Farmers Market

Saturday was the last Saturday in the month which means ......Moseley Farmers Market!!!!!  Yippee!!!

I brought my Mother in Law with me last month,  she's lived in Birmingham for 50 years and she had never before been, seriously?!?!!?!?  Anyway she thought it was amazing "It's like they have in foreign places"  was her verdict.

My favourite places are the Russian pie lady, Bake Birmingham with their amazing cakes (also available at Tilt) , The Magic Porridge Pot, the olive stall, Churds and Whey the french cheese guy.

Bake Birmingham

The Magic Porridge Pot

But there is so much more, unlike most of the "farmers markets" you see around there are plenty actual fresh seasonal vegetable stalls, fresh farm meats, sausage, bacon, pork pies etc.

Don't know why I am even bothering with this my last 3 posts haven't been read by anyone.  I give up there are better writers and more dedicated bloggers out there than me.  I wanted to change peoples perceptions of the the city but you need non-brummies to have a look and I realise now they won't the prejudice runs deep.  I'm just going to enjoy my city and take the pressure off, forget about the ass-holes out there.

Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Iiiiittttt'sssss Christmas!!!!!!!

Okay so Noddy hasn't actually said that yet but I saw the Coke ad on Saturday so close enough.  I was in the City Centre at the weekend and it is quite frightening how quickly it fills up once the Frankfurt Market (to give it its correct title) opens.  The main market was the usual design although I didn't get right up to Victoria Square.  But what surprised me was that the craft market, formerly Chamberlain Square and then Centenary Square, is actually now in Pigeon Park (the Cathedral Square to non-locals).  They have covered the grass with interlocking plastic hexagon panels so at least it won't get muddy.  At lot of it was the usual Isle of Sicily Fudge, Cheese, Pork scratchings, handmade jumper and jackets that are so beautiful but weigh a ton and the Baileys bar under the Christmas Tree.  There were some new delights though including a loaded chips vendor 😵Grilled Chicken stand and a guy with a something that looked like a Sitar playing Christmas songs.  You gotta love the diversity.

The reason I was in the city was to have afternoon tea at The Ivy for my friends 50th Birthday.  It amuses me that I am eating meals at The Ivy in order.  First visit Brunch with Mom, second trip lunch with a friend and now third trip Afternoon Tea.  So I really need to get there for dinner asap.  Anyway back to the tea, it was gorgeous sandwiches, creme brulee doughnut, raspberry tart, a little plant pot with chocolate mousse and of course scones with cream and jam.  As it was a special occasion we had the glass of champagne as well as tea, how decadent!  One of my friends has MS and she was having a bad day so came in her wheelchair, the staff were really nice and helpful, chirpy and fun.  That was the main thing I've noticed on all my visits, this place could be very intimidating but it's not it genuinely is casual and fun.

I had been to a Champagne Afternoon Tea at Marco Pierre Whites at the Cube a couple of months ago as a treat for my Mom.  She wanted to see Mamma Mia 2 so I booked the Everyman Cinema at the Mailbox, (who doesn't love a cinema where you can get a bottle of wine delivered to your seat?) and then afternoon tea.  I thought the actual afternoon tea was reasonably priced but as Mom does not like any sparkling wines we ordered wine separately, the 2 glasses of wine came to more than the tea for two.  It was nice, I have no actual complaint and we got a window table so nice location but somehow just not a special as The Ivy, can't put my finger on it.

 

Back at The Ivy I got there before the rest of the crew and was sitting at the bar, resting my feet people watching. An older guy came up beside me and barked at the bartender "A large whiskey and it has to be Glenfiddich!" The bartender said "Well the only Glenfiddich we have is 21" I genuinely think that the guy did not know what Glenfiddich 21 actually was, as he paused and look puzzled.  The bartender gently point out that a double Glenfiddich 21 would be £33.  The look of shock on the guys face was hilarious, I was watching through the mirror behind the bar so hopefully he didn't notice me.  But the bartender caught my eye and we smirked at each other.  He finally checked the drinks menu and selected something more in his price range with 2 Virgin Marys, a drink incidentally I can't get on board with tomato juice is just so nasty anyway but if it's not even going to get you drunk why bother Urgh!!

So what exciting delights does the greatest city in the country have for me this week?  Well I have physio on my shoulder, I fell over walking the dog back in February and torn a tendon it still gives me pain 10 months later 😬.  But on a brighter note it is the Seasonal Market at the Bond next Saturday (1st December) this season's theme is Chilli and Spice, looking forward to that.  So if anyone else is coming I'll see you there.

Recommendations

Last week I was chatting to a women in the office and she told me that she had a friend coming to stay from Cape Town, he would be renting an apartment in the city for two weeks and she asked what she could do with him.

