Waffle and happy things

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

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

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

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

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

15 sticks of Rhubarb on Sunday too.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here endeth the waffle.

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- TARDIS print!

 This week, for TARDIS Tuesday, I thought I'd go back to one of the original tenets of TARDIS Tuesday which was dressing in TARDIS Blue shades. For anyone that doesn't know (AKA, was not here back when my TARDIS Tuesdays began), TARDIS Tuesday was begun by Maricel Edwards.  Alot of times, in the early day, she (and I, and others who joined in), would all wear shades of blue for Tuesdays.  When I got more into imitating Doctor Who outfits (Clara has a lot to answer for!), I stopped using TARDIS blue as my inspiration.  Actually though, my first Doctor Who imitations didn't come from TARDIS Tuesday- the idea originally came from Melanie who used to blog at the Folly Bird and she used various Doctors as style inspirations- which I LOVED, so joined in with!

Anyway, that long preamble is to let you know I'm not cosplaying a character today, I'm using the TARDIS as my inspiration!

I bought this dress second-hand (but new...) from someone on eBay a few years ago and is, by far,the prettiest TARDIS fabric I've seen! I wore it with a lovely silk-mix Oui cardigan which has matching blue spots!

My Impossible Girl necklace (Clara's pseudonym) goes well with it and I added some glittery blue Lorelai LQ earrings to complete the look

Did you enjoy your bank holiday weekend, UK-based peeps!?  I really did!  Made trips to 2 separate woods to visit bluebells, saw my Mum, sister, niece and then Dad, Stepmum, other sister, did a brilliant Post Puzzle with our friend Nath, did lots of gardening.   Returned to school today with at least a third of the children off because of Eid. Having less children made the return slightly more bearable!  We've got a polling day on Thursday so it's a bit of a funny week. I'll also be covering a different year group on Friday afternoon so it's all a bit topsy-turvy. Plus, I am on standby for covering flute for an orchestra weekend.  A lovely oboe-playing friend, who was a real encourager of me in my early days as a flute player, died last week.  He will be much missed. But his son is supposed to be playing flute this weekend but just in case he doesn't feel up to it and needs to pull out, I'm on standby...but he doesn't know I'm on standby, as the organiser doesn't want him to feel stressed in any way, so I'm all a little out of kilter, not knowing what might happen next weekend.

If I don't end up covering for my flute friend, I will have a free weekend before I have two consecutive weekends of orchestra concerts- the first in Nottinghill on the 14th, in Essex on the 21st and then  Balinese gamelan concert in Islington on the 25th so lots of nice things to look forward to. 

Came across the most BRILLIANT music subscription box called Music Library, based in the USA.  It's SUCH a cute idea- you get sent a children's story book which is based on music, plus then you get an instrument and craft-activity included. It's so cool! Oh, how I wish I had the budget at school to subscribe to something like that.  Actually would be lovely to start a music library for the kids to encourage their musicality. Sadly, not though! Not least, the international postage would be very expensive, plus the worry about import taxes but I really like the sound of it! From the same source, also heard about these brilliant Soundbellows!!! Her school must have some massive budget! I am trying not to be envious (also has an ENORMOUS room- oh how I miss my room!!!!!!).  Just occasionally, I wish I worked in a more affluent area! I already keep buying books out of my own money so need to stop doing that!

Had fun today with the Year 2's, teaching them about Morse Code! Also, teaching only 17-20 year 1 children today was a joy- all of them managed to learn a tune- it was so easy to teach with such a small number!

Finished the most ridiculously unbelievable Whodunnit today- Dandy Gilvers and the Mirror dance. I love this series, but the whole denouement was ridiculous!

Had a nasty shock when I got to my destination station this morning as I discovered my lanyard had lost its wallet- no train ticket, no work ID, no network railcard. Thank the Lord my Debit card was not in there (often is).  Had to pay £13 single fare home (nice ticket guy when I arrived let me through as he's seen my season ticket for 10 years but on the way back they said I had to buy a ticket) and was worried I'd have to pay all sorts of replacement fees. Luckily, when I got home, I found it in my shopping bag! Phew!

Right, I'm off to bed.

Hope you are well.

xx

A general chit chat

Just thought I'd write a post to say, "Hello there."
I wonder how you are feeling about the events of the world, the changing of lockdown rules, what the future holds and how you feel generally.

It's weird for me that since returning to school for an increasing number of days, I've felt more harassed again and struggling to fit things into the hours.

Getting used to the strange being at school not teaching music.

