Weekend Review: Ruth Clowes

We were so happy when we heard that the lovely Ruth Clowes was returning to blogging at Clarendon Spark - a blog devoted to the past and present of one of our favourite parts of Leicester - especially as it gave us an excuse to ask her a few questions about her weekend habits...!

What do you do for work?

I'm a communications manager for a charity. I also do a bit of freelance writing on the side, including writing about Leicestershire and Rutland's restaurants for Food and Drink Guides. This is brilliant because it combines two of my great passions - writing and eating delicious food.

What's your proudest career moment so far?

You won't find this on my CV, but my proudest career moment was in 2001, when I had a summer job at the Jodrell Bank Observatory café. A hero of mine, Sir Patrick Moore, was visiting the observatory (it houses one of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world) and popped into the café for lunch. I had the honour of serving him up a humble portion of sausage, chips and beans. I was seriously star struck (pun intended).

What's your favourite way to relax and unwind after a busy day?

A bit of escapism works wonders. If my day has been particularly stressful I like to spend some time researching wherever I'm going next on holiday and maybe making a few restaurant bookings or practicing ordering a coffee in the local language.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Along with everyone else in my class at primary school, I wanted to be an astronaut. I think we must have done a class project on space and we all got a bit carried away. We didn't just have vague aspirations to become astronauts - we were genuinely convinced that it was going to happen and that the lot of us were going to join NASA and jet off to Mars together. I don't think anyone in the class realised this ambition, although I did at least get to meet Sir Patrick.

What are your favourite pastimes outside of work?

I'm incredibly faddy. Apart from the obvious things that everyone does in their spare time like drinking gin and watching Lucy Worsley documentaries, my favourite hobbies change frequently. I'll probably be onto something else by the time you publish this, but right now I'm enjoying knitting, origami and the board game Carcassonne. Obviously, I'm hugely geeky as well as incredibly faddy.

What's your favourite thing about living in Clarendon Park?

Clarendon Park has got that whole 'village within the city' vibe going on. I love the number of independent shops and businesses in the area. Along with the high student population and the strong sense of community, it makes for a vibrant and laid-back atmosphere.

When is your weekend? 

My weekend starts at 5pm on Friday afternoon and doesn't end until I arrive at work on Monday morning.  That's 64 hours of solid back-to-back weekend loveliness.

What's a typical weekend look like for you?

My partner and I are both very busy at work right now, so our weekends are precious and we try to keep them as tranquil as possible. Friday evenings invariably involve a trip to Babelas on Queens Road for a few glasses of The Crossings and a cheese board. Saturday mornings are generally given over to chores but the rest of the weekend is a heady mix of tasty food, frequent macchiato breaks, blogging, reading, Yahtzee and general restorative vegetation.

Although I'm a lover of routine, I try to make sure each weekend involves something novel, which is invariably a visit to a new independent café, restaurant or shop somewhere in Leicestershire. Last weekend I spent an evening at the fabulous Delilah deli in St Martins at a 'Four Corners' wine and food tasting event.

Your ideal weekend break... 

A lazy few days somewhere in Europe with a pretty old town. No itinerary or pre-bookings or 'must-dos', just plenty of sitting outside sunny cafes, wandering through cobbled streets, soaking up the atmosphere, taking photos and eating delicious food. 

Your ideal Sunday menu... 

Breakfast: Boiled eggs and soldiers on a sunny balcony overlooking a sleepy town square

Lunch: A picnic in the park with friends - delicious morsels picked up from a local deli on the way

Dinner: Loads of tiny courses and matched wines somewhere fancy. John's House in Mountsorrel will do very nicely.

Do you have a signature dish you like to cook?

I love making frittatas because they're so quick and easy and a really good way of using up tasty leftovers. Just chuck it all in pan, cook everything through and pour some beaten eggs on top. Finish it off with a good thick layer of grilled cheese. It's not very sophisticated but it's always tasty.

What's in your fridge?

There's a Brockleby's Wild Deer Pie that I bought at the Clarendon Park Summer Fair in there right now with my name on it. Also a big pot of posh gravy to go with it.

