Let them eat hats 15 and 16- his and hers!

I should point out at this point that CBC loves hats also! So, when we went out for lunch on Saturday and I asked him to take my picture, he suggested, he joined me in the shot so I could have 15 and 16 in one post! He wears a tweed hat I found him in TK Maxx which he was happy to purchase! He looks very cute in it!

This hat was one my Mum bought in 1969 from a shop in Chelsea and she said it was very expensive when I reminded her about it on Sunday (was this a hint she wanted it back? I chose to ignore!). It is navy blue (hard to tell in these washed-out shots). When I first went through my floppy hat phase, she looked this one out for me to join my collection (she also bought me my hat boxes). It is quite tight fitting on me and the crown is a little bit too high but otherwise I love it! I also wore it to church on Sunday with a new dress but can't seem to locate the photos. I will post when found! On the subject, I wish wish wish my Mum still had some of her 70's clothes- she has soooo many things in photos that I long for!

We had a lovely evening going to countrified Billericay pub where I ate delicious chicken dish! Look at these lovely desserts! Mmmmmmm, is your mouth watering yet? Warm, crumbly cookie, smooth, creamy ice-cream. Lovely tart. Mmmmmm....

In the first shot, CBC was amused by the deep water sign and said I should pretend to fall. Unfortunately, in the pretending, clumsy Kezzie ended up actually almost falling so that shot is in fact genuine!

Books- nostaglic memories

28. Frances Pascall Sweet valley high confidential: 10 years on

Did you read Sweet valley high as a teenager? Did you did you did you? Admit it!!!!

I read hundreds of the things aged around 10-16! The all-American Wakefield twins.

CBC was utterly disgusted I bought this book. I was on the phone to him when I spotted it half price in Tescos! BUT, I am a complete nostalgic WHO LIKES BOOKS TO HAVE A PROPER ENDING (Sorry, was this a bit vehment?) so I couldn't resist the opportunity to see if Sweet valley would end the way I'd like it to. This was published 3 months ago.

So, Ms Pascall seems to be experimenting with narrative techniques in here. She flits between flashbacks in the first person from different characters and the same different characters in the present. She plays with the technique of holding back information so you keep reading to find out what happened. The book begins with Elizabeth in New York, 10 years after the Sweet valley high books began, where she is working in a journalistic role, angry and devastated by the betrayal of her long term sweetheart (apparently soon to have been married) Todd Wilkins with her twin Jessica no less. It seems that nothing will ever heal the rift. Slowly but slowly, as we learn more about the motivations of the different characters, we hope for a resolution. There are a few shocks in store in this book including a death, someone coming out the closet, personality changes and shock love-match. I won't spoil it, if like me, you love sequels and nostalgic reading of the tacky teenage kind, but the ending doesn't disappoint and it ends with a Who was who in Sweet valley high and where they are now! So in my eyes, a perfect round, properly finished off ending. A bit tacky but glad I read it! WOULD YOU?

29. Anthony Horrowitz Scorpia Rising

The second book in this post that was written in 2011. This is Horrowitz's final Alex Rider installment. I have read all the Alex Rider books. All in the name of research for my job I say, but I am of course, utterly gripped by this. This is like James Bond for teenagers. Alex Rider is a reluctant spy for MI6 aged 15 in this book. Like all the other books in the series, Alex gets embroiled in international espionage, faces death frequently and uses a variety of skills and gadgets. This seemed to me, darker than all the previous book, and I think a little too grown-up for year 5s (there is a lot of discussion of scary terrorism) but just as exciting as others. Alex ends up in Egypt for much of the book, a previous villains turn up including er- Scorpia obviously, it's all a bit of a set-up, Alex being used as a pawn to get to MI6. The Elgin marbles are involved There are some HUGE shocks in this books for well-loved main-characters. I really enjoyed this, but if your child has loved the previous Alex Riders and is below aged 11 or so, maybe I'd wait before offering them this book. Little bit violent at times.

