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

 

The end of a school year!

 

It's over for another year. As I write this, I am sitting at a table in my Mother-in-Law's house, Hexham trying to not kill CBC book our accommodation for our forthcoming trip to Switzerland. It's our 10 year anniversary this year so we are returning to our honeymoon destination.  I realise that I NEVER did share our epic honeymoon tour. It was rather a daunting  prospect as there was so much to write about (I kept a daily diary as did CBC).

As I write this, I am hopeful that...

I AM GETTING MY MUSIC ROOM BACK AFTER 2 YEARS OF MOVING ROOM!!!!

It is going to be weird getting back in. I will have to put up all new displays, deal with a skanky carpet that has had 2 years of filthy year 1 children dropping glue, paint, glitter, food, sick, raisins, apples and all sorts of grim things, I will have to teach the children how to put the instruments away properly, where they go and they will have to get used to sitting on carpet for the entire lesson (which they will not find easy, esp the little ones) and I have got used to having a big interactive whiteboard screen for everything but...

IT IS MINE!

My deputy head teacher did say to me that I have done so well to have continued to teach to my high standard (hmmmm...debatable...she's not seen what it is like with the  crazy year 2 children) and to have put up with the levels of stress and everyone in the school has said to me that me, above absolutely everyone else, has had to put up with the most inconvenience.

I can hardly believe it will happen! But apparently it will.

I still keep expecting them to tell me that they need to turn my room into an SEND room or a computer room since I have proved I can be itinerant.

It's been a hard year in a great number of ways:

Complete disruption of strikes, bank holidays, public holidays,snow days, INSET days.

Some very difficult behaviour from some children

Cancelled performances- Christmas because of icy roads, our Summer interschool festival because of a security threat.

New methods of assessing that just haven't worked out.

Always missing subject leader meetings  because of clubs

Staff shortages.

Leadership changes

Also, two of my closest colleague friends  have left.  One at Easter, one recently. They had both been at the school over 23 years

But...

there have been some amazing moments:

1.  The relationships I have had with some children with regard to sharing reading books and enthusing over books

2. My wonderful year 5-6 choir. We've had some amazing moments and fun. I had 14 children from ONE class in choir which is the most from one class ever and they were confident and really showed their appreciation of choir. We had a great time at the Royal Albert Hall despite VOMIT-GATE (yes, my child projectile vomited in 6 directions in the middle of Gary Barlow's Sing).  I had between 25-35 children the entire year.

3.  The Year 5 Vltava performances- they loved it! In fact, year 5 have been a pleasure to teach all year (one class less so but still good).

4.  Winning the Aurora Orchestra competition for a family ticket to their children's concert. I was able to pass this onto a family who had a lovely time.  I also then purchased a family ticket for my own orchestra concert with Forest Philharmonic Orchestra in June and it was won by a lovely enthuastic Nigerian girl. She and her Mum adored the concert and said she'd love to come again! It was special for me having her there and being able to give that pleasure and experience to families was amazing.

4. Encouraging a young artist.  I learnt, from another teacher,  that a girl in Year 4 is a really keen artist. I asked her to come and see the seascapes I had been painting with year 5. She (and her pal) were really happy to be asked. I said I knew she was interested in art. She told me about her Instagram where she started posting her art in lockdown.  I meant to message her mum to ask permission to look at it (as social media is a dodgy area) but she had already messaged me to say her daughter had asked me to send her a link to her insta.  I sent some feedback (not on Insta because I don't want to share my insta with pupils obvs) via her mum and Mum was super pleased I'd shown an interest in her art. I then issued her an art challenge using recycled envelope inards  (and gave her the resources) which she rose to with great aplomb and then shared her work in the newsletter from school. That one gesture of showing an interest made ALL the difference to one pupil and her mum has shown her apprecation. I hope I will have more time to show interest in individuals more again without excessive equipment removals next year.  

5.  Developed good relations with a couple of colleagues. One who is very cautious of people and she has shown she trusts me.

6. The day I chucked an entire litre of water at my Sports coach colleague and he just laughed.

7.  Helping a colleague to tidy his room when he was going through some mental turmoil and it really helping him. (*especially funny since I am renowned as one of the messiest staff members)

8.  The year 4 classes who have developed over the year.  This is due to (sadly) a couple of disruptive children leaving, and a change of staff.  By the end of the year, we had a really good relationship.

9.  Having 3 children with SEND statements in Drumming club this past half term.  Seeing them do something they are so good at and enjoy has been a JOY.  All the staff who watched them perform were SO proud of them.  I am very inclusive in my clubs and will take anyone as long as a) they want to be there, b) they are actually participating and not just disrupting so this has been wonderful to see it work. It didn't work for one child in year 4 who joined my choir in the Christmas term, but I knew it wouldn't as I know my children. Despite my professional opinion, I still accommodated them at first.

