TARDIS Tuesday- Sarah Jane Smith Closet cosplay from Revenge of the Slitheen

 Hi there,

Hope you had a marvellous bank holiday (in England) and a great weekend anywhere else.

I had a lovely time yesterday (well, today, as I write this!) singing at the recording at my old school. It was amazing to see so many people.  Out of my year group from A'level, the 3 people I hoped would be there, were there- Kat, Ish and Tom and it was so nice to catch up with them! In addition, I saw other lovely people from other years including people I didn't expect to see.

It was amazing to sing with so many other people.  During the second recording, as we sang the final note of the cantata (top G# for us sopranos), I found myself crying-such was the emotional joy of singing. These beautiful songs really do capture the heart.

Our music teacher was at that school for forty years and he inspired so many singers (and instrumentalists) and it's so sad to hear that music, since he left, has met such a demise, he really was and is special and we count ourselves so lucky to have lived in an era of such inspiration. It makes me realise, even more, how important what I am doing is, even though I can only keep the children till they are 11... we need more and better music in secondary schools and less objection to music.

As we were talking to my teacher, post recording, I told him, we really do love you, and I could see that meant a lot to him.  The lovely thing is... we are going to do a Christmas performance of these songs too! So we have something to look forward to!

Anyway, enough of me being soppy and sentimental, onto TARDIS Tuesday.

In my January TARDIS Tuesday cosplans post, I've already used two of them as inspiration and today, I am sharing no.3. 

This is a Closet Tuesday, meaning, I have gathered together items I already owned and didn't buy for this particular outfit.

Let's look at the inspiration with comes from Doctor Who Spin off, The Sarah Jane Adventures, starring Elisabeth Sladen. The episode in question was 

https://sjscloset.livejournal.com/3211.html

https://tardis-base-sja.blogspot.com/2008/09/episode-revenge-of-slitheen.html

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1030453/

You can see clearly what the outfit is made up of. All of it is currently unidentified!

Here's my version, using the closest items I had.

I started with two tops I've had for a looooong time. In fact, I've owned these since before I was married. The top came from Whitestuff and the red vest came from Cath Kidston.

My jeans were charity-shopped M&S a couple of years ago. I first used these for a Yaz Khan cosplay but they have proved very useful! My ancient eYe Italian boots worked for this cosplay too!

I'm not 100% sure this is the most flattering look (not least because I hadn't ironed anything!)  but it was comfy. I did consider wearing a white belt with this look..or a white ribbon, but decided to keep it simple!

Tonight, I have my first rehearsal with my regular orchestra since March. Hurrah!

Hope all is well with you!x

Ladybird

When I had one of my several hospital appointments, I nipped into my local charity shop on the way home and saw this on the mannequin.  I found a good old fashioned walking stick for my Treasure Island production but ended up just trying this on!  I ended up buying it, for a very reasonable £3.75 and promptly wore it to go and watch Voces 8. I decided to add this stretchy petal belt to cinch the waist and the cashmere cardigan for warm. Knee high boots and a beret completed the look. 

All my scans and things came back negative so I've been discharged.  Hopefully all is fine so I am very grateful for that...but not sure what caused my pains/issues.  Thank you for all your positive thoughts.

Last night I went to watch CBC's school evening of song. It was beautiful.  The choirs and singing at his school is excellent!  I'm going to be doing some singing of my own on Bank Holiday Monday as I am returning to my old sixth form school to record 3 Christmas cantatas that were composed by the wonderful Head of Music.  I loved the 2 that I sang when I was at the school for two years and I am very excited to sing them again and see my teacher and many old friends I haven't seen for 20-25 years!!

Today, I have had a headache all day. I had one yesterday and was hoping, after my late night at CBC's concert, I would be able to sleep it off. Sadly, CBC was up at 6am (or possibly earlier) rampaging around the bedroom and house packing for the Duke of Edinburgh expedition he's leading on this weekend. He is incapable of doing it quietly or without asking me where X,Y, or Z are so I was fully awake and exceedingly cross that I was woken early as my headache was still very much pounding and present and has remained so all day.

I went to town to scour the charity shops for items needed for Treasure Island. Sadly, the only one I managed to locate was a vintage Parasol (buying the vintage one was cheaper and more eco-friendly than buying online from eBay.  I hope to find some more items at some point soon!

We had a polling day at school on Thursday so I was working from home. I had to join in for 2 Microsoft Teams sessions with Nursery and ended up doing lots of work though never as much as I wanted to.   It was so nice not to have to take the trains into work and back and for once, I didn't have any rehearsals to go up to London for which is what usually happens when I have a polling day at school!

Since I'm teaching a short cantata telling the story of Persephone (to link to the Year 5 Greeks topic), I'm playing the year 5-6 children Gustav Holst's The Planets in Singing Assembly this half term and I've been enjoying sharing little details with them to look out for.

