TARDIS Tuesday - Yaz Khan in Rosa

Hi there!

I try to mix up the Clara TARDIS Tuesdays a bit so you don't get bored of Clara. And also, sometimes, her outfits that I am waiting to share aren't really suitable for my plans or whatever the weather is or I'm not quite ready for them!

So, let's share another Yaz Khan one!  Yaz's style is very much more chilled than Clara's which is why it worked for this previous Saturday where it was rather cold and I had a bit of a trek to a rehearsal on the train.

In the clever and brilliant episode entitled, Rosa, all about the rights activist, Rosa Parks, who made a stand to the awful segregation of black and white people on public buses in America,  Yaz is donning her leather jacket (which she wears in various episodes) along with a navy blue jumper with red and white spots on from Whitestuff. She wears blue jeans and some sort of pinky/lilac/grey trainers as well.

Image borrowed from Express.co.uk

And here's me!

As you can see, I managed to find Yaz's jumper second-hand- though mine is a size 16 but I love my jumpers baggy so this is perfect!  I added my Clara leather jacket which I have worn for previous Yaz attempts.  I then added my charity-shopped blue jeans and white Clara Converse trainers to complete the look.

It was the perfect Saturday slouchy outfit with the double benefit of being a ready-made TARDIS Tuesday!

What do you think?

x

Wild Garlic pesto!

I wrote back in April 2015 about making Wild Garlic Pesto so it is high time it merits another post!

I'm presuming you all know about Wild Garlic?  If not, it grow around this time of the year.  The leaves are point, spear-shaped and are this shade of green.  The flowers are a delicate, small white one and it usually grows in woodland areas, shady but not too much and often by water in my experience.  How do you know what it is?  Well, if you pick the top off a leaf and smell it, you will smell that delicious garlicky scent!  The only other two things that look like it are the NOT TO BE EATEN Lords and Ladies or Lily of the Valley and neither of those smell of garlic.

Wild Garlic from 2015

I was introduced to it back in 2015 by my Sussex-based friend E. She taught me to make a Walnut and Wild Garlic leaf pesto.

Here is the one we made.

My first 'supervised attempt'

I also made it at Easter 2016 after finding a patch in Allenbanks in Northumberland but with the more traditional pine nuts that time.
This year, when I saw my Stepmum had wild garlic in her Organic veg box, it reminded me that at Easter time, Wild Garlic could be found in Northumberland and I vowed to search for it and make some this Easter holiday.  In fact, I may have bored CBC and his Mum by keeping saying that!

To my delight, I actually found 3 separate patches of wild garlic on three separate walks so I collected it on all three, with the larger quantity being collected on our final walk last Saturday.  I was very glad to have been carrying along an old Chicory bag from Belgium so I was able to shove more and more Wild garlic as we encountered more patches on our walk (it's important not too take too much from one patch if it is limited as it is an important source of food for wild animals)

I ended up with about 250g of it!

When I returned home to Essex, I was ready to make some.  However, we had a whole bag of Pistachios that had been sitting open on the work top for a while and I had heard that you can make pesto with any nuts so it seemed a good idea to finish these up. In addition, I had purloined one of the dozen almost-finished bottles of olive oil from my Mother in Law's house which I knew the bottle of which would end up in the bin, so I grabbed that. I had some lemons in the fridge anyway and it only remained to buy some Parmesan.

I used THIS recipe but using less Olive oil. I began by blending the nuts. WARNING: wear ear-muffs, the sound is deafening!

You basically blend the nuts, wild garlic and parmesan and then add oil in and then lemon juice and salt and pepper.  I used a recipe with only a little pesto.  I probably should have used some more but as long as you 'seal' the surface with olive oil, it should keep.   The good thing is that you can freeze it so I put it into two plastic containers and one glass jar (after thinking that originally I could freeze glass jars with shoulders...) and it made a good amount.

So far we have had 3 meals for two with it. 

The first meal was Veggie spaghetti which did us both for two large meals and then we cooked another batch of the same on Friday.

Finally, tonight, after visiting Waitrose and buying some lovely Scotch Trout fillets (they were on special offer from the fresh counter which I bought 4 of, stuffed into my own container), I spread the pesto over the fish and put it in the oven.  I still had a few Wild garlic leaves left so I chopped those up and put them into the rice. We served it alongside Leeks, Broccoli, Courgette and Pak Choi.

It was delicious!

I recommend trying to find a patch.  Now I now where there is some in Northumberland, I just need to find some in Essex. Mum did give me a Wild-Garlic plant last year which happily came up again this Spring but since it only consists of two leaves, I'm leaving it to grow for a few years!

