Memories of childhood: All those instruments

When I was a little girl, I sang in our church choir. From a very young age, I used to sit on choir practice with my Mum so I was delighted to finally get to sing in the choir from when I was about 5.  We used to sing for the morning services and then for the Evensong in the evenings.  At Evensong, we would always sing a Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis and then a Psalm.

Without a doubt, for me, as a child, Psalm 150 was my absolute favourite!  I used to be overjoyed when we sang this particular psalm because it was such a joyful psalm and I loved that it was full of musical instruments. It seemed such a riotous and loud psalm, always sung with a joyful musical setting.

Tonight, CBC was singing for the Choral Evensong at a church with a choir he sings with occasionally and I went along with J, his Mum to support him. 

When I saw in the Order of Service, that they were singing this Psalm, my heart soared with joy and nostalgia. It is very seldom that I sing psalms nowadays, given that I don't sing with a traditional church choir nor the depping Cathedral choir I used to sing with.

It was sung most beautifully and most jubilantly.

I felt compelled to come home and write out the words of this most beloved psalm. I think it is a most fitting hymn of praise towards God in Lent time.  Lent might be regarded as a time of reflection, preparing and perhaps more serious but it is a time of expectation, anticipation of joy and a reminder  for me of what God has done for me so HURRAH, I want to sing all the happy psalms!

Is there anything you sang in your childhood that used to make you overwhelmingly happy when you got to sing it?

x

Advent Calendar Door 1- my childhood Advent calendar

I'm joining in with Julie at Julie's Scrapbook to bring you a picture every day as a sort of Advent calendar- these might take the form of stories, hand-drawn or photographs. I followed Julie's blog two years ago because of it but not ever joined in! I thought it would spark creativity!

Today's 1st picture (or pictures in this case), must of course, for me, be an actual Advent calendar. This tells of a memory which is one of my happiest multiple Advent memories from childhood. I am incredibly sentimental about my Christmas childhoods and especially my very young years.

 Here is the Advent calender that we saw every year in our younger years. It is Enid Blyton's Christmas story. It was created in 1953 and this is my Dad's first edition which he had as a child.   When we were young, every evening, we would open a window and there was a short extract of the story to be read. I didn't realise it was by Enid Blyton as a child but the magical feeling I associate with it makes sense now as an adult, I know it was by her. She had a large influence on my imagination and reading choices as an adult.

My parents divorced when I was around 4, so I only have a few memories of hearing it every evening, yet when we went over to my Dad's for weekends, he'd read it to us, several chapters at a time to make up for the lost week just before we went to bed.
We loved it, truly we loved it. Even though we heard it each year, somehow, the lapse of 341 days since we first heard it renewed its magic. And of course, you must know I am a great one for nostalgia.

 My sister and I, both now, when we talk about it, talked about the picture that scared us-
Grabbit the Gnome who stole away the children's Christmas presents they were going to take to the Baby Jesus. We were scared of it and always sat in secret thrill and horror for the window when he would appear- we could never remember which one!

 My personal favourite was the chapter in which the window opened to see the tiny mice asleep in bed! Oh how I loved it!

Such happy memories. But it has remained a memory for many years now until last Christmas, we went over to my Dad's for Christmas and saw it out by the fire- my Dad is a great one for nostalgia and recalling memories too.  I was utterly delighted to see it, fragile though it was and hastened to take these photos ready for next year's Advent.  I knew immediately, that this would be my first post.  I suspect I should have saved it for a Pause for Advent as was originally intended, but I knew it had to begin my daily photos.

Did you have any strong Advent memories like this?


xxx

Retro 80's birthday cakes

 I alluded to my Mum's amazing cake baking during my childhood in my Carebears post (thanks to Steph/ven who helped locate the Carebears episode I longed to see!!) .  I asked her to send me some photos of some of the cakes and I thought it was amusing how these cakes represented a lot of toy and TV cartoon interests from the 80's. 

Which of these do you remember?

For my sixth birthday, my Mum made me this Carebear cake. Cheer bear was my favourite bear (apart from Hugs and Tugs) and perhaps my love of rainbows comes from here?