For instance, in the final movement, Neptune, listen and watch out for the larger and lower versions of instruments- at the start of it, together with the regular C-flute, Holst uses the Alto Flute playing a parallel harmony (which plays 4 notes lower than the regular flute and has a wonderful smoky timbre) plus the Bass Oboe (bigger, lower oboe) and he even employs an off-stage female chorus at the ending which really does give the name Neptune, the Mystic, its due.  The piece ends with this otherworldly sound.  In addition, he uses 2 harps, instruments associate with magic and mythology in music and the Celesta, a keyboard instrument that hits a glockenspiel type instrument inside when you press the keys.

I really recommend watching the video below. I have made it start from Neptune but if it hasn't worked, scroll forward to 44:30.

The previous week, I played them Mars, the Bringer of War and in Drumming Club, we have been learning some of the repetitive rhythms used in the piece.  Next, week, we'll be listening to Mercury, the winged Messenger (AKA Hermes!) 

February Books

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 I am aware that this post is LONG overdue but I had it half written so I may as well finish it!

Here are some short reviews of some books I read!

10.  The Gilded Ones - Namina Forma

Category: YA

Our main character is Deka and she is about to have her Purity ceremony which happens when girls reach a certain age. If their blood flows red, they are fine, if it is gold, they are impure. This is a very patriarchal society. Her rejection by the village is horrendous but she is offered an opportunity to join an army of girls who fight against Deathshrieks who are increasing in number and boldness at attacking the people. Her new life is difficult and Deka wonders if she will ever be accepted anywhere. Will she ever come to terms with herself and the terrible truth she discovers? 

The world building in this book incredible and this felt very different. I felt like I went on a huge  journey with the character and I felt very much for her constant feeling of rejection and devastation. The ending was unexpected. I would love  to read the sequels even though there is some pretty gory description and allusion to violence and rape.    I give this 4/5

11. The Stormkeepers' battle - Catherine Doyle

This is the last book in a trilogy (and I haven't read the last 2) set on an Irish island telling of a boy called Fionn Boyle who is facing an epic battle. An evil sorceress, a crow character called The Morrigan has been raised from her death and they are all trapped on the island of Arranmore.  Fionn becomes the Storm Keeper of Arranmore and so it is he that stands between her and the future of only darkness. He will need to find a way to defeat her. But does everyone believe in him? Will any of them be left to help him before their capture?  There were a lot of battles- a lot of the character build up and introductions had been done in previous books  which meant I found the book exciting but exhausting.  I found the book quite dark, as is intended with this character but nonetheless very exciting.

I gave it 3.5/5

12.  I, Cosmo - Carlie Sorosiak

This book is told from the first person perspective of family dog, Cosmo.  Cosmo is worried about his family.  The parents seem to be arguing a lot.   It was so full of heart. I found myself very anxious about what would happen to Cosmo who is getting very old and when I saw a review comparing it to Charlotte's web, I spent most of the book getting worried about how it would end! The idea of the dog dancing classes and competitions seemed a bit far-fetched but funny. I bought an Author proof of this from Barnardo's. I give this 4.5/5

13.  The secret of Haven Point - Lisette Auton

Told from the perspective of Alpha Lux, a wreckling.  She lives at Haven Point, a lighthouse which is isolated from the rest of the wound. All the wrecklings have found their way there and have various disabilities or things which make them special or outcast by the rest of the world. It's all about positive naming. The Author is herself, a disabled person (her naming) and I like that her main characters all had disabilities and this was part of the plot. It had a fantasy element to it, mermaids who help the wrecklings rob cargo boats every so often to ensure they have the things they need to survive.  One day, our main character Lux notices a glint as if someone is watching with binoculars and she investigates and discovers a spy! I was confused a bit with the writing at times and I found the ending a bit strange and abrupt but I can't say why I feel like that. I give it 4/5

14. Sangu Mandana - Kiki Kallira breaks a kingdom

Based on characters from Hindu tradition, Kiki Kallira is a chronic worrier.  She worries about what she does to the detriment of her mental health.  She enjoys drawing a fictional character based on the folk stories and characters of Hindi mythology in Mysore to soothe her anxieties.  One day, it all goes wrong when characters start jumping out of her sketch book and she has to enter her fictional version of Mysore to save the city from the god she gave power back to by somehow releasing them from the prison they were placed in by the gods aided by a bunch of rebel children who are orphans and her beloved main character who defends them.   The book has an unexpected twist and great description and is very imaginative. I gave it 4/5

15.   Zillah Bethel- The Song Walker

This is one of those books where you have no idea where it will end! I was gripped. Our story begins with a girl who wakes up and finds herself stranded in the Australian outback, alone with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She only has with her a metal case with a combination lock.  She must survive the desert and see if she can discover who she is and why she is there. It was gripping with an surprising ending. I don't want to spoil this for you by saying more but is very respectful towards and educating of First Nation culture and I really enjoyed learning the secrets.

