TARDIS Tuesday- vaguely Christmassy?

Hello and a happy new year to you!

For TARDIS Tuesday, I thought it was time to start the Jumper cosplays!   These are mainly worn by Yaz Khan who is the only really practically dressed Who character (though her choice of coats/jackets could do with a little less leather) There's one I have worn 3 times and not photographed so I had to make a special effort to get this one snapped!

I last wore it here in December 2023.

It features an orange Mint Velvet jumper, an All Saints leather jacket, black skinny jeans and grey trainers.

Here's my Sunday morning version:

I like this starry jumper- it has some cashmere in it and is very cosy.  The usual Clara Oswald alt jacket makes its regular appearance.  This time, I am wearing my black, baggier Seasalt trousers- they are very comfy.  Finally, I wore my Clarks Funny Dream grey shoes.  They are comfy and I liked the way the red laces ALMOST match my jumper!  The outfit is one that would work for school and indeed, I have worn it quite a few times for school.
 

I hope your new year goes well! I HOPE I don't go to bed too late like I usually do- it throws out of my sleep pattern for days! Grateful we don't go back to school till the 6th!xx

Jingle Belle

Greetings from a warm and cosy sofa in the living room. I'm currently watching The Secret Adversary (Agatha Christie, Tommy and Tuppence) after having watched Doctor Who Joy to the World and The Romans (William Hartnell Story).  Just been to the kitchen to chop potatoes and prepare sprouts whilst CBC prepared chestnuts.  

I've failed at photographing the Christmas outfits which is a shame as I've worn lots of favourites including the best Christmas jumper.

Here's what I wore on the 23rd when we went over to Mum's for Red Dragon Pie.  It's my Joules Christmas top which I've not paired with a red beret before (I LIKE the Parisian look!) plus my Holly necklace, favourite Seasalt Corduroy Asphodel trousers and my Legero boots.

Here's my coat.   I bought this from Vinted and is a Gharani Strok Toscana hooded sheepskin coat.  I've had it saved in my favourites for a year and have really wanted to buy it.  After I regretted not buying the sheepskin coat in T2 in October, I decided to buy it.  Considering its original price tag was £800, I consider it a bargain for £35!  It's so cosy but it has either been too wet or warm to wear it!

On Christmas Eve, CBC and I headed over to Oxfordshire to his sister.  We were SUPPOSED to arrive at 12.30pm for a pub lunch but sheepishly arrived at around 2pm!  For some reason, we didn't think it would take us almost 3 hours to get there. Luckily, the pub were kind and allowed us to order and I had a fish finger sandwich with skin on fries rather than the 3 course meals everyone else had which I am glad I didn't go for!

After this, we drove straight to a village church, St Mary's Longworth for their 4pm carol service.  It was jam packed and we ended up in the very front row which most people avoided!  As is our family custom, we sang loudly and in harmony although I shied away from the descants which, in retrospect, I am GUTTED about as I always love to sing them, and there was a whole row where there was a sign saying, "Reserved for anyone who wants to sing the descants!".  Still, I did a good job of doing a mixture of Alto and Tenor with CBC's brother singing bass, CBC doing some bass and some melody, his mum doing mostly alto and his sister doing some descant and soprano!  We got complimented on our singing as we left the church!

We headed back to the house and settled down for some tea and TV and then had a massive cheese platter later!  CBC and I had bought a whole load of cheese the night before!

Christmas morning, we awoke and then had breakfast of eggs on toast (others had smoked salmon or veg.. I didn't want too much rich food) after cereals.

Christmas dinner was brilliant, amazingly cooked by J and her husband!  CBC's brother and I went for a quick 1.5 mile walk before dinner.  I helped by doing the washing up!  Grandma's Trifle was the dessert- I just had one spoon of custard!

We ended up watching more TV and then having more cheese later!  I missed most of Doctor Who (watched TODAY!) as I was phoning family but watched Wallace and Gromitt, Vengeance Most Fowl which was fantastic! I don't remember having been particularly bothered by any other Wallace and Gromitt adventures before but this was really compelling AND witty!  We didn't do presents this year although J,MiL, disobeyed and bought me a couple of lovely books.

