Mother and daughter Capricorns, born within seven days – and 23 years – of each other. We can promise much laughter, lots of cooking and the occasional insight. Welcome to the little world of The de-la-Haye Girls.
We de-la-Haye Girls have always been avid readers. E is far more adventurous in selecting her material than me, but we often recommend and share books amongst our family. I’m always reticent to try anything new without a recommendation, such is my stubborn Capricorn nature. Prior to this year, I would only allow myself to read “for pleasure” during the holidays. There’s nothing better than selecting your beach reads at the airport and getting stuck in on the aeroplane, is there?
Recently though, with everyone having to go a bit slower and finding ourselves with more time at home, I’ve been treating myself to reading more often. There is a sense of cultivating a habit, or a flow, with the reading, but once formed there is nothing more luxurious than curling up with a blanket and something warm to drink and escaping into those pages.
Travel books are some of my favourite reads at the moment. Planning my next escape already!
With this in mind, I thought I’d share a list of our my most recent recommendations: the books that have had E and me hooked from cover to cover. Please do let us know what you are currently enjoying reading – we’d love to add to our shelves!
The Other Bennet Sister– Janice Hadlow. Don’t let the intimidatingly large size of this book put you off! Both L and E romped through this “alternative” and extension Pride and Prejudice story within a week. The perfect tonic post Bridgerton.
Quite – Claudia Winkleman. This funny, frank and fabulous book had me chuckling out loud. Our beloved Strictly presenter is so unashamedly herself in the writing, it really feels as though your talking to her. Or rather, she is talking to you, sharing her thoughts on all things from art history to the benefits of bangs.
I Am Not Your Baby Mother – Candice Brathwaite. Lots of wonderful female authors in this list, what better tribute to this week’s International Women’s Day? We’ve been long time followers of Candice on social media and her debut book is beautiful and brilliant. Enjoyable whether you’re a mother or not – beg, borrow or steal a copy!
In Paris – Jeanne Damas and Lauren Bastide. Paris is my happy place. It always has been. I’ve often fantasised about running away and starting a new life across the Channel, renting a tiny apartment in the Sixth…ideally with Vince and a cat. Whilst this is still a pipe dream, I love to read about my favourite city, circling all the cafes and streets I want to explore. Excellent reading if like me, you’re mourning the end of Call My Agent.
Yes Please – Amy Poehler. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been recommended this book by friends of mine and during this lockdown, after having picked it up several times, I finally managed to complete it. It’s a lovely, fizzy read which I’m sure I’ll come back to again.
Cook, Eat, Repeat – Nigella Lawson. Without fail, each Christmas, both E and I will receive some type of cook book. Cooking and sharing food is a huge part of our family and Nigella’s most recent serving is truly delicious. It reads more like a novel than a cookbook thanks to the way Lawson talks about the emotions surrounding food. It is so comforting during these uncertain times. Oh, and her recipe for Linzer Cookies went down a storm for our German Themed Date Night two weeks ago!
L and E share a list of little things they are looking forward to this Spring.
“Here comes the sun, and I say, it’s all right” – The Beatles.
Is it just us or is there a sense of optimism in the air? Now we finally have a roadmap out of this lockdown and with various family members being called up for vaccines, everything is starting to feel lighter and certainly brighter. As you know, we de-la-Haye Girls love a list, so we thought we’d share one all about the little things we’re very much looking forward to this Spring. And, as we have been ever so busy with our respective jobs this week, we decided to indulge in a little thought experiment: we agreed to prepare our lists without discussing them with each other to see how many items we’d have in common. We estimated that our individual lists would share a couple of items. Have a read below; we were SHOOK by the similarities, not just in content, but in how we express those desires too. What is it they say? Great minds think alike, or perhaps that fools never differ… We simply say: “is there an echo in here?”
Flower puns always make my daisy
Lily’s list
Those extra hours of daylight. By the end of the month, it won’t be getting dark until 7.30pm making the evenings feel long and generous. I’ve certainly enjoyed getting out for a daily walk in time for the sunset and playing spot the daffodils. Have you noticed the bird song increasing too? It is just wonderful.
