The day of three dresses

I mentioned meeting my friend Margaret on Monday for a walk and lunch. I'd been planning to cycle to meet her and then leaving the bike at her house. I dressed suitably for a sunny day and for cycling, wearing a white t-shirt and 3/4-length linen culottes/trousers plus Dr Martens desert boots and socks.  However, I ended up not cycling.  As I started walking from the station, it became apparent to me that the elastic in my linen trousers' waist had either broken or melted or something because the trousers felt really loose or saggy. Sufficed to say after 3.5 miles of walking with M, I was getting reaaaaaaaaaaaaally annoyed with my trousers.  After we had had a delicious lunch at a cafe we like (Sweet potato rosti and a Strawberry/mango/apple smoothie), we had a quick look in a couple of the independent shops in that town.  They had this pale blue linen dress with a Monstera leaf print hanging up in the entrance of one of the shops and I made the mistake of trying it on. I really liked it and unusally for me, because I don't usually buy brand new clothes on impulse, I ended up buying it and wearing it- it was so much nicer than the saggy linen trousers (not sure what to do to fix the elastic in them) and is a good length for tall me!

I went to M&S to have a quick look (as I was thinking of buying some new underwear) and saw this pretty, thin cotton dress.  Again, unusually for me, it being new, I bought it, though I may take it back...what do you think of it?  The print is a bit more vibrant than it looks in this picture.

Before I had gone into M&S, I had paid a visit to Barnado's. I found this beautiful green linen dress.  I love it. It fits really well but is hugely comfortable, has pockets and was only £5!

It is CBC's and my anniversary this week, so may just wear one of these if we go out for dinner!

xx

Waffle and happy things

 Today, I wore my Cath Kidston train dress for school because I am teaching Year 1 some activities connected to trains. (I taught the other two classes on Tuesday and sadly missed thinking of this!). I didn't say anything but wondered if any child would notice. Lo and behold, a cute boy put his hand up and pointed out we were doing train rhythms and I was wearing a train dress.  He was rewarded with a Dojo point for that!

For aforementioned train lesson, I usually use a tub of whistles for one of the rhythms. I originally got them when I worked at the Royal Academy of Music.  We had our Christmas party in 2006 and we had those crackers with musical tuned whistles in them (imagine some of the finest music professors in this country playing tunes on them- it was brilliant!).  At the end, when everyone left, they just left their whistles on the tables so naturally, me thinking I was going to be a teacher, I grabbed them- about 38 of them.  Every year subsequently, I used them for this train lesson.  Unfortunately, in the whole big music room becoming a classroom, they have completely gone AWOL. I strongly suspect they are in the cupboard in the hall and are stuck behind the partition as they don't seem to be anywhere else.  I wandered over to Home Bargains opposite school on Monday night to see if I could find any alternative whistles. What I found was packs of 6 Party horns for £1. I bought 3 packs and took them back.  They worked REALLY well, the kids loved them and they were easy to dip in a tub of Dettol so that I could clean them between groups of 7 kids using them.

I've been harvesting SO much Rocket from my Raised Bed. I've been sharing it with colleagues and friends and everyone has been raving about it. I've been eating it for about 7 weeks now.  It's massive!!!

Last week, I picked the first of the Strawberries. A week later, I've already picked over 150 strawberries. Today, I picked the first blueberries.

Sunday, I took CBC for a walk around the field behind our house (it's a nice circular mile (and a bit) walk. Happily, I noticed a cherry tree in the boundary between the field and railway line and managed to pick about 45 cherries.  Then, as we walked along the street adjoining ours, I noticed a cherry tree in the flats carpark that it is clear no one gives a stuff about picking cherries from (they were all over the ground). I picked a load here too.

15 sticks of Rhubarb on Sunday too.

My perpetual spinach seems to have bolted and gone to seed but I just keep cutting the stalks and eating them and it keeps growing.

More COOP bargains this week. On Saturday night, I ended up having to go to the COOP at 9.45pm again as we were making Dhal and had no coconut milk. Again, was a fridge full of bargains. I got a litre carton of Hemp and Oat milk for 15p, a bag of chillis for 17p, 2 bags of Tender Steam broccoli for 56p each, a Large Chocolate Trifle for 68p (at least 4 large servings), a large tub of tomato soup for 48p. Then, Monday night, when I went to Home Bargains, I walked past the fridge and got a Chicken, bacon and pasta layered salad for 10p, a Ginster's Beef pasty for 10p, a Ham and Cheese roll for 10p and a bag of mixed salad for 10p! Bargains!

Because of the train strikes, I had to come home early and I had a lovely sit down on my swing seat in the garden with a pot of tea and some crisps. It was a delight. Also, because I JUST missed the connection train at my interchange and had to wait 25minutes, had a nice little mooch round the posh charity shop by the station. It was lovely! Came home with a lovely &Other Stories dress and a Monsoon top and a solid pair of Maracas for school! Didn't need them but it made a grumpy wait pleasant.

I appointed some kids as Logistics Managers for choir. Their job is to move all the tables and set up the chairs as it was becoming a real bind me trying to do it alone.  The funny thing is, they take their job very seriously, and when I was getting cross with children chatting in choir, they came up with a seating plan for the kids and a strike system for bad behaviour and are totally bossing it with making me not the big bad wolf.  They literally don't care what the other kids think of them and it is really funny!

