TARDIS Tuesday- Yasmin Khan Ghost Monument

 Greetings there!

I had a successful concert on Saturday! I was playing with my localish orchestra (one I've been playing on and off with since 1997).  I played 1st flute this time and we performed Bruch's Scottish Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra with a brilliant soloist who was only 14 called Kate Lai.  I had a very fast duet part with her in the middle which went very well and then we played Tchaikovsky's epic 5th Symphony.  She has a bright future ahead of her. When she was 12, world famous violinist, Nicola Benedetti, performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with an orchestra I was playing in so it would be lovely to have this happen again!

As one orchestra rehearsal sequence ends, another begins.  We are playing Mendelssohn's 5th Symphony, The Reformation Symphony, with Kensington Chamber Orchestra, which I am so happy about! I played 2nd flute in it about 22 years ago and I loved it then and hoped to play 1st flute in! Finally, that day comes! It has a wonderful flute cadenza in it that I get to play!

Anyway, onto TARDIS Tuesday. I last featured this look in December 2024 and I seem to feature it a year apart each time I wear it!

https://www.doctorwho.tv/characters/yasmin-khan

It's really strange but when I look at these pictures of Yasmin Khan (the screen shots, not the ones from the promo photo above), sometimes I think I'm looking at either a picture of my sister or myself. I can't work out which one of us but I do think there are similarities sometimes which I've only recently noticed!

Anyway, here I am and I decided to go with Yaz's hairstyle from the promo photos!

#

I like this cheerful orange jumper, it always makes me smile. It's always a shame to hide it under a leather jacket (Clara's one as usual!)  so I am sharing a photo without it!

I decided to wear CBC's Shoe Embassy trainers for the photo as they are more cheerful than plain trainers. Why not? I'm feeling relaxed about accuracy!

Hope all is well with you!

xx

TARDIS Tuesday and kitties

Hello there! Greetings from my Mum's garden! CBC and I went over there for lunch today.  We had our usual customary walk around her beautiful garden to admire her prowess at growing food and flowers and then we walked to the marina to try out a new cafe called Shell's cafe.  It was really really nice with a good selection of food and nice shady tables with amusing paraphernalia on the walls of the garden.  We then walked back to her house but sadly, the sole of one of my shoes completely came off so we had to make it a shorter walk than intended.  RIP these shoes- I love them so much- so comfortable. I bought them from Primark at least 19 years ago so they have had a good innings- going to see if I can glue it back on though. We played with her kitties, drank an intriguing glass of Black lace elder and rose cordial and then headed home via the garden centre where I felt sorry for a manky-looking Erysimum Bowles plant which I bought for £2 and CBC bought some extra stones for the pond, the main reason we went there.

Onto my TARDIS Tuesday outfit. Last posted in June 2024, I am featuring Sarah Jane Smith's final outfit from her days as Tom Baker's companion in the episode, The Hand of Fear, which the wonderful Ang Almond adapted for me 2 years ago or so! (See here the post where I debuted them with explanations of what adaptations she did)

Images borrowed from:
https://theultimateguidetothefashionofdoctorwho.wordpress.com/2017/10/25/sarah-jane-smith-the-hand-of-fear/

https://bradleybasement.wordpress.com/sci-fi/doctor-who/doctor-who-timelines/the-doctors-timelines-index/the-fourth-doctors-timeline/the-hand-of-fear-tv/

And here's my 2025 iteration of these in Mum's garden!

I wore my same Joe Browns red top which I found in a charity top last year and was pleased as it was the perfect top for this outfit (AND others!). My beautiful dungarees which Ang customised and the aforementioned spotty pumps- not really screen accurate but I saw them in my cupboard as I was dressing and fancied wearing them...

Can you see someone poking out my pocket?

It's Mini-Owl! Sarah Jane holds a stuffed owl with this outfit as she leaves the TARDIS and CBC told me I looked like a Children's TV presenter in this outfit as I dressed and said I needed to fill those pockets so I obliged with Owl...who I knew I could get out easily for photos! We also have Mini Squirrel!

Here in the customary pose! Can you see the sole flapping on my shoe.  That's the one that STILL has its sole!

Had to have a play with darling Bramble

She has a thing about shoes. Has to put her feet into them and then have a rub and sniff around them.

Rowan has a thing about bags...

He had a lovely time playing with my rucksack after investigation.

Until she decided to get involved...

She then attacked the side ties on my dungarees and sunk a claw into my derriere as she attempted to vanquish the dastardly bow!

