Vaughn-Williams

My mum shared this with me recently.  My great-great grandfather received a letter from composer Ralph Vaughn-Williams as he used to sing in a choir which he ran!

This was pretty exciting to hear!

 There's another story from my relatives regarding well-known musical personalities but I'm not sure whether to believe it is true or not until I can see the end credits of a film to see if it is true and gives evidence that would confirm this.

A pause for Advent 2: The Three Trees

 

I saw this lovely film and story about Advent which I thought would make a lovely Pause for Advent this year.

xxx

A series of unfortunate events

 Hey there!

Thanks for your kind comments on my recent post- I'm glad you liked the idea of writing a list of things you've done for the first time this year and was glad it was inspirational too.

I had a good day today at school (3 lessons of teaching the Year 5's an introduction to Medieval sacred singing and listening to Hildegard Voin Bingen and one lesson of year 6 listening to the music from other 'horrid' sounding music (including Psycho theme!) and and trying to use dissonance to create our own atmospheric music.

However, there were a few little things that happened that made me laugh but were rather unfortunate.

Number one was the ridiculous downpour of rain that hit me as I left the house.  It was quite simply ridiculous.  As I cycled down the road, I couldn't believe how drenched I was getting and could barely see my way.  A few metres later, it seemed to increase until the raindrops felt the size of buckets, each and every one of them and I started laughing, it became so hard to cycle.  As I reached the train platform and hauled myself panting in the carriage, I dripped muddy water all over the carriage floor.  Another girl was similarly soaked and we laughed as we tried to sit down- every single part of me was utterly saturated- skirt, leggings, coat, even down to my underwear!).  My barkcotton skirt is practically teatowel material and it felt like a soggy one.   The rain completely stopped after about 5 minutes of being on the train so to all the bone-dry people that got on at subsequent stations, I looked a sorry sight as did the brown floor beneath me. An hour and a half later and standing in front of hand dryers, I was still wet and spent my first our of teaching feeling very gross.  The only dry part of me was my feet- clad in very expensive Goretex boots which I am thankful I bought last week.

Number two occurred as I left the station at my destination.  As I cycled down the main road and onto the side street, I was suddenly aware that my pedal action was somewhat restricted- I glanced down whilst trying to keep an eye on the road and noticed that, in a freak, couldn't-possibly-make-it-happen-on-purpose occurrence, that the very end of my shoelace (DONE UP, I hasten to add) had somehow caught between the perpendicular pedal and pedal shaft join- I tried to pull over to untangle it and as I did it, fell completely off my bike.  Luckily, I'd braked and didn't hurt myself but was a bit shaken.

Fast forward to home time at 6.30pm, I reached the station near work and put my paper ticket into the ticket barrier slot.  It make all sort of nasty, churning munchy-noises and no ticket was returned!  I had to alert a guard to this fact and had to wait as he opened the machine which had munched up my ticket and didn't want to give it back.  It gave up eventually.

Waiting on the platform for my train, I suddenly heard a massive splatting noise!  I glanced forward and saw the most enormous spread of white bird boo, just centimetres from me.  Looking up, I saw a Pigeon's derriere poking out from a joist. That bird had SERIOUS quantity and aiming skills! It almost got me and most of a square metre and a half around me.

I had spent CBC various messages about my various misadventures and he told me he was coming to collect me from the station rather than me cycling home! Obviously didn't want to chance another mishap!  Perhaps it was wise....?

Badger stories: Can't Get Under It; Can't Get Over It; Turn Around and Leg It.

I have a friend who encountered a badger inside her tent once. She woke up at 3am in the morning, having left her tent flaps open for ventilation.  To her surprise, she saw a badger looking at her, right next to her. It left very promptly once both of them got over their startled state!


This comes about because CBC's wanted me to tell his story...

