August so far...my highs and lows

Once again, it's been a couple of weeks since my last post...I really don't know where the time goes! I haven't just been sat there doing nothing though, there's been plenty, both bad and good, to keep me busy and those things are exactly what I'm going to share with you today.

Highs

• Exciting baby news: One of my closest friends (I'll call her the "Animal Lover")announced last week that she was expecting her first baby, who's due in late February/early March. It was a lovely surprise and I'm overjoyed for both her and her boyfriend ("The Biker"). I just can't wait until there's another baby in the group to spoil!

• Housewarming fun: In keeping with the major life changes theme, two of my friends (The Comedian and The Enigma) have recently bought their first home together and a couple of Saturdays ago, I spent the evening at their housewarming barbecue. It was just a wonderful night filled with fabulous food (including more crisps on one table than I'd ever seen before!), random conversations and Kinect fun and I hope that we'll be able to do it all over again very soon.

• Adding another recipe to my tried and tested favourites: Unsure of what to give the friends mentioned above as a housewarming present (they'd already been living together previously and I had no idea of what they wanted/needed), I decided to bake something and buy a pretty tin to put it in. My flavour of choice was chocolate...I didn't actually know what the couple liked, but reasoned that everyone loves chocolate! My first thought was brownies, but having never made them before, I decided not to risk an untested recipe. Then I remembered the chocolate cake recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly Complete Book of Cupcakes and Baking (I've tried and failed to find a link to this book on the net...if you want this recipe, let me know and I'll post it on here/email you) and I was pretty sure I was on to a winner. First off, my sister had made it before for a friend who had said it was gorgeous and secondly, all the recipes in the book are triple tested, so are pretty much guaranteed to work :-). And work it did...I divided the mixture into bun cases so I would have some cakes for my friends and some for home, and they were enjoyed by all! My mum said they were one of the best things I'd ever made, a friend of a friend said they were fantastic and I received a lovely text off the Enigma the next day saying how much she and her fiancé the Comedian had enjoyed them. I just love baking and it makes me even happier when people close to me can enjoy it too :-)

• Fantastic friends on Facebook: Last week I received some very good news of my own and when I shared it on Facebook, I was overwhelmed with the support and good wishes I received from my friends. From people of my own age, but also of my parents' generation. From friends who I had seen just the day before, to those who I hadn't seen for years. From old school friends to people I've met much more recently. The congratulations flooded in from all directions, and to say I was touched was an understatement. Sometimes when I'm feeling low I tell myself that no-one cares about me or takes notice of what I have to say, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that that's not true. I am loved and cared about more than I've ever realised and that makes me feel incredibly thankful.

And now on to my big news of the last couple of weeks:

I have a new job!! Remember my last post where I alluded to some big changes that might be happening in my work life? Well, it turns out that it was more relevant than I ever thought possible. The day after publishing that post, I received a text from a major banking group that I had previously done an online application for asking me to call their recruitment centre for a telephone interview. I did so and answered 3 mental arithmetic questions and a couple of competency based questions, as well as discussing my recent work history with a very nice man, and was pleased when he announced that I had made it through to the next stage aka the face to face interview, which I booked for last Wednesday. I spent quite a bit of time preparing for the interview and felt I did OK. I wasn't, however, overly confident, partly because I've stumbled at this stage so many times before and partly because I kept analysing my responses to the questions over and over and came up with more and more things I felt I could have done better. I'd been told that it could take up to 10 working days to be informed of the outcome and so I settled down to a long wait for the seemingly inevitable. Imagine my surprise then when I received a phone call from the company explaining that they had managed to get things fast tracked through HR and they were pleased to tell me that I'd been successful!! I won't go into too many details here, as I really feel that the job deserves a post of its own, but I can tell you I'm going to be starting on 19th September, and am really looking forward to this new challenge!! :-)

