TARDIS Tuesday 2nd post of the day- 60 years of Doctor Who

Last week, Doctor Who celebrated its 60th anniversary!

This programme was always been a part of my life.  It is one of my first memories actually. I have forgotten most of my early childhood. Even as a young child under 10, I had very dim recollections of anything before 5. Is this normal or was this just me?

Doctor Who episodes are one of the things I remember though. Vividly, I remember the episode, Mindwarp, in which Peri gets killed (or actually doesn't). I remember watching Doctor Who before that but remember no details except for Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant themselves.  I remember many, though not all of Sylvester McCoy's episodes.

One particular serial, The Curse of Fenric, set in WW2 in a town on the coast, cast itself onto my memory simply from the fact that it absolutely terrified me and I was terrified and, I think, scarred me a little.  These two girls get dragged under the water by a creature and when they emerge out of the water, they are vampiric with white faces, dark eyes and massive talons.  My rational mind knew they weren't real but still, part of me felt their presence any time I was in the dark.  Our tiny bathroom was a thin room which looked out directly onto my Mum's bedroom door. In the evenings, when I went to the bathroom, I had to sit in the bathroom with the door open, directly looking onto that doorway to ensure that the two girls wouldn't emerge out of it to get me.  This lasted a couple of years. At night, I would sleep with teddies around my head and at the sides beside me.  The terror slowly faded but was never forgotten. 

Doctor Who went off screen for a few years. I watched, and enjoyed some repeats of classic episodes I had never seen before, liking Jon Pertwee's era and Peter Davison's too.

In 1996, a TV movie was made of Doctor Who, casting Paul McGann as the Doctor. As a 15 year old, I was struck by this handsome hero and really started to gain an interest in Doctor Who.  For Christmas, my sister bought me the best present- a cheap video shop had opened in our town and was selling Doctor Who videos in it.  She bought me the TARDIS tin with 'A trial of a Timelord' in it.  Oh, how excited I was by this present!  I ended up buying more videos with my hard-earned cash from my job at the chip-shop. I'd spend my weekends watching these.

I began buying Doctor Who magazine, wrote a really cringy letter declaring my love for Paul McGann which was published!!! It kept the excitement alive with no no episodes of the horizon.

The next Christmas, my sister topped that present with a whole set of Vintage Target novelisations of classic stories she'd found in a  vintage bookshop!

I visited a small Scifi fair in a nearby town, went to the Who shop in East Ham with my friend Ruth, also a Doctor Who fan! Utter amazement at a whole shop stuffed full of memorabilia!  I longed for the TARDIS video cabinet!

I joined the DWAS- Doctor Who Appreciation society for a year.

In 1998, I plucked up the courage to book a ticket for the UK's largest Who convention in Coventry called Panopticon! I booked a coach to Coventry and went by myself, aged 17. I met various characters including Sophie Aldred, Sylvester McCoy, Nicholas Courtney, Colin Baker, Peter Davison, several Dalek operators, Elisabeth Sladen and gained autographs for them.  I seem to remember spending most of the day in queues on the staircase! Sophie Aldred admired my turquoise nail varnish. I wore my friend Sarah's cricket jumper in honour of Peter Davison.  I saw two of the employees from the Who shop I'd met at that first Sci-fi fair, Ollie and Jason- it was nice to see a familiar face!

That year, a new Doctor Who shop opened in Barking, not so far from where I lived, and they had lots of signings and things for sale!  It was a great, great shop and I was so sad when it eventually closed!  I remember having my photo taken with K9, AKA, John Leeson! They had these wonderful drawings made of the stars which you could buy to get signed!

I got busy with University so Doctor Who took a back seat for a few years.

When the new series began in 2004, it was an exciting time! Wonderfully, my little sister became interested in the show and we went to the Doctor Who exhibition in London as part of her birthday present! She recently sent me a picture of the two of us arm in arm with a Cyberman which I'd forgotten about!