"2am this morning, as I got up to go to the bathroom, I heard scratching sounds that could only be a badger using the fence as a nail file.  On account of the fact that this fabled Badger had dug up our plants, burrowed in the veg bed and broken through a fence panel to travel easily between gardens, I decided to investigate.  As I tiptoed outside, I assumed that, for some reason, the creature was on the neighbour's side of the fence and had intended to creep up on it, hoping to surprise it, possibly with a, "Here's Johnny!"-type scenario....or just quietly shoo it away, since this was the middle of the night.
It turned out that the badger was on our side, in our garden and was not frantically clawing at the recently-boarded up hole in the fence, to try and break through. I could swear that I then heard it attempt to scale the fence briefly before an about-face and then the fastest bolt towards the Bamboo at the back of the garden where it made its escape.
It was great to finally encounter this wild animal after so many reports from neighbours, local intelligence and a series of clues that have been left over the last few months. I doubt the boarding up of the fence will stop it from coming back, but it might stall it for a while."

I didn't see the badger sadly but once I heard that it was at large in the garden, I roused myself from my sleepy state to go downstairs to make sure I protected the raised bed at all costs!  Bleary-eyed, I grabbed pots, watering cans and anything I could to stand on the wooden sleepers where there were possible entrance points for Mr Badger to dig my plants up.  As I did so, I could hear various rustles coming from the bamboo but in my semi-conscious state, I imagined it might leap upon me with massive claws, so I worked with trepidation.  This morning, all seemed intact on the raised bed front so the double pronged attack seems to have worked!
My unexpected nature encounters seem to always have been with slow-worms,, not badgers. I have encountered three over the past few months, one in my compost, one in a pot at the end of the garden and one on the path of my regular field walk- we both jumped!

Over to you- have you had any up close and personal incidents with badgers specifically, or indeed with any other creatures?  CBC would love to know.

P.S.  If you haven't visited the Bloggers Art Gallery yet, please do here.  Rach has also joined in and she has loads of amazing part! Rach is the reason I am a blogger!

TARDIS Tuesday- #If I were her Companion- Forays into the 13th Doctor's New Assistant

There is a great cosplaying Instagrammer called Bancroffed who created a rather fun challenge over the summer which basically involved imagining that you had been cast as Jodie Whittaker, the new female Doctor Who's companion and posting pictures for 7 days of what your companion might wear.

This sounded right up my street and I decided to name my character, give her a backstory and write some details about her adventures!  Plus, for anyone who is a Classic Who fan like me, I made reference to lots of old Doctor Who stories and characters as well as a few modern ones!

Even if you are not a Who fan, I would be totally intrigued to see what you think of these story ideas or outfits I've created!

I thought I'd join in with the fun and imaginative challenge that the fabulous @bancroffed has created, #ifiwerehercompanion . Aka, the new 13th Doctor's companion. Well, my companion is a space Librarian from The Library who left to explore the Universe just before Vashta Nerada took over the Library. Unfortunately, she's ended up on a planet where Giant Fruit rules the planet by stealth. Unsuspecting and a bit ditsy, having shockingly not read up on this strange planet, she ends up picking some baby pears growing on the nursery trees and finding her self surrounded by an Apple army which grows immense until the Doctor rescues her from imminent execution! The Fruitalia planet is very warm so she's wearing a polka dot dress and cardie-cool but she bought a Watermelon collar from the market when she arrived and her favourite Dorothy inspired shoes because she likes to be able to walk round libraries feeling comfy but glittery. I wonder how the Doctor saves her and sorts out the problems on Fruitalia? 

In the 2nd episode of #ifiwerehercompanion , the Doctor discovers that Merry, her new companion, has never visited Earth and given her passion for libraries, decides to take her to the British Library in London in the 1960's. Merry is a bit doubtful about visiting Earth, but decides she likes the idea of the Library anyway and sports her book outfit- book dress, book pins, book-shaped bag and flat shoes as always and they arrive. Unfortunately, they find a Body in the Library and the Doctor decides she wants to embrace her inner Miss Marple and sets out to find the killer. It turns out that there is a group on Intergalactic beings who are engaged in a sort of Treasure Hunt to seek certain books of Time round the Universe and the key to finding the murderer is finding the book! At the end of the mystery, Merry begs the Doctor to let them join in the search for The Books of Time as a way to explore the Universe. And there we have our story arc for series 11! SWIPE for details.

