My favourite theatre: Theatre Clwyd in Mold

Last weekend I went with a friend to my favourite theatre, the Theatre Clwyd in North Wales, about half an hour's drive from here.  We saw a play called , 'Jumpy' by April de Angelis which had caught my eye when I last visited, It's a comedy about a 50 year woman, her mid-life crisis and her relationship with her rebellious teenage daughter. Neither my friend nor I would describe our teenage daughters as rebellious but nevertheless we could identify with some of the situations on stage and the dialogue was spot on.  A very entertaining play: funny and honest and brilliantly staged with minimal set, and really effective use of music and movement to show scene changes. We watched in the smaller Emlyn Williams theatre so were close to the action and paid less than £20 for our tickets. This is one of many excellent productions I've seen at this theatre, my favourite being 'Dancing at Lughnasa', Brian Friel's play about 5 sisters in 1950's Donegal.  It stages serious plays - I recently saw Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof  there - as well as those which appeal to a wider audience such a Rock and Roll Panto every Christmas.  And they do excellent cake: we shared a huge piece of coffee and walnut on Saturday afternoon.

Talking of cake, here's my Easter cake made for Sunday when my sister and her family visited.  It's a carrot cake rather than the traditional simnel.  I never have much success with cakes but this recipe never lets me down. I missed going to Northern Ireland this year for Easter as we have done for the past few years.  Catching up with one sister was good fun and we even had an Easter egg hunt for the kids though we had to do it indoors because of torrential rain.

Treated myself to posh Easter egg selection from M&S. Verdict:looks pretty but not really worth the money.