A tribute to Leigh

 A dear family friend died two weeks ago.  Possibly the biggest influence on my life outside of family.  He was my Godmother's husband- so to me, a Godfather.  I am so glad I got to see him before he died and glad I saw him earlier in the year before he became ill but wishing I had seen him more.

Leigh, you have been such an important part of my life.

Always there, not always saying anything but always there. Smiling, caring, acknowledging.

Every Christmas, there you were.

Your home, was a place of welcome, a place of joy for all.

Your Mum, I will always remember, the grand matriarch with her pale tea.

Your epic Record and CD collection- you were the ultimate music listener- I used to stare in awe at your shelves.

Your musical knowledge was more than anyone I knew.

Those vast tall speakers, like tower blocks which met with an unfortunate incident involving the Time Warp, a tuba player and Georgia’s feet!

My chilled recorder lessons on a Saturday morning. The calmest teacher I ever had. We worked our way through recorder pieces, tried to comprehend Hans Martin Linde’s Music for a Bird. We fretted over the time I told the Chief Examiner of the Country for the Associated Board  in my Grade 8 that she had missed out a part of my Aural exam! The time I told you about the lovely examiner I had for Grade 6 recorder who had asked me so many nice questions about myself and you insisted it was the window cleaner!

Those hilarious games at Christmas- Party Edition Pictionary. Your ‘intriguing’ drawings.

The Christmas lights, hung around your fireplace that placed a whole stream of perfectly untuned melodies! Silent night was the best! That lovely tuneful swoop lower in pitch on the 4^th note!

Dependable in the Brentwood orchestra, you played every note perfectly, it was not the same once you went, you were the perfect 1^st oboe. I loved getting a lift with you and chatting in the car.

I remembered my early teen inclusion in the Redbridge Concert Band- over at Beal school. You gave me the chance to meet and play with many other musicians, the University of East London band. I went to Germany on tour and had all those opportunities because of you.

I will always remember those late night drives home in your landrover, dormobile, estate car and other cars including the one I am SURE had not only one back seat but a second layer of seats! Is that my imagination????  Always passing the MUSTDESTROY.COM building near the Barking flyover and laughing about it!

You and Georgina were an inseparable joy in my life.

Georgina, the life and soul of the party-quietly loved and supported by you, always seemingly proud and amused at the wit and vivacity of your wonderful wife.

You were the most multitalented instrumentalist I knew- the man who could turn his hand to any instrument, had a myriad instruments hidden in the loft, under the stairs or behind the sofa. You were my inspiration to be that multi-talented multifaceted instrumentalist and have a house full of instruments. I used to gleefully tell people that you played every instrument!  One of your saxophones was silver- the only person I knew with one like this!

That soft Welsh lilt, those animated eyes as you told of an amazing musical memory, you always had a story for any I could put to you.

Say the word ‘Carob’ to me and I instantly think of you!!! Your allergies meaning you had to avoid the treats most of us loved! But Carob raisins were a treat for you.

Oh Leigh, you have always been there and I am sorry that I have not seen you so much in recent years but you have always been much loved and much admired and I hope that we do you justice at your funeral.  You will ALWAYS be at the heart of my most happy memories and I thank you for your love, support and friendship! xx

 

https://www.hcoweb.co.uk/people/players/leigh-thomas/

https://www.hcoweb.co.uk/2024/10/13/leigh-thomas/

https://www.brentwoodphil.org.uk/profiles/players/leigh-thomas

https://www.abgs.org.uk/culturalactivities/GlamChoir/Orch_Jul20_1965/Orch_Jul20_1965_p4trans.html

 

Chinese Takeaway

I ADORE a meal from a Chinese takeaway or a visiting a Chinese restaurant!!! I think I'd happily live eating noodle dishes most of the time.

CBC and I visit a localish Chinese restaurant fairly frequently to buy a takeaway- since the lockdowns last year, we have done it fairly regularly since they opened again. We are happy that the takeaway we visit allows us to bring our own containers to put the food in- I can quite easily imagine that that would be a LOT of plastic used if we didn't.