In the 3rd episode of #IfIwerehercompanion, the Doctor and Merry, having taken up the challenge of seeking the Books of Time and the clues in the scrolls of the Book of time, lead them to find themselves seeking the next book on the planet Svartos which the Doctor realises she has been to before.  The planet is cold, dark and full of snow so the Doctor has a rummage in the TARDIS wardrobe and resurrects her brown fur coat from meeting the Yeti.  Merry, the vegetarian, decides instead to wear something a bit more modern- Baker Boy hat, checked coat, flat boots as ever (there might be a library!) and Romana's old white scarf, which makes the Doctor a little nostalgic as she mentions her old companion to a bemused Merry. On Svartos, they seek the second Book of Time, the ancient book of Wisdom, which is rumoured to be encased in a great Blue Glacier. The Doctor & Merry also find themselves a familiar Rival in the form of Savalom Glitz, who has returned his formerly named ship, Iceworld, to its home planet. Now alone he is seeking the book for an anonymous 'Special Customer'. Many journeys in sleighs ensure, with menace in the form of Sinister Giant fur beasts until  they find the Book. Merry wishes she'd worn the fur coat...

Day4/Episode 4of #ifiwerehercompanion - Merry and the Doctor are after the Next Book of time on the most beautiful place in the Universe, The Eye of Orion. They are seeking the Book which tells of the Secret of this beautiful place. It is hidden in the Well of contentment. The Doctor, telling Merry that this is her favourite place to rest in the Universe, decides to take a break and leave Merry​ to search for the book. What could possibly go wrong? Hearing that the Eye of Orion is a beautiful place, Merry dresses in a light summer dress and Vintage Straw hat, thinking that this is the easiest mission. But unfortunately, discovers that the Weeping Angels are on the Eye of Orion! Luckily, she has read about them, being an erudite kind of girl. How will Merry find thr books AND escape the angels? 

Day 5of #ifiwerehercompanion ! Merry and the Doctor discover that the next book is the Log book of The Marie Celeste! They travel back in time and Merry find what she thinks is what the Navy wears. Oh how wrong she is! The Doctor dresses as Captain Jack Sparrow! Unfortunately, they are locked up straight away as Stowaways!!!! A strange sea monster is menacing the waters and it doesn't seem to be of this world!! Strangely enough, in the end, it isn't the sea monster that scares the crew off. Merry and the Doctor are saying goodbye when they spy THE TARDIS materialising and the DOCTOR REMEMBERS she was there before!! She sees her old Companions, Ian, Barbara and Vicky plus her old self arrive and then the DALEKS turn up in their time machine!! They hide because they don't want to distract the former Doctor from escaping the DALEKS and change time!

I'm a bit early with my 6th day of #ifiwerehercompanion but I'm on duty straight after lunch and in rehearsals so it is now or never! In the 6th episode, the Doctor and Merry head to a very swanky planet called Viennis for the New Moon Ball. Merry wears her fanciest dress, which sadly isn't THAT fancy, Balls at The Library never happened. She wears it with her idiosyncratically flat shoes. It is rumoured that the owner of the 5th Book of Time is to be present. No other information is available but the other seekers of the books are getting desperate and Merry is captured and held to ransom by one nefarious hunter! 

Final episode of #ifiwerehercompanion . The next book is hidden on the planet of Kilnooin which is warm and intensely green, full of trees. Merry dresses for a Summer afternoon- warm weather appropriate and very light. Flat shoes as always! The Book of Time, which is to be find on this planet, was stolen only last week by a band of intergalactic fugitives who have yellow skin and 3 eyes. They seek it because it will give them dominion over all the planet. The Doctor and Merry must seek it, not only for their original mission but to save the gentle tree-dwelling furry folk who live in harmony there, harvesting life-giving medicines. 
I'm afraid, if you want to find out how The Books of Time story arc ends, you'll have to lobby the BBC and Chris Chibnall to employ me as Script writer for series 11. Thanks to @bancroffed for initiating such a fun challenge!!

What do you think?

Do you like the outfits and any of my ideas for 13th Doctor adventures?  

Would you like Merry as a companion?

Who would your companion be and what would they wear?

xx

Biscuits and pickles and strange buzzings behind the curtain....

Hello there!