16.  The Body in the Blitz- Robin Stephens

The latest in the Murder Most Unladylike series spin off- The Ministry of Unladylike activity. May, Eric  and Nuala find themselves staying in a small Cul de Sac in London during the Blitz as they are needed at the Ministry of Unladylike behaviour.  They find themselves involved in another murder as a body is found in a house that was recently bombed in the Blitz. Who is it?  How long has it been there?  Who killed them.  The children must try to solve the mystery before the authorities do. There was a LOT of red herrings and round the houses with this one which seemed quite realistic and made it hard to work out who the murder was.  The children's friendships are tested and there is added difficulty that Daisy Wells is missing after a mission to France!  This was excellent as I always expect from Robin Stevens.  She represents a lot of different social groups in her stories, well and sensitively. I give it 5/5

TARDIS Tuesday Yaz Khan from the series 11 promo

Hello there!

It's been 3.5 years since I shared this cosplay inspiration on the blog! I've worn the items in many other outfits and together but it's the first time I've posted it for a while. Last worn here.

The inspiration is the outfit worn by Yasmin Khan in her introduction images as companion to the 13th Doctor 

Image borrowed from 

https://pocketmags.com/doctor-who-magazine/528/articles/412905/mandip-gill-is-yasmin-khan

She wears a starry navy sweatshirt from Maison Scotch, black trousers, a denim jacket, black and pink socks and space buns in her hair!

And here's moi!

I wore this outfit for church on Sunday though ended up wearing my raincoat to cycle in as it was mizzling again.

I was playing for two services again and leading the songs/worship from the piano. It was lovely particularly in the 2nd church as there were 3 of us in the band and the lovely lady who was singing with me and I sang various harmonies with each other and the drummer really fitted well with us. I'm still finding my feet leading a worship band but apart from one moment, we were really as one.

After the service, I cycled home, even the 2.2 cycle feels easier after doing it for a few weeks.

I felt very hungry so popped into Londis to buy some bacon (sorry veggies) and made a delicious bacon baguette for brunch.  Managed to also get the majority of the cleaning, tidying, washing done when I got home. CBC had a delayed flight so didn't get back till the middle of the night so I ironed his shirts ready for the week. No, I don't usually do that since he wears them so he irons them but I do do them sometimes when I think he's stressed or busy or away.

I wore my trusty ASOS black trousers, probably my most worn item on this blog and added my Maison Scotch sweatshirt. I like it, it's cute and comfy and relatively smart...for a sweatshirt.

I actually wore a denim jacket this time as I had a charity shopped one bought a couple of years ago.

Couldn't resist recreating the photo since my sofa and cushion are a good match! My hair was in desperate need of a wash in this photo. I usually wash it on Saturday morning but I was doing cleaning so I waited and then I woke too late to do on Sunday morning and then spent too long cleaning to have time to do it.

CBC told me I was mad to do so much cleaning but I'm fed up of the house being dirty and feeling like a pig sty so it felt good to get it done. I was watching Jon Pertwee's Doctor Who whilst I did various cleaning jobs and/or listening to vocal recordings in prep for an upcoming recording  we are doing next weekend of my A'level Music teacher's Christmas cantatas.

Notice, the serendipitous socks I chose to wear- oh look, they match hers!!! Good thing you can't see the large hole in the heel!  Maybe this pair had better make their way to school to join the myriad socks I gave to the lunchtime provision staff to use for some sort of sock puppet craft! Oh yes, I will find a use for anything I can!

Hope all is well with you!

xx

The week that was

 Hello,

Hope all is well with you.

Well, we didn't win the choir competition on Tuesday but we had a great, exciting day!

We had an epic journey of walking around 3/4 of a mile to the station, getting a train and then tube and then a 3/4 mile walk up a hill.  The rehearsal went ok- we had a moment where we realised that one of children had not brought her dinner with her (or water bottle), despite being asked twice if she had her dinner! The children were very noisy when they weren't performing which did get a little tiresome after a while and I discovered at school, that one of the boys had hidden another girl's lunchbox...luckily, I managed to find where it had been hidden but I did have to start our journey with a stern word. Other than that, they behaved mostly and there was, Ann, you will be glad to learn, NO VOMIT GATE!

The standard of the other schools was really high. The winning school chose a really great pair of songs that really showed off the children's voices beautifully and I had them as the winners in my mind almost immediately.  The second song, an environmental song called Breathe, was really evocative. The other schools gave great performances and a really interesting set of choices of repertoire. The school who got second place had a hilarious version of 'This old man' which made me really giggle and they sang a song with hatography (they did lots of movements with hats)- wasn't so keen on their first song but they were really polished and brilliant! We didn't get to hear the choir that came 3rd as we were back stage waiting to go onto stage. 

