Floral fix

I've reiterated on many occasions that I love the fact that we have so many opportunities to purchase clothes second hand- it means that I can find things I really loved first time round but cheaper and also not having the guilt of buying new.

 The outfit above consists of a cardigan I bought from eBay second hand for cosplay.  The dress was one I adored in Sainsbury's when it was new but they didn't have it in my size and it was £20.
Fast forward to a charity shop a few years later and there it was for £6!
A classic collared dress will never fall out of favour in my sartorial choices.  Always happy to make room for one and keep the room for it!

So very many of my favourite items were sought second-time round and it is always nice if you are helping a charity along the way!

I do hope all is well with you.

Sending you hugs.x

A motley collection of things I wanted to write about #3

Here are a few random moments that I wanted to write about over the past week or so:

• Do you know what?  When  I read old-fashioned school books, it always really annoys me when the characters in the story say that they mustn't 'sneak' on some miscreant that does wrong.  I still HATE the 'Snitch' idea which children still say at school to someone who has told on them.  Obviously, it's a annoying when someone says, "He's saying or doing x, y, z" which is not serious but when it is really important- well, it needs to be told!
• How out of date can you eat Creme Fraiche?  I ate about half a tub of it tonight on my pasta which expired on the 19th June.  It tasted fine. CBC wouldn't try it despite my encouragement that it tasted fine.  What's the worst that might happen to me?
• Yay, I had my Performance Management teaching observation today with my Headteacher and he originally told me he would only stay 20minutes and ended up staying for a whole hour!  Later, when I went to get feedback, he said, "I was blown away by your lesson" and proceeded to say THE nicest complimentary things to me for about 15 minutes. He said he stayed for an hour because he was enjoying it and didn't want to leave.  He learnt to play Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra with us and said he thinks he should spend more time in music when he is stressed! SO nice to be appreciated!
• I wore my Kimchi and Coconut skunk brooch today and it reminded me of the most adorable video I saw once on Youtube of a family of Skunks meeting a cyclist! HOOOOOOOW cute are they!??!!
• After watching that, I somehow got sucked into the world of Youtube and ended up watching various Skunk videos! They are so cute!!! I am surprised HOW many skunk videos there are!
• Going to see my Dad, Step-Mum and Step-sis this weekend. It's only been two weeks since I last saw them so I am pretty excited to see them again so soon!!!
• MY RUNNER BEANS?   Because we were away at Music Camp this last weekend from Friday Morning to Sunday evening, the garden wasn't watered for all that time and my French beans died as did a courgette.  The other courgette sort of leapt out of the ground too! I have replanted it but it is so sad!!! All the other plants are looking sad too except the strawberries!
• Having a GREAT bumper crop of strawberries from the garden! Am greatly enjoying eating ALLL the strawberries!
• Am grateful I made double the amount of Pasta last night so all we had to do was heat it up tonight (plus frozen garlic bread left over from our housewarming!).  Made a difference than the usual games of brinkmanship about who is going to cook!
• Have been surviving the cycling. All the practice I am getting daily is really improving my balance!
• So happy about two of my school pupils.  One said she was giving up the flute (despite being really good!) I was totally sad about this and had a lovely surprise yesterday discovering that she was reconsidering and was going to carry on. Another of my best musicians said she couldn't play in the Summer concert because her swimming coach wouldn't let her miss a session and now suddenly, having asked him, she's been given permission to play!
• I taught Years 3-4 a fun Balinese song I learnt called Meong Meong (Cat, Cat) today and they really seemed to like it. I caught some of them humming it in class later. Found this incredibly cheesy video version of it on Youtube to play them! I challenge you not to be humming it all day!
• I own a Bernie Dexter dress! I am so happy!
• Can't wait for the Summer holidays!  Am definitely very tired!
• Are there any things you are irrationally scared of? One of mine is getting a fish bone caught in my throat. I added a little tin of anchovies to last night's dinner and one got stuck in my throat and I was super worried! Also feel like that about Splinters! They always fill me with dread and CBC will NEVER help me get them out and I have a mild panic and end up gouging all the skin off my finger in order to get it out!
• Ahrgh, a new Costa has opened near my school and various staff are going down there for lunch or coffee. I just don't get it.  The food is not very nice and very overpriced.  We have other things close. Can't understand it!
• I love Home Sense/TK Maxx. Always find lovely things in there cheap! Got some nice pressie yesterday!
• One of my Year 6 kids lent me First Class Murder, the Murder Most Unladylike book I hadn't read! It was so much fun!
• On that note, I enjoyed playing Poirot at school yesterday managing to figure out something from a cryptic comment my colleague made!
• Another brilliant book I read at the weekend was 'The Woman in Cabin 10' which I read over the weekend! A modern whodunnit!
• The weekend was lovely playing Mozart's opera, Il Domineo at my music camping place. Nice company and the weather was good.  Still didn't sleep particularly well despite my wonderful new roll mat. I think it's sleeping bags I don't like. Oh and the fact I was sitting up till 3.15am on Saturday night waiting for an ambulance with the Bassoon player who fell down some stairs in the dark and injured his back along with others. It took the ambulance 3.5 hours to arrive!  Thank God that it turned out just to be bruising and nothing worse which we all feared when he said he couldn't move!