We had a fun weekend before this with a day spent with CBC's brother and then the Sunday spent with our friend Nath at the beach and out at the pub for dinner after a trip to a garden centre. More on the weekend anon.

Yesterday was largely spent at home.  I peeled, chopped and cooked 5 large containers of apple, blackberries and raspberries for the freezer and then watched Wednesday after an omelette and vegetables.

I ADORE a me-cooked cheese-omelette!!! It's the ONE thing where I prefer to cook it myself!

xx

 

VE day outfits

On VE day, we were invited to come to school dressed in either 1940's inspired outfits or the coluors of the Union flag.

I decided to go with the latter option

I started with the white blouse. It is one I charity shopped a year ago or so. I really like it but I don't know where it originally came from.

Next, I added the red skirt which is my Romana cosplay one- it was second hand.

Next was the blue Monsoon cardigan which I've had for a long time and my Clarks Funny Dream shoes from Vinted.

Add my red beret (Primark charity shopped) and this Collectif nautical necklace (which I ended up lending to our Assistant Head as she was wearing nautical trousers with star fish and lobsters on in these colours!) .

I loved the combo.

At playtime, I was on duty and ended up chatting to M, a lovely, quirky, individual.  I looked at her outfit and admired it.  I then looked at it again and said, "Actually, I HAVE this outfit at home! I could totally come to school tomorrow wearing this outfit!"

And so the next day, I came to school dressed in the outfit (the outfit above!).  I walked past her classroom on my way to the Staff room and the door was open. I hissed her name as her teacher did the register. She looked at me quizzically and I pointed at my outfit.  She looked puzzled at first and suddenly sheer delight and incredulity spread over her face. I waved and carried on with my journey.

At playtime later, I saw her and said, "What do you think!".  She was so sweet and said, "I AM HONOURED!!!"  Haha, it was funny to do this and I think it made her smile!

On the actual VE day, we had an all school, outdoor assembly with poetry reading and sang 3 songs I'd taught.  Of course, despite all my best laid plans, technology failed us and the boombox stalled on the backing tracks I had prepared.  Ah well, we persevered without them!

Hope all is well with you!

x

TARDIS Tuesday- the coat I'm going to be wearing under my coat all week!

Hello there!

I hope you are well!  

This week, I am featuring an outfit I have worn twice here for TARDIS Tuesday, the last appearance being November 2022, I really like this outfit and it is practical for the weather!

It is worn by Yasmin Khan in Series 11.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06q81wy/p06qls32

https://www.blogtorwho.com/doctor-who-the-tsuranga-conundrum-what-we-learnt-about-the-companions/

It features a navy starry and moon-themed jumper from Maison Scotch, a Barbour (I think) red puffer jacket, blue fitted jeans, Burgundy Brogue chelsea boots from Dune.

Last time I put together this outfit, I wore a purple puffer coat, black trousers and navy trainers together with the same sweatshirt.

What happened this time?

The outfit features a red puffer jacket by Barbour (the Jurby), a sweatshirt by Maison Scotch, some burgundy flatform boots from Dune (Pacey) and some skinny blue jeans.  

Occasion worn:  for church on Sunday. I woke up and discovered it was pouring with rain so I simply added my Seasalt Janome raincoat over the top to keep me dry. It was a good call as I was cosy in my down but dry!  Jeans are not the nicest garment to wear in the rain though. Apart from that, I was lovely and warm at church.  Also helps that I was sat with a radiator directly behind me. Not so good- near the door.  Good- lovely warm cup of tea.  Not good- I was 30mins late! Good- I still went.   Not good- poor friend Jenny fell into a pond on her way to church. I hope and pray she is ok!

Embarrassingly, after church, I cycled straight to the station to buy my train ticket and discovered the ticket office was shut. "Noooo!" I wailed outloud to the window  "Why are you closed??! Are you closed all day or is this just a temporary closure!"   At that moment, the roller blind was raised and there was a ticket sales operator.  Awkward to be caught talking to a window!!! Ah well, I got my ticket so I don't have to contend with all the returning to school/work ticket renewals tomorrow morning when trying to get up in the dark will be arduous enough! I am deeply thankful for this small win!

Am trying to use up some items in our cupboards to make sure we have room. This will include food or toiletries.   Trying to ensure we have fewer duplicate items if possible! If C could do this with honey or chutney, I would be grateful! Waaaaaaaaay too much chutney and honey and jams in the cupboard!

Today- used up 2 tiny jars of strawberry jams so these will clear a little space.  Will try to report on things as I use them up!

What do you think of this outfit? I've decided I am going to wear this down jacket under the raincoat all week- hopefully will keep me cosy during my cold commute!!!

