It's getting to feel a lot like Christmas ....

I love the build up to Christmas and some things I want to do this December to take me away from the eternal to-do lists and planning food and presents are:



Market Harborough ©MHWI

Christmas Shopping

It has to be done so why not go somewhere more festive and less manic than the usual mall-type places to do it?  I'm going to start mine (no, not started yet and determined not to hyper-ventilate) in the quaint market town of Market Harborough which as well as small versions of the bigger stores like Monsoon, East, Phase 8, Boots etc also has a good sprinkling of independent shops - such as Quinns Book shop, Lavender Blue, Bagel & Griff, The Cookshop and Bates Butcher and Delicatessens.

 

Visit Narnia


Narnia at Chatsworth ©Chatsworth House

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was one of my favourites in the CS Lewis Narnia series and this year Chatsworth House are having a Narnia Theme which sounds fab.

Christmas Tree Festival
I'm planning to visit Burton Overy's Christmas Tree Festival this weekend.  The festival's been going for 13 years now and many other churches seem to have followed suit.  Individuals and groups put in a Christmas Tree to be judged by visitors and the entries are truly amazing.  Ones I remember from past festivals are 'Strictly Come Dancing' with lots of little dance shoes for decoration and 'A Cartridge in a Pear Tree' - a tree decorated with used shot-gun cartridges!  It's all very festive.

Go to a Panto
Not sure I'll get anybody to go with me as my teen is much too cool for this, but Jack and the

Jack & The Beanstalk ©Nottingham Playhouse

Beanstalk at Nottingham Playhouse sounds good as does Cinderella at Leicester's Little Theatre.

The Real Jane Austen - Paula Byrne at Leicester Literary Festival

I went to listen to Paula Byrne talk about her biography of Jane Austen last night – The Real JaneAusten – A Life in Small Things, as part of Leicester University’s brilliant but under-attended Literary Leicester Festival.  I can’t believe anything so good is for free!

I have to admit I’ve not yet read Paula’s book, although I’m going to put that right as soon as possible.  I guess I thought well, what else is there to say about Jane Austen, but Paula’s biography with the structure of using objects to take a new look at Jane’s life sounds fascinating.  Paula has taken things that were close to Jane,  such as a silhouette and an East Indian shawl, to take a new look at Jane and explode the myth that the author spent all her life in her Hampshire cottage, coyly hiding her work from others. 

Paula was so far away from the stereotype of an academic and was fast-talking, witty and warm and so lovely at the book signing afterwards.  She looked very glam too in LBD – apparently she was going to Leicester’s Champagne Bar afterwards – a good choice I have to say.

Most of the audience made middle-aged me feel positively young and I wonder why there weren’t more students there – particularly those reading English Lit at either Leicester University or De Montfort. 

I know, I know, it was Friday night and students have got far better things to do – but you could take a wine chaser  in with you and it was only was only 6.00 – 7.15 pm, which leaves plenty of time for partying afterwards, as Paula proved.

The Good: Paula was a very engaging speaker and made me want to read the book.

The not so good: Lady Antonia Fraser who was scheduled to be on after Paula had been taken ill and had to cancel.

Go again: Definitely – Leicester Literary Festival has some brilliant, engaging speakers and given it’s a FREE event should be so much better attended.

 

Swan Lake, The Curve, Leicester

©Curve Theatre

On a miserable November evening, The Curve was a beacon of lit-up floor to ceiling windows, big,  multi-coloured Christmas tree style light bulbs strung garland style across the windows.  I’ve got used to the inside now and like the  huge spaces:  a cross between an aircraft hangar and a factory with all the gleaming pipes above looking as though they’re wrapped in bacofoil. 



Swan Lake©Bill Cooper

We were at The Curve for Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, the story revolving around the Prince, like a slumping shouldered Rodney from Only Fools and Horses with mental health and alcohol issues.  He was pathetically desperate for love, which wasn’t coming from his Queen, played like a controlling but rejecting mother rather than partner.

I loved the sleazy bar scenes, the ballet within a ballet that the Prince and his entourage watched and the laugh-out-loud humour when the Prince’s fluffy-love interest’s mobile went off while they were watching the ballet and us in the audience thinking, OMG – is that mine?

The swans’ dancing was amazing, perfectly choreographed, although the principal white swan’s chest was sweating like past-by-sell-by-date pre-packed ham, but I’m sure it couldn’t be helped.

Swan Lake©Bill Cooper

The scene where the prince unravelled further was set in a ballroom with huge pillars and two great Olympic style torches suggesting the power of the old Eastern Bloc and then the Stranger arrived, like some Russian Mafia man, slapping his black leather trousers, big, bold and dominant, turning every woman’s head not to mention the Princes’, although once again he was rejected.

