Hi there!
Hope you had a lovely Christmas Day and St Stephen's/Boxing Day. We have just returned from my Dad's house after spending Christmas day with my sister-in-law in Essex, staying at a Premier Inn!
Today's TARDIS Tuesday is one I attempted tenuously back in July using someone else's nightclothes as I noticed they were a bit similar. It's one I wanted to do a bit better if were able to.
It's Clara's outfit from the Christmas special Last Christmas at the end of series 8.
Clara wears a full-length white cotton nightie with a high neck with pink sprigged flowers on it.
You will not believe the amount of white cotton pink floral nighties I have looked through on the internet and eBay over the year. I finally settled on this one second-hand from eBay. It is really soft and comfy although since I am tall, it's not quite maxi-length!
The second item I spent ages looking at was pale blue dressing gowns. I couldn't find anything that really matched the style of Clara's so eventually, I found a second-hand pale blue cardigan which worked.
You will notice that I didn't bother with the slippers. Whilst I could do with some new slippers, since mine were a Christmas present at least 2-3 years ago and have just developed a hole at the back (mainly where the stitching has come away between leather sole and crocheted stitching), I didn't really want to buy some that weren't perfect or some that were too expensive so I didn't bother but I do have tan sheepskin boots anyway! The final item was the Topshop coat. Mine is also Topshop and almost identical (and second hand for £8) but it has some darker patches which make it not exact!
I was planning to use some blackboards I have to draw some 'Dying!' messages onto but couldn't find the chalk!
It has been a tradition on this blog for the past few years to share, on this, the 4th Pause for Advent, the song I have composed for my children to sing at our Christmas service/performance at school each year. For me, it has become a tradition to do this- the ultimate aim being to have a complete nativity with songs to accompany each part of the story. It is an act of worship, writing a song for parts of this story which is so important to my faith, an act of giving and love to my children; to write a song especially for them and an act of creativity; to continue to use my skills as a composer and an act of fun- I love composing! I would not say that these are great songs-they are very much aimed at my audience- the children and their parents but I hope that they are a different way of approaching each aspect of the Christmas story and you find something you enjoy in it or it speaks to you in some way.
Last year's song was a joyous song, Ring out the Bells. This year, I wanted an alternative for the song, Christmas is a time to love, which we sing almost every year at the end of our performance. I wanted a more reflective song which reminds us of the true message of Christmas which is love. I also wanted to look ahead to Easter as Christmas and Easter are connected. Plus, since it was 100 years since the end of WW1 this year, I wanted to make a link to the sacrifice of the lives of many people within the song/service too. We also sang Silent Night just before this in the performance and the reader who followed it talked about the Armistice at Christmas in his talk.
Love is all you need,
Is all you need at Christmas time.
Love is what it's all about.
It leads to peace and joy.
Love is what the baby brought,
Put aside your feuds and petty thoughts.
Kindness is what we need to share,
To show our love and also show we care.
Love is all you need,
Is all you need at Christmas time.
Love is what it's all about.
It leads to peace and joy.
No greater love had man that this.
That he lay aside his life for friends.
And love each other as he loved,
The love that's freely given, the love that never ends.
Love is all you need,
Is all you need at Christmas time.
Love is what it's all about.
It leads to peace and joy.
It leads to peace and joy.
It leads to peace and joy.
I hope you enjoy it and if anyone would like a PDF of the music, just let me know, I would be happy to share it. I want to wish you all a very blessed, peaceful and merry Christmas if I don't do so again.
This would be a good Christmas Day outfit but I actually wore it on the 8th December for my orchestra's children's concert. We were asked to wear festive colours so I decided to go for it.
The dress was £3 from a charity shop, originally Monsoon. It would be good to hide a Christmas meal under! I added my Flautista red glittery heels
For festive accessories, I added my Snowflake necklace and Crown and Glory festive crown!
The big debate on how you dress your Christmas tree!! A work colleague asked me what my approach was to decorations. I like a random assortment of ornaments- tinsel, lights, hand-made decorations a plenty- I like the difference- I like noticing different decorations because they are all unique. Quite a few on my tree were handmade gifts by a friend. Faberge style eggs came from my Grandad. I get this liking for unique decorations from the way my Mum decorated our tree when I was a child. Our one here looks sparse by comparison because CBC thought it shouldn't be too dense!