I did 2 days a week for 2 weeks, this week I was asked to do 3 days, next week 4 and the following week 5.  I'm a bit nervous about returning to work more, particularly as the trains have been getting a bit busier. Still ok but I've had quite a few occasions on my TfL rail train that I've had multiple people not wearing their masks (some wearing it like a chin strap). I've made a comment like, "Guys, aren't we supposed to be wearing our masks?" on two occasions. The first time, I was ignored by the two men. One woman was wearing one when she got on the train and took it off completely for the journey. When she got up to get off the same station as me, I said, "Have you forgotten your mask?". She said, "Oh yeh," as if she hadn't got one full stop and got off the train. In the entrance hall, she put it on to exit. At the gates, I told the staff that 4 people in my carriage had not been wearing them and they said all they could do was tell people to wear them, but couldn't make them as they aren't the police. It's very annoying.

Yesterday, I said it to the same woman from above and another man and said, "Aren't we supposed to be wearing masks guys?" to which the woman quickly looked to see what the man would say.  He said, "Yeh, I've got one." and I said, "Are you going to wear it?" and he said, "Yeah, in a minute."
When I replied, "Glad to hear it," he huffed and puffed and tutted but at least put it on. It made me feel really uncomfortable though.
Also, there have been a few occasions at my penultimate station where someone sits directly opposite me despite there being more distanced options.
Tis annoying.
Had some lovely fun times at school as well as some difficult times with one particular pupil.
Luckily, he had a good day today and we all did some fun activities including a very silly Science experiment involving trying to carry beanbags with the aid of two pencils from one hoop to another.
Also, we have CHICKS! The Happy Egg company sent us fertilized eggs and an incubator and they've all nearly hatched. It is a joy to have bundles of yellow fluffy chirping in the room.
In the garden, I've been picking gluts of strawberries daily- 48 today, probably about 200 in total so far. 13 Blueberries today also. A yellow courgette is on the way. The squashes keep growing but then they seem to go moudly or something which is annoying- just grow big, guys!
Enjoying getting to know some different members of staff a bit more through this.

Last week, did I mention that I got some lovely free big terracotta pots from the skip of someone round the corner from me (I did ask).  On the same walk, I also got 3 free Runner bean plants which had been left out to be taken. 

Happily managed to order a couple of M&S cotton non-wired bras of a type I like from someone new on eBay as some of mine need replacing.
Joyfully, I won a prize from the lovely jewellery maker, Esoteric London yesterday for sharing my pictures of her jewellery so that's something nice to look forward to! Her things are really pretty!

I've been enjoying playing online Scrabble with the lovely Katie who used to blog but has been my penpal for at least 6 years!   Yes, I have a new phone. I meant to do an eulogy to my old phone at some point, so need to do that still!

I went to the field behind my house (involves quite a walk to get round the railway line) to collect some horse manure.  I went with an old compost sack and a trowel.  It's currently sitting in a pot by the shed so it can rot down. Might get some more soon. I like a bit of free compost!

Yummy, had something from the Chip shop tonight- on the way home from school, CBC said he hadn't had lunch so I persuaded him to pop in!

Been chatting a lot to one of my work colleagues by phone and Whatsapp- she's been going through some issues and it's really nice to be able to share and help out. Likewise, she (and her sister who I've got to know via phone) have been really kind and listened to me about the work dilemma etc.

CBC is having a small selection of work colleagues over for a socially distanced garden 'thing' tomorrow. I'm none-too-happy about it obviously, as well as the fact, I'll come across as the party-pooper as I always do with some of the more 'gregarious', young ladies who generally make me feel hideously uncomfortable. I'm just not that type of smoker/drinker/social butterfly and it just makes me awkward. I always get on with the older people. Tempted to just hide inside.  Hope they don't stay for very long.

S and I, the PE coach, are taking our Keyworker bubble and we're going to repeat the 'science' experiment tomorrow. We've had a few laughs and I had the great pleasure of mortifying him by beating him in the 'How many star jumps can you do in 30 seconds?' data handling lesson last week!  No one in the room, least of all myself, was expecting me to beat him but there you are. He was sweating today when I was doing the Beanbag challenge as it looked like I might beat him again. Luckily for him, I just missed getting one more than him!
I taught him a game I played at primary school which he's adapted into a really fun game which we played with the children yesterday.

We went to see kittens last Saturday....we may get some....

We saw my Mum, sister and niece last Saturday. It was lovely to sit in my sister's garden chatting on her (humph, grr) new fake grass.

My lovely Nasturtiums, sent by the lovely Ann, have started to germinate!

Hope you are well.

Here endeth the waffle.
xx

Miscellaneous waffle about my week.

I couldn't really think of anything to write about today so I thought I would just type!  Lucky you, reading it!