We didn't end up going to Somerset at the weekend as CBC got Covid last week but luckily, he's been pretty ok with it and I have remained free of it! I was thankful for a weekend at home.

Last week, we had been to see Jacob Collier at Brixton Academy (I DO NOT LIKE BIG CROWDED CONCERTS). It was actually brilliant though and we even got to see Stormzy who came on as a guest and duetted on a wonderful song about faith.

After I went to see Newen Afrobeats a few weeks ago, I played Seun Kuti and some Afrobeats music to the kids and all the teachers were really enthused by it! 

Here endeth the waffle.

xx

Bank Holiday weekend

Ah, the British Bank holiday weekend! A free day to do what you want as well as your weekend- such a treat! The May Bank holiday is the best one in my opinion- generally because all over bank holidays come in my school holidays anyway so it's a real joy to have an unexpected day off!

What did I do with mine?

Well, Saturday morning, CBC and I got up and had some cereal and watered the garden.  I sorted some washing and then suggested to CBC that we drive to Maldon for some lunch, a little look at the shops and perhaps a walk. He agreed but then proceeded to faff in the garden for a while, picking dandelions as well as us putting up some new Trellis for the purple Clematis which has ripped the inferior quality metal ones off for the past 2 years.

Finally, we were on our way and headed to Maldon.  We parked in the main car park (despite the Plumberow school having free parking on a Saturday....) and then headed to Mrs Salisbury for lunch.  Alas, there was a big queue. I suggested that we should wait as they had a garden.  CBC told me they didn't have a garden and only had the courtyard passageway so he suggested we head to the river to go and have lunch on the boat which is a tearoom.  We walked down and I regretted the absolute bag of bricks I had (which was a large selection of containers to visit Maldon's newish Zerowaste shop) as it was much further than I thought it was.

When we reached the boat, we had to wait a little while for a time (and watched a pair of Starlings steal sugar cubes from a table!) When we got on board the boat, we discovered (from the menu), that they had stopped serving lunch 10 minutes ago so we went back to town.

We phoned Mrs Salisbury's to see how the queue was and they said there was a queue but they were confident we wouldn't have to wait too long. I headed off at top speed to secure my place in the queue whilst CBC thought of his stomach and headed off to the bakery for a snack.  Luckily, I did go ahead as there were 4 people behind by the time CBC arrived.

Happily, we got a table in their lovely, HUGE, spacious, walled garden (I was right!) and ordered.

I ordered a chocolate milkshake and a cheese, ham and tomato omelette and we decided to share a pot of tea as well.   CBC grabbed himself a blanket and we played Bananagrams whilst we waited for food and filmed a little video for Lara and Tim as Mrs Salisbury is their favourite establishment to have lunch in as a treat. The food and drink was lovely and Mrs Salisbury herself is really kind and efficient.

After that, I headed off to have a quick peek into the charity shops. I ended up buying 2 copies of Eva Ibbotson's 'Journey to the River Sea' for my little sister for 25p a piece (she studies it with her Year 6 children but only had 2 copies in her school so I've been buying copies for her in charity shops whenever I see them- I think I've got her 8 copies in total so far!)

I also bought a pretty white cotton sleeveless shell top and an Indian vintage top/kaftan

The Zerowaste shop is called Silo Refillery and I managed to get some great things from there: that I don't usually get in my regular refill shops:

• NOODLES! First time I've seen those in a refill shop
• Washing Powder
• Crisps
• Body lotion
• Vegan jelly sweets
• Licorice wands
• And also:
• Washing up Liquid
• Sesi shower gel.
• Recycled toilet roll
• English Tea blend leaves (finally finished the 7 year old tea leaves!) 

I then met CBC (who'd had a happy spree in 'the best WHSmith') and we headed home. 

For dinner, we decided to have another treat and went (with our usual containers) to the Chinese takeaway.

The next morning, CBC and I got up at 7.30ish and I left the house at 8.10am (impressive for me!) as CBC's work colleague arrived for a 90mile cycle with him. Smug that I left before him.

I got the rail replacement bus to Southend and then cycled towards Southend Central c2c station. I had about 20min to spare before the connecting train so I headed to the excellent greengrocer near the station and phoned my mum to ask if she wanted any plastic-free loose veg.  I filled a large bag (my own) with 4 broccoli, 7 cucumbers, 5 satsumas, 5 peaches, 4 monster Braeburn apples, a bunch of bananas for her (all that for £8) and headed to get the train.

When I reached Mum's station, disaster struck as I tried to carry my bike down the stairs with the large bag of veg in the top.  It was top heavy and the entire lot toppled down the stairs! Noooooo!  Managed to get it all back in my pannier and headed outside to meet Mum.

When I got to hers, we had a lovely potter round her garden to look at what was new and had a MUCH needed cup of tea (I had headed out without breakfast to make the rail replacement) and a brownie.  It was so nice and sunny! She mended a top I'd brought a long (seam had frayed) and we had a nice leisurely chat. She was delighted with the fruit and veg and said she'd cut up the fruit and freeze it for her smooothies in case any was damaged. I ended up going home with 4 of the cucumbers as I'd told her they were mini cucumbers (they were 7 for £1) but they were actually fairly large!) and 2 Broccoli.