Any random comments you want to share here?

xx

A tale of two birds

Have you ever been in a situation where you don't know what to do for the best and you probably end up making things worse?

CBC and I went to Lake Ullswater in the Lake District for May Bank Holiday weekend during half term.   The first day, we went to Pooley Bridge and had breakfast in a very nice cafe and then went for a brief walk by the lakeside.

It was as we were walking that it happened.
I was trailing behind, taking pictures and suddenly a bird swooped in front of me.  I quickly followed it with my eyes and saw a Coal tit land on a tree trunk.  I took the photo below.

 It flew away and then I could hear a chirping. 

 I investigated further and saw this little chick in the grass.

 It looked so sad.  I then noticed another dead one next to it. 
I called to CBC who had walked on further, not knowing what to do.

 He seemed rather unworried and we continued.   When we'd had a walk and it was time to return to the car, we walked back and I went to see if the chick was ok. 
When I got there, we noticed there were two of them and they were really calling out but not receiving any response.

I was really worried about what to do about them.    I wasn't sure what we should do and felt like we couldn't just leave them there.  CBC thought that the mother wouldn't be able to get them back into the nest and we could see the Mother flying in to a hole in the tree trunk further up.
CBC decided to climb the tree to see if he could post the babies back up.   We weren't sure what we could or should do (no reception on phone) but thought it was worth trying to get them back in the nest.

 He climbed up and got me to also try to pass him up a chick.

 It looked so happy being up the tree near the nest in his hand and he tried to post it into the hole but the other birds wouldn't let it in.  He tried to encourage it in but it seemed scared to go.

 He sat up there for quite a long time.  The bird seemed sad and stopped trying to get into the nest and refused to leave his hand.  Mum came back but wouldn't help it in and the other birds seemed quite hostile.

Finally, we gave up and CBC passed me the chick down.  I felt awful because we had touched them and not managed to get them back in.   I sat there worrying.  We decided to hunt for worms for the birds.   The little bird didn't seem to want to leave my hand.

 At this point, the other little one, who had remained on the ground, worked its way towards me and climbed onto my other hand (no photos sadly!).   I was utterly distraught over what to do about them and shed a tear or two over them.   In the end, we thought we would have to leave them as the parking was about half an hour overdue and it was very hard persuading the pair of them to leave my hand.

Later, we checked advice and it seemed that perhaps we shouldn't have touched them but in the circumstances, we thought we were helping.  I thought about those two birds for days and days, my heart heavy with the thought that we might have made the mother reject them.

What would you have done?

Leigh Art Trail 2018

Since CBC and I have bought our house, we were longing to buy some art works to adorn the walls.  As artists ourselves (admittedly, we earn our money by teaching but we were originally musicians), we think it is really important to support artists, especially when times are tight and the arts are experiencing the pinch.

We decided to go and visit the Leigh Art Trail which takes place yearly in Leigh-on-Sea which is not so far from Southend. We really like it there. It is a really artistic, pleasant place to live. Pity houses are so expensive!

CBC picked up a Trail guide which gives a map with numbers and this links to pages showing a short biog for each of the artists and their style and shows where they were/are exhibiting. The locations included banks, hair-dressers, cafes, book shops, clothes shops, libraries, the train station, even the artists' homes!  