Who's up for making Wild garlic pesto then?

x

Blue Charity shop chic!

Blogging introduced me to the breadth and variety of vintage clothes that were available. I had long bought second-hand clothing from charityshops and eBay before I blogged (first charity-shop purchase was aged 10! A sequined parrot t-shirt, a vintage TARDIS blue silk blouse and the crysttal droplets from a dismantled chandelier plus a vocal score of The Pirates of Penzance as a gift for me mum) and I'd worn vintage clothing belonging to my Mum and other family friends (I miss those cream flares!) but it wasn't until I got to know Vix, Curtise, Lauren and later, friends like Ann, that I realised utterly beautiful vintage could be found in charity shops in fabrics that I liked! 

I've found two beautiful maxi dresses in charity shops but in Hexham, last week, I made a real find!

This handmade blue floral maxi, perhaps from an old duvet cover, (who knows?), was  £3.50 and it is long enough for me and fits my waist perfectly.  I found, in the same shop, a modern Karen Millen sleeveless blouse that went with it perfectly.  On Saturday evening, we headed out to a lovely Gastropub called The Rat in Anick (no, I don't mean Alnwick, I definitely mean Anick!) and I wore the two together.

With them, I added my tan Mary Jane shoes charity shopped in my local charity shop last Summer plus my Smile and Make Star necklace and I was very happy with my comfy charity shopped chic!

Buying secondhand is much more exciting than buying new- you never know what you might find, not just what the current designers of that shop think is the trend that year!

What do you think?

xx

Eco things this week #2

Not a huge amount to report this week as I have been on holiday...

• On the first day of our holidays, we headed to town to pick up some parcels and to post some (mainly to other bloggers!) so I headed along to the Greengrocers (it's a bit of a Pound a bowl place but they have veg you can weigh too) and bought a whole rainbow of fruit and veg all put into my one plastic bag for life.  They didn't need to be separate and nothing got squashed.
• We headed to another town for late lunch and I took advantage of this to go to the Refill room (if we go out at the weekend, I ALWAYS take a chance and take containers with me.).

What did I buy this time?

a)  I filled a Belvoir cordial bottle with Organic cold-pressed Rape seed oil for cooking. 

b) Small lock and lock with black peppercorns.

c) 500g of wholemeal fusilli in a large Lock&lock (now being stored in old biscuit tin)

d) I bought a small glass pump action bottle and bought SOME herbal surface cleaner to try out (you don't need to fill completely.)  It smells AMAZING!

e) bought a net produce bag to keep in my rucksack.

• From the old-fashioned sweet shop,I bought 100g of Fudge in a paper bag and 100g of sweeties.  No plastic and I got to specify exactly how many of each sweet and what colours I wanted!
• Went over to our friend N's for a Chinese takeaway and I went prepared with my own containers.  I told the lady that I wanted to avoid unnecessary plastic which seemed to confuse her as I presented her with plastic boxes. I realised why she was confused when I saw that N's takeaway came in a metal foil tray with cardboard lid.  Next time need to say, "I want to avoid unnecessary single-use packaging. I don't care if she thinks I'm weird if it gets her to think about the environment)
• Carried home 2 carrier bags of smuggled glass bottles and jars and plastic containers and foil trays in the car to recycle from my MiL's house as they don't recycle those things in the household recycling so they just get binned.   I fished them all out the bin....

And in other news...

• Sign a petition from Greenpeace to declare a Climate Emergency: https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/s/declare-climate-emergency?source=EM&subsource=ECCLNAPEEM01ZH&utm_source=gpeace&utm_medium=EM&utm_campaign=ECCLNAPEEM01ZH

• One of my WORST single-use habits is crisps. I ADORE crisps (have given them up for Lent) and I worry about all the crisp packets in landfill. Luckily now, you can send crisp packets to Terracycle I believe to be turned into plastic benches etc .  The lovely new shop in Hexham, Matthias Winter, is collecting crisp packets and biscuit packets which they send to Terracycle to be turned Crisps that are not in plastic packaging! I love that in Hexham, you can do this! They also sell some lovely eco-products.
• However, also in crisp-related news...Two Farmers are making crisps in compostable crisp packets!!!