Lows

• Riots in Greater Manchester (as well as nationwide): Last week there was some of the worst rioting and looting that has ever been seen in England and whilst it was mainly centred around London, on Tuesday last week it also hit Salford and Manchester city centre, only a matter of miles from where I live. The pictures on the TV and news feeds on the internet didn't seem quite real and I was shocked at some of the stories I was reading. An Oxfam shop being looted. A Miss Selfridge shop and a housing office being set on fire. People smashing windows and forcing shutters. None of it really hit home until the next day when I was walking in the centre of town and saw the damage with my own eyes. I just couldn't believe that people could do that to their own city. But as in all of the other places affected by last week's unrest, the community has pulled together and become stronger as a result. On Wednesday morning, for example, as I walked through town after my interview I saw groups of young people wearing protective gloves and armed with rubbish bags all ready to part in the clear up. And today, whilst my sister Amy and I were shopping in Manchester we saw this:

Image taken from here

It's the Manchester Peace Wall, and in the few days since this photo was taken, it's become absolutely filled with post-it notes expressing people's love for the city as well as disgust at the looters and their actions. Amy and I both wrote our own notes and stuck them on the wall, and I just feel really privileged to contribute to such a powerful representation of Manchester's spirit.

• Unexpected work developments and lack of money: News of my new job couldn't have come at a better time as, due to lack of funding, I had to finish my previous job a few weeks earlier than anticipated. I'm going to really have to tighten my belt over the next couple of months or so, and when I consider the number of friends' birthdays that are coming up, it's going to be easier said than done! I'm trying to look on the bright side though...at least I'm still living at home so there are no major bills to pay  and I can also have fun finding low-cost ways to enjoy myself! :-)

And that's all for now. Till next time...

Touristy Tuesdays: People's History Museum

If I've got a day free in the school holidays or at the weekend, one of my favourite things to do is to take a trip out somewhere interesting, and that's the inspiration behind my new series of posts, "Touristy Tuesdays". Now, as I'm lucky enough to live close to Manchester, there are loads of great places to see and things to do that are almost on my doorstep: museums, galleries, historic buildings, green spaces, guided tours and lots of fantastic shops and restaurants, so I reckon that's where most of my Touristy Tuesdays will be based, although if I venture further afield, I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures there too!!

I've decided to kick off the series by focusing on the People's History Museum, which Amy and I visited during the school holidays. This is one of the lesser known museums in Manchester, and focuses specifically on the ordinary people's struggle for democracy over the past 2 centuries (starting from the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 and going up to the present day). Now, this may sound a bit boring, but don't let my description put you off...it's a really interesting and family friendly museum, with lots of interactive exhibits for both children and adults alike to enjoy. The main galleries themselves are split up into seven main themes. One of mine and Amy's favourites was the "Free Time" exhibit where we worked at a Co-Op, watched part of a football match and looked at football memorabilia and picked songs to listen to on a jukebox:

Amy and I pretending to be shopkeepers in the Co-Op. Do you like my hat?!

Check out the football memorabilia!! We also sat on a "football pitch" to watch some clips of famous football matches...the oldest one was from 1898 and the picture was so flickery we couldn't even see the ball!!

Another favourite of mine were the "rooms" that were decorated to show what life was like for normal people at various points during the past 200 years, as I love finding out what everyday life was like in the past, not just about big historical events or the lives of the rich and famous. Here are some pictures of a typical 1945 living room:

Amy and I love hats, so we thought it was great when we got to try these on in the "Workers" exhibition:

Amy in a top hat. These were generally worn by men from the upper classes.

And in a bowler hat...these were worn by middle class men.

Straw boater time!! This was really appropriate given the weather...it was a really warm, sunny day, but SO uncomfortable to wear!!

And here's the clock that the workers would use to clock in at the start of their shift:

Dotted all around the museum were beautiful banners from various workers' associations and trade unions. They were all so beautifully decorated, it's just a pity that the picture I've got is quite blurry:

This is from "The Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers Chatham District"

Finally, I feel that this sums up the museum fantastically. It's a giant wall painting which takes the viewer through all the events and organisations that have shaped the lives of ordinary people over the past 200 years:

And that's my People's History Museum. Stay tuned for more blog updates soon...I'm trying really hard to keep up with my posting and to comment on all your blogs too!! Till next time...

