TARDIS Tuesday - Clara in Last Christmas

Greetings!!!

Hope you are well.  Today's TARDIS Tuesday is a bit of a cheeky last minute one and (whispers), the items I am wearing might not belong to me!!!!! I'm saying no more just in case!!!!

Clara Oswald in Last Christmas, a Christmas special wears a great night outfit for most of the episode.  She's awakened by Father Christmas and the Doctor from her sleep and thus is wearing bed clothes.
They are, however, a very curious set of Night garments considering her age.  An ankle-length white linen night gown with pink sprigged flowers (I feel like I am describing a Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey outfit.)

Image borrowed from The MarySue.com

This is accompanied by a long pale blue Cashmere dressing gown and some brown Ugg slippers

Image borrowed from Jenna Louise Daily Pinterest

Nonetheless, this was a night outfit I really liked! Mainly because it IS very Jane Austen!

Image borrowed from Gramunion.com 

And here I am!

And here, apologies for the bathroom setting with towel-rail and Loo roll accessories!

Sorry this is all a bit messy but I forgot about TARDIS Tuesday when packing so this is the best I could do!

Image borrowed from The MarySue.com

It was only last minute (after all the photos!) that I realised that I was supposed to unbutton the top! Oops!

What do you think?

What's your preferred night attire? 

x

Style Imitating Art outfit- Arrow shirt collar by J.C. Leyendecker

Here we are again at another Style Imitating Art outfit.  This week's host is Salazar at 14 shades of grey blog.  She chose this interesting piece.

In the words of Salazar, our host this week, "This is an ad for Arrow shirt collar by J.C. Leyendecker, one of the most famous American illustrators before Norman Rockwell – in fact, Rockwell considered Leyendecker his idol and mentor. Leyendecker is best known for his “Arrow Collar Man”, which is modeled after his partner, Charles Beach."

It lends itself readily to an outfit by featuring people so who am I do ignore such an obvious hint.

Here's my outfit. I did try taking photos outside but the heat was intense that I gave up swiftly.

I went, obviously for a white collared top and decided to add a black silk ribbon from another top to it to mimic the lady tie worn by the female in the picture.

I decided to take my cue from the man's dark green patterned tie and wear this green patterned maxi skirt I had made in Bali 12 years ago this month- It was good for the warm day as it is very light

 You can spy my rose-gold bracelet in the picture to mimic the lady's jewellery and I also wore my grey cotton pumps- there are some brush strokes of grey around the edge of the painting.

Finally, I mentioned the other day, that I have several of these wired hair-bands so I decided to add this peachy one to finish off the outfit (AND keep my hair out of my face- much needed right now!

What do you think? How might you have interpreted this picture?

If you want to join in, you still have time.
Email Salazar at 14shadesofgreyblog@gmail.com by Tuesday night in order to feature in the round up. And do go over and see how everyone else interpreted it!

x

Visit Brightlingsea!

On Tuesday, CBC and I decided to make a visit to Brightlingsea.  This is a town on the Colne river estuary near Colchester which leads out to sea.  We'd heard that it has a nice lido so we decided to pay it a visit.  CBC used to work there for a time.  

It is a very small town but it has a beach, boating lake, small town with some nice shops, a Marina and of course, the Lido.

When we arrived, there was a huge queue for the Lido and we had no cash so we nipped into town where we bought some lunch from a bakery and had a cup of tea in a cafe.  The bakery had all sorts of interesting things including curried chicken Spring rolls and samosas.

When we got back, the queue had gone so we went in.  It costs £4 for an adult visit, which, considering you can stay all day, is very good value. Season tickets are also available- £92 seemed good for a 2.5month period.

Be warned, it can get quite crowded!

 There are changing rooms and a few showers in the changing rooms but no lockers, you just have to trust that your belongings are fine at the side of the pool.  There is a nice patch of fake grass to lie on if you want- the one time I think fake grass is ok since there was no grass to start with.

It was deliciously refreshing and, despite the large number of people at the time (around 4pm), there was room for everyone.  I could have stayed till the end, but sadly, CBC is a less willing swimmer than I.

 After we had dried off and changed, we decided to head for a walk to the beach.

 It is not a huge beach, possibly it has been brought there rather than being natural, but it is pleasant enough with a shallow pool and flanked by cheerful beach huts.

 This tower/lighthouse was an interesting sight.