We didn't have a huge amount of time, so we didn't get to see everything.  Next year, we will be sure to set out earlier and reserve the whole day.

Some places had one or two works, others had many.  In pretty much all places, the art was for sale.

Alas, I cannot remember all the locations and artist names but I thought I'd share a few we saw... and photographed!

This beautiful art work was in a dress shop. It was so rainbowy and pretty.

More works with dresses!

In the Book Inn, a lovely book shop with a cafe, print maker Shelly Jupitus had many affordable prints of her works to purchase.  I liked these large print blocks which had also been turned into art works.

We did stop for a bit of cake and a drink here but it was rather crazily slow!

In the most wonderful jewellery shop, Castle Collection Karina Parris, a textiles artist had displayed a beautiful array of her sewn works, handpainted, hand cut, handsewn- quilts, wall hangings. She was there so I had a nice chat to her.  She was an ex-teacher also. CBC also really liked her beautiful art works.

In another nearby shop was a variety of works. I liked the fact that they were all inspired by the local scenery- many scenes depicting the sea, flora, fauna and landscapes of the Thames estuary.  The two seagulls greatly pleased me.

The artist Jonathan Trim had created many beautiful seascapes in oils which I admit to being smitten with.

In another jewellery store, this one making her own wire work jewellery, the artist had created one or two beautiful metal collages for the exhibition. I loved this wave one and would have gladly bought it. CBC was not so smitten.

Another homeware store had these fun house artworks in ebullient colours.

We wandered along and CBC and I got seperated.  I ended up in the Physic Garden to see some wire sculptures.

A friend of CBC's, Nicola Trevena, had some beautiful mixed media flowers in the Sandbar and Sea co. although they were on the staircase, so they were hard to view.

We very much liked these huge colourful works by Emma Bell at 70 and would love that bluey one for our stairwell though they were very expensive (though HUGE!)

Continuing on, we saw a whole shop full of Jonathan Trim's seascapes. This large one caught my fancy.  Again, very expensive but he is a popular, prolific, local artist and I can see why.  Lots of his had sold on them!

Onto the Birdwood Bakery to see Amanda Jackson's works (another friend of CBC).  Her collection was quite dark because they were painted at the time when her Mum died on their holiday in Cornwall.

She told us the story and then as I was looking, I saw this painting called Farewell and asked her if that was her Mum. She said it was. To my horror, because of the background she'd shared, I found myself with tears in my eyes!  I had to hide!

Here were some sketches of her work!

Alas, at this point, after seeing a few more places (not photographed), we had to leave.

But...did we buy anything???

Well....yes!

We ended up buying two works by the textiles artist, Katrina Parris.

The first was, The Rock Garden, which was inspired by the rock garden at RHS Hyde Hall.

 The other was the beautiful Fragment of Monet's Garden.

You can see it in our study down here:

 Here is a close-up of some of the beautiful work!

What do you think?

xx

Have you any sort of art trail where you live at all?

Forgiveness each day.

Forgiveness is a hard one.  It is the BIG point on which my faith is based.  Jesus died to forgive my sins and calls on me to do that.   I realised today, that I constantly have to forgive in my job.  I am always positive here about my job and those I teach.  But frequently, I have to forgive and offer a fresh start to troublesome selected children who think it is their life's work to ruin my lessons, to hurt other children, to lie and cheat, to cheat and steal.   I teach them them once a week (unless they are in a club) and have them for assembly.