10. Having 2 past pupils back for Work experience (in fact there were 4)- who performed wonderful clarinet music for the whole school. It was a joy!

11. Playing my flute for nursery.  They loved it! I MUST go and do this more! I forgot what awe and wonder it inspires!

12. Giving 6 demo lessons for Reception class music. Then having the children greeting me whenever I saw them around the school.

13.  The day one of the year 6 girls was lying in the playground on the ground and not getting up.  Her friends couldn't get her to move. I said, "Watch how the professionals do it."  I went a distance back and then started galloping in the style of a horse whinnying as loud as I could.  I then LEAPT over the girl and landed with a thud on the other side of her.   She immediately sat up and opened her eyes. I was applauded! Similarly when the choir children were trying to make the Sports coach say "Slay!", I said something similar and tricked him into it. He was FUMING when he realised I'd made him to do it!

14.  The beautiful present I received from a Year 6 pupil. Her grandad ( a keen gardener) had grown 3 tamarind plants from seed. They kept one, gave one to the family and I was given the third one. I am SO touched as she really understood me.  When we said goodbye, she gave me a massive hug and told me she loved me. She is not a child given to saying affectionate things like this so I knew she meant it. Her Mum sent a lovely message too!

15. So many appreciative messages from parents.

16.  Having a final goodbye photo with K, a boy in year 6.  We went and fetched the vintage clear beaters from the vintage glockenspiel and held them high for the photo! It was a joke between the two of us. His leaving card message was also really special since he told me Thursdays were the highlight of his year because of Choir.

17.  Being invited to the Year 5 final day's breakfast.  

18.  The Coronation performances with the whole school in the playground.  Drumming club performed an impressive military-style Snare drum performance. Choir sang a Coronation song, Reception, Year 1 and 2 sang one song (from memory), Year 3-4 sang another song and Year 5-6 sang another song. All from memory. It was a really proud moment and made me ambitious to try something else.

19. Organising an inter-school concert with another local primary school choir to enable parents who couldn't make our Royal Albert Hall performance, to see it.

20. My year 6 pupil who, in the space of one year: a) auditioned for and was awarded one of 30 places (out of 250 auditionees) for the Royal Opera House Youth Choir, b) performed for an entire run of the Royal Opera House's pro production of Turandot, c) was nominated for and won a TruHero award.   

There are probably MANY more things I could write about but I am sure it will get boring.

It has been the hardest year in so many ways but there have ALWAYS been shining moments throughout!

xx

Back to school- 70 years!

 3 weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be invited to my old Primary school for the 70th anniversary of the school's opening.  I let the few people I was still in touch with know about it but nobody I knew seemed to be coming. My Mum had an annoying clash of appointments so she missed it and my sister was working so I went along not knowing who was coming except for my headteacher who had wonderfully got in touch with my school's contact address, knowing I worked there to let me know about it as he wanted to see my sister, mum and I again!!! He retired a very long time ago! I was most excited about seeing him and about something else which I will mention later.  I sent in some memories of the school as they were asking for stories to share.

When I arrived, the current headteacher (who I know through music links) gave me a hug and took me to park my bike in our former quadrangle.

When I got out here, I felt so nostalgic!  This is where the KS1 building is. In my day, this area was the Infants area and I spent many happy times out in this area playing with water or sand.  We were so lucky to have outside space outside our building. There was also a mobile classroom I was in in Top Year Infants/Year2/Aged 6-7.  I remember playing with water and my friend accidentally soaking me so I had to change out of my blue gingham dress into a pink frilly dress. I remember going to my Headteacher for my 6th birthday sweets (you got the same number of sweets as your birthday) and sharing a green jelly baby with my older friend Louise (we were in a Split Reception/Year1 class).

Oh to have this space in our school! It makes me regret how tiny our outdoor space is at my school!

Next, I went to look at the wonderful displays of photos, log books, accounts and memories which were displayed in one of the wonderfully wide and long corridors.  I was looking when all of a sudden, I found myself facing one of my infant friends, Davina!!!! We gave each other a massive hug and were relieved to find someone else from our year! I haven't seen her since I was 16!! We turned out to be the only ones from that late 80's, early 90's era!

At that point, we were frogmarched for a tour of the school by two keen year 6 boys.  Davina and I delighted at the classrooms, new and old, commenting on what we remembered!