View this post on Instagram

Crisps glorious crisps! Just how much do we love them? Looking for our crisps around the Stratford-Upon-Avon area? You can now find them at Lower Clopton Farm Shop and Cafe. Where else have you found our crisps this week? Be sure to tag us. 👇🏻 TF 🌱

A post shared by Two Farmers (@twofarmerscrisps) on Mar 6, 2019 at 11:16am PST

• The lovely Plastic Free Pantry is doing a Kickstarter to make their own plastic-free pasta that you can buy in bulk - not just regular wheat, they are experimenting with brown rice flour and are seeking supporters to help them buy the equipment they need- you get pasta in bulk in return!
•  

• There is this article from the BBC 'Plastic or Paper, which bag is greener?' which is interesting to read.  Paper bags DO still use a lot of energy to make but at least they will rot down. I think the point is you need to have bags that you reuse again and again.  Cotton also uses a very great amount of water to make so I would say that it would be a great project to make old fabrics into bags that could be given out in supermarkets, not making new bags from new cotton.There's tons of waste material around that could be used. I've seen this in action at Oxfam in Hexham. They don't offer any other type of bag in their shop except for these £1 (or was it £1.50) totes in various sizes that are made out of old material that has been donated. A great way to use the tired old garments.  I use one that I bought a few years ago to put all my dirty underwear in when I go on holiday!  (Matthias Winter has bags made out of old cement sacks!)

• Vix is an inspiration for upcycling old tattered garments into one brilliant, vibrant new items and not just clothing but furniture too!



Image borrowed from Vix's blog

•  Gave a massive impassioned speech to year 3-4 today about recycling and then taught them a song about recycling! (also had sly dig at lazy non-recycling individuals despite availability of bins in vicinity of the bin.  Naughty, but couldn't resist it!)
• Went to the town market after hospital yesterday and bought non packaged veg and bread.

Any eco-news  for you?  Have you tried anything new?

x

TARDIS Tusday- Clara in The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's familiar

Hello there!

How are you?  Well, I hope!

Today is a TARDIS Tuesday I have done before a while back but updated in almost all respects.  I hesitate to post this one as it is also currently being upgraded for me by the wonderful, kind,generous and clever Ang over at Tracing Rainbows but since I haven't dressed up for any TARDIS Tuesday, I thought I'd use these photos from March before I sent the dress to her to be adapted!

In the first episodes of Series 9 of Doctor Who, which I think are just brilliant episodes (including my favourite throwaway line which surprisingly has never been considered before in Doctor Who, "You should feel privileged Doctor.  Behold the only other Chair on Skaro!"), Clara wears this outfit:

Image borrowed from www.claraoswaldcosplay.com

Image borrowed from Fangirls.com

It comprises of
A green satin pearl-print dress with short sleeves and a collar from &Other Stories.
A grey jumper from J Crew.
A black leather jacket from &Other Stories
Navy/purple/indigo tights
Black suede heeled boots from Topshop.

Last time, I wore the same jumper and tights but everything else was different.


Behold!!

So... let's look at what we have here:

Well, although I don't have the exact dress, I did manage to find (well, my German cosplay friend Chrissi found it for me and sent it!) the exact same print from the same shop but without a collar and placket with longer sleeves.

I also managed to find a similar pair of Topshop black suede boots in my size from eBay for £4, not bad but in retrospect, it was one of those impulse buys- probably shouldn't have bothered- my other wedge boots are fine!

Over the top, I added the £3 charity-shopped fake leather jacket I have worn for a few Clara looks now but not with this outfit.

The jumper was from H&M possibly, I forget where, but I've had it a long time as well as the Oasis tights, also long-living in my wardrobe!

What do you think?

I must say, I do think this is a very odd outfit choice for a school outfit. I know Clara is a secondary school teacher but wearing a satin dress for school seems a bit odd to me?  Maybe I should try it and see what the reaction is!

By the way, I had my scan today and it came back clear so that's good but whatever was causing the pains???? Who knows!!! Not sure what to do really do now.   They haven't been particularly overt in the last month but they do come and go.  

xx

Happy Easter!

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were an offering far too small,

Love so amazing, so divine.

Demands my soul, my life, my all!

(Wesley).

He is risen indeed!  Hallelujah!

Ghent by night

CBC and I decided to make an impromptu vacation to Belgium last week.  It all began about a week and a half ago when I said it would be lovely to return to Bruges, the scene of our almost engagement, to the lovely Huis Kunig, a lovely B&B we stayed in back in 2012.

CBC then decided it would be fun to go and watch one of two famous cycling races, either the Tour of Flanders or the Paris-Roubaix and so we decided to plan our short break round the second one of these since we would be at my Dad's during the first one.

On Tuesday, we still hadn't booked anything and then CBC got onto some websites and booked us a B&B in Ghent for 2 days and then one in Tournai.