Our first song went quite well, a song called Dreamer, and then our second song, Water Come o' me eye, had a hairy moment in the middle.. After singing the 2 verses beautifully in unison, the children go into 4 parts where 3 groups sing different riffs/ostinati (repeated patterns), at this point, the 2nd group, rushed off out of time with the others.  I had to conduct really hard to try and get them to realise they were out of time, and eventually, managed to get them back together, but it was quite obvious. I was glad they were able to get back in time though.  The third song, Can you feel the love tonight, was pretty good although we could have done some more dynamic changes.  

I was asked by the teacher of the next school after us to turn pages for her at the piano which was scary! I am always scared of messing up. Luckily, I didn't but it was a bit nerve-wracking!

When they announced the judge's comments, A, star pupil, was sitting next to me, and as soon as we had been given our feedback, she leaned over and said, "We definitely haven't won, we got WAAAY more feedback than the others!).

The kids were disappointed, but most were pragmatic about not winning.  The chair of our governors also came to watch as well as my headteacher.  The chair and one parent told me well done and another parent messaged me to say thank you and well done but I didn't get anything from any other parents really.

Luckily, all parents turned up to pick up their children, two were a bit late but I managed to get home by about 10.15pm!

The next day, I was super tired but luckily had Year 5 doing a lesson I know and love well, creating their opening to Vltava in groups.  The year 6 class I had last lesson were a bit tiresome though- they were very lethargic although seemed to enjoy watching the BBC Ten Pieces version of Winter from the Four Seasons. I was sent home 10mins early from staff meeting after school as I was falling asleep in it (apparently, so was everyone else though!).

Thursday was quite a good day for the year 3 recorder lessons.  The year 2's were ok starting their first lesson on Communication. In choir, I started two new songs, one I wrote about 15 years ago called 'Peter Piper' which is a tongue twister song and its the first time I have taught it since then!!! A requested a vocal score as she prefers to follow the notes.

Friday, my year 6 lessons were quite enjoyable and I started a Greek Persephone theme for their Singing Assembly- I found a book in the cupboard which I've never used and I decided to give it a go! I'm going to do a Peter Pan theme with the Year 3-4's and a Dinosaurs and all that rubbish theme with Year 1-2. I might get them to perform to each other in the playground in July!

After school, I had to rush off to the hospital for yet another scan. It was a bigger one and I had to lie there on my tummy for 20minutes (needing the loo!) as they did a contrast dye scan etc. I read my book as they did it and Yomi, my lovely scanning operator commented how relaxed I looked!

I cycled home from the hospital (despite being told to wait an hour) and then watched Dr Who all evening after picking lots of kale and chard in the garden to eat with sausages from the freezer.

CBC is in Majorca/Mallorca this weekend for the Malloca 312 (km!) race/ride so I was a bit lonely.

I've been doing some cleaning and tidying today and I'm glad I managed to get some sorting done though not as much as I wanted to. Ah well.

Tomorrow morning, I've got to play piano/lead worship at church- bit nervous as some of the songs are  not so familiar to me as last week.

Then, I need to carry on with the cleaning and get some school work done.Not ideal for a Sunday...

Hope all is well with you!

xxx

When the sun came out in Britain...

When we returned from Girona, we had around 4 days of lovely weather where I wore actual summery clothing without a covering of cashmere! I took some photos!

I thought I'd share those brief halcyon days' outfits to show it really did warm up...albeit briefly.

This outfit was one I actually bought in Girona! I know, I don't need any more clothes!!! 

I tried the trousers on- a beautiful light-weight chambray with a sort of broderie-anglaise pattern on them- they are not polka dots! In the shop, I grabbed this top to try on with them- white and red striped with ruffled shoulders...and liked the combination too much!

Fun fact, I went into the shop to try on some denim sailor trousers I saw on a mannequin. CBC saw me try those and then got bored in the 2 seconds he was waiting for me so he popped across Rocacorba, a cycling shop across and along a bit. When I came out the changing room in this, he'd gone.  The shop keeper said, "You can go and show him if you want."  She let me walk out the shop in her new clothes and walk to go and find him which was very nice and trusting of her!

I definitely wanted to add a beret to this outfit..and my Lotus pumps which I wore all holiday!

Not 100% sure that this outfit quite works...at least,I'm not sure about the chunky shoes.

The whole lot came from charity shops. The shoes and the trousers were bought last week (Rieker and Topshop via Chazzer respectively)

Plus my Solar system necklace from My Pretty Little Earth (via CBC for Christmas)

The snowball plant has almost reached its peak (the petals are turning more creamy...a couple of days and they will be ready!)

This was for church last week (not this week).

A Heywood floral blouse and Boden cashmere cardie (via charity shop) plus Hollyhocks daisy earrings and Lotus pumps (Haltwhistle shoe menders shop)

I thought this fly was very attractive so he got his own photo!

No TARDIS Tuesday as I am at the competition!

xx

The weekend that was

 Well, it's been quite a busy week.