The next morning, we had a breakfast and then headed out for a walk from some Schutchamer's Knob (funny name for an Iron age barrow the burial place of a Saxon King Cwichelm! When they excavated it they found a stump which could have been a post for the beacon but maybe not necessarily the burial ground) to some memorial near Wantage which a lady erected in memory of her husband. It was super impressive so she must have been very rich.  The walk was quite boggy!

Loved watching their cat Chloe and her cat nip toy!

Forgot to post that I really liked this card from one of my favourite pupils- She comes running from anywhere in the playground to come and give me a hug when she sees me!

I've got to point out an eco-friendly 'present' I received from my Godmother.  She sent me a parcel of all her husband's (Leigh who died earlier who I posted about) handkerchiefs.  There were 29 all in all. You may find it a strange gift but actually for me, brilliant. They had been boiled, cleaned and ironed and will come in great use!

I should also point out my completed Advent forest which I made 2 years ago and I really enjoyed constructing through Advent.

After that commercial break, back to Christmas.  

After we got back from our Boxing Day muddy walk, we had dinner which was Salmon and side salads and potatoes.  It was delicious!  

After this, we watched a BRILLIANT documentary from the Disney Channel about the Composer John Williams.  It was absolutely superb and I really recommend it if you can get hold of it to view!  I love this composer and it was thoroughly informative. We then did some more watching and then CBC and I adjourned to the kitchen to play Carcasonne, we were then joined by his brother to play it again, we had a brief 11pm break for Christmas leftovers, and then T and I played Qwirkle which was fun! I won!

The next morning, after a breakfast, we headed off.  CBC and I dropped off his Mother and brother to Oxford Parkway station and attempted to get Bicester Village to see if we could get CBC some new work clothes but abandoned it after an attempt to get a parking space.  The drive back to Essex was extremely tedious and slow and we went to Chelmsford to attempt to get CBC a hair cut (it was closed).  We had a quick look around for some Wellington boots for my dad (fail!) and picked up some bits from the Refill (I came prepared with containers stashed under the seats!) and then it was time to head to my friend Lara's house which wasn't so far from Chelmsford.  We had a superb time with her and her husband, lovely food, played Pictionary and then headed home rather late. I changed the duvet cover and sheets when we got back and plugged in the electric duvet which meant a cosy night's sleep, really necessary since the heating had been off in the house for 3 days!

We awoke very late on Saturday. I read in bed with tea and things were fine until the Washing machine decided to go wrong AGAIN!  The whole afternoon and evening were spent getting very stressed trying to diagnose the issue, and the same load being attempted to be washed several times and being on the phone to Hoover to try and book an engineer.  We were both very stressed and annoyed with a load of sopping washing to wring out and hang up and I suggested we go out for dinner.  We ended up in the local Indian (I wanted Thai but CBC didn't want to go further afield) and ended up both feeling very blue.  New Year blues and nxieties which led to an anxious night's sleep (not actually had much sleep... I wish I wasn't but I am highly sensitive and unfortunately get intrusive thoughts and interrupted sleep when anxious). I ended up getting up for the THANKFULLY later church service to play my flute.   The service was at 10.30 as the 9.15 and 11am church services were combined so it was lovely for my tiny little country church to be packed. Was a lovely service but my lack of sleep and thoughts preying on my mind led to me feeling very emotionally fragile and crying a lot throughout the service. I felt really stupid and I do genuinely think that there is some sort of spiritual attack when I get completely freaked out.  My friend Sue was so kind to me and everyone was very loving but now I feel ridiculous now.  I love my church friends and just wish I had discovered this church when I first moved there. I think Lockdown would have been very different with my church friends.

After a day at home and talking a little to CBC about my feelings, I feel less anxious. Don't worry, I'm fine, but I like to be honest here...it's not all swings and roundabouts!

We are off to my Dad's for new year which I look forward to.

xx

 

Rudolph's Last Minute Wobble

 Here's my final, probably, poem for the Toy word of the Week challenge. I won't inflict any more dubious poetry on you for a while. 

This challenge needed to include the word, 'Crackers'. I chose to use it in its more colloquial meaning but went with a Christmas theme. 

