Weekend Review: Richard III

Before football success sparked the interest of the world's media, Leicester was put on the map by the discovery of Richard III in a car park. Since being thrown (or should that be 'throne' - bad pun) into the spotlight, @richard_third has impressively adapted to 21st century living - picking up thousands of Twitter followers. And now he's our Weekend Reviewer... 

Where do you call home?

Plot 1A (just to the left of the prayer book shelves)
Chapel of Christ the King
Leicester Cathedral
Peacock Lane
Leicester

What do you do for work?

I was the King of England until someone rudely stole my horse. I've recently changed careers to work in tourism. It's proving successful, though my employers are reluctant to share their new found financial gains with me...

What's been your proudest Twitter moment so far?

My work can be found in the New York Times, The Melbourne Age, the BBC News website, The Sunday Times, and I'm followed by Colette Mann, star of well know Australian television soap, Neighbours.

And your biggest achievement outside of work?

It was me and me alone who kick-started the decision to move to Leicester. I set the trend. And now everyone will follow me!

When is your weekend?

Ah, I never really get a weekend off, living in a cathedral means God's house is always open. And sleep on a Saturday night can be a problem due to party-goers and my city centre location. Sunday mornings are quite nice though, I get to hear evensong every Sunday evening.

How did you spend the last weekend?

Well, being buried in a 21st century designed tomb means I'm unable to leave to see much these days. BUT, it was designed with all mod cons, and this I have fibre optic broadband... so I can watch LCFC from the comfort of my bed. And I get a lot of emails from young history undergraduates, trying to get me to write their essays for them.

How typical was it for you?

Sadly the days are a little predictable when entombed. Now I'm formally buried I'm applying for training at Spook School, in the hope of surprisingly a few people...

Your ideal Sunday menu...

Breakfast: I don't need to eat so much these days. But I can smell Maryland Chicken from where I lie. I won't lie to you, it smells fantastic.

Lunch: See previous answer.

Dinner: See previous but one answer.

QUICK FIRE: name your absolute favourite...

Book: Professor Pollard's 'Richard III and the Princes in the Tower' appears to detail my innocence in the entire affairs. And so it's my current favourite.

Film: Richard III of course - any version!

Album: It's a single rather than an album, but Richard III by Supergrass.

Sport: Football! Leicester City til I die of course. Oh... erm... anyhow... I inspire them it seems. I take full credit for the league success.

Museum: My own of course! The fabulous newly opened Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester. See me as an inspiration for a storm trooper, and visit my previous home under space D19 of a car park!

Member of the royal family: They are not the royal family, they are imposters. I was kicked off my own throne you know. So ME (well, I am the king).

What would you swap your kingdom for these days?

Hmm, good question...

How can people follow what you do and get in contact?

I'm available for visits during Leicester Catheral opening hours, and I'm on Twitter! Messages of love and offers of marriage can be sent to me at @richard_third

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Brunch Club: The Coach, Marlow

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting Marlow for a long anticipated trip to The Hand and Flowers -  Tom Kerridge's two Michelin stared restaurant. It was incredible. But this is a post about brunch, so I'll tell you no more than that, only to say go there, go there now!

Little known to us Tom Kerridge has two restaurants in Marlow, the lesser known is The Coach, an intimate little pub in the heart of the town. It has the same approach as the hand in flowers in that its a relaxed, cozy affair with an emphasis on delivering bloody good food. 

The evening menu offers British tapas style dining with a choice of meat, no meat and sweet. We gazed upon the evening menu and a few of the dishes that caught our eye were Rotisserie of the day, chicken kiev with cauliflower cheese and smoked haddock and black pudding scotch egg. 

The Coach operates on a first come first served basis, there is no booking system and with just 40 covers it's pretty small. So as you can imagine, it gets quite busy. Fortunately we were visiting on a Friday morning and were lucky enough to get a table. Brunch was the order of the day...

Carlton (the man in my life) opted for muesli followed by a bacon sarnie. I opted for eggs Benedict (always my brunch dish of choice, always.) but needless to say, it was a little bit more special than that. The muesli is of course handmade, the bacon is honey glazed and the hollandaise for the eggs Benni is made to order.

So, enough of my ramblings, have a look for yourself and I bet your mouth will be watering by the time you've scrolled to the bottom of the page...

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Create: Herb Planter

Right off the bat I'd like to explain that my gardening skills are pretty dismal. I have visions of my garden filled with beautiful colours and texture, and perhaps a homegrown vegetable plot thrown into the mix. The reality is that my garden is a slug ridden, insect infested mess.