I've not been very impressed by the government's idea of sending back year 1 and Reception children to school first, along with year 6.  Year 6, if it really is advisable for anyone to go back already, as in it won't start an increase in cases and is guided by science, I think is a good idea, they are old enough to be able to distance from each other and they do need to be introduced to their secondary schools etc. Also, it makes sense that the older the children are, they should take priority because they have less years in compulsory education to be able to catch up on the time missed.  The younger the child is, the more time they have to catch up as such, in my humble, probably not very well informed opinion anyway- if that makes any sense. I wish they had told us the rational behind asking the youngest ones first- why?  I teach year 1-6 every week and I experienced what it was like with them trying to distance from each other, trying to keep good hygiene etc.  Years 3-6, even year 2 to a lesser extent were very good with the distancing, with the taking personal responsibility for washing hands, not coughing, holding each other accountable etc but when I taught year 1 (I have three year 1 classes to teach), it was a total nightmare- I explained about needing to avoid touching faces, washing hands and not coughing, not putting fingers in their mouths etc and going to wash their hands. As I'm sure their own class teacher did.  However, the whole lesson with all three classes, my nerves were honestly in shreds as the constant finger sucking, coughing without covering mouths, touching each other, sneezing, picking noses.  Surely it's worse in Reception (who I don't teach)?

I accept that it is a really difficult, unprecedented situation for the government to be in and the things they have to balance, and there is no 'right' answer- even war time was different to this.  I am very anti-Tory and very anti-Boris, and it is very hard to predict what is going to happen and the impact but I honestly don't it's a good idea sending the little ones back. Send year 5 and year 4 but I'm just not sure about the littlest ones. Give me a good reason why and I'll be happy to be enlightened. 


Really been enjoying walks and cycle rides. I've not done one every day but I have tried to drag CBC away from his working from morning to late evening on school work to go for a walk or a cycle.
On Saturday, I told CBC we should go for a cycle ride.  He agreed and we dressed in cycle clothes

It was a really nice day for it.  We cycled to a village not so far from where we first lived when we were married and on the way, we stopped for a moment in a village where CBC had seen a house he liked- he wanted to see if it was renovated yet.  Next to that house, was a tray of tomato plants in pots saying, "Free, please take!".  I had a little old paper bag in my mini rucksack so I couldn't resist and grabbed one. CBC was incredulous that I was going to set off on a long cycle with a tomato plant in my rucksack. "Oh ye of little faith!" I retorted.

We ended up in the village and took a photo near a pub we really like that is doing takeaways via email.  By the time we'd reached here, we were rather hungry (we have a habit of setting off at lunchtime) so we ended up grabbing a sandwich (in plastic-free packaging!) and  bag of crisps in an empty Budgens and cycled off out of the main village to go and sit in a football pitch that was covered in buttercups since it hadn't had football being played on it. It was utterly beautiful!

By the time we'd cycled home, it was 34 miles in total. That's the most I've cycled in one go in about 8 years! We'd done 15miles a few weeks ago so that was a big hike up.

I opened a text on my phone from my friend (who lives in my childhood town but is currently staying not so far from me at her fiance's house as they wanted to be together, so she took things there before lockdown, knowing what would happen. She said, "Have you been cycling today?"

I replied in the affirmative and asked how she knew and she said she'd spied me cycling up a hill as they were on the way back from her flat checking on post!

On Sunday, the weather had turned sour but I was keen for us to get out so I insisted on a walk and CBC agreed we could do the other main part of the Roach valley way.  

It was very chilly and windy but it was brilliant to find the other river and get out and about.  We took sandwiches and crisps with us and ate them in the corner of a field, by a woods, miles from everywhere.  Once we'd reached the river, we only saw 4 people (who were a group) in the entire 9 mile walk.  Our feet were fine this time!

I kept thinking again how lucky we are to have so much interesting and empty countryside near us!

I went for another walk on Tuesday night after worrying about being in so much and not getting exercise- just my regular walk, whilst chatting to my older sister on the phone.

I wanted to make an effort because we seem to be at our computers writing really, really time-consuming lesson activities for our pupils and doing training for all hours. On Wednesday, I believe it took me 5 hours to write my year 3 lesson!!!!!life,

Yesterday evening, I managed to coax CBC away from his sofa-desk (it was already 7pm and he was still working) to come for a walk with me. We did the first walk I'd had tried in lockdown and ended up buying fish and chips from the chipshop for dinner as it was too late to be faffing with cooking by the time we got back.  We were lucky as they were empty when we got there.