I had to leave school early for my hospital appointment (nothing conclusive...more scans...though he hadn't had access to the last week scan results...where are they!?!?!).Got completely soaked cycling from the station. Luckily, on the way home, it was fairly dry so rather than cycling to the train station, I decided to cycle all the way home.  Went via town and bought a red dress in the charity shop (bad girl) as well as a walking stick I figured could work as Long John Silver's crutch for Treasure Island for school (the main reason I went into the shop....promise Guvnor!) and headed home with something from Greggs!Was so nice to be home EARLY!

Friday night, I met CBC to go and watch amazing unaccompanied 8 part vocal group, Voces 8.  They were performing at Southend Plaza  Centre. 

What a wonderful experience it was!  They were exquisite- the beautiful range of songs they sang, from the glorious polyphony of the Renaissance to Jazz classics such as  Straighten up and Fly right to songs my modern composers.  We were kept rapt throughout!   We were really lucky to hear them for the reasonable price of £10 per ticket (Voces 8 are such a renowned group that most venues charge a lot more)- there has been government support for concert series' in Southend but this has been rescinded permanently this year. This is very sad.

After the concert, we headed out for a Thai meal.  This was delicious!

The next morning, I woke up and headed downstairs to tackle the previous washing up.  Eventually, we headed into London to meet CBC's family for this sister's 40th birthday celebration.  

We went to Caravan for some lunch and then headed to a place called the Lightroom for an exhibition called MoonWalkers which was all about the Apollo space expeditions, an immersive experience. It was utterly brilliant and I left feeling awe-inspired and more knowledgable about previous visits to the moon. There was so much footage and photo and things to look at and I ended up feeling pretty excited by the Artemis mission which is set to go to the moon next year.  There haven't been any moon missions in my lifetime so I was intrigued by how it would feel to be here in for one 'live' as it were.

After this, we headed over to Dishoom, an Indian restaurant which I have heard blog friend Vix speak very highly of.  I can confirm, it was EXCELLENT!!!  All the dishes I chose were fantastic and I tried some of other people's (we sort of shared....).  I had a prawn dish for starter which I shared with CBC who had the Dishoom Chaat. I then had Lamb chops, a Chilli corncob dish, garlic naan... and had some rice and other bits from others. They were so yummy!

We headed home and headed to bed.

This morning, I was up bright and early for church as I was leading worship (AKA playing piano  and singing and trying not to make mistakes!) for the 2 different church services. I had chosen the songs and could play the ones I had chosen.  Mostly went well and both were lovely services with everyone singing their hearts out. Once I'd cycled the 2.5 miles from church no.2 to home, I checked my phone and discovered my friend Izzie asking me if I could attend an orchestra rehearsal to cover the oboe part in 1 hour!  Managed to phone another member in the orchestra who lives locally to me, who hadn't left yet, and she picked me up and we travelled the 40minutes it takes to drive there.  Unfortunately, we discovered the oboist hadn't left her parts (sheet music) there so I ended up playing the entire rehearsal from my tinnnnnnny phone screen as we'd downloaded the parts from IMSLP (very useful website).  It was quite a fun rehearsal and I enjoyed trying the oboe part! Always lovely to see my friends in that orchestra.

Once we'd driven home, I somehow procrastinated a lot and here we are!

CBC and I made a late dinner of Halloumi, shallots, broccoli and tomato plus a bowl of leftover nettle soup. 

Eeek!! The final of my choir competition is THIS Tuesday so prayers, fingers crossed and happy thoughts all appreciated!  Not sure we have a chance of winning against the 5 other schools who I know are good but here's hoping!  Can we also pray for NO repeat of VOMIT GATE last year and that all the parents turn up to pick up their children on time and no one is sick!

Hope all is well with you....

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- Yaz Khan Flux

Hey there!

Hope you are well!

As you read this, I shall be back at school (Boo hoo!). I am grateful that we have an extra day off, returning on Tuesday rather than Monday although woe to the poor classes who keep missing Mondays! I teach two year 1 classes, one year 3 & one year 4 but since I have three of each class to teach in a week you can imagine how it wreaks havoc with my scheduling and delivery of plans to those year groups. At least it wasn't as bad as last year with NINE Mondays missed for various reasons!

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/television-academy-board-directors-nne-ebong-jamily-hunter-1235090265/

Anyway, onto our outfit inspiration!  This outfit was worn by Yaz Khan for the opening episodes of Flux, series 13 of Doctor Who.  I actually can't believe I wore this in November 2021, that's so long ago!

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1454058707160113158

Since I wore this outfit last, the shirt was identified as the Bernie shirt from All Saints. I found one brand new with tags for about a 10th of the original price but I haven't worn it for photos yet.

She also wears her All Saints jacket, some button up black trousers (not been IDed but I did see an All Saints pair of trousers which had similar buttons...), Dr Marten Leonore boots, Alex Monroe Y&Z necklaces for Yaz plus a brown buckled belt.