It was around about October 2012 that I wore my first dress up (or cosplay in the modern vernacular) as a Doctor Who character- I made a Dalek dress as part of CBC's Robot party.   I was ridiculously happy with it!

A month later, inspired by my blog friend Melanie,  who had dressed up inspired by the classic Doctors, I put together my first outfit inspired by William Hartnell.

A week later, I dressed inspired by Tom Baker.

In January, I dressed inspired by John Pertwee!

My next post about Doctor Who didn't come until 2014, though it may have been mentioned! I wasn't watching it as I hadn't got a TV so missed most of Matt Smith's tenure!!

I shared my thoughts on Peter Capaldi, the new Doctor in 2014

October 2014, I wrote my first post on Clara Oswald who I dressed up as with items from my wardrobe!  Then I wore my second Clara inspired outfit!

I then got to know Maricel who introduced me to TARDIS Tuesday! She was so fun and tried to wear TARDIS blue on a Tuesday or an outfit inspired by a Character.I attempted to join in regularly! This was my first post mentioning TARDIS Tuesday and my  second post!

As with many bloggers, she eventually stopped posting which was sad.

But by then, I had discovered that one could find other Who fans on Instagram!!

TARDIS Tuesday has become a regular on this blog - an expensive habit! But it's been a fun hobby to have. I've enjoyed making friends with lots of fans on Instagram!

I've enjoyed watching Doctor Who all these years and I thought the 60th anniversary special was a great episode in many ways. A little contrived in places but it was lovely to see David Tennant and Catherine Tate reunited!

Happy anniversary Doctor Who! You have bought me much joy!

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- The Rings of Akhaten

Hello there,

Today's TARDIS Tuesday is not really an outfit as such- well it IS but it's not really one you can see much of!

It features my beloved Clara Oswald but from a flashback to when she was younger!

Cannot believe I used this outfit as inspiration last in 2018!!! Whoa- 5 years ago! Exactly 5 years to the day that I am writing this blogpost (Sun 26th November!)

Image borrowed from This Pinterest

 

Image borrowed from Cathoderaytube

It features Clara at her Mother's funeral in a red duffle coat from F&F at Tescos.  Nothing else of the outfit is visible

And in a very simple photo, here I am

I bought this duffle coat around 5.5years ago and it is one of my favourite coats to wear if I KNOW it is not going to rain! I wore it to church last Sunday along with last week's TARDIS Tuesday outfit underneath!I love this beautiful duffle coat. It has a cosy tartan lining

Luckily, my church has a grave yard which seemed suitable for a quick picture! I balanced my phone on the edge of a large green wheelie bin! Easy peasy!

My busy period begins this week! I have a lot to get done this week- here's hoping I get it all done AND get some rest in between! 4 rehearsals and a concert this week.

My sister hosted a lovely party for my niece K's 14th birthday. Can you believe she is 14?  

Her dad took this picture of us (in one of those edit programmes that blocks out the background! She is a sweetie!

I hope you are well!

xx

11 reasons to be thankful

 Active gratitude really does have a good effect. Whilst it doesn't make difficulties, sadness, grief go away and if you are in dire straits like many people in the world are, it is a good practice.

Some people worry about toxic positivity- this is where you force people to try and be happy by being overly and falsely positive (I think... from what I've read?) . This is something very different.

Actively stating your gratitude for YOUR situation without expecting anyone else to respond in kind, IS positive and inspiring.

My lovely friend Ally wrote a thanksgiving post about this, my great friend Ang frequently shares things she is thankful for and I have tried to write posts reminding myself of what is good.

I've been very anxious in recent times. Anxious about a lot of things. I'm not sleeping very well at all and I am permanently exhausted as I wake early and worry about a lot. But I have so much which I am grateful for which I give thanks for- home,family, job, health, skills, hobbies,food, stabillity. Beyond that, here are some things that gave me joy this week:

1.  Had a genius idea of getting 2 girls involved with orchestra as 'Orchestral Managers'.  This is a bonafide role within a pro orchestra.  Both girls are super mature and helpful and wanted to be involved in orchestra (but one of them, maybe not allowed to play in for religious reasons).  I asked them if they would consider this role and they were super excited! Their responsibilities involve: organising and setting out chairs, photocopying music (well, I will photocopy but they will come with me and take them back to where they need to be and organise), distributing music, acting as librarians, taking the register, chasing up non-attendees.  They had their first day yesterday and they were BRILLIANT! They were discrete, helpful and efficient! Our conductor thought this was a genius move!