CBC took this picture of me in my second field of buttercups of the week

Here's what I wore!  The ubiquitous rainbow skirt and I found this lilac beret I didn't know I owned!

I eyed up the horse manure in the fields, wishing I'd bought another sack and shovel like I did last time I walked here!

One sad bit of news is that the beautiful Ceanothus tree in our neighbour's garden is no more!!!

These were the last pictures that were taken before it was cut down to make way for the room of this horrid new shed.

It was teeming with bees and birds the day before.  All that remains of it was the branch the neighbour lopped off for me into the garden which I timidly asked for which is in a bucket and in a jug in my kitchen.

The seedlings are all doing well in the utitilty room.  The cucumber, squash and a few tomato plants are now massive and really need to be outside planted out, but I was worried they'd be killed off by the remaining frosts so they are all cramped in the utility room. Some of my peas have got flowers on them outside which is exciting!

We are not friends with the fox in our garden who dug up all my rocket plants and my rhubarb and my new Bergamot plant and the Alliums.  

Our attempts to thwart him by surrounding the raised bed with a cage of canes clearly didn't work as he seems to give zero foxes and just strolled through and dug up the rocket;

The next night, I laid long poles and trellis over the bed so he went and dug elsewhere in the side beds and turfed up my rhubarb and alliums

The subsequent night, I put strategic watering cans and pots in front of all the places he previously dug.

The next morning, CBC discovered the Bergamot had been dug up in the double height raised herb bed.

This is some tenacious fox.

CBC has been sent out to er- sprinkle around the beds to see if that deters him!

I woke up this morning with a really achy feeling on the left hand side of my head at the back, like I'd smacked my head hard on something. It feels really strange! I have no recollection of doing anything though...

Oh well, for someone who didn't know what to say, I clearly seem to have been able to waffle on for a long while.

Good luck if you made it to the end!

Plasters

Sophie prompted this post with a small comparison she made about fungus on a tree being like scabs on her post about a walk here.    And then it made me think back to those primary school years:

Oh how often we fell over when we were young!  I always remember having to go to the medical room after having fallen over with a big bleeding cut/scratch on my knee.  Not one of those monumental long scabs which suggested a slalom-style skid on a patch of skin, but just the general fall over and scrape the asphalt which resulted in blood outpouring in the lesser or more degree.  They always stung like anything, some sort to disinfectant would then be applied (For the record, I really loathe the smell of TCP but I adore the smell of Dettol!) and then the worst bit....

THE PLASTERSSSSSSSSSSS. 
(Band-Aids or Adhesive bandages if you are from the US)

Urgh, school plasters were the WORST.  These square-shaped lolloping great things that were always saggy and failed to stay on properly.  I really would rather bleed then wear them.  They were always several tones too pale for my skin too.
At home, my Mum would then take off the offending inferior plaster and change it for the opposite, the 'cling to your skin no matter what', thick, textured adhesive as strong as super-glue variety which wouldn't come off for love, nor money.  These were several shades darker, almost a brick red shade and more rectangular (with curved edges_)

As the years went on, my utter emnity towards the offending items grew to the extent that the sight of them makes me shudder. I cannot, will not have a plaster unless I can absolutely not avoid it and if I do, it sets my teeth on edge and fills me with a disturbing sense of unease.

Why?

Well, let me enlighten you...