30. Julia Quinn On the way to the wedding

YAY, more tacky regency romances!!!! I have a whole batch of these I found in a charity shop, noticing the Regency costumes on the front cover and they've been brightening up a bookshelf for a while. Our hero and heroine face a variety of difficulties in this book including the hero falling for the best friend before he realises that his true love is the more practical, intelligent, sensible choice. The course of true love never did run smoothly and there are a variety of twists in the tale including a long-standing engagement for our heroine.It's a bit more saucy than Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen but I still enjoyed it.

Worth a try if you fancy a bit of Regency romance with a slight Mills and Boon edge.

Have I persuaded you to read any of these???

Best blog award?

The lovely Sophie of Country girl blog, very kindly awarded me the above blog! I like it very much because it involves flowers, headbands, someone with brown hair and tenuously dots!

Very kind and not really deserved in any way, shape or form!

So, I obey the rules of receipt:

Write seven facts about myself: 1. One question people ALWAYS ask me and have asked me all my life is, 'How many instruments can you play?' This question always caused me issues- for instance, I can play 8 different types of recorder, but do they count as seperate ones or just the recorder. Anyway, for the record, I can play:

Properly: flute, piccolo, alto flute, fife, Irish whistle (various), recorders (various- 8 types- I own 6 types), viola, violin, piano (and variants), guitar, alto saxophone, clarinet (fairly badly but enough to get through a musical 'reed 1' part), ocarina, cornamuse, Most Balinese gamelan instruments (Kendhang- double headed drum, suling-Bamboo flutes, metallophones, gongs etc)and quite a few Javanese instruments.

I can play the Djembe, various percussion instruments (enough to play in an orchestra) and I am always willing to try anything! Er- so how many instruments is that? I haven't got the foggiest!

2. I like to relate facts. Related to the above point: I have taken an awful lot of music exams! Before the age of 18, I took exams in the following:

Violin: Grades 1-4,

Viola, grades 3-8,

Flute, grades 2,3,5,6,7,8, Recital certificate,

Recorders- treble: grades 5,6,7,8, Performer's certificate,

Descant recorder grades 1,2,5,6,

Voice-grades 3,4,5,6,8,

Saxophone- grade 4,

Piano, grades 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,

Theory of music,- grades 1,2,3,4,5,

Guitar grade 1,

So that was 45 instrument exams plus GCSE music, A level practical music and A level theoretical music!

3. I was an absolute crazy fan of Paul McGann when I was a teenager after seeing him in Doctor Who the movie. I wrote sad letters to Doctor Who magazine stating how much I loved him! Cringe! I loved Doctor Who after that point and ended up owning hundreds of videos at one stage in my life (until CBC made me freecycle them last year)

4. The only place outside Europe I have visited is Indonesia (Iceland and Lanzarote are in Europe right?). As you may have guessed, I am useless at Geography!

5. I have performed the veternary surgical procedure known as castration on a black cat called Truffles. I was eight at the time and wanted to be a vet. (I was supervised in this procedure. )The cat lived to the ripe old age of 18!

6. I dislike reading non-fiction unless it's really story-like.

7. I talk in my sleep sometimes! You can sometimes understand what I am saying.

Answer these questions:
Favourite colour: turquoise and purple
Favourite song: Ahrgh-choices!! Think of me from Phantom!
Favourite dessert - chocolate ice-cream or proffeterols.

What is p*ssing you off: my inability to keep my house tidy.
When I'm upset: I cry. I pray, I phone friends,
Favourite pet: my darling silver tabby Sophie (sadly deceased)
Black and white: Love wearing both shades!

Biggest fear: seriously no idea. Grieving my maker.

Best feature: Quite like my smile as it stops me looking grumpy, like my narrow shoulders even though they make coat-buying a disaster!

Everyday attitude: optimistic

What is perfection: The hand of my maker.

Guilty pleasure: shopping!

I'm passing this award to some very cool people!

Vintage Vix! Your blog makes me really happy!

Someone like you! Truly my favourite blog!

Pink-haired Princess: She got me back into blogging with her fab fashion blog. Amazing shoe collection!

Alex at Odd socks and pretty frocks I love her blog!

How are you?

