Curiously Charis

There is no ballet that conjures up the image of Christmas quite like The Nutcracker, and Northern Ballet’s version of the classic ballet is a festive delight. Premiering at Hull New Theatre on Wednesday, November 14, this classic ballet was brought to life through stunning performances, magical staging and a full orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s mesmerising score. Though the dancing took centre stage - with spellbinding performances from the cast - the special touches such as a mechanical sleigh and snow falling, as well as the glittering costumes, really took the audience’s breath away. Featuring all the main characters, dances and music everyone has come to love, the show had an English twist on it, with the action set in a traditional Recency England home, rather than in Russia. Highlights of the show included the family’s Christmas brought to life with the whole cast taking to the stage for an energetic Christmas Eve party, with the fabulous ‘mechanical dancers’ whose limb...

Hint: It's not usually like this for Goole Times reporters... So I'll start this post by saying I'm not really a court reporter, but being part of such a small team means you get to do so much different stuff. For example, Tuesday morning I was at the unveiling of some new playground equipment at a local primary school, then Tuesday afternoon I was at the scene of an attempted murder. That was an especially varied day! But I try to cover as much court as I can for the Goole Times. A few months ago I was speaking to a couple who had become the victim of a serious fraud and had wound up as witnesses in a crown court trial. They told me how surreal it was being in court, when they'd only ever seen court rooms on TV. This got me thinking about what a privilege it is to see the inner workings of the legal system, albeit from the slightly removed perspective of a reporter, to let you guys know what it's really like. On TV court is so dramatic. And someti...

I get it. The clocks have gone back, it's cold outside, work is dull and there aren't the kind of fun things going on like barbecues and beach trips since summer ended. Sure, summer was amazing this year, plus the fine weather lasted well into October, and we're all sad to see it finish. But why all of a sudden does that make November 1st the start of the Christmas period? What happens between summer and winter? Why is the whole autumn period just something we have to endure between the summer holidays ending and the Christmas holidays beginning? I walked into Tesco on Thursday morning and all the Halloween stuff had been replaced with Christmas decorations and wrapping paper! But the food has been in the shops since the end of summer. Everyone who knows me knows I like to be organised and do things early and I do normally start preparing for Christmas in November - stuff like buying a few presents and planning my decorations, maybe thinking of some nice things ...

I'll be honest, when I first heard Hozier playing on the radio I'd often switch the station. I was one of the few people who didn't really like Take Me to Church and the radio stations continuously played it. All. The. Time. I mean it was a huge hit, but it was saturated. I got the impression that Hozier was like another Gotye, he'd had a huge hit with Somebody that I Used to Know with the help of record company backing and radio hype (but don't get me wrong it was a great song!) and I felt Hozier was another artist with a limited range who would fade into obscurity after one song. It wasn't until a few months later that I was flicking through Spotify playlists when I came across Hozier again. I was listening to the Southern Gothic playlist when his song It Will Come Back invaded my earphones. I loved it. I had no idea it was Hozier. I was confused. Hozier was that guy with chorus-heavy semi-pop songs who got played on the radio all the time. This w...

It had been one of those strange October days, when the sun hung low and limp in the ice blue sky. As the day turned to night, the icy feeling drifted south to the ground, rendering frozen the golden leaves underfoot, the sharp air catching in the lungs of those unfortunate enough to have to venture out after dark. Rebecca was one of those lucky enough to find themselves in front of a warm fire with good company on the night of October 31, but as she sat on the window seat idly glancing over the slick tiled rooftops and up to the starry skies above, she couldn't help but wish she was one of those with somewhere more exciting to go. How often had she stared from that high window, over the centre of the town, wondering about the lives of those who dwelled below? Cassie had sneaked up behind her and grabbed her by the shoulders, asking what on earth she was thinking about in this 'dream world of hers'. “Just somewhere else,” replied Rebecca, lightly placing her ...

I LOVE French food. but it's one of those things that I don't really cook for myself very often. I think it's because sometimes it can be a bit of a pain to prepare, or quite expensive (I mean, if we're having to cook prime beef slowly in bottles of fancy French wine?! I'll leave that to the professionals.) So I always like to visit French restaurants. My favourite one locally is Rustique , which has two branches in York, they do a really good value set menu and have some great lunch dishes, too. I'd read about Beverley's  Fleur de Lis 's set menu I thought it sounded really good, so Phil treated me for my belated birthday meal (I swear I always have like four birthday meals. One is never enough...) My first impression of the North Bar restaurant was: wow. I loved the soft art-deco inspired decor, it was such a warm and relaxing environment to eat in, and luckily for us, very romantic. The waiter was really friendly, but service was al...

After the stress and craziness of the Great North Run (hello one hour queues to get back on the metro!) I was in very much in need of some relaxation time in Northumberland. I can't in all honestly say that is what I got though! Just because there is so much to see and do in the area, I ended up spending many hours on my feet anyway. Me and Phil spent Monday to Wednesday in the county, staying at a very nice  Airbnb  in a small village called Felton, near Alnwick. We arrived late on Sunday night after the run, and had a delicious Sunday dinner at the Northumberland Arms , which was very much needed by 8pm after burning 2,000 calories on the run! This was followed up by sticky toffee pudding to share. Had to be done! Yup... I ate it all! The Monday morning we decided to head into nearby Alnwick. I'd been to Alnwick before for a flying stop and wanted to see some more of it. We decided to head to the Castle , which was famously used for the wizard training in ...

I knew this year wasn’t going to be my year. I had struggled since starting training in April to increase my fitness as my legs and feet suffered from injuries with even the shortest of runs! Runner's knee held me back somewhat! I started seeing physiotherapists every month, who gave me deep tissue massages and lots of stretches and exercises to help, but I'd had to take six weeks out with compartment syndrome - putting my training schedule well back. About six weeks before the race I had a decision to make. Either sit it out and defer my place to next year, or just give it a go anyway. I decided I might as well give it a go. Despite all the obstacles, I’d been training for months and I didn’t want to waste all my hard work. So on September 7, with a bunch of sponsorship under my belt, some cute pink compression socks and a matching manicure (because that was going to help me run!) it was time for the journey to Newcastle. You could say I was nervous head...

Recently I started running again and I also made an attempt to kick some of the crap out of my day-to-day diet. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to enjoy cake, but it's not something I can eat regularly without piling on the pounds. Stupid metabolism. I took to Pinterest to track down some motivational pins to help me on my way, since I really struggled at first, but I've got to say that a lot of the 'fitspo' (fitness inspiration to the uninitiated) seemed problematic in the least. I know I tend to take things a bit too seriously, but as someone who's struggled with disordered eating in the past and hasn't always had a healthy relationship with food, I find it important to analyse the messages set out to people looking to improve their health, wellbeing or fitness levels to make sure they are going about it in a way that isn't going to be damaging to their self esteem. Here are my thoughts on a few of the offenders: "I" is ...