Tonight I went to see West Side Story at the Theatre and it was fantastic, the actors were amazing, the orchestra talented and I loved the set. The only thing I didn't love was the man who sat next to me eating popcorn through the second half. Crunch, crunch, scrunch, crunch, crunch.
When you go to the cinema popcorn is expected, hell it's practically mandatory; but not at the theatre. When I was little you had an ice cream in the interval, if you were good; but you had to eat it during the interval. You never ate during the performance, it just wasn't done. You didn't even have a drink; but now people are opening fizzy drinks bottles left, right and centre. The constant hiss of carbonation is so frustrating. I don't know if the actors can hear it; but the rest of the audience can. If you must, have a bottle of still water; but leave your fizzy pop and your scrunchy bags of sweets and popcorn at home please. I spent the majority of my teens and twenties wearing pyjamas. It was part of the glamorous life of a girl with ME/CFS. Recently though, I've been more than making up for it and my wardrobe is packed to prove it. I've fallen in love with tea dresses and pretty shrugs, soft woollen jumpers and classic jeans. The problem is I still have days where I feel like I have nothing to wear, despite having to cram the hangers onto the rail. Days when I look at all my clothes and wish I could get something new. Even though I know I've got too many clothes. I don't need this many clothes; but I still like buying new things. I love the feel of a new top or dress, the buzz of wearing something for the first time, knowing people haven't seen me in it. The thing is, it can be hard to justify a shopping trip when my sagging clothes rail and wedged wardrobe doors say otherwise. That's why I was excited when my WI organised a Swish. Never heard of Swishing before? Me neither; but I found out it's when you swap your clothes, shoes and accessories with other people. It's a bit like free shopping and is a lot of fun. The WI members all had to bring items that they no longer wanted - I had a dress and some tops that just weren't my style any more. I was happy to donate them to a new home. In exchange for each item we took, we got a button as a token. This button could then be exchanged for a new piece of clothing. I hadn't really thought of what I would get, I was more focused on making some room in my own wardrobe; but I found some things that I fell in love with. They were all things I would have bought myself if I'd seen them out shopping and now I can't wait to wear them.
I was amazed at how polite everybody was. I'd had visions of it being a cross between a car boot and a jumble sale - elbows at the ready; but everyone was really calm and lovely. They enjoyed browsing through the rails and each chose really individual pieces, things that I wouldn't have thought to pick up; but on them looked amazing. Everyone was really happy by the end. I talked to my friend Lauren who has her own Frugal Blog. She had done a short talk at the beginning of the evening for us and given us some top tips on saving money. She had Swishing parties with her friends in their own homes. They were more informal; but just like our Swish, they each brought items they no longer wanted. The best tip she told me was that if more than one person wanted an item, they each had to model it, then their friends decided who it suited. This way it avoided arguments and the piece of clothing went to the right home. Have you ever swished? Is it something you'd want to do with your friends to help save money and get a fresh wardrobe? So the idea was to clear space and I've now got the exact same number of clothes as I started; but I've got new things to wear and they didn't cost me a penny. Even better - I've already found four more items I want to Swish. I think I'll have to organise my WI to run another one very soon. I have a new niece, her name is Alice Poppy and I'm a totally smitten Auntie. This weekend she came round for a visit with her Mum and Dad. It was the perfect excuse to bake a Strawberry Drizzle Cake. There are so many delicious English strawberries available at the moment. This is the recipe - Strawberry Drizzle Cake I've got to say my cake rose a lot, so you couldn't see the pretty strawberries. They were so juicy that it took a long time for the centre to cook through; but it tasted amazing. I'd definitely recommend giving it a go. It wasn't exactly like a lemon drizzle cake. Next time I think I would juice the strawberries as they describe in the recipe; but then mix it with caster sugar instead of icing sugar. Then pour it over while the cake is still warm. It should give a sharper strawberry taste and the crusty sweet/tangy top that you associate with drizzle cakes. If you do try it that way, let me know how you get on. The afternoon tea was lovely and I got lots of gorgeous cuddles with Alice, so my cut-metre is full for now.