Here was our infant hall! It seemed SO small compared to when we were there.  Mind you, they have taken off a chunk to turn into group rooms. We recalled performing Joseph, Captain Noah's Floating Zoo and The Musicians of Bremen in here!

I am so envious of how big the classrooms are, how wide the corridors are and by the wonderful facilities!

At this point, we thanked our over-effusive guides and went outside to the school field.

As we went, I spotted these targets on the wall- we used to play 40-40 home here! 

One of the two playgrounds is so vast!

We headed onto the vast field. I didn't take a picture of just how vast it is but you can only see about an 8th of it in this picture.

Do you see this curious hanging tree? This Silver Birch was the other thing I was most looking forward to! There were two of these hanging trees which form a canopy or almost a tent.  My friends and I played in these every lunchtime!

D and I were beyond excited to go and sit under them!!! We had to wait for some children to exit!

Ah, the feeling of being under this canopy again with the hanging seeds we used as 'itching powder'- a legend/idea passed on down the years!

Of course we had to have a photo under it!!!

After this, we headed to the gazebo to meet Davina's Mum (who STILL lives in the same house! I amazed her by remembering her address!)

Also, delightfully, I saw a few other people I know.

A previous TA at my school works here now and despite the fact she left about 10 years ago, she was delighted I remembered her name and the name of her son I taught. I also saw one of our Midday staff who was made redundant last year.  I saw a couple of old teachers I knew and 3 parents of girls in my year  including the mum of my very first friend I made on my first day of school!!!

Davina and I were dying to talk to our beloved headteacher who was, of course, a complete and utter celebrity. EVERYONE wanted to talk to him (he was headteacher for about 30 years there!) 

I finally managed to get to him and we had a quick chat and photo (alas BLURRY!) before the current head made an announcement of the speeches, much of which, bemoaning the state of music provision in many schools!  There were some wonderful memories shared and heartfelt tributes made.

At the end of these, some people dispersed and I went to go and finish looking at the historical displays! 

I saw some class pictures of my sister and her orchestra picture but none of my class! There was a picture of my Mum with her percussion girls (she helped with orchestra as well as teaching recorder).

As I walking towards the school, I heard 3 girls discussing which day orchestra had been on when they were at the school, I jumped in and asked them when they were there.  They were there about 10 years after me. I mentioned my Mum and they were all ridiculously excited and told me how much they loved my Mum and how much she had helped them with music, playing in the recorder festivals and how one was a cellist and another a violinist.  They asked me to share their contact details with her and we all had a picture together. Later, I chatted to two twins who played the double bass and clarinet respectively who were also delighted at who my mum was! I had a picture with them too!

At this point, I realised I had missed the chance to chat to my headteacher as he made his long journey home. I felt really sad about this but luckily, he has subsequently emailed me and said he would love to meet my Mum, sister and I in London (they exchange Christmas letters every year) so that's good! He is very pleased that I am a music teacher and still encouraging children into playing in lots of ensembles!

It was a wonderful event and I am so glad I went!

On a fun note, can you spot me in this photo???

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- The Bells of St John's

Hi again,

Luckily, I was a week ahead with TARDIS Tuesday, which is good, as I have zero motivation to think of one for this week,plus I'll be out at orchestra on Tuesday.

Last wore on here in May 2019, today's outfit was worn by my original favourite, Clara Oswald in her debut episode as official companion though she had already appeared in two episodes previously but died in both!

Here's the outfit which consists of an animal print chiffon blouse from Urban Outfitters, accompanied a sort of lightweight cardigan in an ambiguous shade (the cosplay world was divided in their opinions of whether it was the grey or the teal version available from Urban Outfitters...I was team green...and then Jenna Coleman confirmed that it was indeed the teal one! Yesss!) from the same shop. An Aztec eagle necklace, navy shorts from Whistles, tights and black boots from All Saints.

And here's me! I bought both the screen accurate blouse and cardigan very cheaply a few years ago, very glad I waited as other people tried to sell both items for a lot.  My shorts are not particularly accurate but were charity shopped Gap last Summer.  They don't really work with this outfit particularly well as they have a low waist rather than a high waist but are a more modest length. I wore another pair of Clara shoes.

I remember the first time I saw someone wear shorts with tights.  It was a girl called Victoria. I was in the Intermediate Orchestra at my Music centre and she played 2nd violin at the back of the section.  She looked really young and used to turn round to look at the wind all the time.  She wore tiny denim shorts with black tights. I thought it was a really original look. We became friends later on after an orchestra/band trip to Wales where we were in the same dormitory. She was a few years younger than me but really mature and an amazing musician- she, like me, was a multi-instrumentalist and also played the bassoon and clarinet to a high standard and was really funny! It turned out she lived in the next road to my grandparents too.  We lost touch but weirdly, when I worked at the Royal Academy of Music, one of my colleagues copied me into an email with lots of other people and I saw her name (it's a very unusual surname) and it turned out they were really good friends! Funny the way you remember things just by looking at a garment.

