Floral and fluff

 Behold my outfit worn for my niece's 13th familybirthday party. Yes, she is that old! Shocking!

My sister has done a family birthday party at their home every year since her 1st birthday except for 2020. It's a lovely occasion as it is the only time that my entire blood family is together including my mum and dad and stepmum. I do hope that K continues to love having this family party.

I decided to go comfy as well as smartish.

Today was the day I got my massive suitcases out of the spare room cupboard and swapped over my Summer clothes for Winter. As I did, I spied this Next x William Morris dress which I found in a charity shop last year.  Unlike the H&M collaboration, I quite liked the look and feel of this material (it's Viscose but feels nice). It's got big bell sleeves and shirred cuffs. Leggings and stripy socks and then my 70's sheepskin gilet plus Just Sheepskin  Ugg-style boots for maximum cosy!

Some big wooden and foil earrings from Esoteric London and my Alex Monroe daisy loop necklace and I was comfy but felt slightly dressed up!

It feels good to have swapped clothes over so I can play with my Winter clothes and see if I can see what works and share anything that doesn't with others.

Past me from Last Christmas thanks me for having grouped all my Christmas themed clothing together in the suitcase so it was easy to access. Present me thinks the big blue suitcase is a TARDIS in disguise as I fitted SOOOO much Summer clothing into it!

Hope all is well with you!

xx

Like the proverbial bad penny!

Last week, I taught my KS1 Singing Assembly a song called Magic Penny. I loved this song so much, I wrote a blog post with it as the Title and talked about it: http://kerenzaallin-garner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/magic-penny.html    I cannot believe that I haven't taught them that song since February 2013!!! That's five years! It's funny how seldom I repeat songs in Singing Assembly, particularly KS1!
I found that post as I was looking for a picture of me looking cold and it was filed under the same label,  Two Birds, I searched under.
It took me back to the early 2010's and all the outfit blogging I did, particularly due to the wonderful pair of sisters Nora and Megan Bird who organised Inspiration Monday, a challenge where they posted a picture of a celebrity in an outfit which you then had to take as inspiration and post and link up your own outfit for.  I loved that challenge! It was so nice to link up and meet other bloggers and it really made me begin to explore different sartorial choices- not just pairing obvious items together.
It was real bout of nostalgia for me to look at and to see some items of clothing that I had completely forgotten about and no longer own!

I thought I'd just select a couple of these to have a little reminisce about. Because, why not!?

http://kerenzaallin-garner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/magic-penny.html  

This is the outfit which inspired this post!  I LOVED this M&S striped tunic dress! It came with a navy turtle neck which I still have. What a shame I got rid of this. I suspect I decided that I'd put on weight and it didn't look so good which is a great pity- I would love to wear this still!

From http://kerenzaallin-garner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/spots-are-stripes-right.html 

I totally forgot about this striped Tescos sweater dress!  I think I culled this one because I felt again, its shape wasn't totally flattering on my pear shape with more weight but it looks quite funky here!

http://kerenzaallin-garner.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-6-degrees-of-separation-of-tardis.html

To be honest, I only got rid of this skirt last year because I just had too many items of clothing (I still have all the other items) - pity as I did like it! It may also have been harder to get on!

http://kerenzaallin-garner.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/add-your-cat-hat-and-all-will-be-well.html

I LOVED this duffle cardigan! It was such a teacher cosy-cardigan. I think the toggles fell off in the end and I said goodbye. Wish I'd kept it as a back up at work. I have an old cardie of CBC's as my back-up cardie at work!

http://kerenzaallin-garner.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/amazing-grace.html

I actually own all the items in the picture still but I just don't remember this outfit at all but I like it! Also, these jeans look much looser here than they did yesterday! These jeans are about 18 years old now!

http://kerenzaallin-garner.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/she-wore-furry-hat.html

Ha ha, I remember this outfit was worn for snow like now really! I still own all of it except for the jumper- I seem to remember it was a bit itchy. And handwash only.

http://kerenzaallin-garner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/interpreting-animal.html

I included this outfit because....WHAT was I thinking!?  I was trying to match the inspiration as much as I could but sadly, my items didn't match!

http://kerenzaallin-garner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-dream-skirt.html

I loved this one so much! I looked so chilled. I think I still have the skirt but I honestly haven't worn it for a long time if I do still have it. Where is it!??

http://kerenzaallin-garner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/bears-no-relation.html

I wish I still had this coat! It would be a great cosplay item!


I'd love to see the Two Birds make a come back in the blogging world. I still follow them on Instagram but wish I could still take part in this challenge!

Hope all is well with you!

xx

Charity shop purchases October 2015

Hello there!


I thought I'd share some charity shop purchases I made recently  as I know we all like sharing these!



I only need TWO more books in the Railway Detective series (I think 'Iron Horse' is the only one I lack!) so I was thrilled to find the Silver Locomotive Mystery in the St Lukes Hospice shop.  I also found the 'Five Dead Canaries' in his WW1 series too (I've read one of these), so I look forward to reading more of Edward Marston.