The grass is unruly, the flowers are nibbled to stumps by aforementioned slugs and the garden fence is half painted and falling down. I gave up on the vegetable growing about two years ago, I'm just not patient enough and after checking on my newly planted seeds every day for a week, to find nothing is happening, I then forget all about them completely. The result is hundreds of overgrown marrows, mouldy tomatoes and a big mulchy mess that has to be cleaned up, so i've stopped bothering.

Herbs however are a different matter. I love them because they can pretty much be left to their own devices and they are useful to have on hand for use in the kitchen. I believe every home should have a small herb garden or planter filled with herbs ready to be picked, chopped and thrown into whatever is cooking.

This particular planter was a birthday gift for Becca a few weeks ago, back when the sun was shining. Truffle (the cat) is always up for a bit of gardening so was on hand to oversee proceedings. We spent a lovely afternoon creating a little planter, it's pretty straightforward to make. 

You will Need:

• 1 large planter
• Sandpaper
• Masking tape
• Paintbrushes- large to use for covering and small for any areas of detail
• Paint- I used emulsion paint in cream and gold poster paint
• Compost
• Herbs - I opted for rosemary, lemon thyme and Morrocan Mint

Ensure the terracotta pot is nice and clean. Gently sand down the surfaces to be painted, this will help the paint to stick. Wash the pot and allow to dry completely before painting.

Carefully mask of any areas where you want to keep the terracotta colour. Apply paint to pot, this may take a few coats to get an even and streak free covering, allow the paint to dry completely between applications. For the gold accents I decided to go freehand as it blends nicely with the terracotta, for a neater finish I would recommend masking off areas for accuracy, be careful not to lift off any paint if masking over areas that are already painted, remove the tape slowly and cautiously. 

Fill the planter about halfway with compost, place the herbs into the planter and top up any remaining holes and spaces with more compost. After a good watering the planter is ready for display. Outside the kitchen door is the best place, so it's within grabbing distance.

The planter is no longer in my care, which is probably for the best. 

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Helen Rhodes at the Refectory Table

Once upon a time in another life I spent my days immersed in art, craft, drawing, printing and any general craftiness going. I'm a maker at heart so anything that I can get hands on immersed in works for me, and that's probably why I became a baker. Whilst that's a story for another day, It's not often I get the opportunity these days to put paintbrush to paper and throw myself head first and guilt free into creating some serious artwork. 

That was until a few week ago when I spent the day at The Refectory Table with Helen Rhodes. 

I've been hanging out at the refectory table quite a bit of late, combined with the sudden freedom that comes from working freelance i've been on the lookout for creative workshops and opened myself to the opportunity to catch up with some amazing creative people, and it's been fantastic. 

The refectory table, created and led by Janet Currie, is an all round inspiring place to be. Janet is a specialist in the arts sector who collates and collaborates with likeminded creatives, artists and makers to deliver creative artist led workshops, creative business courses and a whole host of other inspiring events.

The refectory table is quite different from other creative business workshops, its personal, intimate, relaxed and engaging. Rather than being business, business, business, theirs is a more thoughtful approach, and the focus is very much on creativity. There is passion and experience in their guidance and teachings that delivers a further level of authenticity, which I feel is quite rare and quite special. 

Janet's home is a warm and inspiring place. From the refectory table & the garden to Janet's amazing hospitality,  beautiful food and delicious cakes, most honourable mention to the divine chocolate cake!

Helen is an award winning artist who moved to Leicestershire to study Textiles at Loughborough College of Art and Design. Helen has a distinctive style, intricately combining naive compositions and visual narratives with layered textures, rich colours and detail. Local talent with an international reputation, Helen has translated her work into greetings cards, ceramics and textiles too. 

It was here that we were to learn just a few of Helen's secrets... 

Plants and Pattern

To set the scene, we arrive to a table laden with paintbrushes, paint, paper, pencils, 

There are four of us, all from different counties, yet bizarrely two of the attendees were at school together, and two of us are bakers, which makes for a most formidable group.

Helen talked us through her process, by first drawing inspiration from nature and the outdoors Helen takes simple everyday patterns and imagery and builds them into extraordinary works of art. 

Helen has a wonderfully gentle style of teaching, offering support and advice when needed whilst encouraging us to unleash our creativity and go with the flow. Through layering paint, paper treatment and building a colour palette, the beginnings of some rather exciting work starts to take shape around the table. We spent some time sketching in Janet's inspiring garden which is filled with colour and texture, you can almost feel the earth quiver and shake as the garden wakes to reveal new life in the throws of spring. 