It took us about 4 hours 30mins to get to Ghent from home.  We arrived at our lovely B&B (via Air BnB) and then headed out to dinner. We went to Meme Guste for dinner (traditional Ghentian fare according to our host) and then decided to walk around Ghent.

I would say it was a very pleasant, clean and safe city to walk around at night from what we found and we saw some really pretty buildings by night.

Here are a few that we saw...

Hopefully, if I can avoid my usual Holiday blog post ennui, then I will share more of our trip soon!

Have you been to Ghent?

xx

The value of friends

Today, I dropped in on my dear friends from my original church, the vicar and his wife (he did the sermon at my wedding too) who have moved to the same town as CBC's parents live in. They recently moved there and I decided to spontaneously drop in to surprise them. Oh how lovely it was to see them! There really is nothing like having true and kind and loving friends who have no airs and graces, simple, kind folk who appreciate you for who you are, no matter how annoying you can be. To my delight, ALL their family were there who I know, their daughter who also lives in that town and their son and his wife and children, the son who I haven't seen for about 10 years. I sat with them as they ate their dinner (they asked me to join them but I declined...well, except for a slice of homemade cheese cake for dessert!). It was SO nice to be in their house.  As I chatted to Jane, I told her about my church situation, saying that although I am going to the Baptist church, I still wasn't 100% certain it was my forever church.  And to my great surprise and not delight, as such, but an appreciation of her understanding my exact predicament, she told me they feel similarly about churches since they have moved.  They are going between churches and whilst they like the two churches they have been going to, they still haven't felt ready to make a total commitment and choose a church.  She said, "It's hard when you've been in a lovely church community, to move somewhere else. It's very hard to compare it."  I said to her, "Thank you for understanding and telling me that because I just felt that I was just being rubbish," and she gave me a hug and said she totally understood what I was feeling and hoped that both of us might be ready to make a commitment and know where we should be.

It is so easy to be with her and her husband,my former vicar.  When I see some friends after not seeing them for a while, it is often a bit awkward or hard to catch up but I never feel that with them. It just makes me realise the value of true and sincere friends.  And these are friends who are 80 and late 50's.  One thing I love about being an adult is that you can be friends easily with people who are such different ages to you and that's fine and good. At an age when I don't make lots of new friends or relationships and lots of friendships are sort of lost (I wrote about it in this POST), it is so lovely to have friends who I can now see every time I come to Northumberland, people who are so dear to me despite the fact we haven't lived in the same town for almost 12 years now.

I am thankful for the friendships I have.

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- Yaz Khan again so soon?

Hello there!

How are you?  Well, I hope.  Well, I am sharing a TARDIS Tuesday that I actually did only in January here.  The reason for this is that I was in Belgium at the weekend (as mentioned in my last post) and I realised that I was wearing a Yaz outfit inadvertently and it seemed a good idea to take some photos!

So, this is Yaz Khan, the 13th Doctor's young companion.   She is wearing a stripy starry shirt from Oasis with a burgundy t-shirt underneath, jeans and some sort of trainers.

My Yaz collage- Images are stills from the episode- the BBC owns the copyright for these.

And here is me!

I thought it was quite fun that the walls of the B&B we were staying at in Tornai had similar coloured walls as Yaz's home and the floor colour!  As you can see, I actually managed to find the exact shirt, second-hand, that Yaz is wearing. It is incredibly soft and comfy and nicely loose-fitting which is why I chose it as a holiday top. I am one of those people that doesn't look particularly neat on holiday especially in the winter! 

What do you think?

xx

Just Do it.

I missed a really good opportunity to help someone when I was in Belgium and all because I was embarrassed.  I feel hideously inadequate when I am in a foreign country where I can't speak the language and consequently do not want to speak.

We were walking along a cobbled street and I noticed an older man in a wheelchair.  He was making very slow progression, I wasn't even sure whether he was trying to get anywhere. I commented to CBC about the poor man and wondering if I should go and help offer to push him along.  CBC was very non-committal and I left it whilst we were looking in a shop.  When we came out, we walked on and then I remembered the man.  I glanced back to see him still there and I commented again.  CBC got a bit ratty with me and said, "Stop feeling guilty, do something or don't." And I gave into my embarrassment, my awkwardness about talking to foreigners who might not understand me. But I felt bad about it.
I forgot about it after a while as we were sitting in a cafe. We sat there for at least half an hour.  And then CBC looked out the window and commented that there he was.  He'd taken ALL that time to come along the street.  I felt utterly wretched about how hard that must have been for him. Feeling wretched is not the same as helping someone.  I think awkwardness at my own feelings  of inadequacy in language skills is a paltry excuse for not helping someone who genuinely needed some help.   As I thought that I should help him, some kind soul saw his efforts to cross the road, stopped and spoke to him and pushed him off quickly along the street. And there I saw the good Samaritan in action, just like that. No embarrassment, just a simple offer and then the deed was done. 