1.  Those really strong ones ALWAYS, left a really disgusting nasty dark outline from the plaster once you removed them.  You would see a shadow of the former plaster left on your skin like the mocking echo of school yard bullies from some school-based drama.  You'd try to scrape it off carefully, avoiding the wound, but it wouldn't come off and the feeling of fingernails against that gluey, sticky nasty dark matter made me wince.   You'd gingerly try to scrub the skin in the bath, striving to avoid contact with the scab/wound.
2.  The actual removal of the plaster. Remember I mentioned how strong the adhesive was?  The actual removal of the plaster was always traumatic. I am recoiling as I recall the feeling of trying to remove one. You'd grasp, scrabbling with fingernails at the edges, trying to find a weak spot to remove and then, begin the procedure. You know the old adage or saying about it being better to remove the plaster quickly or something of that ilk?   No.  I dispute that.  It hurts like hell and then you don't know if you've accidentally ripped something else off (like a bit of the scab which might have been unfortunately touched by the edge of the adhesive.  But, almost equally as bad is the slow progression of pulling the plaster.  Skin, hairs, anything that was below gets removed.  I'm not sure which is worse but I will always remove them slowly. I definitely remember several scabs accidentally being ripped off by a clumsily-placed plaster.
3. The unknown.  You never know exactly how it is healing underneath. This makes me uneasy.
4.  In regard to point 3, the feeling once it is removed upon discovering the wound is still not ready for the world, means another plaster!
5.  The colour! I mentioned the colour earlier. I HATED those nasty variations on flesh-coloured.  Equally though, I feel very ill-disposed towards those decorative plasters, especially kiddy ones with cartoon characters.  I flatly refused one of those once upon being a offered one. DON'T try to make them look pretty- they are not pretty, even if they have paisley on them or Mario!  Also, those catering ones that are bright blue are equally alarming.
6.  I also associate plasters with dirty boys!  I was not fond of the average boy when I was a girl. I only liked the clean, quiet ones. I did not like those ones who had scabs and scratches the size of cars.   They would always come into class with a plaster which they would promptly and nonchalantly peel off and discard.  The offending bloody-ball of puss would be beneath, festering like some sort of witch's boil.  Boy injuries were always so much worse than girl injuries. Even now when I see boys and girls with plasters, I shudder inwardly and find a reason to be elsewhere.
7.  Plasters at swimming pools: public pools inevitably end up with with the odd plaster floating in them and certainly they did more when I was growing up.  In my head, as I progressed and one loomed towards me, I would ruminate anxiously over whether it was an injury plaster, a jewellery plaster or worse, a verruca plaster!  Yes, at the swimming pool, I think of those when I see a plaster!
8. It's really hard to actually put them on straight and judge where they will go up to (well it is if you are me!)

I do apologise if I have inadvertently put you off your cup of tea that you were so blithely sipping as you advanced through this post, but this is 'one of those blog posts'.  And in conclusion, if I ever meet you, please don't be offended if you catch me looking at your plaster emblazoned body-part uneasily and shifting from foot to foot, if you are unfortunate enough to be sporting one upon our encounter.  I mean nothing personally, it is just some irrational fear that links me to a myriad childhood traumatic plaster-related memories.

Please note, I have included no accompanying image for this post, since unlike mushrooms (one of my other loathings), plasters are NEVER pretty and their visual manifestation has no place here on KezzieAG!

Over to you...
What are your memories of plasters in your childhood?  Did you have many injuries?  Do you abhor them like me? Do you have any associations like these?

x

Friday letters



Dotty outfit from a while ago which it seemed a shame not to share, since we all love polka-dots, right?

 I thought I'd join in with Friday letters from Adventures of newly weds, that I've seen Sophie joining in with for a while, it seems a really nice idea!

Dear Voice,
Yes, you! Come closer, stop skulking in the doorway, half-in, half-out, you pest!  Thank you for partially coming home, certainly the speaking aspect of your skills are getting back to usual.  If you could kindly allow your other half, the singing voice to come back, then perhaps I could do my job properly? Mind you, as it is, I've survived without you somehow! So neeeeeeerrrr!!!

Dear Lovely Reception children today,
Thank you to those of you with beautiful singing voices, already really well in tune at 4 years old, who sat on my teacher's chair and sang the teacher part for the call and response song- you did a BRILLIANT job, you saved my voice, and you really got the other children singing nicely.

Dear Grumpy child in Reception,
I really like you, you are clever, sweet and you are a good girl but please would you stop frowning, sulking and folding your arms when you get picked to do something at the start of the lesson, it's getting wearing.  You always manage to join in later on with music, and you want my attention every moment in other lessons, so remember that you CAN do it!

Dear CBC,
I feel really guilty about wanting to mong at home tonight rather than coming over but I am excited to be seeing you tomorrow morning for planning the Robot party for next week. I'm already gathering my Daleks and planning ideas.  And you WILL not go overboard and spend too much money, you WILL listen to me when I say that we can be creative and thrifty and still achieve a brilliant effect on the decorations!

Dear Mum,
I love speaking to you but please do not phone me at 8 o clock in the morning- you always put me in a complete panic as I am invariably running late when you call and hearing a ringing phone just makes it worse! Either phone me at 7am and actually try to get me out of bed earlier, that would be helpful, or try 5.30pm - it is a good time to call as I am usually walking home at that point!

Dear Will-power,
Just because you are going near shops, that does not mean you need to play dead.  Be brave, be strong and stand firm!

Dear Epoisses cheese,
You smell so  bad, yet taste so good!

Dear Older sister,
I am so happy you are home!  Perhaps we can see each other soon?!  I hope you are nicely rested and restored after your holiday

Dear Blog-friends (I call you that, as readers doesn't make it sound like I appreciate you enough!),
You warm my heart with your kind comments.  Thank you, each and every day.  Every comment I read just creates a bubble of joy in my heart! 

Dear Adam, my newest follower,
You are very welcome, thank you so much for following me!  My first male reader too!