Highs and Lows of Last Week

I know this isn't the serious post I promised a few days ago...but this is definitely more of the moment than my other planned posts, so they're just going to have to hold their horses for a little while! So here, very quickly (as I've got a date with Flashforward at 10!) are my highs and lows of last week:

Highs

• Being off work: I loved everything about being off work last week. The fact I could get up around the time that I'd usually be starting work for the day, being able to stay up late on school nights without depriving myself of sleep, being able to fit appointments in at my convenience, having days where I didn't have to do anything or be anywhere...the list could go on and on! And possibly the best bit was being secure in the knowledge that I still had another week off after that one!!
• Passing my theory test: Yes, I did it!! After a couple of days of answering mock multiple choice questions, revising my Highway Code and practising on hazard perception clips, it was time to do my test. I honestly wasn't sure how I'd do, as some of my practice tests had gone better than others but thankfully I passed, and with quite a bit of room to spare too :-) After the test, I had a coffee and cupcake to celebrate (so rock and roll!) and now I'm faced with my next big step: booking my practical test! Eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkk!!
• Spending time with old friends and making new ones: Even by my standards, I saw a lot of my friends last week and I had a ball! I always love spending time with them and things were made even better last week, as there was a new introduction into the group; my friend E's new lodger MI. She's staying with E for 3 months, while she's got an internship at E's company and she's absolutely lovely!! She feels like a friend already and I can tell that we're all going to really miss her when she goes back home to Germany at the end of her stay!
• The lovely spring weather: Last week, and particularly last weekend was a lot more springlike with quite a lot of sunshine and warmer temperatures than over the Easter weekend. Fingers crossed spring is here to stay now!!
• Good things come to those who wait: Amy and I finally got to go on our Town Hall tour last Sunday and it was fab!! I was able to take loads of photos of parts of the town hall that the public don't often get to see and hopefully I'll be posting some of them soon.
• Lots of compliments: I had my hair done last Friday and decided to get my hair blow dried straight instead of going for my usual curly look. I thought I might receive 1 or 2 compliments but was completely overwhelmed by the number I did get, with practically everyone who I saw (and knew) that day commenting positively on it! That doesn't mean I'll be keeping it straight on a permanent basis; it's far too high maintenance a look for me, but I think I'll definitely be revisiting it on occasion! :-)

And now normally it would be onto the lows, but I've been racking my brains and I can't actually think of any, so I guess I'm just going to have to leave it there!! Hope you all had fab weekends and till next time...

PS: Oh, and if you've not done already, why don't you check out my guest post over at The Road Less Travelled? Let me know what you think!!

Highs and Lows of Last Week (and a look ahead!)

What a surprise! Yet another post that's later than promised (although only by a couple of days this time!) So, making a long overdue appearance, here are my highs and lows of the past week (well the ones I can remember anyway!)

Highs

The power of Facebook: Early on last week, I posted a status on Facebook asking for recipe inspiration, as I don't want my repertoire to consist solely of gingerbread lol! Within a couple of hours of updating, I got the first suggestions and since then have had quite a few ranging from banana bread to peanut butter cookies, and even a couple of full length recipes for chocolate chip cookies! I wasn't even sure if anyone would respond, so was very pleasantly surprised! Look out for some baking posts coming up soon!

Nights in with friends: Quite a big part of last weekend for me was spent with friends watching DVDs and Youtube clips, chatting and eating...so much so that that was what I was doing on Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night! For someone who used to be out most Saturday nights at the very least, it's coming as a bit of a shock to realise that I actually love staying in! Not that I'd want to do that every weekend, but sometimes you just can't beat it!

