A week ago I met up with two friends, Sacha and Helen, in London. Both of them are authors – Sacha is absolutely killing it in the indie author world and Helen’s book has just been released across the UK with One More Chapter, part of Harper Collins publishing – but we actually met through blogging nearly ten years ago.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ A Heartfelt Masterpiece!
Today is going to be a good day. And here’s why…
The Olivier, Tony, and Grammy award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen has arrived on stage at The Alexandra Theatre.
With the Book by Steven Levenson, and Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman), I have seen the rave reviews and heard the songs a thousand times, and to say I was excited is an understatement.
The story follows Evan Hansen, a socially anxious teenager whose life takes a drastic turn after a misunderstanding leads him to become an unexpected beacon of hope for a grieving family. The musical’s exploration of loneliness, the pressures of social media, and the search for belonging feels achingly relevant in today’s world.
Dunnottar Castle is probably my favourite place in the whole world.
Sitting on top of a 160ft rock near Stonehaven, the castle was once a fortress of the Earls Marischal, one of the most powerful families in Scotland. It now sits as a stunning ruin.
During our first stay in Johnshaven in 2016 we had marked it as at the top of our list of places we wanted to visit, and I had watched lots of videos about it in advance, but nothing could prepare me for just how utterly breathtaking that first sight of the medieval ruins were.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ “A heartwarming celebration of Dolly’s music and spirit…”
Written by Bruce Vilanch with Gabriel Barre (who also directs) and Tricia Paoluccio (who also plays Dolly), Here You Come Again has now been adapted for the UK by acclaimed British playwright Jonathan Harvey following several successful runs across the United States.
Set during the pandemic, we follow the story of Kevin (played brilliantly by understudy Aidan Cutler), a devoted Dolly Parton fan facing personal and professional difficulties. Forced to move into his parents attic during lockdown, he is struggling emotionally after being dumped by his boyfriend and laments over his failed attempt to be a stand-up comedian.
After booking a last-minute holiday in Scotland recently we decided to split the travel over two-days and do some extra sight-seeing along the way.
The day before we were due to check in to our little cottage in Johnshaven we set off at 5.30am and drove the 5 1/2 hours up to Falkirk. It’s a pretty simple drive in terms of it being primarily on the motorway, but setting off at silly o’clock was definitely the right decision – there were multiple areas of roadworks on the M6 which would have been a nightmare during peak travel hours – and we made it without any issues or getting stuck in any traffic jams.
There were two things we wanted to see in the area: The Kelpies and Blackness Castle.
At the end of July all of the schools had finished for the summer holidays and The Bloke was working out his remaining annual leave for the year before it resets in September. As an IT Tech he doesn’t get the same amount of holidays as the teaching staff and has to be savvy when he takes days off, so it made sense for him to take his two remaining weeks at a point where he would also get an additional few days with the Bank Holiday at the end of August.
We started discussing the potential of going away on holiday – the last proper holiday we had was a week in New York in 2018 and we were both in desperate need of a break. Over the last year or two it has become a regular conversation, but every time we have actively looked for somewhere to go something seemingly happens that then becomes the priority, and after that particular crisis is resolved we then find ourselves back into the daily life and work routine.
The following day, as if the universe was listening, I found a gorgeous (and more importantly, affordable) little cottage in the tiny village of Johnshaven in Scotland that was available when The Bloke was going to be off work.
The BMOS Musical Theatre Company – an amateur performing arts group with members of all ages from across the West Midlands – is back on stage at The Alexandra Theatre, this time with a rousing production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Based on the novel by Roald Dahl, the world-famous Willy Wonka is opening the gates to his mysterious factory…but only to a lucky few. Young Charlie Bucket and four other golden ticket winners will embark on a life-changing journey through Wonka’s world of pure imagination including chocolate waterfalls, nutty squirrels and the great glass elevator, all to be revealed by Wonka’s army of curious Oompa-Loompas.
The whimsical world of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory was brilliantly realised with vibrant colourful stage décor, dynamic use of space and well-crafted stage props that transported us straight into Dahl’s fantastical universe.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller, The 39 Steps, hilariously recreated for the stage as the smash-hit Olivier and Tony Award-Winning Comedy, is back out on a UK tour after nearly 10 years in London’s West End, taking Broadway by storm, playing in 39 different countries across the globe, and delighting over 3 million people worldwide with its plucky spirit and dashing sense of fun.
Quintessential Englishman Richard Hannay (Understudy Jacob Daniels) lives a boring life, until he finds himself wrongly accused of murder and on the run after the death of the mysterious Annabelle Schmidt (Safeena Ladha). In an adventure that takes him all the way up to the Scottish Highlands, he must stop an organisation known as ‘The 39 Steps’ from stealing military secrets, much of which while being handcuffed to a woman named Pamela (also Safeena Ladha).
What follows is 100 minutes of chaos as just four actors take on 139 characters, some of them at the same time.
It has been five months to the day since we got the keys to the new house.
And about three weeks ago, we unpacked the final remaining box.
It has continued to be an interesting experience. Since we moved in:
Despite it being a Sunday morning, I woke up at 6.30am feeling super-motivated. Perhaps it’s because the weather is glorious, or that I have the option of doing nothing if I want to, or perhaps the fact that I slept for about six hours yesterday afternoon has helped – either way, I jumped out of bed, got dressed and was raring to go.
As things have become more busy (particularly this year), I have started to change my working patterns to try and avoid burnout – something that I have experienced multiple times since I started working for myself. Previously, I had developed strict daily routines and checklists to help myself become more organised, but over the last six months I have found that it has become less and less helpful.
Suzie Speaks 
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