Here's the one from my old church. I like how it is covered in handmade decorations from local school pupils. There are multiples of decorations but different ones.
My colleague prefers a colour scheme and a theme for her tree. This is pretty to look at but not me. It's a bit like my approach to clothing I guess.
How are you? Well, I hope.
Today's TARDIS Tuesday outfit is one of the most recognisable and cosplayed Clara Oswald outfits of them all. It is one of her many outfits from the funny episode entitled, "The Caretaker" in which the Doctor goes undercover at Clara's school.
This outfit, for me, was one of the first outfits, I absolutely longed to find the items for and cosplay it. I did a version of it a few years ago HERE.
Let's look at the inspiration!
Clara wears a Burgundy sheer-panelled blouse and a Tapestry skirt from Topshop. With it, she wears Moon collar clips from LadyBird Likes, an Etsy brand which doesn't really exist any more.
On her shoes, not seen, she wears some block-heeled shoes from Bertie. The look is smart, chic and pretty! AND, I think an excellent outfit for a Christmas party....which is exactly what I wore it for!
For me, this is one of the few Clara outfits I own where I actually own all the screen accurate items, most of which were acquired fairly cheaply in the grand scheme of Clara clothes-collecting even though it took me a long while to actually get the items at a reasonable price.
The shirt has been a surprise. I bought a size 12 from someone for about £6 I think and even though it is a material type I usually don't like wearing, the oversizing of it means I found it really comfortable. I was originally going to wear this for the Christmas performance at school but decided I would wear it at the weekend instead. The skirt is quite a funny story because I originally finally bought it in a size 10 for about £15. BUT, this skirt has absolutely no stretch in it and is incredibly fitted and I couldn't even get it over my derriere! So, I managed to acquire a size 6 version of it and I planned to make the two into one skirt. But, in the meantime, I found a size 12 and decided to avoid the faff of cutting up the two skirts. The 12 fits but not well! I had a famous photo I took where I had all three skirts at once and put them on the sofa so they looked like cushion-covers!
The next item I acquired was the Moon collar clips. These originally cost about £16-20 I think. I managed to get mine for £6 when Zoe, who sold them, was having a closing down sale- I was really pleased to get them, particularly as she doesn't make them now!
The final item was the Bertie shoes! I made a mistake with these and ended up buying the American version of my shoe size which is sadly 3 sizes too small for me so though I have the shoes, they do not fit. Haven't managed to persuade myself to sell them yet as it is nice to have the entire outfit, but I must do at some point as they are not much good to me if I can't wear them! Pity as they are very much my style of shoe! Instead, I wore some burgundy Patent Clarks heels which actually work well with this outfit!
Christmas can be a time of strong emotions: euphoria, hopefulness, joy, excitement but also disappointment, anxiety, depression, loneliness and sadness, depending on circumstances. It can be particularly hard if dealing with bereavement, conflict or just being in a really lonely place. It is a time which urges us to "Keep up with the Jones'" and all those 'perfect' adverts, pictures, films and stories which can make us feel woefully inadequate. Why is our Christmas experience not as perfect as anyone else's? Why is everyone else having more fun, more presents, more invites, more laughs, more friends, more decorations or food? We are just not perfect enough?
But the original Christmas was far from perfect!
It was hardly perfect that Governor Quirinius called for everyone to travel to their hometown at the height of Mary's pregnancy. Definitely not perfect that the toils and tribulations of that arduous journey meant that Mary and Joseph arrived so late in Bethlehem that they had to slog around all those inns and fail to find adequate accommodation. It wasn't great that Mary had to give birth in a stable without any support or suitable resources for a baby. It was a disaster that the wise men got lost nad ended up in the worst place possible- the palace of the mad despot, King Herod, who definitely didn't need to know about Jesus- that secured the death of many infants later on. It wasn't ideal that the shepherds had the life frightened out of them by the appearance of angels in the sky. It wasn't perfect that instead of returning home to a stable homelife, that Mary, Joseph and Jesus had to flee as refugees to seek sanctuary in Egypt to avoid the consequence of the wise men's less than perfect navigational skills.