When I went to Barter Books in Alnwick, I bought an amazing book called 'The Moving Toyshop' by Edmund Crispin (I love the fact they have a section called 'Whodunnits' there!) which was a Whodunnit with an Oxford professor, Gervaise Phinn as the 'detective'.  I assumed it was a one-off book so I was chuffed to find two more books (plus the original one) in a charity shop. I decided to buy all three so I'd have them in the same edition- I'll donate my other one!



I saw this jewellery hanger in Oxfam and I thought it was a better way to hang my necklaces- I swapped from my Cork board recently to a 3 hook hanger which isn't great as I don't fancy sifting through my necklaces. It may also not work but at least there are more ways of seperating the necklaces than my current flawed system.



I love wearing leggings with dresses because they don't have the sag factor like tights, slightly more substantial, better for shorter dresses but I don't like the join between shoe/sock and legging, so I've been wearing black leg warmers with my Doc Marten boots a lot over the past couple of weeks, it's really  really cosy, so I saw a pair of Cinderella legwarmers (interesting brand name- would you have chosen Cinderella as your model for leg warmers!??) and picked them up.


 
I've not heard of the brand but I liked this light-weight long-length cardigan made of fine cotton and cashmere blend. So many cardies in shops are made of Viscose or horrid man-made fabrics so it was nice to discover something made mainly of cotton.



I know when you see these, you'll say, "Of course you wouldn't have left the cute brooches behind, Kezzie!", but in all honesty, I was going to leave behing the brooches because I have plenty and sincerely don't need anymore BUT, my orchestra is doing a children's concert in a couple of weeks with one of our main pieces as a narrated version of the Owl and the Pussycat and I just thought how cute these might look on my lapels or dress as I play!  They strongly remind me of jewellery by Les Nereides, a very expensive jewellery brand I saw in Dubrovnik.  They were £1.50 each, so I figured that I hope I wasn't being too naughty!

When I was about 8, a family friend gave me two books in the Lone Pine series by Malcolm Saville. I loved them and really wanted to read more but could not get hold of them at the time.  As an adult, I looked online (thank God for online!) but I found that even online or in Second hand book shops, Lone Pine books are not so easy to get and are quite expensive so it was thrilling to find this one for £1!

Finally, I bought this DVD for school as our Year 2's do some work on 'Where the wild things are' so I thought it might be quite useful for our Year 2 teachers. 


I spent £17 all in all which I honestly, would be better saving towards a house, I realise that BUT I do feel, that if I do buy things regularly from various charity shops, I am donating money to a charity even if I end up redonating the items. That said, I seem to say this regularly, that I probably need to stop looking as I seem to be unable to say no. 


xxx
Have you bought anything in a charity shop recently?

Old Skool Boater

Hello there!  Thanks for all your kind advice and empathy over my dancing lack of confidence crisis- it IS comforting to know that these things improve with age and also that I am not alone in it. I appreciate each and every word you kind ladies and gents (I love the fact I can say that!!!) write to me each time you visit- you make blogging the community and kind place it is.

Greetings from the cool tree in my local park! I absolutely adore this tree- not sure what sort it is but it is huge! I adore the texture and walking around it, looking at the all the nobbles and lines that show its age and wisdom!  If I could find my wretched tripod,  (WOMOTM can I please have that spare you offered next time I come up?) I would totally come over here to take photos occasionally as it's such a nice spot. It's by the pitch-and-put golf course and you can be there for several minutes without anyone passing!

I like lots of aspects of this outfit and wanted to share them (sorry if that bores you and sorry WOMOTM, I know you don't like these posts!)  - firstly, the chambray dress. I really liked the chambray 'trend' (dare I say that word- not sure what I am talking about really or whether it was a trend in the world at large or just in blog world?!) last summer and really like the idea of a chambray dress but didn't really like anything in the shops at the time, nor wanted to pay much for something.  I found this ruffly dress in a charity shop just before Easter for about £3 so was super chuffed!CBC liked it too which is always a bonus! It proves that all good things come to those who wait!

I added the stripy cardigan which was bought several years ago now- I like its 'old skool' appearance and I was always a little smug that I bought it from the Primark aged 12-13 collection- it was £3 cheaper than the adult equivalent and had red buttons (more fun) instead of navy!
Purple tights and Converse added to the old-skool look (not sure how exactly the tights are old skool but movin' on...).  These Converse have a story too. I bought these in Bali last time I was there in 2005.  I went off with my friend Emily one day and we both went into Matahari, a big shopping centre and department store in Denpasar, and both bought trainers- me these and she purple Vans (she LOVES purple more than me!) and then we both bought LOST series 1 and 2 on DVD and I got to see what happened at the end of series 2 in England before it came on TV (which was good as I was actually away when it viewed!).  We were so happy at our purchases- which were bought for about £7 in local currency. We then went to Jalan Sulawesi which is a HUGE street full of material shops! When we got back to the hotel and the rest of our Gamelan group, they asked where we'd been and we shuffled around and shared our purchases to the envy of others!  I realise that I haven't actually worn my black/red Converse on this blog since Easter 2010 (here- at Hever Castle)

Cat's eye sunglasses that I found in a drawer recently (they hurt- bit too tight! I have a big head?) and newly washed, unbrushed, undried hair gave me a nice messy look!). There was also a binoculars necklace which evidently annoyed me as I took it off by the second photo!