QUICK FIRE - without too much thought, name your absolute favourite...

Book: An Equal Music by Vikram Seth
Word: Razzmatazz
Film: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, or anything else directed by Wes Anderson
TV Series: The Sky at Night
Holiday destination: Cadiz, Spain
Museum: Musée Rodin, Paris

What is your guilty pleasure?

Raw bacon. Preferably smoked. Straight from the packet.

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

Website: ruthclowes.co.uk
Clarendon Spark Blog: clarendonspark.co.uk
Twitter: @ruthclowes
LinkedIn: ruthclowes

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Flashback: May

It's been over a year since we moved from our original blog, Make Do and Spend, to The Weekend Collective, so we thought it was worth a retrospective look back into the vaults.

It's so great having our blog posts to remind us of where we were, and what we were doing at this time one, two or five years ago. A  bit like a diary, that we share with the rest of the internet.

Last year...

• May 2016 was a very exciting time for our home city of Leicester - we celebrated the football win with a Filbert Fox cake, an ode to Kasabian, and a few words from Twitter royalty.
• Elle shared her go-to granola recipe - and morning routine
• And comedian Jim Smallman shared his weekend in review

Two years ago...

• Two years ago, Elle was taking a well needed stroll through the bluebells.
• And Becca was holidaying in Positano, on Italy's Almalfi Coast (eating lots of pizza and pasta)

THREE YEARS AGO...

• Becca was walking with owls (yes, really)
• Elle was whipping  up some green garlic pesto

FOUR YEARS AGO...

• Elle was baking picnic bread for a day at the races - full of onions, cheese and tomato
• And Becca was reporting back from her first visit to Amsterdam (she loved it so much she's since been back, twice!)

FIVE YEARS AGO...

• Becca went along to the Chelsea Flower Show, with her mum
• And Elle was feeling a bit under the weather, but celebrating the comfort of food

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Weekend Review: Janet Brown

You may have noticed we've not been very active bloggers recently - sometimes "real life" gets a little too hectic to reflect online. But now we're back - and what better way to return than with a Weekend Review from one of our favourite bloggers (and now RL friend) Janet...

What do you do for work?

I’m a Book Selections Manager for The Willoughby Book Club, which basically means I pick books for people as a job! I also manage all their digital marketing and social media. The WBC is a Leicestershire business set up in 2012 by husband and wife team Adam & Chloe Pollard and they’ve since grown to be the foremost book subscription company in the UK.

In summer 2015 I was a very stressed secondary English teacher, when I saw an advert for book experts to join their team: I applied, and the rest is history. Now, instead of working 70+ hours a week, I spend my days looking at, talking about, taking photographs of and choosing books.

How do you go about choosing a book for a complete stranger?

99% of our customers give us information when buying a subscription – whether it’s for themselves or as a gift – so I have to hand a list of authors, genres and/or books that each customer loves, and sometimes extra information like a Goodreads page or blog. From there, it’s a mixture of extreme book geek-ness, research, and luck!

For example, if a customer has told us they enjoy reading YA romances, Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novels, and the Tales Of The City series, I might pick one More Than This by Patrick Ness – combing, as it does, elements of LGBT romance and dystopia in a literary YA adventure. It helps that I read – a lot – and that I enjoy immersing myself in researching titles.

What advice do you have to someone considering a change in career?

It’s something I’ve done twice now: first, applying for a PGCE after spending a couple of years as a legal secretary, and then leaving teaching for WBC, and both times I felt instinctively that I was doing the right thing. I’m not a risk-taker by nature, but in both cases I leapt first, looked later.

So my advice would be to trust your gut and your heart, and don’t let fear talk you out of something you know is right. Ultimately, if things don’t work out, you can always go back to the career you left with some new experiences under your belt and on your CV.

What's been your proudest career moment so far?

Even though I left the profession, so many moments in teaching made me proud: it’s a great job in many ways – those lessons when a student finally gets ‘it’, or when a class throw themselves into a text and enjoy it as much as I do. I don’t miss the stress of teaching but I do miss the students themselves.

And your biggest achievement outside of work?