At around lunchtime, through paper scrunching and ripping, mono printing and intricate work with paintbrushes, works of art are starting to come to life around the Refectory Table. We down tools for delicious refreshments of crushed carrot with harissa, pistachio and pitta bread, beetroot salad with sunflower seeds and green beens with tahini dressing and walnuts. All rounded off with an orange & lime ice cream, rhubarb compote and melt in the mouth all butter shortbread baked by Helen.

At around mid afternoon Helen produces something quite special and gives us a sneak peek into one of her sketchbooks, the most delightful illustrations leap from the page, intricate pattern and mark making abound.

The excitement continues as the Gold paint is unleashed and we begin to put final touches to our paintings, whilst sampling a few slices of Janet's amazing chocolate cake.

At the end of the day, when we reluctantly put down our paintbrushes and bid farewell to the refectory table that has been most accommodating, none of us really want the workshop to end. To ease the pain of having to tear ourselves away, Janet sends each of us home with a goodie bag filled to the brim with treats and delights. Postcards and a pocket mirror designed by Helen, liquorice pipes & Homemade Rhubarb compote. We also have our prints and lovely memories of a day spent with good company, good food and creativity.

Helen's workshops are exclusively available via the Refectory Table, there are two more workshops this year, as follows:

• Saturday 9th July - Plants and Pattern - This is the course I attended, exploring plants and pattern inspired by local gardens and learning the secrets to Helen's techniques. 
•  24th September - Flowers and Vessels - focusing on decorative still life using a favourite vessel filled with flowers from Janet's garden. 
• 12th November - A Winter's Tale - a workshop to create a wintery scene with decorative boarders, complete with warm cosy wintery food and drink.

You can book your place here.

In the week preceding Helen's workshop I attended a coaching course led by Janet's partner Pete Mosely Author and Creative Business Coach. Pete's course was based upon his book 'The Art of Shouting Quietly' I cannot recommend Pete's book and his course highly enough! 

Janet will be opening her garden on the 11th and 12th June for the NGS open gardens and secret craft fair. The event brings art and gardens together and will feature a whole host of artists, modern crafts, tea, cake and creative delights. You can read about all the exciting things Janet has in store for the event and a full lineup of who will be attending over on Janet's Blog, The Secateur.

We'll see you there!

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Weekend Review: Jim Smallman

Anyone who's a Leicester City fan, or lives within a five mile radius of the city's centre, is likely to have had a pretty unusual weekend of celebrations. So we're please that today's Weekend Review comes from a lifetime supporter - the multi-talented Jim Smallman...

What do you do for work?

I'm a stand up comedian, writer, voiceover artist, podcaster and wrestling promoter. Which is a bit of an odd mix.

How do you juggle your day?

I'm not entirely sure, if I'm honest! I'm away from home a lot, which means that I try and organise my time so I can spend as long at home as I can to be with my wife (who is six months pregnant). My biggest challege isn't organising my time, it's trying to keep my travel down to a minimum. I rend to drive around 1,000 miles a week.

What's been your proudest career moment so far?

I wrote and performed a piece for Radio 4 last year that was very different to what my stand-up usually is, and pretty far removed from what people tend to expect from a working class, heavily tattooed man with a shaven head. The reaction I got to that was wonderful, from all kinds of different people. I love being on stage and making people laugh, but that's something you get instant gratification from. This was something that I didn't know would work, and will remain on the internet for years to come. There's a link to it HERE if you fancy a listen.

And your biggest achievement outside of work?

Being a dad. As mentioned before, my wife is pregnant and I can't wait to be a father again; my daughter lives in Leicester and is nearly 13. Despite never living with her, we've got a brilliant relationship and seeing her blossom into a brilliant young adult is just awesome. We get on very well, although she is clearly the adult in the relationship. I'm looking forward to seeing her be a big sister from August onwards.

Where do you call home?

Leicester was my home until three and a half years ago, before I moved to North Wales. I'm unusual in my line of work as I've never moved to London (but I still spend a lot of time there). Leicester will always be where I'm from, but I love living in Wales.

When is your weekend?

I don't really have one. Some weeks I might have Monday and Tuesday off, but that's when I tend to get my writing done, one of my podcasts recorded and have voiceover work come my way. It's certainly a bit of a pain arranging a trip to Ikea, that's for sure.

How did you spend this weekend?

On Saturday I had a complicated day, because I had a wedding to go to, plus a gig to do - and more importantly, I had to find a way of watching Leicester City lift the Premier League trophy around all of that. The wedding was in a village of North Wales and one of my wife's best friends. I'm grateful that my wife let me leave early to get to work and see my football team to be crowned champions (although I sense that she is feeling relief that I might be quiet about it for a bit now). The wedding ceremony was wonderful, although I was a little bit distracted by the llamas in the field next to the church.