Why are you thrifty?

A Thrifty mrs recently posted an excellent post about why she is thrifty. She made a brilliant case for why she likes to save money on items and I thought it was an excellent explanation. She asked for comments about people being thrifty and I had so much to say on the subject (when DON’T I have a lot to say on any subject someone blogs about) that I really didn’t want to bore her! I am aware that some of my comments on posts can border on the verbose or self-obsessed- It’s just I love reminiscing and remembering things. I can wile away many an hour thinking about the past! I love waffling, pontificating. So I decided to do it here!

I have lots of habits such as shopping far too much which are not thrifty, and the sheer quantity is not thrifty. I like shops such as Whitestuff, Monsoon, Cath Kidston which are not really thrifty yet there is always a thrify edge underlying to my purchases. I love buying in charity shops, I love buying things on special offer or in the sale.

Alcohol:
Despite, the terrible shopping habits and having a house FULL of things, in some ways, I lead a thrifty lifestyle- I rarely drink. I have never really drunk that much. Number one, I don’t really like the taste of lots of beverages (beer, red wine, dry white, nasty whiskies, lots of spirits I am talking about you!) however, as a student at University, I just thought it a COMPLETE waste of money buying drinks- since it felt like literally throwing your money down the toilet- since that’s where it ends up eventually (sorry to be crude!). I like to eat, but I don’t NEED to drink (except for water which is cheap or gratis!).

Student loan:
My student loan was spent on 5 things- a proper new flute (necessary for my course and for many extracurricular activities), a B-foot for my flute (an alternative joint for the flute which means you can play one note lower and lots of strange extra-flute multiphonic notes), an alto flute (very versatile) and finally, paying towards my year of study in Indonesia, since the scholarship didn’t cover everything. Finally, I lived at home for the first 2 years of Uni as my Mum couldn’t afford for me to pay rent in London. However, in my third year, I really wanted to live up there so in addition to my part-time jobs (and flute-playing gigs), I spent some money on rent. So little of it was spent on alcohol and going out. However, SOME was spent on shopping…

Bad experience with credit cards:
In my first year, before living in London, in the space of 5 months, somehow I racked up a credit-card bill of £500 or so (kept forgetting to pay it). Once I had worked all summer at a hotel to clear it, I have never used one again since 2000. This was a valuable lesson. I just wont use one now, not least because of wasting money on interest and unnecessary late payment charges simply because I am forgetful.

Charity shops:
Why do I love charity shops? is another question that came up in Thrifty Mrs’s post. Well, as a child, money was always tight. My mum worked 3 part-time jobs to make ends meet. There quite simply wasn’t money for extras. Life was difficult in many ways. Though, my Mum put all her efforts into ensuring we took part in extra-curricular activities such as instrument lessons, music school, choirs, orchestra, dancing- because she felt that equipping us with skills and hobbies that would carry us through life was important. This is something I am eternally grateful for.
In addition, we worked on the family allotment. Meals as a child were vegetable stews, soups, concoctions. Very rarely did we eat processed goods or the things that I really wanted to eat as a child. So, the need to save came to me young.


When I was around 8 and obsessed with parrots (there is a point to that random point I promise) a charity shop opened at the end of our road where the chandelier shop used to be (it was still there but downsized)- the shop-sign announced ‘Charity shop’ in a Spartan way, stark, simple and to the point. I didn’t really know what a charity shop was before that. I was first drawn to it because of a red-polo neck top that was on the mannequin in the window (it was the late 80’s). I longed for a polo neck! So with my hard-saved money, I went to look with my mum and sister. Sadly, the polo neck had been snapped up but inside was like an Aladdin’s cave. There was sooooo much inside and I was mesmerized! The sheer variation and choice. The fact that nothing was orderly but there was a sense of adventure in seeking, exploring, searching for treasure. We all had a wonderful hour in there. At the end of the visit, I came out with a beautiful white t-shirt, intricately decorated with a sequinned parrot (aha, there was a point!), which in my atavistic mind seems Matthew William-esque in its intricacy, 50p; a beautiful silky royal blue blouse, 50p which served for many concerts during my young years, a set of 20 drop crystals from a chandelier that had broken, 10p (Christmas decorations, presents, much was made out of these) which for a child obsessed with Famous five treasure stories, was equivalent to finding the Falonia jewels (guess the book!). In addition, a musical score of the Pirates of penzance was booty and a sought-after Agatha Christie book. This formative experience served to send delighted sensations into my heart every time I encountered a charity shop.

