A Scatter of Thoughts: In Review: February

(Photo Credit: Oh Deere)

So this is a pretty belated February wrap-up, but that might just say something about how surprisingly busy February was for me, despite it only being the shortest month-even in its leap year guise.

Staying In

The most fun home-based thing that happened over the past month when my friend from school came up to Birmingham from London and made a really delicious vegan meal of roasted veg, chickpeas and crushed potatoes which I'm definitely underselling but was super delicious. We also enjoyed some prosecco & limoncello cocktails and just had a proper catch-up which was lovely.

This month also saw me become a Dementia Friend with the Alzheimer's Society, you can find out about local sessions or become a friend online by clicking here. It's a really interesting and eye-opening experience and I recommend getting involved (especially if you do any kind of customer-facing role).

I've also got properly into two television series this month which are both on the BBC over here. The first is American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson. This is essentially a dramatisation of the OJ Simpson trial which I am vaguely familiar with, but took place the same year I was born so I'm definitely not aware of all the details! The performances are all great, especially those by Cuba Gooding Jr as OJ and Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran, a civil rights lawyer, and it's just a really insightful look at the court case and all the racism issues that were present in the States in the early 90s (and how little has changed).

The second programme is The Night Manager which replaced the fabulous War & Peace. This stars Tom Hiddleston, in a performance that has made me understand why everyone finds him so attractive, as a hotel manager who becomes tangled up in the life of arms-dealer Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie). Based on a novel by John le Carre, it is filmed beautifully with incredible locations and is packed with solid performances (Olivia Colman & David Harewood as a trans-atlantic intelligence partnership; Tom Hollander as one of Roper's crew; Natasha Little as a mistreated wife and Tobias Menzies as a slippery intelligence agent are all great). Plus Elizabeth Debicki (who plays Roper's wife) has a seriously enviable wardrobe in this too.

Going Out

The obvious highlight of this month was getting to go to the theatre twice in one month, which was such a treat. Seeing a really modern Matthew Bourne production in Sleeping Beauty and a really classic ballet in Romeo & Juliet within a couple of weeks was a lot of fun, and the casts of both were great. You can find my full thoughts on both pieces at the end of this entry.

In terms of eating out, I had three first-time visits this month. First up was 1847, which is an entirely vegetarian and vegan restaurant based in the Great Western Arcade in Birmingham. This was such a fun experience for someone who is a bit of a hardened meat eater, and I really enjoyed the halloumi 'fish' and chips-especially as the cheese was really melty rather than grilled as it is usually.

There was then Caffe Concerto, which is found in Grand Central above New Street Station. This is one of those places that has the sort of cakes that cause people to slow-walk past the counter and my mille-fieulle (chosen after seeing it made on GBBO-obviously) was packed with delicious vanilla-cream. Finally, was Thai Edge based in Brindleyplace. Whilst the service is a little on the slow side, the coconut rice is truly amazing and my stir-fried mussels were really tasty too.

I also had my first 'out out' experience for ages, which was a fun experience and also the first time I'd used Uber which I was super happy with-especially with it only costing £3.50 to get across town, even after midnight.

Finally, I finished the month going to Birmingham Town Hall (one of the venue's I worked at when I was at university) with my parents to see British Sea Power, a band that my Dad loves. This was a bit of a different date as they were accompanied by a brass band, so it was a lot more instrumental than their usual sound. I really liked it; the musicianship on display by everyone was really impressive. Plus Town Hall is a really gorgeous venue too (not that I'm biased obviously).