At which point, my sister arrived and picked us up (masked up) in her car to take us to Leigh on Sea where we all visited the Refill room.  My sister filled THE MOST ENORMOUS jar with pasta. I stocked up on coffee for CBC, Pistachios for CBC, Vegan garlic and herb cheese (made of Cashews- delicious!) shower gel, Branflakes, Farfale pasta, cleaning spray Dhal Yellow Split peas and a few other bits.  My sister paid for my shopping as she'd thought she'd bought me a voucher for the Refill Room for my birthday but it turned out the process never checked out so she decided to pay for my shopping instead! No objection from me, even if £20 of it was on CBC stuff! We then headed to Stop the World Cafe for lunch.  We braved the front bench that was not under the awning as it was the only available table and proceeded to get drenched as it started to rain.  Luckily, a table under the awning came up but we were FREEZING!
 

I ended up wearing my Buff round my head. It was so cold! We all had a breakfast- mine was the veggie one with the mushrooms substituted for a sausage.  I then bought them both cake.  It was the FIRST time it has just been the 3 of us without my niece or anyone else for about 10 years! We all loved it!

We ended up having a look in a nearby charity shop.  My sister ended up buying a few things for my niece and naughty me ended up buying a complete Summer outfit! I think I'd given up on my  1 item challenge in April since I'd already failed at it (Will go back to it!_)

At this point, I was planning to cycle back along the seafront all the way to Southend to catch the train back but my sister offered to drive me home (I think we were all enjoying each other's company so much!) .

CBC had just arrived back when I got back and we all drank tea in the garden.  Thankfully the rain had stopped. Mum and my sister headed off home (they live in the same town) and then CBC and I decided to read together under a blanket on the sofa as it was turning cold.

For dinner, we ate left over Chinese.

On Monday, CBC and I spent most of the day doing chores and doing some reading.

I managed to clear up a few annoying piles of clothes in the bedroom.

It had been a lovely bank holiday weekend with lots of enjoyment.

xx 

The Buyer's Archive March 2016

I have wanted to join in with this for a while. I love having a nosey when Donna, Janet and Elise do this. (Elise is the brains behind this brilliant idea!!!)  I haven't got my act together to do it and also, dreaded having to see what I had wasted my money on!! I keep meaning to STOP buying clothes but I don't seem to have stopped! Last month (February) I was terrible with my birthday purchases! Luckily, I forgot to take pictures, so you can't see the guilty list! I think if I publish this, the mere guilt of it will hopefully deter me from buying too much!

Anyway, this month's purchases all came from charity shops.  I haven't included accessories because I can't remember what I bought when! But there were a few brooches too, most of which were less than £1!!!

The first was this brand new Jasper Conran at Debenhams top, bought for £3.50 at Mind in Maldon.
I loved the scalloped frilly er-lines and I thought I'd like a purple top.  A lot of the long-sleeved tops, that are not jumpers, that I own, are rather scruffy or faded.  I didn't try it on but it fits ok.

 This Monsoon Striped knitted dress was also from Mind, Maldon and cost £3.99. A frustrating example of, 'Should have tried it on'- the shape is not flattering to me as it clings to the bottom half which is not a good look for me.  I don't live near Maldon, nor drive, so it's unlikely I would be able to get back in time to take this back.  I like the little knitted brooch feature and stripes but this is one I will be passing on!

 The next item was from Helen Rollason Cancer Care and cost £3.99. It was also brand new with tags. I was rather excited to find this as I wanted a knitted checked skirt like this for a Clara Oswald cosplay for TARDIS Tuesday. It fits really well and is rather flattering. Result!!

 The penultimate item was £1.99 from Barnados and is a Dorothy Perkins heart-print skirt. I really love this one- it has POCKETS ladies!  It fits very well and it is a nice shade of orange, which I liked.

 The final item was this adorable Topshop sailor jumper which was a bit more steep at £7.99.  I am afraid that my heart leaps when I see a sailor item of clothing and despite it being a size 6, I had to have it. The fit is great and it is a good early Spring jumper.

All in all, I spent £20.96.  I didn't NEED any of these items, so I shouldn't have bought any, but at least I spent less than last month (by about £100)!!! It's a shame about the stripy dress, but I hope I can pass it on.

What have you bought this month?

I am joining in the Buyer's archive with Elise (the founder and brain child of this along with Donna, Charlotte and Janet, Hazel and Lucy)

xx

Charity shop purchases October 2015

Hello there!


I thought I'd share some charity shop purchases I made recently  as I know we all like sharing these!



I only need TWO more books in the Railway Detective series (I think 'Iron Horse' is the only one I lack!) so I was thrilled to find the Silver Locomotive Mystery in the St Lukes Hospice shop.  I also found the 'Five Dead Canaries' in his WW1 series too (I've read one of these), so I look forward to reading more of Edward Marston.





When I went to Barter Books in Alnwick, I bought an amazing book called 'The Moving Toyshop' by Edmund Crispin (I love the fact they have a section called 'Whodunnits' there!) which was a Whodunnit with an Oxford professor, Gervaise Phinn as the 'detective'.  I assumed it was a one-off book so I was chuffed to find two more books (plus the original one) in a charity shop. I decided to buy all three so I'd have them in the same edition- I'll donate my other one!



I saw this jewellery hanger in Oxfam and I thought it was a better way to hang my necklaces- I swapped from my Cork board recently to a 3 hook hanger which isn't great as I don't fancy sifting through my necklaces. It may also not work but at least there are more ways of seperating the necklaces than my current flawed system.



I love wearing leggings with dresses because they don't have the sag factor like tights, slightly more substantial, better for shorter dresses but I don't like the join between shoe/sock and legging, so I've been wearing black leg warmers with my Doc Marten boots a lot over the past couple of weeks, it's really  really cosy, so I saw a pair of Cinderella legwarmers (interesting brand name- would you have chosen Cinderella as your model for leg warmers!??) and picked them up.


 
I've not heard of the brand but I liked this light-weight long-length cardigan made of fine cotton and cashmere blend. So many cardies in shops are made of Viscose or horrid man-made fabrics so it was nice to discover something made mainly of cotton.



I know when you see these, you'll say, "Of course you wouldn't have left the cute brooches behind, Kezzie!", but in all honesty, I was going to leave behing the brooches because I have plenty and sincerely don't need anymore BUT, my orchestra is doing a children's concert in a couple of weeks with one of our main pieces as a narrated version of the Owl and the Pussycat and I just thought how cute these might look on my lapels or dress as I play!  They strongly remind me of jewellery by Les Nereides, a very expensive jewellery brand I saw in Dubrovnik.  They were £1.50 each, so I figured that I hope I wasn't being too naughty!

When I was about 8, a family friend gave me two books in the Lone Pine series by Malcolm Saville. I loved them and really wanted to read more but could not get hold of them at the time.  As an adult, I looked online (thank God for online!) but I found that even online or in Second hand book shops, Lone Pine books are not so easy to get and are quite expensive so it was thrilling to find this one for £1!

Finally, I bought this DVD for school as our Year 2's do some work on 'Where the wild things are' so I thought it might be quite useful for our Year 2 teachers. 


I spent £17 all in all which I honestly, would be better saving towards a house, I realise that BUT I do feel, that if I do buy things regularly from various charity shops, I am donating money to a charity even if I end up redonating the items. That said, I seem to say this regularly, that I probably need to stop looking as I seem to be unable to say no. 


xxx
Have you bought anything in a charity shop recently?

Do the Chazzer-Crawl

Rather like the funky-chicken, the Tranky-do, the Shim-sham, the mashed potato, the Chazzer-crawl surely needs to be a dance move,somewhere, sometime. Anyone has any suggestions?

Now, I shall segue somewhat clumsily into my main point.  I went out on a Charity-shop crawl with my flute friend A and her friend K.  A is the one who introduced CBC and I so I have a lot to thank her for.  We'd met up some weeks prior and she'd told me about the good choice of charity-shops in and around Chelmsford and the village where she lives.  I arrived at hers at 1pm and we set off down the hill to the first shop, a Farleigh Hospice shop.  Inside, there were a fair few nice items to be had, at non-ridiculous prices and a pound rail. I left with 3 items and K left with 3, A with none. We headed next to Moulsham Street, a nicer shopping street in Chelmsford that I'd not encountered and found an Essex Animal Charity, Barnados and 2 others.  The first of these was great as there was a £1.25 rummage basket in which I found 4 items.  A couple of them were a little more expensive and we didn't find anything in particular. We were definitely steaming along and managed to accomplish all four within the 1hour parking limit.

Next, we drove to Moulsham Precinct where we found 2 more shops in which I found one item a-piece. A did well with 2 items including one I found her on the pound rail (bunny t-shirt, she owns 12 of them!) and  K got some lovely duvet covers that were brand new.

Finally, we headed over to Great Baddow where one charity shop hid within a slightly grottier estate than the rest of the town.  I hit the book jackpot there, scoring 4!
Finally, we headed back in the car, back to A's for tea, biscuits and cake and copious bunny cuddles with Dudley the bunny.  Eventually, CBC gallantly returned to drive me home.  We'd had a good afternoon.

"Yes, yes, yes..." I hear you cry impatiently, "But what did you BUY????"

Oh very well, as you asked so nicely.  No vintage amazingness sadly, unlike the wilds of Walsall and Sheffield alla Curtise and Vix, there seems to be a real dearth of vintage clothes, whether they end up in the rag-bag like Curtise's shop or just have been snapped up by London Vintage dealers, who knows?

Apologies for making everything look like a sack of potatoes- I am not sure how to photograph clothes off my body!

From top left, clockwise:
1.  Emily and Fin polka dot top.  Like Pom-pom, I love red polka dots,not bad for £1.25.
2. Ryoko Shite (snigger) mini dress.  £1.25.  Unusual!
3.  River Island teal sequin midi skirt. £2.99.  I almost didn't buy this as I worried it was too eveningy to get enough use but the others went on at me.
4. Dolce and Gabbana stripy shirt: £1.25:  I really like the red, blue and white stripes on this- not obvious from my heinous photography.

5.  Top Shop Tapestry mini-skirt. £4. I actually stalked this very skirt on Ebay which someone was flogging for £20! I wanted one but no way was I going to pay that!
6.  Men's floral shirt £1.25.  I picked this up for CBC as he likes this type of thing!
7. Ladies Bow tie. 50p.  This might be vintage as it has an 80's look around it but I'd been looking at these on ASOS for around £4 so I was glad to get this one!
8.  Another book in the Carola Dunn Cornish mysteries series like the one I gave to Janet.
The Piano teacher. Looks interesting. Both 50p


My booty in the last shop was this set of FOUR Railway Detective Books. I have so far found three of these in previous charity shop adventures and I have loved all of them so I was really excited to find another four to read. All £1 each!

So for about £17, I had a fun afternoon and got some lovely items.  Today, I took three massive bags to one of the local charity shops and I have been tidying.  I have decided that I want to ban myself from any shopping for Lent and ideally beyond for all but basic food so this is my final splurge.

Have you been been to a charity-shop recently? Found anything you liked? Do share if so.
xxx

Scallops- check; Peterpan- check; polka dots- check; Olive oil- check????

Last year, I went to Nottingham for a wedding. In between getting from Nottingham, Catholic cathedral and Nottingham castle for the reception, I noticed that there was a vintage fair happening in an adjacent building to the church. CBC had to go and find the car and bring to the hotel and check in so I wondered if could make a brief trip into the fair without anyone noticing. 10 minutes saw me in and out with two dresses! Both were unfortunately summer dresses so I haven't had much chance to wear them until now but I've been biding my time. I'm not sure how vintage they are (if indeed they are- you never know)- but I loved the pin-polka dots and cute Peter Pan collar with scalloped sleeves- three sure favourite blogger-things!


 CBC has recently refused to take blog photos for me, saying I shouldn't put so many pics of me on the internet. He's probably right. However, he agreed to take some shots in the awkward light, provided I was willing to pose with props. Ah, what? An olive tree which I have inherited from Grandad's garden and two containers of olive oil like I am the Bertoli girl! So, I felt like a prize twit but at least I didn't have to risk the camera on the wonky picnic table!

 I think this would be a great outfit for school- cool for the summer but still quite demure. It's really nice wearing summer dresses to school each and every day.

Today at school, we had the most incredible display of Extreme Biking! We had the current UK no.1 BMX trick champion and an amazing Track cyclist come in and give an amazing 45 minute show to the children as part of Health Week.  It was incredible! Truly amazing and inspiring.  We also had the hilarious Road Safety show in this morning who filled another 45 minutes.  There's all sorts of events on this week for the kids and it's very exciting! On Friday we have a staff v Year 6 netball match which I am very excited about though maybe I was a bit stupid to arrange a lesson observation for the same day.  We have one every term and I want mine over and done with! Plus, I'm doing a 'whole class participation lesson' on Friday and I don't know if I have done one of those with older children in a lesson before. Usually it's whole class input then group work so I will be intrigued to see what feedback I get as I've not been observed on doing the whole class all together for the whole hour. In addition, I am teaching the observer's own class so that will also be an interesting experiment!

Hope you are well x


Saving this for Renae's Fashion Item Friday!

A hat with a difference!

I was on Portabello road last weekend and I had the good enough fortune to see the most exquisite millinery range by Sara Colacicco called Sara Tiara.  I gasped in delight when I saw this wonderful selection of unique hats on her stall.  Full of beautiful heritage materials, I wouldn't be surprised if the Duchess of Cambridge sports her designs. Sara said I could take some pictures for my blog (she was really nice!). 










These are all so beautiful and unique.  I really fancied the red tartan one & the Champagne-coloured one with the roses in the first picture.  So so pretty!!! 

I had a look at her website and saw these two which I really loved:

http://www.saratiara.com/pink-rose-1920s-brim-hat-band.html 

http://www.saratiara.com/harris-tweed-hat-band-with-vintage-ostrich-feather.html

If you're going to a wedding or perhaps the races this year and want some millinery that is a little bit special, to make you stand out, then I really recommend Sara Tiara.  They are so unusual and beautiful plus I love the fact they are made from recycled fabrics and fittings.  

Indigo then

I know, I know, it's not indigo but as I pondered a post title, I remembered a terrible, terrible joke that my friend Steve told me at university. It involved a long and protracted tale of the purple princess in the purple kingdom and the purple roads and the purple everything and the punchline of the joke was something about some characters being ushered into the palace by being told: "Indigo then". It was told at about 12am whilst walking back to my friend's Islington student halls! Hence why I remember it sort of, but not quite! Though I did drink a little bit of alcohol then, it was never too much (except at Steve's 2 parties embarrassingly!)



I spent most of December and half of January being happy at my lack of sales-shopping and then it all went wrong.  I found this purple skirt in the sale and worn it loads since.  I was debating whether to applique a telephone onto it (with a ricrac wire alla Tuppeny-Happeny vintage) or just leave it purple?! What do you think?

This outfit is one I want to wear again and again for school- not too hot, not too cold. Like Goldilocks, I seek the perfect equilibrium of heat and cold! (except for the white/cream items in the outfit, the whole thing is Primarni!)
Shame that the skirt was doing a weird 'I am pretending to be an elephant' thing in these pictures- it usually hangs very nicely!


I've had a really quite nice day!  It started well with CBC giving me a lift to the station, thus avoiding the rain! It meant I got the early, all stations train (means I don't have to change).  At school, I took the choir to a rehearsal for our borough's choral festival at a local school.  My Mum is one of my extra adults for this, so I got to see her (and get birthday present!).  We arrived nice and early at the school which meant I had the opportunity to catch up with the 3 ladies running the rehearsal- one was my recorder teacher whose recorder ensemble I played in for about 10 years of my life- I absolutely adore her and admire her skill (she's the AST for music for our borough) and it was funny as I realised it today, in some ways, she is my sort of style inspiration- she always wore funky earrings and what she wears, I love-we have similar taste.  Her comment on seeing me was, "Oh another lovely outfit K, I always love your style!".  It made me smile to hear this as I think the same of her!  The other one was the lady whose choir I sang in for about 8 years of my life.  She is SUCH an inspiring choir leader and it's her retirement this year.  The third was a University friend (fellow recorder player) who is actually the coordinator of the whole festival.  It was lovely to catch up with her. Also, the piano accompanist was the man who accompanied me for SO many of my music exams through my childhood.  I love the nostalgia of seeing so many beloved teachers from my childhood.  Several are retiring this year and I feel really sad, like it's the end of an era and things will never quite be the same again.  Still, there's still several who are remaining.

In this choral festival, the number of places offered to each school is limited, since the Royal Albert Hall has only a certain number of seats for performers and I was quite sad that I got to take all my choir except 3 of them.  Despite the fact that they weren't going to the main concert, I still got them to come along to this pre-rehearsal and learn everything.  Well, their hard work paid off because wonderfully, serendipitously, the school in the seats next to us in the Albert Hall didn't want 3 of their seats SO, my Uni friend/coordinator asked if we'd like them?  WOULD WE???!!! Yessssss, of course!! SO their hard work reaped a reward.

A full lunchtime- in which I had lunch and chatted to my Mum and teachers and then the afternoon spent with year 5 who I like very much.  The lesson was a listening lesson and thus, I got to listen to Vlatava from Ma Vlast by Smetana, which depicts the course of the river Vlatava in Czech.  It is such a beautiful piece of music and due to the activities I planned for them, I got to listen to all glorious 14 minutes of it- twice!!! The children were drawing their own maps of the river- including the places they felt the music suggested the river was passing and inclusion of any descriptive words or musical points they recognised or identified. It's a lovely activity and they were so enthusiastic over it!  Drumming club after school was a great success and we started learning Samba this week!

I went via the shops to see if I could seek some alternative ankle boots for the Clarks ones I featured on Monday. I've decided not to keep them.  They were just too tight so I am going to send them back sadly.  I went to T K Maxx and was really excited to find some Kurt Geiger black ankle boots reduced to £19 in my size but when I tried them on, they were far too tight!!! Tried some others but didn't really love them.  Sad.  Somehow, instead of buying ankle boots, I ended up with a pair of knee high black but almost petrol blue or grey leather boots by Ralph Lauren!  I can't quite fathom the colour! They're so comfy!!!

I came home and after eating left over Chinese, I sat and finished a DIY crafty project (to be shared soon!) whilst watching back-to-back episodes of The Good Life on YouTube.  The BBC has released all the episodes onto there!! It's been a lovely evening.  Now, as I sit drinking cocoa with squirt cream on top, I am just waiting for the final piece of this happy days jigsaw- CBC to come back from his teaching evening!

How's your day been?!xx

Bunny seeks optometrist!

Hello there! Mags over at Fraise Lachrymose issued a general challenge for people to blog every day in November and I thought, since I have got out of the habit most shockingly, that I would attempt this. I actually don't think I have ever blogged everyday consecutively for any length of time, so it's worth a try! You may get a little bored! I went over to church for choir practice for our end of centenary service on Saturday and despite real feelings of 'I shouldn't be doing this' and 'ahrgh, will power is kaputt' and 'Don't do it!!!!!', I did decide to get off the train early in order to nip into Primark. Gem of Pink haired Princess had talked about a tartan dress she had wanted and managed to find. I thought this dress was really charming and thought it would be lovely to try. I found one and bought one and also a rose print one. Then I made the mistake of looking in the kids/teenage department and found a cat headband and a really cute bunny jumper I really liked so decided to bring it home and team it with other items that contain that same lurid shade of magenta! This skirt frequently lurks on this blog. It's a vintage (I presume from the fact it is soooooo titchy!) and is even getting a little too small to do up which makes me sad!! CBC has gone off to Northumberland today for the weekend. I couldn't go because of the Centenary at church. It feels weird to have spent the whole week with him and obviously, the now living together thing and for him to be going. I feel a little lonely, which is ridiculous as I have previously lived alone for 5 years!!! I'm off for a little excursion to a local town near to where I live which I can reach by train in about 15mins... Happy bunnies peeps!

Orla Keily's in da house!

Big Hello to the lovely Katie, cake-maker extraordinaire who has kindly decided to follow me! Thank you! Also to Angela and Lora who I didn't formally say thank you and hello to! 

 My much-mentioned friend M, is really into Orla Keilly- she has several bags, a wallet and various home items!  I thought it was really pretty but apart from my Tescos reusable bag, there wasn't much chance of me buying anything else Orla.  Then I saw reference to the Uniglo collection on someone's blog and got myself over there to have a look!  I was really impressed by what I saw, really lovely patterns, colours and shapes of items and a surprisingly good price.   I thought I'd share the items I bought together and what I thought about size and materials etc.
The top in the picture above was just under £15.  Excuse how awful I look in the picture- I really really did have the most dreadful headache when I took the pictures above (stupid really to take pictures, should have just gone straight to bed, though I did just after these!) I love the bright rainbowness of it- teamed up with orange tights (oh dear, usual problem, I am Nora Batty!) and an orange belt- I thought the top needed a collar so I added the pearl collar. The skirt is a Kew one (thrift).
The material is good quality cotton and it looks like it will last.  It's not the softest of cotton, you know the cuddly stuff, but it feels well made and like it wont fade.  I ordered a Small (supposedly size 8-10) which worked out fine for me - it's not one of those evil tops that is really tight around the armpits or two tight at the wrists or waist. I felt rather autumnal here!

There was a lovely selection of Peter Pan collar dresses when i was looking- several went into my basket at first whilst I perused (I tend to shove everything I like in my basket so I don't have to search again and then talk myself out of it at checkout and decide which I like best).  The sizing seemed to suggest that an XS was size 4-6 and the S was a 8-10- pity there wasn't something in between.  Most dresses only had the XS left and I worried it might be too small on my bottom half- I think it would have been fine, the S is a tiny big baggy on me and it has a loose botton-half so it would have been fine- it needs the belt I think. Anyway, this is the only one that actually made it through checkout - it was available in the S.  The material is lovely and it feels gorgeous- not too tight anywhere, a nice muted shade of blue and beige, but still interesting!  I do feel like a pupil of Erinsborough High in this dress, it reminds me of their uniform (is it just me that would totally like to wear the uniform of the kids in Neighbours and Home and Away?)

My third and final garment choice (I bought a stole also, not featured here) was this 'Peplum blouse' with a Peter Pan style collar, which my deputy head is totally jealous about as she's been stalking the site daily to get one in her size (she's forbidden me from talking about Orla at Uniglo because she's bought Christmas presents for staff members from there- she spotted my leaf-top instantly!).  Again, I bought a S which is far too big for me- however it is comfy and I like the ballony sleeves- it's just not hugely flattering on me as I am pear-shaped.  The material is very nice and comfy and the patterning is bright and distinctive.  I had to avoid my friend M on Sunday when I wore it because she kept saying, "I really like your blouse, where did you get it from?" which I didn't want to tell her since her Birthday present (November) is from the collection!

I really like the collection and I do think it is good value and very unusual and distinctive and very glad I managed to get in before the Ebay sharks nabbed it all (grrrr, apparently according to aforementioned Deputy Head, the Peplum blouse is selling on Ebay).

How was your day anyway?  Mine was surprisingly good for a Wednesday!  I'm liking Wednesdays recently, excepting headaches.

My year 3's are really enthusiastic about learning the recorder and it is making a difference learning it in the classroom with an interactive whiteboard instead of the poky music room!  We listened to some Anton Webern today which I think the Educational Psychologist who was observing a child must have thought was totally bizarre!  They are taking very well to reading music notation so far!  The year 5's were really really good in their lesson- we were learning Masmoudi drumming and then they created their own cylic patterns and they cooperated really well in their groups, just got on with it and produced a good result- composition is really really hard work in such a tiny, loud space as the music room so when we have a really lovely lesson at it, it makes me so happy!  Choir is growing and growing- 2 new children asked me if they could join today which takes us up to 27! My largest in 5 years! Hope they all stay!

Sometimes, I just reflect and think how lucky I am to have my job- it is exhausting, straining to my ears and voice, frustrating when the children just won't listen or are rude to each other or you  but there are so many things I love and appreciate about it!  Hope your day was equally fulfilling!

xx

What's in Kezzie's shopping bag and what hopefully wont be.

Hello there,

I am looking and feeling decidedly autumnal today.  I'm not sure I like it- I feel a bit drab! Also feel a bit like I am wearing school uniform with this outfit but for the subversive blue boots and purple tights!  With the exception of Mamgu's necklace and the boots and tights, the whole outfit is past thrifted purchases.  

On the subject of shopping, I have had to have a serious talk to myself.  I didn't allow myself to shop during Lent and then I continued afterwards and really, I cannot go on buying things and wasting money and shopping- even if lots of them are second hand!  It just seems like I never go for very long before buying something new.  I can't think of a time in recent times when it was not the case. I think to a certain extent, that blogging has made me worse than my previous habits.  I have far too many clothes and I don't need them, much as I love love love buying them. I am asking for your help as well- to help me ensure I am not going shopping unnecessarily. That's why I am mentioning it here- if I have actually enunciated it and shared it, I feel more accountable, like I will be better at doing it. It feels to a certain extent like it has become like a hobby and I don't want it to- that just feels wrong, for me!   I am intending that if I spend any money on frivolous items, then there is something I am going to do if I do so, to make me more conscious of spending money.  I always live within my means, I have not been in debt (no credit card since my second year of Uni), I don't drink, smoke, drive, have a yearning for new technology and so I have let it be the thing that I spend money on, but I need to think. I seem to spend my income, much on important things but not been saving much recently.  I'm not going for a full on shopping ban again, I still want to be able to have the option  but I really want to think, question and be more conscious- like only choose ONE item, once in a while, a well chosen one.  I feel like I've been very materialistic in recent times and I don't want to feel that.  I really like my clothes and dressing up in them, feeling like I've put together a nice outfit, I love this aspect of blogging outfits,  and that isn't going to change but I need to restrict that to what I have.  I do not have the space for any more and I like what I have so I don't really want to get rid of anything much so thus I cannot fill space I don't have.  Plus, if I want to do grown-up things in the near distant future which involve needing money for (one lives in hope), then I need to save my money!

So, it may seem a bit converse, but with this post, not usually the type of one I do very often, I am going to share what I have been buying and let it try and be a fullstop on it for the moment! 