As a teenager, I had part-time jobs from the age of 12 (dogwalker, chip-shop assistant, cat-sitting), so I wanted to save that capital as much as possible (like for university and for clothes!)

I loved shops like Miss Selfridge, Topshop, River Island and dearly wanted to buy items from there but I always waited for the sale, special offers etc. I remember Kickers being all the rage aged 15 and getting mine in the River island sale a year later at 70% off!

As I have become older, I still gain that feeling of delight and a sense of the Aladdin’s cave whenever I see a charity shop. I ADORE books, so I rarely buy mine new, but enjoy the furtive search through a loaded shelf in charity establishments or bonafide second hand book shops. I also love the sense that you never know what you will find. All my Georgette Heyer books all lived in charity shops before I re-homed them. My classroom at school is legendary (in my eyes of course but everyone knows about the absolute heap of books I have!) for the sheer wealth of books that I offer my children. Lots are my own childhood books but a lot more came from charity shops over the last 4 years. I couldn’t possibly offer the scope and variety at new prices. Lots of my favourite items of clothing come from charity shops – a gorgeous LK Bennett silk skirt covered in roses and honey bees, an oyster-pink silk-ballgown, a pair of brown suede boots, wonderful Per Una jeans, wonderful hats, a purple cord jacket, a red and white coat and loads more! And on the trouser front- I’ve only ever found ones I really like in a charity shop. I see no point buying it new if you can buy someone else’s!

There is also the environmental dimension. I am aware that I shop far too much (as my family constantly tells me), but part of me feels it isn’t so bad for the environment if some of it comes from the charity shop.

Technology:
On the technology front, CBC despairs of my tiny-screened portable TV (at least 12 years old)- we still have analogue TV in my house. But as long as I can see the screen, then that’s fine with me! I have a laptop which school provided. The one I had before it was one I bought from my sister second hand. Same with my camera. My CD players were bought as presents which are old. My DVD player is a cast-off from someone else. All my mobile phones are cast-offs from my sister (I’ve had my current Nokia one 4 years). I don’t have an i-pod. But again, I am aware of the constant onslaught of new technology available so I see no point in buying anything fancy or new. If it plays films, shows me a show, lets me hear some music or lets me speak on the phone then that’s enough. But at the same time, I don’t judge anyone else for spending lots of money on things because that is THEIR choice. It’s just not a priority for me!

I don’t have a car and I never learnt to drive; never really felt the need (and eye-sight issues) and I’ve always felt that I didn’t want to spend money on driving lessons. My Dad, who has instilled a carefulness regarding money in my mind, has always saluted me for this as he feels they are real drains on money.

I don’t seem to be aiming for any particular conclusion except that I do think thrifty-ness is very useful and I am glad that I developed these habits early on! It has meant that in recent times, particularly going out with CBC, that I have had the capacity to spend money, going on (not overly expensive) holiday, going out for meals, because I haven’t gone too mad in the past. Even if I was rich, I don’t think I’d ever give up having thrifty dimensions!

Thanks to a Thrifty Mrs for inspiration!

What are your thrifty habits and why?

Cards

Here are some cards I have been giving or making this month. All involve recycling in one form or another! Tomorrow, holiday club is beginning at church! I am to make chinese-inspired fans in the afternoon!

Let them eat hats 14- I'm siiiiiiiiingin' in the rain!

