peterborough Archives - Mummy & Moose

Ad: We received tickets in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I’ve always loved the film Heathers, so when I heard the musical was coming to New Theatre Peterborough, I knew I had to go. There are some films that just stay with you, and Heathers is definitely one of those for me. The dark humour, the iconic characters and the sheer madness of life at Westerberg High make it such a classic.

So, on opening night, I headed to the theatre with my daughter, my sister and our niece. A proper girls’ night out, with a bit of nostalgia thrown in!

And honestly? I absolutely loved it.

Bringing Heathers to the stage

If you know the film, you’ll already have an idea of what to expect, but seeing the story performed live gives it a whole new feel. The songs bring something different to the characters, and the combination of comedy, drama and those darker moments makes it a really entertaining watch.

It’s not your typical musical, that’s for sure. The humour is sharp, the story is outrageous in places, and there are moments when you almost can’t believe what’s happening. But that’s part of the fun.

What I really enjoyed was how the show managed to be funny while still touching on some serious subjects. Bullying, fitting in, friendships and the pressure to be popular are all things that feel just as relevant now as they did when the original film came out.

There’s plenty going on, and the music fits the story brilliantly. I came away feeling that it had done justice to a film I’ve loved for years, while still being its own thing.

Ellouise Delooze as Veronica

On opening night, Veronica Sawyer was played by understudy Ellouise Delooze, and I was really pleased we got to see her performance.

Veronica is such a central character, and so much of the story rests on her. She starts out wanting to fit in and find her place, only to discover that being part of the popular crowd isn’t quite what she imagined.

Ellouise brought the character to life, and it was lovely to see an understudy stepping into such an important role. It’s also a good reminder that there’s so much talent behind the scenes in theatre, and understudies deserve just as much appreciation.

Martha was another highlight

One performance that really stood out for me was Martha. The actress playing her had a fantastic voice, and I found myself really enjoying her musical moments.

Martha brings a softer, more vulnerable side to the story. In a show full of big personalities and dark comedy, those more emotional moments make a difference, and the singing added real feeling to them.

It was one of those performances that stays with you after the curtain comes down.

A girls’ night out with a generational twist

One of the nicest things about this trip was getting to share it with my daughter, my sister and our niece.

I grew up loving the original film, so going to see the musical brought back plenty of memories for me. But I also loved that we could all enjoy it together, even though we come from different generations and might have discovered the story at different times.

That’s one of the lovely things about theatre. Something you remember from years ago can find a whole new audience, and suddenly you’re sharing it with the people you love.

It was fun watching the story unfold on stage, knowing how much I’d enjoyed the film, while getting to experience this version together. And of course, a night out with my daughter, sister and niece meant we had plenty to talk about afterwards!

I think there’s something really special about passing on a little bit of your own pop-culture history without it feeling like you’re trying to introduce everyone to the old days. Good stories are good stories, and Heathers still has plenty to say.

Is Heathers the Musical worth seeing?

For me, absolutely.

If you loved the film, I think you’ll enjoy seeing it brought to life on stage. If you’re new to Heathers, there’s still plenty to get stuck into, from the catchy songs to the outrageous humour and the characters themselves.

Just bear in mind that this isn’t a sweet, feel-good high-school musical. It deals with some dark themes, including bullying and mental health, so it’s worth checking the age guidance before booking for younger audience members.

But if you enjoy your theatre with a bit of attitude, plenty of laughs and something a little different, it’s well worth considering.

Planning a visit to New Theatre Peterborough

Booking and performance times: Check the New Theatre Peterborough website for the latest availability and ticket details.

It’s worth checking the performance time and planning parking or public transport before you go, especially if you’re travelling in for an evening show.

My final thoughts

I went to opening night because I loved the film, and I came away having thoroughly enjoyed the musical in its own right.

Ellouise Delooze was great to see as Veronica, Veronica and Martha’s vocals were a real highlight for me, and the whole production made for a brilliant night out.

But more than anything, I loved being able to share it with my daughter, sister and niece. It was a chance to revisit something I’ve enjoyed for years and make some new memories at the same time.