 In Leigh-On-Sea on Saturday, I enjoyed visiting the myriad charity shops.  The four items of clothing I came home with were really nice finds for me.  I could have come home with much more but didn't- a floor length brand-new Ghost skirt was almost mine but for thinking.   Top left is this gorgeous brand-new still with £50 pricet-tags Topshop dress for £3.50.  It's a lovely summery frock, but it made me think of Agatha Christie and Downton Abbey and I loved it!

On the right, this purple and green checked dress was just under a fiver and I really like the checks and colours on it- it's Clockhouse and a nice Autumnal piece, I think.

Bottom left, was this Topshop shirt with Peter Pan collar, cute checks again, I thought it was a lovely layering piece for trousers. £3 again.

Finally, this H&M polka-dot blazer- it will go with lots of things I own! £3.50.

I also found these two books.  Having recently been to Paris, I liked the idea of these.  I love whodunnits set in the past, they lack the gore of modern murders and mysteries which I don't like.  Set in the late 1880's, the investigator is a young bookseller!  Sounds my type of thing! £2 each!

I also bought a couple of Orla Keily items from Uniglo on Friday but that must be it for now!

Have you bought anything recently?  Have you been reflecting on your shopping habits?

Linking up to Lakota's Tah Dah Tuesday because I am happy with my purchases!

Out on the briny, with the moon big and shiny.

Hello there stranger! How goes it with you?

 If you've been reading this blog for over a year or even a while, you have probably registered my love of sailor-dresses and sailor items.  I remain smitten by them and it all stems from a rather lovely musical called Meet Me in St Louis.  It's a lovely film if you ever get to see the Judy Garland film and the stage show is also lovely, though a little different.  When I was 11, I auditioned to play Agnes, the second youngest daughter in a local Amateur Dramatics stage production.  At that point, I had never played a main-part with any big lines to learn- I'd been in Finnian's rainbow with one line: "Round a little yellow seat,"  and in that, we'd had one costume and we ended up bringing out own dresses to wear for the bit where the town gets rich! 

However, when I got that part, ending up being in various scenes throughout the play, I ended up with 6-8 costumes I believe!  It was really exciting for this eleven year old, to have real proper nice outfits like in a film- in my dancing shows, our costumes always LOOKED costumey (and I'd probably not chose to wear any of them in real life except for my sister's The World is a circle costume (oh how I MISS that dress!).   The first costume I wore, was a white sailor dress.  It really suited me in fact it was perfect for me and everyone including me acknowledged this- in the past, I'd never really particularly thought about anything suiting me or being bothered by clothing. It was after that that I did get interested in clothes.  Somewhere, there is a picture of me wearing that sailor dress, looking worried, with a slight wonky eye from the show, but I still loved that show. 

Long after the show, I remembered that dress, remembered feeling pretty in it, remembered the enjoyment of being a member of the main cast, being in the principals' dressing room, being included in the grown-ups, though treated still as a child, the joy of being in that team, enjoying that acting. And those costumes. I don't remember all the costumes in detail but I do remember the long, white, pretty cotton nightgown I had to wear for the party-scene (I've always had a penchant for long white cotton items since that time and always wanted a long white night gown) and I remember the dress I wore for the final scene where the family celebrates at the St Louis Purchase exposition: It was a peachy floral dress with a darling little collar, worn with a white frilly hat (sounds remiscent of all the vintage dresses I love nowadays and the hat thing..), all my favourite seem to stem from that time.  But most of all, I remember that white sailor dress.

In recent years, when I have acquired sailor-items, it has been in my subconscious, in fact whenever I go onto certain websites, ASOS, Ebay, Etsy, I always searched for sailor-dress. 

Therefore, in the summer, when I first saw this Jaeger Boutique dress, I was smitten.  Truly smitten.  It reminded me so much of that beloved dress, even though it had a slightly different skirt I believe- still it reminded me. I ummed and ahed about it for ages, it was really expensive, even though it was in the sale, more than I'd ever spend on anything.  By the time, after months, I still thought of it, it seemed that we were not to be together- anything in size 8 or 10 was sold-out.  Finally, after a while, I found at John Lewis.com that there was a size 6 left and hedged my bets. 

 When it arrived, it fitted, well it even seemed a bit too big, but I was happy.  And this Sunday, when I wore it, then, just then, I began to feel like Agnes again.

 You'd think I'd style it a bit better (and take those wretched hairbands of my wrist!)  but I liked it just as it is.

 Coupled with simple sailor ballet-pumps.

 and my Alex-Munroe-style Bee necklace, which I'd also wanted for a long time.

To this day, I wish, oh I wish, that I had taken part in more musicals, more plays, more drama.  To a certain extent, I have enjoyed some fun opportunities in those musicals and operas I have taken part in, playing Maria in the Sound of Music,  last year, Luciana in The boys from Syracuse the year before and other odd parts and chorus over the years, always sporadic, but there is something wonderful about treading the boards and I would love to be able to do it better.  I don't look the part for a lot of things, and I am just not sure about my voice, it's hard to know what you sound like, I'm not very 'Lovey' and the sort of 'Showbiz' female, but it would be nice to try!

Is there a dress that you own or a style that you love, that emanates from a childhood memory like mine?  Do you have any regrets about things you have, or haven't done, or have only done to a certain extent?