Lisa Taylor
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lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
Lisa Taylor
@lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
440 followers 950 following 150 posts
Teacher of history & science, taking hands-on workshops into primary schools.
LARP-related craft-dabbler.
Mum of 2 amazing humans.
She/her

[Followers w'out profile pics or posts get blocked]
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lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
I'm an Out & Proud Parent of two fabulous young queer adults 🏳️‍🌈

Too many LGBTQIA+ young people are rejected by their parents 😪

Parental love should be utterly unconditional ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤎🤍🩷🩵

#OutAndProudParentsDay
#LoveIsLove
#TransRightsAreHumanRights
Poster for Out and Proud Parents Day. The logo is a circle containing a butterfly & two people, in the stripes of the Progress Pride flag. Text reads "Today is the day. Out and Proud Parents Day. 30th July
July 30, 2025 at 9:09 AM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
Not supposed to do any political campaigning while voting. Faded teeshirts are subtle enough to not count! 🤭 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈
#TransRightsAreHumanRights
#TransWomenAreWomen
#TransMenAreMen
Woman wearing a grey teeshirt with faded lettering stands by a 'Polling Station Way In' sign. The letters spell HUMAN. Each is in the colours of a Pride flag - ace, bi, 7 colour Pride, trans, & Pan.
May 1, 2025 at 9:39 AM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
I wish I'd taken a 'before' picture! It was so tarnished, it was almost purple 🙄

My arms actually hurt now from the polishing. Hard work, but very satisfying.

#GreatGrandmothersSilverHandbag #WeddingGuestPrep
A filthy cloth, black with dirt, on a newspaper on adraining board. On it is a bottle of Silvo polish and an engravex antique silver evening bag. The shiny back of the silver handbag, held up by itschain handle. Distortions in the reflections show that it is dented in a few places. The shiny engraved front of the bag. The pattern is swirling leaves & flowers, with a plain centre that could be monogrammed but is not.
April 16, 2025 at 12:33 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
If you see this, post a pic from your device without any explanation
A small, black & white rubber cow, with a pink nose, held in my hand, with a wooden sports hall floor behind.
April 11, 2025 at 3:52 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
If the country is "unsafe for them to be returned to", surely that's grounds to grant them asylum?! 🤷‍♀️
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Screenshot of BBC News website article, with one paragraph roughly highlighted. Highlighted paragraph reads "Overseas centres would enable the government to remove failed asylum seekers who come from countries deemed unsafe for them to be returned to, such as Iran and Somalia, as well as to host other rejected claimants before transfer to removal flights to their home countries."
March 22, 2025 at 8:33 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
Just in case there is any doubt...
A series of symbols with small captions. It reads... I believe... Black lives matter. Science is real. Love is love. Women have the right to choose. Trans rights are human rights. Diversity makes us stronger. Small acts change the world. Kindness is everything.
February 13, 2025 at 9:14 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
Tonight's #OnlyConnect had this wall. Inordinately pleased with myself for spotting the Midsummer Night's Dream group, as a direct result of seeing it in December. 🥰
4 rows of 4 cells each. One word in each. Objective of the game is to find 4 sets of 4. Words are... Pyramus, wall, delaware, juice. Wham, mac, hooch, records. Lion, turnover, Thisbe, rotgut. Oasis, moonshine, bobbing, grog.
January 27, 2025 at 8:50 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
A huge leap in complexity for #amigurumi No2... and I used black fluffy chenille yarn for added challenge. 🤣
So
Much
Swearing!

But I am inordinately proud of him. Needs nose & whiskers still.
Black crocheted kitten, with blue eyes, sitting in grass. He is looking to the left. Black crocheted kitten sitting in grass, facing towards the camera. He has blue eyes & grey inside his ears. Back view of black crocheted kitten, showing off his paws & tail.
January 22, 2025 at 5:22 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
#2025makes has started well.

A pair of crochet handwarmers to wear while monstering at FnH #LARP.

... and my very first attempt at #amigurumi, crocheting a little mushroom.
Looking down at my knees. Left hand is wearing a fluffy grey handwarmer. Matching right glove is on the right knee. Crocheted mushroom, brown cap & cream stem.
January 2, 2025 at 6:18 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
What the heck was THIS used for?

Do I really want to know?
A metal medical instrument. Two long parts, crossing in the middle like scissors. One side has small spikes, the other side has corresponding holes. Anything squeezed between the 2 parts will get multiple punctures.
January 1, 2025 at 11:51 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
Here's hoping!
Black text says "euphoric"
January 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
Apparently, either the NHS or the Royal Mail have time machines. 🤷‍♀️

I've just received this letter on 31st Dec, so it must have been posted yesterday, 30th Dec, at least. It's dated 1st Jan 2025 🤣
Letter on NHS headed paper (personal details all blacked out!). On the right, circled in red, the date is 1 January 2025.
December 31, 2024 at 11:59 AM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
Best gift! Bought a set each for the offspring. Much hilarity 🤣⚔️🎈
December 26, 2024 at 3:16 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
I was visiting the V&A in London last week. They have a pair there and I suitably geeked out over them.