From next week, we can safely meet up with one other person outdoors and not just to walk! We can have a coffee and chat – what sweet bliss. I’m already planning my picnic menu once the government, but more importantly the weather, permits!
Creating garden mood boards on Pinterest. Long time readers will know that I recently moved house and finally have a garden of my own. I’m sure E won’t mind being roped in to help out. Your Garden Made Perfect on the BBC is providing us both with a mountain of inspo and ideas. Is anyone else hooked?
Digging out our summer clothes and the welcome return of Birkenstock season. Packing away your winter wardrobe in anticipation of the warmer season is honestly such a life hack. It frees up your closet space and you get the thrill of new pieces without the financial sting.
At the minute, any and all holidays feel so needed. What better way to appreciate getting safely through the last 12 months than celebrating and spoiling our lovely mothers next weekend. I feel incredibly lucky that les grands-mères in the family have now been fully vaccinated and I can’t wait to show them, and E, of course, how much I’ve missed them. Oh, and if Mother’s Day isn’t for you, it’s St Patrick’s Day on the 17th of this month. Race you to the Guinnesses!
Duck, in dappled light.
Emma’s list
The easing of Lockdown 3.0 restrictions, hopefully from mid-April. This will mean Lily and I can meet for a socially-distanced walk and, critically, I can have my hair coloured and cut! I am doing the “double long” at the moment: the overall length of my hair is too long and the length of my roots is ridiculously long. I’ve made contact with the wonderful Kelly, who looks after my tresses – my currently stressed tresses (try saying that quickly) – and am on the waiting list for an early appointment.
Getting my COVID vaccinations. On current projections, I should be called by the end of April/beginning of May and getting my jabs should pave the way for me to see my beloved Mamacita, who I’ve not been able to see since Christmas. Mum had her second dose today and we are all looking forward to spending time together again.
The clocks going forward and lighter evenings. Like thousands of other people in the UK, I’ve been struggling with this latest lockdown as it coincided with the darker days of winter. I’m very fortunate as I’ve been busy with work throughout the pandemic – genuinely, I recognise just how fortunate I have been – though that has meant that since November on week days I have tended to start work while it is still dark, and by the time I finish work it is dark again. I’ve had weeks where I’ve been so busy I haven’t been outside the house all week and I don’t like how that makes me feel, what it does to my fitness and wellbeing levels and what it does to my skin. Sure, I’ve been popping my Vitamin D supplement each day and trying to take a quick walk at lunchtime, but working with clients all over the world, who themselves are trying to deal with the consequences of COVID on their businesses, adhering to a strict lunchtime break hasn’t been possible. But, lighter evenings mean I can get in a walk after work, indeed, Steve and I managed this thorough the first lockdown and we loved it. I have also ordered myself a new bicycle and as soon as it is ready for collection, I’m going to make a concerted effort to “get on my bike” more regularly. I am not a natural cyclist, but know how good it is for me and if I can make it a habit, I reckon I should be capable of getting to enjoy it, at least once in a while.
Spending time in my garden, one of my great pleasures in life. Daffodils are out, tulip leaves are through, the lawns have had their first cut, sweet pea plug plants are on order and I can’t wait to get my fingers in that soil. Fear not, I will try and ration posting of photos of my flowers to TdlHG website and Insta feed (note the careful phrasing here: “I will TRY and ration…” – no promises).
Dressing up, a bit. I have spent most of the past year in gym and walking gear. The joy of my home office set up is that Zoom, Teams, WebEx, Blue Jeans, FaceTime and any other video conferencing platform you care to mention, only broadcast the top half of my body. A bright lip, reasonably styled hair and a scarf artfully arranged around my neck or shoulders permits me to commit all sorts of Sweaty Betty leggings and wicking top atrocities out of range of camera. With spring, I am going to start rotating in some of my “proper” work clothes; I have a a yen for wearing a crisp, white shirt, some tailored culottes and a pretty cardigan. I’m going to ease myself back, perhaps dressing up two days a week in March, ramping up to three or four in April, so I’m ready and match-fit for actual face-to-face meetings again, hopefully from early summer. Just don’t ask my to include heels in this mix. I am unsure I will ever be able to wear heels for a full day again; I am sure this pandemic has altered the shape of my feet. Hey, colourful Adidas Gazelles are good for professional meeting attire, right?