Just DO IT! Stop being awkward and embarrassed about helping- that's me all over.  Just do it! Take the plunge.  After all, they can only refuse.

Life Lately

What have you been up to?  

Here's what I have been up to in the form of verbs.

Watching.... Neighbours on 5od, The Great British Sewing Bee and Doctor Who repeats on iPlayer. Oh and Series 5 of "Shetland"- the BBC crime drama- brilliant!

Playing.... Orchestrally: Mozart's Prague Symphony, Stravinsky's Pulcinella, Flute practice: Ian Clarke's Zoomtube, Chopin's Waltz in C# Minor, School: Beethoven's 5th, Samba.

Arranging... You raise me up for flute trio.

Singing... The Pied Piper by Margaret Carpenter- ridiculously catchy songs!

Eating... Pea Hummus, bread, carrot sticks, Thai Green Curry, carrot sticks, Easter eggs, Omelettes, Fried tomatoes, courgettes, Swiss Chard,

Wearing... lots of comfy jumpers and trousers.  Today wearing an H&M Aged 13-14 Organic striped top, Joanie girl Tomato soup coloured Portuguese floral skirt and charity-shopped fake black Converse trainers.

Going to... the Garden centre for a water butt, my Mum's for a cup of tea and for Swiss Chard.

Laughing about... how many different things that the registration VGS on the car in front of us could stand for.  Over to you- what do you think it stands for?  Funniest answer gets a gold star!

Ironing... are you kidding?

Worrying about... blood tests, Ultrasounds and pains (less worried since I started writing this), plastic pollution and apathy in the general populace.

Reading...The Ruby Slippers, English Heritage Guide to Eltham Palace, Modern Gardening Magazine, Earth Matters (Friend of the Earth magazine).

Buying... preferably nothing except food or any presents as shopping for me is not allowed during Lent.  Today... A Water butt with gutter diverter, Raspberry canes, Herbs plants: Oregano, Camomile, Tarragon, Sage, Parsley, Leeks, Bush tomatoes,Wild Strawberries, compost.

Listening to... Bozza Flute Quartet, Jelly Roll Morton piano music, Les Demoiselles Rochfort soundtrack, a recording of my Flute Quartet, Flight of Fury and Fantasy from 2003.

Wishing... for Brexit to never happen.

Looking forward to... visiting Ghent and Hexham.

Grateful for... holidays, family, friends and rest.

What about you?
xx

Vegan recipes- Pea Hummus

We own all of Anna Jones' recipe books and there has been a recipe I have been meaning to make for the last year.  Today was the day when I tried it!

That was for a Pea Hummus.

Now for me, the problem with making Hummus is the issue of having Chickpeas and Tahini.  I have chickpeas but they need soaking and cooking.  I could just buy a tin but then those chickpeas will sit there forever more unused.

But, what I liked about Anna Jones' recipe is that it uses Frozen peas.

You need:
300g Frozen peas
The juice and zest of one unwaxed lemon
Small bunch of Mint
Small bunch of Basil
Salt and Pepper

and basically you need to blend them in a food processor or with a stick blender.  I like the thought of this as something you could make for a week of lunches at school or a quick dip for unexpected guests in the Summer time. My mint is always very prolific in the Summer.
This was actually the first time I used our Kenwood food mixer- it was a present from my Dad/Stepmum as they bought a new one so we got the lovely old one.

I bought a bunch of mint from the GreenGrocers on Saturday in preparation for this and had already zested and juiced a lemon a week ago.
It wasn't until I'd added all the ingredients that I realised I hadn't purchased a new basil plant or a bunch of basil so I had to strip our basil plant that is hanging on with its fingernails to life.  I may have added half a lemon extra juice and zest. 

What was it like?  Well, you can see I managed to make two tubs of it. It tasted deliciously fresh and zesty when I sampled it as I was cleaning out the mixer so I will definitely try this one again. I have carrots to dip in it and some bread so I will try it tomorrow with those and let you know how it fares.  It apparently will last a week in the fridge which is good!

What do you think?  Would you try this?
x

TARDIS Tuesday- Amy Pond- Dinosaurs on a Spaceship 2

Hi there,

Hope you are well.