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- vaguely Christmassy?

Hello and a happy new year to you!

For TARDIS Tuesday, I thought it was time to start the Jumper cosplays!   These are mainly worn by Yaz Khan who is the only really practically dressed Who character (though her choice of coats/jackets could do with a little less leather) There's one I have worn 3 times and not photographed so I had to make a special effort to get this one snapped!

I last wore it here in December 2023.

It features an orange Mint Velvet jumper, an All Saints leather jacket, black skinny jeans and grey trainers.

Here's my Sunday morning version:

I like this starry jumper- it has some cashmere in it and is very cosy.  The usual Clara Oswald alt jacket makes its regular appearance.  This time, I am wearing my black, baggier Seasalt trousers- they are very comfy.  Finally, I wore my Clarks Funny Dream grey shoes.  They are comfy and I liked the way the red laces ALMOST match my jumper!  The outfit is one that would work for school and indeed, I have worn it quite a few times for school.
 

I hope your new year goes well! I HOPE I don't go to bed too late like I usually do- it throws out of my sleep pattern for days! Grateful we don't go back to school till the 6th!xx

TARDIS Tuesday - Yaz Khan from the Ghost Monument

Good evening!  Greetings from a very tired me on the penultimate day of term.  I needed a quick outfit for TARDIS Tuesday and I realised I had the perfect outfit which could be interpreted as Christmas jumper outfit...sort of!

I last wore this outfit on the blog in November 2020 (and first in January 2020)- I have worn this outfit outside of the blog but not shared online.  It was worn by Yasmin Khan in her second episode, The Ghost Monument.

It's a standard Yasmkin Khan outfit- leather jacket, jumper, jeans and trainers.  Her jumper is from Mint Velvet and her jacket from All Saints.

Here's today's  version.   For the first time since I last wore this, I can actually find my orange jumper! I originally had a red one but bought an orange one but it kept hiding when I wanted to wear it for a photo. It's a bit bigger but is warm and comfy. 

The rest of the outfit is not particularly interesting- I wore black trousers and boots, rather than trousers and jeans so it worked for school.

My trusty River Island leather jacket to the rescue again!

Had a really funny thing happen today.  We had an online Zoom assembly which I had to have with my year 1 class last lesson.  At the end, everyone left and I hadn't managed to press the Leave button.  Suddenly, our teacher said, "Hello, are you still here? Shall I continue my story?".

He then proceeded to tell us a story about a little boy in his house who tries porridge and chairs and gets visited by Red Riding Hood, a Wolf, 3 pigs.  Just as it got exciting, he had to go. 

It was so surreal and funny and I have no idea why it happened but it was brilliant!

CBC's carol service went really well last night! I was super proud of him!

xxx

TARDIS Tuesday

Hello there visitors,

I hope you are well!

For TARDIS Tuesday this week, I have something new to share!  This is always exciting!

I have @_rachelmmillar on Instagram to thank for this one.  She contacted me to ask about a Yasmin Khan item I had identified and then  kindly told me about some items she had identified herself.

But what was that?

It is the jumper from an outfit worn by Series 11,12 & 13 companion, Yasmin Khan. She wore this briefly at the end of New Year special, Resolution and also wore it for an appearance on Children in Need in 2019 to meet a sweet little girl who was a huge fan!

Rachel identified the jumper as a jumper from White Stuff with a sequined star on it. She wears it with a pair of black skinny jeans and boots (I think they may be her Dune ones) and her ox-blood All Saints leather jacket.  In the Comic Relief outfit, we see her Alex Monroe floral initial necklaces (Y and Z)

Well, here's my attempt:

I started with the jumper, which will make a great any season but useful for a simple Christmas jumper.

I found it for £3.50 on Vinted. With postage, it was about £6. It is warm as it contains Alpaca and lamb's wool in a blend.

I added my brown leather jacket from River Island which comes from a Clara outfit and is what I wear most times in place of Yaz's ubiquitous All Saints leather jacket..

I didn't bother to go more accurate on the trousers and boots and just wore a pair of denim trousers from F&F (charity shopped) and black Clarks boots.

I am VEXED that I appear to have lost my Avon floral K necklace which goes with my Z necklace that I usually wear in place of Yaz's Alex Monroe letters- it's been missing for a few months and I've searched to no avail. Either, I left it somewhere, it got sucked up by the hoover or ????

Annoying. Instead, I wore the little Y and Z I made out of silver mirrored card a few years ago which I hung on chains with jump rings.  Pretty flimsy and only to be worn in the house (I wore my Alex Monroe bee necklace when I was out) but they look the part.

