TARDIS Tuesday- The Bells of Saint John's

 I THINK I did a closet cosplay version of this (just featuring the top half) a few years ago, but apart from that, today's TARDIS Tuesday hasn't featured here since January 2018!

Image borrowed from Bimbampop.com

Image borrowed from Doctor Who TV.

This is probably one of Clara's most cosplayed looks. It's from her first episode as official companion and it's very easy to replicate!

It's an Urban Outfitters-heavy outfit with the dress, cardigan AND necklace all coming from there.

A Barbour Duralinen jacket and some All Saints Jules boots complete the look

And here's to the FINAL complete look!

First things first, this dress is SO comfy to wear. It's light and soft! 

If you remember my version of this from 6 years ago, in my new home, you might think the colours have reversed. Yes, for my dress was originally grey! Urban Outfitters made this dress in grey as well as burgundy and many Clara fans have dyed it with Dylon Tulip dye.

I acquired the dress some 6 years ago and the dye soon after and....

there they remained.

Until, step forward, Clara cosplayer extraordinaire Rosie (who has the best Clara collection out there!) and offered to dye it for me! So I sent her the dress and dye and salt plus a spare Clara top I had and she did it for me! I very much like this dress in the burgundy!

I added the same grey cardigan as Clara into this picture. Funny fact- I have had this cardigan just as long but I have never managed to find it for any photos I've worn as it's always hiding!! Again, it is comfy, soft and stretchy.

The necklace was a eBay China find- in years of yore, you could find them really easily!

My final item of note is the Barbour jacket.   I have the same jacket in a tan shade and it's a really nice, breathable light jacket as one might expect from a high-end brand like Barbour.  I like wearing this in the Spring!

And that's the outfit! 

I was back at school today after enjoying my half term.

What did I do apart from the waffle about my dad's I shared last week?

Well...

The Wednesday, I woke rather late and I headed off to the train station to make my way to Basildon to meet my friend M for a craft workshop. I went with 2 bags of vintage clothes and my bike to see if I could interest the local vintage shop in any of my pieces for sale (but grrrr, they were unexpectedly shut). Luckily, I met my friend en-route and was able to store the bags and my bike at her house. 

When we arrived in Basildon, we went to a great cafe for lunch, M's treat for my imminent birthday. I had a delicious bacon, tomato and cheese omelette with fries and generous side salad plus a chocolate milkshake!

We walked across the 'road' to the Craft Shed, a great family business which specialises in pottery painting, foam clay and all sorts of other workshops! 

It's a great space with loads of different things to do and run by a great lady, Claire and her partner.

My friend M has been there to do glass crafts as well as pottery loves it.

We were there to take part in a 'make your own clay critter' workshop.

You were given a supply of clay, shown ideas and basics of how to make your critters and then given free reign to do what you wanted!

It was so enjoyable and chilled. There were 6 of us doing the workshop and we all enjoyed seeing what each other had made.

I ended up making 3 little critters, M made 2.  Included in our £20 workshop cost is also a return visit to paint the hardened model plus it will then be glazed and we come back and collect it.

It was a great way to spend an afternoon catching up with M and even better, I discovered that Claire and I had gone to high school together- we were in the same windband, even though she was 2 years younger than me!

I will post more about this when my models are complete but it was a SUPERB place to go and I thoroughly recommend it. So reasonable too!

When I got home, I began my school reports and managed to get 7 classes done before going to bed at 1am!

The next day, I woke fairly late and then headed to the train station to get the train to Lara's as we were going to play flute trios.

Had a lovely time with her and I, although we mainly ate food and chatted with ONE flute trio, plus a game of Bananagrams and then I headed home for more reports. Again, up till 1pm.

On Friday morning, I woke up and completed the rest of my reports and then tidied and hoovered the house, plus cleaning the ensuite before packing to go to Mum's. Again, I got on that train and changed to get to hers.  As it was now rush hour, I cycled to Mum's from the station which was quite satisfying to do. At Mum's, after a cup of tea and a chat, we had a delicious dinner of Spaghetti Bolognese (delicious!) and a chocolate eclair for dessert.  We spent the evening watching TV and chatting and playing with her cats and then headed to bed.