One particular toy type I loved was my Cheeky Mice.  I owned the toy version of this cake- it was a picnic basket which had plates and knives and forks in and it doubled up as the mouse cottage. Each one of my friends took home an iced-mouse in their party bag as well as cake and the usual suspects.  I remember chewing the tails of my cheeky mice and I did love them so this makes me happy!

This particular cake was the My Little Pony Stable.  It was my sister's favourite toy (I had Carebears, she had My Little Pony) and I thought the craftsmanship of this was brilliant!!

Remember Pinkie from my childhood memory post? Here he is immortalized in icing and sponge!  The Pink Panther was a hugely popular cartoon when I was very young.  Apparently, my sister and her friend Mary were bouncing on sis's bed when my Mum put this on the table and the vibrations knocked his head off!!! 

Finally, who can forget Snoopy and Woodstock?  This was another of my sister's cakes and again,very iconic for that time!

Did you have any specially made cakes like this?

And, do you remember these toys!?

xxx

Hug and Tugs- the one that got away

What was the iconic toy that was around when you were a little girl or boy?

For me, as a child born at the start of the 80's (almost), my toy was the Carebears.  I adored them.  For anyone who doesn't know what they are, they were a set of bears who all had a logo on their tummy which was their special power. Each one had their own colour.  For example, Cheer bear was pink and had a rainbow on this tummy.  Funshine bear was yellow with a sun on his tummy and Tender heart was Brown with red heart on his tummy. If the carebears had to deal with something difficult or bad, they all got together and did the 'Carebear Stare' which made their magical powers in their tummy work and they turned things good.

I loved my Care bears, I remember the Christmas when I was about 5 receiving a large soft-toy 'Tender Heart bear'. He came in a sort of cardboard box that looked a bit like a seat and I distinctly remember that Christmas, at my Grandma and Grandpa's house,sitting watching TV, sitting in that box as a chair.  I also had a cuddly Cheer bear who was smaller and a family friend gave me a MUCH beloved present of one of the Care bear cousin babies who was mint-coloured and it was so cute, I loved it.

I also had the small hard-toys too in most of the original care bears.

My Mum even made me a Cheer bear cake for one birthday. One day, I will share some of the cakes my Mum made. We were the Jane Asher era of cake-making.

I was bought a video of the Carebears one birthday which was the first feature film which I watched many happy times. I'd love to see it again. I wonder if it is on Youtube?

Then, one birthday, I was bought a video of a carebear episode where two of the Carebear babies, Hugs and Tugs were kidnapped. I loved it but the tracking on the video was off so my Mum went to take it back for one with better tracking.  The subsequent few replacements were all plagued with the same problem.  I remember, anxiously waiting when my Mum came home each time, wanting to find out what happened to Hugs and Tugs.   Finally, the last time she came home, she came home with TOP CAT. She had said they had said that all of them were faulty and there were no more so she had to get something else. I enjoyed Top Cat but I always longed to see that video for years and years.

Did you have an iconic toy or a sense of losing something you wanted as a child.

Incidentally, if you wonder what prompted this post, Gemma, Pinkhaired Princess posted two 'The Shoegirl styles...' posts, here and here with Carebear clothing items and it brought it all back to me.

xxx

It all came back to me the moment I stared with animosity at the wretched pom-pom.

THANK YOU for all your kind, sweet comments yesterday. Still feeling blue about the situation but realising that I cannot dwell in the what ifs and the guilt and anger I feel for myself is not constructive- I must accept that I have to do what I can in the here and now and be what I should have been all these years! I've already begun and will try to continue! Without sounding too cryptic! Thank you for your friendship!
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I have had the great misfortune to have to make 31 cheerleading pom poms this week.  I've only made 8 so far and I really really dislike the whole process!  As I've recently mentioned, I am taking my choir to sing in our local borough's choral festival next week. The pom poms are for this. This is a biennual festival and I am hugely excited about it because it has been a part of my life for 22 years at least.

