Checking embroidery

Just a little post here today until I have time to write a bit more.

This week, I have been in Northumberland.  As you may remember, I was supposed to go to the Cotswolds in a cottage with my Dad, Stepmum and sister.  Alas, because of my local area being in tier 2, we technically weren't allowed to share a house with Tier 1 people so we couldn't go.

As you can imagine, I felt pretty sad about this- we were really looking forward to this holiday, spending time with them, relaxing, going somewhere different- and I haven't spent any time with them since last year probably, give or a take a birthday and barbecue in July.

CBC had a really, really rotten end to the school term (if you are in the habit of prayer, please, please pray for him) and we were feeling really fed up so I suggested we just go up to Northumberland and check into a hotel (as we couldn't stay with his mum).  He agreed and the pair of us felt really excited and positive about having this plan.  We headed up on Monday morning, managed to get a good deal to stay at the Beaumont Hotel in the centre of Hexham and had a jolly couple of days.  His mum was really glad to see us even though we couldn't stay in her house. I'm especially glad we did it given that we are now going back into lockdown (except of course we will still be at school). I feel that I have given support to the hospitality industry and supported a variety of local small businesses with purchases, both Christmassy and general practical purchases and glad I had the chance to do it.

It's back to reality after tomorrow and all the anxiety about the school term and what it holds for us both. My school has been very fortunate this term in terms of COVID and I pray it continues.

I thought I'd share this outfit from last half term- I really like this checked top which I bought brand new in a charity shop this time last year- it has big old sleeves which I adore since I cannot stand any top being too tight under my arm pits or upper arms.  It's a bit big and not particularly flattering to my shape but still a really comfortable top that can be worn with trousers or, like I did in the Summer, with a mid length skirt and sandals.

I'll be back soon. I do hope you are well.

xx

 

TARDIS Tuesday- Romana from The Armageddon Factor

 This TARDIS Tuesday is one that is quite special to me- it's probably my first obvious and deliberate Doctor Who cosplay I ever did.

When I was a teenager, I began to like Doctor Who and I collected Classic Doctor Who videos.  

One of my favourite stories was the 4th Doctor adventure entitled The Armageddon Factor- it was a whole season story arc where the Doctor (and the first Time Lady travelling in the TARDIS), and Romana were searching for The Key to Time.

Romana, his companion, wore a series of amazing outfits.  My favourite look of hers was this one from the final episode of the Key to time arc.

Image borrowed from 
http://tardismusings.blogspot.com/2014/05/story-103-armageddon-factor.html 

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/208361920238884614/ 

This amazing dress was a white midi dress featuring lettuce/handkerchief hem and sleeves with points and white boots- it was so glamorous and beautiful.

Dear family friend, Norma, had offered to make me a dress for my orchestra concerts,  We always had to wear long black dresses. I asked her if she could fashion one based on Romana's dress. I believe I was 16 at the time. 

She agreed and watched the Armageddon factor with me to take notes and look at Romana's dress.

She made the dress for me which I wore.... Alas, it looked rather more Morticia Addams in black, than Romanavoratredelundar (Fred for short!) but it was so good of her to make it for me.

I hadn't worn the dress for a good few years- I found it quite restrictive to play the viola in (which is what I wore it for) and the material made me rather sweaty, so I didn't wear it for years and years but it was a lovely thing.

I thought it would be lovely to wear it for TARDIS Tuesday and indeed I have intended to wear it for a few years.  Luckily, it still fits me....just!

I would love to wear this dress in white but you know, I don't really have much call for such a glamorous, costumey white dress!

It's lovely when I wear or see things like this, that Norma made, especially now she is deceased (4 years ago this week) 

Next time I have a winter concert, I will wear it again! Oh when will that be!?

What do you think?

xx

Garden freebies

 One thing I have loved about gardening more seriously over the last few years is how people help others, share seeds, cuttings, plants and resources and how things regenerate themselves.

I thought I'd have a look at my garden to see which things were regenerated, gifted, shared etc...

Compost Bucket- someone round the corner was getting rid of 3 so I took one.

Large Water butt- my sister had an old one of my Mum's and she didn't need it anymore so gave it to me because I need more water storage.

Lime Mint plant- My Dad gave me a cutting from their plant and I still have it, 4 years on- I've passed cuttings onto others too.