Xx

TARDIS Tuesday Yasmin Khan with added snowflakes

 I have missed TT for the past few weeks mainly due to huge busyness. I actually wore my TT outfits but didn't manage to take photos or make posts. Writing rubbish poetry on trains seems to have been all I've had energy for! 

In case you missed it, my previous post is my annual Christmas song. 

I write this in the car to my Sister in Law on Oxfordshire. We were supposed to be meeting for lunch but sadly, we left too late and are going to miss the meal.

This outfit for TARDIS TUESDAY is one of my favourite ones and was Yaz Khan 's first civilian outfit.

The coat and boots are screen accurate, the jeans and jumpers alts.  The whole outfit is cosy and comfy. I also added festive jewellery! 

I wore this for church on Sunday playing for the 9.15am service at my church and then heading to the other church for the 11am service with nativity. Both were lovely. 

Saturday afternoon was our Carols on the village Green. The crowd was brilliantly resilient as it TIPPED it down as they stood and sang. We musicians were fine under the gazebo!

After the service, I helped pack up equipment and then went into church for a hot drink before doing some hoovering. Why should I only do the glamorous jobs like playing my flute. If you can't do some hoovering of icing sugar and muddy footprints, then that's silly!

CbC and I did cleaning and tidying on Sun and Monday and then headed to Mum for a Christmas meet up.

She made a delicious Vegetarian Red Dragon pie and we had ice-cream too. My sister and niece popped over too and I trounced my niece at Qwirkle. I advised her on a few moves where she could get 16 points instead of about 4!

We headed home and then watched a movie called Last Holiday and then the Death in Paradise Christmas special!

If I don't manage to post again, wishing you a Merry Christmas! Thank you for your friendship! Xx

Marching into Christmas song

It's time for my Annual song sharing!

I don't know if there is any one new out there reading this blog but in case you are new, I have a Christmas tradition that every year, I compose a new Christmas song for my school Christmas carol service.  I made a list of all the songs I have written this year and there are 19! So next year will be my big 20th special! I need some new inspiration for lyrics and subject matter as I have got many aspects of the Christmas story covered but I'm not worried. Something always comes to mind!

This year, I decided I wanted to write a song for the younger children. Out of the carols/songs I have written, only 3 of them have been written for the younger children (FYI, these songs are: 5 little snowflakes for Foundation Stage, Christmas, Christmas for Year 1-2 and Caesar wants a census for Year 3-4.  This year, I decided to pen a piece for Years 3-4 choir.  Last year, we sang a very simple song called See the Star of Bethlehem which is a very simple round.  I got the children to march from the back of the church to the front and they loved it.  So, I decided I wanted a Marching song.  Immediately, I decided that it would be called Marching into Christmas and would introduce all those who travelled to Bethlehem for the nativity- Mary and Joseph, Shepherds, Wise Men and also include the prophets who foretold Bethlehem.  In the end, rather than doing anything particularly clever, noteworthy or interesting with the structure, it is a simple Verse-chorus structure  with a very simple coda added.  It needed to have a strong beat, be in simple 2/4 time and the children would march to the chorus.

I came up with the first 2 lines on holiday in Belgium

I then got stuck for a while and worked out the first verse the 2nd week back

The third week, I worked out the other lyrics and the piano part for the chorus and at the last minute, wrote the verses.

When we first taught it to the kids, they seemed to like the chorus but the words seemed a bit tricky for them.

However, they returned a week later full of enthusiasm and seemed to get it. The children who struggled with reading (I had 2 SEND 1:1 children in choir and a few who struggle with reading) and they really engaged with the chorus and marching so I was glad to have made the chorus the way it was.

Here they are singing it. It's a little bit rough and ready but I hope you can hear the enthusiasm!

Refrain: Marching into Christmas seeking Bethlehem,

Searching for the new King promised long ago,

Let us join them boldly, joyful in our hearts,

Anyone is welcome, evermore!

1. Prophecies were made first, they foresaw Bethlehem,

Teaching the Messiah was born in Bethlehem,

The birthplace of King David, the place where he'd be found,

Come along and seek him, come and seek that king!