I grew up in the borough where I teach as did my sister (obviously) and her being some years older than me, she took part in it as a child in year 6, singing with the junior choirs.  I went to watch it with my family and vowed that I wanted to do the same.  I had already been in church choirs for 5 years of my life and had sat through choir practices as a 5 year old, so it was a no-brainer.

In year 6 (aged 11), I was lucky enough to go with my school choir (names were picked out of the hat as places were, and still are, limited) and I still remember the awe of performing at the Royal Albert Hall for the first time! Staring up at the huge mushrooms on the ceiling (to make sound better), watching the senior pupils perform a Mexican wave, singing Santa Lucia, Jerusalem, the National Anthem, playing a funky recorder piece.  And the best bit- waving those pom-poms to Entry of the gladiators.  We had 2 different colours and they were waved in a coordinated routine.  And my Mum, who was one of our adult helpers (she helped run choir), knocked a man's toupee off with her over-exuberant pom-pom waving.  Eating our sausage and chips in the Imperial College canteen at 5pm, seeing the enormous audience, watching the youth orchestra up on the stage accompanying us and performing pieces (including Polotzvian dances by Borodin), wanting that to be me.

 Two years later, I was in year 8 (13 years old) and I went with my secondary school choir.  We were high up in the choir stalls and I remember singing the Rhythm of Life and Hiawatha's wedding and being one of the few children in my school who knew what on earth I was singing (all those years of singing in choirs paid off!) as we'd not had many rehearsals!  Finally getting to perform that Mexican wave, enviously watching the primary choirs waving their pom-poms.  Dinner at Imperial College.  The long coach journey home, looking out the window at all the buildings.

Two years, aged 15 and I was in the orchestra at last! Admittedly, back-desk of the viola-section. I was sitting with Mr H, the cornet teacher who played the viola.  We bought an enormous bag of sweets between us to eat during the afternoon rehearsal.  Rehearsing those amazing pieces and really enjoying it!  Freedom was ours and we walked off to Kensington for dinner by ourselves.  I had a new concert dress, it was black satin, fitted with thin straps and I fixed my hair up in a chignon.  Mr P, the head of the Music school and conductor, said I looked very elegant.  I always remembered that!  Heading off onto stage, being the focus of all those adoring primary school pupils, playing my heart out.  Jerusalem as usual, many a familiar and wonderful piece! That fun coach journey back to Music School at the end.

Those two years went quickly and there I was again, aged 17, and finally the leader of the viola section!  Looking back on 5 desks of violas behind me, I was sitting with my beloved viola teacher, Mrs C.  Being right at the front, in the eye-line of everyone, my best friends behind me in the violas and on the front desk of the 1st violins.  Bowing my heart out.  Oh and this was the year we decided to break the world record for the most recorders playing at the same time, playing Over to Africa by David Moses.  I left my viola stand to play the sub-contra bass recorder, a two metre tall recorder which resembles a traditional parking meter and sat next to David Moses, who was playing the bass guitar.  We broke that world record and it was great! Glancing in the programme and seeing that star by my name that denoted the principal of the viola section.  Standing up at the end to the applause and knowing it would possibly be the last time I took part in that festival with my local borough as in two years, I would have left and been at University.  It seemed bittersweet but life goes on...

And yet, it wasn't the end.  For two years later, as a University pupil, I was asked back to be a guest player in the viola section!  Back to the back desk unfortunately, but I was glad to be there. All my beloved teachers, who had been such an important part of my life, were all there, alongside me, playing. Friends who had been in the year below me, were there, really excited and glad to see me, themselves now the leaders of sections.  We gave the world premiere of Persephone, the circling year,  a work written about that Greek myth written by the previous (now-retired) head of the music school (he of the "elegant" comment) and of course, Jerusalem and old favourites.  Songs from Yanamamo, an ecological musical about the plight of the people of that name, with the Rainforest being cut down (songs we are singing again this year!) and March Slave. I glanced in the programme and saw the sign which showed I was a guest-player. It felt strange but positive.  I was no longer a part of the music school but I was in a way, still connected.