How are you?  Well I hope. It is late on Wednesday night and I am terrified because SOMETHING IS BUZZING VERY LOUDLY BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!!! I am far too scared to check what it is.  It periodically starts buzzing (low-pitched) and I am not too sure what to do.  The backdrop to this is that last week in the evening a HUGE wasp (possibly queen) appeared out of nowhere going round and round our light fitting.  CBC RAN for his life upstairs, leaving me down there.  I said, "What am I supposed to do about it!?" to which he said, "Not go downstairs."  There was a slight flaw in that logic.   It had vanished by the time I had got back. 

Later on, it appeared again, obsessively buzzing round the light-fitting and then it went inside it and settled down on one of the metal spikes.  We read up on hibernating bees and then still didn't know what to do so went to bed.

The next day, when I came home,CBC said it had vanished from the light.  No more was known of it.

Until this evening.  CBC said that he thought a moth had gone past him but then about an hour ago, I heard this buzzing and urgently called, "It's the wasp back!!".  From asleep on the sofa, to mugs flying, papers knocked over and dashing out, CBC went upstairs.  I now don't know what to do. I have an oven glove and tea towel here ready to protect myself if I have to swat but I'm far too scared to look behind the curtain in case it buzzes into my face!!! Ahrgh!!!!!! is it the wasp? Is it something else!?!??!?!! 

It's settled down (well, I hear no buzzes) but.....

*Shudder*

Anyway,shall we get onto the main part of the post?

Here is what I wore on Sunday to church.

I started from my Jammy Dodger brooch (bought from a Steampunk extravaganza the previous week, more on that soon- if you want to know more NOW, go over to Sophie's for a look) which I added to this simple navy turtle neck which I bought from Primark as I really wanted another polo neck and this was just what I wanted.  I added this Seasalt Cornwall skirt which I picked up in a charity-shop in Totnes in June. It's really cute as it has jars of pickled items all over it- we love a good novelty print, right?  It seemed fitting to pick out the pink of the radishes (I'm going with radishes) and then just add blue shoes and beret!

Simple and fairly plain but with the usual dose of quirk!  The jammy dodger can be seen better in my next brooch round up!  I suspect outfit posts will be few and far between here as the weather is so egregious that I don't fancy setting off outside for taking any photos at the weekend.  A spot of TARDIS blue in my hat!! Hopefully, I can do SOMETHING TARDIS-Tuesday related next week, even if it is sharing a piece of memorabilia I own or something else...!!!

Hope all is well with you!

Yubnub!*

xx

(*Do you know what I am talking about? Do you, do you?!?!?!)

The night ambush

After a long day at work, I found myself weary on the relentless trudge homewards. When the nights draw in and darkness comes, I find myself  somewhat nervous of the poorly-lit park route to my humble abode. Bracing myself, I left the main street of bright street lamps and a healthy flow of commuters moving in cars and on foot and find myself on the path of few lights, few people and a sense of isolation.

I walked amidst the avenue of trees, the comforting hubbub of traffic dimmed to a faint memory and left me as a solo passenger on this journey.   Heightened awareness of noises means my breath sounded loud and panicked and I wanted this ordeal to be over.  I increased my pace to a paranoid canter.

As I neared the gloomy, old pool building, with the memory of swimmers as a mere memory, I wished for some company, some sense that I was not alone.  Reaching the end of the building, my eyes darted left and right, left and right like a tortured cat seeking the elusive swinging toy.

It was then that I saw them.

Looming out of nowhere in the darkness, a mass of tall, lean, muscular individuals whose stony faces were a mystery to me in the complete lack of light  as they stood to my right.

Involuntarily I gasped in shock and braced myself for the threatening encounter that was surely to come with this ambush.  I'd always imagined this kind of horror in my imagination but didn't even consider it would come to fruition here in this place that I had come to love.
Words failed me, they died in my mouth as a kind of panic unique to rabbits in the middle of a road held as a statue.

A stentorian voice came out from behind me to my right- an unexpected extra individual.  "Right, I want 50 press ups! GO!"

As those anonymous individuals threw themselves down the grassy surface where their feet had been, I breathed a sigh of relief as I realised that the Boot-camp participants were back in winter training.