And after that random digression from the main point of this post, I leave you.  I hope you are well and healthy. Do share your news or any random anecdote you feel like sharing!

xx

Conkered!

Hands up who used to love searching for conkers when they were little?

I certainly did!

I always feel sad that, for many of my children, they have never had that pleasure of searching for a pocket full of shining, brown conkers.

A couple of years ago, I gathered some conquers on my way home from work and talked to the children about searching for conkers.  I then told them I would hide them round the playground and they could search for them.  They loved it.

 

As I returned home from the station yesterday, I decided that it would be fun to do that again so I gathered a few.   This time, I thought it would be fun to add a little message to the conkers. It was quite hard to write on the curved surface

Let's hope it doesn't rain when I hide them!

Hope you are well.

 I had a lovely Friday and Saturday.  I performed a recital with my flute trio on Friday (lovely, enlightened Senior Leadership team gave me leave to perform) and after the performance, I went round to my old work colleague's house (she lives in the same town) for a cup of tea in her garden.  It was so nice to see her.  Saturday, I travelled to Islington to take part in a playday with the City of London Symphonic Winds which my Gamelan friend D asked me to do.  It was so nice to play in a windband again AND a windband where there was only 2 to a part, not 6!  

I hope all is well with you.

xx

Ponytail plant

This is a post I started writing about a year and a half ago (In fact, I can tell you, by looking at the automatic date draft, it was the 13th March 2019, so actually it was 2 years ago!)  and as I was going through my drafts to delete some now obselete unfinished posts, I saw this one and decided to write it anyway, even though it is out of date.

This is a ponytail plant.

I went to my Mum's house recently and noticed this.

And it reminded me of when it first came to our house when I was an early teenager.

It was a small plant in a pot- but it had a comparatively large bulbous base with a wavy hairstyle which sat on the shelf in our bathroom- that was a very small ledge.

It liked life there and grew over time and its hair grew into ringlets!

I always liked that plant- so funky-looking.

When I saw it again at Mum's bungalow, I realised I hadn't seen it for about 15 years or so. It had grown.  It had graduated into this large white pot and had grown rotund with the years!

My affection for it remained.

Funnily enough, Mum was talking to me about it last week and she said its hair had grown so long that it has now trailed onto the floor and she needs a taller plant stand!

That plant has continued to grow well. I do wonder how old any of your house plants might be?

My Aloe-vera is my oldest one. It's about 6 years old though I had the one that was about 10 years old before that which it grew from- CBC left it to die in the garden in our first house together.  It has had lots of babies which live around our house and in a few others!

A historical performance

I was having a clear out of the garage, trying to ruthlessly cull craft materials that I knew I had too many or or was not using to pass onto others. I also cleared out my PGCE teaching folder and some resources. I will probably regret it but I haven't used them for at least a decade so they must go!

In one box, I found a whole load of programmes from concerts I performed in when younger and inside also, was a magazine from my borough, sharing what had been going on in the borough.

I looked through it and found this picture of my recorder consort (this was about 1994 or 5).

We were performing as part as a historical festival and our recorder group got dressed up and performed outside the temple.  I remember this occasion because two of the important members or our group were away which meant I got to play the solo for a recorder version of Telemann's Viola concerto! 

We used to do really fun things with our recorder ensemble. This is the musical group I was probably part of for the longest in my life. I was in it from about the age of 7 to 18! Alot of girls left when they were in their early teens but there were die-hard members of us who were in it until the bitter end!  Our teacher, the lady in pink to the left, is an incredible woman who was a huge inspiration for me, musically, educationally and sartorially! 

Can you spot which one is me?  Also, can you spot my Mum? She was helping out as well that day! My sister is hidden from view.

Happy memories of a happy time. If I could talk about the happiest times of my life, they were belonging to this music school and all the things I did there and friends I made.

 

A photoshoot with my Mum.

 I don't have a huge amount of memorabilia from my childhood due to ALWAYS having to clear out from a young age having such a small family home and then of course, my Mum selling the house when I got married but occasionally, I find something lurking somewhere that reminds me of a time.

Take these pictures. I have been clearing out a big box of things from the garage in order to create some more space (and to stop CBC from moaning about all my stuff) and I found some photos.