Dear New washing machine,
What can I say but I love you! Thank you for being mine!
Dear Year 4, I was so proud of you this afternoon when you started devising your Tudor-style dances to the music we recorded- you had some BRILLIANT ideas and I am so pleased you understood and enjoyed the lesson and let me know this! Believe you me, it was a relief! 

I'd love to know what would be in your Friday letters!

Ding dong the bells are gonna shine! (LTEH 35)

This weekend heralded a much anticipated return to Northumberland for THE wedding of the year!  J, CBC and I were forming the Penguin musical trio to entertain the masses!

The day began with some last-minute practising back home then we dressed up in our finery to head off to the historic Hexham abbey for the ceremony.

 CBC and dressed and it was nice to be able to have a photo together!  I decided (thank you to everyone for your advice!) to go with the white ribbon Coast dress in the end, based particularly on Vix's thoughts, that 'How often do you get to wear something like that in English weather'- I concur, especially as I realised that I could wear the Joy spotty Peterpan dress to more varied occasions.

The hat is from the RIP 'Hat Box' shop, the handbag from some swanky boutique on Totteridge High Street North London, the shoes from Aldo, the blue sparkly cardie from Primark.  Pearl necklace- vintage thrifted and pearl earrings - craft fair.

In typical Kezzie 'hat obsessive' style, I present to you another hat, one that I haven't featured on this blog before, my 'Judy Garland at the Lousiana Purchase exposition white chiffon hat, bought for my Mum's wedding (She insisted that we all wear hats!  Fine by me!)

 The abbey looked wonderful, decked in flowers and cool despite the hot sun outside and the flock of shoppers milling around the streets

 WOMOTM and J looking lovely!  It was SO nice to see them!  They really feel part of my family and I miss them lots when we are not there! 

J in a beautiful shade of orange! I'm so into seeing orange on people at the moment!  It looks great!

 Straight after the ceremony, we headed off to the reception venue, a brewery with marquee up on the Roman road, with beautiful surroundings- fields. Rural and lovely.  We set up our music stands and realised we had forgotten a crucial element of playing music outside- PEGS!!!!!!  The music tried its best to escape at many a moment- we improvised with small rocks from the ground and poor WOMOTM had the terrifying ordeal of being page-turner for J at the piano (I've been a page-turner, it's on the edge of the seat stuff!) That said, he seemed pretty chilled!

We had great fun playing a selection of Palm Court Piano trios- the type of stuff you might have heard in the Ritz in the 1920's, a set of Klezmer wedding music and some little bits and pieces.  When CBC and J had a break and I played Moon river, Take 5 and a couple of other pieces.  Strangely and slightly irritatingly, it was this that the bride remembered hearing!  It was a good 1.5 hours before we stopped but we were pleased and people seemed to enjoy it.

 It was also a chance to christen my new lace parasol I bought in Bruges as we haven't exactly had the weather for it so far!

 After snaffling some canapes and drinks (elderflower fizz for me!), it was time for the food, so we headed into a beautifully decorated marquee with elegant place settings cheered up with bright balloons and bunting made by the Mother and Father of the Bride.  Here's a sneaky shot of the Bride and Groom cutting the cake.  I didn't want to put one of their faces up here as obviously they wouldn't know about my blog and that's a bit naughty to put one up, but I thought this back shot might show you how beautiful the bride looked in a white dress (not ivory or cream)- it had a gorgeously ornamented front (V) and it was a halter.  She looked stunning and I was so pleased to see a wedding dress that wasn't strapless, as whilst I think every bride I've seen in one (every wedding I've been to in the last 10 years) looks lovely, I just like something different! Apparently, she was adamant that she didn't want strapless!  She looked cool and fresh all day and made a point of chatting to everyone in a lovely chilled manner!

 The food was a wonderful buffet with lots of delicious choices! Healthy too!  I liked it being a buffet rather than sit down meal! There was also roast lamb as part of it! (underneath in the shot)  The chocolate mousse desert was also delectable!

I managed to drink a glass of champagne for the toasts and speeches.  The Father of the bride was really great!  The best-man was cringingly embarassing and also included our being given individual pictures with shots of the groom!  Funny but embarassing and all I could think was "What a waste of ink and paper!"

After dinner, CBC and I decided to go for a walk as we were in such a lovely setting and we went for a wander, planning for a slightly longer walk except that we entered a field which had lots of cows up the other end and spookily, as we entered it, they all cantered towards us with stern reproach on their faces.  When we stopped, they stopped.  When we walked again, they menacingly headed towards us!  It was unnerving! CBC bravely stood his ground as I ran for the gate, then he ran too where he took shots from the safety of behind the gate!