Hurrah! The last day of term today! What a blessed relief! Finally, I can stop, except, uh no, I have a holiday club next week! Hats have had few outings this week what with the dreadful weather. A rather large black one had an outing on Wednesday in a 50's style outfit that had random teachers, TAs and children coming up and grabbing my netted skirt and schooshing it but by the time I got home to a camera, it was dark and minging and there was no way I was going into the garden/swamp.
Today's hat is one that is entirely necessary for this heinous weather we have been encountering:
A waterproof Cath Kidston rain hat in Spray flowers print (courtesy of ASOS sale some months ago) As I went out into the garden as usual feeling stupid in front of the camera (but it is good for me to do this as I spent years avoiding one as I am usually SOOOOOOO unphotogenic- I've been determined for the last couple of years to actually BE in photos and for them to not make me cringe!! Must face my fears!) I found myself humming 'Singin' in the rain' (watched it 3 times last week whilst eating dinner!) And then found myself ridiculously prancing around alla Gene Kelly!

As I reviewed the photos so far, I was suddenly struck by the weird coincidence (not deliberate) that the photos contained LOTS of Cath Kidston items. My lovely Kensington umbrella which I bought last summer after being caught in rain when CBC and I went to the Landmark hotel for afternoon tea in the winter garden to celebrate our anniversary). CBC likes this umbrella as it is not 'in yer face Cath'.

The hat obviously is Cath...

The only shot I managed to get that actually didn't completely white out the pattern.

This t-shirt has proved an absolute gem- I bought it in the Cath sale recently and it is SOOO comfortable- I have issues with long sleeved tops usually. Doesn't really show it well but it has cute red polka dots on.

And then I remembered I was also wearing these Cath stars! (sorry, more horrendous ear shots!) I think her star prints are my favourite of all her patterns.

And more importantly, do you think that waterproof hats are too Dot Cotton, or can I get away with it!?!?

What do you think- too much Cath?

P.S. Am sooooo excited! I won a special teacher toblerone from Mary Poppins' giveaway! So exciting- my first!

Books- catch up on madness!

Despite horrendous busyness, I've got quite a wealth of books to catch up on in terms of reviews. All of the ones I have read have been really interesting and poignant in their ways.
22. Georgette Heyer Cotillion
I LOVE Georgette Heyer. She really does write rather like Jane Austen I feel (except I am more aware of the darker sides of Regency society. ) This book is all the about the exploits of a young lady whose parents (one of shocking French parentage don'tchat know) died and lives with a crotchety old Uncle. The book begins as the old patriarch has tried to gather his other nephews with the news that he is to leave his fortune to the young lady only on condition that she marries one of her cousins. It transpires, she has always had a soft spot for cousin Jack, and the Uncle intends to push him to offer for her, but he alone doesn't turn up. She persuades the one cousin who she isn't repulsed by but who wont actually offer for her (he's a bit of a dandy corinthian, in a stylish way) to pretend he's offered for her and she accepts, so she can escape to London, with the hope that cousin Jack will be put out and will endeavour to win her hand.

However, it transpires that whilst Jack does intend to marry her eventually, he's a bit of a cad and he's courting other young ladies and gets involved in all sorts of awful schemes. Somehow along the way, she ends up falling for someone else who she didn't expect to!

I LOVED this book more than I have loved any other Georgette Heyer I've read before. I adore Freddie, the cousin who agrees to get engaged to her to help her and the story is really intriguing. Plus, the way she writes it is JUST how I would like the book to end. Another interesting insight into Regency London. If you like romance without too much smut, then this is for you. Also, Austenites, I would recommend.
Eat your heart out Mr Darcy, there's a new hero in town! (Mr Tilney, don't worry, you're still my favourite!)

23. Alison Prince My Story Henry the VIII's wives

Despite learning about the Tudors in year 9 at school, I didn't seem to know that much about Henry VIII's wives. Since I am moving to year 4 next year, when I saw these books in a lovely bookshop in Aldeburgh, I was intrigued to have a look at this and see if it was suitable for year 4. Right away, I would say that it is much too old for year 4 and I would probably consider this more suitable for year 8-9, 13-14 year olds. Even though this was a fictional account, it was obviously based on real people and I had NO idea how quickly Henry actually got through wives and the reasons he divorced, beheaded etc. Apparently, Katherine Parr wrote respected religious books. The narrator is a young girl who is approaching the age of being in court and we learn about Anne Boleyn through the diaries of a previous narrator, a friend of hers who was a lady in waiting to the queen and a relative who was a lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon. I really recommend this as an intriguing read. How much is true I don't know, but I was quite shocked to read of the antics of his majesty, but also intrigued! If you like historical fiction based on real people, this is worth a read.