Refrain: Marching into Christmas seeking Bethlehem,

2. Mary then and Joseph, seeking Bethlehem, 

Made their way so humbly on from Nazareth,

Travelling for the census at the time of birth,

Everyone was searching, searching for that place!

Refrain: Marching into Christmas seeking Bethlehem,

3.  Shepherds from the fields were sent by heavenly hosts

They obeyed the summons, to greet the new born King,

Bringing gifts of lambs, they hurried on their way.

Everyone was welcome, welcome in that place!

Refrain: Marching into Christmas seeking Bethlehem,

4. Wise men next they journeyed, following a star,

travelling from the East, they travelled from afar

First they sought King Herod, his scribes they told the way,

Everyone was welcome, welcome, come and see!

Marching into Christmas seeking Bethlehem,

Searching for the new King promised long ago,

Let us join them boldly, joyful in our hearts,

Anyone is welcome, 

EVERYONE is welcome, 

You are all most welcome,

Evermore!

Bonus for anyone who plays the piano or fancies a sing along, here's a little play along video of it

Here are songs from previous years:

Star in the Sky

Sing a song of Celebration

Joy

Hope this Christmas

Love is all you need

Mary 

Feel the Christmas beat

Join in our story

Ring out the bells

Shepherds Swing

The innkeepers rant

This year, we also resang 2 songs which have never appeared on blog before, From the East  and Caesar wants a census so let me know if you fancy me sharing those?

xx

Stable

 Here's my poem for this week's The Toy prompt.  The word in question was 'Stable'

Term is over, I am exhausted!!!

xx

2 poems

 I had another go at writing a poem based on the word of the week prompt from The Toy poetry magazine.

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It's not particularly great but I wanted to have a go at getting the rhythm of a galloping horse in the poem.  The word you needed to include was 'Prance'.

On the subject, and another horsy word- here is the poem I wrote for the first week of December's prompt which was 'Canter'

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Christmas Clothing Queen

I've lost my mobile phone and  I have been super busy so no comments this week I am afraid! Sorry!!

I've mentioned the wonderful Ang Almond for many reasons but quite a lot in the context of sewing!

I asked her to make me a very special make.

I have a work colleague who loves wearing Christmas-themed clothing all through Advent and December. She raises money for charity by posting daily photos of her in her Christmas attire in different locations and positions.  I suggested to her this week that I take her Tuesday photo in the position of conducting the Year 3-4 choir (She conducts and I play the piano!).

I sent Ang a very vague brief that I would like her to embroider a t-shirt saying something like Christmas Clothing Addict or something of that ilk. I then searched online for a brand new t-shirt on Vinted. I thought polka dots on a dark background would be like snow.

Ang suggested that she had a crown motif and could make a Christmas Clothing Queen logo.  I acquiesced and had the t-shirt sent to her.  She managed to complete it the morning the t-shirt arrived and it was back with me two days later!!!  I was amazed at her fun design! It wasn't what I thought it would be like but it was so much more creative and interesting!

She also very kindly sent me a Christmas jumper decoration AND sent me one for my colleague as well!  I know my colleague will absolutely love both and I cannot wait to give it to her!

UPDATE:  She loved them!x

Advent 3: A lovely weekend full of joy!

 

This has been a weekend of Joy!

Friday night, was our School Christmas fair.  Apart from getting jaw ache from all the smiling, it was a great occasion. I was on the Raffle with a colleague from Year 2 and we had a lovely sitting down job outside the main hall so much cooler and less noisy plus a lot of the tickets had been sold in advance so we weren't mobbed.  I had a 5 minute break to go and have a go at the Snack tombola and managed to get 3 winning tickets out of my 4 so came out with multi-packs of crisps! 

At the end, I went to go and have a look at the grotto.  Last year, my Headteacher and his partner had turned the library into a complete Winter Wonderland with a snowy trail and I thought nothing could top it.  Well, this year, it was Santa's workshop and it was truly, breathtakingly astounding!

The amount of effort put into it (it has been planned throughout the year) was amazing and it is such an beautiful thing for our children.   It filled me and my Year 2(different one) friend with joy as we looked around.

As we left, she and I arranged to meet for dinner next week which is lovely! I am grateful for her!

CBC and I got home and went straight out to dinner at our favourite Thai restaurant. We really enjoyed it!