Here's my 2024 rendition!

I featured the All Saints shirt.  It is so beautiful and soft to wear and lovely and wafty.

The colour is super intense in real life!

I wore my charity shopped £3 fake leather jacket.

The trousers I am wearing this time are much better than last time as they are more fitted.  They're ASOS charity shopped.

Mum's brown belt is back to play and I wore my Dune Pacey black boots to go with the outfit.

I wore my KZ floral necklaces from Avon (via eBay).  I don't know why I enjoy the fact that saying Kay- Zee, sounds like saying Kezzie.  It's the small things in life....

Couldn't resist doing a side by side of this short and added in some rubbish looking buttons! Ha!!!

I'm happy we are coming into the cooler-clothes season but it means TARDIS Tuesday gets a little trickier!

I hope all is well with you!

Kezzie xx

Green Springs

It was amazing to return to sunshine and warmth in the UK yesterday! Apparently, we are to have a few days of sun and warmth before a return to the cold and misery next week, at least it was, according to the Charity shop lady I chatted to today.

This morning, CBC dropped me off to the place where I was to have my ultrasound and internal scan.

I had to drink a litre of water one hour before and then wait until they'd done part 1 of the ultrasound before I could go to the loo.  The appointment was a bit delayed so by the time I went in, I was really struggling!!

After the appointment, I went across the road to the busstop to get a bus to Mum's house.  I had just missed the bus by 1 minute and the next one wasn't for 20 minutes. (It actually didn't turn up for 40mins and there were two of them!) 

Luckily, there was a charity shop by the busstop which I looked in. It was really nice and I found 2 things.

They had a nice Sheffeld Ukelele for £5 which I couldn't resist for school as an extra and I bought a pair of Rieker black and grey heels. 

Mum had made some delicious tomato soup for lunch with sour-dough. It was lovely to see her and to look round her beautiful garden!

I 

The Rowan tree behind me was just a twig when Mum bought it. As usual, her green fingers have made it thrive.

Here's what I wore.

I started with an Anokhi tunic top which I bought in a charity shop a few years ago. I am so glad Vix introduced me to Anokhi through her blog- the cotton is such amazing quality- it's a joy to wear!

I added my green speckled skirt.  This was handmade for me in Bali 19 years ago.  I bought the material from a lovely shop on Jalan Sulawesi in Denpasar, Bali.  It was full of contemporary patterned batik in bright colours.

Since it matched my Monsoon hat, I had to wear them together

The belt was from Landsend and I bought it from a boutique in Cardigan. I cannot believe it, but I paid £30 for this belt!  Utter madness!!!!

Added to this was my charity shopped Denim jacket and some blue pumps from Lotus (bought from Haltwhistle shoe shop), some earrings and my Nan's necklace (which had fallen off in this picture...but I didn't realise!

It made me so happy to wear lighter clothes again like this week in Girona!  So much nicer than Winter clothes!

xxx

Homecoming Dinner

 CBC and I got home this afternoon, around 5.30pm after 6 days in Girona, Italy.

We had a lovely time. Couldn't believe we came home to glorious sun and some warmth!

We didn't have a huge amount of fresh food in the house but I went out into the garden and 

discovered the chard has boomed! I cut a veritable bouquet of it. It's quite expensive to buy in the supermarket (when you can get it) so I'm gleeful this is self-seeded from last year's also self-seeded.

The kale plants are really trying hard to flower and go to seed but I've discovered the small flower buds look and taste rather like tender stem broccoli. I also still managed to pick lots of kale.

In the right flower bed,the three-cornered leek (self-seeded) is surrounded by Forget-me-nots but is still growing so I picked lots of that.

The Lemon Balm has started growing again so I picked some of that too.

Wasn't sure what to make for dinner.  We struggle to get back into the swing of cooking after being on holiday.

I had a brainwave.

I got two blocks of noodles (from the Refill shop) and put them into a saucepan along with the kale-occoli plus lots of Chard stalks. I added hot water and set it to medium heat.

I then made up some Miso paste into a thick liquid with about 100ml of hot water which I added into the saucepan.  Once it had been going for a bit, I added in a bit of vegetable stock (from a sadly,now closed Refill store) and the chopped up Chard leaves. I also discovered a third of an old courgette lurking in the fridge from a week ago and chopped that into small pieces and added it in.

I then beat an egg in the old miso jug and threw it into a small saucepan along with lots of chopped up 3-cornered leek and pepper and left it to cook. 

I served up the noodles, broth and veg into a bowl and added some more chopped 3 cornered leek plus I poured some Sesame oil on top.

Finally, I cut up the leek omelette into pieces and added on top.

Very pleased that it ended up being delicious and was very little effort to make plus quite healthy with 4 types of green veg plus the veg.  Plus it was pretty cheap to make!

I served it with Lemon Balm tea!