24. Michael Morpurgo Kaspar- Prince of cats

The thing I love about this significant children's author (and if you are a mum or dad, get your children to read his books- he is a REALLY good model of excellent story writing) is how he takes a gem of a real story or tale and tells a tale that you really believe could be true! This is set in the year 1912 or 1913 I believe, and a significant amount takes place in the Savoy and on board the Titanic. Throw in a Russian opera singer, a bellboy and a runaway American child and you have storytelling magic! A typical Morpurgo book, written in the first person, so he draws you in, with an animal playing a crucial role (in this case, Kaspar, cat of Opera singer), beautiful setting descriptions and a beguiling tale! 25. David Almond. Skellig

This is a seriously intense and creepy but WONDERFUL book. If you want to demonstrate how to write suspense then read this. I read it because I was studying it with my top guided reading group. A mysterious character, Skellig, what is he? He is found by our (1st person narrative again) main character in the garage of his new house. The character is worried by having moved house, a very sick baby sister and preoccupied parents. He discovers a new friendship with an unsual young lady and together they help restore the mysterious character Skellig to his full glory. Is he an angel? Read and find out. Amazing setting descriptions again, beautiful characterisations, I did shed a little tear reading this. Teenagers also study this book and it has become a film.

26. Alexander McCall Smith Espresso tales

I suddenly realised that I wasn't trying to read 52 authors this year so I have stupidly been starving myself from reading those tantalising Alexander McCall Smith books that I really wanted to read that have lined my shelf for over a year! Hurrah, can read them all mwa ha ha!
This is my first 44 Scotland street novel and I don't know why I was expecting a mystery novel but it is a contemporary account of different characters's muddled lives. The narrator and focus changes in each chapter between a 5 year old, a young trainee doctor, and various others. They lead such interesting lives! The great thing about this book is that it was published daily in an Edinburgh newspaper. Alexander McCall Smith is a genius in writing characters that you love and empathise with. Don't want to give anything away but highly addictive. And great if you put books down for a while!

26. Michael Morpurgo Cool!

Another classic from this ex children's Laureate, I was reading this with another guided reading group. Boys will like this as it is a fairly easy read and there is a little focus on football. Again, first person narrative, this is written from the point of view of a boy in a coma who is worried about having killed his dog. As the story unwraps, we learn more and more about him and his accident. All may not be what it seems with his dog.... I would recommend this for children aged around 8-10 with a reading level of around 3b/a if you know what I mean!

Let them eat hats 13- unlucky for some!

These were photos taken 2 Sundays ago when I went to rehearse flute quartets at my friend Anne's house. I decided to wear a hat to church and this one picked out the grey-blue flowers on the dress and the grey leggings I wore. This was the 4th of the hats I bought when looking for a hat for my Mum's wedding. It came from a charity shop near school (bought alongside the pink one). In fact, this one did end up being worn for the wedding, but not by me, but by my family friend Norma- it matched her outfit exactly!

Laura at Daisychain dream recently posted about finding things you'd forgotten about at the back of the wardrobe and the shoes I was wearing here are such an item I found that morning! The great thing about these were they were free! My friend Anila had a clothesswap party and I was offered these by her Mum Vanessa who has equally large feet but decided she didn't like these pretty-much brand new suede Mary Jane Clarks shoes. They are sooooo comfy!

The necklace I wore is a vintage crystal bead necklace I bought in Felixstowe which I wore today and it was hilarious as young kids are like magpies and were instantly drawn to its shinyness and iridescence and kept coming to look!

Why oh why do I always put my head on one side!
Oh and this little fellow keeps lying in wait for me in my front garden! He keeps sitting on my door handle or door-mat and then flying to a horizontal surface within arms reach of me! Luckily I had my camera round my neck as I walked home from school!