Saturday morning, I was woken about 6am by persistent scratching at the door by Rowan. Sigh!

Mum made us a tea and we read for a bit and then showered and ate porridge.

As the weather looked very pleasant, we headed down to the seafront to have a walk.  We saw some beautiful Turnstones and Sandlings which made the trip really rather special (I will post about them) and then headed back.

At which point, CBC called to say he was back to school.

Mum dropped me at the station and I met CBC back at another station. He headed home to have a much-needed shower and snooze and then we headed out to get some lunch.

A quick look in Holland Barratts and a charity shop (I resisted even though there were some Marco Tozzi beautiful leather boots in my size, brand new!)) and then headed home.

Sunday, we woke VERY late and spent most of the day doing school work and feeling generally glad to have each other back and equally depressed at the prospect of school!

And that's my half term!

xx

dfdfdfd

Something awry

 

There was something  awry in Mum's kitchen last night as she made dinner.

Do you see it?

Let me know yes or know before looking  at the comments! Then see if you were right!

Xx

TARDIS Tuesday- Ruby Sunday

 Hi there!

Phew! It's so nice to be on holiday now and be through the grimmest term of the school year.  Actually, it hasn't been too bad, for various reasons.

On Friday night, I headed over to Kent on the train to stay with my Dad,Stepmum and Sister.  They fetched me from the very handy Ebbsfleet International Station (makes getting over to them so much easier, although there is a longer drive for them to fetch me!) and we made our way back to the house.

We enjoyed a delicious Spaghetti Bolognese and then it was time for bed after clearing up and some final marking for my sister and I!

The next morning, Dad bought me a cup of tea in bed- what a luxury! He's amazing!

Dad had to head out to Chart farm to go and collect some extra ingredients for dinner so I threw some clothes on and joined him as I wanted to visit the wonderful Eco Pantry which is housed there.  This is a great refill store which my Stepmum often picks me bits and pieces up from as they have some products which my local refill doesn't have.

I came back with dried strawberries, Shiitake crunch crisps, dried mango, Upcircle night cream, frozen peas, Mozarella Bites, lentil burgers, fudge, Vegan jelly sweeties as this was all I could fit in but they have a super range of products.  The frozen items are a unique selling point!  Dad also picked me up some sausages from the Butchers and we headed upstairs to the Three Sisters to pick us up Pain Au chocolat and Cinnamon buns for breakfast back home.  They also have a great fish stall but I didn't have room for that.

Back home, we ate our breakfast and then we headed off to Lullingstone park for a walk with Monty, the Cavapoo.  We ate lunch there- I had a bacon and sausage baguette.

Back home, some work went on out in the garden to prune the apple tree and to make soup. 

In the evening, we ordered a Chinese takeaway and my sister's boyfriend came over. It was delicious but I was really super tired- three evenings of going to bed at 1am really had caught up with me!

Sunday, we had a walk and spent a lot of the day at home.

Dinner was an amazing Barbecue Beef ribs with corn, broccoli, potato wedges and apple tart.

The next day, my sister had to go back to school.  I woke late after finally sleeping well.  The three of us walked round to the local deli to fetch some items and then we spent the day home.  In the evening, I headed to the gym with my stepmum where she had yoga and I went for a short swim.  Then I headed back to Ebbsfleet via Sis and Dad.  

Very excitingly, I headed round to my childhood bestfriend's mum's house in my old home town.  My childhood best friend was over from Denmark and I got to meet her lovely 7 year old son. It was a joy to see them, particularly her. My favourite Chinese was open so I ran in to get some Szechuan Aubergine to eat on the trains home (I've never had it anywhere else!) 

Today, I woke up and after a slow morning, headed to the local market to get some vegetables and close-to-sell-by-date pantry goods. I also visited the library where I got two books which I look forward to reading.

Oh, I suppose I had better get onto TARDIS Tuesday

Today's TARDIS Tuesday features new companion for the 15th Doctor, Ruby Sunday.  This outfit has been seen in lots of Promo photos but we've not seen it on screen yet. I had no intention of cosplaying this character (or outfit) but when I found the jumper super cheap second hand, I bought it (last year) I quite liked the idea of a cropped jumper.