Would I recommend it? Definitely.

If Heathers is a film you remember fondly, go and see the musical. And if you’ve never watched the original, don’t let that put you off.

Just be prepared for a high-school experience that’s a little darker than most!

Have you seen Heathers the Musical, or are you still a fan of the original film?

If you are preparing to or have had your wisdom tooth removed, this post is for you. I recently had to go through the pain of wisdom tooth removal and it was no picnic. Literally. Even a week on, picnics would be a nightmare.

I did not research what I needed before I saw my dentist (because of course I didn’t) so I was wholly unprepared. Make sure you stock up and get some help if you have little ones – you are going to need rest for at least a day.

What to eat after wisdom tooth removal

Salt Water

More important than anything else you will be putting into your mouth. You need to be (softly) slamming a salt water chaser after every meal or snack or even drink if it isn’t water.

Keeping your extraction site clean will hopefully help you to avoid infection or dry socket.

I did a warm water and salt rinse roughly 5 times a day for the first couple of days and then decreased over the course of a week or so.

Soup

It didn’t take long for me to get sick of soup. I wasn’t a massive fan before my tooth extraction so having it everyday for a week got very old, very quickly.

As much as I would love to tell you that I lovingly made some hearty and warming concoctions. I didn’t. I went to Aldi and bought a variety of tins. It was cheap and it was easy. Just like me. Fnar.

For the first day or 2 I didn’t even heat them. I didn’t want to risk burning my mouth and doing more damage. I was so hungry that I honestly didn’t care.

Do not buy Oxtail or Vegetable or if you do, make sure you blend it when you heat it – lot’s of little bits that could get stuck in your extraction hole!

Yoghurt

By far the easiest thing to eat. I got 2 small buckets of the 10% fat stuff from Aldi and just added to it as it time went on. No chewing whatsoever and lovely and cool in my mouth.

Pudding

Aldi (and many other shops) sell an assortment of high protein puddings and smoothies. Buy them. Especially the caramel pudding. Really easy to eat and quite filling. Not too pricey either so make sure you buy quite a few.

Puree

Hear me out. If it’s good enough for baby humans then it is good enough for you! You can just puree the hell out of whatever meal you cook for the family. My sister, who also had to endure soft foods for some time following her jaw surgery, told me the key to this is to not mix the foods before you puree. That way they retain their own taste and don’t just taste.. Grey.

Special mention to Aldi Just Apple pouches. They are lovely mixed with yoghurt or on their own – just make sure you don’t try to suck them. Ouch.

Ice cream

Well duh! If not then when?! I stuck to vanilla but just avoid the flavours with bits or chunks.

Weaning with wisdom

After a few days I felt like I was able to eat something a bit more substantial. I felt like it was important not to push my luck so I took it slow, and I’m glad I did.

My jaw refused to open so I could barely fit a teaspoon into my mouth for the first few days. As soon as the gap widened enough for me to be able to use a fork though, I took that as a good sign to try to get a bit more in terms of nutrition into my body.

Do not attempt to eat anything chewy, crunchy or hard. It really isn’t worth it. If it hurts to chew then listen to your body and wait another day.

Some of the foods I enjoyed during the first week after my wisdom tooth extraction were:

Scrambled eggs
egg mayo
overboiled pasta (to make it softer)
cottage cheese with pineapple in
soft/cream cheese either on its own or made into pate with salmon or tuna
ramen, or as we call them, super noodles
mashed potato – a lot of mashed potato.
mashed banana
avocado. I bought the smashed avocado from Aldi and mixed it with scrambled egg or just ate it on it’s own from the pot with a spoon.
cottage pie
macaroni cheese
hummus
peanut butter (smooth of course)

Hopefully, your extraction goes smoothly and recovery is fast and as comfortable as possible. Remember to follow your Dentist’s guidance and use ice packs!

This product was gifted for the purpose of this post. All opinions remain honest and our own.

I feel like I missed the boat a bit when it comes to Harry Potter – well, the books at least anyway. They came out when I was in my late teens and had fallen out of love with reading. I have, however, seen all of the films – and I loved them too!

