T shirts made from trees

I bought a few things at the recent Marks and Spencer Sale.  Among them were a couple of Tencel T shirt (less than half price).

Tencel sounds like one of those fancy technical synthetic materials that cling and don't absorb moisture.  In actual fact, Tencel is not synthetic at all - it is made from wood pulp and is what is termed a cellulosic fibre.  It is deemed to be a manufactured cellulose fibre because the wood is chemically processed and then extruded in the same way as synthetic fibres such as nylon or polyester.

It belongs to the same family as Rayon/Viscose fibres, discovered over a century ago.  All those bamboo clothes that have been promoted heavily in recent years are also in the same family.  Bamboo clothes are made from Rayon/Viscose using bamboo instead of wood.

Tencel, or Lyocell to use its generic name, is actually a third generation manufactured cellulose fibre and is claimed to be far more environmental friendly than similar fibres. It uses the lyocell process in which the chemical solvent is continually re-used in contrast to the much older viscose process which involve more toxic chemicals which are released into the environment after use.  Bamboo, although heavily promoted on environmental grounds, typically uses the viscose process

Tencel shares many properties with other cellulose fibres such as cotton, linen, ramie and rayon, being soft, absorbent and biodegradable.  It drapes without clinging or building up static.  There is evidence that 100% tencel fabrics inhibit the growth of bacteria.

I try to avoid synthetic fibres for clothing in contact with my skin.  For shirts and underwear I normally go for fibres such as cotton, silk and wool.  I bought a couple bamboo T shirts a few years ago, which I do like.  Having discovered the advantages of Tencel/Lyocell over bamboo, I will buy the former in future.

Despite its superior characteristics, Tencel clothing is often less expensive than Bamboo.  The advertising/marketing hype seems to have worked and bamboo is regarded as a premium product, whereas many people have not heard of Tencel.  I certainly hadn't before the M&S sale.

Shiverton Hall: Harry Potter meets Stephen King

Shiverton Hall by Emerald Fennell is a creepy horror story set in a boarding school in the country.  Arthur gets a letter out of the blue congratulating him on winning a scholarship to Shiverton  Hall.  He quickly makes friends with a small group of other teens who have one thing in common - they all had an imaginary friend when they were younger.

On Arthur's first night, he hears a warning from a mentally deranged former student that the friends are coming.  The school has a history of supernatural forces attacking nice and occasionally not so nice people leading to their unpleasant death.

Arthur has the usual school story problems, threats and intimidation by the bullies, success and failure in sporting and academic pursuits, a crush on the most beautiful girl in his class.  At the same time, sinister forces are gathering.  Arthurs friends start to see unpleasant versions their old imaginary friends, and they have to find out what it all means.

I can't say more about the plot without revealing spoilers, but the pace and creepiness do really pick up towards the end.  The first part of the book in contrast felt unpolished and inconsistent, with frequent POV shifts which felt disorienting and irritating.  The last third was much better crafted.

The writing wasn't consistent enough or the plot strong enough to earn the coveted 5 stars, but I did give it 4,

Date for DIEP reconstruction

I now have a date with DIEP: Saturday 5th April.

It will very good to get it over with, but I can't help feeling a little apprehensive - what if it all goes wrong?  It is a very long operation - 6 hours or so - and although I've had quite a few operations in my time, I've never had a really long one. I just hope I wake up at the end!

I won't bother describing the DIEP procedure - if you want to know you can google it and many of you who are reading this blog entry will know what is.  I've been studying various  websites with images wondering exactly how mine will turn out.  The quality of the cosmetic outcome does seem quite variable although most people are pleased with the result.  Patient satisfaction may well depend on where you started from.

When you think about it, DIEP is a nice concept.  Getting rid of abdominal fat and putting it to good use elsewhere.  I hope the recovery period is not too long or too unpleasant...