V is a V Good Baker

One of the actress' I have been lucky enough to work with here is a superb cook. I am blog-naming her V and she treated the cast to some of her beautiful cupcakes the other day. They were as delicious as they look.

Then yesterday she invited a bunch of us round to her lovely flat for a divine lunch. Homemade onion tart, tomato salad, green salad and gorgeous little roasted potatoes. She even made the mayonnaise (show off). For pud she presented us each with the most delightful treat.

Isn't that the prettiest dessert you ever saw! Ice cream with summer fruits and warm chocolate sauce. I LOVED it, so simple but so beautifully presented!

It was one of the best meals I have had the whole time I've been here.

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."

~George Bernard Shaw

The Language Up North

While being here in Manchester, working with various northern actors I have been introduced to a new vocabulary. Mainly Cumbrian, the words are lovely so I thought I'd share them.

To Ratch - To search for or To find a fine woman

Ladgeful - To be embarrassed

Flaite - To be scared

Mithered - To be persistently bothered

Radge - To be angry or mad

"Language forces us to perceive the world as man presents it to us." 

~Julia Penelope

Nearly Hometime

This week is the last week of the show and so come Sunday morning I shall be back on the train to London, home. Back to The Big One, Gary and Cooper, my friends, my garden....it's going to be lovely!

I have 2 weeks at home (many DIY tasks are planned) then The Big One and I are off to his parent's in France for one weeks hols then I am off to Belfast to do another show. Fun-times all round!

I have genuinely loved my time here in Manchester and would happily work here again. The people are so friendly, the city so fun...other then the spooky amount of magpies all is well. 

I have also been very productive here (besides the actual play). I have made;

2 cowls

1 baby blanket

1 shawl (& another in progress)

1 bobble hat

2 secret things (soon to be revealed)

Not too shabby!

"Where thou art, that is home." 

Emily Dickinson 

Magpie City

Almost every day at least twice a day I have to sing out "Good Morning/Afternoon Mr Magpie!"

Manchester is FULL of Magpies, it's actually bizarre. And yet there are never more then 2-3 together. The majority of the time it's just one, hence the greeting!

In fact as I'm writing this I can see two outside of my window

Not the greatest pics I grant you but you get my point!

One for sorrow

Two for joy

Three for a girl

Four for a boy

Five for silver

Six for gold

Seven for a secret, never to be told

Eight for a wish

Nine for a kiss

Ten for a bird you must not miss

Sugar Junction

I have spent a lot of my time here in Manchester in Sugar Junction, a fabulous vintage tea room with a tea selection to die for and the cakes...oh my giddy aunt, the cakes!

All the tea is served in china cups with china teapots, fresh flowers on the tables, vintage inspired eye-treats on the walls and genuinely friendly, welcoming service.

If you find yourself here in Manchester my top tips would absolutely include a visit here for some Wendy tea and Chocolate and Guinness Cake.

I would also recommend you bring an umbrella, to Manchester not to Sugar Junction.

“Where there's tea there's hope.”

-Arthur W. Pinero

Blognames A Plenty!

This week is due to be my most sociable week here in Manchester! Over the weekend The Big One's parent's arrived, 'Patch' and 'Tache'. They came all the way from France to see me and the show! I met them on Sunday for lunch (another lovely one at Manchester Art Gallery) then despite the perpetual rain we wandered around The Northern Quarter looking at all the vintage shops til tea and cake time at Teacup.

I had my first Manchester Tart (whoopla!) which was pretty amazing. Coconut on top of runny custard on top of jam in a homemade pastry tart.

Later I met them and The Big One's sister 'Pheebles' for dinner and had a fabulous Thai meal at Chaophraya. Lucky ain't I!

They saw the show last night which they luckily seemed to have enjoyed, then we had a few drinks before being joined by 'Spaghetti Arms'! He'd arrived in Manchester last night and
 is here on a fleeting visit due to a family event.

Patch and Tache headed off, early start for them this morning. So then Spaghetti Arms, his 3 friends ('Giggles', 'All Business' and 'Crazy Legs') and I continued on chatting, laughing and generally having larks til 4am this morning.

We will hopefully meet again tonight for some dancin'. Tomorrow I meet up with a friend who's based here and come Friday, My Lovely Dad, his wife and my other 'brother from another mother' (I have 3 'brothers' I've adopted from jobs inc. Spaghetti Arms) arrive to all see the show. 

Huzzah!

“I don't know a lot about politics, but I can recognise a good party man when I see one”

-Mae West

P.S See Spaghetti Arms, no mention of yarn this time - I am capable! 