We've got into a bit of a routine in terms of which dishes we order and our favourites are:

• Singapore Rice Noodles (veggie version though I ADORE the regular version)
• Mixed vegetable Chow Mein with sauce
• Spicy salt and pepper King prawns with chilli and garlic
• Sweet Chilli Bean Curd
• Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
• Sesame Prawn Toasts
• Mini Vegetable Spring rolls
• Szechuan Aubergine (only available in one place!) 
• Prawns with chilli, lime and garlic.

I'm inviting you for a 'virtual Chinese takeaway'- What would you order if you came over for this Chinese takeaway?

xx

Catalan cuisine

When we went to Girona last April, our last night, we ate in a Catalan bistro really near our hotel.

The menu was in Catalan so CBC used Google Lens to translate it and it produced some really funny translations!!!!

Dog with bechamel

We were crying with laughter at 

Assortment of Legs,

Plate of sausages

Spirals with Spinach and walnuts

Branded elbows and black olives

Entrecote Carpaccio with ice-cream

Dog with Bechamel

Plus, it DOESN'T say it but I keep reading it as Orange and CoBRA fillet!

CBC will also kill me for mentioning this but he doesn't read this so I am going to for my own amusement.  

He ordered a crepe with a hazelnut sort of sauce. I ordered a Chocolate mousse.  When his turned up, I took one look at it and burst into hysterical laughter.  I didn't say A THING!!!!

But we both knew it looked like a folded pancake where a cat/dog had casually taken a poo on the side.  The presentation was HILARIOUS!!! 

(To be fair, mine looked like a glass of poo also) 

He became really cross with me as he couldn't stop thinking about it as he ate and the more he got cross, the funnier I found it!

I was in trouble for the rest of the evening though- bad girl!

xx

 

TARDIS Tuesday - Under the Lake/Before the Flood

 Last worn in March 2022 on the blog from what I can see but worn at least a few times in the last year, I decided to share an old favourite TARDIS Tuesday outfit. It is one of my original Clara Oswald cosplays from my original TARDIS Tuesday posts.  It's also a brilliant 'School Teacher' outfit

Image borrowed from this pinterest

A Miss Patina pinafore, a Topshop mustard turtle neck, black tights, black socks and black Topshop boots- it's a great Autumn outfit.

Here is today's outfit:

I have not really changed this outfit for a long time except that I occasionally wear a different turtle neck. The dress is a good length and sometimes I wear it with different tops!

The lovely TA who helps me with choir (one of our few long-serving staff) saw me in the playground and said, "Is it Clara Oswald today then?!"  Ha, she recognised this outfit as a  stalwart Clara outfit. She's my main person to talk to about Doctor Who.

Today was a hard day for some lessons.  The children were definitely... talkative, distracted, listless in two of my lessons. One Year 1 class was really disheartening and a Year 3 class also really distracted. However, the other Year 3 class and the Year 2 class were good so I should take what I can get.

I was quite tired.  I went to my friend Izzie's house as we were rehearsing for a dear family friend's funeral next week. More on that soon.

CBC is away for a pair of days on a Geography field trip.  He's staying in the house which Constable painted, "Willy Lott's cottage!"  I miss him but I did eat some junk for dinner tonight!

Hope you are well.

xx

Conker Detergent

hello there, I am sharing something I have tried recently which I was very excited about.   I have been trying a few new things in the last month or two.  The first is making my own Washing liquid detergent following an idea from Nancy Birtwhistle.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NANCY (@nancy.birtwhistle)

She also has other recipes you can watch- have a look at these Story highlights here

https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17853143840786803/

I gathered a bag of lovely shiny conkers from an old tree in Little Baddow when I want to watch my friend Lara's piano recital.

I used about a 1/4 of these as I weighed them according to the recipe in Nancy's book.  The rest, I froze so I can make more later in the year.

After smashing the conkers open inside a cotton tote with a hammer, I removed the brown shells (well, I realised once I'd started soaking them that I was supposed to remove them...)

I immediately started noticing them going milky.  I left them for about 7 hours (8 or overnight is recommended) and then strained the liquid into my big 1.5 litre old Ecover Fabric softener bottle.