How did you spend your Sunday afternoon? Have you ever had one of those moments when everything shifts? It could be while you're talking to someone, reading a book or even watching TV; but all of a sudden something clicks inside you. It's like your whole life has been picked up, turned upside down and then righted again. Everything is in the exact same place; but it's like the whole world is completely different. Just like a snow globe. I seem to keep having these Snow Globe Moments, where everything I knew, or thought I knew, changes. Insights that just stops me in my tracks and make me rethink everything. They're disconcerting and like a snow globe it takes time for everything to settle, for the swirl of chaos to come back down. It does eventually; but even then nothing is ever quite the same again. Do you know what I mean? I'm not particularly green fingered, in fact I either over or under water plants; but I do love flower arranging. I know it's seen as an old lady thing; but I think it's cool and it brightens up the house. You can even make garage flowers look good! The weather has been gorgeous at the moment and our garden is looking beautiful. It's a real joy seeing the plants coming on and establishing themselves. When we moved in four years ago, all we had was a rectangle of patchy green. The soil is pretty rubbish, literally, the builders buried all their rubble and bricks under the garden; but somehow the plants seem to find a way to survive. I'm sure that's a very deep metaphor for life there. My favourite flowers are roses, clichéd and girlie, I know; but I adore them. We went to a special rose seller called Beales Roses and chose scented varieties. Basically we went round sticking our faces close to each of the plants and taking deep breaths. We'd have looked insane if other people weren't doing the exact same thing. I've been wanting to go out into the garden to pick some flowers for a summer floral wreath; but the evil that is pollen and hay fever, has been keeping me shut away in doors. Seriously, why can't there be high pollen in November when it's cold and wet outside? I wouldn't mind staying in? Being allergic to the summer sucks. Fortunately I just have to wait it out until the end of July. I'm counting the days. I decided that I would just go for it this evening and I'm so pleased I did because it was gorgeous being out in the fresh air, picking the flowers and foliage. I only got stabbed by rose thorns three times, I didn't bleed and I was only marginally sneezy afterwards. I call that a victory. This is the unassuming oasis ring I started out with and below is how it turned out. I have to admit I'm rather proud of it. It's now filling our living room with the glorious scent of roses. An evening well spent. What's your favourite way to spend a summer evening? Do you have to hide inside from pollen too? What do you do if you can't go out? I've spent the morning on the phone - in fact I'm still on the phone as I write this. I'm not speaking to anyone, I'm just listening to an endless stream of electric jazz, that's interrupted every minute by a recorded woman who tell me "Thanks for waiting, one of our advisors will be with you as soon as possible."
Every time the line went quiet, before her voice came on, I got ready to start talking. Every. Single. Time. It wasn't a fun call either, so my heart lurched a little too. It was not a pleasant experience. It got me wondering, is there a science to the music they use? Is someone, somewhere, researching the kind of music that will sooth callers, diffuse anger of any irate customers? That sounds like an important job; but one I doubt exists. I've called up for tickets from Ticketmaster and ended up wanting to throw my phone across the room by the time they actually answered. I did call the Capital FM Arena the other day and they played modern pop songs of everyone who was coming to do a show and told you that tickets were still available. It was very tempting, as there were a few people I'd love to go and see. Sorry - I just had to break off then as my call was finally answered! Yay! I almost dropped the phone when a real person spoke and after all that she answered my question in under a minute, so I'm all smiles now;. My question for you is what's the worst phone music you've heard? If you could reveloutionise the music they do use, what would you choose? I'm not sure if I'm the only one who's ever imagined having a cinema screen all to themselves? Your own private screening. It's something I've wanted since I've been well enough to go to the cinema again. Every time I've been to a film and nobody has come in, I've got my hopes up. Then had them dashed as soon as a few people amble in just before the start of the trailers. In truth I've wanted to shoo them away. I'm a lady (and a scaredy cat) so I never have. Today though, my dream came true in the most unexpected way. Mum and I had tickets to the National Theatre Live screening of King Lear. We got to be the cinema and sat in the empty screen for a while, until a man came in and told us there was a problem. Unfortunately they couldn't show King Lear; but if we wanted they would put something else on for us - a film of our choice! Not only were we the only ones who had bought tickets, we now had the screen to ourselves. I was tempted by Maleficent; but he also suggested Driving Miss Daisy, the Angela Lansurry, James Earl Jones production which they just had in. It's not out in the cinemas yet! I'd been wanting to go and see the West End show; but this was