December's Theme

"READ ALL ABOUT IT”

Current Affairs   December 2011

For this months task I would like you all to keep an eye on what is going in the media be it newspapers, magazines or online news.

I then want everyone to choose an article, from your chosen media, to present to the rest of the group.

I want to know why you chose that article; what was it about it that caught your attention? I also want you to formulate a response to the article in any form that you choose.

The article can be about anything. Just because it’s current affairs doesn’t mean it has to be about the economy or politics. I was recently reading ‘The Independent’ and the headline Happiness is a Warm Sponge caught my eye. I noticed it because two certain ladies we know are very keen bakers and the food writer Annie Bell was extolling the pleasures of baking. She was commenting that baking is this year’s hot food trend, which perhaps says quite a lot about where we currently are as a nation.

Just remember, we go to press on Friday 16^th December.

Amanda xxx

November's Dinner - The Arrival

Sting! He was the topic of our conversation on Thursday night as we sat huddled around our cosy little table by the window at the Woodman Inn in Thunderbridge. We had just survived a scary, rollercoaster journey through the dark, winding country roads where we had screamed as the car dropped down hills and swerved around sharp bends...we'd no idea where we were and as Amanda reminisced about the day when she flipped her mini over onto its roof on these very roads, we wondered if we were ever going to make it to dinner. But we made it and now here we were listening to Amanda seductively reading the menu aloud as though she was the voiceover for the Marks and Spencer's food advert. Sting had just started the first line of 'Fields of Gold' and we all began discussing whether it was necessary for Sting to always have a bit of chest out? No it wasn't. Did we find the tight trousers attractive? Certainly not. We all settled the conversation in the end by agreeing that we didn't really have any appreciation for Sting, his music or his "tantric ways!" Which caused me to attractively lose a bit of my white wine spritzer through one of my nostrils.

We'd all been waiting for this night...it had been a hard month with many changes and for some of us change was a hard thing to have to deal with. For me I just knew I needed to have some time out, I needed to be with the girls and run away from my problems if only for the night. Because that's what I love about the Intellectual Dinner Club...it's an escape. No matter how bad things are I know that I will leave feeling ten times better and with a smile on my face. I had very nearly stayed at home this evening because I just couldn't see how I was going to get past my grump and be sociable, I was angry with myself for letting my problems take over; but now here I was wiping wine out of my nose and trying desperately hard to compose myself in order to select something from the amazing menu that Amanda, and now Caroline were both still seductively reading aloud...it was not going to be easy.  

Keep reading below for more about our November Dinner...

Dinner is Served

We were one witch down tonight...Danielle had decided to stay at home. After breaking up with her boyfriend she was struggling to find the energy to be sociable and so would be missing this month's dinner. It was a shame as the menu had all of Dani's favourite foods on it...including a very naughty sticky toffee pudding. Our giant plates of food were brought over to us and we ooohd and aaaaaahd as we were served our slow roasted belly pork...complete with crackling and black pudding, roast pheasant with duck fat roasted potatoes and a chestnut mushroom pie with enormous hand cut chips. The food was fantastic, the restaurant cosy and warm, it was all perfect in our little nook by the window where our conversation turned to...smelly people on buses!  I am sure that many of you will share our loathing of public transport in the winter...the parting of the hair on your head when a person coughs behind you, or the dubious stain on the last seat available at the back of the bus, next to the boy with his underwear riding high above his waist band and his mobile phone blasting out some tinny hip hop. Yes public transport in the winter is a joy we have discovered. Unless you are Caroline who is willing to get her little car out no matter how bad the weather to avoid the smelly journey of a bus ride into town and who one year was rescued from the snow by some rather cool people in brightly coloured, fancy eighties ski wear...the thought of which caused me to nearly spray winter vegetable mash across the dining room. After a truly amazing dinner...dessert was absolutely necessary. The choices were so delicious we were tempted to ask for a little bit
of everything on the menu, but Caroline and I both settled on the chocolate and amaretto sponge pudding with white chocolate icecream and Phoebe on the modern banana split. Amanda (as always) chose an Amaretto liqueur coffee...Amanda is very particular about her coffee and how it is prepared. God help the restaurant if it is not served correctly...however we were all able to breathe a sigh of relief when it arrived lovingly prepared and thankfully in the correct receptacle.

Our Themes for November

It was time for our themes...the restaurant was still buzzing and so we felt it was the right time to discuss this month's theme 'Finding a Happy Place.' I was disappointed that Danielle wasn't here for this bit as I felt certain she would have entertained us with her possibly rude interpretation of the theme. Instead I kicked off with my theme, which was a collection of photographs of my happy place in Finland. My happy place is my husband's family summer house, we go there nearly every year for some well earned rest and relaxation. What I love about it is that there is nothing there but a beautiful lake and forest. The summer house is nestled amongst the trees and the sauna house is just below on the edge of the lake...where you can lay inside and look out of the window to watch the sunset. Sometimes we row the boat around the lake, pick blueberries from the bushes surrounding our house or take long walks through the forest. At night my husband makes up recipes and cooks us an amazing dinner and then we go to the sauna and swim in the lake as the sun sets. When it gets dark we take wine down to the deck and sit by the lake watching the shooting stars. There is no sound, just the sound of the water lapping against the rocks. Everything is so easy, so far away from my worries and problems. When I sit on the edge of the deck, staring out to the sunset with my feet dipping into the warm water and a warm summer breeze caressing my shoulders that's when I know I am in my happy place...there's nothing else like it...I come alive.