I then tried to blend the remaining conker pieces with my stick blender. This didn't work too well. Mine didn't seem to make a nice pulp like Nancy's, it was still very bitty.  Not sure if the problem was my blender or it might be better if you add some water too? I added another 500ml of boiling water and left for two hours and strained it again into the bottle.  The remaining pieces, I put into the compost.

And here was my bottle!  

Mine seems quite a thin liquid so maybe my blending issue may have meant it isn't as thick as it should be but it is still fine.   I added some Eucalyptus oil to mine and it smells lovely.

Nancy recommends using it straight in your drum on top of your clothes and putting 50g of washing soda crystals in your drawer too to aid it but I can't find my washing soda so I have been putting 3 capfuls in the drum and then adding an extra one to the drawer and the washing has been coming out well. Touch wood, also, the draining issues I've been having recently with my washing machine haven't been happening when I've used this.  I have only been washing on 30degrees as it was going wrong when the temperature was hotter.

I will definitely make this again and I have been saving my soap ends to give that recipe a try soon!

This was, essentially, practically free!!

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A post shared by Kezzie (@kezziesquirrel)

Snail-smoocher

 On Friday, I ended up on afternoon playground duty with Year 1 and 2.  One cheerful little boy came up to me and informed me he had done something most unusual.

In honour of this bizarre and hilarious moment, I wrote a triolet poem

Snail-smoocher

Noel told me he’d kissed a snail

He told me ooh so proudly!

Did he peck its head or smooch its tail?

Noel told me he’d kissed a snail.

I wondered if it left a trail?

Did it protest at the affection loudly?

Noel told me he’d kissed a snail

He told me ooh so proudly!

K.Allin-Garner 

October 2024

TARDIS Tuesday- KILL THE MOON!

 Today's TARDIS Tuesday is an outfit I wore strangely recently (in comparison to others which have had a long hiatus)

Image borrowed from:
https://claraoswaldcosplay.dreamconnect.de/?p=639

It was worn by my old favourite, Clara Oswald, in series 8 of Doctor Who in a controversial episode called Kill the Moon. Controversial because it turns out the Moon is, in fact, an EGG...which hatches into a creature!

She wears a black and Autumnal coloured floral dress from ASOS plus her typical black opaque tights, her block-heeled Bertie shoes and a tan belt.

And here I am:

There's not much to say about this outfit except to say, I am wearing the ASOS dress but with leggings.  Mine was shortened...NOT something I needed to be done but when you buy it 2nd hand, not much you can do!  I also sold my screen accurate shoes so I am wearing an alternative pair of Clarks shoes I've had for a loooong time!

  

Beach Art

Greetings this fine and sunny Sunday! 

I'm regretting my choice to wear my calf-length winter raincoat as I get 2 trains plus 2 cycles journey to my second concert of the weekend as I'm now roasting hot! I've been mistrusting of the weather this week after multiple drenching incidents!

I've shared a few beach art episodes from this past summer and today is probably the final one.

I made this on Holkham Beach in Norfolk which had a beautiful variety of Oyster, Cockle, Razorclam, Scallop and other shells.

I decided to make a framed picture of some flowers. It ended up being a rushed job  as there was some anxiety about getting back (was gutted as I fancied a swim and a long walk also) so there was not as much variety as I'd like.

I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude, awe and wonder at the vastness, variety of beauty of God's creation when I walk in great open spaces like this and feel a great resetting of my emotions and soul. Sometimes, when I hear of great conflicts, antisocial behaviour and deep anger and sorrow, I wish there were a way of transporting the protagonists to a place like this for them to be reset and to realise the futility of it all.

Love to you all today.

Xx
 

18 things that made me happy this fortnight

 

I wrote this last Friday but forgot to post it!

1.  It was National Poetry day this Thursday- I announced this at the end of Singing Assembly and suggested the children write a poem.  After lunch, 2 of my lovely girls in year 5 came up and presented me with poems they had written about me, for me! They were so sweet.  Today, a Year 6 girl came up to me and presented me with yet another poem, about me! This one was really lovely and unexpected. It made me laugh so much because, on the other side, she wrote a poem about our Sports Coach who I tag-team with as we teach the same pair of classes and swap with each other, morning and evening. I think I did better out of this poem writing than he did!!!