Common Mint plant - My Mum took a cutting from a mint plant on a beach in Aldbeburgh many years ago and she gave me one which has regrown for several years.

Leek ends -  In Lockdown, I learnt that you can regrow a leek from the root end so I gave it a go- and it worked!  I ate the leeks a second time, even though they were a bit smaller!

Tomato plants - only one of the ones I grew from seed actually germinated.  My Mum gifted me 4 tomato plants and I picked up another one from a 'help yourself please' box on a cycle ride in May.  I've saved seeds from all of them to grow my own next year.

Raspberry canes - My Mum bought a raspberry plant from a shop in Ilford years ago.  She took canes to her new house when she got married and passed some of those subsequent canes onto me a few years ago.  They were the most abundant of all my plants this year, yielding well over 1000, if not actually nearer 1500 this year.  They were so huge she's asked me to give her one of the runners/canes when they come up again next year!

Cucumelons- although they didn't actually reach edible picking size, a friend of my Grandad's gave my Mum some cucamelon plants for both of us.

Pattypan squash plants- Sophie sent me some left over seeds which she didn't want and I managed to germinate one of them- I got 4 squashes out of it!

Runner bean plant - During my lockdown walks, I found a box of runner bean plants saying, "Free, help yourself!" - I took a bag which ended up having 4 plants in it- they grew really well and I grew lots of runner beans- there's a few left which I am allowing to dry out for seeds.

Welsh onion plants -  Mum gave me some lovely Welsh onion plants which she grew herself from seed.

Peas - I naughtily picked a couple of pea pods on a walk through a field and I grew some pea plants out of them.

Courgette plant - Mum gave me a courgette plant.

Strawberries - Again, Mum gave me most of them from her own runners.

Rhubarb -  our school gardener was throwing this one out so I took pity on it! Pity the badger keeps digging it up!

Potato plant - technically I bought a potato at some point- I planted it in a pot...

Sweet potato sprouts - in April or May, I found an old sweet potato in my cupboard which had sprouted with leaves, I carefully removed them  and put them in water and they grew roots- when they got bigger, I planted them.

Spring onions- the same trick as the Leek- I regrew some ends of bought Spring onions that would have otherwise gone into the compost- they sprout really easily!

Chive plant - Another freebie from mum.

Aloe plants- Mum had one originally back in our old house- I bought it with me when I moved.  It gave birth to lots of babies- all my bathrooms AND 2 other rooms have aloes as well as the HUGE mother in the kitchen and I donated them to friends too.

Fig tree - this was a grafted cutting from my Mum's tree which my Grandad made for me.

Chilli plants - Sophie sent me some left over seeds. I'm actually getting chillis now!

School trays -  some tray blocks were being chucked out at school so I brought home a few to use as plant trays and dishes- very happy to have saved them from landfill.

Chocolate boxes and lids -  these were being chucked out from school after they were brought in for birthdays- they also function as plant dishes.

Terracotta pots - During yet another lockdown walk, I was walking around the corner and noticed a skip with several Terracotta pots in. I knocked at the door and asked if I could take them! They agreed!

Nasturtiums -  the lovely Ann sent me some Nasturtium seeds when I couldn't find any- they grew me some lovely plants! I still have flowers now.

Money plant -  Mum had an extra money plant which I brought home with me- it has had babies!

Bergamot plant- this came from a cutting that Mum gave me which sat in water for weeks. It's now a happy plant.

Myrtle plant- also came from a cutting of Mum's.

Spade- belonged to my Grandad.

All the other plants- nearly all the plants in our garden were planted by our predecessors- they left them for us.  I've passed on a Passiflora plant to my friend too.

There's probably loads more but it's amazing how many things were gifted in my garden!

What's been a freebie in your garden?

An Autumnal posy

I've never been into being bought, or indeed buying, bunches of flowers.  I much prefer plants.  However, I've found that this year, during lockdown, I have really appreciated a small posy of handpicked flowers such as stitchwort or one of my Viburnam blooms.

One flower which grows like a weed in my garden is my Clematis Tangutica. No matter how much cut it back, it rampantly grows and takes over any trellis or space you give it, covering the fence (and this year) a dense layer of yellow bell flowers.

But, even in the Autumn, the flowers are interesting.  The seed heads end up like a rather straggly white-haired wig.  I decided to make myself an Autumn display to go in the kitchen as I love these fluffy seed-heads so much.