I'm sure birds were never this friendly when I was little! Does anyone else have friendly bird visitors?

Let them eat hats 12- Aaw woooodn't it be luverly!

Two posts in the same amount of days! Amazing! It was Colour Wednesday as usual and the instructions on the board were 'Vivid'! So I abandoned my original outfit which was to be 50's style floral skirt (courtesy of TK Maxx sale) which is VERY vivid in favour of something more muted (woke up late, felt a bit yuck!) I decided to go for pinks and reds, with this old favourite Monsoon rose skirt, with a red vest-top and a pink aged 12-13 cap-sleeved cardie!!!
I intended to wear this hat to school (despite KNOWING ridiculing was INEVITABLE!) but in the end, I forgot to pick it up since I woke up so late! It is the MOST ridiculous hat ever! Quite simply, I do feel like I am Eliza Doolittle in it since the flowers are so gaudy and enormous!

It came from a charity shop via my friend June! When our previous vicar left our church to retire, on his last Sunday, all the females decided to wear hats (He always used to say, why don't people wear hats to church!!) . I turned up in a LARGE black one (not yet featured in LTEH) decorated with a cornflower blue ribbon. June turned up in this one which she picked up in Cornwall just for the day to oblige the hat pledge! I fell in love and asked if I could try it on! At that point, June said I could have it and wouldn't accept any protests! I haven't really worn it out (for obvious reasons that it does rather look like it belongs to am dram!) although I did wear it for performing the Ascot song from My Fair lady in a cabaret evening!

It put me in an amateur dramatics frame of mind and I couldn't help but prance as I took these photos in a generally unacceptable demenour for a sensible 30 year old!





"All I want is a room somewhere..."
"...Far away from the cold night air,"

"Warm 'ands, warm face, warm hair..."

"Oh Wooooooodn't it be luverly!"

The biggest surprise of the day turned out to be how many people noticed and loved my earrings. Sorry for gratuitous ear shot, it's really hard to take a photo of one's ear without it looking 'orrid! They're only tiny, HOW did everyone notice them instantly?! All the kids commented on them during playground duty, all the staff I saw laughed and smiled at them, everyone I have seen did. Bizarre! I do love crazy emo style earrings, lego, scrabble tiles and all!!

So, do you think this hat belongs in a theatre costume store or can I get away with it?

In addition, have you had a pair of earrings that everyone adores, to your utter bemusement?

P.S. thanks for general hat love (and support re the big O!). Nice for my poor neglected millinery to be appreciated!

Let them eat hats 11- the celebration hat!

It is over! We have survived! I can't say anything about how we did (due to strict confidentiality measures- if I divulge, the result could be declared void and we have another one!) sufficed to say I wasn't observed today. Irritatingly, neither of my assemblies were observed- considering I had the infants (5-7 year olds) singing in 3-part harmony and a 6 year old leading as a solo, 120 children in a call and response song, it was rather annoying!

The feeling of relief is utterly overwhelming!

To celebrate, I present you with my next hat! This has been clad with bunting in the past. I love it though- it is really substantial. Primark I believe! I tried a really lovely hat in Tescos today but it felt really flimsy, so no point in buying it as my hats aren't always treated lovingly if a summer favourite! Does anyone else find that there are a lot of hats that look like they would be destroyed by a stiff breeze?

By the way, thank you for your thoughts those people that sent me best wishes. Thank you for thinking of me!

Aaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwooooooooooo!!!!

21. Joan Aiken The wolves of Willoughby chase.

This was a favourite book as a child. The story of children triumphing over evil adults! Set a long time ago, Victorian era methinks. You gain an interesting account of life for rich and not so rich children in the era- the wolves provide a suitably sinister backdrop as well as the evil protagonists! The description is delightful as are the differences in main child characters. One of my favourite parts is the inclusion of secret passages and a life-sized doll's house! Kids will love it- full of intrigue! I ended up borrowing this off my little sister's bookshelf and reading this in a couple of hours at my Dad's in the garden when I went over there- unsociable creature that I am, I was supposed to be chatting to my relatives!

