The Olivier Award winning play Blue/Orange had its press night last night at the Birmingham Rep. This darkly funny play questions perceptions of mental health and race and proves to be a powerful and thought provoking piece of theatre that leaves as many questions unanswered as it answers. Christopher is a 24 year old black man who has been sectioned following an incident in the market where he works. He is due to be allowed home in 24 hours, but his doctor Bruce doesn’t think he is yet ready to face the outside world, believing Christopher to be an undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. He calls in his supervisor and mentor, the…

In recent years there has been a rise in remote working and working from home. The rise of the internet, the use of emails and the introduction of everything from Etsy shops to social media means that you no longer have to physically be in an office to be working for a company. In addition, many people now work for themselves and no longer need the financial constraint of having ‘premises’, but can actually work from the comfort of their own home. Many people who do work from home on a daily basis do choose to create themselves a home office in order to have somewhere peaceful and quiet that…

I find it hard to resist beautiful stationery. It sometimes feels strange that in these days of everything being online and electronic, including our notepads, our diaries and our correspondence, I still like being able to resort to pen and paper in order to write things down. I like the orderliness of a real diary, where I can use post it notes as reminders, hoard train tickets and school letters within the pages. Just as I have never really taken to Kindles because I like the feel of a book, I love the feel of a diary. I also like making lists, so a cool or beautiful notebook is something…

When the weather is as cold as can be, and then is at least a sprinkling of snow on the ground, it has to be the perfect time to turn our thoughts to Summer and our holidays. But whether you like to holiday in the UK, travel a little further afield and go to Europe, or travel to somewhere exotic on a long haul break, a holiday needs a bit of forward planning. A popular choice with UK travellers are holidays in France. Our nearest neighbour can offer glorious beaches and sunshine in the South, and lots of history and culture in Cities like Paris, Strasberg, Lille and Lyon. If you…

We’ve hit February, and today the temperatures definitely feel warmer and there’s even a touch of sun in the sky, it’s time to start thinking towards Spring. But Winter is a tough time for our cars, they take a lot of stress and pressure over this period, driving in conditions which can prove costly to your car, on roads that are icy, snowy or covered in grit. This can leave your car desperately in need of a service come Springtime. As a general rule, a full car service should be carried out every twelve months, but if you do use your car heavily, you should also consider an interim service…