When you get particularly spiteful, malicious or aggressive children who you have to say the same things to day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out, year in year out and in my case, for about 6-8 years, the process can be draining and utterly, utterly frustrating.  Sometimes, when I think about children I teach who I know I will have at last another 3 or 4 years of, even one year more, it does become very hard.  Because,I have to give them a fresh start every time and see them do the same mean, hurtful and downright rude things over and over again (it makes me think how hard it must be to be God!) it just occasionally gets to me.
I had two things today that really upset me.  One pupil, I (and other colleagues) have had a LOT of awful issues with over the years - his current teacher has taught him for 2 years consecutively, every day. The thing that gets me is that he is INTELLIGENT. His family love him, he has been given a lot, he supposedly has a Faith. But the way he treats adults and children is awful, the complete leech-like attention-seeking, the rudeness, the constant barrage of interruptions. I had to put up with 10 minutes of him SHOUTING rudely over the top of 30 recorders playing at me. Not getting the hint that he needed to put his hand up, not understanding that his little petty issues were not the centre of the universe and then having the audacity (I'd given him attention and told him off 20 times before this point) to call out, "Are you deaf or something?" to me. I've forgiven him weekly for 3 years so far. Sometimes, I am just SICK of it.
(surprisingly, he did say sorry to me as I walked past him at the end of school. That never happens.)

The other issue was that another class, for some reason, walk through my music room on their way out.  I have asked them to go another way in the past, but some teachers walk them through.  When I returned to the Music Room at 5.15pm-ish, I discovered my Brompton bike knocked over onto a drum with about 8 scratches down the front of it, 2 of them deep down to the metal.   I caught my colleague in the car park and she said the other children told her that a boy had knocked it over (you would have had to go out of your way to push it to knock it over as it was folded on its back wheels.). He completely denied it. I will have to investigate tomorrow.  I'm so furious that my lovely, new bike has received such treatment.  This isn't the first occasion that a class coming from that room has damaged things in the Music Room. Children ran through and knocked down an entire pile of glockenspiels once when I was actually in there.  I am pretty sure, the only teacher who still walks them through there is the other PPA teacher. Their teacher goes another way.

My choir rehearsal was constantly interrupted by 4 naughty boys who won't shut up.  EVERY. WEEK. this happens. And they just treat it as a joke.

These are just a few incidents.  Generally, I enjoy my job a good amount of the time.  Teaching is about constantly forgiving and giving fresh new starts.  Every day is a new day.  Every lesson, a new lesson. A fresh chance, a clean slate and a mantle of forgiveness.  Understanding family difficulties, understanding special needs and adapting to individuals is a crucial part of this.  I do this and I will and must continue to strive to do this. As part of my faith, I do and must do this.  As a human being who knows how the Earth must live, survive and be peaceful, I do this.  As a dedicated teacher, I will and do do this.
But remember, no one ever said forgiveness was easy.   Yes,  occasionally, my heart is heavy, tears fill my eyes and I confess, occasionally, it is hard.

Hope you had a lovely day.
xx

TARDIS Tuesday - Clara's modern outfit from the Crimson Horror

Greetings!

How are you? 

Well, I hope. 

TARDIS Tuesday is a bit harder in the Summer as a lot/most of the outfits I have are more Winter outfits.  Nonetheless, I had a go at trying to wear one of them and wearing it in a bit more summery way.

Image borrowed from CoolSpotters.com

Here is my favourite, Clara Oswald, at the end of an episode called The Crimson Horror set in Victorian Yorkshire. At the end, Clara is back in Modern-day England and is caught out by the kids who she is Nanny for.

Her outfit is a very Urban Outfitters heavy outfit- her cardigan, necklace AND playsuit all come from there.

Here is my version!

The playsuit is one of those cosplay items that I wasn't that bothered about buying but when I saw it very reasonably priced for sale (I think about £8-9), I thought I'd give it a go- I really like the colour and as mentioned, playsuits are good for Summer.  The cardigan is also by the same Urban Outfitters brand but isn't the on-screen one- it was one I found randomly in a charity shop!

The Aztec eagle necklace makes yet another appearance.

To make my outfit more Summer appropriate, I didn't wear tights and I wore a black vest top underneath rather than a sleeved top.

What do you think of this outfit?

Do you like the original, or, like me, do you think it is rather a motley collection of items!?!

x

Style imitating art:

Hi there,

Hope all is well with you.

I'm back for another Style Imitating Art outfit with Salazar at 14 Shades of Grey blog.

I'm not sure I've done an outfit based on a Picasso before so this is fun!

This is a curious painting from his Rose period, apparently.  

Much as I would have loved to have been able to find a print in my wardrobe to match the Harlequin pattern, I didn't!

Instead, I decided to go with the general hues of the painting:

Blues and greys  with a little tan.

The whole outfit (except leggings and earrings) is charity shopped over a long time.