 We decided to head along the waterside path along the Colne Way. 

 Such pretty beach huts!

 The light was really beautiful.  As it was getting later, the sun wasn't so intense and the clouds made it reflect beautifully on the water.

 There is Saltmarsh here which is a very important habitat for many creatures although it is gradually eroding. 

On the other side of the path was green and not so green fields.

 The walk is very easy and flat and there were blackberry bushes all along the way- I found a couple of ripe ones.

 There is various flora at stages as well.

 Eventually we made our way back towards the car, walking further along the beach.

 I always want to stare inside beach huts when you actually see people in them but of course, it would be impolite to do so! Pity!

The name of this hut appeals to my childish sense of humour!

It was a pleasant day and I would like to return to the Lido. If only it wasn't 1 1/4 hour's drive!!

Have you heard of or visited Brightlingsea in Essex? Do you have a Lido near you?

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- Bill Potts in Knock Knock- Take 2

Hi there!

I hope you are well.  I have had a LOVELY day which I will write about soon only it is TUESDAY and we all know what that means on this blog!

TARDIS Tuesday!

Today, I thought I'd have a go at cosplaying Bill Potts, the most recent Doctor Who companion (apart from the new ones announced for Jodie Whittaker!)

I've actually done this one before- sort of!

It is a briefly-featured outfit from Series 10 scary episode featuring David Suchet, Knock, Knock, in which Bill gets some housemates and moves into the ultimate spooky house!

As she goes to the Estate Agents with her pals, she sports this casual outfit.

I took these photos as I watched it last week so the quality is not great!

She's wearing a Grey vest-top with a French Fries logo, blue jeans, black belt, black cord necklace, a mustardy-coloured tied hair ribbon and some earrings featuring dangly beads, blue feathers and the hippy Peace sign.Oh and she's also wearing some flat black lace-up shoes which I couldn't get a picture of.

As I said, last time I vaguely attempted this, I saw it and thought I had items in my house that would work for it.

BUT, today was HOT and I had planned this outfit.  There was NO way I was going to be wearing jeans (and let's be honest, that's a bit of a rarity anyway!) so I decided to put my own spin on the outfit- making it a bit more girly and summery.

 It's pretty similar to the last time I began this but with more detail.
I wore a grey vest-top I bought from Lidl a few years ago when I needed a change of clothes urgently (I always find much-loved items from those moments!) and added to it the Topshop chips patch brooch which was a sale item a few years ago (it came in a pack of six).

I have this mini-denim skirt (also charity-shopped) which I thought was a nice substitute to the jeans and wore a vintage belt of my Mum's (I think!)  and wore some blue suede lace-ups from Aldi (also an emergency purchase when at my Father-in-Law's funeral day, I discovered that all I had with me were Doc Martens!)

 Detail-wise, I remembered this mustard polka dot wired hair-tie which I bought a few years ago. I love these and have a few of them. They are good for someone who is a bit rubbish at hair.  Sadly, I actually lost this today at the seaside! Goodness knows where I dropped it!

The black necklace was a bit of a problem and I was rifling through several boxes  before I found this random bit of black cord that was lurking in a hairband box.

The final touch were the earrings.  These feather earrings were a gift from the TA who used to help me with choir about 7 years ago. I added 2 Peace-sign pin badges I got with a multipack.

And that is another 'Found in the house' cosplay-slightly better executed than last time.

What do you think?

x

P.S. If you would like to watch Doctor Who, all of the New Who episodes are currently available on BBC iPlayer and can be watched there.

A lazy weekend for some!

Hi,

How are you? Well, I hope. 

Well, I spent today at school cleaning/sorting/tidying out the music room (and the cupboard of doom in the hall)- stayed for about 5.5 hours.  Was glad to get it done at the start of the holidays and indeed, I HAD to do it now as the cleaners need to do the deep clean and that frankly wasn't possible without this! 

BUT, the weekend was a nicely relaxed one!

I got up around 8.45 to water the garden and then we headed to see the piano. We met my Piano technician friend L there who gave the piano the once over and said it was a good piano so we are going ahead with buying it (Friday).

After that, CBC wanted to head to Leigh-on-Sea to go and fetch a birthday present for his sister. I had already purchased her a cute Tatty Devine notebook and a pretty Citronella candle in a teal ceramic pot but he wanted to get something.