CBC bought a small Christmas tree in a tiny silver pot.  When it died, I saved the pot and I began putting small bits of foil and milk bottle tops in it as the small pieces can get easily lost in the compost, intending to shove them all inside a can or something.  However, the foil is great for holding these blooms in place.

I quite like the dramatic shadows underneath.

Even CBC doesn't mind this arrangement when he usually calls anything I put on the shelf, a "Clutter factory."

The purple moors of Ros Castle

 Back in August, when we were in Northumberland, CBC and I headed off to Chillingham Castle for the day.  I'd been there before when we went to meet Ellie, who used to blog. 

This time, we headed off to visit the actual Castle rather than the cattle who Ellie is the warden of.

I messaged her in Instagram to say we were heading to Chillingham and would she like to meet to briefly say HI and she responded instantly saying yes!  It was lovely to see her and meet her young son.  On our way home, CBC and I decided we needed a walk.  The heather-clad hills and fields and moors were very enticing. 

As we parked and waited for the rain to stop behind a minibus in the layby, a two men walked towards the vehicle and CBC hissed that it was Dominic Cummings!   He of Barnard Castle, flagrantly flouting the Covid rules-fame.

"Don't be silly!" I retorted, not really knowing what he looked like.

"Seriously, it's him!" CBC replied.

I still didn't believe him- it was raining and we were looking out from some very droplet-filled windows.  As we got out to put our boots on, I was determined to ascertain if it was really him.  I called out to him and asked if he could recommend which way we should go for a walk (also because they'd come from the right and we were possibly going to the left).  It actually turned out to be him- I looked it up later.  How weird to come across a notorious government adviser on a remote part of Northumberland (although his F-i-L owns Chillingham castle it seems, so perhaps not).  He was polite to me but seemed clueless about which way to walk.  Could have said something impolite to him considering how many people he's upset in England with his actions, but I wouldn't do that to a stranger, minding their own business, no matter what we might have felt, in case anyone feels like asking that question in the comments.

Anyway, I thought I'd share some photos of those spectacular purple moors.  I sent a video to my work colleague of these and she was so happy!

We climbed to the top of Ros Castle and it was glorious to see all the purple.  

TARDIS Tuesday- Yaz's outfit in Kerblam!

 Hi there! 

Hope you are well!

This week, for TARDIS Tuesday, I thought I'd attempt an outfit which I haven't tried before.  It required all items I had in my wardobe anyway.

Let's have a look at the original.

It is worn by Yaz Khan in Series 11 of Doctor Who and is in a very clever episode called Kerblam. I think this was the best episode of series 10 in a series of not-so-exciting episodes.

Here's a few photos of it.  It's hard to find any decent pictures of her outfit.

https://thedoctorwhocompanion.com/2018/11/05/doctor-who-series-11-titles-and-synopses-for-episodes-7-and-8/

https://theultimateguidetothefashionofdoctorwho.wordpress.com/2019/11/17/yasmin-khan-fantasy-wardrobe-series-12/

Screenshots by me but images belong to the BBC.

She wears a coral ribbed jumper (with scalloped hem) under a brown leather with black jeans and some grey trainers with white soles.  Her hair is worn down but with the sides up.


And here's me, side by side with Yaz.

I started with a coral-ribbed M&S jumper I picked up in Hexham in the Summer in a charity shop as I had gone to Hexham with only one jumper and it was rather chilly. When I spied it, I needed a jumper but also realised that it was rather reminiscent of Yaz's jumper. Hers is from Maison De Nimes and is rather more fitted than mine.

Other the top, I wore my brown faux-leather jacket.  It's a Clara Oswald screen-accurate one (another casualty which got snipped in poorly packaged goods, somewhat less terminally than last week's one) which I use for Yaz's jacket as it is rather similar and I'm not that into leather jackets that I really want more than one (well, two...both charity shopped)

I added my navy charity-shopped jeans and CBC's trainers- wrong colour but they have white bases- these are my size exactly.  I'm slightly confused as to what his actual school size is as he's rather a chameleon with what sizes he wears! Oh well, just means Big-foot me can steal his shoes!

Oh, and luckily, this is one hair-style I can sort of do. I've never been one of those girls that can really do hair-styles particularly well. Add to that, a very naturally wonky hair-line, I don't often get the hair right (or even bother!)