The female dancer’s costumes in this scene were fabulous:  a black velvet suit with sequin revers, a net dress with two butterflies of chiffon protecting the dancer’s modesty.  The fluffy love interest was in black sequins and lace and the Queen, most definitely the Queen Bee, was in serious scarlet with layers of black beneath.  And how did they manage to dance in high heels?  Only one pair of proper ballet shoes to be seen and that was in the ballet within the ballet.

Next the bewildered, mad, prince is in a blindingly white room, the sinister Svengali figure in cahoots with the Queen, orchestrating electrolysis treatment delivered by robotic, masked medic dancers and … well .. it’s never going to be a happy ending is it?

Overall, this Swan Lake production was one that you could love on so many levels.  The dancing, of course, but even if you aren’t into ballet, the costumes and the scenery were great as well as the actual acting.  I’d not appreciated what good actors that dancers also need to be to convey action and moods with everything being conveyed through body language rather than speech.

The Good:  Going to a ballet and really enjoying it.

The Not so Good: My coffee at the interval was in a horrible, disposable cup.

Go Again: Definitely, I'd like to see another ballet – The Nutcracker maybe?

 

 

Winter in Middle England

Clocks have gone back, it’s getting dark:  what to do about winter?  Embrace it or fight it?  In my middle-aged manner I’m going to sit on the fence and do both, so this month, I’m going to:

Fight it

©Turtle Bay

 

I've heard it's really popular and difficult to get a table, but I want to eat at Turtle Bay in Highcross.  A friend went there recently and said it was just how she remembered beach bars in Barbardos – it sounds a bit of a stretch to me – Highcross to Barbados, and it may be her middle-aged, febrile imagination, but I’m more than willing to go with the fantasy.   She said the spicy food, cocktails and service were brilliant.

Carrying on my usual night out at Dos Hermanos on Queens Road, Leicester.  I love sipping a glass of Cava in the front bar while nibbling on the freebie tapas you sometimes get early doors.  With it's chandeliers, sepia photos of South America, tiles; old wood and general over the top décor, despite the darkness and cars swishing by in the rain outside, you could be in a bar in Havana.

©The Alpine Bar

Embrace it

With it's ski theme, you can't get more winter than the The Alpine Bar, Asfordby, Leicestershire.  Decked out log cabin style like a French Alpine ski bar it's  rustic with huge wooden tables, blankets draped over backs of chairs and a big wood burner surrounded by sofas.  The theme is continued into the food with choices like Tarteflette, Fondue and Pizza Moriszete, though they also do more traditional snacks, meals and cakes too. 

By cosying up with a good book, a real fire, a coffee and a glass of baileys with ice.   I also have a fantasy about a cashmere blanket to add to these winter accessories, but maybe cashmere is a touch too decadent for my budget and an ordinary blanket comes too close to old lady rather than elegant middle-age.  Before I know it, I’d be wearing bed-socks.  I suppose there’s always the onesie – not a route I’ve taken yet!

A book that suits the curling up on the sofa and shutting out the winter is the spine chilling Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, which as well as having a totally engrossing plot is also so well written.  Another ghost story also set in the 1940s, but a much shorter read than Little Stranger, is Helen Dunmore’s creepy but compelling The Greatcoat. 

Ragdale Hall



Ragdale Hall Entrance

I do love a spa day and it should be law that all over-stressed, middle-aged women with too-long to-do lists get sent to RagdaleSpa at least once a year.  I got lucky this October half-term, visiting the spa with two fellow friends in need.
First stop was the spa area and we wandered around middle-earth named places like the Colour Cave, Candle Pool and Thought Zone but best of all was swimming through the warm water lagoon to the waterfall pool outside, enjoying the contrast of the warm water and cool, fresh air and plenty of chatting over the noise of the waterfall massagers.  

Waterfall Pool ©Ragdale Hall

Back inside we did a couple of lengths of the pool (just to show willing); a brief stint in the Jacuzzi and then it was time for a delicious back massage and facial which were included in our Refresh and Revive Spa Day.


Dining Room ©Ragdale Hall

Lunch in the dining room with its huge fireplace, great chandeliers and classical music playing in the background made the atmosphere slightly Downton, although  the Dowager would definitely NOT have approved the white gown dress code.  Thankfully, there was no obvious calorie counting on the menu:  starters served to the table were soup or smoked salmon and then a help yourself salad bar with lots of interesting aubergine, feta, watermelon, etc, etc and hot dishes including chicken tagine and duo of fish.  From the pudding choice, we went  for mousse, a very chocolatey brownie hiding beneath the white chocolate mousse. 