Two years later and I was busy with University final year matters and I didn't give the festival a thought.  Sad really.  I wonder what happened? Two more years later and I was working at a music college.  Our students took part in a  joint prom with the Julliard School of Music from New York held at the Albert Hall and I suddenly remembered the festival and felt sad I had missed it.  How had I forgotten it?  I had been away in Bali, I was an adult with little contact with the borough apart from living there.

Yet, I couldn't keep away and two years later, now in 2006, I was a qualified teacher in my first job and I was teaching in my home borough, teaching in a school near my own old primary. I helped out with the choir, and the school, like every school in the borough, was invited to sing at the festival.  To my delight, I would be there as an adult helper for my own school choir (not in charge though- phew!).  Dutifully, every week at choir, we would learn all the songs in that little red book, printed with the Royal Albert Hall picture and finally the day was there! We ate lunch before going and travelled by coach.  My own year 5 class children were in the choir and we shared that experience together.  Back in the Albert Hall, still staring at those mushrooms on the ceiling!  Glancing up at the secondary school choirs in the choir stalls! Smiling up at the orchestra and being acknowledged by those teachers who were still there, supporting the pupils. The Head of Music school smiling at me (my school was in prime position in front of the orchestra).  Playing Tequila on the recorder, moving our pom-poms to Padstow Lifeboat march, singing songs from Oliver lustily, Jerusalem to finish.  Deep Space Nine from the orchestra.   In the break, we went to dinner but for once, it wasn't at the Imperial college but at the Royal College of Music.  This was a bit of a disaster as we were all split up into groups and ended up in rooms all over the place- NOT a good thing on a school trip! Small portions, not like our usual cheerful Imperial College fayre.   It was a long day looking after those children but it was so exciting.  Until the moment they released 1000 balloons onto the children and the children went crazy. A hundred teacherly hearts leapt through the roof at that point!

2010 arrived and I was now in charge and I went along with my choir and my faithful TA and a young teacher who helped with choir.  I fretted over the preparations and phoned up my predecessor anxiously, a myriad times to ask things.  Setting off on the coach, a jolly choir sang merrily along to the Go compare original advert on the radio and arrived at the Albert Hall. Once again, sat at the front of the auditorium and those old traditional favourites sung.  We sang a Wicked medley, conducted by one of my own contemporaries- she was now a teacher for the Music School and did a sterling job. It was weird seeing her at the helm.  Luckily no balloons and back at Imperial College for food.  I was thankful!  Heart full of joy as we sang those songs and I felt like I was a child again.  But in charge.  The return home, the sick-bucket was put to good use.  Not good being in charge. But all the parents turned up on time and all was well.

In 2012, it was me, my beloved TA and the deputy head who I drafted in since she loved the WW2 songs we sang.  The whole song had learnt them too- Knees up mother brown, My old man's a dustman and all those classics.  We had a large area rehearsal 3 weeks before which happened to coincide with our dress-up day for World Book Day.  We turned up at the rehearsal school resplendent in costume to discover not a single other school in costume.  I sat ridiculously, dressed as Guinevere and we also discovered we had forgotten to bring our recorders so I gave out the pencils and we played pencil recorder! The conductor almost wet herself with laughter at us! The actual concert, a rousing success!!! We went in search of empty toilets and ended up in the SU of Imperial college, led by my Deputy head!  I was mocked and laughed at by my old teachers who wept at the sight of me in the front row doing the actions for the recorder piece with alacrity with my children.  I smiled serenely and continued.  It felt really special that year, but I don't know why.  Maybe that sense of 'coming home' or nostalgia grows stronger with age.

And finally, here we are, in 2014 and only I remain.  My beloved TA who was my right-hand lady has left, gone to a different school and how I miss her!  My deputy head teacher is too busy to come with me so my Mum and another teacher are coming.  We are fervently practising those songs- Beatles medley, Yanamamo, the songs that were last performed in 2002, a new set of pieces, Maju Pade, an Gujurati lullaby arranged for recorders and I am anxious, but excited!!! Some of my dearest, favourite teachers are retiring this year, so this will be the last time I see them play there.  Bittersweet.  But for my children, this is the experience of a life-time. As it was for me, for every child I have taken, seen or sat near for the last 28 years almost. I am glad that I still get to be a part of it for special it is and special it will remain and I am SO grateful that the music school, despite enormous cuts and struggles to survive, continue to do the amazing job they do and to make this happen for 1000 children in my borough each year.