2.  My old colleague, J, who has left my school (we produced Treasure Island together) had contacted me saying we should meet. I suggested Thursday.  He said he was a co-organiser of a new Poetry-and-Music night called Testing Ground and suggested I come.  It was held at a Book Shop on Roman Road near Mile End called Bard Books.  J persuaded me to join in with the Open Mic element of the night and I played Syrinx, for solo flute, by Debussy. Ha, I can say I was the first musician to perform at this Performance evening! Most of the other  open-mic participants were Spoken word artists, poets or writers and there was one beautiful singer.  The two headliner artists were singer, writer and rapper, Adeeb Abdul Razak  and a poet called Ellie De Satge.  The night was so different from what I was used to, held in a lovely bookshop and it was so nice to see my friend again!  He performed a poem of his own called 'Feedback' about giving feedback to pupils. As someone who teaches, this poem was so powerful and I was so impressed by his artistry! 

3.  Last Sunday, I performed with Forest Philharmonic Orchestra. We were playing accompaniment for the final of the North and East London Music Festival. The three soloists got to perform a movement of a concerto with us accompanying.  The judges AND audience AND orchestra all got to vote for their favourite performer.  I usually play 2nd flute or piccolo for this orchestra but the regular (and wonderful) 1st flautist was away in Scotland so I played that part. This is another first for me as I've never performed First Flute with them before.  

4.  I made a cleaning product myself out of foraged ingredients! More on that soon!

5.  I've been using my new Personal Amplifier to try and protect and preserve my voice a bit more at school and it IS making a difference!  So grateful to my Sister/Dad/Stepmum for getting it for me for Christmas. Not impressed with myself for not using it UNTIL now!

6. WE ARE OFF TO THE CRYSTAL MAZE AGAIN TOMORROW!!!! So excited!

EDIT- It was brilliant! And I got 2 crystals this time!

7.  Found SUCH a sweet song on @musicforkiddos on Instagram called Falling Leaves and it is SUCH a adorable song. Tried it out on KS1 today and they loved it!

8. Some Year 5-6 children are on a residential next week and I managed to manoeuvre a swap so I could still teach year 6 next week. Pleased I managed to do this.

9.  TRYING to take a bit better care of myself this by a) trying to ensure I've had something for breakfast- yoghurts in glass jars, tinned peaches, bananas have worked well so far.  b) trying to have slightly more organised lunches, c) trying to not say yes to anything on more than 2 weeknights in a week, d) really determinedly working on quoting the School Rules when children misbehave and using stock phrases such as "Please place your instruments in resting position" or "What is the rule when I am giving feedback to someone?"- helping me AND them!

10.  Enjoying the joy of the year 3's at their new recorders- they are SO proud of them!

11. Enjoying how popular orchestra is so far this year! Everyone wants to be in it. AND I managed to acquire a NEW Orchestral Manager! She volunteered and I accepted instantly!

12. Love my Year 5 girls.  They are really loving and kind. It warms my heart to see such gentleness and their real acting of their age, not trying to be something else! They come and surround me with a hug every time I cross the playground and they always know when I am feeling tired or down.  They are my new 'music crowd' and it's lovely!

13.  Enjoying the relationship I am developing with the class whose bookcorner I am helping with. I hate to say it, but one child leaving last year has made ALL the difference to that class! The toxic habits and learned patterns of poor behaviour have been broken and life is so much happier for that class!

14. Was given a cute new Penguin by one of my pupils! It has a strawberry hat on!

15.  My year 4's did some really good rhythm performances on Wednesday. The class who are usually very difficult were actually the best!

16. Tonight (Friday)  I was productive! Came home, made dinner instantly, did all the washing up, put all previous washing up away, put in washing, hung up washing, sorted more, made a birthday card and here I am writing a blog post or two!

17.  Went to see my lovely friend, Naomi Preston-Low in Pride and Prejudice- sort of, at the Chelmsford theatre last night.  It was utterly hilarious and silly (a bit sweary and irreverent in places but funny!Imagine how Lizzie Bennett might have responded to Mr Collins' proposal with a few choice words). Naomi was brilliant! I waited for her at the Stage door and she gave me a massive hug and was so pleased to see me after such a long time. CBC and I really enjoyed it and it made a great change after school to do this! The show is on tour so if  you fancy giving it a go, check the link. It goes to Wolverhampton next week!