perfect. It was magical, if slightly surreal. We could relax back in the peace and quiet, not distractions, not interruptions, it was amazing. I can confirm the show is really good, touching, sensitive and beautifully done. If you get a chance to see it then I'd really recommend it. I can't promise you'll have a private screen; but I can promise you'll have a good time. We've all had embarrassments, times when we've said or done something that made us cringe; but few of us have fallen over while skating in front of an audience of a thousand people. This evening I went to see Robin Cousins' Ice show and it was fantastic, really beautiful. The movement, the music and the breath-taking skating was incredible. Unfortunately one poor girl fell at the start of the head banger, one of the scariest moves is skating. It was a relief it wasn't half way through the move when the guy swings his partner, around in a circle, holding her just by her ankles. Her head is literally centimetres from the ice! You could tell from the expression onn her face that it must have hurt; but she was a complete pro, got back up and finished the skate with a smile on her face. Even more amazing, she went on to perform the head banger twice more over the course of the show, each one perfectly. I had a huge amount of respect for her, for carrying on regardless, even though it must have been terrifying to put yourself through the same risk or injury and embarrassment again. She got some of the biggest applause at the end and the whole audience warmed to her. She may have fallen; but she stood out for all the right reasons by the end. Failure, mistakes, embarrassment, can all feel like the end of the world; but if you get over the hurt, then you have the chance to go on and create something magical. That's what she and her fellow skaters did tonight. Who knew there were skills required to attend a surprise party? I certainly didn't. I've seen them on TV, we all have. They look like fun, something special; but nobody ever shows you how much pressure is involved. I attended my very first surprise party for my friend Sarah, who was moving back to Australia. It actually counted as one of my new things for 2014 because I had never been to one before. The biggest pressure I found was not saying anything in advance. I can keep it a secret; but I'm more comfortable with not having to hide things. Lying makes me nauseous, so this was a major challenge. I saw Sarah a couple of times the week before. I kept trying to be evasive and not give the game away. I'm sure I acted a bit odd; but who wants to be the one who ruins the surprise? The party had an Australian theme, so I made some Lamingtons - I used this recipe... It was really good and really easy, although by the end I was pretty sick of being sticky and covered in coconut. They did taste amazing though. The next area of stress was making sure I got there before the official surprise. I don't like to be late; but this added a whole new level of pressure - who wants to be the one that walks in and either a) sees Sarah and spoils the surprise b) gets mistaken as the Surprisee or c) misses the whole thing? There was a definite air of tension in the room as we all waited, checking the door, trying to keep quiet as the text came in that Sarah was on her way. The actual surprise moment was really funny, the first words out of her mouth were "I almost showed you my bra." Not the response you'd expect; but I think she was pleased with the party. It was an emotional night, everyone was a little subdued and sad; but it was great to be part of the evening and now I can add Attended a Surprise Party to my list of new things. Image courtesy of Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Tonight I want to my very first premier of a film I was actually involved in the making of - and made a very brief appearance... more of that later. As I've mentioned before I'm in the Golden Triangle Girls WI and we've been making a film called Yarns & Threads - stories of women in Norfolk WIs. It's been a really interesting project and we've spoken to ladies from across Norfolk hearing how the WI has touched their lives. Tonight was the premier at the Forum in Norwich and it was amazing! We all got dressed up and there was even a red carpet. We had free drinks from Adnams and delicious cakes made by House - my absolute favourite cafe in Norwich! There's been a lot of work involved in producing the film; but it all paid off and I loved watching the finished result - it was my first chance to see it too. My very small cameo was half of me at Craft Club and then my hands doing sugar-craft. Not hugely memorable; but I know it was me! It was lovely seeing everyone and chatting to friends and visitors. I even got a copy of the film to take away on the cutest memory stick ever. It was all printed up with our lovely logo. We even had a "golden" cupcake to take home as a treat for all the guests. For my first ever film premier it was a lot of fun and I look forward to my next one! You can check out the project at http://www.yarnsandthreads.tumblr.com/ |
Claire WadeI'm an author, disability activist, winner of the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition and The EABA for Fiction 2020 and founder of Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI). The Choice is available from:DETAILS:
Title: The Choice Publisher: Orion ISBN: 1409187748 You can keep up to date with all my latest blog posts by signing up to my email newsletter.
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