The view last Thursday

I had such a crap journey to Oxford, I was late and had no time to change. I realised with utter horror that in order to dress for the occasion I had morphed into my mother. So I will NEVER wear that outfit again. I did take some lovely photographs but as always, I feel very edgey putting people on this blog without their permission. So this is the view later that evening when everyone went home and we went back for a coffee.

The drinks 'do' was a roaring success. I am so glad I went, I felt like an extra from Inspector Morse, talking to various Fellows and other sundry employees of the Oxford colleges. The room is the S.C.R which caused Daisy and I much mirth as do all the various names that Oxford uses. Why call a spade a spade when you can give it some other obscure title. For example;

Lecturers = Fellows

The bloke on the gate = Porter

Cleaner = Scouts

Domestic Bursar = Steward

A square of green grass = Quod (No that was not me running all over it last Thursday)

I could go on, in a way it will be sad to not see or hear about these places again. It is the end of an era. My mother came to Oxford over 10 years ago after the restaurant collapsed. She picked herself up and got another job. I am a Cambridge girl at heart, I was born there, my parents met there, my father went to college there, and my Gran lived up the road from there. Plus Cambridge blue is a far superior blue. So I was rather surprised when Mother took a job in the rival City. But it has grown on me and I have taken the privilege of wandering around various colleges for granted.

After drinks, a very disparate group of us went for supper round the corner. It was like being in an Alan Ayckbourn trilogy, an absolute hoot from start to end. Best of all I got to hook up with Daisy she is doing really well waitressing although she has lost the feeling in her thumb. She has already manged to talk to the Senior Fellow of pathology, which has really fired her up and I hope has given her the carrot she needs to succeed next year.

The challenge goes on

Well, I tried on a number of outfits last night, the main factor for me is weather, I do not move around in a hermetically sealed environment so my clothes have to survive the elements. So of course the biggest problem is shoes, at work I can get a way with Havaianas or Birkenstocks. When it’s a little cooler I have a pair of plain black ballet flats, but black does not cut it with a blue wrap linen dress, or many other summery linen outfits I have.
What I need but do not have is a comfortable pair of slightly dressier shoes, but of course there is the problem of ‘the foot’ For any new readers this is my swollen left foot. Swollen because the tendons are so knotted they have formed a hard bridge across the toes. My body then works hard to maintain a constant bubble of water to protect the swelling so that if you were to drop a pebble onto the foot, ripples would gently float across the surface. I would like to say that this is my only flaw; after all we can’t all be perfect. However I have, uneven teeth, pigmented skin on my face, and eyes that rarely focus or work as a team resulting in big fat streaming tears. Add to this an inability to eschew all things sweet and sugary and we have a body that need substantial propping.
So, because it is wet and I do not have said dressy shoes, I will need to wear something to match the black flats.
I did come up with an ideaas yesterday I received a pair of black wool Capri trousers I ‘won’ on eBay. The description failed to illuminate the buyer that they were in fact the trousers of a matador, the waist sitting two inches below my arm pit. Luckily for me my shape is apple so I got them on and secondly because they are Toast I was able to zip them up. Breathing was optional. For some unknown reason I had left them at school, but realised that coupled with a balloon sleeved blouse I had at home they could be just the ticket. And a bonus point, they go with the shoes.
But what if it looked wrong? I would have to wear to work, my ‘back up’ outfit. Initially this was a high waisted double front flared skirt with a runched silk cardie. But then as the sun was out (I do struggle with black in the sun) I went for a long flared heavy buttermilk cream linen skirt a navy sleeveless Tee and a fitted slate grey linen cardie. This works with the flats. So Bingo it’s all good.
Because my mother does ‘BIG’ necklaces I will not compete, so either outfit will be worn with an antique crystal necklace. I have had this necklace for over 20 years; it is very beautiful, probably Edwardian. When it went out of fashion I split it and hung it in a window Feng Shui style! But it is now back as a much loved necklace. But oh for a pair of neat size 4 feet.