What do you think?

Style Imitating Art- Ciclotrama

Salazar has chosen this interesting installation/sculpture for SIA this week. In case you don't know the premise- one of our 3 curators chooses an artwork which anyone, who wishes to participate, creates an outfit inspired by.  It can be as literal or abstract as you wish- part of the delight and fun is hearing how people have chosen to interpret it and why when compared to their photos. 

I thought I'd let Salazar introduce this one:

Part sculpture, part art installation, this is the work of Brazillian artist Janaina Mello Landini. Her series, called Ciclotrama, consists of intertwining ropes that are unwound and twisted into elegant, delicate roots and branches. I chose this particular installation (Ciclotrama 36) because I liked the contrast between the strong gold frames and the delicate black strands of ropes, which can be interesting to interpret in an outfit. 

Here's my outfit.  

I chose to start with this golden/mustard blouse-it has interesting detailed ruffled cuffs at the neck and arms and it suggested to me, something of the golden frames that frame parts of the installation.  To add further detail to the gold, I added my Rose Gold Toms espadrilles and a vintage gold scarf pin which belonged to my Nan.  Over the top of it, I added my white embellished cardigan which, with its neck line and 3/4 length sleeves, worked well (I hope) to reveal only a little of the blouse.

I wore it with dark jeans to give a nod to the dark rope and the ceiling.

Everything in the outfit is second-hand except for the Toms shoes.

If you have something you'd like to join in with, send it to Salazar at 14shadesofgreyblog@gmail.com by tomorrow night.  You don't have to be a blogger, although it is nice to see accompanying explanation of the outfit.

What do you think?

xx

Cosy time with Mumminka

 As of midnight tonight, we are not allowed to go into the houses of anyone else in the area.  After a really lovely impromptu Friday night visit to my Mum about 3-4 weeks ago, she'd talked about me coming over to stay the night on a Friday.  Alas, it didn't happen, mainly because I was paranoid that I could inadvertently pass something onto her accidentally, but also because I was quite tired and just went home.

However, as things are changing, and I might not get to spend any time with her in the next few weeks or months, I went over there tonight.

Actually, the day has been quite a nice one.  

My year 2's, whilst they weren't all up to scratch with using the correct vocabulary that I'd been teaching them (cue gentle rant- they discovered they DID know what I was talking about when I told them they needed LOOK AT THE WALL for support, clues and guidance),  did well in their music lesson and my 3rd Year 1 class, did really well with their listening skills at listening to moods in music.  In the afternoon, I had asked a Year 5 teacher if I could give his class an extra extended music lesson during my own PPA time because they only get a lesson half as long as the other two classes and they are behind and I wanted to wrap up their work on the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra with all 3 classes and begin their proper Year 5 curriculum now.   This is a class which contains a few of the more problematic characters from last year's horror year 4 class. Whilst they are improved, they are highly unpredictable in group work situations as they cannot bear criticism of any sort, no matter how positively, constructively or gently it is given to them to help them to improve their work.  And today's task was to create their own variation on Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra theme in small groups.  I was apprehensive but it needed to be done.  But would it go well on a Friday afternoon....?

Yes, it bloomin well did! Honestly, I was SO proud of them- cooperation, they listened to and carried out the task EXACTLY as I had explained they should, their timing was immaculate, the pieces were recognizable as variations on Britten's theme, they listened to all the feedback given and didn't get stroppy, accepted it, listened to each other's music and everyone felt really good about themselves.  The LSA who was with me was utterly amazed by how well they did too! It was a really lovely ending to the week.

And then, I headed off from school (I asked permission from my Deputy) before the school gates opened (as it was my PPA time) to try and avoid the school crowds on public transport so I could get to my mum so she could avoid the traffic to collect me from the station.

I arrived to Mum's station at 16:17 which was brilliant timing and she drove me back to hers. 

I'm still quite worried about passing anything onto her so I wore my mask pretty much all the time I was with her, except when I was drinking tea and eating.

When I arrived, she put the kettle on for the ubiquitous cup of tea and we went out to the garden so she could show me how to cut down my Cucamelons to try and keep them going over winter and did the customary examination of her garden- she still has peppers, sweet potatoes, sungold tomatoes and a few other bits growing and I enjoyed seeing her Loofah plant's one large fruit.  Her lemon and satsuma trees have ripening fruit which is exciting.