Your expectations being exceeded: On Monday last week, I did not want to go to rehearsals for my drama group's latest show. Why? Because I was embarassed. The Friday before had been our auditions, and I planned to sing Moon River as a solo audition piece, as well as singing a group number with my friends. I'd been practicing Moon River all week and, while not exactly confident, wasn't totally dreading my solo either. Then came my turn to be called up. The backing track started, the accompanist counted me in, I opened my mouth to sing and...completely the wrong note came out. So I started again, but again the note was wrong. Then I tried to sing acapella, but still couldn't find the right key! Not wanting to prolong the agony any longer, I ended my audition then and there, feeling absolutely mortified! Although the group audition went ok and restored my shattered pride a little, I was convinced that I wouldn't get offered any solos. But, lo and behold...I did! I've got the first verse of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" all to myself, and my friends and I are also going to be doing "Cell Block Tango" from Chicago, which I'm ridiculously excited about, if apprehensive at the same time (I'm not a dancer by any means!)

Flashforward's back: After 3 months, Flashforward was back with a bang (and a double episode!) After thinking that I wouldn't even be able to remember where the story was up to, I was amazed at how quickly I got back into it. I just hope that there's going to be a second series, as I've heard rumours that there won't be due to poor ratings in the US. Fingers crossed it's not true!

And now for the lows...

Lows

Tiredness: After just a couple of full days of work last week, I was ready to drop! I'm not sure if it was more the fact that I find it difficult to get to bed any time before 11 or that I can never get into a proper routine, due to the variability of my work situation! Plus the fact that the clocks went forward really didn't help, as Iwas deprived of a whole hour's sleep! On the plus side, the Easter holidays are coming up very, very soon!!


No town hall tour for me (or Amy): On Sunday afternoon, Amy and I headed to Manchester to have a Town Hall tour. We met up with our tour group at the visitors' centre and were very excited when the guide said that there were no events taking place there that day and that he'd have carte blanche to take us wherever he wanted. But as we walked over to the town hall, things started to go a little awry. We looked up and saw a man standing on the town hall roof. "Was he meant to be there?", we wondered. Then we saw a few police officers standing around and realised that, no, he definitely wasn't! Our guide stopped us in front of the main entrance, only for us to be moved on by the police. So he attempted to begin our tour again, only for us to be moved even further down a couple of minutes later. So finally, we went right round to the third, and final, street entrance and were just getting ready to go inside when...a town hall employee came over and told our guide that we couldn't go inside, as the police were sending teams inside the building to try to get the man down and there was to be no access to anyone else. So that was the end of that! We went back to the visitor centre, got a refund and made our way home. On a happier note, I found out the next day that the man had made his way down safely, and I suppose that's more important than anything else!

And finally, as it's the end of the month, here's a list of things I'm looking forward to in April:

• The Easter Holidays: The schools in my area break up tomorrow, most of them for 2 weeks, so I'm looking forward to 2 weeks with no early get ups, lots of chocolate and as much relaxation as possible!
• An Easter Saturday meal with my family at our favourite pub/restaurant.
• My theory test: While this isn't exactly something I can't wait for, I am keen to get it out of the way! It's in just over a week (8th April), and I'll have to do a fair bit of revision before then, as whilst lots of the answers are just common sense, there's some facts that you just need to learn too!
• The Primary Education Show: This'll be my third Primary Education fair, and it's something I really look forward to. As a supply teacher, it's often difficult to get hold of resources and undertake professional development, so I love taking the opportunity to go round the stalls and take part in seminars/workshops.
• Dancing on Ice Live Tour: This is another event that's becoming a tradition for me. It'll be the fourth time for me, and the third for Amy, who I'm going with. It's always a great show and I'm especially looking forward to it this time, as Amy and I have got floor seats, and we're on the second row from the front!!
• Iron Man 2: Whilst being really annoyed that the UK DVD release date for Sherlock Holmes has been put back to 17th May, I'm much more happy that Iron Man 2 is being released over here on 30th April, a full week before its US release. Although I'm not going to see it in April, I'll definitely be watching it in its first weekend...I just can't wait any longer for my RDJ fix!!

And that's it from me...expect many more posts now the schools are breaking up!

Manchester through different eyes...

On Thursday, Amy and I took a trip into Manchester...not to shop (although we did end up in Primark!), not to eat (although we did have lunch at Subway whilst we were there!) but to see the sights instead...to look at Manchester through the eyes of tourists rather than locals. As I've mentioned before, I've lived in the Manchester area all my life, and as such, I kind of take the city for granted, and never really find time to take a step back and look more closely at it. But on Thursday, all that changed. I saw old things in a new light, noticed details I'd never seen before and experienced some places for the first time.