My jacket came from Primark last year. I bought it with my niece when we went shopping together. It was £10 in the sale and is the only thing I have bought there in about 6 years.  I used to buy some clothes from there when I was a teenager, before lots of people shopped in there and I've never used it as a disposable fashion option- I've got items from there I genuinely love and have worn for years but now, I don't buy from there really. I'd prefer to buy things second hand. There have always been gems in there.

I couldn't find my navy blue shorts but I quite liked wearing this chambray denim skirt instead. 

I added my black Dune boots (originally from Yaz Khan cosplay) and some leggings. I had to shed the coat as I wore this to cycle to town to go to market and I boiled!!!

I love the big baggy sleeves on this jumper!

xx

Honeybee on Snowdrop

 Dad sent me to go and look at the Snowdrop patch at the end of the garden. What I didn't  bargain  for the beautiful  worker bee enjoying a foraging flight.

No more words. Just beauty.

A piano recital

 On Friday night, two weeks ago, my friend Lara and her husband came over for dinner.  CBC and I cooked salmon with diced rosemary roasted potatoes and greens with tomato, mozzarella and basil for starter and tiramisu for dessert.   We played a board game and had a lovely natter. It was really lovely to spend time with them.

Earlier in the day, Lara came to my school to tune the pianos and very kindly agreed to give a short recital to the children with compering by me (with notes provided by Lara)

It was such a great programme so I thought I'd share it here (not us playing sadly, but the pieces themselves).

I hope you enjoy the concert!

She started with a piece by Victorian composer, Cuthbert Harris, Introduction and Fugato which sounded really impressive and exciting, showing the full range of the piano and its dynamic range (e.g. how loud it can really be played). 

Once she'd played this, I introduced her and explained that she loved the piano so much that, not only was she a professional pianist but also a piano technician who fixes and tunes piano.

Next, I told the children they would be hearing a tune from a Disney film and I asked them to guess which one. Do you recognise it?

It was You've got a friend in Me from Toy Story.

They excitedly guessed correctly!

Next piece was Alfredo Casella's Carillon.  I explained that a Carillon is a set of bells that play a melody or various melodies and they are found in church and castle towers. I asked I asked the children whether the pitch of the music was mainly higher, medium or low?

The next piece was by Friedrich Bergmuller L'Orage- The Storm! I looked panicked and warned that a storm was on the way!  It was very exciting and dramatic

Afterwards, I asked the children to describe to me whether the pitch was high, medium or low.

I asked who likes horses?  I explained that horses can trot, canter or gallop and asked if they could hear the clip clop of the hooves and which tempo the horse was moving at as she then played Galop by Casella.

At this point, I joined Lara on my flute and introduced Cecilia MacDowell's Hornpipe from Six Pastiches. A Hornpipe is a dance for sailors.  I asked the older children if the time signature was three beats in a bar, which has a swaying feeling, or  two beats in a bar, which has a marching feeling. Which do you think?

Finally, we concluded with the Jazz Waltz from Suite Antique by John Rutter.  John Rutter, known best for his beautiful Christmas anthems and other beautiful choral pieces, wrote a charming suite of pieces for flute and piano or Strings and Harpsichord.  I loved these pieces as a teenager and one day, would love to perform the entire suite with the string orchestra (like CBC got his pupils to do last year, lucky things!) .

For the older children, I asked them whether the structure was 

Binary (two main contrasting sections)

or Ternary (three contrasting sections where the first and last sections are similar or the same/.

Finally, as I had been teaching the year 4 children about the harpsichord and piano and how they are different and similar, Lara took the front of the piano off so they could see the strings, the hammers and the action! There was a lot of excited gasps.

The whole thing was around 15-20minutes long and staff and pupils seemed very appreciative so I was really grateful that Lara was able to offer them such a clever and well-thought out programme

TARDIS Tuesday - Genesis of the Daleks Sarah Jane Smith

Greetings Earthlings!

Hope you are well!