Finally the piece-de-resistance:  A straw boater.  Remember I said that all good things come to those who wait?  Well, I have wanted a straw boater for ages. Considering my epic hat collection (over 60 hats- not counted exactly though!), I didn't have a short-brimmed boater (Mum does but she's not giving it over).  I have seen them on ASOS etc but thought they were a bit too expensive. Others in shops have often been too small.
Well, when I was clearing, sorting and tidying at Grandad's house the week before half-term, I was clearing the spare room and in the top of a cupboard I found this straw boater AND another hat (which will be saved for another post). I was SOO pleased- something else I wanted but now I have one that belonged to either my Grandad or Nan! It could even be an old school boater! Nobody else was interested in it so it was ALL miiiiiiiiine*. It has a black ribbon round it but when I was dressing that day, I suddenly thought to wrap my Chambray polka dot wired headband round the brim to give it a different look!
It needs a little putting together, one of the straw seams is working a little loose- any millinery ideas for getting the layers to stick together greatly appreciated (glue? Needle and thread? Other?)

I was lucky that my friend M came out to visit CBC and I in our new home last Thursday - she took my photo by my favourite tree and then I took hers! It was really nice to have her- she's such a great friend, someone who is honest, kind, generous and so interested. She is also INCREDIBLY organised and motivated- these are good attributes for me to aspire to since I am not!  She'll always tell you what she thinks and will be honest and she's so generous. She saw that our old church needed a new hoover for doing the cleaning and just went out and bought a Dyson. Saw a gap and filled it- no fuss, no big deal, just did it.  She was also the painter of the squirrel on our wall- her wedding present to us! She gave me her art portfolio and we got to choose which painting we wanted which she then had framed! It was perfect for us as we love red squirrels and CBC has a cute red squirrel postcard display in his study!  I first met her at church. She used to go to the 8.00am service for a few months when joining our church and then came to a few 10.30 services. I shook hands with her at the Peace a few times and then finally, having really wanted to get to know her, chased her out of the church as she was leaving one Sunday to say hi and introduce myself properly. She always tells people that's how we met! She always laughs about it!

We went to a local arts, crafts and artisan place for lunch and to look around and then we came back to our house for a tour.  CBC then went off for a cycle and we walked over to the local park for several laps of the lake. I like keen walkers and she is certainly one of those!
 
I'll be seeing her again on the 29th of June for my concert at St John's Smith Square, Westminster.  It's going to be a great concert so get yourself to London and come along to it!!! Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Tickets available from www.sjss.org


Do you have any recent made friends (well, we've been friends for 5-ish years now) who you have made and you just get on so well with?

Hugs to all x

Linking to Hat attack with the amazing true hat fanatic Judith AKA Style Crone!!


Next, with the totally cool Bella at Citizen Rosebud who is giving me a wave of nostalgia with her 90's photos!

Thirdly with the fabulous Fashion item Friday with Renae at Simple Sequins


* Cue manic Dictator, Herbert Von Takeoverzevorld, Mwa ha ha ha ha laughter!

That itchy jumper: Memories of childhood!!!!

As a child, I was really sensitive to certain materials or LABELS in clothes uhrgh, certain clothes in the 80's had SUCH itchy labels!!!!  I spent much of my childhood, wriggling because of an itchy label in a pair of knickers or a skirt/trousers with a high waistband (or worse, a t-shirt!).  I bought a gorgeous skirt from L'orsay in Saltzburg as a teen which was great bar the most unelievably itchy/scratchy label I have ever had the misfortune to own!

I was always particularly sensitive to certain wools or materials.  When we went over to my Dad's, he and my Stepmum had clothes for us over there to wear, that we'd change into.  These included, for both my sister and I- a white cardigan.  I don't know what on earth it was made out of but I detested it!! I'd refuse to wear it, or wear it protestingly!   Recently, I was talking to my stepmum about it and I didn't realise it had had such an effect on them.  We somehow got onto the subject of itchy clothing and she referred to it as "that wretched cardigan!" that I absolutely refused to wear in rather heated tones! My sister, as good as gold, always wore hers uncomplainingly.  What a fiend I was!

To this day, I still find certain materials itchy.  The hilarious thing is- my stepmum and Dad bought me the above jumper for my birthday last year and whilst it is a pretty colour, by heck, is it itchy!!! I attempted to counteract the itchy by wearing a long-sleeved cotton top underneath and a scarf!   I dearen't tell them it's so itchy for fear of causing memories of that white cardigan to erupt!
I am debuting this snow-leopard patterned beret which I found in the sales! I'm not a big fan of animal print, but I quite liked this one.  Worn with my turquoise cordhuroy Toms and a Primark belt and top plus thrifted trousers!

Speaking of memories of childhood, I am going to try and post my first linkie thing soon, so get your thinking caps on for writing and linking up a post about your childhood on the subject of 'Clothing I loved or loathed'