My Mum used to work as a vet nurse and the resident vet she worked with last before she stopped doing that was also an amateur photographer. One day, I'm not sure how it happened, but she ended up taking some photos of me playing my instruments.  I was quite a self-conscious teenager (though I liked clothes even then!) and I found it quite hard 'posing' as such.  A portrait she took of me playing the flute ended up winning a competition in our local borough and she invited me to go with her to the exhibition in the big town library where lots of people were there to view the photos. Strangely, I don't seem to have a copy of that portrait but I did find this one of me playing the viola.  So serious!

But, whilst Mum was waiting for me, she got Mum to come in a picture with me.  There is a whole set of really cute proofs of us together but this one was printed big. I really like it.  It is rare for there to be any photos of me and Mum together in my teen years. She was always working hard as a single mum, worrying about money, out working 3 different jobs and ferrying me about to music clubs when she could get away from work. She worked hard and I was a very, very grumpy teenager towards her.  I always attribute it to being hungry and never having the things to eat that I wanted to eat and having to be on the go at all times but I think hormones obviously played a large part. At the time, she kept asking me if I was on drugs because of my being so moody.  My older sister wasn't moody like that. I was always incredulous when she asked me that because a) I am a complete goody two-shoes who is scared of getting into trouble and b) I didn't want to waste my precious hard-earned money (from my job at the chipshop) on something you couldn't even see when there were clothes to be bought! and c) Not sure where I would have got them from?  I was always puzzled by it but I guess I was super moody and I am sorry for it now.

So, this was a rare picture of us. She told me once in my early 20's that no one had ever told her she looked pretty after I told her she looked really pretty in a dress at my friend Tamsin's wedding. She almost had tears in her eyes as she told me that.  I always remembered being really surprised and sad about it. She was very pretty and even now, in her 60's (ahem, almost 70's), she has the prettiest smile which I like to think is the feature I have inherited from her as my smile is the thing I like best about myself.

Anyway, I thought I'd just write and see where my thoughts took me and that's where I am.

I hope you enjoyed a little reminiscence.

Reverend Wilks and the tiny red apples.

 

Ally wrote a great post about some apples recently which prompted me to think of my own apple memories.  As this blog is a great nostalgic thing for me to look over, I thought I'd write about 2 special Apple memories for me.

The first apples- small red apples which grew on a couple of trees in my Grandad's garden in the orchard.  I've written about it before here  but I wish I had more photos of the paradise that was their vast garden.

When we used to visit them in Summer and Autumn, we always used to go home with a massive bag of these tiny red apples. My sister and I would eat one after the other in close succession, often about 5 or 6 on the way home, throwing the cores out of the window.  They were so sweet and juicy- they were the equivalent for us of sweets (something we didn't get to eat a lot of).  It was a glory of the Summer time for us- the long visits there, the idyllic days spent running through the garden with my very patient older sister. I think in retrospect of how patient she was, always playing with her 4 year younger sister.  Luckily for her, I guess, I was also a reader, and also liked playing alone. But still.

The second apple memory for me is of my childhood home.  The garden really was tiny and thin for our little Edwardian servants quarter but it was it was a good length for a Suburban garden- longer than my own current garden.  When we moved there, it was beaten earth, killed by two alsation dogs.  My Mum slowly built it into a wonderful space filled with many plants and trees.  One of three apple trees there was a Reverend Wilks apple tree.  This tiny tree used to produce a veritable bounty of the most wonderful HUGE apples.  They were cooking apples in their early stages but then became eaters- they really were gargantuan and lasted for a while!  My Mum tried to graft a cutting of it onto dwarf root stock when she moved but sadly it never succeeded. I often wonder about that tree.  One Summer, when I was living there alone, a big haul of the apples were ripening. When I returned home from holiday , there were NO apples on the tree. I was puzzled and called my Mum to ask her if she'd been round to pick them? She said no.  The house at the end of the garden had often asked about the apples and to this day, I remain convinced that someone climbed over the low and easy to navigate wall and pinched the lot! I'll never know!

Both apple varieties and their associations are pretty special to me.  Do you have any special apple associations?

TARDIS Tuesday- Romana from The Armageddon Factor

 This TARDIS Tuesday is one that is quite special to me- it's probably my first obvious and deliberate Doctor Who cosplay I ever did.

When I was a teenager, I began to like Doctor Who and I collected Classic Doctor Who videos.  

One of my favourite stories was the 4th Doctor adventure entitled The Armageddon Factor- it was a whole season story arc where the Doctor (and the first Time Lady travelling in the TARDIS), and Romana were searching for The Key to Time.

Romana, his companion, wore a series of amazing outfits.  My favourite look of hers was this one from the final episode of the Key to time arc.