This week for TARDIS Tuesday, I am returning to an outfit worn by Classic Who companion in Dalek origin story. I last wore this for a TT post in July 2021.  Not sure why I wore such a wintery outfit in the Summer, but there you are!

Let's take a look at the original

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/94786767143075869/ 

https://theultimateguidetothefashionofdoctorwho.wordpress.com/2017/01/24/sarah-jane-smith-genesis-of-the-daleks-the-snazzy-jumper-and-culottes-edition/

https://theultimateguidetothefashionofdoctorwho.wordpress.com/2017/01/23/sarah-jane-smith-genesis-of-the-daleks-coat-and-hat-edition/

And here's my version:

I wore this for church on Sunday as well as school on Monday.

Was a great cold day outfit.

The only item bought for the cosplay was the jumper which is originally from Matalan (but found on eBay for mere pounds). I saw other ones with better colour matches but this one was most similar to the pattern. Finding the original would be nigh on impossible. One of my Insta friends actually made her own one- she drafted a pattern for knitting it and knitted it. It was amazing!  She shared an image of the pattern! I was amazed she worked this out by herself!

You can see her wearing it here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb-_6ztg-na/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ohhhhvienna's cosplay account✨ (@toloswald)

Since the last time I wore this outfit, the only differences are that I wore my Clarks desert boots with red socks instead of my red spotty wellies and wore a different woolly hat!

Everything in the outfit is secondhand except my Seasalt raincoat (bought in Totnes!) and my hat which was handknitted by my Godmother.

What do you think of the original outfit.

I like it very much but I also like my copy!

xx

 

Southend Pier

Two weekends ago, my sister and her boyfriend came to stay.  We decided to head to Southend-on-Sea for the afternoon and take a trip on the pier train!

Southend pier is the largest pleasure pier in the world and extends 1.34 miles into the Thames estuary.

The Victorian era was a great time for the rise of the seaside holiday so many visitors to the coast, so relatively near to London created a demand for infastructure.

It first opened to the public in 1889 (in its current form) and the pier train opened in the early 1890's.  It was the first pier train in the country.

The pier train has played an important part of Southend's history.

In both World wars, it played a part. In WW1, ships which container German PoW's were moored on the end of it. In WW2, it was commandeered by the Navy and was closed to the public. After that time, it received many visitors from the late 40's onwards. In the 70's, there was some structural issues and there was a threat of closer, only stopped by protests. Grants were awarded and the pier was renovated with a new pier train in the 1980's.

It costs a minimum of £1 to walk on the pier. If you want the train, a one way ticket is £5.70 per adult. If you're feeling lazy or infirm, you can get a return ticket for £6.20.

We decided to take the train there and then walk back.

As we left, my musical era was delighted by the regular ostinato (repeated pattern) rhythm the train made.  The train moves fairly slowly so you can take photos as you go. I enjoyed looking at the underside of the pier at this height.

Here's the only shot I took inside. It was quite busy!

The train is a jolly green colour. Does it seem like it's smiling to you?

When you reach the other end of the pier, you can see some of the older trains including the royal carriage (the red one)

 I enjoyed the BR sign!

The seagulls were enjoying something edible on the railway line!

You can see Adventure Island behind.

It was a glorious day and this was a great activity for a sunny winter day.

At the end of the pier, there are quite a few facilities including Jamie's Italian. There are various kiosks which were all shut but I imagine, in the Summer, they house souvenirs and ice-creams.

Above, is a view from the end of the pier.

There is an RNLI centre and launchpoint at the end of the pier.  We saw one of the RNLI boats coming back in and got to watch it being winched back in.

Behind the lifeboat station, there is a great point to sit and look out to see with a large bell. Sadly, we couldn't really get to the end as there was a large amount of Twitchers/Birders who were all patiently there with vast cameras and binoculars as a Winter White Diver (or something like that) had been spotted there 2 days prior.

Lifeboat spam detailed below.

We noticed this great postbox cosy on the skinny little postbox!

Alas, we couldn't stay too long as we had to get some lunch before driving into London for a show (me and sister- Frozen. Boyfriend an CBC- De Peche mode.

I loved these three birds enjoying the halcyon day!