On Saturday, CBC and I headed to East London for a very exciting event.  It was a concert on music by my A'level music teacher.  Earlier in the year, I mentioned that we recorded his 3 Christmas cantatas written for pupils at the school in the 1980's. We all had such a wonderful time that we wanted to perform together so our teacher, John Garner, organised a concert entirely of his music. We arrived for a rehearsal and sang and rehearsed our songs. The church was freezing but luckily, I am experienced in Cold Church Concerts so I was well wrapped up in cashmere and fluff!

In the break, CBC and I went out to a Turkish restaurant with 3 of my 6th form friends and another girl. A lovely thing was CBC actually was at university with one of my friends (but we didn't meet through her!) and it was the first time he'd seen her since university! We had a fun time and then got changed.

The concert was wonderful! The choir of around 50-60 comprised of students of his from the 1980's up to the 2010's.  We sang the 3 cantatas we recorded back in May as well as the world premiere of a version of While Shepherds watched their flocks.  In addition, there were several small group and solo items- all carols composed by John.   The concert was so special.  My heart soared with utter euphoria at the beauty of the occasion, of the music and of nostalgia and feeling the love that so many people had and have for this inspirational teacher.

This morning, I got up for church at 8.40am and managed to arrive at church, showered and dressed by around 9.05am!!

It was a beautiful service.  We truly sang our hearts out and everyone felt blessed and touched by the service.

I was looking at the pretty floral displays and saw this tiny figure to the right.

I saw three things from this figure.

The finger is looking up expectantly.  I think expectation, hope and looking up towards Heaven and the light of God is the absolute joy of Advent.  In looking up and seeking hope, we look forward to the joy of Christmas, the fulfilment of our dreams.  But also, I see the figure holding out this bird as if to set it free.  Sometimes, we are holding onto things which we need to let go of. Worries, things we do wrong, bad habits, looking back, trying to fit in.  Sometimes we need to set ourselves, others, things or feelings free.  

I also saw that the bird is a dove. As well as letting go of things, we do need to strive for peace in the best way we can.  Sometimes, that means having to swallow pride and be the bigger person or make sacrifice.

Also, the simple beauty of this figure- I LOVE all the trappings of Christmas, but sometimes, a bit of simplicity is refreshing.

After the service, I downed 3 cups of tea as they were (SHOCK!) going to be chucked down the sink, and cycled home full of joy. The day was bright, the air was warm and I was glad.

When I came home from church, CBC was getting ready to go cycling.  I ate a pastry CBC had bought me the previous day, made myself more tea and then put some washing up and then I looked at our Christmas tree, Chrissie. 

Chrissie lives in a pot in the garden and had been brought in the previous weekend by CBC but had been sitting naked apart from 2 small mice decorations.

I decided that I was going to decorate the tree. Brace yourselves for the fact that this is the first time I have been in charge of decorating a tree. As children, my Mum would decorate it and we weren't allowed to look until it was done. Then mum got a fibre optic one which she didn't want decorations on. Then I didn't have one when I lived alone.  And then, when CBC and I have had a tree, he was always in charge of decorating it and I helped on 2 occasions. Other years, he had stronger opinions on decorations so as someone who hadn't really ever decorated a tree, I just let him! Yes, this was the first time I have ever put lights on a tree.

And here it is!  The lights are a bit messy. I had no idea how you do it! At the moment, it is just sitting on our back door mat...not sure if it will end up on a table in a slightly less wonky position.

Special shot out to Ang Almond for the beautiful handmade Christmas jumper on a hanger she sent to me as a present along with which I'll post about soon.  It's so cute! You can buy them reduced in her amazing website https://www.thirtyonethirteen.net/

Christmas Jumper decorations

As I tidied up our very messy house and decorated the tree and sorted washing, I watched The Holiday.  I also carried on making origami stars.  

CBC got back from cycling and then we drove to our friend Nath's house. He had invite us round for a Christmas get together.  He had prepared a beautiful banquet buffet of food. I felt SO bad for him as he had invited friends round last night AND other friends along with us today and....except for us, everyone else had forgotten about it and didn't turn up!!! So he had prepared all this food and cleaned and tidied.  There was enough for 19 people! He was very gracious about it but it seemed so rude that EVERYONE had forgotten!  We had a lovely time, ate loads, watched a Christmas film and then came home!