I thought it would be fun to recreate this image (well, mirrored) from Resolution, sans bunting.

We had an absolutely lovely weekend.   Saturday morning (and early afternoon) was spent frantically cleaning and tidying the house. I had invited CBC's brother to come and stay for the weekend as we hadn't seen him for months and it was also a very good incentive to clean the house.

We picked him up and headed to an Escape room.  I am happy to report that we solved it with 9minutes to spare and we all helped and felt we had taken part. It's much better with 3. When we do them with 6, I tend to miss out on a lot.  We then headed to a lounge restaurant for some late-lunch Tapas and then onto a French bar/restaurant for some tea and went to watch free fireworks on the seafront, standing by the cliff railway.  After this, we headed to dinner at a Thai restaurant.  Back home, we drank mint tea and headed to bed.

The next morning, I was up early to go to church. This morning, the vicar was playing keyboard and it was the first time I had played flute next to him. He's a really good musician though I found it a bit harder to see the music.  The service was excellent.

I headed back home and enjoyed some late breakfast with CBC and his brother T. 

We then drove to the seaside to do a circular walk, enjoying some lunch in a seafront cafe/art gallery which we had all to ourselves.  We then dropped CBC's brother to the station and drove home.

We both felt very positive for having spent time with T and having a tidy house so headed back home in an  upbeat frame of mind.

Luckily, only one rehearsal for me this week in the evenings though CBC has persuaded me to come and play viola for a music festival performance on Friday for his school.

Hope you have a good week!

xx

sdsds

Balloon sleeves

Hello!

Made it to Half Term, thank the Lord!

I'm so tired after this Half Term.  Partially my own fault from saying yes to lots of music but also  just the pressures of school.

Alas, my Passport has not come back yet so no further afield adventures for CBC and I sadly. I sent it off on April the 6th but I am experiencing the publicized delays!

Cute, cute thing today.  So, one of our Assistant Heads and I discovered that we both have a penchant for buying and reading new children's books so we've been having a lovely swap and chat over the last half term.  I lent her a few different books and then recently gave her the Scarlet and Ivy series which comprises of 6 books. I read all 6 books over a 2 week period and was absolutely compelled by them.  Similarly, my Deputy Head has not been able to put them down. When she sees me, she gives me an update on where she is up to and how much she loved the books.   She had returned all but the last one to me and I left them in a pile in the little music practice room at school.  On  Wednessday, one of my lovely Year 5 girls returned me my Doctor Who book she'd borrowed and I asked her if she wanted to borrow Scarlet and Ivy book 1 which she excitedly agreed to. This afternoon, 2 days later,  she found me in the playground accompanied by a Year 5 teacher.  Apparently, she'd been trying to find me all day but hadn't wanted to disturb me.  She'd been reading non-stop all day, having accidentally left it at school and really wanted to borrow Book2. I agreed and asked if she wanted to borrow 2 over the holidays. However, I decided to take 4 books to her classroom. Her little face when she saw I'd bought 4 for her to borrow- she was so thankful!

Another nice thing was today I did a 35minute singing session with Reception so I could teach them the Jubilee songs I would like the whole school to sing at our Jubilee picnic.   I've not done music with them before as obviously things have been very stressful in terms of room but they were so sweet and enthusiastic!  It was lovely.

My Year 6 kids did a good performance of Papageno's aria from The Magic Flute on the tuned instruments which was lovely.

My Gamelan performance went well on Wednesday and it was really exciting to play with the group again.

Onto my outfit. I wore this on Thursday and really liked it! I bought the blouse on Saturday from the British Heart Foundation Charity Shop in the 12 minute tea break in my orchestra rehearsal.  It's from Oliver Bonas which is a shop I love but have not ever bought anything from as it is so expensive!  This blouse was £5.99.  It's SUCH a lovely chambray material and I adore the Balloon sleeves. It fits really well!

Looking at these photos, I realise my green ASOS trousers really needed an iron! Ah well.

I added my iridescent Esoteric London earrings and necklace (both purchased in a Seconds Sale) to accessorise and my Aldo 3 coloured heels.

It was quite a good outfit for taking me from school to going out for dinner at the Harvester with my work colleagues T and C.  It's the 4th or 5th time we've done that this year and it's been really nice to become better friends with both of them. Both of them are in their 50's and have been at my school for about 5 years longer than me. It's nice to have friends in school!