I recommend a visit to the pier.  It's easy to get to from Liverpool Street via the C2C or the Abellio Greater Anglia line.

I recommend a visit to Utopia cafe if you don't fancy the pier fare. It's a really quirky independent business. And if you want Fish and Chips, you are spoilt for choice!

x

Foxy skirt

I received the most wonderful late Christmas present from Lara when she came to dinner last Friday.

She'd bought me a fantastic skirt from Hell Bunny with foxes all over it! It fits really well and I wasted no time in wearing it the very next day!

In retrospect, I could have worn my fox ballet pumps and beret which match it perfectly but instead, here's what I wore.

I'll start with the top.

I love this baker boy hat bought in Totnes market which looks to be made out of old curtains.

My Swarovski heart earrings were given to me when I was 7 and acting as a bridesmaid for my Mum's second marriage.

The little tiny fox necklace was a birthday present from Lara quite a few years ago.

I love this peacock blue Cashmere polo neck jumper. I've owned this since around 2010, bought from Edinburgh Woollen Mill. I had the idea it would contrast well with the burnt orange of the skirt. Do you think it works?

Finally, you can spot my Leggero  Goretex boots and black leggings. I bought these boots in Autumn 2020 in Finale, Corbridge  and they are the best investment footwear I've ever bought. They are still going strong.

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- Victoria Waterfield from The Enemy of the World

This week, I thought I'd attempt one of my cosplans from last week's post. If you read it, I mentioned, I wanted to try and attempt some new companions from Classic Who ONLY using items I already had in my wardrobe!

It's a new companion for me, one I've not attempted before which is ex  Victoria Waterfield, who first featured in lost Dalek story, The Evil of the Daleks, is the archetypal screaming companion!  She is from the Victorian era and only about 14 years old.  In this serial, The Enemy of the World, the TARDIS lands on a beach and it transpires that the Doctor is a doppelganger for a tyranous leader.

Victoria has a cute outfit comprising of a turtle/polo neck jumper, tartan Tam O'Shanter hat, mini tartan kilt and simple shoes.

https://doctorwhoworlduk.com/victoria

www.alisonhuntertherapy.co.uk

https://theultimateguidetothefashionofdoctorwho.wordpress.com/2017/05/15/victoria-waterfield-the-enemy-of-the-world/

https://archive.org/details/doctorwhotheenemyoftheworldepisode1incolor_202003/Doctor+Who+The+Enemy+Of+The+World+Episode+1+In+Color.mp4

This colourised picture comes from a video by James Knox.  It seems to suggest Victoria's top is beige, her Tam O Shanter is purple and green/grey and her kilt similar. I only saw this picture after I wore the outfit but I'm not worried about this!

On the left is my attempt at the cosplay.  On the right is how I adapted it for attending an orchestra rehearsal.

I started with this little red wrap around tartan skirt. It was given to me by my work colleague, Deputy Head, as it didn't work for her. I tried a mustard turtle neck but it didn't look right with the colour so instead I wore this navy Esmara (Lidl) turtle neck. 

I attempted some side by sides here but with smiles! I don't suit non-smiling!

My Tam O'Shanter hat came from the Kirkwall in the Orkneys islands but is Isle of Skye tartan! In retrospect, I think my Romana tartan baker boy hat, maybe worn backwards would have looked more the part but I like this Tam better!

I couldn't be bothered to root around for ankle strap shoes so I just donned some black T-bar shoes.

For orchestra, I added navy leggings and my trusty red Clarks boots. It wasn't actually cold at all today- I didn't feel cold just wearing bare legs but this skirt is too short for that!

I am lucky that one of the clarinettists in the orchestra lives in the same town as us and she gave me a lift to the rehearsal.  Unfortunately, we'd gone about 4 miles before I realised I'd forgotten my music! Oops!!!

I'm wondering if somewhere, I've got a better polo neck top to wear (mossy green?) but I guess I'll discover that when I swap over my clothes.

In doing this, I've realised, I could probably attempt JAMIE's outfit for this episode too.  I wore this same skirt when I attempted another Jamie outfit from The Mind Robber!  Watch this space!

xxx