Interesting that they are exactly the same wonderful colour. I wonder what the dye is?
Close up of a sock in a museum display. Dark orange-red, it looks like fine knitting [but nalbinding is a different technique]. The toe area is deeply split into two sections. The pair of thick red socks with divided toes.
December 25, 2024 at 7:50 AM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
Went to see this tonight.
Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! Truly stunning production & utterly hilarious. Whole cast are fantastic... and Mat Baynton met a very orderly queue of fans afterwards.
Best
Evening
EVER!
Selfie of 3 smiling people, taken at night. Short woman with glasses (me!), actor Mathew Baynton (of Horrible Histories and Ghosts), and a younger chap (my son).
December 14, 2024 at 11:36 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
What to do when one of the offspring is keen on painting minis, and you can't find a suitable advent calendar ...

He was thrilled 😁

#Warhammer #Citadel #TopMumMarks
A flat square white box, containing Citadel paints. There are 30 little pots of bright colours pictured. The box opened. The contents are little rounded packages, all roughly wrapped in foil.
December 2, 2024 at 8:52 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
Had a lovely afternoon in a wreath-making workshop. Feeling slightly festive 🎄
A circle made of 3 long thin willow branches wound around each other. Branches of spruce (pine tree) tied around the ring, overlapping. Finished wreath hanging up. There are bundles of cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices, big red dried chillies, a dried whole lime, and lots of ivy berries & springs of rosemary too.
November 30, 2024 at 7:06 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
#History folks - help!
I found these replica coins loose in the bottom of a drawer. I have no clue what they are! Possibly might be Tudor or Saxon thinking back to trips classroom teaching days, but honestly not sure.

Any ideas?
Two replica old coins on a white background. One is silver with unreadable letters around the edge. I can't decipher what's in the centre. One is gold with a horse on. Letters might be CVN? Other sides of same coins. Silver one has letters around the edge and a shield shape in the centre. Gold one has wheat ears. Letters CA to the left and a squiggle on the right. Modern 'WRL' is stamped on one edge.
November 30, 2024 at 10:29 AM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
I take history & science workshops into primary schools. From ancient Egypt to Maria Sibylla Meriam, from Florence Nightingale to owl pellets ... 🥰👍

Can recommend #EduSky to get started. 👍
A sheet of paper with 6 ovals printed on. Each oval is filled with tiny bones which have been extracted from a barn owl pellet. The ovals separate skulls, lower jaws, ribs, limb bones, pelvis & shoulder blade, and vertebrae.
November 28, 2024 at 11:16 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
A bit of science among the history... we have a workshop about predators & prey, and their adaptations. I do love getting back to doing some science in schools 🥰

Pics of dissecting barn owl pellets with y6 to investigate the birds' diet.
Rows of classroom desks. On each double desk is a white tray with small dark objects (owl pellets) plus a smaller value tray with other tools (tweezers) and a magnifying glass. The blue trays are coincidentally the same colour as the chair backs. The effect is aesthetically pleasing. A whote paper sheet, with 6 ovals printed on. Each is filled with a collection of tiny mammal bones. Skulls, lower jaws, legs ribs, pelvis & shoulder blades, and vertebrae. All have been picked out of an owl pellet by children aged 10 to 11. Hand-wrotten tally sheet on flip chart paper, listing small mammal species found in the owl pellets. Bank vole, field vole & wood mouse are the most frequent. Whole class data from year 6 pupils.
November 26, 2024 at 11:27 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
Big problem in medieval times, as shown in many manuscript illustrations.
Medieval illustration showing a Knight bring attacked by a snail. The snail's 'antennae' are stabbing the knight's shield.
November 24, 2024 at 3:35 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
A woman dressed as Florence Nightingale sits at a desk. She us flanked by two boys (faces obscured) in victorian costume. Florence is talking to one of the boys, while writing with a dip pen on a wooden writing slope. She is wearing a white lacy hat and a black dress with a white collar.
November 13, 2024 at 9:21 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
The original black silk dress was in shreds & unrecoverable. The lilac dress did not come clean, so was unpicked & used as a template for patterns.
Lilac dress, inside out, after removal of head & hands. It is a rectangle in 2 layers, with sleeves set in, then gathered at the neck. One tiny, filthy, sleeve, against a ruler. It is 4cm across at the cuff end. The main part of the dress. It's upside down. The staining emphasises the deep hems and by how much it was gathered. Two round arm holes are cut into it.
November 9, 2024 at 6:40 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
The goal is to make them robust enough to be played with again.

They were carefully taken apart to understand their construction. The heads & hands, the main pieces of the pinafores, and the underdresses will be kept & washed. New black & lilac cotton dresses will be hand sewn.
Starting to dismantle the black dress. The pieces of lace that firmed her apron lie next to her. Her left arm is barely hanging on. Porcelain head and hands before cleaning. They are grey. Porcelain head and hands after cleaning. Her painted black hair and rosy-cheeked face are in good condition. The hands are now white.
November 9, 2024 at 6:28 PM
lisataylorteaches.bsky.social
An ongoing project for work, when I get time.
These little ladies are dolls house scale, likely made in Germany, around 1890s. The black dress is the original silk & utterly shredded by years of play & love. The lilac dress is not original, but filthy & tatty. Those lacy pinafores were once white!
Two very old, tatty & dirty dolls on a table. They have porcelain head & hands. Doll in frayed black dress, with dirty lacy apron partially removed. Close-up of doll in a dress that was once lilac. There's a hole worn it & the pinafore is brown with age & dirt.
November 9, 2024 at 6:17 PM