Your witty and wise Heyday Friday newsletter

A clutch of rather memorable women feature in this week's newsletter along with a surprising cooking hack and a very special little garden in an unexpected location.

Hello!

Did you watch the BAFTA Awards last weekend? If you did, you will have seen the luminously beautiful Isabella Rossellini, looking every bit as elegantly fabulous as she did at the Golden Globes earlier this year.

But it wasn’t so much the drop-dead gorgeous outfits she wore to each of the ceremonies (although weren’t they both just sensational in their very different ways?), rather something else about her appearance that caught my attention and made me think about a subject I’ve written about before - several times - on These Are The Heydays over the years.

It’s something I feel has moved on enough (and not in a good way in my view) to warrant another conversation, and something I’d be really interested to know your experiences of and thoughts about.

Find out what this potentially contentious subject is by CLICKING HERE.

---

THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN……WATCHING

Here I am, late to the party yet again. Because not only is Hacks approaching its fourth season already, but it has amassed an impressive trophy cabinet of industry awards along the way. Having romped through the first season and already started on the second, I can confirm that they’re all thoroughly well-deserved.

Terrifically written, terrifically acted, and terrific to look at, this terrifically enjoyable comedy follows the mis-matched fortunes of comedy legend Deborah Vance whose long-running Las Vegas residency is threatened as her star begins to wane, and young up-coming comedy writer Ava whose work has dried up thanks to an ill-advised tweet. The two reluctantly meet courtesy of an introduction by their shared agent and after a considerably rocky start, their relationship develops, with plenty of mis-steps and confrontations along the way, from professional undertaking to cautious and at times moving friendship.

One of the big appeals of Hacks is that it can be crackingly, and at times brutally, observant and funny, but also throws in moments of powerful insight and emotion. It’s a winning (indeed, award winning, as already mentioned) combination which makes it all the more layered and satisfying to watch.

Like A Real Pain last week, Hacks is bolstered by two tremendous central performances - Jean Smart is fantastic as the jaded, battle-hardened diva who needs to find a way to re-ignite the career she’s fought so hard to achieve and maintain, whilst Hannah Einbinder brings just the right combination of self-belief and self-doubt to the role of Ava who is just setting out on the hard-knock road of comedy life. There’s also a great cast of supporting characters, each of who become more rounded as the series progresses.

Oh, and if all of that isn’t enough to tempt you, each of the episodes of Hacks is just 30 minutes long, making it easy peasy to binge watch. (It also addresses the theme of THIS WEEK’S BLOG - another tempting incentive to have a look, surely?)

You can see all episodes of HACKS on Sky and Now

And watch the trailer for series one HERE

---

WORDS OF WISDOM

The late, very great indeed, Nora Ephron was a woman who could be as thoughtful and thought-provoking as she could be fabulously witty and funny (not the same thing). So much of her writing has served as guiding mantras for me over the years, not least this

---

SMART SAVE TIP OF THE WEEK

I’ve tried this cooking hack I read in a round-up of tips from top chefs a couple of times. I can’t in all honesty say I can taste the difference, but then presumably that’s exactly the point! It comes from Paul Ainsworth, chef-owner of No6 and Caffe Rojano in Padstow and The Mariners in Rock.

What Paul recommends is that if you buy your tomatoes on the vine (which I always do), you use the vines in stews, chillies and tomato-based sauces in the same way as you would a bay leaf (discarding them before eating in the same way you would with a bay leaf) “Why throw them away when they’re humming of beautiful tomatoes?” he asks? Why indeed.

---

WHAT’S MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

I realise this is going to sound odd, but hopefully when I explain the reasons (there are more than one, but one in particular), you’ll understand why I’m nominating my local underground station in this slot.

First you need to know that it’s not underground, but above it, which can both contribute to my enjoyment of it on a sunny day and compromise it when it’s windy and wet (although it does have cover).

It opened way back in 1867 and much of the construction - platforms, buildings, the walkway bridge over the tracks - is original. So that’s lovely for a start. It also has display board with pictures of the station as it looked back then and a short history of its development over the centuries, which I always enjoy looking at whilst waiting for my train (provided I’m not late for wherever I need to get to, which happens more often than I’m prepared to admit, in which case I’m too busy staring down the tracks hoping that’ll somehow make my train come quicker).

Another historic gem is a large plaque featuring an original 1933 tube map by Harry Beck, the mastermind behind it. What a genius piece of design it was. It’s fun to see what has changed as the network has expanded.

And yet, none of that is the main reason why the station makes me happy when I’m not rushing through it for whatever reason. Rather, it’s this. A wonderful little community garden which is run entirely by volunteers and which is bursting with plants, herbs and flowers (though not quite as bursting right now, obviously. I suppose I could have waited until summer to show it to you, but it made me so happy in the winter sunshine I couldn’t resist sharing it now. I’ll film it again later in the year). Everything growing in it is also carefully labelled so that commuters can not only enjoy but know a little about what we’re seeing. It’s joyful on so many levels.

---

FRIDAY FUNNY

I’ve shared some of Nora Ephron’s wonderfully wise words, so I wanted to finish with some of her equally memorable witty ones, especially as they could easily have served as the headline for THIS WEEK’S BLOG.

---

That’s it for this week. I haven’t forgotten about telling you which of the cards I gave my lovely fella on Valentine’s Day. It was this one. Did you guess?

I’m glad (and relieved) that he thought it was as funny as I did.

I’m off to see the new Bridget Jones film with friends (not lovely fella’s cup of tea, so he’s off the hook). Have you seen it yet? Everyone I know who has, has loved it, so I’m hoping I feel the same.

Have a lovely evening/day/weekend (whichever is most appropriate to the time you’re reading this). Thank you as always for your support and feedback, it means the world to me.