After the photo, I drove twenty miles to a coffee shop that I know has decent wifi and had the strange experience of crying whilst watching Andrea Bocelli sing at the King Power Stadium on my iPad. I must have looked a state as one of the staff in there gave me a free slice of chocolate cake. Then 20 minutes into the game - with the score at 1-0 - I headed to Manchester for my gig, arriving really early so I could watch the second half of the game and enjoy the trophy presentation. The staff at the Frog and Bucket (which is a wonderful club on Oldham Street) let me log into the wifi there and brought be a burger. Then I cried again as Wes Morgan and Claudio Ranieri lifted the trophy, before composing myself and entertaining 180 people. I even mentioned my football allegiance and got a big cheer.

Because I was only working in Manchester this week, I managed to wake up in my own bed on Sunday morning, before popping to the shops to do a big shop and get everything I needed to cook a roast for the evening (my wife was working during the day). As it was an actual, proper day off before a crazy week (I'm off to London, Lausanne, Zurich, Geneva, Peterborough, London again and Manchester this week from Tuesday to Sunday)  I was incredibly lazy, watching re-runs of Leicester's title celebrations and playing on my Xbox.

How typical was it for you?

I'll be honest, it's not a weekend that I ever though I'd see from a football point of view! I'm usually away from home for the weekend; it's always nice to be working in Manchester or Liverpool so I can stay a home rather than in a hotel. Having Sunday off is always nice, but I've usually got one deadline or another that means I end up working.

What was your highlight of  last week?

Sorry for the football answer, but on Monday Leicester won the league thanks to the Chelsea vs Tottenham result, so that was obviously a day that will live in my memory forever. Then on Tuesday I got a train from Crewe to London to talk on the radio about the football. Exactly seven years before, I was watching Leicester play Crewe in League One. I thought that was a very strange coincidence.

Your ideal Sunday menu...

Ideally, I'd spend Sunday with my wife and daughter, and invite mine and my wife's families over for lunch. Family is super important; I'm lucky that my dad and sister are brilliant, but also that I get on really well my excellent in-laws.

Breakfast: I can't ever eat much in the morning. If I was up super early, decent granola always makes me happy. Up a bit later (I am prone to a lie-in) then it's beans on toast done my way. Chunky granary bread, lots of butter, a thin layer of Marmite on the toast, then beans, then some cheese.

Lunch: I only like beef or chicken when I cook a roast (and I love cooking, so I'd insist) but I can only really cook chicken. So your usual roast dinner with chicken, Yorkshire puddings and the like. Plus lots of potatoes for me (my wife doesn't eat them, so we rarely have them in the house) and tons of vegetables. The older I get, the more I love vegetables. And some kind of cheesecake. Ideally one involving peanut butter.

Dinner: I struggle to eat three full meals a day since I started dieting a few years ago, so I'd probably have more vegetables and some tuna. It's not all healthy though, because I'd remind myself of Sunday nights when I was a kid (after my bath, watching Bullseye) and fill up on biscuits (they are usually banned in our house).

What's in your fridge?

I've just been shopping, so at the minute lots of bags of microwavable mixed vegetables, yoghurts, fruit juice, cooked chicken and cans of Dr Pepper Zero (which I'm a bit addicted to). And far too may condiments.

QUICK FIRE: What's your favourite...

Book: 'Girlfriend in a Coma' by Douglas Coupland

Film: 'Dawn of the Dead' (the original 1978 version)

Album: 'Come On Die Young' by Mogwai

Sport: Football (sadly wrestling isn't a real sport)

Museum: The Imperial War Museum in London. I go there at least twice a year. See also, The Tate Modern.

Board game: Scrabble

Tattoo: Either one of my tattoos that my wife has matching version of, or the Hello Kitty that my daughter designed for me when she was little.

How can people follow what you do and get in contact?

I'm @jimsmallman on Twitter and Instagram. My website is jimsmallman.com, Facebook is facebook.com/jimsmallmancomedian, my wrestling company is progresswrestling.com and my football blog is thefootballneutral.com.

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Celebrating Leicester

It's been quite a week for our hometown. Against all odds (5000 to 1 at the beginning of the season in fact) LCFC were crowned Premier League Champions this weekend. In honour of their final match and receiving the Premier League trophy yesterday there was quite a party happening across the city. We headed down to King Power stadium with cake to join in the festivities. This weekend has really confirmed what we've known for a long time. Leicester is an amazing place often overlooked in the past, but no longer! We've never been more  proud of our city.  You can read a little more about Filbert Fox the cake over on Elle's blog, and we have a special weekend review from a huge Leicester city supporter coming up tomorrow...

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