Today's TARDIS Tuesday is an outfit I created on here about a year ago here.  It is an outfit worn by Amy Pond in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. She wears this nice stripy Reiss jumper as well as blue jeans and brown brogues plus her A initial necklace.

Image borrowed from DoctorWhoCastandCrew blog

I happened to be wearing this outfit on Saturday and decided to just give it a whirl for TARDIS Tuesday in the absence of having prepared anything else!

 I'm actually wearing only the same shoes as last time!  The jumper is also made by Reiss but is in a Cappucino stripe instead.  I thought this was quite cute! I'm also wearing some alternative jeans!

I thought my hair looked quite similar in terms of length and shape here, even if it isn't red!  I added my pretty Druzy necklace as well!

Short and sweet today!!

Hope you are well!

What do you think?

xx

Last minute Easter Bonnet and outfit.

Hi there!

I write this on the last day of term, though publishing later!

Today, we had our Easter bonnet parade at school. I was last minute with EVERYTHING today.  I always set out my outfit the night before but last night I clean forgot and woke up late (I blame that Shetland drama on BBC)

So, it was amazing that I somehow quickly managed to put together an acceptable outfit in the 20minutes between waking and leaving home.

My vintage blouse with dagger collars that has green chicks hatching out of eggs on it (bought bargain box from Vintage fair in London where I met Vix!). I added black high-waisted trousers and a green t-shirt underneath and added my 'Look for rainbows necklace and mini-egg earrings.

As I was going into the garage to get my bike for work, I grabbed my flower craft-punch and 4 pieces of coloured card.

At school, with my nice class, I found some discarded off-cuts of a green border from a display board that had been taken out and fashioned a crown our of them with the aid of staples. I then punched flowers to stick on with Pritt-Stick! As I glanced in the bathroom mirror later, I discovered the crown was serendipitously the same shade as my t-shirt. No plastic chicks or readymade bunnies for me,  just paper and card and some staples.

- I punched a whole load more flowers and found a few sheets of card and some tissue paper off-cuts plus some old silver border and about 12 children also made themselves some plastic-free Easter hats which they were really chuffed to be able to wear for the Easter bonnet parade and competition.  For everyone else who hadn't made on at home or with me, I brought along my fluorescent chiffon scarves which I use for music and the rest of them sported them as bandanas so my class was the most bright and festive looking.  You don't need to spend loads of money or buy disposable things for a nice Easter headpiece! It was nice to share my craft-tool to share with the children!  Every school should have a flower punch!

xx

Eco things this week

**OOh, my little old blog has just turned 14!!!! It's my 14th Blogiversary today!! Hurrah!**

Since I am trying to think much more consciously about my choices to try and be eco-friendly, I thought I'd try to make a regular post about fails and achievements in terms of trying to be more eco-friendly.  The achievements aren't meant as a brag list- I am aware that I fail in many ways (for every success, there is another failure) but for me, I would like to remember that little steps ARE possible to reduce waste and to make a little difference. I think the thought for me is:

It's better to make a little difference than not to try at all:

So, here are some things that I've been thinking about or doing this past week or two:

- Getting the bread in the bakery wrapped in paper.
- Taking our own plastic container to Chinese takeaway.
- Getting salmon  from the counter in our own box from Waitrose.
- Only picking the fruit and veg not in plastic when we went to Waitrose.
-Going to the Pound-a-bowl vegetable place near school and putting it all into my cotton bags- no packaging- leeks, courgettes, aubergines, tomatoes, peppers,
- Turning old plastic mail bags that parcels came in inside out in order to use again without having the hassle of having to cover up all the old labels.
- Reusing the brown parcel tape from another parcel on 2 other parcels
- Using ridiculous unused white sticky labels from school delivery for sealing 4 of my own parcels
- Taking a plastic container around with me so I could take away leftovers in no new packaging.
- Getting eggs, sausages and a scotch-egg from the local Butchers in my own containers.