Sartorial Challenge

Well tomorrow lunchtime I will leave school early to get the coach to Oxford. It is my mothers leaving 'do' and I offered to take photos, since I, like hundreds of others see myself as the next Sartorialist! what I thought was an evening event is actually 5pm-7pm pre dinner drinks. Hence the lunchtime exit from school. I had hoped it would be nice weather so everyone would be out on the lawn but hey best laid planes...
But what to wear? This is when you want to grab a low key Rei Kawakubo piece, quirky but understated. If it rains I cannot wear trousers, I really hate wet fabric flapping around my ankles so that leave a skirt and maybe, dare I mention it, the black leather jacket.... we shall see.
My mother is 66 having had to work longer than most because of my fathers errant and profligate ways ( A whole blog let alone post in its self) She finally thinks she has enough of a pension to live in a degree comfort, whether she stays in Oxford or moves back to York is something she can now decide at her leisure. So farewell it is.
Daisy is currently working at the college and she is doing so well, a split shift waitress with no one put Polish girls for company. It will be the making of her as she will now see a less pampered side of life. Or that is what I had hoped, until I found out my mother had sent a cab to bring her home because it was so late! I soon put a stop to that.
What Daisy is really enjoying is the food, as they get to eat the same food as the people over for the conferences. The latest a group of wafer thin American girls has left Daisy speechless, they eat so little. I said they probably go back to their rooms and eat junk food on the quiet. It is so sad when you see young girls in particular, pick at their food for fear of seeming to enjoy it. Absolutely no chance of that with Daisy, thank God.
So after drinks I am sure we will go out for a bite to eat.
By the most amazing stroke of luck my mothers friend had booked a tour of Henry Moores house at Much Hadham. I have been to the gardens and studios but the house at the time was being renovated so it was closed, so on Friday Daisy and I will gate crash the the visit. Then on Saturday we all come back to London. Daisy will celebrate her birthday with friends, whilst Lucy, Leyla and I entertain mother on her birthday.... So I had better remember to charge the battery! The camera not mine.

The Hot One Hundred

Image from here

Image from here

I have had this on my wall for ages without knowing who had painted it. I now know it is by Peter Davies. The first photo was a revelation, I had no idea how big the painting was. I love the colours, I am always a sucker for stripes and the idea of sitting down and deciding a list of my favourite one hundred artists is very appealing.

Separated at birth

Georges Braque

Patrick Heron
This post is not a criticism, more a celebration of how artists can feed into each other.
I love both these artists and will be using them with the students next year.

Sketchbook love

Too much of a muchness, originally uploaded by cjanebuy.

This is a wonderful site. I do love looking at other peoples sketchbooks.

Feel the Muji love

I have never really paid much attention to the clothes in Muji, but as I was walking through House of Fraser a shop assistant gave me a catalogue and my appetite was whetted. I then managed to check out the branch on Long Acre in Covent garden and I could have bought the lot. Very simple colours, beautiful fabrics, and many of them fitted me which is always a bonus. So I am now slightly poorer. I bought a beautiful long black Cotton cardie with a deep shawl collar belted and a lovey fitted jersey top that only hugs the right places.

This is the worst month for spending so I should not have done it, but sometimes I just lack self control. I have 4 birthdays in a 3 week slot plus some how I lost my purse AGAIN so I could not be more miserable.

Plus I am going on a holiday which I could not afford so my mother ended up paying, so I now am racked with guilt. I feel every spare penny is eaten by rising interest payments on the house, and the people that matter end up short changed year in year out. I am shockingly bad with money and it is something I would love to change, I do not spend huge amounts, just a little and often. However It always just creeps over what I had intended so I am opening a savings account to pay for next years holiday which thankfully will be back in the cheaper environment of Cornwall again. That's the theory anyway.