Image borrowed from 
http://tardismusings.blogspot.com/2014/05/story-103-armageddon-factor.html 

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/208361920238884614/ 

This amazing dress was a white midi dress featuring lettuce/handkerchief hem and sleeves with points and white boots- it was so glamorous and beautiful.

Dear family friend, Norma, had offered to make me a dress for my orchestra concerts,  We always had to wear long black dresses. I asked her if she could fashion one based on Romana's dress. I believe I was 16 at the time. 

She agreed and watched the Armageddon factor with me to take notes and look at Romana's dress.

She made the dress for me which I wore.... Alas, it looked rather more Morticia Addams in black, than Romanavoratredelundar (Fred for short!) but it was so good of her to make it for me.

I hadn't worn the dress for a good few years- I found it quite restrictive to play the viola in (which is what I wore it for) and the material made me rather sweaty, so I didn't wear it for years and years but it was a lovely thing.

I thought it would be lovely to wear it for TARDIS Tuesday and indeed I have intended to wear it for a few years.  Luckily, it still fits me....just!

I would love to wear this dress in white but you know, I don't really have much call for such a glamorous, costumey white dress!

It's lovely when I wear or see things like this, that Norma made, especially now she is deceased (4 years ago this week) 

Next time I have a winter concert, I will wear it again! Oh when will that be!?

What do you think?

xx

Swatch

 What with the all the weird timings and procedures and being all over the place with school at the moment due to Covid measures, I've really needed to be wearing a watch.  

I recently found my Swatch watch which I believe I was bought when I was about 10 or 11- I'd wanted one really badly as a child and one year, my Mum agreed to buy me one for my birthday. We went to the Swatch store on Oxford Street. I'd really wanted this Parrot one I saw someone had but they didn't have it.  I liked this one however with its cats chasing dogs chasing cats chasing dogs and the MEOW strap!

I took it to the local jeweller's on Saturday and asked if it was possible to have a new battery in it, explaining I hadn't probably used it for at least 20 years.

He came out a few minutes later, having cleaned some corrosion around the batteries, he put a battery in and it seemed to work!

It's been really nice to use it again- so easy to put it on with its stretchy strap and a few 'children of the 80's' have looked delightedly at it!

Biscuit pick n mix!

When I was a little girl, we used to love buying Pick n mix sweeties from Woolworths. It was the ultimate treat! 

However, we were both of the opinion that it would be wonderful if one could buy Pick n mix crisps! It's never actually happened although Walkers made 'mix em ups' bags containing Doritos, French fries and Monster munch- the trouble is there is only one flavour but different textures!

When I was last in Northumberland in February, to my delight, I discovered that the sweetshop in Hexham had a Pick n Mix for biscuits.  They had lots of different flavours of this 'cookie' style of biscuit and you could choose how many of each you wanted and then they were weighed.

I was delighted because it meant biscuits without plastic!

What a nice eco idea it was and a great idea for the sweet shop to diversify! As you can see, I also bought Fudge!

Have you seen any innovative ideas like this?

x

13 sweets I like

Oh, sweets were the thing I used to dream of when I was a little girl!  Mum used to be quite sparing in our eating of sweets so they were a proper treat! I've eaten several types in the past year, even though I know they are terribly unhealthy- since I discovered Mr Simms- the sweetshop with pick n mix and sweets in jars!
I thought I would have a nostalgic trip down memory lane.  Incidentally, I've borrowed pictures from a wonderful sweet shop with many of my favourites, so you can follow the link if I've made you hungry or you want to try them!

https://sweettreatco.co.uk/product/vanilla-fudge/ 

1.  Vanilla Fudge:
Mmmm....I like to nibble at this like a squirrel- taking little pieces- definitely do not eat it all in one mouthful!!

https://sweettreatco.co.uk/product/candy-shrimps/ 

2. Shrimps
The originals are the best.

https://sweettreatco.co.uk/product/laces/

3.  Strawberry bootlaces:
I associate these with my older sister.  When I was 10-11 and she was 14-15, she used to take me to Junior Woodwind ensemble at the Music School. Mum was at work at the Vets on Fridays so my sister took me on the buses from home to the music centre.  We had to get two buses to music schoo and Mum used to give us the money for two buses each.  However, we discovered that one of the two buses went further than we used to get it to so we decided to get one bus- it ended up on a high street where there was a Woolworths and we then walked the last mile to the music centre. It meant we had the second bus money at our disposal.  So, every Friday, we went into Woolworths. We had 80p with our bus fare combined and the bags of licorice bootlaces were 79p.  We used to choose a different one each week- Cola laces, green laces, Strawberry laces, orange laces and gleefully scoff them on our way to Windband.  It was our little treat and we used to love it- having sweets.  Mind you, we got some extra exercise!  I used to love nibbling at them!
4.  Fizzy peach sweets:  those round sweets that are half orange, half pinky red with sugar granules on the outside and taste oh so wonderfully peachy- just like Body Shop's original Fuzzy Peach perfume!  CBC and I ate loads of these on our honeymoon as Switzerland sold Haribo Peach slices!