Being accepted onto an MA in Gender Studies at Leeds University, which I’ll begin in September.

When is your weekend? 

I’m very lucky to only work four days a week, so my weekend runs from Thursday evening until Sunday. Friday tends to be my ‘get things done’ day, leaving me with two days to properly relax.

How did you spend this weekend? 

It was a pretty typical weekend for me and my partner; as neither of us have family near (Thomas is from Glasgow and I’m a Yorkshire girl) there weren’t any family meals or gatherings to attend. We started Saturday the usual way: a lie-in punctuated only by our cat, Missy, shouting at us to get up.

Thomas is a huge foodie – he loves to eat and will try anything (provided it’s vegan!) so our weekends often revolve around our meals, both at home and out and about. Saturday was no exception; we started the day with Huey on 6 Music while we made breakfast – vegan croissants with fresh strawberries and strawberry jam – before heading out, first to Market Harborough for a mooch around the charity shops, then into Leicester for a late lunch at Oscar & Rosie’s, which has just opened and serves some of the best pizza in the Midlands.

Sunday was a lazy day at home. I started the day curled up with a cuppa and a stack of magazines, then worked on zines for an hour or two. I had a stack of my previous zines to send out to people, as well as needing to edit some submissions for a zine Laura and I are currently working on. It’s called Mixtape and is all about 90s (i.e. the best decade!) nostalgia: we’re still looking for contributions in whatever form you like, so give me a shout for more information or to submit.

We had vegan ‘fish’ finger sandwiches for lunch, then went for a long walk on Aylestone Meadows. We’re so lucky to live in a city but with nature close by – within minutes of leaving home we’d seen a heron idly watching the river, a robin darting around collecting twigs for a nest, and a rabbit escaping into the hedgerow. Then home, with a cup of tea and a book (current read - The Lauras by Sara Taylor), before I made vegan lasagna for dinner, accompanied by 6 Music on the radio once again.

Which bits of your weekend do you usually edit out of your blog posts?

The inordinate amount of time I spend in my pyjamas! I’m a total homebody and can happily spend a whole weekend just pottering around the house, reading, and hanging out with my cat. All very enjoyable, but it doesn’t make for very interesting blog posts!

Your ideal Sunday menu... 

Breakfast: A large mug of tea and pain au chocolat fresh from the bakery, eaten with Thomas on the balcony of the Paris Airbnb that we stayed in on our first trip together.

Lunch: A salmon cesear salad with a glass of sparkling wine, on the outdoor terrace of Montebello (in the southern suburbs of Cape Town) with my mum, cousins, aunt and uncle.

Dinner: I’d dine solo, with just a book for company, on veggie nachos at Lola Rosa in Montreal accompanied by a pint of local Quebec cider.

What's in your fridge?

My fridge has a split personality; although I tend not to eat or cook meat at home, my shelves usually have at least three kinds of cheese as well as butter and eggs for baking, while Thomas’s are stuffed with an array of vegan staples such as hummus, vegan mayo, and Violife cheese. Plus, of course, stacks of fresh veggies and usually at least three lots of leftovers (currently languishing in Tupperware -  some homemade guacamole and leftover chilli, and a tofu Thai red curry).

QUICK FIRE - without too much thought, name your absolute favourite...

Book: Impossible to name just one! But three off the top of my head are Persuasion by Jane Austen, anything by Poppy Z Brite, and Simon Vs The Homosapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Film: Dazed & Confused

Fashion brand: ASOS

Holiday destination: Cape Town

Museum: The National Media Museum in my hometown of Bradford.

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

I’m @jbistheinitial on Twitter and Instagram and my blog is jbistheinitial.blogspot.co.uk

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Happy Friday!

Weekend musings and inspirations from the pair of us -  happy Friday!

Elle:

If I had an iPhone 10 I would definitely be downloading these amazing, slightly hipster/foodie emojis via Food 52 - avocado emoji anyone?! 