So, have I come full circle?  The head of the Music School laughed and told me the only thing left I had to do was to go there to watch my own children.  Well, I don't know about that but I've never played the flute there.  I've always wanted to. Perhaps that could happen someday if I taught flute there?  Or conduct a piece?  Now that would be amazing!!

But time, tide and buttered eggs wait for no man and I have 22 wretched pom poms left to make...

What's on the box?

I'm sorry I didn't blog yesterday but I left work at 6 to arrive at my local station 10 mins later as a suicide attempt was dragged out from underneath the train. Miraculously, she was alive and was lying there groaning. They'd got her out pretty quick. The police, fire and ambulance people all arrived and were dealing with the situation but I stood on the platform for 45mins before it became clear that the trains were going nowhere. A guy who worked for the train company suggested I go somewhere and come back later as they had no idea when the line would reopen. I walked to a friend's I don't know if she lived (the police were saying she was conscious) but I pray that she is ok. It's a pretty horrendous way to try to kill yourself. I am SO fortunate that I decided not to run for 6.10 train (feeling exhausted) otherwise I would have seen and heard the whole thing. I was talking to a girl this morning who had been there as well and she barely slept last night as she was so traumatised by it and was feeling nervous about catching a train in case anyone jumped. Anyway, trains were cancelled for ages so I eventually got home after 9 and I was so tired that I just zonked out on the rug and then woke up and crawled to bed rather than any schoolwork or my daily blogging.

The BEDN prompt today (or rather yesterday as it's past midnight-I just got back from orchestra) is about World Television Day and indeed TV! Nowadays, I don't have a TV as when the digital switchover happened, I still had an analogue TV. I got used to not watching TV and even though my sister gave me a digibox, somehow I didn't ever bother trying to work out how to connect it. If I am desperate to watch something, I can watch on Catchup on the internet. What I do watch, if I am going to watch on Catchup is Downton Abbey. I love a good historical drama. Likewise, I will watch the Apprentice when it's on and Doctor Who. And that's about it!

Doctor Who is possibly one of those programmes I love the best. Which is funny as it was a programme which caused me much trauma and fear from the age of 7-11. There was an episode in the Sylvester McCoy era called 'The curse of Fenric' which [dinosaur]* featured these 'monsters' called Haemovores. They were like vampires with pale faces and long talons and I was UTTERLY terrified of them for those 4 long years. My rational mind told me they didn't exist but somehow,my brain believed they were coming out of my Mum's bedroom to get me when she wasn't in there. I would have to go to the bathroom with the door open so I could keep my eyes fixed on her door in case they suddenly came out. I slept with cuddlytoys in a ring round my head to protect me. Nowadays, if I am camping and I don't have a torch and I have to walk through the dark, somehow the thoughts of them come into my mind and I have a little shiver. It's ridiculous really! It was when I was about 14 that Paul McGann became the Doctor and I was smitten by him. I started getting interested in it and I bought lots of videos of past episodes and books and the suchlike. That first Christmas, my sister bought me 'A trial of a timelord' (Colin Baker) in a TARDIS tin. I was really happy.

The Good Life is another classic I have always adored. I was fascinated by the self-sufficient lifestyle that Tom and Barbara Good left, was always amused by Margo and Jerry and enjoyed all that 70's fashion. I would gladly watch an episode when it appeared on TV.

The Crystal Maze was a programme that we all longed to go on in the 80's/90's. In case you don't know it, a team of mullet-haired sporty-types would follow Richard O'Brien through 4 zones (Medieval, Futuristic, Aztec Industrial- later Oceanic) to try a series of challenges- physical, mental, skill in order to win crystals that each secured 5 seconds in the Crystal dome where you had to collect as many gold tokens as possible whilst a big electric fan blew them and silver ones (which deducted a point) all around the dome. It was so exciting and gripping and I adored it. It's often on Challenge TV on Sky on a Saturday morning (or at least it was when CBC lived in his old house!) My ultimate favourite kids programme was the cartoon 'The Ewoks'-based on the Star Wars characters. To say I was obsessed is an understatement. I lived for the weekly episode, begged for a video for my birthday and wrote two novels worth of my own stories of their adventures. I spent hours drawing Princess Kneessaa and had a peach coloured dressing gown so I could be like her (she had a peach-cape).