Tea and Cake with Guinness and a Chum.

Finally today I managed to meet up with my lovely friend...I shall blogname her 'Celia' for  a spot of lunch and a catch up. She is also up here doing a show and finally this week our schedules allowed us to see each other!

It was so lovely, she is such great company and she had picked a wonderful chic and unique Cafe in the Northern Quarter for us to sit and munch and natter. It seems the Norther Quarter is full of lovely teashops and today it was Sugar Junction. A lovely little vintage tea room with proper china and amazing homemade cake selections.

It was great to hear all about her rehearsals, her news and the very exciting job she has lined up after this one!

After a Halloumi salad and drink each (Pear and Elderflower for me - oh my), we selected a slice of Chocolate and Guinness Cake and a pot of Wendy Tea to share. Yums all round!


We're meeting again next week and she has decided she'd like me to teach her to knit....we all know how much I am looking forward to taking someone yarn shopping! Whoo Hoooo!

Wendy Tea

A refreshing uplifiting tea that will leave you feeling relaxed.Wendy Tea is a magical faery blend of Rooibos Earl Grey,sweet South African Honeybush, Lavender Flowers, RosePetals, Marigold Petals and Cornflower Petals.

"Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea."

~Henry Fielding

Long Way from Home

The older I get the harder I find working away from home. I keep getting short pangs of homesickness despite everyone being lovely.

The more I am getting my bearings both in the city and in the play the better I feel though! I am totally aware I am very lucky to do a job where I get to set up camp somewhere for a couple of months, get to travel and see life in many different places.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

- Mark Twain

Manchester Part 2

The other weekend when The Big One was here we explored parts of Manchester's Northern Quarter - my favourite part of the city so far. Full of trendy shops, lovely teashops with several choices of Green Tea (my prime day-time tipple), and warehouses full of vintage clothing all at student friendly prices. What's not to like?

We also came across an old Fishmarket which has been turned into a two storey Arts and Craft centre. The resident artists have little studios which double as shops to sell their beauties. Lots of jewellery, art and textile work, well worth a meander.

The play I am doing is just outside this area so I will be able to take better pictures next week once the tech is over! Running it today for the first time - fingers crossed!!

“The life so short, the craft so long to learn.”

-Hippocrates 

A Weekend in Manchester Part 1

This was the first weekend I stayed here in Manchester and The Big One came up to explore it with me. We had a terrific time, we went to see the amazing Sufjan Stevens on Thursday night (see well deserved dedicated blog post), then Friday after rehearsals we stayed in to watch The Omen (the original of course).  But on Saturday after a sufficiently luxurious lie in we went exploring.

We started with The Manchester Art Gallery which is currently hosting a terrific Anish Kapoor exhibition called Flashback. I had never seen his work before and was quite literally 'mind blown'. It was so intense, so exciting, so challenging in terms of optical illusion that I could barely take in the Victorian collection we saw afterwards.

The gallery was really lovely and entirely free including the exhibition. We liked it so much that we stayed for lunch which was also pretty marvellous.

A 'Manchester Brunch'

After filling ourselves right up we headed to the People's History Museum to swot up on the Cotton Industry during the 1850's (the time the play I am doing is set). Another great and free museum that I would thoroughly recommend. Loads to see and take in and lots of fun interactive bits.

From here we headed to explore The Northern Quarter. A really fun and cool area of Manchester full of independent boutiques and cafes. They have converted the old Fish Market into an Art & Craft centre full of designers whose little studio spaces double as shops to sell their handmade wares. I took some lovely pics but...The Big One has just got on his train back to London, in a hurry, and I forgot to rescue my camera from out of his jacket. As soon as I get the images I shall post them up.

After muchos wandering we felt justified in stopping to have a lickle tea and cake at a lovely little cafe North Tea Power.

pretty pretty plates!

We then headed to Ancoats so I could revisit a fantastic yarn shop I had found the previous week, again I took lots of photos on my camera not my phone so I'll have to write that post another time....

From there we went to the cinema to watch Attack The Block, written and directed by the brilliant Joe Cornish of 'Adam & Joe' fame. It was really really good, I was scared, laughed and was throughly entertained.  Ratings!

Now you're probably thinking, gosh it must be time for more food and yes! It was! Don't ask where we put it all cos I genuinely have no idea but somehow we managed to put away a LOT of delicious Chinese food at Red Chilli.

What a full to burst day! On our way back to my digs we decided Manchester is definitely a great city, so much so that I am tempted to pur-chase one of these before I return to London in July...

"Manchester's got everything except a beach."

- Ian Brown