2.  All of our school nativity costumes seem to have gone missing or been chucked out or ruined since our last nativity in 2019. This is gutting. All of our drapes and material were also chucked out in a big staffroom decoration and renovation.  Luckily, I snaffled away and saved some pieces of material and was able to give these to KS1 to try and use for our production in a week and a half's time. I also had a pair of angel wings in my cupboard! Very glad to be able to help!

3.  I'll get to see my friend Lara tonight as I am page-turning for her for her harpsichord part for Brandenburg 5!

4.  Managed to cobble together a variety of dinners this week despite low energy and busyness.

5. Added a new task and challenge to an established unit of work in year 6 to address a particular target and was pleased with how quickly the children completed it and also the way I did it gave them more ownership over learning for themselves this year.

6.  Managed to rehearse ALL the 36 readers for our KS2 Christmas performances yesterday.

7.  Finished the book that has taken me 2 weeks to read! (I usually read much quicker than this!) 

8. FOUND the missing 2 boxes of handbells which went AWOL last Christmas.  The last time I'd seen them, one was in the library at school and one was in the year 6 classroom.  After our 'performance', I was off sick for the rest of term and when I returned in January, they were nowhere to be found.I sent countless emails and searched for them.  I was trying to put away some resources last week and I opened a cupboard which I haven't opened in over a year (as I wasn't in the room and had to just make do with things I had). I discovered that SOMEONE had put one box of bells on each shelf on top of all the books. Why on earth they were put in there, I have NO idea but at least I have them back!

9.  I am still so grateful to be back in my own room at school.  Life is SO much easier, despite it still being VERY busy!

10.  I will get to see my family tomorrow at my niece's 14th birthday party.  I am grateful my sister has these annual parties so we get to see each other.

11. It was Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary on Thursday. I am so grateful for the joy this programme gives me.

What are you grateful for?

xx

Going to the Moon

 Almost a month ago, CBC and I were in Hexham for the half term holiday. We were going to stay with and see his Mum and hoped to get out and have a few adventures.  Alas for us, the weather was dire so much of our time was spent inside.  One morning, we decided to take a trip to see The Moon!

Hexham Abbey has been playing host to the Moon

Luke Jerram's Museum of the Moon is a travelling installation which is hosted in Cathedrals and large churches.

It is a massive 6 metres in diametre and it has very detailed imagery of the surface of the moon as photographed by NASA.  6km  of the moon's surface is scaled down to 1cm.

There is also a variety of works with a theme of the moon and a soundscape created by composer, Dan Jones.

I gained a free-viewing on Sunday morning at the service but didn't photograph it then.

CBC and I came to visit on a particularly rainy day.

I had a glance down into the crypt.  This is also worth a visit too.

I enjoyed the lighting and sound and it was really interesting to gaze upon the moon from different angles.

The midday service started when we were there and I enjoyed hearing it as I walked around.

In Hexham, they held a variety of events connected to the Moon such as a Pink Floyd concert, Dinner under the Moon and other events.

In the services, the organist has been sneaking in moon references as part of his improvised recessional/processional and linking music.  We heard Moonlight serenade as the priests came in on Sunday morning! I sniggered to my friend Jane who I was sitting with!

More info can be found at:

https://my-moon.org/ 

If it comes to your area, would you pay a visit?

TARDIS Tuesday- Ranskoor Av Kollos

 Greetings Ma Dears!

Hope you are well! Have a choccie whilst you get comfortable!

