while you're ahead…

Today I gave myself a day off from hockey matches and washing machines and trips to the supermarket…

My good friend Emma and I drove to Stratford-Upon-Avon – the birthplace of Shakespeare – and had a lovely day walking around the town remarkably empty of tourists.

I do love a good Tudor wall… all wonky with history…

Mr M and I lived in a Tudor cottage when we were first married.  So cute. (And crooked.  And creaky).

We treated ourselves to lunch in the theatre restaurant and it was delicious.  I always feel very self conscious taking picture of food in front of me, but my fillet of sea bream with puy lentils, chestnut and celeriac pure’ (4 ingredients my children won’t touch with a barge pole) was as pretty as it was tasty.

We also may or may not had a cheeky creme brûlée… shhhhh.

And then we watched a play in the Swan theater.

I could lie to you and pretend that we’re very fond of 13th century chinese dramas… but that would be ridiculous… we wanted to go to a matinee at the RSC… and this caught our eyes.   And we enjoyed it!  It was a twisty yarn of love and lies, myth and superstition… but it kept us hooked till the very end.

I always find going to the theatre a huge re-charge for my brain.  It’s so distant from my day to day that it feels like a boost everytime.

A change is as good as a rest and all that.

A good day.

A very good day.

… and people in Stratford loose gloves too.  Reassuring.