- My first Milk and more milk order arrived in glass!
- Breakfast on Saturday morning which was totally plastic free:  Milk from the Milkman, Bran Flakes from the Refill Room, Earl Grey tea leaves from a tin (present)
- It was Earth Hour on Saturday so we turned the lights out for an hour and ate our dinner by Candlelight.
- Rescuing about 90 A5 pieces of paper from the recycling bin at school on Monday  (something was  obviously copied  by mistake) that can be used for scrap-paper for music lesson work.
- On Friday at the end of term, I went to the Photocopier room and grabbed all single sided discarded sheets so I can print my music worksheets onto already used paper.
- I wanted junk food for dinner on Tuesday when CBC was at the Opera. I searched the whole of Iceland opposite school for a solution that didn't have a plastic packaging.
- As usual rifled down the bin at work to remove cans and bottles that people chucked away because they couldn't be bothered to recycle.
- Mum fixed my two year old handmade crocheted slippers (with sheepskin lining)- she brought a darning needle and reattached the sole to the sides of the slipper- no need for new slippers, these babies, worn DAILY for two years are super durable!
I saw an idea for using bicarb, vinegar, lemon juice in the Guardian under tips for DIY recipes for cleaning
- On Instagram I learnt from @stopmicrowaste  that you can get Guppyfriend washbags for synthetics in from  on @wasteless.at.
- @Small_suitainable steps shared a green recipe for a Bathroom cleaner
1/2 water (cooled boiled)
1/2 white vinegar
10 drops of tea tree essential oil
It cleans and disinfects

- Vix shared an article from https://www.wearethought.com/blog/2016/08/23/eco-friendly-diy-fabric-conditioner-recipe/ to do with Fabric conditioners that was very enlightening.
- I read an  article in The Guardian article - a medical university of Vienna found tiny shreds of it in hte digestive systes of people from eight different countries including the UK. Microplastics.
- Here's a nice idea for making homemade treats: Coal bites made using chunks of marzipan dipped in melted dark chocolate then dusted with cocoa powder. I read this on Instagram but didn't know where I saw it!

BIG FAIL:
Remember I mentioned the Toilet roll order?  Well, remember I ordered 40 rolls of Ecoleaf toilet roll because it comes in compostable packaging?  Well, minutes after I placed my order, I sent the company a message asking them to avoid using any plastic or polystyrene in my order as I am trying to not use/get any.  When my order arrived (from an eBay shop). I opened the enormous cardboard box to find it absolutely rammed with what appeared to be a bin bag's worth of polystyrene lumps. I was aghast after all my pains to find plastic-free toilet rolls. I wrote a stinking message to the eBay shop, especially after my message. I mean, they are TOILET rolls- why on earth did they need ANY padding whatsoever since they came in a solid cardboard box anyway?!! And the company was presumably a health food shop. I actually cried, I was so furious and frustrated.  I received a reply to my message that told me apparently, they are not polystyrene but are actually biodegradable and will dissolve under water. So that assuaged me somewhat except for the fact that the sheer quantity was utterly egregious- why use ANY extra packaging for toilet roll! Obviously I wanted to REDUCE my waste. It's not just a case of avoiding plastic but avoiding ALL unnecessary packaging. I wrote them a response telling them that.

Anyway, that's mostly it! What's new with you in terms of Eco-matters?

xx

I want to wear a vintage dress too!

Hi there!

Today was my school choir's production of The Pied Piper of Hamelin and I am pleased to say that our 4 performances were a success!  It was hard, hard work getting there but we did get there in the end!  No major hiccups and the children and parents were a really respectful audience who listened really nicely! That's not always the case!

I'd asked the children to wear vintagey-looking costume for it and as I was thinking about what to wear to school, I felt left and thought, "I want to wear a vintage dress too!"
And so I did!


It has been a few years since I last wore this beautiful Louis Caring of London vintage maxi-dress which I bought from Oxfam.  I absolutely adore this dress and it really fits me well- it's actually long enough!
Lots of admiration from the parentsm staff AND the children for it which is always nice!
There's something so innately feminine about a maxi dress, especially one with long sleeves for me! I am always ogling Vix in hers enviously!

 I added the beautiful druzy necklace that Melanie (the blogger formely known as Folly Bird - still on Instagram as such!) and the gorgeous Canterbury hand-blown glass bird earrings from my little sister for my birthday!

I'm just relieved the whole thing is over now!  

Hope you have had a beautiful day!!!

And don't forget my last post- What is it?  I want to hear what you think it is!

xx

What is it? #63 Ambiguous clouds

Good day to you! Hope all is well with you!
I thought it was time for another round of What is it?  This, if you haven't been a participant before, is an interactive blog post (er, unlike all the rest...) where you scrutinize the provided image and provide your best idea of what you think said picture resembles.  In the case below, what does it resemble APART from a cloud!  I will then tell you in the next post, what I saw in the image!
DO leave a comment, I value people's comments on these posts as I adore hearing what you think it resembles.

What about last time's post?