TARDIS Tuesday - The Horns of Nimon Romana

Hi there,

For TARDIS Tuesday, I am featuring Romana for a second week.  Mainly because, when I was putting together last week's look, I spied a garment in the cupboard that reminded me that on my 'To do' list for TARDIS Tuesday was this look from Romana in an episode called 'The Horns of Nimon'.

This is one of Romana's more Doctory looks!

 

 https://theultimateguidetothefashionofdoctorwho.wordpress.com/2017/10/19/romana-ii-the-horns-of-nimon/

It's a great look which has very equestrian vibes and is again, part of Romana's common palette of white and red!

I decided to do a closet cosplay of this, e.g. none of the items are actually obtained for this outfit but  I had anyway.

It's very much an approximation but hopefully, a nod to the original.

I started with the red jacket.  It's a slightly different shade and shorter. It came from Primark and I bought it about a decade ago.

The next garments I selected from CBC's wardrobe.  His Darcy shirt came from the Regency Shirt Co. and I recently discovered that Paul McGann wore this same shirt for his 'Night of the Doctor' 50th anniversary outfit.

I then grabbed his waistcoat he bought for his Newt Scamander outfit for Harry Potter night at his school.  I've used this same waistcoat for 2 of my Yaz Khan outfits as well as wearing his entire Newt outfit for World Book Day.

I knew my eYe Boutique boots would be fine for the boots but the trousers presented me with a problem. I had white linen trousers but they were too baggy. Leggings were too tight so I remembered this pair of mink coloured bamboo trousers that Mum bought me a good few years ago. These have always been an awkward item in my wardrobe- not a flattering colour OR shape for me but they've sort of survived in my legging bag.

So that's the entire look!

If I could wear better trousers, I'd wear this outfit for school but those trousers will never be seen in public!!!

What would you do to improve it?

Hope all is well with you!

xx

19 years of blogging!

 Today  is my 19th blogiversary!

19 years ago, there I was, working  as PA to the principal of the Royal Academy of Music  whilst my friend  Rach was working  as PA to the  principal of Oak Hill bible  college. Rach had started her blog, and I had been reading  it for  a few weeks. The PA workload, at that time, wasn't  huge! I thought it was a really  good idea for writing  thoughts. 

My first  few posts were just random, enthusiastic  waffle. Over the years, I wrote  more and more and then  less as life got busy. 

I still love  blogging  even  though there  are less of us! So happy  to have met several  of you lovely  friends  in real life- Ang, Vix, Ann, Melanie, Lauren, Lily, Sophie, Hazel, Bev, Denise...

I would love to meet some of my other good friends but for now, here's  to year 20!

The Bridge

 We made a visit to Leigh on Sea on the estuary.  A short walk down to Old Leigh and we walked as far as this iconic bridge. It is the inspiration for many local artists.

Ggg

TARDIS Tuesday- Romana's swansong look from Warrior's Gate

Hello there!

For TARDIS Tuesday this week, I am debuting a new outfit AND it's another red one! 

It features in my favourite Classic Who companion, Romana's final serial called Warrior's Gate.

Romana had a real eclectic, costumey set of outfits in her wardrobe and her style is very much up my street!

Today's one is quite different from her usual look but not her usual colours:

Here's the designer's initial drawing of the outfit:

http://www.4thdoctorcostume.com/2015/06/lalla-wards-time-capsule.html

https://aminoapps.com/c/doctor-who-cast-crew/page/blog/romana-iis-outfits-ranked/6qpR_leSzukZwpj3n1ZVGYpKqKDpLlg15

As you can see, she wears matching red socks to go with the top and black Mary Jane shoes to match her black trousers.

https://doctorwhoworlduk.com/romana-2-gallery

The high-necked, almost Mandarain look blouse has covered buttons all over it- I hope there's another way to get in and out of it as otherwise, that set of buttons would take a LOT of time to do!

Here's my look!

I started with a high-necked top from River Island (bought from Vinted) which has lovely flowing sleeves. It's not my usual top silhouette but is really comfortable.  Although I didn't have identical coloured socks to accompany it, at a distance, they seem to match.  I wore these socks for my Romana Shada outfit too!

My shoes are from Clarks and are T-bar shoes but I tucked in the  T-bar and kept the ankle strap part.

You can see those lovely sleeves in this picture (which is a behind the scenes picture from @doctorwho_60s_70s_80s

Couldn't resist trying to (VERY BADLY!) recreate this picture!  Ha, ha, how bad is my editing!!! The MS Publisher equivalent of using Paint program!

The silhouette of this look, for me, is very much, Female Conductor! I feel like I've seen female conductors wear something similar in different colours! I would wear this for a choir performance when conducting or leading them!

I recently watched this on BBC iPlayer for the 2nd time and I enjoyed it but there was a lot of to-and-froing plus I thought the way Romana left was very abrupt!!!

