Tales of the unexpected in this week's newsletter
A surprising revelation from a peer of the realm, a Heydayer who makes a discovery about her past, an unexpected cleaning hack, and a memoir by a woman whose life takes a radical new direction.
This pic of me and the completely sensational Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, was taken after I’d interviewed her at an event earlier this week. I’ve been lucky enough to both meet and interview Tanni on a number of occasions and through every one of those encounters I’ve been inspired and impressed by her commitment to, and passion for, the causes she believes in, her deep but understated wisdom and knowledge and her wonderful warmth and self-deprecating humour.
It was during one of those typically unaffected and open conversations that she replied to one of my questions with a story that was so surprising, unexpected, and I thought, hilariously brilliant, that I really wanted to share it with you.
So that’s what I’ve done in this week’s blog. You can find out what the story was, and how it relates to something I experienced in my early days as editor of Woman’s Weekly, by CLICKING HERE
Jenny is a talented Heydayer who discovered a surprising fact about her family history when she was mysteriously drawn to an item in an antique shop window. You can discover what that was and how it revealed something about her past by CLICKING HERE
I’ve been waiting for the right moment to use this surprise, surprise
FRIDAY FUNNY
I feel this is it!
SMART SAVE TIP OF THE WEEK
Here’s a somewhat surprising, and reassuringly eco-friendly, way to freshen up a smelly washing machine courtesy of one of my favourite Instagram accounts, the marvellous brunchwithbabs (the internet mom/grandma you didn’t know you needed)
When your washing machine is less than fragrant, cut a lemon in half, remove the pips and squirt a swirl of toothpaste over the top of each half.
Then put the two halves in the drum and run the speed wash programme on high/hot.
When the programme is done, the inside of your machine will look sparkling and smell like a spa. And all without using any harsh chemicals.
THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN…..READING
As she’s about to turn forty, Alisha Fernandez Miranda is at the peak of her professional success with a life and a family she always wanted. But she’s also overworked and exhausted. In this delightful, lively and cheerfully funny memoir Alisha shares her experiences as she decides to take the surprising step of leaving both her career and her family behind to embark on a year of exploring the jobs she always dreamed of but never pursued, through a series of unpaid internships.
Her arduously laid plans begin well enough with her first internship on Broadway, discovering what it’s like, quite literally, behind the scenes creating the musical theatre shows she’s always been obsessed with.
Unfortunately the not inconsequential matter of a pandemic brings that internship, and the rest of her carefully curated arrangements, to a juddering halt and like so many parents around the world she finds herself locked down in her house in Scotland home-schooling her two children (an experience which confirms her complete unsuitability for a profession in education).
Down but not beaten, Alisha engineers a lockdown internship in the workout world (and discovers muscles she’d forgotten she had), and as restrictions lift she manages to secure positions in a luxury Scottish hotel (she’s a truly terrible waitress it turns out), and with a high-end art dealer (where her determination to fake-it-till-you-make-it serves her much better).
Alisha’s clear-sighted, honest and hilarious accounts of her experiences and emotions carry you through this engaging, relatable and thoroughly enjoyable memoir, as she doggedly and revealingly does what many of us may dream of but never quite have the courage to pursue.
You can buy MY WHAT IF YEAR at most bookshops and on-line
I’m pretty sure Alisha would more than agree with these
WORDS OF WISDOM
Whatever surprises or detours your week might have in store (including bridges if you happen to spot any), I hope they’re only good ones.
See you next time
Lovely as always. Particularly the path not taken and the lemon toothpaste trick!! Happy weekend. xod