Well, the interesting shadow,  made by the chandelier in the picture, looked to me, just like a ballet dancer.  She has her hands above her head in what is termed as '5th position'.  She is wearing a short tutu and she has her left foot pointed to the right-hand side. I'm not sure what the extra downward part is- perhaps she's got a loose thread on her tutu!?

What did my wonderful 9 commenters see?

9 comments:

1. 
   Jules4:19 pm

   I think it looks like a pirouetting ballet dancer wearing a tutu. X

   ReplyDelete
2. 
   Julia5:43 pm

   I see a ballet dancer wearing a tutu and her arms are extended over her head doing a pirouette. like Jules said.
   Hugs, Julia

   ReplyDelete
3. 
   Polyester Princess7:07 pm

   I do see a ballet dancer as well, Kezzie. I'm still struggling to see the rat you're seeing in the clouds ... xxx

   ReplyDelete
4. 
   JanF10:50 pm

   The first one looks like a ballerina with her hands over her head and a stick or some kind of support next to her legs!

   ReplyDelete
5. 
   Fundy Blue4:46 am

   What fun, Kezzie! I saw a jellyfish swimming, caught just at the moment it squeezed its body together to expel water from under its body and propel itself forward. I'm glad that you got a break with your sister from the half term shenanigans. Take care!

   ReplyDelete
6. 
   wembley6:52 am

   The shadow is definitely some sort of lighthouse

   ReplyDelete
7. 
   Sophie in the Sticks7:57 pm

   I'm the only one seeing something rude which I shall not name.

   ReplyDelete
8. 
   Confuzzled Bev8:20 pm

   I see the ballerina too, but to me she looks like she's pole dancing.

   ReplyDelete
9. 
   Ivana Split6:37 pm

   To me it looks like a squid.

   ReplyDelete

OOh, there were some great ideas here! Lots of you (Jules, Julia, Jan, Ann, Bev), saw the same ballet dancers as me (and a pirouette begins with a pointing of the toe to the side so we concur on dance steps too!).  I totally see the squid too Fundy and Ivana and the lighthouse (Wembley  (by the way, can you leave me your blog url please as I can't ever seem to find a link to a blog with your name usually and I'd like to visit!)  and er- the unmentionable that Sophie mentioned.

So... do share what you think you saw. I would be intrigued to hear your thoughts.  I actually see TWO different images in this one depending on how I look at it!

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- Into the Dalek- Clara final outfit

Today's TARDIS Tuesday is one that I have done before back in November 2017 here.  Not much has changed about it apart from the jacket and the bag and the necklace- but these are minor changes!

At the end of the episode, Clara changes her clothes to go on her first date, well sort of, with Danny Pink. She wears a Topshop red ladder-stitch jumper with black scalloped shorts from Topshop. Over the top, she wears a thin checked jacket from Asos which is from their Reclaimed range meaning old items have been remade into new.  This jacket is one that Clara cosplayers find very hard to locate since not so many of them were made and is often one which many want to complete their collection!  They often sell for lots of money.  She wears some sort of black ankle boots but we don't get to see exactly which ones.

Image borrowed from www.claraoswaldcosplay.com

On the accessory front, she wears a gold double circle necklace and some simple triangular gold earrings as well as a black satchel from Deena and Ozzy at Urban Outfitters. There's something really smart and pleasing about this outfit and the way the red of the jumper is picked out in the jacket.

image borrowed from Coolspotters.com

And here's my version, updated from last time.

I'm wearing the same Topshop jumper as Clara and that hasn't changed- I also wore these boots of hers last time.  However, I found my size 10 shorts of these faaaar too short to wear last time I wore this outfit so I located a pair of size 16 ones  (£4 second hand) which hang longer on me. Unfortunately, obviously they are too big round the waist so my solution today was to wear my size 10 pair underneath them and layer them up! I'm going to investigate if I can get them adapted to my size after asking Ang's advice on whether she thought this might be possible- I am always worried about giving a tailor something to adjust without seeking advice from someone I know, just in case they take a risk on it and it gets ruined.

Do you think my jacket looks similar to Clara's one? I actually picked up a vintage jacket from a charity shop in Hexham at Easter 2 years ago for £4. I saw it hanging on a mannequin in the window as we drove past and though it looked very similar. Obviously it lacks lapels and is a bit shorter but otherwise a good dupe even if it is aimed at older clientele in terms of style (it has a big gold button and the shade of green is darker)

I layered two gold circle necklaces to look like Clara's (last time I wore just one) and I located the brown version of her satchel on eBay last year.  All in all, I am quite pleased with my recreation of the outfit and I felt very smart in it!

What do you think?

xx