The vest top, goes without saying that it takes inspiration from the attire of the younger boy,

My skirt has a swirly petal/leaf pattern and I felt the colours went well with the paint. It is silk so wonderful to wear in the Summer (from Monsoon originally) 

The shoes tried to pick out the sort of mustard-shade from the picture and whilst I wore the grey (though they appear black) leggings to protect my modesty for cycling, they also made a nod to the legging-style acrobat suit of the young boy.

My necklace (inherited from my Nan's costume jewellery collection) and earrings (present from South African friend) both were made in suitable blue hues.

It's funny that some items from charity shops enter and leave my wardrobe fairly swiftly but the top and skirt have both been with me at least 8 years! I imagine the shoes will be similarly long-kept.

What would you have worn for this challenge? It is not too late to join in. 

Send an outfit inspired by this painting to Salazar at 14shadesofgreyblog@gmail.com

xx

Patience

Perhaps one of the hardest virtues is 'Patience'.  Sometimes, waiting for something feels interminable.  Those hours they just crawl by, those days, those years, perhaps even those decades for something that is long sought, long yearned for, long anticipated.  Perhaps you give up in the end?  Perhaps it will never come? 

Spring is like that.  The bees that must last long through the Winter until the time when the nectars return again- it is practically their whole lifetime.  Indeed, their lifespan must last longer than those Summer worker bees whose lifespan, in the industriousness of the collecting season, live mere weeks.  

CBC has been fretting over the bees. Where are they?  Why weren't they coming.

But there they are, enjoying our Passiflora flowers in abundance and now beginning to explore the newly purple Lavender (the photo below is from before that time) .  Perhaps they have been checking the Lavender daily, to see if there is any ready yet and then when it reached maturity, that patient checking bee performed the Waggle Dance for the other bees to follow and to come and drink deep of the nectar.

Similarly,  CBC was fretting over our Rose bush which my Mum cut right down to a stump in February. It seemed to do little for a long while.  Now, they are towering above us and absolutely covered in yellow roses which now (again, these flowers are from before) are fully blooming and they are so shockingly bright from our bedroom window!

It took month patience rather than years, decades or a lifetime for CBC's fears to be abated, but the same principle applies:  Be patient, be hopeful and wait for it to reach you, whatever it may be!

I hope you have a wonderful week!

xx

Maxi appeal

Greetings! 

Hope all is well with you!

I am so glad it is another weekend!  Particularly looking forward to this one as I going to my Dad's for his birthday tomorrow and then spending Sunday with my Mum!

Here's an outfit from last week.  I've been cycling to work for 4 days a week since we've come back so I've had to think a little more carefully about my wardrobe choices to ensure that nothing gets caught in the wheels of peddles.  There are certain choices I SHALL NOT be repeating. I missed my train to work yesterday because I wore a knee length full circle skirt and it was a very windy day.  Consequently, I had to keep stopping to readjust its position to protect my modesty!

I wore this outfit on one of the days I walked- I've decided to walk one day to ensure I still get some walking in!

This maxi skirt was a charity shop purchase from that time I went to the church in the town we were supposed to live with. On that subject, THANK YOU everyone who contributed to my blog post on church choices- so kind and helpful of you all! I'm going to try and visit some other ones!

The skirt is excellent on a warm day and it is unbelievably long enough for me- a rarity!

The whole outfit is charity-shopped except for my Tiktok necklace.  Comfy, cool and modest- that's good enough for me!!!  NOT, I hasten to add, for a cycling day!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

xx

Tardy TARDIS Tuesday- Amy Pond- The Lodger

Hi there,

Hope you are well.

I apologise for this being a Tardy TARDIS Tuesday.  I got home unexpectedly late last night.  I had a feedback meeting at the Music School for our Albert Hall concert which didn't finish until 7:45 in an awkward place to get home from and utterly irritatingly, I JUST missed the last train before the engineering works began and there were replacement buses. CANNOT believe that nonsense has started up AGAIN and will be running till October every week day evening.  Worse still, at least the last train was 21:30ish when it happened from March-May.  Now they are beginning at 8:50!!!

Anyway, consequently, TARDIS Tuesday didn't happen since I got home after 10 and had to make some dinner!