We went into a very fancy florist where he bought her a money plant in a pretty pot (very expensive though!) The florist was arty, fun and quirky and very hip which is very Leigh-on-Sea.

After that, CBC wanted to stop somewhere for a drink/brunch so we went to our favourite cafe, Stop The World, where he had Eggs Florentine, coffee and a smoothie. I had just a smoothie because I didn't want to be spending lots of money  on the first day of the holiday.  It's a very lovely cafe though and I LOVE their veggie breakfast usually which consists of Halloumi, grilled tomatoes, tomato salsa, spinach, broccoli, asparagus oh and mushrooms but I swap those for avocado!

 After that, we headed towards home but CBC decided we should have a walk and so we went to Belfairs woods which are a very pleasant place to walk- I've walked there once before but it was very muddy that time!

We ended up walking on the golf  course as part of our walk and sat on a bench and watched someone teeing off which was hilarious from behind!

In the woods, we saw this very pretty Green man carving.

 There was also vast quantity of Speckled Wood butterflies around. There were some other varieties but they were very skittish so I didn't have the chance to identify them.

The woodland parts of the walk very pleasantly shaded.  Out in the sun wasn't soo cool as I hadn't put on any suncream as we were originally just out to see a piano!

 The grass is very parched everywhere.  Maybe just one day of rain might be ok?

 Back home, I had some leftover sandwiches from the staff tea party as my version of lunch/breakfast and watered the garden and put some washing in.
I noticed how happy my Aloe Vera is with life at the moment.  We recently bought it a new big pot to live in and it has spread out and grown profusely up and outwards.

 Plus, several babies have been born!

 After that, we headed over to CBC's Sister's house where his Mum was also. She's pregnant at the moment- due in 2 weeks and has a 23-month boy who was having a meltdown when we arrived.  Luckily, that was instantly abated as he was curious about us!  I ended up going off with him to inspect the hoovers - he likes the hoover and he seemed very happy. We gave her her presents which she seemed to like and then took his Mum out to dinner at Prezzo so they could do the Bed time routine in peace.

When we returned home, I did some more work on Another Day of Sun (part of my list) and CBC prepared for Sunday's cycling ride from London to Southend.

CBC set off at 6am to London and I slept on!
At around 11, I rode to the station on my Brompton to get the train to Southend Victoria to meet him at the finish line.

Unusually, Abellio Greater Anglia were giving away free ice-creams to everyone who travelled on the train so I had a 99 before leaving the station.  Here it is with my bike!

 I cycled down to Priory Park and waited at the Finish Line for CBC.

 There he is at 12.10ish!  I then stood around for 2 hours or so as he and his two cycling pals had some beers and chatted and tried not to get too impatient!
We rode back to Southend Victoria, irritatingly missing a train by 2 minutes which meant 28 minutes wait.

 Back home, I decided I should really tackle the bag of present from school, most of which hadn't been opened in the hurry on Friday.
18 boxes of chocolates is perhaps a bit much for one person to receive and not very healthy though I appreciate the gesture.  1 box had already been given to my piano pal.

 These were the non-chocolate gifts

 My favourite was this pair of cat-themed gifts which I DID open on Wednesday when the boy gave it to me.  I said, "Oooh, I love them! Did you choose them?" to which he replied affirmatively and when questioned how he knew to choose them, he commented, "You wear a lot of cat-themed clothing so I thought you might like them!"  How utterly thoughtful for a 9-year old boy!

Here are most of the cards minus one or two that were upstairs already.

There were three bunches of flowers. I gave one to my neighbours as I don't have enough vases for 3 and it seemed nice to share the joy (which I also intend to do with chocolates).

It's nice to be appreciated.

Later that evening, I cooked a dinner of pasta with green vegetables and passata and then finished Another Day of Sun!  

Task 1 completed!

How was your weekend?

xx

Tasks for the holiday

I have some plans for the holiday which include a few weeks in Northumberland and my musical camp and we may make a last ditch attempt to get to France but there are some tasks that I would really like to do and I thought that making a list might make me achieve them...