https://sweettreatco.co.uk/product/soft-rhubarb-and-custard/

5.  Rhubard and custard tubes:  Mr Simm the confectioners sell these in their pick and mix selection- they are small cylinders in pastel colours- pink, mint and yellow with a white bit inside and they have a nice firm texture!

https://sweettreatco.co.uk/product/flying-saucers/

6.  Flying Saucers
I must add here that I am pretty annoyed that they seem to be skimping on the sherbet in these nowadays! But they are still tasty!

7.  Strawberry Skittles:
I DO like Skittles!  The first time I ever tried these was aged 7.  My sister had gone on tour to Austria with a nearby school (not her school but they needed violinists) and she came home with a bag of them before they were sold in England. I remembered thinking they were so tasty!

8.  Fizzy worms:
There's something wonderfully tangy about these!!

https://sweettreatco.co.uk/product/jelly-babies/- Yum!

9.  Green Jelly Babies: the ones that taste like the smell of Dettol- they seem to have changed the recipe. I still like the Haribo jelly babies though- they are properly limey!

https://sweettreatco.co.uk/product/white-mice/- but the brown ones!

10. Chocolate Mice:
The absolute cheapest, low-quality chocolate but there's something superbly nostalgic about them!

11. Opal Fruits
I know they are Starburst now but to me, they are Opal Fruits. One thing I miss is that there used to be seperate yellow and green ones- Lemon and Lime respectively. Nowadays, they are combined into one and we got a blackcurrant one instead.  Bring back the discreet Lemon and Lime I say. They are tangly and superb! I associate these with trips to the Kenneth Moore theatre in Ilford- they used to sell boxes of them in the snack kiosk!

12.  Strawberry Chewits
I must confess that I eat Chewits in the most disgusting, unladylike way.  I attribute the eating of them to a car journey with my best friend Lucy, aged 8, in the car on the way to Southend.  We had a game to try and see how long we could make a chewit last and I discovered the pulling pieces off technique- it stretches beautifully into a long strand of strawberry goodness which can be nibbled at.  Warning though- you need to warm the Chewit in your hands for a few minutes though to ensure it is malleable!

Image from https://sweettreatco.co.uk/product/flumps/- who seem to sell these delicious things!

13.  Flumps:
Those wonderfully, really soft marshmellows of pastel colours- twisted cylinders or the ones with very thin strands on the outside! I loved them!
If you eat any sweets still or used to when you were younger, which were your favourites?

xx

From the archives: Nice work if you can get it

Greetings friend. Here's another archive post from the past I thought I would share from August the 1st 2013, a week before I got married and moved home! Enjoy.