So it’s through the films rather than the books that I found my love for the wizarding world. I will listen to the books on Audible but I find the films stunning to watch. We took Col and Bess to the Warner Bros tour a few years ago and we all had an awesome time. They, unlike their mother, have read the books and seen the films.

Over Christmas last year I sat with Moose and watched Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. He was fascinated! He wanted to know more about Harry Potter following our review of the invisibility cloak. From the first chimes of the music, he was hooked.

What’s in the box?

Discover the magic of Harry Potter with the newest collectable for the Wizarding World. Each bronze Hogwart’s Crest contains one of our favourite characters from the Harry Potter series. Series 1 features 10 characters to collect with these listed on the handy collector card.

Each crest contains two clues to the character inside.

Open compartment number 1 to reveal a heat reveal Hogwart’s Crest. Which House could your character be in?

Open compartment number 2 to reveal a spell name. I can’t see it…its written in secret ink and will only be revealed when you dip the paper in water!

So you know the Hogwart’s House and the spell name….real Harry Potter fans will know who is hidden inside the crest….

Open it up to reveal 4 wrapped parcels…save the biggest till last…to finally know which character you’ve got!

Each character comes with 3 accessories and 2 clues!

What did we find?

Moose loves toys with a surprise element so the Harry Potter Magical Capsule, with it’s 3 surprises was an absolute winner. I did wonder whether he would know the characters because to be fair he had only watched the first film a couple of times but I needn’t have worried – he knew who we got straight away!

Compartment number 1.

Inside the first compartment you will find a Hogwarts crest. This crest is heat activated and, with a little rub, will reveal the colour of your characters assigned house. Of course, Moose got Gryffindor! This was our first clue…

Compartment number 2

Our second clue as to the identity of our mystery character was to be found in compartment number 2. This was a mysterious strip of card with a water droplet depicted upon it. Moose clocked that this meant that we had to wet the strip (what? I hadn’t had my coffee yet!!) and ran off in the direction of the downstairs loo. A quick splosh later and the ink was made visible. It was a spell! Expelliarmus!

Compartment number 3

The final reveal was, of course, the big one. Who was our character? It was Harry Potter himself! Moose was so excited to find a mini Harry complete with luggage, a wand, a letter from Hogwarts and of course, Hedwig!

What did we think of the Harry Potter Magical Capsule?

I think it’s true that a picture speaks a thousand words so I will let Moose’s expression do the talking here. He was THRILLED with this toy. I initially thought that £9.99 was a bit highly priced for a surprise toy but having seen and felt the quality of the figures inside as well as the Hogwarts crest case (which of course you could use to keep the bits together) I have been pleasantly surprised.

The age rating on the packaging is 3+. I would probably suggest that 3 years old would still be a little young just because there are small parts and the figure itself may be slightly too delicate for tiny hands. Moose at age 5 loved it as did Bess at age 14. I am definitely going to be choosing these as a stocking filler option this Christmas.

Moose and I can often be found at Sacrewell farm. He absolutely adores the place. Whether we are running around in the maze, spotting peacocks or saying hello to the Pigs, Moose always has lots of fun! So when we were invited to visit Father Christmas here we were only too happy to oblige!

Our day

Booking in advance means that you are given a time to visit. This is a great idea because small children are bad enough at being patient at the best of times let alone when Christmas is involved! We arrived 2 hours before our allotted time. You are welcome to arrived as early as you like but I felt that Moose might be a bit too tired if we came along any earlier. On arrival I paid for our tractor ride and after a little play with the trains in the foyer we made our way into the farm.

Our first stop at the farm is always to say hello to the goats. Then we moved on to the rabbits and after that Moose was a little cold so we popped into the play barn so he could burn off some energy in the warm.

The play barn is included in the off peak £4.55 farm entry fee for children and when you consider that is less than the price of some soft play admission it does make it a bit of a bargain!

Father Christmas

Father Christmas at Sacrewell this year has his grotto in Hutton barn. Having no previous experience of Sacrewell at Christmas I have no way of being able to tell you whether this is the best place for him but I loved it. The winding walk up to barn was lit with fairy lights and the stable outside had been commandeered as a craft activity area which was a great idea.