• Get my annual Christmas song composed for school.
• Write a script for KS1 Christmas play which can be performed as classes for different sections to rehearse alone so Year 1 won't moan about wanting to do their own thing.
• Finish Flute Quartet version of Another Day of Sun from Lala Land.
• Convert my burgundy eye dress into a shirt.
• Make 10 birthday cards.
• Write and send off letters to all my penpals
• Have lunch with L and T and go out for a walk with them to Hyde Hall.
• Swim at least 8 times, at least once in Hexham, Haltwhistle and finally find the pool in our new town.
• Make it to church every Sunday no matter where I am.
• Get back into the habit of reading my Bible daily.
• Make the shrink plastic brooch I have been planning for ages.
• Compose an original piece for my flute quartet.
• Learn part of the Undine Flute Sonata or Mercandante Flute concerto.
• Adapt Paganini Variations from Flute and Tuba  to Flute and Alto Flute.
• Get remaining music onto shelves in the study.
• Get fish painting and Lake District Tube map framed.
• Cook a new recipe.
• Swim in the sea.
• Find seaglass.
• Descale the shower heads.
• Actually have a bath in my main bathroom.  Our showers are so nice that I haven't got around to having a bath!
• Go for a cycle ride or two.
• Read at least 10 books.
• Cook my Mum dinner.
• Make sure I spend a day with my niece.
• Harvest tomatoes and at least 1 courgette!

I'll try to review this at the end of the holidays and see how well I did.  I don't want it to be an onerous task but it would be nice to be able to actually meet some of the targets.

xx

Balloons for celebrations!

And so another year ends.  My eleventh year in teaching in fact. 
It's been a year of some really wonderful moments and some incredibly hard ones. Behaviour of children has been something I've felt myself getting very upset and cross about at the same time as being so overjoyed by the achievements of others.  It was sad that today was the first time I have ever had a year 6 where there were children who were utterly foul on the last day.
Saying Goodbye to year 6 is always hard. It was strange this time because there was a LARGE contingent of excellent musicians who were do dedicated.  I had this group of girls who were just wonderful- who took every opportunity with great joy.  I've had that wonderful year 6  boywho is, quite simply, the most naturally musical and talented pupil I have ever taught (There was another one who was Grade 6 violin but that was largely achieved by herself) and hearing him play the recorder this week in both the talent show and the summer concert was a moment of real pride and delight for me. When he performed Dvorak's Largo from the New world Symphony for the Talent show, he performed it like an adult. The delicacy of his tone, the way he moved and all the  ornaments he added to the music were so inately musical, he performed it as I might have done!

 I wore a charity-shopped Swan-print dress with a tiny fox necklace my work colleague's daughter had given me for my birthday and these massive balloon earrings which I bought from Lorelai Le Quillec who is on Etsy as part of her Kick Starter campaign to buy her own acrylic laser cutter. Perfect for a celebratory mood, eh?

 We had a lovely afternoon tea after school where my Headteacher gave very long speeches (about an hour!!!!)  about the 8 staff that were leaving.   I'm particularly sad this year because so many of my favourite colleagues were leaving and those who had been in the school a long time- some of our most dedicated and excellent staff.
The first was the lady who has been a year 6 teacher at our school for 17 years.  She is the most wonderful, humorous, down-to-earth person who managed to work wonders with our kids.   She was the teacher who, when I was spending 2 weeks at my school before I even applied for a PGCE, was the teacher who most inspired me. She was an acting Deputy Head when I came and Maths Coordinator although she stood down from both roles.

The second was my NQT (Newly Qualifed Teacher) mentor- she was my fellow year 5 teacher when I started teaching 11 years ago.  She is THE most dedicated, organised, clever lady, gentle, graceful and so kind.  She was so organised that she set me a very good example.   She is one of the few other teachers who were willing to teach year 6 as well and held the poison-chalice role of ICT coordinator!

The third is one is the teacher who taught me how to be an excellent Literacy teacher.  She joined a term after me but has been teaching for 35 years. She was our EAL Coordinator, SMT and we used team-teach on Wednesday and Friday mornings.  We talked about books often and her son was taught bee-keeping by my Grandfather as she lived in the same town as him. I really like her.

In addition, other crucial and integral members of staff left. It really does feel the end of an era.

 But, life moves on, despite my sadness and worry about how things will be without them. 
I have an absolute mound of presents, possibly more than I have ever received before.  Not quite sure how I am ever going to get through the chocolates!

I'll be back into school on Monday as my room is still a big mess, I didn't really end up with much time in my room today to tidy and the cleaners won't be able to do their deep clean until I have done something about it.  Tomorrow, we are going to look at a piano!

Hope all is well with you!

xx