Hmmm, today went quite well at school. The Year 3 class who were the last year's 'Most difficult class' have actually started to become the best class in that year.  For reasons which I won't state here, there's been changes in the class which has made all the difference and I am thankful.  Teaching them has really improved and actually, they are doing really well! My other 3 classes and drumming were also quite good and we got through all we needed to!  After that, I met with our Speaking and Listening lead to look at applications for our school musical of Treasure Island which we will be beginning after Christmas. We had 101 applications in the 4 days we gave them to return the forms. Now is the difficult part of choosing! And then the process of planning the rehearsal schedule!

We had a really nice weekend.  Sunday, after church, I came home to find CBC trying to get his new projector working. Ended up watching an entire series called Dash and Lily on Netflix as well as Death in Paradise and doing marking. It was all very cosy!

For TARDIS Tuesday I am featuring a look from the finale of Series 11 of Doctor Who Ranskoor Av Kolos which I last featured in March 2021 which was just after we went back to school after lockdown

Image borrowed from:
http://www.multiversitycomics.com/tv/doctor-who-the-battle-of-ranskoor-av-kolos/

Image borrowed from:
https://www.blogtorwho.com/doctor-who-series-11-89/ 

Image borrowed from:
https://www.blogtorwho.com/doctor-who-series-11-90/ 

As you can see, Yaz wears a simple look.  A green sweater under her All Saints brown/burgundy leather jacket, her Alex Monroe Posy Loop necklace, black trousers and, I think, her Dune boots.

Well, let's have a look at mine:

Well, for a start, I think taking outside photos has already improved this post from last time's inside picture.

I started with a sweater.  I DID, once upon a time, see a post that showed where the original sweater came from but I cannot remember as it was taken down not long after I saw it. I am guessing, that this may be the screen accurate sweater as she wore a Whistles Annie sparkle sweater in another episode in aubergine and there is a green version too. To me, seeing them side by side, I think I am right about this. What do you think?

Say a Hello to my familiar ASOS black trousers and my River Island brown leather jacket. They are frequent inhabitants of this blog!

I could not resist trying to recreate this picture! I grabbed CBC's school satchel -wrong colour but similar style. As usual, tried to recreate the hair and failed. My phone worked as an alternative to the pad she is carrying and I used CBC's waterbottle to act as whatever those things are in her hand and added a red and white blob to the picture! Ha!! Maybe should have tried to hold two water bottles thought I'd drop them!

My 40th birthday present was this beautiful necklace!

I wore this outfit for church on Sunday with an added grey cashmere cardigan underneath for warmth! Very glad I added it as it was a bit chilly!

Hope all is well with you!

xx

In the red

 Hello there!

How are you? Well, I hope!

Sometimes, when it's time for the weekend, I wonder what to wear that signifies it is the weekend as what I wear for school is often quite relaxed and what I would wear at home anyway.

Then I think, I should wear something that I might not cycle in.

Actually, to be honest, I would probably cycle in this- so that didn't work! However, I do think that the skirt, even when worn with leggings, is probably a little short.

The quality of these photos is grainy but never mind- you don't mind!

All of this outfit is old- the beret, red sweater and boots are all charity-shopped and the skirt and turtle neck were long-ago retail buys and the leggings came from Aldi!

Oh, I do remember there's something that IS new!  Do you see my TARDIS blue necklace and earrings?

They were a freebie from a LOVELY insta friend who used to/still makes acrylic jewellery. I bought a light blue swirly galaxy necklace and she sent me the other one as an extra to spread some joy and because she loves my cosplays. Did I mention that, upon her suggestion, I cosplayed her toddler this Summer too! Apparently, it was a highlight for her! I actually love this one better than the one I purchased!

CBC and I had a lovely Saturday afternoon.  I'm really not sleeping well at the moment. I awake really early with my mind buzzing and thinking about all sorts of things (often school related) and I just can' get back to sleep.  I got up and did all the washing up, washing, bit of tidying and hoovering. I popped out to the charity shop around the corner and picked up a parcel. We headed for a drive to Leigh on Sea where they had a pop up Christmas fair which we enjoyed and bought a couple of presents.  We also visited a few shops including the green-grocer, the charity shop (Cashmere dress!!!!) and the Refill room. The latter was very exciting as they have started to stock Shiitake crisps and Beetroot crisps!  They are delicious!!!