Thanks to Amazon for the image!

The big O so far...the half way mark with some amazing clouds!

It's been hell! Truly hell- the prep leading up to it! But, the great thing is you are all in it together. We, as a staff, have stressed, worried, consoled, assisted, moaned, but pulled together. There is a real sense of shared experience and community. Believe it or not, I was observed TWICE today! How awful!

To console myself, I have published some pictures of some beautiful Cirrocumulus clouds to make me feel better! I took them when camping recently!

Pray until something happens!

OFSTED are coming!

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let them eat hats 10- a brown replacement goes adventuring in Aldeburgh!

Fish and chip mosaic!

The Benjamin Britten studio at Snape Maltings.

A couple of weeks ago, CBC and I went to Aldeburgh and Snape Maltings in Suffolk to go and watch 2 Ligeti piano concerts as part of the Aldeburgh music festival! CBC has waxed lyrical about this place as has my Mum (she's mad for it!) for a long time so I was intrigued! Right away, I was struck with how beautiful and other it was! It was like going back in time- if you

like artistic places, seaside resorts and time warps, then visit- it's gorgeous!





As soon as we'd picked up tickets from the box office in Snape, we drove down to Aldeburgh, trying to find a place to park, we bemused several pedestrians by going back and forth along the same stretch of road 10 times it seemed!


Once parked, we went to join the queue of around 20 people snaking around the side one of the fine fish and chip shops. It was much nicer than the one I worked in with a beautiful fish mosaic and fentimens drinks in the fridge!


We couldn't even wait for them so we began scoffing as we meandered towards the beach! The beach is a pebbly one at Aldeburgh with content imported from afield to ensure that it doesn't erode too much. My mum particularly loves a large shell sculpture which is supposedly on the beach though I didn't explore far enough.



Cute cinema!!!




We found an ideal house to live in! Roses around the door. Blue painted wood. Nice front garden. Tree to climb...



The beach-huts are great fun and the variety of pastel abodes are very picturesque.

Love this milestone!

After visiting a beautiful independent book shop which had an amazing kids collection, I ended up buying a set of Where's wally postcards, a book called 'My Story- Henry the VIII's wives' (shocking writing for kids as it turns out!).

Reluctantly, I left Aldeburgh- I do become very dreamy and reflective when by the sea- it was reluctantly that we drove back to Snape Maltings!

The first concert was unbelievably exciting! Amazing contemporary music, mainly by Gyorgy Ligeti. The second one was even more exciting, we discovered this amazing music by a turn of the century composer called Conlon Nancarrow, a South American composer who wrote for the player piano (a superior variant on the Pianola: a piano that plays by itself based on a mechanism within it)- he wrote astoundingly complex music impossible to be played by humans, based on mathematical relationships. Ligeti described him as 'what J.S. Bach would have written had he had a player piano'. One piece called Canon and there was one moment in the piece where in one 'hand' the piano was playing 139 notes A SECOND!!!!!!

Following this, CBC and I went for a wander! I ended up buying a really cute vintage 70's patchwork skirt which is long enough to pull up and wear as a maxi-dress. Will post soon with requests for help styling it!

CBC took lots of lovely pictures of the day (didn't send to a week or so after, hence why this is posted sooo late after going).

He took some pictures of my hat (CBC doesn't like closeups this is why you have some slightly interesting hat shots today instead of my usual boring, 'I feel stupid standing here so I'll just grin at the camera' genetic shots!

I became highly irritated with this hat in the wind! It KEPT blowing in my face! It is FAR too floppy- no backbone!! I bought this as a replacement last summer from Tescos to replace a lovely big brown floppy that I had used for years (actually the hat in my profile shot), which I somehow left on a train last summer. It is far inferior to its predecessor! Not very rigid and stable- it has a life of its own!

The whole day was utterly dreamy and I felt so tranquil and blissfully loved up! I really recommend visiting Aldeburgh and Snape.

Has anyone visited there or found a place you could just TOTALLY move to?