What do you think of this look?  For a lot of Who characters, they find this look kind of boring but I like the thought of this being in silk!

xx

Happy Easter!

Wishing you a joyful Easter!!! 

Christ has died

Christ has risen

Christ will come again!

My Easter weekend has been one of joy and rest as well as being busy!

The school term ended on Thursday! I spent most of the day doing what is called Pupil Voice with children from each year group.  It's something one has to do nowadays as a subject leader in school.  Interview a small group of students to find out what they are learning in that subject to check it is being taught comprehensively, fully and to find out what is working for children/teachers and that the subject is going according to plan.

It's a pain to do but it's useful and interesting and also reassuring (and frustrating when they can't remember things and you have to prompt them!.  Not sure what possessed me to ask them 20 questions this time!

In between that, I took my Samba band up to the hall to perform for the Easter Bonnet parades (as it was raining and windy, we had to do separate ones inside!).  The kids were incredible at performing the Samba and everyone was gushing about how good they were! I love that 1/4 of the group have SEND and are all brilliant!

Once I'd cleared up my room and sent some essential emails (annoyingly cannot access my school email at the moment from home!), I headed home.

I dumped my massive collection of things at home and headed to the doctor's surgery to see the nurse to see if I had a water infection (as have had abnominal pain for the past 2 weeks).  Traces of blood but not infection so she managed to get me in for a Saturday afternoon appointment for the Doctor.

I headed home for a quick snack and then cycled in the dark to church.  The wind was CRAZY!!! Rocking up on my bike to church through dark fields was interesting!

Our vicar is not very well at the moment and the lovely lady who regularly plays piano and leads workshop is currently receiving treatment after surgery so I was on for most of the Easter services.

It was a wonderful calm in the church in the midst of the hurricane outside. The service was beautiful and I only made a few bad crashes on the piano.

I came home and made dinner for myself.

Good Friday, after some sleep but not as much as I'd have hoped (SOMEONE's alarm went off at 6.45am and has done for the past 3 days!!!) I got up and cycled to the other church for the 10.30am Good Friday service. The wind was very much against me and I arrived bright-red and sweaty as I climbed the hill to church...annoyingly 5minutes too late to play flute (which I was going to do to support the lovely lady who was playing the piano for the first time since her op.

Again, it was a lovely service. We laid hearts at the foot of the cross and it was beautiful to be there. I was very glad I'd attempted the cycle.

As I waffle about my weekend, here are some photos of what I wore for Easter Sunday!

I cannot quite believe I have never worn this coat on this blog before but I honestly think it is true. I actually don't think I've worn this coat for about 10 years!  I bought it about 20 years ago from Mathew Williamson at Debenhams in the sale for either £30 or £40 and it is covered in beautiful floral embroidery! My mum was SO jealous of me when I bought it, when we still lived together.  She wore it a couple of times too!

For church I wore this floral Laura Ashley dress from the 80's that my Recorder teacher, Maggie gave to my mum.  Fast forward to 2021 and mum gave it to me where I wore it for my friend's Jane Austen themed Hen day! It's the most sumptuously soft cotton lawn.

Worn with my Karen Millen (charity-shopped) cardigan and some blue boots bought in Florence 2019!

Saturday, I did washing and some cleaning (including successfully using Nancy Birtwhistle's technique to remove some limescale from the taps in the bathrooms!).

CBC took me to my Doctor's appointment.  He's referred me to see a Urologist and to get some scans and ultrasounds (within 2weeks hopefully) plus a bloodtest.  I'm hoping it's Kidney stones perhaps but not sure.

CBC and I then drove to a cycle shop to enquire about a Bike Box as he is taking part in the Mallorca 312 in 3 weeks and we went and we went and had some late lunch at a Pizza restaurant. We shared a Puttanesca pizza with a garlic butter glaze on the crust and it was amazing!!! I don't say that about Pizza very often! We went for a short walk to the seafront and then we returned home

At home, we did some bits and pieces and I read and then I made some dinner.

Easter Sunday, as my abdomen was hurting in the night, I was really tired when my alarm went off at what was (due to clocks going forward) 5am, and I was really sad to miss the 6.15am sunrise service at church.  I got up at 8.30am and was at church by 9.05am to play piano.

It was a lovely, joyful service and I didn't make any major mistakes on the piano! I love this small country church- such a lovely gentle congregation.  After the service, I got a lift to the other church (we have a 2 church parish) for the second service I was playing for. Same songs but totally different service.  Equally joyful but in such a different way! I was inspired and invigorated by the services and am grateful to have faith in a God who loves me!

After church, I cycled home (downhill this time) and ate breakfast with CBC who had STILL not left for cycling. I carried on reading and then spent quite a gentle afternoon.

CBC and I just got back from buying each other an Easter egg at Sainsbury's and we are about to eat dinner!

Wishing you the joy of Easter and fresh chances

xx

I cy