We headed to a Boots to return an item and went out for Italian. We shared a garlic bread and then I had Spaghetti Bolognese (yes, I know it is really Ragu).  I even had a hazelnut dessert which was pleasant though not anything memorable! Back home, we tried watching 2 movies, both of which CBC declared were awful and left me to watch them. Boo to Negative Nelly! I enjoyed them!

Church tomorrow and hopefully a good night's sleep soon!

xx

dfdfd

Thirtyonethirteen.net Shop!

I love an eco-friendly gift! I also love a handmade gift AND supporting a small business!

My good friend Angela has been selling on Etsy for a while and now has opened her own online shop called Thirtyone:thirteen

I have loved crafting all my life - sewing, knitting, papercrafts, embroidery and more. And I admit to being a hoarder- collecting the scraps that other people discard and turning them into beautiful and useful things.  

Now I'm retired, and living in a beautiful part of the country, I have more time to sit and stitch, and I want to share my creativity with others, at an affordable price.

My grandmother taught me crafting skills when I was a child, and she was a woman of faith. My shop is called 31:13 because there is a verse in the bible (Proverbs chapter 31 verse 13) , about a woman who "finds wool and fine linen and works with eager hands" My shop's logo is a play on those numbers - the butterfly reflects the idea of metamorphosis into a new, beautiful life.

In her shop, Thirtyone:thirteen, she has made a variety of beautiful present ideas , most of which are made from reclaimed and reused materials

There's some beautiful items on there.

I have picked one of two favourites to share:

Handwarmers

I love these little handwarmers.  These would be perfect for my way home from school to tuck into my pocket when I am stuck on the train platform waiting for a train! They are an absolute bargain too at £1.50 a pair! They only need a little microwaving to warm them up!

Bird decorations

I bought one of these bird decorations from Ang  a couple of years ago when we met and they are so cute and pretty! I have a work colleague (and a husband, mum) who love birds and would love these! She also does colourful brooch versions of these.

Pencil roll

These handmade pencil rolls with coloured pencils would make a really nice gift for a child or if you wanted to include them in an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox .

Juggling bags

These 'Bags of fun' juggling bags are so cute. I can imagine the kids at school loving these!

Do go and have a look at her lovely website! You might find something you like.  She also has lovely paper flower kit which is a super idea!

xxx

TARDIS Tuesday- Goodbye Sarah Jane Smith!

Today for TARDIS Tuesday, I am referring to one of the Spin offs and that is The Sarah Jane Adventures.  Out of all Who companions, Sarah Jane Smith, the reporter, was one of the most iconic.  She enjoyed great success in this modern Who series for children but ALSO had a Classic Who spin off called K9 and Company!

She had an almost 'uniform' in this spin off series that usually consisted of:

Collared top (shirt or jersey top with collar), waistcoat, jeans, knee-high boots and often a leather jacket over the top.

The outfit I am featuring today was featured in a later episode called Goodbye Sarah Jane Smith and is a softer take on her classic look

Image from  Sarah Jane Closet

She wears a pale blue jersey top with a collar from Joseph, a soft knitted Cornflower blue waistcoat from Whistles and her reading glasses. Presumably wearing her jeans and boots.

I decided, since this is almost a perfect outfit for school, to adapt it so it would work for a school dress code.

I was lucky, thanks to the magic of Vinted to find both the SA top and waistcoat for less than a fiver each and they are incredibly comfortable as well as, I hope,looking smart.

I decided to team them with my Seasalt Asphodel black corduroy trousers and Clarks lace up black shoes.  Probably skinnier trousers and knee high boots would have looked more accurate and stylish but this look for me, is about comfort!

Attempted to take a photo in pose from the photo above though I do look rather miserable!