(This account is based on a number of times I have suddenly happened upon the Boot-camp members training by the side of my path home in the pitch black throughout winter.  I tried to imagine back to the first time I had seen them. It has always struck me as slightly sinister the way they are there with no pomp or circumstance just getting on with it in the dark. Bootcamp is an extreme form of exercising rather like the army, I believe)

An old salty tale

I think I've been having nautical withdrawal symptoms. Definitely time for a camp sailor outfit!
You'd think this wasn't suitable attire for helping someone move house but I tripped over trouser legs all day Sunday when wearing something "More practical!"

Cardigan from Collectif
Polka dot dress- Joy Louche
Shoes- Faith
Tights- Primark
Headband- Crown and glory


I've not really made anything of April Fools in School before but today, as I was searching for a new song to teach in Singing Assembly, I looked in the Harlequin 'Songs through the seasons' and found a song called 'April Fools'- it 's been the only time Singing Assembly has fallen on April Fools day so I took advantage!

One of the kids (Gifted and talented musician) tried to trick me (and succeeded!) by telling me she'd broken her cornet so I decided to wreak my revenge.  That year 4 class were reading their books whilst the children were logging their school dinner choices on the computer and so I whispered to the TA and got the class quiet and talked to her about photocopying the test papers because Miss had asked me not to teach music and do a science test instead. Some of them cottoned on and were disappointed but then I had to obviously state it and asked them to get their pencil cases out as we had to do a science test. Cue groans and moans all round, especially from my little joker who told me she was devastated but said that at least I was going to be with them for it.

As the TA said she was fetching the papers, I said they'd have all lesson and then said, "Nah, it's just a trick, line up!".  Some of them, like my joker said, "I can't believe you did that Miss, you are a really good actor!" and some didn't cotton on until the class had lined up to go to the music room! They all agree it was a rotten but a convincing joke!

After break time, I tried the same joke on the other class. Usually we go straight to the music room from the playground but I made them go back to class, get their pencilcases out and told them about the test. Their own teacher came back in and I said to her loudly, "I'm just telling them about that test that you asked me to do!" She cottoned on and did some very convincing acting and scolded them for not remembering she'd told them about it yesterday and said they had to revise and if anyone didn't get 90%, we'd move their names down the colour chart. They all looked askance until we said, "No, April Fools!" and highfived each other! Ha, tricked them again.

The downside was, they tried to trick me ALL through the music lesson (they failed) and then their teacher in the afternoon. They're the April fools as they didn't know the Midday rule! Ha!


In the afternoon, I was unexpectedly called to cover Year 2 and ended up teaching RE and then PE. Not really that sad to miss year 3.

RE was great fun as we were learning about the Torah and watched a short animated version of Noah's Flood, after which I got the whole class involved in after, acting it out! Great fun- God stood on the desk, Noah and his sons and their wives all had to round up unruly animals from round the class and get them onto the carpet and bolt them in (one VERY mischievous sheep who gave Shem some trouble!) - we then had counting to 40 with God playing a tambourine and sending the dove to search for something green (she chose a pencil box!). We then had a go at some Hebrew writing. PE worked out as great fun as we were practising batting skills.

Finally, after school went to meet my friend M in Romford where we had rather tasty Pizza and then a fantastic Ice-cream sundae and came phone, catching up on phone-calls on the return journey (I'm off to Petworth for a few days in a week or so!) and then N coming round to fetch his spare-key to return as he hands over the rental property!

All in all, a jolly old day!
xx

Linking to Hat Attack with my headband

The story of a coat, some trousers, a hat and what lies beneath...

I used to be really regular with joining in with my lovely blog friends The Two Birds' Inspiration Monday. Increasingly, I've somehow just got to Monday and not managed it, not managed to find something appropriate so I thought I'd really try to make a concerted effort to join in when I can, even if the relationship between the inspiration and myself is rather nebulous.

Today, Emma Stone wears a textured woolly coat with generously long but thin scarf (obscuring what top is beneath), jeans and shiny ankle boots.

As you can see, what I wear is er, slightly different but:
Woolly, textured coat: longer and different colour, no zip, but yes.
Thin and long scarf: yes, though wrong colour (thank you for the gift Sophie!)
Shiny ankle boots: wrong colour but yes (thrifted)
Skinny jeans: NO! But shinyish trousers in a shade blue ish.