In our dreams!©Ragdale Hall 

We slumped for an hour or so over coffee in the Verandah Lounge, reading out our horoscopes from a Harpers Bazaar magazine and debated the merits of doing an exercise class.  It seemed unlikely with friend relaxing on a beanbag looking as though she’d need a crane to haul her up.
Although reluctant, we did have four hours left and decided that maybe we needed to benefit fitness-wise from our day.  We couldn’t make up our minds which class to take with me pushing for the easier sounding anti-stress aromaball, but dear middle-aged friend (DMAF) surprised us with a burst of energy and her announcement that she was going to do ‘Beaming’.  The photograph of a smiling person one arm outstretched the opposite leg bent onto a thin piece of plastic looked far too complicated for me and friend on a beanbag, so we stuck with the aromaball anti-stress, which we didn’t regret as it was all eyes shut, stretching and lots of breathing over a rubber ball which, unlikely as it sounds, was very relaxing.

DMAF looked very pleased with herself after the ‘Beaming’ experience and we all put on our wet cozzies and had one more trip to the spa area, silly as schoolgirls as we turned on the thunder and lightning effect in the cave shower. 
The day had whizzed by and it was time for a final cup of tea, then back to the car, home and the too-long, to-do lists.

The good: All, but in particular the spa area and treatments.
The not so good: Having to leave – would have been good to stop over.
Go again:  Definitely, the sooner the better.

Ragdale Hall Health Hydro and Thermal Spa
Ragdale Village
Melton Mowbray
Leicestershire
LE14 3PB

Luscious Leaves in Leics, Notts and Northants

Back during my teenage years,  my parents suggestion without fail every October was to ‘go for a walk and look at the leaves,’ filling my teen soul with horror.  Now middle-aged me loves the Autumn and seeing the leaves turn as many shades of rust and gold as Sharon Osbourne’s hair, so  I’m looking forward to a few Autumn ambles, hopefully with a pub en route.  These are some of the places I’m aiming to get to. 

Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire

Major Oak@2012 Experience Nottinghamshire

Did this walk at Sherwood Country Park last year, and even though it was a sunny Sunday  morning it didn’t feel crowded as we followed the easy woodland walk to the major oak – an oak tree over 500 years old, rumoured to be the oak where Robin Hood and his men met up,  now propped up like an old man with walking sticks.

Sacley Forest, Northamptonshire

The tree top walk at Sacley Forest which lets you see the trees from above sounds great if you’ve a head for heights, though not sure I’m brave enough to try their new Tree Ninja, an aerial ropes course, but it could be a way of prising my teen away from his PS3.

Wistow, Leicestershire

Not woods, but a really easy and varied circular walk across farm land and alongside the Grand Union canal with the mature, beautiful trees lining the canal reflected back from the water.  There’s something very soothing about watching the leaves slowly fall from their branches to create patterns on the water.   A circular walk with a great Café at Wistow garden centre which is well worth popping into, not to mention one of my favourite shops, Outer Space which sells gorgeous garden stuff, bunting, fairly lights, etc.



  

 

 

 

Cow and Plough, Oadby



Cow & Plough

I was meeting my Tea Circle friends (TCFs), who 16 years ago I’d met through ante-natal classes.  The venue was the Cow and Plough at Stoughton Park, very appropriate as in our yummy mummy days we were all season ticket holders to what was then a lovely farm park.



Lovely lighting for the middle-aged complexion

What used to be the farm park café where we’d drank  coffee and kept our toddlers happy with cheesey wotsits has now been transformed from a barn like building into a lovely restaurant, with lots of wood panelling, antique furniture and beams wrapped round with fairly lights. Tables were candle-lit and we sat at nicely upholstered dining chairs.  It was nowhere near full on a Thursday night, but the atmosphere was good and on a gloomy September evening we appreciated the fact the heating was on, music was playing in the background AND the lighting was just right: dim without being gloomy which suits the middle-aged complexion perfectly. It did not suit the menu-reading though.  The reading glasses came out and the one TCF who had resisted them experienced a eureka moment as she borrowed a pair. 

It was pie night and after a glance at the main menu, which did look lovely, we decided pies it had to be.  What a decision: fish pie; beef and ale, chicken and mushroom, cottage and a veggie option.  And to have chips or mash?  Thursday Pie Night also meant we were getting a bargain two pies for £16.00.    On arrival we’d been asked what drinks we'd like and I had the usual old faithful’s, a big glass of cool Sauvignon Blanc followed by a Merlot to go with the beef and ale pie I’d decided on.

The pie was delicious and just the comfort food I never get around to making at home, with chunks of tender beef in a rich gravy encased in lots of crusty but light pastry with a cloud of mash and a few carrots, leeks and gravy.   

We reminisced some more about the old days, wondered if there was any way we’d be able to get the kids there to celebrate their 16^th birthdays and decided that although the spirit was willing the stomach was too full to cope with puddings.  Next time, next time…

http://www.steamin-billy.co.uk/cowplough/
The good: Catching up with the Tea Circle, the pies and the service.
The not so good: Knowing that reading glasses are now an essential item.
Go again: Definitely.  I want to try the non-pie menu.