Caroline discovered her happy place just recently...it was a dark, foggy day outside and she sat snuggled up in her fleecy pyjamas and beanie hat (which has shares in all female moments!). Caroline loves the Scandinavian style of interior design and showed us some examples she had found in a magazine. The clean, white lines with splashes of red, sheepskin rugs and fairy lights. Her living room is almost there if she could only convince her partner  that the sheepskin rug would be an investment, a classic time piece to complete their Norwegian feel living room. And so Caroline realised that this is her happy place...her cosy living room, lit up with twinkling fairy lights and keeping her cosy and warm in the cold, murky afternoon. She settled in for her girly afternoon complete with customary chocolate and cosy slippers and snuggled down on the settee to watch one of her favourite films...Predator!

Amanda had struggled to find her happy place and so decided to write a list of the places where she felt happy...at her desk being creative, in the kitchen cooking, reading with a nice drink in her hand or having a chat with a friend over a cup of tea. And then she realised that she doesn't really have a happy place...home is a happy place if the circumstances are right, ideally with the right company. And so she took inspiration from the book "The Happiness Project" by Gretchin Rubin and found that she is at her happiest when she is growing and striving after goals. This inspired Amanda to start her own embroidery project. Of course Amanda who always plays down her theme then fetched out something truly amazing, a fantastic embroidery, which although not quite complete was making Amanda set herself a goal. Although often these projects can frustrate her, after speaking to her Mum on the phone who advised her to just do a little bit at a time...she discovered that her happy place is being at home, working on a project (a little at a time) often with somebody there that she can talk to.

Phoebe found that she had more than one happy place. She began by talking about her cat Boris...being at home with her faithful cat who always manages to make her feel happy. She then listed some of the simple things that help her to find her happy place...reading Sainsbury's magazine (especially the Christmas issue); drinking a mug of hot chocolate whilst snuggled up at home; her recent visit to the cinema at midnight to watch Breaking Dawn she found,  was definitely a happy place to be. Making cakes with Catherine; driving in the car listening to Fleetwood Mac; watching trash TV like Strictly Come Dancing and Merlin on a Saturday night; wearing new pyjamas; chatting in the car with her boyfriend Alex and finally being at The Intellectual Dinner Club. All of these things made Phoebe feel content and in her happy place.

Time to say goodbye

A few strange things had happened tonight...the booking itself had been strange as Amanda had mentioned...how did they know the booking was for five? On arrival there was four of us but the man behind the bar said "booking for five?" And at the end of the night...when we were served our desserts we had all been thinking we could really do with some water but none of us had spoken up...suddenly the staff appeared with a jug of water and four glasses. Were the staff at the Woodman also psychic?...We were strangely impressed. It had been a fantastic evening...despite the absence of Danielle. The restaurant had been superb, the food and service had been far beyond our expectations and everyone seemed so much more happier and relaxed at the end of the night. We left our little card on the table, paid our bill and then ran away giggling. We squealed and laughed as once again the little car twisted and turned like a rollercoaster through the winding country roads...our faces hurt from laughing and I was desperately trying to hold onto a wee as we jumped around in the back seat. Despite us all having different happy places...I think at the end of the night we all shared one happy place in common...The Intellectual Dinner Club.

Catherine x

What Makes You Happy? - Part 2 : Finding a 'Happy Place.'

When I first gave the theme out to the girls Danielle laughed predictably. I knew as I wrote it that she would say (with a wink and a nudge) that she knew where her "happy" place was and sure enough she did! But I knew that most of us had all been feeling a bit down lately and not very happy and that's what inspired me to get the girls to seek out the place that makes them happy. There are a few times and places where I have felt truly happy and when I am feeling down I forget about those times and tend to wallow in self-pity and then I start to feel unhappy again. By completing this theme I want to have something that I can look at to be reminded where it was or what it was that made me happy and then hopefully it will make me feel happier again...I hope that makes sense. I'm intrigued to find out at the next dinner what the girls have done for their themes...as always at Christmas time it gets harder to find the time to complete our themes, but we always do. Right now I'm just putting the finishing touches to mine whilst sitting in front of the television watching 'Meet Me in St Louis' and eating my fourth piece of chocolate...okay I'm lying it's my sixth...I'm past caring and it's Christmas! I really like taking a bit of time out from all of the hustle and bustle to put my theme together, a bit of time off from the world. What would I do without the Intellectual Dinner Club?

Catherine xx

Table for Five?

I have just booked the table for our next meal; well kind of booked it as they are not taking reservations for midweek bookings until December, but I was assured that there wouldn’t be a problem with seating us. The lady on the phone then asked if it was a table for five to which I replied, yes - how did she know it was for five? I was too taken aback to ask and have now convinced myself that our reputation precedes us.

Each month we book under a different name and for this month I chose Atticus. Anyone who has read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ will understand my choice. Carrying on from last month’s theme I chose this novel from the big read challenge; not quite sure how I’ve managed to miss out on such a great classic. Atticus Finch is a role model for all men and for all fathers and I have fallen head-over-heels for him. I find myself wanting to be a better person for him and the example that he sets. It’s really hard sometimes to see beyond yourself and step into another persons shoes, but Atticus sets a benchmark to live by. What an amazing piece of literature that gives us such wonderful human characters that they can become a part of our lives and enrich our souls.

Amanda xxx