We went in and exchanged items.

I decided I wanted to take her some treats in the form of useful and edible items so I had gone to Lidl opposite school and gleefully looked for things.  I brought her:

A enormous butternut squash which was on special or 69p

A gargantuan Turban squash since we both hadn't had loads of success with growing them.

A bunch of loose Beetroot as she has been pickling her own homegrown ones.

A Hereford aged Sirloin steak- she enjoys one as a real treat occasionally.

A pack of Tunnock's Caramel wafer bars.

A box of Paprika smoked crispy Yellow Split pea dried snacks from the Refill Room (bought in advance)

As well as a bag of craft papers for her and my sister.

She, in return, gave me:

A historical peasant's cap, 2 handkerchiefs and 4 Lavender bags she had made out of an old ripped shirt of CBC's that I had attempted to hack into handkerchiefs

A Scented Geranium plant.

A pair of my gardening gloves and a compost sack which I'd accidentally left with her after the great Horse Manure escapade of early September.

Some old packaging with cute bee design on  she thought I could make into cards.

After tea, we headed off to KFC with a cool bag to pick up a naughty dinner.  The lovely older lady in there was so helpful and kind and we returned home gleefully with our naughty feast.  We sat watching Pointless, chatting and enjoying each other's company at a distance.  We both really enjoyed our treat.

It was SUCH a lovely time and I felt really sad that I may not get to do this again for a while.  I love spending time with just me and my Mum.  It's nice to go round there with CBC but I really do love and prefer 1:1 time with people in general, especially my parents.  It would have been so lovely to stay round and I only wish I'd done it in the Summer holiday whilst I could and felt confident that I would not accidentally be passing on anything. (I'm pretty sure I've had Covid, back in March, but you worry about getting it again and having no obvious symptoms anyway) However, that just wasn't to be. At least I had this chance to spend a bit of time with her before the changes. I'm glad she has a bubble with my sister who lives near by her.

We had another cup of tea and then, at around 7.15pm, we left, to get my back to the station to get home.  I was fairly lucky with my first train though, because it was 4mins delayed, I missed the connection at the other train station (there's a 400m walk/cycle between the stations) and had to wait 20minutes.  

I got home to find CBC conked out on the sofa.  He's still there now. I can hear snoring from downstairs!  I've done some useful putting away and washing and now I'm off to bed.

Night, night!x

TARDIS Tuesday- Clara's Teacher chic from 'In the forest of the night'

 Tonight, for TARDIS Tuesday, I am sharing a look I can't believe I haven't ever shared for this dressing up challenge! I've had the item in question  for years!  

Here's the look:

Image borrowed from ClaraOswaldcosplay.com

In the episode entitled 'In the forest of the Night', Clara takes some of her students for a sleepover at the museum with boyfriend and fellow teacher, Danny Pink.  She wears a casual outfit for most of the episode. But, we get a flashback to earlier when Clara is marking some work.  She is wearing a black polka dot top with a white collar and some gold bracelets.  Her top is from River Island.

And here's me:

I decided to recreate the picture.  

I found this same top about 2 years ago for about £4 on eBay second hand.  Alas, when it arrived in the post, it was in a brown paper envelope which was absolutely stuffed and had the edges reinforced with sellotape.  I absolutely could not open it so had to cut into it with a pair of scissors.  To my dismay, I'd made a massive cut into the bottom half of the top meaning it needed mending.  It took me 2 years to do something about it- my sister offered to sew it up with her sewing machine which she did in lockdown.  She returned it to me fairly recently.

We don't actually know what Clara wears on her lower half as it really is only a short scene but I really liked the look of this top so I decided to buy it- you know I love a collar!  In reality, I wore teal fitted trousers and grey shoes but on my way home from work, the rain was plummeting down like an avalanche and I was completely soaked, in addition to being completely dowsed in water as I cycled by a car splashing me with a massive puddle.  So you don't get to see the trousers as they were sodden and had been discarded at this point! 

This is a great teacher look.  I didn't wear all the bracelet ring assortments though I do have a couple of gifted bracelets from children but since I tidied away all my jewellery- I can't find them!

What do you think?

x

Recently...