Here is a great review of it which I wholeheartedly agree with

18.  44 of the Year 5-6 children were away on a residential today so I did Samba with the remaining children and they loved it!

What things have brought you joy this week?

TARDIS Tueday- Ace McShane

 This week, I had time to put together a TARDIS Tuesday! I thought I'd pay a return visit to Seventh Doctor companion, Ace McShane, after a lucky Vinted find. 

Let's look at the inspiration!

This look is perfect for a music teacher in a school with a relaxed dress code with the musical t-shirt.

And here I am....in the music room!

 Starting off with my pride and joy- my Bomber jacket, customised by Ang Almond for me! I don't have the patches as a) they are too expensive and b) a liability- surely I'd lose them and c) I prefer just the patch on the back!

 The t-shirt was being sold brand new on Vinted for £5 so I jumped at the chance, rather than the cost of fabric pens or Sharpies! I love the musical notes and instruments!

My black velvet skirt, Topshop via charity shop has the right shape. I needed the thick leggings underneath as my skirt billowed in the wind! 

I didn't have time to locate black lace up shoes or grey socks so I chose these bronze shoes instead!

I received lots of compliments from children and adults alike on this look. Quite surprising really given it's mostly all black!

Highlight of the day was the year 3's learning new notes on the recorder! 

Xx

Today 

Autumn Garden colour

Last Saturday was such an unexpected treasure! After a week or so of unrelenting rain and miserable skies, Saturday was sunny and bright!

I was out in the garden for a while whilst hanging some washing out and had a look to see what was still growing and giving us colour in the garden.

Mum gave me a tiny cutting of her Myrtle plant a few years ago.  It has flowered once in that time but has mostly sulked, looking sickly!

I am very pleased to see it has been looking happier this year and it flowered this week!

We had two fuscia plants in pots. One of them seemed to give up last year and the other one has been a late developer.  We ended up buying another one in our local garden centre's end of summer perennial sale and has been looking lovely! Apparently the flowers and berries are edible. I tried eating a petal but it tasted of very little!  They are beautiful ballet dangers though! One stem got severed. I put it in water and it seems to be budding so I am hopeful for another plant!

We bought this Osteospermum during the Summer and it is looking very pretty! I hope it lasts the Winter!

We have two Seedum plants.  These are a sure bet for Autumn growth!

Here is the other one with some Verbena Bonariensis in front too! You can see the Nandina Domestica leaves behind.

Mum dug me up a Marigold from her bed a couple of years ago and they seem to have spread in my raised bed. Originally planted as companion plants, I may have to dig some up and relocate!

Mum gave me some Borlotti beans this year to grow and here they are, drying out. They are really tasty! You can dry these as well to save and use through the winter.

I regrew the ends of two sweet potatoes which have grown very nicely in pots. The heart-shaped leaves (which are edible too!) are very attractive,

This Star-begonia is another new addition and I LOVE it! It's so much prettier than my previous Begonia! I must bring this in for Winter as I really want it to last!

What is growing in YOUR garden?

xx
 

Book corner recycled fish

 I mentioned the Book corner I have been helping with at school.

This weekend, I made some model fishes for the window.

Using some scrap packing- a plastic milk bottle and a nobbly cheese packet, I cut a flat rectangle from each.  Using some Sharpie pens (I had a skinny black pen and a green and blue thick pen), I drew some fish and coloured them in.  I cut them out with scissors and made a hole with my eyelet setter and threaded through silver thread.

I liked the idea of using the milk bottles and plastic packaging for the fish because it would give the effect of stained glass with the light shining through. It would make them more durable also.

We stuck them to the window with sellotape.  The teacher is going to ask the children to create more to cover the top window.

Want to see where they are going?

Here's the book case and corner from the top.  It's a very small classroom so space is at a premium!

You can see the cuddly lobster and the sign on the window (fish are top right)

You can see the cuddly sea creatures and all my shells sitting on top.

I recommend using milk bottles to create window ornaments!

x