Hope you are well! I had a nice surprise this weekend. I didn't attend my usual church service as I had a headache and woke up late. CBC gave me a lift to the linked church a few miles away who have an 11 o'clock service (same service that is done at my church). It was a really lovely service and a great sermon from David, a retired South African vicar.  After the service, Sue, who plays piano, suggested I ask this man for a lift as he doesn't live too far from me.  When we were chatting in the car, he remembered me from a previous service and he is a musician too, a viola-player.  As we were chatting, it turns out he will be playing for a concert that I am page-turning for my friend for, in a couple of weeks so we were pleased that we'd had the chance to chat.  I did feel a little sad in the service that I hadn't gone to this church (well, the linked church) when I first moved to the area around 5 years ago, it was only because of lockdown and discovering them on Youtube, that I realised this church had a weekly service. For some reason, I thought it only had one once a month. I wonder what life would have been like if I had joined then? Ah, well, I will never know.

By the way, on the subject of horrid things going on in the world, I would love to talk about them and comment, but we have been told/advised at work that we should not be talking about things online as we have to be seen as neutral. Rest assured, I am praying, caring and learning

Hope all is well with you!

x

A miscellany

Here's some photos from September and October that I wanted to post about but that didn't merit their own post

We had a Mandevilla plant 2 years ago that didn't survive the Winter so in Winter 2022, CBC decided to bring the replacement one inside for the season. It survived but looked decidedly peaky by Spring time. It took it all Summer to finally start to grow but eventually, in September, it started to flower again! We were happy to see its jolly pink flowers again!

I ended up being asked to play 2nd flute for a concert with the Highbury Players in September by a lady called Emma who I used to play with when I first joined my regular orchestra (which I've been playing with for 20 years this year!). We played Brahms' 4th symphony which is a DELIGHT to play as a flautist. It was really nice to play with Emma and actually realise how similar we are as players personality wise and how well we blended. We also had a delightful fish and chips in Drayton Park road.

I picked many blackberries from round the corner from my house in September and made lots of fruit amber!

When I went to Highbury for the aforementioned concert, I visited a charity shop I used to go to when my ex-boyfriend lived there when I was in my final year at university.  I found a beautiful Ukele in a case in their half-price sale! 

I found some excellent books for the school library too! The Piers Torday books were FANTASTIC!

My sunflowers FINALLY flowered in September!

When I went to my Dad and Stepmum's, they'd bought me some Chilli rice-crackers and Shittake crunch from their local refill room.  They'd got them in their own containers but I used the empty Cornflake bag to take them home in! It worked well!

Dad's Cobnut tree was covered in nuts and the squirrels hadn't got them so I picked lots to take home for CBC's porridge!

My orchestra was rehearsing in the Paddington area and there is an excellent Indonesian restaurant nearby called Bonda Kitchen. I ordered their Mie Goreng Mamak and it was superb!

I was still picking raspberries into October! Had an excellent harvest this year into the thousands!

Saw a jolly Red Admiral Butterfly on my trips to the Blackberry bushes.

At the end of September, CBC and I made a trip to the Chilterns to do a reccie for Duke of Edinburgh for his school. We stayed in a rather grim High Wycombe Travel Lodge (breakfast was good though!) but had a great walk and we saw the church that they used as the church in the Vicar of Dibley.

Lots of Midsomer Murders were filmed at pubs we passed.

What a strange and wibbly-wobbly (timey-wimey) house in the village!

The church was really lovely inside.

I enjoyed looking at the organ! Such fascinating instruments!

I adore it when the light hits just right and reflects on the floor!

Beautiful embroidery.

The shiniest ceramic teapot!

My gamelan group played for Indonesia Night at the Methodist central hall in London. It was a huge spectacle!

It's been fun playing gamelan regularly again!

I was given a cutting of a purple house plant from a friend's mum in August. I am happy it has thrived in our bathroom in the vacated Aloe pot! It has even flowered in the last week.

We were given Harrods goodie bags from the Indonesian embassy! The Neuhaus chocolate was delicious. I'd tried this brand in Belgium!

 What would be in your miscellany?