I'd like to tell you the story of this coat.  It was given to me by my friend E, who we went to stay with in Petworth, Sussex.  It comes from Jaeger and she bought it with her first paycheck in the 1960's  after working in London for a month. She spent her entire month's wages on it,but she felt beautiful and grand in it.  It held her in good stead for many years and she loved it, particularly when times were hard and she couldn't possibly afford anything like it. It has remained in her cupboards ever since.  Unfortunately, her daughter is the wrong size for the coat, so when I went there, she got it out to show me and asked me to try it on and then asked me if I'd like it as it didn't fit her now and it seemed a shame to just be hanging in the cupboard.  What a privilege, I thought, to be the custodian of an item that was so precious to a 20-something E, to look after and wear something with such memories. It is missing a button and another is hanging off, the lining in one sleeve is ripped but it is otherwise a beautiful, warm, well-made coat which I am honoured to have been asked to rehome.


The story of the trousers is a little sadder.I bought these in the ASOS sale. They are, as you might see,rather short for my long legs. Alas, I was trying them on and ended up getting involved with the washing up and emptying of bin as CBC was having a bit of a kitchen crisis trying to cook risotto and empty the bin, whilst  I wearing them in the trying on stage. I wrestled the stubborn bin and binbag out into the garden to vanquish all binnish rebellion. Unfortunately, just as I had pulled the stubborn beastie from its bin hideout, the bin bag, rather like a sword-pierced knight, leaked onto them. So they are staying.

The hat was knitted by a friend. She began her late-life knitting career by making blankets for African orphanages.  She then branched out into hats.  She couldn't follow a pattern, just did her own thing.  She knitted CBC and I 2 hats each one Christmas.  Don't think this one has featured on the blog before but its little sister did - yep, she knitted me two- identical, except that this has a longer crown to it, whereas the other has a more skullcap feel to it! 

Oh and what you don't know is....


I'm wearing my Christmas jumper under the scarf!!!!!!!!!!!

xxx

P.S: Thanks for the recent, kind comments and fun participation in What is it?
I hope I have managed to visit everyone who has commented whose blog has a comment system I can use with my settings (Lily, your Disqus does not allow guests- please can you change the settings to allow them!) Lizzie, I LOVED your tartan coat- so nice!! And I really enjoyed your photo a day!

Sorry to the follower I somehow offended who has swanned off elsewhere! Come back, I'll behave!

The way to Sattin Shore

Image from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3126081-the-way-to-sattin-shore

If one thing excites me more than anything, it's finding a Phillippa Pearce book I haven't read.  She is the author of my favourite book- "Tom's Midnight Garden" and I always get excited when I find one of her books in a charity shop. Somehow, I have no idea where this copy of The way to Sattin Shore came from except that when I was bequeathing my epic children's book collection to the new teacher in year 4 (she's from USA, she doesn't have any of her own here), I happened to notice it balanced on a pile.  Swooping down on it with eagle-like menace, I grabbed it and stowed it away in my bag for the journey home from school.  Was I right to place my trust in this author, trusting to her usual standards?

Of course I was. This book was simply top notch!  It contains that effective quality of creating mystery that you don't realise at first but slowly pervades your subconscious until you realise something is up. The book deals with one Katy Tranter, a young girl who lives with her mother, maternal grandmother and two older brothers in a small town.  She doesn't have many friends but doesn't seem to mind it, it's not an issue in the book. Although this  is the case, she adores her ginger cat, Syrup, who is enough friend for her.  It seems she is fatherless, her father died when she was born but as the book continues, all is not what it seems.   The mystery is slowly unlocked with reluctant or willing help coming from her family members and even her new friend.

The book is well written with just enough touch of a slightly uncomfortable feeling of trouble to keep you reading, but not too scary for the children it is written for.  Wonderful description marks many passages of this text and yet it never overtakes the narrative flow, it simply creates a vivid image of the times it tries to depict and makes you feel part of it.  I love a sequence of Katy sledging down a hill in the snow.  The characterisation is not immediately obvious that she is reluctant to do it until it becomes apparent and I was surprised by this. I identified with Katy as I am a total scaredy-cat about things that go fast.  I felt her exhilaration when she discovered that it wasn't as scary as she'd thought. When thinking about them, I discovered I care about the characters in this story and what happens to them.  If you've read my reviews before, you might have got the feeling I am picky about the endings of books. In this case, the end of the story, though it has some minor bittersweet overtones, is the type of ending I like.