Nice work if you can get it

 Hello there! I've had a really productive day working with my mother in the garden! Usually, I am a lazy hopeless slob case when it comes gardening, though occasionally, I have attacks of dilligence when the neighbour's overhanging canopy of immense proportions irritate me or there are cosmos plants to be grown! My darling Mummsy came over at 9.30am to come and sort the garden after I begged her to do it help me do it since I would like some photos in the garden before the wedding as my house is NOT remotely tidy photo territory! She arrived and we worked together (me still in my pjs!) for about 3 hours and 45 minutes! It was incredibly satisfying what we achieved and it was SUCH a nice time for me and my Mum to spend together. As I near having to move from my childhood home, I feel all these bittersweet 'last' feelings, even though I am excited at moving with CBC. When I move, it will finally be sold and that will be the end of an era. Aside from a year in central London and a year in Bali, I have always lived here since the age of 6 and I am now 32. It was nice to have this sort of final 'Mother and daughter' working time in this garden which has meant so much to us over the years, a beautiful haven in the urban jungle live in, a place that holds so many memories, dear and funny. This place my mother has worked so hard on over the years, made a beautiful place from the blank canvas of mud and beaten earth left by the previous owners and their rottweillers in 1988. I remember laying the turf, planting the Reverend Wilks apple tree, my own patch of corn on the cobs, the wildflower meadow bit. The pond with its frogs, tadpoles, sticklebacks and into which my friend Sarah fell, aged 14. I confess, as I type, to shedding a tear for the loss of this. I'm so excited and yet, there will always be that young girl in me that never wants anything to change. Even over the last 6 years, where I have lived here alone, I have loved this home, despite its idiosyncrasies- no central heating, faulty boiler, a recent mouse-problem, big mess of all my things. I love its high ceilings, its open-plan feel, the ramshackle conservatory, the easiest landline number to remember in the world, its tiny rabbit-hutch proportions, my miniscule old bedroom with no curtains or curtain-rail after a cat pulled the whole lot off the wall after climbing in the window and getting tangled in the net curtains and panicking, the place my sister and I made our own, rearranging it, her painting it and putting up the red,white,black and grey border which still is up, the airing cupboard with the top door coming off, the wallpaper falling of the ceiling. The Laura Ashley poppy tiles in the kitchen, the massive stairwell with the ceiling-mounted rack to hang clothes which I was supposed to pull up to be out of the way everytime I hung washing and yet I've left hanging down low so you are greeted with a Chinese-laundry feel as you come up the stairs. The top landing where the old wardrobe once stood, full of coats which my sister and I would put on, my always loving the inherited rabbit fur coat (sorry, contraversial but I did love it).I love it and will miss it. I must stop these reminiscences. That wasn't what I came here to type and yet the words fell out with the tears. I wish I had taken before shots! Mum first mowed the lawn and edged it. Meanwhile, I cleared up all the rampant weeds that were growing on the edge of the patio, between the fences and behind the lavender, rosemary and lemon-balm  We have 3 apple trees, two cherry trees (one self-seeded behind the shed!, a fig tree and a Victoria Plum which were really overgrown for our small garden and needed a summer pruning. Mum and I worked for an hour cutting off the growth and then cutting into small piece in the compost bin.  Next, I trimmed back my neighbours, shrubs jungles over the wall nearest ot the house. it's like the Seeds of Doom from Doctor Who. I honestly don't think the landlord has done a thing to the garden for 3 years which is why my garden has to contend against the most immense canopy overshadowing it. He doesn't live there, just a load of tennants in different rooms and there is no front door bell so not sure how to get hold of him. The privet hedge in the front garden is taking up half my drive and is taking up half the pavement!!! Any ideas what to do about it?! I threw all the offcuts over the fence since clearly nobody uses the garden and hopefully if they have a problem with it, they will come and speak to me and I can ask them to cut it themselves!  Mum emptied a compost bin of ready compost onto the flower beds and we filled it up to the absolute maximum with foliage and weeds.  After picking up all the debris from under the trees, I weeded all around the bench which was good until I scratched my arms with twigs and scraped my cheek on a cut branch! Nice look for the wedding  Here is the newly pruned Victoria Plum which I did the majority of (mum did the apple trees). Believe me, a LOT has gone!  We weeded this flower bed and then replanted the rosemary offcuts which have taken!  The Buddlea was taking over the garden so Mum trimmed it back, but not loads because the butterflies adore it! We saw a Comma, Peacock, Meadow Brown, Cabbage White and another one I forgot!  Above the collection of stones, broken china and Celtic Cross is a dense canopy of ivy. To my shame, the last time I got furious with it and hacked at it, I had just left the pile of debris so by now, it was brown and horrid and needed moving. I chopped it into tiny pieces and then removed all the brown ivy leaves which wasn't easy as there are evil brambles amongst the ivy too which kept spiking me! We then moved the bay tree which was in the front garden to here as someone apparently tried to steal it at 1am on Sunday evening according to my neighbour who shouted out the window and stopped them!  Mum picked some delicious cherries from my tree which was a Christmas present from my Grandad 10 years ago. I will miss my own special tree  Re the wildflowers- sadly, my cosmos in the trough are the only plants that grew from my seeds and I have only had about 8 flowers so far so sadly, unless we have miraculous growth in a week, they won't be featuring in my wedding. It's been fun to have them to care for though. However, I did find an unexpected delightful present when I discovered this double daisy plant had appeared from nowhere! I didn't plant it so it must have been a bird! Thanks bird!x  When my Mum left, after some delicious apple amber from the freezer (from previous Reverend Wilks apple harvest), I finally had a shower and got dressed! Promptly to get hot and sticky again when I went to go and saw up a load of mouldy cardboard boxes that I lazily left festering on my patio for a while and bin them!  I'm still trying to get on with cleaning and tidying as I try to comprehend the task of packing up 26 years worth of stuff! I shall do it cheerfully as I reflect on a happy day and understand that life moves on   Loving one who loves you, and then taking that vow. Nice work if you can get it and you can get it if you try!