Stop all the clocks!

At the weekend, I mentioned going to my concert in Victoria.  I saw the opportunity to visit the Cath Kidston flagship store. I PROMISE I intended to buy nothing but when I saw the clock skirt (and with £6 off), I somehow went into Automaton mode and ended up buying it. I do love clock-themed items- it stems from a Doctor Who obsession and an Alice in Wonderland obsession.

I wore it out immediately the next day to church and it was clocked (ha!) instantly by a clock-obsessive who like me, dreams of having an entire mantlepiece of ramshackle clocks of all kinds!

I teamed it up with these George Dalmatian-print shoes, Grandad's boater hat, green thrifted satchel, Dotty Perks pearl collar  and  this t-shirt which caused much consternation at church. It says, "So what if I pray like a girl?" and in smaller writing, "Men and women, all are equal and one in Christ," from Galatians.  I tried to make the point that no, the slogan is not biblical, the point is that God hears everyone's prayers,regardless of who you are.









After church, the weather was SO glorious that I managed to persuade an over-worked and stressed CBC to drive us to Papermill Lock in Little Baddow near Chelmsford for a spot of lunch in the tea-rooms.  It's on the river Chelmer and is a lovely place for cycling to as you come down North Hill, Essex's highest and steepest hill and end with the reward of tea and cake (and nice lunches). The only  bit I don't like is cycling back up it so you can carry on over the river to Hatfield Pevrell and get home that way. It's very easy to reach from the A12.


You can take a short cruise along the river. We ourselves cruised on this boat the day after the wedding with family members.

After lunch, I persuaded CBC to walk along the river for a bit. As you can see from the facial expression, he was SO unimpressed and just wanted to get home.

Much excitement from all those in the tea-rooms as this boat went down in the lock. We seasoned bargers (ha! One 2 day trip!) were rather more nonchalant about it! Did you hear about that barge in the papers that got caught on the back of the lock gates and completely filled with water! It did sober me in regards to how you have to be so careful on a lock!

The canoers were out in force and had I not been in skirt and heels, I would have considered joining in!

Just a couple of the boats around.



Hows you all.
Thanks for the nice comments re my food.  Glad you liked my choices and I was intrigued at the sausage opinions- it seems that I am not wrong to dislike the LM veggie sausages!

***

Linking up to Hat Attack

 and
Fashion Item Friday

Being a star

The Star by Edgar Degas. Pastel on paper, 1881.

FINALLY, one of the curators of Style imitating Art chose a Degas painting! Bravo Jess!  My highlight of Paris, the first time I went, was discovering Degas at the Musee D'Orsay.  His works of dancers in rehearsal and performance captivated me:  the movement, the detail, and harked me back to my childhood, reading the ballet books of my sister (she wanted to be a ballerina and she WAS really good). We had this book called A very young dancer  and I read it over and over again. Ballet was a huge part of my life during the first 12 years of my life but I would never BE a dancer or be good at it. I just did it and enjoyed it but was always a rank and file dancer, tall, awkward and stuck in the back row, except for the time we did a dance of music from Hair, the musical, and all of a sudden, tall, gangly and hippy-like got me a few front row moments.  Largely though, I was never a Star like my friends.

However, today, with this edition of SIA, I am  The Star, quite literally, as that's what we were emulating.

Last night, I looked out my light pink tulle skirt from ASOS which I had originally bought in honour of Sarah Jessica Parker in the credits of SATC but the elastic had gone in the waist and actually, I am trying not to be so costumey with SIA. I laid out a Monsoon top and LK Bennett skirt this morning, but as I put it on, something just didn't gel and suddenly I thought of this white with pinky roses Laura Ashley dress I'd thrifted in a charity shop (PDSA) a couple of years ago and pink ballet flats with ankle embellishments.

It has flow to it like tulle and it's all about the colours.  I'm so glad I thought of it as I often shun this beautiful dress since I feel I have to wear it for a special occasion, but I realised today, no, it's just a simple summer dress which was perfect for the warm day and  a brisk walk to church.

CBC often accuses me of ruining perfectly good outfits by teaming a delicate outfit with totally unsuitable hulking-great, ugly bags, so I added the Topshop handbag in complementary pattern to take the essentials to church.

Add a black cord necklace with  Swarovsky and jet embellishments (the nicest Secret Santa present ever!) and an imitation Whitby Jet bracelet to nod to the necklace and bracelet of The Star.