Shock news this week as the Bake Off moves from the BBC to Channel 4. I've mixed feelings about this as I do think the Bake Off was due a change. However no Mel & Sue and the fact that viewing will now be interrupted by adverts means the future looks bleak. If the opening credits are updated (that goddamn raspberry cake irritates me every time, to the point where C now requests I close my eyes when it comes on - its in the WRONG PLACE) then I'll consider giving it a chance.

I adore everything about this video:

Becca:

Wow. I've never even noticed the cake in the Bake Off credits...!

Meanwhile I've been enjoying another BBC offering - I say enjoying, when I really mean trying-not-to-shout-out-in-public. Even if you're not a Radio 4 listeners, you'll know that major stuff has been going down on The Archers - even if you've never tuned in before, it's so worth listening back to the Rob/Helen court drama in the last couple of weeks...

I've also started following the well-worded tweets of Twitter poet Brian Bilston, after reading this article about his rise to online fame.

Finally... if you're a Leicestershire local, be quick! You only have one weekend left to visit Wistow Maize Maze - which this year is in the shape of the BFG! I went there for the first time over the Bank Holiday weekend and it was such a great afternoon out.

Have a wonderful weekend, whatever you get up to!

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Weekend Review: David Wilson Clarke

The weekend is what you make of it - there's endless opportunities whether you're at work or play. Today we welcome our friend, David Wilson Clarke for a peek into the life of a professional photographer, and what he might keep in his fridge... 

Where do you call home?

I have a little bungalow in Shepshed, Leicestershire, next to a river. This means that to go anywhere, I go through the countryside, which I love.

What do you do for work?

I'm a full time professional photographer. I love saying that, as I've been a photographer for quite a while, but only recently take it up full time. Portraiture, performance art and dancers, as well as commercial work.

What's been your proudest career moment so far?

I photographed David Attenborough, as he was opening Attenborough Arts new gallery. I was one of quite a few photographers so getting the shot I wanted in a busy event was tricky. But, at one point, he looked directly at me for a second, and I had my shot.

And your biggest achievement outside of work?

I used to be a Mountaineer, so I think it's climbing Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe.

When is your weekend?

Work is busier on weekends, so weekends tend to be snatched hours sitting in cafés or pubs after work has finished.

How did you spend last weekend?

I was assisting another photographer on a shoot in Paris. Saturday was full on concentration, making sure everything went smoothly, then Sunday was hanging around the cafés of paris, just drinking and eating.

How typical was it for you?

There is no typical. It may be working in arts centres, sorting out the studio, collaborating with a performance artist, photographing a dancer, or like this weekend, taking portraits on an Afghan camera with Leicester Lo-Fi. Although there is bellringing on a Sunday morning at All Saints Loughborough, which is the one fixed point in my weekend.

What are you most looking forward to in the week ahead?

I'm photographing a dancer on Tuesday. This is something I started recently, after realising I didn't know how to photograph dancers in a way that I liked. I'm an unlikely dance photographer, but these things come to you, and to go with them makes life interesting.

You're ideal Sunday Menu...

Breakfast: Veggy sausage cob, with mushrooms or an egg on top, and maybe a little bit of melted cheese. All at home, then relax.

Lunch: I'm not one for a big Sunday lunch, so a cheese board (With Sparkenhoe, a Shropshire Blue and a strong Cheddar.) In a nice pub garden with a pint of Summer beer, talking rubbish with friends.

Dinner: Years ago I was working near Bath and stayed in The Tollgate Inn, Holt, Wiltshire. The food was incredible. I've always wanted to go back and see if the food was as good. So there, again, with friends, talking rubbish.

What's in your fridge?

Cheese. Then some more cheese. 

QUICK FIRE: Name your absolute favourite....

Book: Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials. 

Film: I can never decide between Léon: The Professional or Amélie

Album: The answer to this changes constantly. Currently, Grails - Deep Politics

Digital versus Film photography, which gets your vote and why?

I work a lot with both, and both have their place. If you have a job with a quick turnaround: digital. But if you want something with a little extra, with imperceptible mood, something classy and classic, the film.

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

web: dwc-imagery.com

email: dwc@dwc-imagery.com

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DWCImagery/

twitter: @ddwwcc

flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwilsonclarke/

Instagram: @davidwilsonclarke

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