided we had seen all there was to see and set off back to the car at 3ish 

I got home about 5pm, and realised I had been quite badly sunburn on my neck and chest and arms !! I hadn't felt it due to the pleasant sea breeze, and then the aircon in the car.

Silly me .....

But anyway it was a really fantastic event, and weekend, and hopefully worth the pain. I will be more careful next time.