And Easter Eggs, of course. Who could forget that great joy?
We know, we know. It’s spooky just how much of a mirror image our lists are. Or is it? Perhaps if you ask anyone at the moment, we would all echo these sentiments? We’ve all been so constrained by the pandemic it not really surprising we are hankering after the modest, but near-universal, hearts’ desires included in our lists. Whatever the reason, we have chosen to celebrate our symbiotic freakiness in all its glory!
What are you most looking forward to this Spring? Does your heart desire things very different to us, or do you share what we are looking forward to?~ The de-la-Haye Girls.
Hoping for days as happy as this one, in August of last year
We do hope you read that title in a Welsh accent so that it rhymes…a la Emily in Paris in a French accent. The next post in our love letter series, inspired by Valentine’s Day, is L’s love letter to theatre. We hope you enjoy reading it.
The last time L stepped into a theatre, almost a year ago
Dear Theatre,
Where do I begin? What a year we’ve had. I suppose, rather than dwell on the present too much, I’ll think of fonder times. It began, as most of my best stories do, at my Nan’s house.
Growing up, I’d spend endless summers and half terms at my grandparent’s home in Wales. My favourite pastime was to watch Disney films in the conservatory while I doodled drawings and did my colouring-in. Once I’d grown out of princesses and talking animals (as if I ever have), Nanny Val pointed me in the direction of the great movie musicals. I devoured The Wizard of Oz, Calamity Jane and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, but then came the real lightbulb moment: Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. The version we had was taped from the telly by my lovely and much-missed grandfather, known to his grandchildren as Lloydie, which resulted in a lack of crispness in quality, wonky alignment in the credit sequences and the entire film having a slightly brown hue, but I didn’t mind in the slightest. Once I had the bug, that was it.
One of the more unusual venues I’ve worked in; a converted chapel in Merthyr Tydfil. My Land’s Shore, Theatr Soar, 2018
I became obsessed with cast recordings, thanks mainly to the musical, Annie. It was a childhood favourite and we played the cassette of the original Broadway cast recording every morning, literally every morning of Year 4, on the hour’s journey from home to my school in South London. It was around this time that I also started the heavy lobbying of my parents to send me to a performing arts boarding school. I also have a vague memory of announcing to my mother that I wanted to “become an orphan” (well, Annie, Anastasia and Harry Potter were, so why couldn’t I be?). The response from E? “Lily, do you know what an orphan is?” I remember replying along the lines that of course I did: orphans were children who lived in a house with all their friends and got to sing and dance and have adventures all day long.
E relented and off to a part-time stage school I went. This progressed to full-time performing arts education from the age of 14, and although I never wangled the boarding school bit, it was heaven. At the end of each term we got to perform in a theatre; my entire reason for being at this point. I remember walking through the rows of seats in the dark auditorium. Theatres were dangerous, our teachers warned, things could go wrong. For me though, theatres were exciting, terrifying, huge and beautiful. We were always chaperoned backstage, but once you were out in the warmth of the footlights, that was it – you were on your own. That sense of independence and control was palpable, and exhilarating, and wonderful!