Hope all is ok with you!

x

From the Archives: Star boots upcycle

 This post is from March 2014.   When I was posting my starry outfit the other day, I added the hashtag Stars.  After I posted, I was curious to see what I had under that hashtag and suddenly remembered the time I upcycled a pair of my boots with acrylic paint with stars!  Can't believe I ever got rid of these.  They were so cute!!!

Anyway, I thought I'd share this post as there are a few new friends here nowadays as well as old lovelies! 

Enjoy!

xx

Star boots upcycle

Hello there!

I wanted to share this fun and easy craft project I recently completed which would be ideal for kids and adults.

Several of you admired my Star boots in my Birthday outfit post.  Well, I was really pleased that you did, as these were my recent upcycle project.  I wanted to create something fun which would stand out. I love Irregular Choice shoes for their standout quality!

I have had these black boots for a while and they are rather knackered.  There are a few problems. 1) the heels are worn down at the back and secondly, they are really scuffed.  Since they are just made out of some man-made material, not leather, polish wouldn't make a difference but I am loyal and they have served me well, so I felt like giving them a new lease of life.

This project is fun because I believe it can be undone if you are unhappy with the results.  Acrylic paint washes off with water and a sponge.

You will need:
Old tired, scuffed looking boots or shoes (you could do this with nice new pair but I wouldn't want to risk it at first!), acrylic paint in your choice of colour, suitable paintbrush for acrylics (not too soft, not too thin,), protection for your work surface, Stencil (I made mine using an Xcut star-shaped punch), scrap paper, a pile of socks,

1.  You can see how tired and scuffed these are.  They were also a bit muddy. So first, clean the surface of your shoe to get rid of any lint or dirt- I used a baby-wipe but a small sponge/cloth and water will also do better!

2.  Prepare your template.  With my star punch, I punched several of them into scrap paper and cut a square close around it so it wouldn't accidentally smudge any other drying stars when painting other stars.  I also made quite a few templates because sometimes acrylic paint got onto the bottom of the template and slightly smudged the stars.  Thus, I rotated between them.

3.  Lay down something on your surface.  I just used a carrier bag.

4.  Stuff your boot/shoe with socks/leggings material, something to help it keep its shape.  I discovered the need of this after the painting my first star.

5.  Put a SMALL amount of acrylic paint into a receptacle (a little goes a LONG way).  I used a pasta jar lid for this- doesn't matter if it gets too grubby as it can be recycled and a nice small, but flat surface. I chose to use pearlescent green paint, I'm not sure what the difference will be using matte paint.

6.  Before you begin on the actual shoe, try painting on the sole with your template and paint just to check you like what you're about to do! I tried out my small star template and large star and discovered the small one just looked messy and was harder to make the shape distinct.  You might be better with a slightly larger shape.

7.  Lay your template over a spot and hold down with your fingers (can't be doing with that masking tape milarkey) so it is flat.  Pick up a tiny amount of paint with your brush and paint over the template.   Carefully remove it.

8.  Re-lay a template at a distance of your choice.  Try not to let the sides of the template touch your previous star. (N.B.  It does dry quickly though, so don't worry too much).

9.  Every so often, look at your shoe to check you are positioning the stars evenly. I did all one side first, then had a look at it before laying it on its other side.

10.  Paint your other shoe.  Do the same with the other one. I had to check that my stars were the same distance.  They aren't but it seemed ok!

11.  Admire your new boots!!!

Just a word of warning.  Someone mentioned to me that acrylic paint can be washed off by water, so I avoided wearing mine in the rain so far.  I think they might be ok but just in case...
And if you fancy a change, then you could always clean them and repaint with a new pattern in new colours.


 One of my colleagues said she thought they might look pretty in all different star colours which I might try at some point!

Hope you like it.  One of my parents spotted them at school and when I told her I'd painted them she got all excited and thought that she could do this with some of her kids' scruffy shoes- she said she had a great idea which she'd wait till summer to do!!!  And parents, why not, for fun, let your child paint an old pair of shoes in this way with a template- they might be proud to say they've upcycled their own shoe!!! You could even have a shoe painting party for your child's birthday!!! Everyone could bring an old pair of shoes (or a new pair?!) and paint them with hearts, stars, butterflies, circles (polka dots), letters, you name it- all you need is a punch or template!!!



Linking to the following fab blogs including my Uni friend's fabulous blog!!! Visit the Fairy and the frog for amazing idea for things to do with your children and language links to these activities! Great ideas for nursery teachers too!:

Creative Mondays with Claire Justine

The Fairy and the frog parenting pin

In and out link up party with Cynthia at Feeding Big








You're gonna love it Tuesday

with Kathe with an E!