 Eating:

- Amazing Turkish meal in Rye called Layla Meze.  The starters were delicious and the main Moussaka with accompanying salad was wonderful!

- Runner beans, runner beans, runner beans and ..... runner beans!

- The last of the home grown tomatoes that didn't go manky due to blight, accompanied by.... runner beans and some lovely Lidl Prawn and Crab raviolli.

- Allllll the Miniature Heroes at work this morning after a colleague's birthday.

Drinking:

- Lots of tea- found an old big box from when we moved house 2.75 years ago with lots of unopened tea leaves.  Yes, they are super out of date but I've mixed them in with some current tealeaves so they won't be wasted.  There's also Chai and Green tea which I will try to work my way through.

- Milk- the nursery kids aren't drinking all their milk and there's too much excess- we're trying to give some to other kids but there's still an excess so I have taken to drinking a carton of milk every two days to use some that might go out of date

Walking/Exercising:

14+ miles from Rye to Pett and back.  I ached in so many places after it and I still do!

Buying:

A few cosplay purchases that I probably didn't need but one was a big unexpected bargain!

Picking:

My first Pattypan squash and pepper as well as some French and Runner beans , lettuce and some of the last raspberries.

Reading:

'When the adults change, everything changes' by Paul Dix for school CPD.  Plus A Cake for the Gestapo by Jacqueline King which is set on Jersey- well writte..  Now just about to start 'Miss what does Incomprehensible mean?' which Ang sent once I've read the Essex Wildlife Trust and Crisis magazines.

Singing:

'Uncle Tom had a chest, chest, chest with Year 1 way too many times.

Playing:

Waaaaay too much Scrabble Go (but I WON one of the challenge leagues out of everyone and earnt myself 900 trophies!) 

Erik Satie's Gnossieme which CBC left open on the piano.

Watching:

• All Creatures Great and Small
• The Yorkshire vet
• Neighbours
• Friends series 8 and 9
• Torchwood- children of Earth
• The Great British Bake off

Hoping:

That my holiday cottage in the Cotswolds for Half term won't be cancelled because of lockdowns...

What about you recently?

xx

Hues of Blues

I've always thought of Turquoise and teal as shades of blue but lots of people see them as green.  I suppose they are sort of greeny. What do you think?

This dress, I see as blue.  It came from a charity shop in Sheffield via Lorelai, the maker of the earrings I am wearing (see below)  It fits perfectly due to the ruching at the back- why don't more clothes have ruching?

I couldn't believe how well it matched my Esoteric London necklace and my Lorelai earrings. 

I wore it here with a black charity-shopped Monsoon cardigan and some black leggings.

I also 'borrowed' CBC's tan brogue boots to wear for this photo. Hey, I paid for them so that's ok, isn't it?  He often nicks my more manly shoes to wear (and my "crocs" for going in the garden!) 

Have you had a good weekend?  I hope so.  I had some fun yesterday.  Today was more of a mundane tasks day but lots of rest also. Much needed!

Love to you and yours.

xx

 

A delicious Vegan meal

Two weeks before Lockdown began, back in March, when I was in my mad busy month of concerts, I got a lift with my work colleague who lives in Walthamstow.  I had a rehearsal for Forest Philharmonic orchestra who rehearse in Walthamstow but it's a right pain to get to by Public transport from my school so I went early with my colleague so I could get a lift.  She dropped me off on the main road so I could go and seek somewhere to get some dinner whilst I waited.  

I walked up and down the long road, looking at menus, trying to find something reasonable but healthy but different.

Eventually, I settled on a cafe (wish I could remember the name) which had a HUGE menu.

The dish I chose was an Aubergine and tofu in batter stack, served with spinach.

When it arrived, I was delighted!  It was utterly delicious!!!! 

I vowed that I would return to this cafe before my next rehearsal to eat this again...or try another item from a highly interesting menu.

Then lockdown happened, the rehearsals and concert were cancelled.

One day, I will return!

The Tapemeasure saga

 Why is it that a miscellaneous item sits around in your house for months and the moment you want it, it goes missing!?

I have been in discussion with one of my fellow Clara Oswald fans to swap one of our items.  She has a spare of a dress I don't have (but that can be adjusted in size apparently) but really want.  I have a white, easily-dyed dress which she has in the original navy blue but is too small for her so she wants a larger one- which mine is.