It has flow to it like tulle and it's all about the colours.  I'm so glad I thought of it as I often shun this beautiful dress since I feel I have to wear it for a special occasion, but I realised today, no, it's just a simple summer dress which was perfect for the warm day and  a brisk walk to church.

I don't know what comes over me when I do SIA photos or think about ballet, I just get the urge to come over all dancey and prancey (cousins of Santa's reindeers)

 As I tried to show my feet in better detail, some stupid instinct told me to pose thus.

And then I felt like executing a jete which ended up looking like an Arabesque (badly. Note the bent front knee)

And here were the outtakes of trying to capture a jete- shot with the self-timer alla Rudolf Nureyev. Muppet, I tell you.

The service at church was lovely today.  We had a baptism and the little boy, Oliver, was SUCH a sweetie. He earnestly listened to our lovely Vicar (newly ordained. She's not a paid vicar) and make cute Ahhhhs when she was saying important things. She was talking about opposition that Paul and John Mark faced when they first took the gospel to Paphos in Cyprus and how there will always be difficulties and oppositions when you first start something but you get through them.  She talked about how when she first started working in the city, her e-mail was read, she faced hostility  just because people knew she was Christian and wanted to catch her out. But 15 years later, having left the office, a school and facilities she set up in Kenya is now supported by her old place of work and how they embraced all she did and now have carried on supporting it, building a second water supply at another school.. She wasn't trying to preach to anyone, she never did at work, it was just known she was Christian, she just lived her life, working so hard, showing her faith through her diligence and  showing her love for her colleagues.  A star may not be all about showing off about what they do and saying 'Look at me', but a star is someone who does something anyway, regardless of who's looking and wins over their hearts just by being herself in faith or love or perseverance.


Hope you are all well today.  Tell me about someone you know who is a star.  Or a time you were a star.

Linking up to some lovely ladies.

SIA of course with Jess

Visible Monday with Patti

What I wore to church with Carolyn at Perspectives


Creative Mondays with Claire Justine

Fashion Item Friday with Renae

A wind in the willows wedding!

Yesterday was the wedding of one of my most favourite people! My university friend K and her long-term boyfriend M, who got together during my second year, finally got married and it was a wonderful day!



K is my ideal person- she loves children's books like me, tea and cake, pretty dresses, gamelan and flute, she teaches, she's clumsy, she's kind-hearted and generous, loves walks, lives in a beautiful place and she is just darn cool!

It therefore followed, that she would have a wedding in a super cool place. They chose the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames which has a Wind-in-the-willows interactive exhibition and our invitation to the wedding here included free-access to the whole museum. We didn't arrive with enough time to explore the whole thing but we adored the wind in the Willows exhibition which was also on the order of services!
























They had thought it out so well. After the ceremony, we headed outside for tea and then the wedding cake (Victoria sponges) were cut and demolished!

We had the chance to chat and I had a great catch-up with several Uni friends.

Then it was time to head over to Wallingford for a reception at a place called the Fison barn which was an ecological education centre.  Her brothers played some music, we had snacks and drinks (Pimms and Elderflower 'champagne' 2014)  and then a barbecue- it was delicious and we ate loads! We sat with some of the ushers and their partners and they were such fun to sit with.

Later there was dancing and music and more food and finally, just before 11pm, we departed to Oxford to stay at CBC's sister.

What did we wear?

Well, I have only worn this mint and coral polka dot dress from Joy Louche only once before, so I was glad to give it an outing. I was at the airport in Dubrovnik on Friday thinking about what cardigan I should wear it with and then, as I was trying to spend my last 150 Kuna, I found this coral Esprit cardigan at 50% off in the Duty Free for 137 Kuna-result! (about £14!) .  It was serendipity!





Teamed with nude shoes from Aldo (old), white chiffon hat (old), Acorn necklace (present from CBC) and mint rose bracelet (Bay Trading).
The handbag is from some swanky shop in Totteridge high street. It has a story to it. I'd just been stung in the palm of my hand by a wasp when meeting my friend Nikki for lunch and was feeling rather upset.  We went into this shop and saw these handbags reduced from £120 to about £15, so we both bought one!!!



CBC wore Brown leather Loakes, Turquoise M&S shirt (present from me), Purple polka dot tie and Jaeger navy suit (his wedding suit).

Linkie parties:

Linking to Creative Mondays with Claire Justine
and
Visible Mondays with Patti
and
Fashion Item Friday with Renae this week

Hoping you are well.
xx

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!