The Opal Theatre, on board The Oasis of the Seas, where L performed in Cats 2017
Oh, my theatre. How I love your traditions. The opening night cards and flowers lining the corridor to the dressing rooms. The hunt for the “best spot” in the dressing room. Ideally this is at the end of the row, near the window, next to the coffee machine and as far away as humanly possibly from the door and showers. I love: the hushed whispers backstage when an understudy gets to step into the spotlight; the onstage physical and vocal warm-up, everyone bare-faced and wig-capped like an alien army; signing in and out at the stage door; getting post (and Amazon Prime) deliveries to the theatre because it is quite honestly our second home and where you’ll always find us; the rush to get on the road and home on the final night in a regional venue; the tiredness-induced delirium of a panto three-show Boxing day schedule; Facetime calls with other theatrical friends who are working as you prepare for “the half”; grabbing a “medicinal” wine – just the one – after the show; travelling home on the Tube with a full face of stage make-up; the bows and panto’s celebratory “walk down”; and the overture – oh how I love the overture!
Cats – can you spot Lily?
My love of the theatre doesn’t just exist as an actor, I am a passionate audience member too. Settling into those plush seats or having to lean forward in the Gods as the lights go dark. There is nothing like that feeling. Grabbing a drink at the interval and swapping thoughts, being moved to tears in Act 2 and trying to stifle a whimper (thank you Hamilton; as impressive on the small screen at home as it was on stage). I enjoy the moments of leaving the theatre after final curtain, having stayed to listen to the outro in full and having applauded the orchestra, obviously, and rejoining the real world in the frosty London air. The memorable moments of quickly orientating myself to whichever street the theatre exit has landed me on and from there finding my way to stage door to wait for the departure of the cast, crew and musicians, to cheer them and thank them for their work. A late evening train snack, while reading the production programme from cover to cover is a critical part of the routine, as is thinking and talking about the production over the following days and, ultimately, falling more in love with the show as you re-listen to and compare and contrast a variety of cast recordings. More magical than all of this though, is getting to share that experience with someone for the first time, whether it’s a little one’s first pantomime or seeing my Dad’s reaction to Billy Elliott; there is nothing quite like it.
The phenomenal Phantom of the Opera, at the Leicester Curve. Photography by Pamela Raith.
I’ve always known that this world is fragile. As an actor, your career is precarious. Growing older changes the roles you’re suitable to play and one injury, including vocal injuries for those of us who sing, can prematurely end that once-in-a-lifetime role. Jobs are lost, shows are closed and reviews can sting. I knew this age-old truth when I entered this industry. What I – what none of us – could have anticipated is what has happened in the last 12 months, and exactly how devastating it would feel.
The cast getting to meet their boss, Lord Lloyd Webber
In June of 2019, I booked a job in the new Cameron Mackintosh UK tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. It was a job I had dreamed of doing since I was a little girl. I had been auditioning for it since I graduated drama school in 2012. Finally, finally, I had done it! On 16 March 2020, the day my Nan had travelled to Leicester to watch the show, we were called on stage about an hour before curtain-up for the evening’s performance and advised to go home for the rest of the day. The pandemic was progressing at such a rate that the theatre and production company had no option but to suspend the show until further guidance could be obtained from the Government. That was it: despite exhaustive and, I’ve no doubt, exhausting work by the production company to try and save our show, we didn’t manage to reopen. The pandemic has been devastating for many thousands of people and this is no “woe is me” story, but the day our beloved show closed and the weeks following, I shared that sense of devastation. Actors are nothing if not resilient and in the year since Phantom had to close in Leicester, I’ve appeared in online concerts. I’ve also felt the security and excitement of having booked three more acting jobs – a commercial, an international tour and a pantomime – only to have all three delayed or cancelled entirely as Covid 19 has continued its rampage. But I’m not giving up and I have hope and optimism: I know theatre will return eventually and I promise to be there as an actor and, more importantly, as an member of the audience when it does. How could I not? It is at my very core and simply my favourite way to spend an evening.
Theatre, I’ve not forgotten you. I miss you. I can’t wait to see you soon. You have my heart ~L.
L in her most recent role: Sybil the Enchantress, in Godalming’s Pantomime, December 2020. Photography courtesy of The Guildford Fringe Theatrical Company.
Please, please do return to theatres once it is safe to do so; it will be curtains without you. In the meantime, here are some helpful ways you can support the arts industry:
