My Life as a writer - When I'm not scribbling

People say it's like waiting for a bus, you wait ages for one then two come together. This week I had two fantastic evenings entertainment. The first was a trip to the theatre to see All or Nothing, the musical based on the 1960's Mod band the Small faces.   A friend gifted me the tickets and I'm glad she did it was a brilliant show.  It reminded me in its structure of Buddy, the Buddy Holly Story.  It follows the rise and fall of the band and then deals with the tragedy of the lead singer Steve Marriott.   The show starts with the infamous performance at New Years when Marriott sensationally quit the band, the narrator an older Steve Marriott then takes the audience back to the beginning when the band met.  With live performances of the bands greatest hits including the title song All or Nothing, Itchycoo Park and She La La La Lee, the audience is taken along for the roller coaster ride that was the bands life.   The ending leaves you...

I write books, I love writing books and the flip side to that is I love reading books.  So here's the second update on the books I've read so far this year;  1. Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts  - Lucy Dillon  Rachel has inherited her aunt's house and attached Rescue Kennel as well as Gem her aunt's beloved border collie.  It's come at a bad time in Rachel's life as she's also just lost her job, her boyfriend and her London apartment.  While trying to come to terms with all her losses and decide what to do with her life Rachel also has the added pressure of sorting out the probate on her aunt's property and find homes for the abandoned dogs.   Matching dogs to potential new parents was a skill her aunt had and after a while it seems maybe Rachel does too, if she can just let go of her past and decide on her  future.   I love dogs, I have a huge cuddly Golden Retriever so any books about dogs pulls at my heart strings.  ...

Music is one of those things in life it's always there whether we realise it or not.  From the sweet song of the birds in the trees to the musical score of the latest movie.  It draws on your emotions lifting you up or making you cry. I think everyone has a soundtrack to their life, songs that have an impact, that stay with them maybe just for a day or maybe for a lifetime but they each have a place in your story. So far this year, these are the songs that are forming the soundtrack of my 2017: 1. I love my Life - Robbie Williams This was the first song I heard this year (well after Auld Lang Syne).  I'm not a huge party person on New Years Eve, I tend to be a home body celebrating with family anyway I was watching Robbie Williams Rocks Big Ben and this was the first song that stuck with me moving in to the new year. It's a song that has meaning to me - I think we can go through life not being happy, not being satisfied and sometimes our own inner voice plays a...

On this day, the 24 March 1944 my Grandfather Joseph Robinson climbed in to the small and cramped tail gunner post of his Lancaster Bomber with his crew. The Wedding of Joseph Robinson to Irene Baum  Joining the RAF when war broke out and worked his way up for Flgt. Sgt.  He had been flying for a year by this point.  Married one day shy of six weeks he lift his wife at home in his native Sunderland and returned to his squadron at Elsham Wood. Joe was ideal as a tail gunner, a strong man, a confident man but he was short enough and small enough to fit in to the plexi-glass turrets of Lancaster Bomber.  The problem with being a Tail-end Charlie, wasn't just the cramped conditions where many couldn't wear the parachutes or even boots if they wanted to fit in, neither was it the loneliness of being so far removed from the rest of the crew, but the real kicker would be if you needed to escape. The tail turrets while the most important defensive position c...

I love comfort food, there are certain meals that are just so homely and warming that they just make you feel at home. Carbonara is one of my go to comfort foods, I love the richness of the cream sauce and the saltiness of the ham.  I also love to add vegetables to my dishes in any way I can.  Usually in carbonara I add mushrooms, garden pea, seasonal veg such as asparagus and so on. So the other week I was watching Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night with top chef Jamie Oliver.  One of his recipes was taking traditional carbonara and turning it in to a cake.  once cooked it looked delicious and I remember seeing something similar before done with spaghetti Bolognese. I had some time this week so I thought I'd give this recipe a shot, Jamies Recipe can be found on his website here: www.jamieoliver.com I adapted it slightly to suit my taste - you will need a loose bottom cake tin and set your oven to 180c (fan) Ingredients olive oil to line the tin 90g of m...

The world is a busy place so sometimes it's nice to slow things down and catch up with the important people in your life Every month or two I get together with my closest friends and have a girls night in.  Going out is great, I love going to restaurants, to the theatre, to the movies but sometimes being out socially doesn't give us a lot of time to catch up fully on what's going on in everyone's lives. So we will do things like; Have Afternoon Tea A 'formal' meal A buffet with board games This Saturday we had decided on a Games Night, so this is how I prepare; Generally cleaning my house  Setting the table  Preparing the food  - baking cakes, cooking pastry etc.   As we use the evening to catch up and relax I tend not to cook a formal meal, I create more of a buffet that we can snack on throughout the night as we talk.   I love cooking and baking so this gives me a chance to try out new recipes and relax in my kitchen I make su...

It's shrove Tuesday this week, the start of the run up to Easter. Time to use up all the things that are traditionally not eaten as part of Lent. So pancakes are the traditional food of the day, in my family, we have pancakes as the evening meal on Shrove Tuesday. The recipe we use to make our pancakes is; 100g Flour 2 Eggs 300ml Milk  a pinch of salt Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together, let stand for thirty minutes.  When you are ready grease a frying pan and heat spoon in the batter and move round the pan until you have a circular shape  Cook for around 1 minute flip to the other side and cook for 1 minute until golden brown.  Keep them warm on a tray in the oven until you have all your pancakes cooked.  Part of the fun of pancake day is the assortment of toppings you can have.  These are my top five.  Top Five Pancake Toppings; 1. Traditional Lemon and Sugar A squeeze of fresh lemon and a dusting of ...