My Productive Life: John Rylands Elizabeth Gaskell Exhibition & Creative Tourist Writing Workshop

Having six weeks off is excellent and I'm not complaining, I'm really not. But. The problem with having six weeks off is that after it has whizzed by in a matter of seconds, people WILL keep asking what exactly you got up to in all that time off work; surely you must have achieved quite a number of worthwhile things? Going back to work is even worse, as you discover that your colleagues have apparently back-packed round Ecuador, written a best-selling novel, climbed a selection of very tall mountains, and founded several orphanages. And what have I done? Well, I, er, read some books, and went to the sea-side, and, erm, drank a lot of wine and watched lots of cricket on TV.

So this year is going to be different: I too am going to return to work having DONE STUFF. The good work began yesterday, with a visit to John Rylands Library on Deansgate to see the current exhibition in honour of Manchester-based novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. To be honest, it was a teensy bit disappointing: a small room which very quickly became crowded with ladies of a certain age talking loudly about how much they'd enjoyed watching Cranford on TV. No doubt this is entirely fitting for a popular novelist whose stories were often serialised for mass consumption, but still; if I was a writer of note who happened to have been born exactly 200 years ago, I would hope for a little more than a few letters on display in glass cases. The library itself is beautiful though, so you should go anyway.

Today I have also been gainfully occupied, on a writing workshop held by the marvellous people at Creative Tourist, an online arts magazine that everyone in Manchester (and beyond) should read. It's always a little scary to meet people in the flesh when you have previously only conversed via Twitter, but everyone was shiny and beautiful, and even looked a tiny bit like their avatars. Thanks to Kate, Susie and Shan for a great course; see how I have been inspired to write something already (please ignore the fact it's the same old stuff.)

Tomorrow, however, culture looks a little thin on the ground. I have created a monstrous husband (in my own image) who expects to celebrate his (non-milestone) birthday for the entire weekend, beginning tomorrow. So, I went to an exhibition, a writing workshop and I, er, drank wine...

- Elizabeth Gaskell: A Connected Life is on at John Rylands Library until 28 November 2010; full details at www.library.manchester.ac.uk/specialcollections/exhibitions

- Creative Tourist can be found at www.creativetourist.com; go and see them now.

Prizes, Sherlock Holmes and Love2Eat Monday Night Supper Club

Mondays are often a poor day; the start of the working week (and a day I normally teach till 5) with the weekend not even visible on the horizon. Today, though, was a quite extraordinarily good Monday, for the following reasons:

1. I am on holiday for another four weeks.

2. It is my husband's birthday week, so a spirit of celebration currently pervades our sometimes grumpy residence.

3. Sunday night TV, normally so rubbish, last night offered up a Sherlock Holmes in a coat so sexy that grown women across Britain wept, and crashed Twitter with their uncontrollable admiration.

4. I have never won ANYTHING in my whole life (honestly, not even a raffle) and yet today I have won a place on a Creative Tourist writing workshop this Thursday (more of this on Friday, assuming I actually survive) AND a box of gorgeous cupcakes courtesy of Airy Fairy Cupcakes (more of this tomorrow, assuming I can actually get past my husband's grasping paws to sample said cakes). Both of these were competitions found on Twitter, which I have time to peruse at great length thanks to point 1.

5. We have finally made it to Monday Night Supper Club at the delectable Love2Eat Deli in West Didsbury, an occasion I have hankered after for some weeks: main course, pudding and a glass of wine for a ludicrous £7 per head. This is a charming venue which concentrates on offering straightforward food at reasonable prices; tonight's choices for supper club were Mushroom Stroganoff or Sicilian Meatballs for main, followed by Eton Mess for dessert.

Being committed carnivores, we obviously chose the meatballs, which have acquired legendary status in the environs of West Didsbury and tend to run out early doors; a friend who shall remain nameless (HELEN) has actually reserved hers because she can't get there until almost nine tonight (in fact, go and look at her now, slurping meatballs as you eat your mushroom stroganoff). They ARE delicious, and are served with spaghetti, bread, salad and grated cheese; beware though, that they are messy - we both came home with tell-tale pinky splashes on our clothing.

The pudding was less triumphant - the Eton Mess seemed more like strawberries and cream to me, with any meringue (minimal, I fear) crushed up so small it disappeared without trace. However, at these prices it seems churlish to quibble about small things, particularly as I ordered an extra glass of wine that then appeared on the bill as costing £2.75 (take note, Metropolitan). To cap a perfect evening, the lovely lady from Airy Fairy Cupcakes knew I was going to the restaurant and therefore personally delivered my cakes there for me; a very, very good day indeed.

- Love2Eat is at 190a Burton Road, West Didsbury, Manchester M20 1LH; tel 0161 434 7077.
- Airy Fairy Cupcakes are based in Didsbury; see www.airyfairycupcakes.co.uk for prices and delivery details.