My immediate response was to reel off a whole list of things, I think she was a little overwhelmed.  But this time I did pause to ask what he liked but she said basically anything he just wants to explore.  Here was my list:

• The Lovely Bones is currently on at The Rep
• I also said check out what's on at The Crescent (turns out it would be In Praise of Folly), The Blue Orange and The Old Joint Stock.  She was very intrigued by the Old Joint Stock idea as this is a theatre in the back of a pub, of course I also had to mention their delicious pies for a whole night out.
• Blakesley Hall - A Tudor Manor House, I haven't visited the house since I was at school but for the last 2 years I have been to the Crescent Theatre touring performances of Jane Austen works.  This year it was Emma and last year Sense and Sensibility.
• Aston Hall - A Jacobean Manor House,last time I was there was the Independent Birmingham Festival in the grounds on one of the hottest days of the year.  It also happens to be straight across from the Aston Villa Football ground, turns out the friend is a football fan, so I suggested they might be able to combine this with a visit to the grounds.
• Apparently he was also a Jazz fan,so I mentioned that there was often free Jazz performances on in the Foyer of the Symphony Hall on a Friday evening after work.
• Cadbury World obviously.
• Walking in the Lickey Hills
• JuJu's Cafe for Brunch, she's vegetarian so I enthused about the Vegetarian Hash they do, hmm my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
• The Museum and Art Gallery for the Pre-Raphaelites and the Staffordshire Hoard.
• The I realised that the German Market will be opening shortly after he arrives so that will keep them occupied for at least a few evening.

So that was my off the top of my head list, what would your list be, have I missed out any of your favourites?

Oh there you are......

Okay so I haven't actually blogged for nearly 2 years, oops.  I have a really good excuse, okay maybe not good but acceptable, hmmm right it's just an excuse.  So after my last blog I got asked by a company that were moving their head office from London to Birmingham to start blogging for their internal website to promote the city to their staff.  The plan was to transfer about 1,000 jobs from London up here and they wanted some of their experienced staff to relocate.

It was a very exciting time I can tell you, not only was I blogging about the city I love but I also got to host visitors thinking of relocating around the city for a couple of weekends and go down to their offices in London to promote the relocation package (wearing a fetching T-shirt with "Want to know more about Birmingham..............Ask me I live their" on it).

The weekends were fascinating we got to meet families and show them round.  On the Saturday there were walking tours of the city centre focused on different aspects Families, Culture, Shopping and another one that I can't remember now.  On the family tour we went to the Sea Life Centre, the Library, the CBeebies roadshow that conveniently was on and a canal boat tour.  Culture involved a lot of the Jewellery Quarter, St Paul's Square including St Paul's Gallery on Northwood Street that I wasn't aware of, they specialise in Album cover art they had a David Bowie exhibition on at the time 😢😢😢.  The Shopping tour including a trip to the champagne bar at Selfridges and a tour round the inner workings of the Bullring.  Then on the Sunday it was a coach tour around the city and suburbs (including the requisite stop at Cadbury World) and it was this that was the real eye opener for most people, they had all heard Birmingham was a concrete wasteland of 1960s shopping centres and council houses.  So to go around Edgbaston (south of the Hagley Road obviously), Bournville, Lickey, Barnt Green, Wythall and then round to Solihull was to say the least a surprise. 

Ultimately most of the families I got to see did actually relocate.  I remember one family with 2 of the cutest little boys ever who had been told the best places to look for property were Handsworth, Smethwick and Small Heath?!?!?!?!  I really do wonder who by?  I mean seriously, the Mom was definitely a Solihull type and wanted the boys in a good school, I gentle steered them away and in the end they settled in Stourbridge.

It was however challenging to talk to people who did want anything to do with Birmingham and were going to be negative no matter what.  I made a big mistake with one of those people once, he went straight on the attack "Tell me what's great about Birmingham then." I realise now that I should have quizzed him a bit more about what he does for fun and what he wants in a place to live.  But I didn't I started off the with usual statistics youngest city in Europe, 513 parks, gardens and open spaces, more canals than......blah blah.  When this failed I tried commuting distances because not everyone that works in London lives in London right?  So I started on about how close to the countryside everything is and how you can live a beautiful village and still get into the city in 30 minutes, but the guy picked up on this and exclaimed "Ha so the best thing about Birmingham is NOT living in Birmingham"  he roared with laughter and then just shut me down if I tried to say anything else. You win some, you lose some.  I can't change the world on my own.

But anyway even though I haven't been doing much blogging here I have been out and about on Instagram making sure people get to see the city at its best and find out about hidden treasures.  So I intend to blog weekly now going forward and I hope you enjoy it.