I won't go into anymore nostalgia as we all know I can waffle for hours but I'm intrigued which classics do you love and still love despite the stampede of time?

* CBC just came and asked if he could type a spontaneous word. I said yes and Dinosaur was his choice

Hometown

As I have only lived in my current town of home for about 2 months, I don't feel qualified to pass judgement on it or draw any conclusions, so for today's BEDN post, I shall be discussing my real hometown, as in the one where I grew up and lived in for basically 32 years (give or take 3 years in London, Leyton and Bali)

Things I loved about my hometown:

* The transport links: Oh HOW I miss the ease of getting anywhere from my home. My old home was a mere 4 min walk (3min run) from the local railway station. I could reach busstops in less than a minute which would take me quickly to three local towns. Should there be pesky engineering works on my local line, I could get one bus to reach the C2C railway, central line OR the district line on the tube! I could also get a nightbus practically all the way home from London! I lived all of 17-18 minutes walk from school and had no travel costs for 6 years of work. Oh how I miss it, particularly as my journey is now an hour either way and costs me £179 a month!

* My lovely church, which was my childhood one for 8 years, was a mere 2 minute walk from home. Again, it's now an hour to get there. I adored this humble, kind, diverse community from all over the world, who were so caring and loving and always there. Home is all about the people and there were many wonderful people there.
* The local park: We had a huge and pleasant park 3 mins from my house. I learnt to cycle there, played tennis, walked dogs there for years.

* Being surrounded by memories of my growing up years. Living where I did, I could remember so much, still experience and be a part of it. Some traditions and institutions never change.

* Convenient international supermarkets: In one sense, the reams of shops selling bowls of vegetables drove me a bit mad in the same way as the chicken shops- why oh why were they all selling the same thing- but it was quite nice to have so many international supermarkets so close, selling nice cheap vegetables and products. A big international supermarket opened on the corner and it sold so many brilliant things at reasonable prices. I miss the choice and the convenience of being able to nip out and get anything I forgot at all hours of the day and night. Here, it's a 6 min walk to the COOP, chip shop and Chinese and that's about it.

Things I dislike about my old hometown:

* Chicken shops: Whoever is on the planning team of my local council needed their head examining, or landlords or whoever made the following happen. Who in their right mind allows 3 fried chicken shops in a parade of 7 shops!? Likewise, there were about 4 others on the same, really not long, street. I'm all in favour of competition, but well really. How about a bit of variation, originality and thought?! Nope, not apparently there.

* General cleanliness: The main streets, particularly where the shops were always look grubby. When I came back from holiday anywhere, I would always notice how horrid it smelt!

* Crazy drivers: There are some real maniacs where I lived who would zoom around in their 'pimp my car' vehicles, driving at top speed with some ridiculously loud music system booming and making the windows shake for miles around. People used my road as a ratrace and a cut-through and we lost more cats to being run over than I care to remember. The Pimp-my-car place was on my road, so you had flash Larries in their OTT cars revvving and making dreadful noises at all hours.

* General lack of personality: I wouldn't say that I would invite any friends to come and stay- it's not very pretty, not very scenic and very different, hence why I didn't do a 'Come to ...' post. Though, you could get to nicer places easily.

As I get used to my new hometown, it will be exciting to see what I discover about it. It's much nicer and cleaner, you can cycle safely and into the countryside really easily and you can make a getaway to places much quicker! It's always exciting exploring somewhere new!

Tell me what you like about your hometown and anything you dislike?!x

Please store your luggage in the compartments above your seats

Sometimes feel like you've dressed in role?  I looked at a shot of myself in this possibly vintage dress and was struck by how I could be:
a) one of those red-jerseyed extras in Star Trek who always got bumped off in the first five minutes
b) An air-stewardess
c) A hotel receptionist!