Here is a simple head shot of Amy Pond from The Lodger episode.  We don't see much of Amy in this episode as it is mostly focused on the Doctor and Craig, a character played by James Cordon.

Amy wears a green top with a dark one underneath and a Navy blazer.  I believe she wears Jeans and brown boots down the bottom but I'm can't find any pictures of that!

http://badwolfcloset.tumblr.com/page/16 

And here is my version!

Add caption

The green top and blazer are from previous cosplays- the blazer from a Clara one and the green top is from my Ace McShane cosplay last Summer! 

Short and sweet and fairly simple! Not bad for a fairly medium temperature Summer/Spring day!

x

The difficulties of going somewhere new

Hi there,

Hope you are well.  I am fine.

I've talked about churches and trying to find one where I've moved to.  I'm finding it a little hard so far.
You see, when I first became an adult as a Christian, I went along to one or two churches but I had a history with those. I went to one with my friend Norma who died and when I went to my old church, All Saints, although I went alone as a 22 year old, it was a church I had been to up at the age of 8 and I knew one or two people.  All Saints felt right instantly. I felt welcome instantly and felt it was a place I wanted to be. There were enough people of different ages, it was easy to get to and it turned out to be a wonderful place that I loved truly and made some amazing friends and, without sounding cheesy, to the non-Christian of you, I felt I got to know God there.

When we moved when I got married, I carried on going to All Saints for a while, commuting back on Sundays but I eventually stopped going. The church I ended up going to, Christ Church, I had been to with CBC before we were married as it was in the parish that he lived in and that's where our Banns were read- so we had gone there together to hear our Banns and I really liked it, got a good vibe from it, liked the range of ages and felt welcome.  So, when I wasn't able to travel back to my old church, I went there and eventually went there properly.  Again, it felt quite natural and easy.

When we were house-hunting, I knew the church I wanted to go to in that town- it was where my sister got married and I knew that it was a really nice church in a similar vein to what I am used to.
One of the things I was most sad about when we selected our house to buy, in a further away town, was the fact that this wouldn't be my local church.

Since we have moved to where we live now, I have been back to my old church a few times because I still want to go and I am committed to playing with the band for the first Sunday. Apart from that, I haven't really been to church much, due to being away a lot, not waking up and if I am honest, chickening out of having to be brave and trying somewhere new.

A few months ago, I went to the local Anglican church to try it out and I confess that I was really sad it was not what I had hoped. Nice people but there were only about 25 people there, most of whom were quite elderly or so, no vicar and the style of service was quite old-fashioned.  I always want to stay to coffee at the end because I don't want to be that person that ducks out. Some people made a beeline for me and chatted to me, finding out I was a musician and asked me if I was going to go there.  Everyone always gets excited when they find out I am a musician, including the organist there.  I didn't know what to say, I felt so bad because I was thinking that it seemed so quiet and I wanted to go to a place with people of many ages and I worried that there was no way I'd ever get CBC to come with me there. I felt guilty for feeling like that as they were so nice and if everyone had that attitude, they would never grow.

Anyway, some weeks passed and a few weeks ago, with CBC's encouragement (he likes that church and mentioned that he might sometimes come with me there when we first started going, even though he's not a believer- not sure if he would though), I went one Sunday to the church in the town we wanted to live in and really enjoyed the service- it had just the right size congregation. The style of service was just that which I am used to and enjoy and I felt right there. BUT, I feel that I should go to church in the town nearby as it would be harder to get involved if I don't live there and I felt bad about not supporting a church in our town.

This morning, I decided to try another church in our town, the Methodist one.  I crept in a bit late.  It was a really nice service, if a little more traditional than I am used to though with a great message from the preacher, who was from another Methodist church and a nice light building.  But, there were, again, only about 20 people there and most of them much older.  They have different speakers and their pastor is shared between 4 churches.  A few people spoke to me and were so nice and friendly and asked me if I would be joining them regularly. Again, the musician thing came up and I was introduced to the organist.  They were so nice and I was made to feel welcome but, I find it so hard because I don't want to upset anyone. They said they sometimes have home groups but there's not lots of things going on. I'd love to be able to go to everyone's church and join them but I really would love to be able to have some friends of my own age as well as older.  Please understand that I really love being friends with people who are older, but I know CBC wants friends our age and I would love to go to a church where he would sometimes want to come along with me (even though he is not a church-goer, sometimes, he might come).  I just didn't feel that instant connection though I did like it.