This is the final week of school. As I write, I am not totally 100% certain that the church is ready for our carol service on Tuesday due to over-running building works. I hope and pray it is! Please can you too!

Much love to you!

xx

Roll deer

I saw a really cute little tutorial/post on Instagram about making a cute little reindeer out of a toilet roll tube along with some twig antlers.

I adapted this idea and cut the antlers out of the piece of card I had cut from the top to form the ear shape.

It was a simple and fun craft to complete!

x

 

A Poem that sleighs!

I started following a children's poetry magazine on Instagram called The Toy and they have been sharing a weekly prompt Word of the Week which you had to include in a poem.

Last week, I had a go at the prompt and this week I thought I'd have a go too.

 The Word of the was was Jingle!

TARDIS Tuesday- Yasmin Khan and her unidentified critters!

Hi there! 

I had a break from TARDIS Tuesday last week but I am back with something SEMI new!. I Last featured this outfit on the blog in November 2022.  It was worn by Yasmin Khan in Revolution of the Daleks for a short while.  FINALLY, she got out of her leather jackets and got into Corduroy... for about 10 seconds....grrr!!! It is one of those outfits where I IDed one of the garments myself- the lovely G Star Deline corduroy jacket but the actual shirt ID eluded me.

Fast forward to last week and my Insta Yaz fan friend Rebecca had managed to ID the blouse! I am pleased because I actually helped her with this.  I shared these screen shots and zoomed in on some to point out some smaller details and other colours and she did some work on lightening and adjusting the colours AND all of a sudden, she noticed there were not just flowers but creatures!  Knowing Yaz had a couple of Oasis blouses, she searched for Oasis AND FOUND THE BLOUSE!!! And once you saw her blouse, you could IMMEDIATELY spot the unicorns!!!! 

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And then we had lift-off!!!!

She shared a link to one or two on Vinted but I found myself one for £3 only and it arrived on Sunday to be picked up from the very useful INpost lockers.  I love these!  It's always exciting to

a) try and guess which door will open

b) try and complete the transaction in as short a time as possible as it tells you how long it took you. My current record is 18.2 seconds but I'm definitely up for decreasing this!

I wore my blouse for school today (Tuesday) but by posting time, it's already past midnight!

Here's my take on the outfit.

I'm wearing my G star jacket and Oasis shirt but I wore more school appropriate black trousers rather than blue jeans and added a pair of Yaz Dune boots. We don't see what she wore with this outfit but I'm betting it was boots!

I look fatigued and old but still smiling! Wore my Avon Lacey initial letters in place of Yaz's more expensive Alex Monroe ones. I'd love to own the actual Alex Monroe floral initial ones, they are SOOOO pretty but so expensive!

I thought I'd share some details of the pretty shirt. It's viscose but feels nice to wear.

Here's how I styled it when I got home work! Let my hair down and added my black furry gilet plus my crocheted slippers! IN TARDIS Blue of course!

Hope all is well with you! My day was quite successful! The year 3 classes had actually practised Jingle Bells at home and many were able to successfully perform it in the class. Singing Assembly went well learning You shall go out with joy, our trademark end of Carol concert song.  Year 2 and 1 were quite successful.  The usually difficult year 1 class LOVED recapping In and Out the Dusty Blue Bells and even more loved the new game, Here comes Barnaby  and came up with some very inventive ways of parading down the aisle of clapping children! Year 3-4 Choir went well as they finished learning my new Christmas song and seemed to like it- PHEW! Hoping you will get to hear it just before Christmas!

Can you guess what the title of it is?

xx

Advent Sunday 1: a poem

 Advent:

There's a Light shining through the darkness, 

There's a Hope in the bleakness, 

There's a Spark in the lifelessness, 

There's a growth in the emptiness, 

There's an expectation, 

There's a contemplation, 

There's a growing exhilaration, 

There's a quiet jubilation, 

Christmas soon to come, 

Emmanuel for All, not some, 

Readiness for the Chosen One!

Advent has begun!

K.P 2024