A couple of years ago, my Mum found our old bag of dancing headbands.  At our dancing school, you wore a headband to show what grade you were (turquoise for pre-primary, black for primary, blue for Grade 1, purple for Grade 2, pink for grade 3, royal blue for Grade 4...), I am modelling the Grade 5 headband here (sadly, I never reached this grade- this was my sister's who was actually good at dancing.  Unlike me, stuck in the back row!)

Perhaps it's because I am not aware of it being an adult now but I'm sure that everyone seemed to go to ballet and tap in the 80's and 90's when I was a child but I don't seem to hear of it so much nowadays- a lot seem to go to street-dance.  Any mums out there, what's your experience?  And am I wrong about that era?  Was it just me and my peers who all did ballet or did you too?  Did you enjoy it? Were you any good at it?  Or were you stuck in the back row like me?  Mind you, I had some impressive peers at my dance-school, heck, one of them is even now the star of Downton Abbey!

***

Dress- (possibly) vintage M&S.  Belt-from another dress, headband- dancing, shoes- Irregular choice, Cardie- Zara, Scarf- Amazon.

A pause for advent 3- traditions, stories

Hello there!  I do hope you are well and welcome to my 3rd Pause for advent.  Each week, something seems to occur to me naturally about what to post about- I don't really have to think about it.  I was in my old classroom where my old books are (I have a large bookcase full of all my children's books so that lucky class get to readthem) and I saw a copy of Jostein Gaarder's The Christmas mystery on the bookcase that I had bought for the class.



A dear friend bought it for me a couple of years ago as my Christmas present and it was much appreciated.  It cleverly tells the story of a Norwegian girl who vanished half a century before.  She was in a department store with her mother when she sees a lamb and runs after it, longing to stroke it. Somehow she travels backwards in time and across Europe to Palestine, finally ending up meeting the Holy Family.  Along the way, she is joined each day by a different character.- the governor of Syria, Quirinius, the bishop of Smyrnia, wise men, shepherds and many others.  The beauty of the story is that it has a chapter for every day of advent and involves an advent calendar being opened in the story by a boy in present day Norway who receives the calendar as a gift from a strange old man who made the calendar.  Under each window is a piece of folded paper which reveals the story to him, day by day of what happened to her.  We also learn the calendar maker's story! I adore a paradox!

When I first started reading this book, it reminded me of my childhood.  My father had a gorgeous old Advent calendar that held a beautifully painted scene with windows to open each day.  For every day, he had to read us an extract of a story linked to the picture.  I can't even remember the story now, but oh how I loved that advent calendar.  I didn't need chocolate inside that window- the joy of a serialised story with cliff-hangers was enough for me!  When I go to my Dad's this Christmas, I must ask him to let me have a look at it.  I DO hope he still has it!  I used to look forward to it every Christmas.  A year was long enough to forget parts of the story.

Consequently, when I first had my own class, I decided that I would read them a chapter of The Christmas Mystery each day.  Luckily, the previous Christmas, a dear friend from church had bought me a lovely long felt Advent calendar with big pockets so I hid 2 small gifts inside each one (maybe a pen or a rubber) inside it.  The class would listen to the chapter and then I would  choose two children to go and look in the pocket.  The class really enjoyed having a serialised story, they would listen in rapture and then there would be a scurry of excitement to find out what was in the pocket. Perhaps, like Angela of Tracing Rainbows (I think it was you who said it!), it ould be nice to have a small prayer or reflection inside that they got to read?  I did it the second year I was in my own class but sadly it got too hard the following year because I was only in class for 2-3 days a week as I took over the music teaching.  It was also hard since the timetable became more crammed with lessons like French, to actually have the time for the story.  However, I do think it was a lovely tradition.

I'd love to know of any other serialised advent stories.  Perhaps I'll write my own one some time?  That was one lovely Advent tradition I enjoyed as a child, the story in the advent calendar.  My Mum always lighted the advent candle every evening for some years.  That was also lovely. I still have that sense of excitement when the advent wreath is lit at church.