She asked if I could measure the bust for her to check it was adequate for her, size-wise.  I agreed but the tape measure, which had been so prominently placed all though lockdown, was no where to be seen.  

It was really annoying. I asked a couple of colleagues if I could borrow a tape measure.  One of them brought one into school for me borrow as her son has recently started sewing (I love the idea of this son- he is a musician, loves Doctor Who and sewing!).  I dropped it into my cycling pannier, closed it and then headed off to the supermarket- I put shopping in on top and other things later on and went home.

When I got home, I didn't get around to taking it out to measure as it was a busy evening so the next evening, I went to get it out.  

It was nowhere to be seen. I was utterly perplexed.  I KNOW it hadn't dropped out anywhere- I know I hadn't taken anything out.  I searched all the rooms that I might have gone in but it was an utter mystery!
Rosie found this hilarious when I told her- she said that this often happens to her- she can't find any tape measures.

The weekend went by and I hadn't managed to find the tape measure.  I shamefacedly told my colleague and another one who laughed and said it was "Vintage Kerenza.  Remember when you first started teaching and you were always losing your memory stick case.".  The owner of the tape measure said it was fine and that she had loads but I was so ashamed.

Fast forward a week later.  I was out in the garden and was watering my plants. 

Over in the old school tray with the pepper plants was a Super Noodle pot which I usually save my used tea-bags in at school so I can bring them home to rip open and compost.  In it, was a slightly squishy apple that I'd decided I needed to compost but I'd left the tea bags to dry out before ripping open.  

I took the tea bags out and the apple- and there, beneath the pile, was the tape measure!  

Somehow, I'd managed to throw it into the cup and not noticed and somehow put an apple and tea bags on top. ?????????

Rosie was highly amused by this.  

Until today, when she told me all her tape measures had gone missing!??!?!?!

Style Imitating Art- The Bouquet of Flowers

 Morning Chaps!

If you haven't seen my incredibly sneaky garment disguising for this week's TARDIS Tuesday, head back one post to see it!

Today, I am joining in with Style Imitating Art with Kim at Fierce Fashion Blog.

https://www.wikiart.org/en/odilon-redon/bouquet-of-wild-flowers-1

She chose the painting, Bouquet of Flowers by Odilen Redin.

https://www.wikiart.org/en/odilon-redon/bouquet-of-wild-flowers-1

I thought this was really pretty.  Kim chose it for its AUTUMNAL colours.  However, my interpretation doesn't really focus on that but instead of the florals, the individual colours that pop and the blue case and background.

Here's my outfit:

Confession:  this is a serendipitous outfit rather than one I deliberately chose for this week's challenge.  I wore it for work on Monday and when I saw Salazar's outfit, it prompted me to look down at my own outfit and realise that actually, I had subconsciously dressed for the inspiration.

Why?

Well, as several work colleagues and children told me, my balloon-sleeved floral blouse (charity shopped H&M designed collaboration), was really striking and with its blue background, it matches the vase nicely.  The flowers do feature some of the flower colours from the inspiration.  Black trousers may not be really a big colour from the painting but there are definitely some shadows and dark centres in there.

And the 'stuff' (in the words of Sheila)...

Well- I think the red flowers are a great pop in the painting and my Red or Dead shoes which have returned newly polished and with new and mended straps from the cobbler perhaps make a nod to that. They are much brighter in real life than this dull picture.

Can you see my little Daisy studs?  Finally, the white circular necklace has some pretty white filligree and the frothy white flowers are quite prominent in the picture.

What do you think?

Head over to Kim on Wednesday to see how everyone else interpreted it.

TARDIS Tuesday- 1 dress 3 days- Yaz Khan Can You hear me outfit

For TARDIS Tuesday this week, I thought I would share an outfit worn by my favourite current companion in Doctor Who- Yasmine Khan- AKA Yaz.

The outfit in question is worn by her in the most recent series- series 12 and in an episode called Can you Hear Me?  We learn that Yaz was bullied and ran away as a teenager and a police officer is the one who helps her to know that things get better- perhaps inspiring Yaz to be a Police Officer herself.

It is very hard to find good images of the whole outfit.

Here are the ones I can find:

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-02-09/doctor-who-can-you-hear-me-questions/

https://theultimateguidetothefashionofdoctorwho.wordpress.com/2020/02/25/yasmin-khan-can-you-hear-me/

https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/sonya-khan

And these are the best screen shots I could get:

Screenshots taken by me but original images owned by the BBC.