 When we came back, my favourite part began- the ceilidh (for my international readers, this, if you don't know, is a Scottish dance.  An equivalent of your American Barn dance) had begun.

Many keen folks took their places for different dances, including CBC and I!  We had to perform a 'basket' move- one where two men and two women run quickly in a circle holding shoulders and the girls end up flying in the air with their legs in the air behind them!  It worked the first time but because our partners were so mismatched in height, we didn't get it a second time!
The final dance was a grand Orkney style 'Strip the willow'!
Here I am advancing through the set...

 Getting nearer...

 And nearer...  (note the sensible change of shoes!)

 We had lots of laughs including CBC and I messing around with silly photo shots! (i.e. the champagne glass above!)

 The cake, made by two incredible ladies!

 After the ceilidh, it turned into a cheesy disco which isn't so much my thing!  But it was fun to watch people and classy dance styles (e.g. the step from side to side, the backwards and forward, the chicken arms, the choo choo train, the lean and up etc!  My own one is 'train wreck'!)

 We even spotted Kate Middleton at the wedding! (tee hee!)

Finally, we headed home to Hexham town, tired but very happy and grateful to all the efforts of the family to make it what it was- a wonderful wedding!

 CBC will kil me for this (but he shouldn't put ideas into my head by saying, everytime I even contemplated a shot, "Meeeya, you only want to put horrid shots of me on your blog!" Well, I wasn't going to, but now I am!  Ha ha!!!!) but here we are, me in pajamas and cardie, eating cheese and rice-cakes at midnight!

How was your weekend lovely people?!

Are you off to any weddings!

What's your opinions on wedding dresses?!

Skirting the issue

Hello! It's been a lovely week all in all  and better still it ends  with a bank holiday!  How lovely! I thought I'd do a summary in general. Also, I'm going to try and not do too many outfit posts here so I am combining several into one post!  Most of them involve the naughty thrifted finds I bought on Saturday.  Oh and not once have I worn trousers!  Which is unusual for me if it is rainy and blustery, though not out of character in general!

 This was what I wore to CBC's Saturday night outing out to the West End for dinner at Princi, Soho and then onto cocktails (lemonade for me) in a car near Covent Garden.  We had a great time- the food was divine and it was so nice to spend time with different friends, including combining mine and CBC's friends.  The drinks were also fun, and though I don't drink as a rule, I might have tried a cocktail if I hadn't had a headache.  Oh well, it was cheaper, especially as 2 friends ended up buying my 2 lemonades while they all had cocktails!  I feel bad asking people to buy me expensive drinks, esp. if I wont have the time to reciprocate, due to the late hour.
The black dress was charity shop as was the purple ASOS ruffled shrug.  I thought the dress had a 1920's edge to it (well until I belted it) so I wore this black jet headband in a flapper-style, except that it made my hair look more 60's.  Oh well!

 On Sunday, we went to Spitalfields for lunch at Androuet, a French (expensive-eek!) cheese restaurant where I ate not very much (but my lovely French onion soup, cup of salad, mint tea and scoop of fruit sorbet was delicious though small!) and ended up paying 3 times the amount it should have cost(with service) due to 'splitting the bill'.  Why do I always get stung in that situation!? It feels mean and petty to draw attention to it and even though they said, I should pay £5 less because I didn't drink, I felt bad doing that, especially as CBC doesn't have a huge amount of money and I didn't want him to have to pay more, esp as it was his birthday!).  Anyway, the £5 wouldn't have made much difference as I would still have been paying £15 more! (Lawyers obviously don't realise teachers wages don't compare!) Anyway, it was lovely!
The subsequent concert at the Barbican, comprising of Symanovsky Violin concerto, Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy and something else was gorgeous and it was nice that around 12 friends were there for CBC!

The dress was a Topshop via charity shop floral dress, worn with new Dorothy Perkins Peterpan collar necklace, Vintage luxe earrings Pride and Prejudice earrings, Oasis Cardigan and eYe Boutique boots.

Look, I even did a FOTD for you (never to be repeated!!)  I actually wore make-up! Urban decay turquoise eyeshadow, No7 black eyeliner and YSL Touche Eclat!

Monday was quite a successful day in school, despite tiredness.  My recorder club are going from strength to strength and I am really really proud of their committment and achievement! 

2 friends came to dinner, who I haven;t seen for ages and it was a delight (though the washing up hung around for 2 days-oops!)

Here was my Twobirds linkup! Pale legs and floral clashes!