I know what it is like to see someone new come into your church, the joy of someone new and hoping that they might return, even if I don't openly ask people if they are going to come there again and the disappointment if they don't.  I liked the people I have met and I feel bad for not supporting a small church- I know how important it is to support a small church but I just didn't feel it.

I'm not sure what to do. I perhaps will try out some other churches in the area, there's a couple of other Anglican churches which are a few miles from us, one of which has a vicar moving there in a few months from the church I liked in the town we were supposed to live in; there's a Baptist church, an Elim Pentecostal one (which my neighbour goes to), the Community church, though in some ways, I still feel like I'd like to attend an Anglican church, I just wonder what you think about this, as a church-goer, Atheist or other, what would you do?

xxx

5 brooches and friends #68

Hi there,

It's been one of those frantic, scrabbling catch-up weeks.  Thus, I don't seem to have the brainpower for anything too thought-provoking or long-winded so I am sharing some recently worn broochage and necklaceage!  Yes, that's a word. I like to go in for a little nomenclature occasionally!

So, onto the main event:

I wore this book-themed dress on Wednesday with this Jane Austen quote pin saying, "I declare there is no enjoyment like reading,"  This is what Miss Bingley says to Elizabeth Bennett and Darcy to be provocative in Pride and Prejudice.   Accompanied by Mr Foxton and a book dress!

For the party on Saturday, I wore this necklace from Down the Rabbit Hole on Etsy!  I do like how ridiculously long it is! Worn with ice-lolly dress.

Sunday saw me wearing another fox with a cottage dress. Lots of foxes in country gardens.

On Monday, I wore Tik Tok from the World of Oz (from Sugar and Vice Jewellery) with a simple navy top and maxi skirt.

Finally, Tuesday, I wore this Fat Kitty bomb necklace with more kitties!

Any favourites here?

Hope you are well and I will try to visit anon!

xx

TARDIS Tuesday outfit- The Sarah Jane Adventures- Invasion of the Bane

Today, I thought I would cosplay a Doctor Who adventure from a Doctor Who Spin off.

Sarah-Jane Smith was a companion to both the Third and Fourth Doctors (Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker).  She was so popular that she was given a short spin off called K9 and Company and then featured in the 25th Anniversary story, The Five Doctors.  

Subsequently, in New Who, she featured in an episode with David Tennant's  10th Doctor Called School Reunion.  Finally, such was the popularity that she gained her own spin-off series which ran for 5 series called, The Sarah Jane Adventures.

She wears a variety of outfits in the episodes but the one that I am featuring today is from the debut story, Invasion of the Bane.  

Here are a selection of photos from it.

Image borrowed from http://sarahjanetv.blogspot.com/2007/01/

IMage borrowed from  http://sarahjanetv.blogspot.com/2007/01/

Image borrowed from this Ebay

Image borrowed Tennantcoat.com by Steve Ricks

So.... here is my version:

I have a Clara cosplaying friend @Oswaldcosplay on Instagram to thank for helping me to know where her cardigan was from (she has cosplayed this!)  and I have been looking a long time for one of these. It is from Karen Millen which is an expensive brand and the cardie would have been very expensive.  You can tell though- it is extremely comfortable and well-fitting and I have already worn it for a few formal occasions.

Sarah has a 'weapon' called a Sonic Lipstick which she uses to open locks and interfere with waves.  Mine, is, alas, non-sonic!

The dress has not been identified officially but I, again, have been stalking second-hand sites for a while to find something suitable and won this 99p dress on eBay (plus postage!) 

The boots and tights are ones I had already.

This is the perfect formal, comfy-teacher outfit.  I'd probably wear it with leggings rather than tights but this is one I will definitely wear again and again.

Until two weeks ago, the BBC were allowing you to watch all five series of The Sarah Jane Adventures on BBC iPlayer but alas, they have just taken them off. They have replaced them with ALL the New Who episodes though so go and watch them for free now if you wish!

What do you think?

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