The outfit features:

• Blue and Indigo and white Ikat top/blouse with tie-hem. (original shop unknown and believe me, I have tried to find it!) 
• Black leather jacket with lapels and quilting (All Saints)
• A blue top worn underneath
• Black or navy fitted jeans/trousers
• Trainers
• Alex Monroe Posy Loop Necklace- available here

What attracted me to this outfit was the beautiful ikat-patterned top.  I recognised this pattern as ikat as it is a weaving technique used in Bali where I lived for a year.  And of course, the beautiful Alex Monroe necklace that I adore!

And here's my version:

Let's start with my 'top'.   As mentioned, I have searched to see if I can ID where this top is from. After all, an ikat tie-bottomed top should be easy to find, right?  Wrong- I can't find it!  The nearest contenders come from Joie, Toast and vintage Indian silk items!

My 'top' has a similarish Ikat look to it.  Underneath, I'm wearing a blue vest top from Primark I've had for a few years.  I'm wearing a George @ Asda faux-leather jacket I picked up for £2 from a charity shop and I used for various Clara Oswald outfits.

Image from  Alex Monroe

Here is the real Alex Monroe necklace (Sigh!!!! It is so pretty!!!! Featuring my beloved bees and daisies.  But expensive!) 

Instead of that, I wore a vintage Abalone shell loop earring on a necklace chain which I picked up from a church craft charity fair about 20 years ago.

The trousers are my black trousers that always feature in TARDIS Tuesdays which need black fitted trousers along with CBC's very comfortable trainers.

I kept saying, 'top'- didn't I?

Well, it's not a top!  It's actually a maxi-dress from East!!! I was searching for an Anokhi Indian blockprint dress from East that I had admired on eBay and in the search, I saw this dress for £3 in the search list (it's not Anokhi, just East) and thought, "Hmmmm, that looks a bit Ikat... wonder if I could convert it...?"

Actually, Ang Almond is responsible for me thinking like this as she recently posted about accidentally wearing her dress backwards for church and I commented that I had done the same with several dresses but deliberately to achieve a different look! It must have stayed in my mind that very same day, when serendipitously faced with the dress.

When it arrived (£5.90 inc postage), I tried putting it on backwards so the high neck was at the front and then tied up the skirt at the front and it kind of worked.

Want to see what it really looks like?

Here it is worn backwards....

And here it is worn the correct way round!

Would you have even guessed it was a dress, let alone a Maxi dress?

What do you think?

P.S. If you can work out where the real top is from, I would love you forever!  So pretty!

xxx

Garden SOS

A couple of weeks ago, we unexpectedly dropped round to our friend N's house.   He and CBC used to live next door to where he lives now, in a house share.  They lived next door to our friend B, who then moved out and sold the house to N.  All very incestuous!

N was very pleased to see us as he'd been feeling unwell and had had a COVID test which he'd got a negative result for the day before we came round so had been bereft of company.

We came in and had a chat, all on various sitting items (me on a pouffe!) with the backdoor open.

CBC and N decided to have a game of Grand Prix racing on the TV, at which point, I decided that I did not want to watch.  Instead, I was looking out at N's garden which was looking very dodgy.  He'd had a gardening party 2 years before in which we'd completely cut back overgrown ivy and other plants and sorted out.  It looked really rather awful with weeds every where, Ivy pulling down the fence, bindweed wrapped around everything and generally overgrown.

I knew I didn't want to stay stuck inside- it was the last sunny weekend and we'd originally been on our way to Kent for the day when the awful traffic made us rethink our plans.  I decided to give N's garden a tidy up.  

I borrowed a pair of secateurs and gloves and the wheelie and set to work.

Before

 An hour or so of ruthless hacking later, including standing on  patio chair on one leg with my head in the trees, the wheelie was full.

And that was much better.  It may not look much different, but believe me, the AMOUNT of ivy on the left and foliage at the top was immense.

N was super chuffed and amazed I had achieved so much alone in an hour and a half.  At that point, they finally decided to go and enjoy the last good weather and we went and got fish and chips to eat in the park after a walk.

I am so glad I got out there and did that.  Even the next door neighbour, the joint owner of the pulled down fence, came out to comment, gratefully.