If you can get hold of a copy of this book, I would thoroughly recommend it.

The green trousers of Seminyak

Vix has talked about the fact she loves the fact that her charity shopped or handmade items have a story to them. I feel similarly about many items I buy. There's always something or some story (in my case, probably very dull!) in my mind associated with each one, especially the ones I keep for a long time.

When I lived in Bali, I had difficulty with clothes.  I am fairly tall, but for a girl, by Indonesian standards, I am super tall.  I was also a bad shape. I am quite pear-shaped and I just couldn't get any normal trousers to fit.  I have never really felt self-conscious about my shape in my life, I am lucky but in Bali, I did feel a bit of a heffalump! My rational mind told me that I of course I wasn't but when your Philippine Artist friend jokes that you backside is blocking out the sun as you walk up the hill in front of them, you can get a little sensitive...


By normal trousers, I mean, standard, plain, every-day trousers.  The only things I could get were loud patterned batik trousers with elasticated waists that no one wore in Bali. They are the type of things tourists wore. I wore them and I really liked the prints some of them (the Javanese ones were not as pretty as the Balinese ones) but they did make me stand out as a tourist- and the shape was not flattering- they just made me look frumpy and they were too short (I have long legs).  They also ripped and got maimed by hand-washing (I had to handwash all my clothes in a bucket. I couldn't afford to send my clothes to a laundry and I had no washing machine) and often in embarrassing places (crotch!).

I wore sarongs for a lot of the time, but if I was going anywhere on a motorbike (riding pillion), I did not want to wear one as either I had to flash WAY too much leg or ride side-saddle. Ever ridden a motorbike on crazy Balinese roads with motorbikes full of 10crates of chickens and whole families with cars ignoring you side-saddle? Especially when your driver is your Balinese Gamelan teacher  who is quite large or a lovely Czech giant fellow student and takes up most of the seat? It's terrifying!

I just had to wear my trousers brought from England, now woefully scruffy (and also not breathable material) or these ragged, holy trousers (I tried to sew them up).


It actually wasn't until very late in my year of study that I discovered or even thought to consider a tailor.  My friend Katarina, a fellow scholarship student, had found a good tailor in Seminyak, Kuta and had a beautiful pair of trousers similar to these above made.  The price seemed very reasonable and so I thought of this beautiful green silky material I had bought a while back and decided to give it a go.
I went to him and drew what I wanted roughly, also pointing out Katarena's ones, asking for mine to be more wide-legged (I like my trousers this way) and left him with the material.

When I went to pick them up, I was SO happy. He'd done a brilliant job of them! He'd cleverly sewn pockets from the material at the edges/hem, lovely button and tie detail and they were comfy, long and different! Ok,so they would still mark me out as a tourist but I wasn't there for so much longer and why take back trousers that look like those you can buy in a shop?

Sadly, they are not the type of trousers I wear regularly in England- I walk most places and they are quite long so I am scared to rip the hem, but when having a clear out this summer, I re-found them (honestly haven't worn them for about 6 years!) and decided I should show them some love. I wore them for most of the last week of the holidays and they were delightfully comfortable.  They are the perfect trousers for a light, not too hot, not too cold day. And they bring back memories of a different time, different place.

I had a few other garments made after that, some remain  in my custodianship, others have long gone to other homes. But these were my first.

As well as a very old, very loved George vest-top, I added these earrings from Dubrovnik (more on Dubrovnik soon-sifting through photos makes me lose the will to live sometimes!).
We'd just walked the city walls and I saw this stall with this woman making these.  She and her friend made them from different coloured wires and I loved them. They were so different to all the other jewellery places and I can never resist anything in turquoise! Wish I'd bought the magenta ones too!


Ha, BAD photo but the necklace says it all. I DO love having this little space where I can waffle, reminisce, indulge in a bit of nostalgia and some lovely people ACTUALLY take the time to read it. I DO appreciate you all! Thank you for your love and care!!!

xx


Linking up to Fashion Item Friday with darling Renae and gorgeous Claire Justine when Creative Mondays comes around and Passion for Fashion with Rachel the Hat.  Finally, with Ms Papelicos- whose Share in Style celebrates trousers or skirts this week.

xx

Unusual Christmas presents 2013: 3

By the time it had reached mid-morning and I had got out of bed and breakfasted, I thought at first that my darling husband had forgotten his promise of a gift a day but luckily he turned up with a rectangular box wrapped in red paper with white and blue polka dots on!
"Ooooh, what is it?" I exclaimed gleefull, grasping it and instantly shaking it.
"DON'T!" he cried, panicked and stilled my hands with his.
I set it down and unwrapped, noticing too late, the Fragile, handle with care label. Inside a cardboard box filled with shredded paper, I found 3 tiny porcelain models of hens- one pecking, one in a scratching-the-ground pose and a 3rd which was seated like it was laying eggs. "Oh!" I gasped in remembrance and joy, having spotted these figurines in an antique/second hand shop in Lotte-et-Gerond, France a year and a half ago when we holidayed there in a cottage. I'd reluctantly put them down, realising that ornaments gather dust and I was supposed to be getting rid of things, not buying them. How thoughtful of him to remember my hens!

My hen figurines will sit proudly on our fireplace! Ooh, I forgot to mention that the partridge was delicious! One to cook again, methinks!

#BEDN 4: Food Glorious Food

Good evening to ye! It's appropriate that the topic for today is food as CBC and I have just had a minor disagreement over dinner. I, in my mind, planned a lovely big plate of roasted veg (butternut squash, carrot, courgette, onion, sweet potatoes, new potatoes, pepper,) with curly kale (and sweet corn) to accompany. CBC has now taken over and he has taken out the sweet potatoes from the mix (I took the courgette out too) and he has added lentils. I am very lucky in the respect of food because CBC is not your typical 'meat and two veg' guy that many, many of my friends are married to or go out with etc. He rejoices in vegetables, pulses and makes really tasty food and really isn't bothered about meat. He does like fish though. Because he IS so good with food, it tends to make me a little insecure about my cooking ability. I enjoy variety and love many many foods. Yet, I will quite happily eat really random concoctions or a random selection of foods shoved together with the only prerequisite being that I like lots of ingredients (I think that's why pasta dishes in lots of restaurants make me cross because you are paying lots of money for like ONE topping or TWO on your pasta!). Thus, over the last 5 years of living alone and indeed cooking for myself over the last 8 years or so, I probably don't make things that excite other people (Except for a few dishes). I thought I'd share one of two of my rather more eccentric habits (or perhaps some of you will laud me as a misunderstood GENIUS!?) that I have taken to over time and quite enjoy.

1. Add frozen peas to your salad in the morning. When I worked at the Academy, I used to make myself a nice healthy (also puritanical in terms of lack of meat and sauces) salad. I used to buy Tescos organic frozen peas which I would sprinkle into the salad. By lunchtime, they would be nicely defrosted and it would be like having fresh peas in my salad.

2. Add sweetcorn to ANYTHING! Any dish, stew, dinner can have frozen sweetcorn added to it as an extra portion of veg!!!!

3. Do you ever buy those nice ready-made soups from Tescos or supermarkets like the Covent Garden soups or the own brand ones? CBC and I have discovered a DELICIOUS range of soups in the COOP called Glorious Soups with our favourite being the West African chicken and peanut one. (Oh my, I have just looked at the website and am SALIVATING over all the types of soup!) Well, we have taken to making a delicious dish out of this by adding a large block of noodles to this plus pak choi chopped and red peppers in thin small strips and then cooking them all together in the soup for 6-7 mins or so on the hob and it makes an even nicer dinner than the soup on its own (which is pretty amazing!) for two people and is super easy to make! Of course, I add sweetcorn to it too (CBC doesn't)

In case you are wondering about the pictures at the top, tonight's dinner finished by CBC is to the right and was delicious. CBC was away on Friday so I made myself a random concoction: Southern fried Chicken goujons (on seperate plate) and then on the bottom: curly kale, peas, sweetcorn, Jacket sweet potato, Chicory, avocado with balsamic vinegar! Random mixture but all delightful if eaten seperately and not mixed! Linking to Mag's at Fraise Lachrymose