Do you have any advent traditions?

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Here's my previous posts:
 A pause for Advent 2012:  1

A pause for Advent 2012:   2


Thanks to www.Amazon.co.uk for the book photo.  Click on it and it will take you directly to where to buy it, if you are interested!

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?

Checkmate and Ruby-slipper reminiscences



Dress:  Kush, Heart-shaped fascinator: ASOS, Bag: gift from Sophie, Shoes: Asda
Necklace:  Vintage Maison, Felixstowe,


























Continuing with Hazel's August challenge- Only once, I decided to give this checkered dress and fascinator/mini hat a try.

Again, this dress, I've had for a couple of years but I didn't wear it because it is every so slightly too big for me and is strapless (I'm not so keen on strapless) but I intended to find some check material and make it into a halterneck. Not happened.
I think this would be a nice lindy outfit once it is fitting snuggly, but definitely not right now! Though lovely to wear wandering around placidly in the sun, If I spun and twisted, there would be a serious case of too much underwear on show! Even when wearing the tightest strappy-dress, I end up all askew!

Checked-dresses always remind me of The Wizard of Oz! When I was a little girl, we had a Dorothy-dress, it really was just like the dress, but for some reason it disappeared when we moved house when I was about 5-6.  I'm always sad about this.  We still had a pair of glittery silver shoes though that served as our Ruby slippers when we played Oz, my sister and I.  Whenever we played 'shoe shop' at our new house, the silver slippers were always the ones I wanted to 'buy'!  In fact, I still crave a pair of Ruby Slippers!  I've got my eye on the Red or Dead ruby slippers which I wanted last year during the Autumn-term but feared they were too high.  However, I think it's worth it!!

Did you ever read the Oz books?  Did you know that Frank L Baum actually wrote 14 books in the Oz series, of which The wonderful wizard was number 1? As a child we borrowed, Ozma of Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, The Patchwork girl of Oz and Tik-tok of Oz from a friend who had them- it was so exciting- there are so many exciting places in the land of Oz that the first film doesn't mention. 

It wasn't until I was in my first-year at University and discovered Amazon.com that I found out there were 14 all in all.  I ended up buying ALL the ones I hadn't read there and then on Amazon! I have to say that the first 7 books are much better than the latter ones (some of which are a bit silly) and the ones I read as a child better than the ones bought later, but it was still wonderful reading them after all those years! I always wondered how the Wizard came back to Oz (he was in The Emerald City of Oz) 

I'd like to read them again but I lent them to a little girl from church and I fear she might not still have them!?

Sadly not Dot nor Kneessaa!

Item rundown:

Blazer: M&S Per Una via Oxfam, tunic vest and necklace: White Stuff

Shoulderbag: Topshop.  Bracelet: Cath Kidston.  Ring: Primark. Ancient Phone: Nokia

Sunglasses:  Monsoon.  Shoes:  Dolcis.  Leggings:  F&F at Tescos.  Earrings: Unknown, gift.

CBC had this wonderful idea that Inspiration Monday could take inspiration from Dot from the Animaniacs (he said he'd found a song about me on Youtube!) or Princess Kneessaa from the Ewoks cartoon (remember it from the '80's?  To say I was OBSESSED with it is an understatement.  I was MAD on the Ewoks and actually wrote two full volumes of my own Ewok stories.  Wish I could find them now-but best not, quite sure it would have been a total cringe-fest!)

However, since Megan and Nora don't know about this thought/idea, and usually take inspiration from real people, it seems I must postpone this particular idea!

This week's inspiration at the Two Birds Boutique  is Jessica Alba I like this outfit a lot.  I took advantage of my Mum coming to mow the lawn (doesn't trust me with a lawn-mower) to be my photographer so I actually included some little detail shots and tried to match the pose! Please try to ignore horrid feet and hands! Go and check out everyone else's interpretations!

I'm really enjoying the sun- not necessarily being out in it, but it BEING warm and sunny when I do go out!  Right now I am on page 28 of my Guided reading notes typing up marathon.  It is not the most thrilling!

Hope you are well!