 Tuesday was a tiring day with an orchestra rehearsal in the evening and I was absolutely hoarse from teaching my Year 6 Balinese monkey chant (Kecak).  You have to shout directions over the top of 30people singing and chanting loudly!  I did it for two hours all in all and better still, did it in the playground so the parents who came to collect their children early could see just how mad I am!!!

However, rainbows  on my thrifted rainbow Madras Check dress (thanks for the name Vix!)made me happy!

 I just wanted to throw this one in because I took it to show the lovely late birthday present I got from my dad and step-mum.  Lovely embroidered Per Una skirt!

 The next day was really rather charming as I took my choir to sing at 2 old people's homes, the ones we sang at at Christmas. It's the first time a choir has been there, not at Christmas time, I was keen to develop our relationship further.  We prepared a selection of songs, many of which the old people would know:  Boiled beef and cabbage, Daisy daisy, My old man said follow the van, Knees up mother Brown, Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner, The national anthem, The white cliffs of Dover, We'll meet again, Jerusalem, English Country gardens, then 2 lovely Olympic songs by Chris Willcox, one of which had a cracking swing piano part which I hadn't tried to play  until that morning and my music kept falling off the keyboard stand.  It's great fun trying to sightread from memory!!!
It was SUCH a pleasure to perform there- so many of the residents responded, some cried with delight, one citing, "I'm crying because it is so beautiful", many danced and sang along, one who couldn't open her eyes mouthed all the words, others laughed and cheered.  One or two were silent, but you could see the light and recognition and delight in their eyes.  It is so humbling to be allowed to visit them and share our love of music.  I think it's so important to share with our older folks.  Their delight on seeing children is so evident.
I've agreed also to go and play my flute at one of the places, as I can't always get cover to take a class out.

 This dress, was also a SAturday charity shop purchase (F&F)- it's a bit big (ok 2 sizes too big) but I quite like it- and could get it adjusted!

Home group at church was amazing in the evening. I mean truly amazing. Even if you weren't a believer, you would have got so much out of it! It was an amazing lesson on forgiveness and how it affects us!

On Thursday, I was off school because of polling day (our school is used!) which meant a leisurely morning and a chance to escape my shabby hair with a cut!

I had a lovely day and then had a lovely evening (except for work) having dinner at CBC's and waking him up from fallling asleep doing work!   He is a great cook and he loves veg as much as I do!

My outfit was not thrifted at all but comprised some old favourites- F&F floral top, Primark cord skirt and purple desert boots and Pearl Lowe cardie. Comfy but not particularly exciting!

 Oh it was sooo hard getting up this morning particularly as I had to get up super early at CBC's!!! However, ti was a good chance to do marking on the train!  I arrived unusually early to school and got everything ready!  All in all, a good day, despite having sore throat- maths AND guided reading were good (unusual!) and in the afternoon, we had a good crack at French and SEAL.  My class do confuse me sometimes though.  Why can they understand the concepts of ellision, infinitives and conjugating verbs and bandy those terms around ok and yet struggle to remember to remember animal names they've been learning for AGES in French? Oh well!

In the last of the week's skirts, I wore this old staple Primark skirt (that my head always asks if it's Monsoon each time), along with Primark black top, M&S boots, Monsoon leaf earrings and Peter Pan pearl collar necklace!
I have had a leisurely time looking at blogs and eating reblochon cheese on chilli crackers and now am off to find some proper dinner!
I've realised that I mainly wore: black, blue, florals! Oh dear, somewhat unvaried,but I like it!

I hope your bank holiday weekend is charming and fun!!

Bisou!

Boring blog.

A few thoughts and ponderings

• CEDP- Blaughrgh. What do I write?
• Playing flute for a concert today at the last minute for a friend. Probably not the best idea given the amount of work I have to do, but still a happy thing!
• Saturday night without Doctor Who. I can quite frankly say, that the only thing I want to watch on TV at the moment is Home and Away. Which is no bad thing I suppose.
• Hmmmm, around 300 pieces of work to mark all in all. Dun dun daaaaaaaaaah!
• School trip to Shadwell park this week. We are to be there for a whole day. What on earth are we going to do with them for a whole day in a park??????? Wish we were going to the seaside. Recky trip on Monday to do the risk assessment!
• All creatures great and small really was a lovely TV programme. I wish they made things like that now. All those wonderful 70's and 80's programmes such as The Good Life, To the manor born, Bread.
  
• 4 DAYS LEFT AT SCHOOL! I raised this point at choir practice last night, to which we had a rousing rendition of the Hallelujah chorus! The Lord he is good.
• Someone gave me a precious gift this week, which really really truly is a gift from God.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JULIETBEC, pervayor of a great blog!