So to begin our tour...we started at St Peter's Square, home to Manchester's Central Library. I didn't get any pictures of the front of it as I'd intended (there were Friends of the Earth collectors there, so I was doing my best to avoid them!), but I did take this picture of the dedication stone(?) on the side wall:

Then we made our way round to our next stops, Albert Square and the Town Hall, just pausing opposite the Midland Hotel on the way:

I absolutely love this building...for me it just conjures up images of the luxury and glamour of a bygone era. I'd love to stay here one day!

When we arrived at Albert Square, I immediately rushed to take pictures of all the statues that are such a feature of the place, but which I've never really paid much attention to before. Amy, meanwhile, kept her distance...I don't know if she was embarrassed of me or if she just didn't want to get in shot! Anyway, first up was this guy:

This is William Gladstone who was Prime Minister of Britain four times during the Victorian era. Presumably Gladstone, the bulldog in Sherlock Holmes, was named after him!

Then there was this one:

This is Oliver Heywood, who was a 19th Century Manchester banker and philanthropist. He sponsored many good causes in Manchester including the Grammar School and Owen's College (which would later become Manchester University where I studied!) Quick confession time...I'm not a local history expert at all, and am quite ashamed that I had to Google Oliver so I could write about him!

Here's a close up of the inscription on the statue's base:

Next we have John Bright:

John Bright was a Liberal politician who was MP for Manchester between 1847 and 1857. He held many views that were considered radical for the time and was recognised as being one of the greatest public speakers of his generation. Thank you Wikipedia for the info!

The most impressive monument for me was most definitely the Albert Memorial:

Apologies for the crappy quality of the pictures...these were done on my phone. I really need a decent camera lol! Anyway, the Albert Memorial was designed in memory of Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert, who died in 1861, and it was unveiled in 1869. It really is incredibly detailed, and it's just a shame that you can't see more of it on my photos.

Here's a slight close up:

As well as containing a memorial to Prince Albert, Albert Square also houses a fountain which commemorates the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897:

I have to admit I was pretty disturbed by this fountain...you can't see very well but the creatures with the water coming out of their mouths were seriously scary! They looked like some form of gargoyle, and not what I'd expect on a monument designed to celebrate somebody's life. On the plus side, I think this is my best picture of the day. The framing seems to be spot on (for a change!) and I love the juxtaposition of old and new within it.

Then it was off to the Town Hall itself, which Amy and I were both keen to see, not least because it was a filming location for Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, although we could go inside, most areas of the Hall were not open to the public, so we didn't get to see that much. I think we're definitely going to try to go on a guided tour some time soon, so we can experience that bit more. These are a couple of pictures I took of the exterior:

The clock tower and main entrance of the Town Hall, taken from a slight angle. The building is in the Gothic Revival style, popular during the Victorian era, and took nearly 10 years to be completed (from 1868-1877).

A front view of the clock tower...I really struggled to get this photo, I never seemed to step back far enough lol!

After Albert Square, we headed back towards the library, where we cut down the side streets and ended up on Deansgate where we dropped in at our next stop, the John Rylands Library. To say this building was beautiful is a massive understatement. Built at the end of the 19th Century by Enriqueta Rylands as a memorial to her husband, John, it's a gorgeous example of Victorian architecture and is breathtaking inside and out. Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures, but I'll leave a link to a site where you can find a few instead, and a wholehearted recommendation to check it out if ever you're in the Manchester area!

After stopping for lunch, our final port of call was the Northern Quarter, again mainly because some scenes from Sherlock Holmes were filmed there, and we wanted to see if we could find any of the locations. To be honest, we didn't really have that much success (we should have took a map!) but it was nice to see a part of town that I haven't really spent much time in before, and walking round in circles meant that I got plenty of exercise!

And that's my tour of Manchester done! Hope you enjoyed and maybe even learned something new...I know I did!