Inside the barn were lots of Christmas trees and fairy lights. There was also a table with some story books and mince pies to pass the time as we waited. I can confirm that the mince pies were yummy.

Further along was another crafting table and some Christmas themed photo props which were great fun.

I am always a bit anxious about taking the children to see Santa. I am a self confessed Santa snob. I want the big man to be authentic. I want him to be THE Father Christmas. A young lad in an obviously fake beard who rushes the little ones through is my idea of Christmas hell. We only have a few years when our little ones truly believe so this stuff is important!

Moose froze

He was so excited while we were waiting to go in to see Father Christmas (see above for photo evidence) but unfortunately as we entered, Moose’s shy side kicked in and he stood frozen to the spot.

Father Christmas not only looked the part but he was so lovely and patient with my shy boy. Even producing from his pocket a chocolate coin to try and win him around!

He chatted to him for some time about what he would like to receive at Christmas and Moose managed to murmur that he would really like a Batman costume. Santa then gave him his gift and Moose happily accepted it. I cannot stress enough what a big deal that was – I had expected him to run a mile. This Santa clearly knows how to play his role and I was really impressed!

Sacrewell is not the cheapest Father Christmas to visit. The price is £7.50 per child in addition to the cost of entry. However, there is a lot to do (even in December) at the farm. You can easily spend many hours here. Especially if your children are perhaps a little older.

Moose has played with his tractor every day since he received it from Father Christmas! We really enjoyed our visit to Sacrewell and cannot wait to see what 2018 brings for the farm.

We were invited to visit in exchange for an honest review. If I didn’t think it was a great grotto I would tell you – even at the risk of being added to Santa’s naughty list

Despite being born in Peterborough and having lived here for 31 of my 35 years I didn’t know that the walk through from Bridge Street to the back of the town hall has a name. It does, it’s called St Peters Arcade – and that is where you will find Middletons Steakhouse & Grill.

Middletons isn’t just any old restaurant

All of the meat served here comes from their own butchery based in Norfolk. Middletons is a large 230 seater restaurant set over 2 floors with good disabled access and stylish decor. I absolutely love steak (who doesn’t?) so when we received an invitation to come along to one of their preview nights, how could we resist?

So much choice

We were seated quickly by Shona and John came to introduce himself as our waiter for the evening soon after. Following a long look over our menu I decided on the Calamari to start. It arrived in good time and was fresh, crispy and golden. It was also big! Each golden breaded ring was about the size of my fist! An excellent start to the evening.

The menu at Middletons offers a massive array of delicious sounding meals but as we were at a steakhouse it felt only right that we should choose steak. I went for the “Steak & Sticky” which was a 6oz sirloin with a half rack of sticky BBQ ribs and a chilli & spring onion garnish. All meals from the grill menu come with a choice of 1 side. I chose Coleslaw which was really creamy – perfect for me! The ribs were wonderfully juicy and the meat just fell off the bone.

The star of the show though was of course the steak. My knife glided through my medium rare sirloin without any trouble at all. The meat was succulent and melt in the mouth perfection. One of the best steaks I have ever eaten in fact.

After a quick loo break during which I ran into my sister blogger, Jaymee, from The Mum Diaries it was time to order dessert. After much deliberation I decided upon the Creme Brulee. My dessert was the perfect ending to what had been a fabulous meal.

Would i go again?

Yes, I would. In a heartbeat. There are so many dishes on the menu that I think it would be difficult to get bored here. Prices range from the £50 36oz steak all the way down to the £9.99 set menu so there really is something to suit all budgets at Middletons.

The staff were friendly and attentive without being overbearing and our water bottle was kept replenished throughout our meal.

I noticed that there is also the facility on their website to pre order your food when you have a table booked – a very useful function when you don’t have much time to spare!

I think Peterborough finally has the steakhouse it has needed for a long time.

Disclaimer: We were invited to have a meal in exchange for a review. All opinions are as ever our own.

Heathers the Musical at New Theatre Peterborough