But despite all this, Jesus still came, grew up, died and offered freedom to all those who believe in him. The crucifixion and the way Jesus died semed far from perfect to those who trusted and believe in him. This wasn't what the Messiah was supposed to do. He was supposed to save them, free them from the tyranny of the Roman empire, to bring freedom and the gift of life. The cross seemed a complete mess-up; incomprehensible and pointless.
But to a heart full of faith and belief, we are not called to be perfect but just to be ourselves and to know Jesus, just as we are.
For me this week, this means:
I am imperfect but I am loved.
I am grumpy and cantankerous at times, but loved.
I am exhausted but loved.
I am disappointed and disheartened in aspects of life but I am loved.
I am concerned about the future of this country and world, I am frightened of what we are doing to our Earth, but I am loved.
I have made countless mistakes (including having tantrum on a train platform after missing a train) but I am loved.
Avoid the trappings of the perfect Christmas; the need to impress or be the centre of attention and be there at the manger, surrounded by Love; knowledge of who you are and be imperfect.
This Pause was inspired by the welcome message by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in the #FollowtheStar advent study.
I shared some photos a year ago of some clever things my friend Lara made for me. You can see guerkins, spats and brussel spouts here She crochets and makes the most beautiful items including animals to order.
In the interests of supporting independent crafters and handmade items, I decided to commission her to make crochet versions of 2 of my work colleagues' pets.
Here is Monty, the Jack Russell. He is a present for my Deputy head!
And these are so cute. These are Nutmeg and Vanilla the adorable Guinea pigs belonging to my pal and fellow PPA cover teacher at school. Aren't they adorable!
Today, I met Lara to pick up these darlings, we had a lovely brunch and look at a German fair at a Garden centre. In the queue, I laughed at the meerkat in Shark suit ornament that one lady picked up. She was bemoaning the lack of shark items given the popularity of THAT shark song. (If you're not sure what I'm talking about, just look up Baby Shark on Youtube. It's old news for me because I taught that very song to my kids at least 8 years ago!). I told this lady that Lara can make animals to order and she talked to Lara who pointed out her facebook page and lo and behold, she just got a message asking about sharks! I can see my future job as Manager! Ha ha!
It's always important for your well-being to count your blessings and look for the positives in your day. For me, as a Christian, it's an essential part of my life too. At the moment, I've found school quite exhausting and difficult, especially since I haven't been particularly well all term so it is all the more important to do this when I've felt incredibly gloomy at times. So, here are some things that made me thank you and happy this week!
1. I was on the train home from a rehearsal on Thursday and got into the lift with two girls. I just knew they were Indonesian. When they got on the train, they were looking at the map a bit confusedly. I asked, "Mau ke mana?" (taking a risk as I didn't know for certain!) and the girl suddenly realised I was talking Indonesian and was delighted. We had a nice chat and I couldn't remember nearly all the Indonesian I needed.
2. Depping for a fellow flautist on Thursday to help out was a joy- playing Daphnis and Chloe by Ravel- what a joy!
3. The fact I have sorted out the wretched list of adults for the carol services at church for taking 18- kids in the morning and then the afternoon. Thank God as I was really stressing about it.
4. Friends who still care. Friends who still actively seek me out and care. I don't have a huge amount of friends who do this or I see regularly so those who do do this mean a lot to me.
5. For good old veg! CBC and I have been terribly lacking in motivation to cook these past few weeks. Our dinners haven't been hugely inspiring plus we've been out quite a lot. This pair of beetroots have been festering in the fridge for weeks. Finally, tonight, I bit the bullet and prepared ourselves a lovely tray of roasted veg and used up lots of scraps from the fridge. It felt good to be eating 8 types of veg for dinner!
6. The old adage goes, "Never work with children or animals!". As a teacher of 12 years now, I certainly experience that unpredictability which prompts the sentiment- you never quite know what you will get. But occasionally, they react in some way that just makes me smile or makes my day.
So, today, I was teaching the year 3's how to read the musical stave with the 'Every Good Boy Deserves football' phrase to remember the notes on the lines and FACE in the Space for the space notes. So far, we've just learnt the note names and tried to remember them. But today, I said, "What if there is an easier way to remember the notes." I did the Every Good Boy Deserves Football exercise first which they were all excited about but when they discovered that the spaces spelt FACE, they burst into spontaneous, raptuous applause for it, saying they couldn't believe it. I've NEVER had that reaction before- they were SO happy about it. It made me smile ALOT!
7. My hotwater bottle. My little sister bought me this for Christmas a long time ago and it has really helped this week. I've still got this rotten cough which has gone to my chest and since I've pulled a muscle in my chest from the excessive coughing, the hotwater bottle is really soothing as I sleep.
8. Delphi: My Brompton bike. I find it increasingly hard to wake up in the mornings and I am so grateful for the time that riding my bike to the station saves me. On the way home- knowing I don't have to make that long 15minute slog home in the dark but instead can zoom my way home is really a good incentive to cycle quickly!
9. Warm kitchen: Whilst we don't seem to be able to get the underfloor heating working in the living room again, the kitchen is SO cosy. I write here with my feet warmed from below. I lived in cold houses for so long that I will not take the warmth here for granted. Thank God for great insulation too!
10. For friends here who visit me and share your kindness, time and comments. You may not all be friends in 'real life' but I really appreciate you all! Thank you for coming to visit.
How are you?
Today, I thought I'd go for a classic Doctor Who look.
MY Doctor, i.e. the one I grew up with, was Sylvester McCoy,the 7th Doctor. His costume was certainly eccentric:
It consisted of a question-mark tank-top paired with a white shirt and paisley tie. The Paisley continued in a scarf with his first outfit and a casual sandy-coloured blazer. A hat with more paisley trim on it. On his bottom half,he wore brown checked trousers and some brown and white spectator brougues. And who could forget that question-mark umbrella!
Here are two close-ups I took at the Doctor Who Exhibition.
Now, this IS very costumey, so I have adapted this in a way that I could wear for school on an average Tuesday.
I picked up a question mark tanktop when I visited the Doctor Who Exhibition. I wish I actually still taught grammar,because I would definitely wear this to teach work to do with question marks!
With it, I wore my white shirt concert shirt from my teenage years which the lovely Ang embroidered with question marks for me- she also added some lovely red lining to the collar. Although Sylvester doesn't have question marks on HIS collar (these are for the 5th and 6th Doctors), I always wear it with this tank top.
My trousers are the same ones from my Saturday blog post from Joanie Clothing. I wore my men's brown Brogue shoes from Clarks too.
In the above picture, I added my sand-coloured charity-shopped trench coat and a charity-shopped paisley scarf (hard to see in this picture). I would have worn a Paisley tie too (I grabbed some of my Father-in-Law's ones when we cleared out his house for this very purpose...) but somehow, didn't get around to it that day.
What do you think? It's certainly an eccentric look but I do love my tank top! Certainly, I do think that this is the key piece to achieving the Sylvester McCoy look so I am glad I have one!
Are there any elements of this outfit that you would wear?
Here are some ideas from Zerowaste week for presents to give that won't make a bad impact on the environment. All the below comes from the Zero Waste week website. I thought I would share it here.
Subscriptions:
For an avid reader, give a subscription to a favourite digital publication or Audible for a year-round gift.
Acts of Service:
Ever wish someone would help with the cleaning, decorating, those ‘pending’ jobs that are annoying you? Why not offer to gift your time and help someone?
Charity shops:
Charity shops are full of amazing, unique finds at knock-down prices, they help to preserve resources and your money goes to a good cause – it’s a win-win
Plants
Whether it’s an interesting houseplant, a fruit bush or a tree, giving plants is a wonderful way to give a ‘greener’ gift
Give a Goat
Instead of wasting your money on festive jumpers and novelty light up gimmicks, why not give a charitable gift.
From beehives, to orchards to bicycles, radios, medical aid and education, charitable gifts can make a real difference in someone’s life. Check out organisations like ‘Send a Cow’ and Unicef.
Tickets please!
Tickets to a favourite restaurant, movie, concert or the theatre can create memories forever and much less waste than ‘things’!
Adopt an animal
Know an animal lover who is living waste free to protect animals? From dolphins to tigers you can protect some of the world’s most vulnerable animals. Organisations like the WWF send regular updates about how your donation is helping their work.
Homebaked
Home baked foods are the best. From biscuits to brownies to hot chocolate jars there are heaps of ideas on Pinterest for Christmas gifts.
Experiences
What is your friend’s greatest dream? Here are the five most popular experience gifts, according to Virgin:
Comedy night for two
View from the Shard and three course meal
Indoor skydiving!
Afternoon tea
Peaceful pamper day
Consumables
Consumables don’t create any waste at all, if you pitch it right. Give the recipient their favourite bath products, candles or chocolate.
Membership
Give annual membership to the National Trust, an art gallery, the Royal Horticultural Society or even Netflix.
Learn new skills
You’re never too old to learn something new. Enrol someone in a sewing, quilting, Amateur Radio or art class.
Even though this blog post gives ideas on what to buy, one of the most priceless gifts we can give someone is our time. With one fifth of the population saying they are always or often lonely, take the emphasis away from things and make this festive season about spending quality time with the people you love.
I confess that I always worry about writing my Pause for Advent posts. Worried that I won't be able to think of something to say, worried that it will be shunned by many of my regular readers because they don't want to read anything about my faith, worried that what I write will be confusing or a repeat of what I've written before and worried that what I say will not be meaningful. Nonetheless, I persevere and something always finds its way.
I am busy tomorrow with the carol service at my old church. It was cancelled last year because of the snow and so we are using last year's service and I am looking forward to it. I decided I wanted to have my post written and ready and not be worrying about it on Sunday night.
I was not sure what to write about and then I thought of the carol that I have taught to my year 5-6 choir this year and that I am playing with the recorder club: In dulci jubilo. This carol is one that has been sung and performed in a myriad ways- slow and pure, loud and boisterous but all with a cracking tune! Incidentally, I have made my own arrangement of it that starts with the choir and flutes and clarinets singing a drone on the note F quietly. Seperate children step forward and sing one line of the first verse slowly holding the last note. The drumming club and piano then set a new tempo building up a crescendo until the whole choir join in at a faster tempo. We sing three verses accompanied by drums. Finally, for two verses, the quartet of 2 clarinets and 2 flutes play a 4 part harmony version of the tune accompanied by 4 drum parts and the singers all join in to sing, "Oh that we were there!"
Here's the famous rock version that often plays so jubilantly in shops during the festive season. Down the bottom, you will find a more reflective version.
The lyrics are a mixture of Latin and English and the children were asking me what they meant. Some lines I could work out from my limited Latin, others I wasn't sure about.
I decided for my Pause- I would look at the words of this song and find out for sure what they mean. I found the translation here at Emmanuel Music. the translation is by Robert Lucas Pearsall.
sdsds
In dulci jubilo In quiet joy Let us our homage show. Our heart's joy reclineth In praesepio in a manger And like a bright star shineth Matris in gremio! In the mother's lap Alpha es et O! Thou art Alpha and Omega
In quiet joy! What a lovely phrase and actually for me, possibly the best line of this song. That quiet joy is something I always associated with the midnight service on Christmas eve- when it is oh so late but there we are, perhaps during prayer, perhaps at communion thinking on the holy nativity. There is something oh so magic about that quiet joy, that hushed expectation.
The idea of the joy of our hearts being in that manger- yes, that is wonderful!
Like a bright star shining in the mother's lap. Jesus being a star shining in our lives. The beginning and the end!
O Jesu parvule O tiny Jesus My heart is sore for Thee! Hear me I beseech Thee O puer optime! O best of boys My prayer, let it reach Thee O princeps gloriae! Prince of glory Trahe me post te! draw me unto thee.
From this verse, that line, My heart is sore for Thee! I feel that at many times when I am sad, when things seem so difficult. Draw me unto thee- drawing close to the Father seems so wonderful.
O patris caritas O father's caring O nati lenitas O newborn's mildness Deeply were we stained Per nostra crimina by our crimes But Thou, Thou hast gained Coelorum gaudia. heavenly joy O that we were there!
The line 'O Father's caring' made me think- I love my Dad dearly and know he cares about me a lot but since he and my mother divorced when I was 4, although we spent/spend time with my Dad, I feel the ache for that time with a Father's caring which I lacked. My half-sister has experienced this all her life and I am glad for that but wished I had done too. But my heavenly Father, whilst he does not hug me physically is there to comfort me.
Ubi sunt gaudia where be joys If that they be not there? There are angels singing Nova cantica: new songs There the bells are ringing In Regis curia at the king's court O that we were there!
This verse makes me think of all the clamour of the nativity in heaven; bells ringing, angels singing their glorias, new songs- I write new songs every year- how many new songs are sung in heaven and on earth about the birth of Jesus I wonder?
The final line came in the previous voice too: Oh that we were there. OH THAT WE WERE THERE!
To be there when Jesus was born, to be there with him in heaven, to be party to that concert of praise that runs always- that is a marvellous thought!
Here are two beautiful versions of In Dulci Jubilo. I do love this beautiful song and it has certain made me pause to think what we are really singing about when we sing this.
It's actually quite rare nowadays that I buy clothes that don't come from a second-hand source.
However, there has been something new I have wanted for such a long time.
I saw that Joanie had an Avid Reader's Club sweatshirt (and t-shirt) ages ago, possibly a year and I loved them! A lot of Joanie Clothing is made out of synthetic fabrics so I don't have anything from them except a cotton cheesecloth tomato-soup coloured dress. But this sweatshirt was mainly cotton.
However, it was quite a lot of money.
Nonetheless, every time there was a Joanie sale, I would scour the website to see if it was reduced to no avail.
A while back, a discount code was sent showing 20% off any purchase. I almost caved them but still thought the sweater was too expensive.
Finally, on that wretched Black Friday, which I usually shun, I was sent an email giving 40% discount off everything on the site and I caved. It took me about 4 days to cave- I put it in my virtual basket every day and then didn't do it. Finally I did, along with these checked trousers.
I was delighted with both! The trousers feel very much like a cross between PJs and joggers so very comfy. I wore them the day after they arrived, along with my grey Clara boots from my last post.
Finally, I added this acrylic rainbow sequin necklace from Nickatonline and I was set for a cosy Saturday - the morning spent tidying at home and coughing endlessly and the latter part spent with CBC looking for things in Southend
I do like clothing which promotes reading and when I wore it again for school on Tuesday, I received lots of smiles from both kids and staff.
A few weeks ago, I shared an image of me with some kittens from Bali and reminisced about my favourite place to meet.
Today, I am sharing another Bali photo. This one is of me again. It was April 2003 and my wonderful sister had come to visit me in Bali. She'd had a real wobbler with her boyfriend of 8 years about whether they should stay together and she thought she'd come and see me for a week in Bali.
I remember the moment she phoned me to say she was coming. I was at a rehearsal and I came out to chat to her and screamed when I heard she was coming. She was the only member of my family to come and visit me there. My Mum couldn't afford it and the rest of my family didn't really go to places like Bali.
So, on about our 2nd day, we got the Bemo (local travel like a mini bus) to Kuta, the notorious resort where the Bali bomb happened. We checked into a really nice hotel- it was so reasonable, 160,000Rp per night (about £13) but had a pool and hot water. For me, that was luxury. I stayed in 50,000Rp places.
That first day, we went shopping in Kuta. There are absolutely masses of shops, many all crammed to the brim with souvenirs- sandals hand embellished with a myriad sequins (I saw someone making some), shell covered boxes, wooden masks, bracelets galore. Then there were the 'designer shops' and then the odd department store.
We went into the latter of these whilst the sun was shining brightly.
But, this being Bali in April, it was still the rainy season and when we came out the shop, the rain had been plummeting continuously and the street in Kuta was now a river!
I, having been there the entirety of that rainy season, was used to this phenomenom but for my sister who had never been to anywhere except Europe or America, this was totally flabbergasting! She was so shocked and we giggled about the craziness of the weather.
She took this picture of me looking comically sad.
Looking at these photos, I remember those clothes:
The nice floral sarong I was bought as a present; the grey vest top which was much worn that year; the Next Birkenstock-style sandals that slowly deteriorated and were munched upon by either rats or cockroaches in the garden; I could never determine which.
We still giggle now when we remember her incredulity!
I'm writing this after a night watching The Nutcracker at our local Cinema live from the Royal Opera House. It's a really nice thing to do and actually, I enjoyed the experience on a comparable level with seeing ballets at the Opera House (this one lacking our very own conductor from our orchestra).
This week's TARDIS Tuesday features my favourite Doctor Who character, Clara Oswald and is one those iconic looks. It featured in an episode called Into The Dalek in series 8.
In this episode, her outfit consists of:
An orange satin eye-print shirt with epaulettes and sleeve ties from an obscure brand called Shalex.
A brown faux-leather jacket from River Island
High-waisted indigo denim trousers from a brand called Just Female
Double circle necklace
Brown high-heeled brogue boots from River Island.
Tan satchel from Urban Outfitters.
I have clever identifiers to thank for knowing these items- I am not sure how they do it!
I thought I'd start with trying to recreate this shot (badly). I cannot do facial expressions to imitate. Ask me to make any emotion facial expression on demand, I can do it but to mimic someone else- ach!
So let's start with that shirt. I have done this cosplay before but I used an orange Paisley-print shirt. I had a later idea to find an orange satin shirt and try and paint the eyes on using fabric paints.
So here, you can see, I found an orange silk/satin shirt (incidentally from Karen Millen, second hand if anyone is interested). The shape is surprisingly similar- it has sleeved ties, pockets on either side and epaulettes on the shoulders. But, I am not sure I can convince myself to paint eyes on it- I am scared of mucking it up and I really like the shirt. I've had it for over a year and I haven't done anything with it yet!
Let's move onto the bag. This was a lucky charity shop find. It was about £5 and although from a different shop, the shape and design is incredibly similar, it just lacking gold ends to the straps and the top strap. I grabbed it instantly!
You can see the bag a bit clearer in this photo but here I was focusing on the jeans and the shoes.
The shoes are the same ones from River Island but in a grey colour instead. When I saw someone selling them actually in my size on eBay on a random search, I submitted a cheeky £5 offer which was accepted!
My jeans are from ASOS and the shape is spot on if they are a little too short for my leg-length- they work with boots though!
You can see in this picture, that I have a double circle necklace. Mine were purchased as separate necklaces from eBay for 99p! They are really nice and delicate and I quite like wearing these
Finally, the jacket is one of those Clara items that I was adamant that I would not pay a penny more than £5 for as they are always available on second-hand sites and I just needed to bide my time to find one and my patience paid off and I did indeed find one for the desired amount. It's a really nice jacket which I like. I've always had a fondness for brown coats- don't know why but I always wanted one!
"Don't be Lasagne!"
And here you can see the whole look. It is a very comfortable outfit which I think looks stylish and put together. And though I'd like to wear the eye shirt, I think I prefer my plain orange for the moment!
What do you think of this look? Are you for the eyes or not for the eyes?
It's Advent! The time has come to prepare for the coming of Christmas.
At church this morning, we listened to the reading from Luke 1, which was about someone that we don't always immediately think of or associate with Christmas: Zechariah. It is in the same chapter as Mary learns she is to be the Mother of the Son of God. Zechariah was a priest and he was righteous and did right in the eyes of God, yet he was without a child- something which it was shameful to be in those times. He and his wife were blessed with a child after an angel spoke to Zechariah in the holy sanctuary telling him that he and Elizabeth would be blessed with a child in their old age. This child was to grow up to be John the Baptist. Zechariah didn't believe that this could happen and so was struck dumb until the moment he held his son in his arms and decreed his name would be John. (His wife Elizabeth was the one who greeted Mary with the exhortation of her being blessed which leads to Mary exclaiming the Magnificat).
Even when he was greeted by the ultimate angel of them all, Gabriel, Zechariah still didn't believe he would be a Father. But it did come true.
The story continued with a testimony from a member of the church who, it transpired, has been suffering with a great depression, anxiety and terrible thoughts for a long time. It was only his trust in God that kept him from doing something really stupid and eventually things improved for him- the dark times continue to rear their heads at times but he knew that he was loved and held and things would, and did, improve.
I think the need is to trust and have hope and faith that the things we truly want to happen, that are good for us, WILL happen. They may not happen at the time we expect them (certainly, Zechariah would have preferred a child when he was a younger man), there might be a long wait, they may not happen in exactly the way we would hope or would have imagined but the patience is eventually worth it. I have seen this happen in my life many a time and I know it has been the same for many others. And from the testimony of that young man, I do think the importance of sharing our difficulties, especially at times of the year like Christmas where feelings and difficulties can be enhanced and heightened. Anytime I have shared my difficulties with others, particularly when they prayed for me, it always helps.
Let me know if there is anything you need to share with me and I would be happy to include you in my prayers.x
