Newcastle moments...

With wings the span of a jumbo jet...

Of course, it has to be the Angel of the North! Created by Antony Gormley and standing on a hill overlooking the A1, it's become an icon for the north east. I think everyone would admit, it's not pretty, it is however a powerful symbol so deserves a snap as we were driving along the A1. Here's a quote from Darren Richardson which more or less, sums up what the angel means to the north east "As a designer I will always remember the Angel as a vehicle of change that allowed us to show the creative industries exactly what the North East has to offer." I would admit that I've never spent much time in the north east, which is why I decided to stay over in Newcastle. I was overwhelmed by the friendliness of the people and the amount of free art and culture available - I will be back!

I'm moving in!

I love insignificant dilemmas! After a wonderful sleep, I'm lying in bed wondering which gallery to visit first, should i have breakfast or whether to paint one of my rooms this colour...?! As you can guess, I'm not working today. Being away from home, being in new surroundings without the pressures of work is so thrilling! My mind can escape from routine, deadlines, schedules & start focussing on priorities, new adventures, plans & finally indulge in a little bit of 'me!'. It's great to be away because it's lovely to return home again; in the same way as it's great to have 24 hours away from work to return refreshed & better focussed. Now, I've decided which insignificant dilemma to choose... it has to be breakfast! X

New adventures

in Newcastle & it's fab! I came with colleagues for a presentation, they flew home, I stayed! I've been to an art exhibition, had the most delicious dinner, walked I've the amazing Millennium bridge, picked up a taxi driver at the garage, chatted to lovely Polish waitor at Malmaison, languished in my superb room which used to be the office of the shipping magnate that used to own this building many moons ago & now I'm drinking baileys on ice & chilling! It's been a very long day, up at 4:15am! I'm just glad I did this thing. What would life be without it's little adventures! More tomorrow :-) x

A very wet Tattoo... !

The girls...

All 3 of them.. Tash, Naomi and Ellie, came to stay! We went to Chelts for lunch, had a lovely wander calling in to see the girls in the gallery during the afternoon - then we came home to find Tash's car had a puncture! It became too difficult to fix on a Saturday night with everywhere closed so we settled down with an Indian takeaway and a dvd - fab!

New hair.. new colour!

It's time for a change and I'm looking for a little drama so it was out with the warm honey today and in with a dramatic ice white blonde in less than two hours. Hair just got hotter... it's one of the top 10 shades for the Summer. Cool car, cool shades and hot hair - fantastic!

Transformers 2...

Went to see this zany, action movie this evening at the Vue with Naomi. We did a bit of shopping, tried on lots of funny hats, had something to eat then went to watch the film - it's been a lovely evening. A fab film too, a touch too long at the end but still fun to watch. Okay, the fascination is in seeing trucks, cars and other household objects turn into robots and fight each other. That, after all, is basically the plot! It does though offer a cracking bit of entertainment because there's zany humour, silly stuff, some romance, lots of action and a good old fashioned happy ending. Sadly, they're not the only things that have apparently been transformed! People are interesting and not least when you think you know them - then realise that you don't at all. When someone you knew very well decides to ignore you completely, are they doing it because they've forgotton their manners or is there another reason? I'm confused and I'd have to say, very disappointed. There's never a reason for bad manners in my world but hey ho.. a lucky escape again!!

My Passport to Longleat

On Safari...

Scoop & Save!

Cucumber without seeds is like a cupcake without sprinkles. Don’t you ever wonder what they do with all the seeds they scoop out? Are they packaged up and sent to a seed farm to be grown into more cucumbers? Is there a cucumber shortage I don’t know about, which is why suddenly my salads are seedless? It all started with a plate of tomato salad. I glanced down and every one of the seeds had gone missing. Strange behaviour I thought because a lot of the flavour is in the seeds and fleshy bits inside the tomato. Then it happened again, next day but this time with my cucumber salad. I searched high and low under my leaves but no, my cucumber slices were definitely naked and seedless ;-(
Then I had a thought… perhaps the seed companies are in cahoots with the restaurant owners? We are in a recession after all! Perhaps they are selling seeds to make ends meet, though clearly not the ends of my cucumber! And, if you're puzzled as to how a cucumber gets to be heart or star shaped, wonder no more! You can apparently buy a mould to put around your cucumber when it's just a baby so it grows into this shape. So, now you know!

me & alphonse...

City fun..

Phew... another whirlwind weekend of fun and laughter! The sun has beaten down and we've had a lightening storm but nothing could mar such a brilliant location. Great restaurants, great bars, lots of sunshine and shopping - fab!

25 red hearts & a pack of 3 custard creams... !

I gave blood today. It sounds such a simple thing to do, and it really does change lives. I do it because it makes a difference and it's something I was brought up to do. My dad and mom before me and now me. Today I've given my 25th donation! I have a little badge, a certificate and a big sticker saying 'Be nice to me... I gave blood today' Hurrah for the very nice man (not my lovely dad this time!) who makes me a nice cup of tea and finds me a special pack of custard creams ;-)

Finally fizzy

A perfect end to a very busy day. I walked down the hill with high expectations. It was lovely to smell the trees and on a day when the temperature was over 30 degrees, the sun was still hot enough to sit outside in the garden. I ordered a glass of fizzy prosecco, another glass of chilled water and a cheese and tomato omelette, fab.

What a week... !

I think I'm on a big roller coaster ride this week. Monday was my first time on the tube since I did my extreme skydiving back in December. Fears are there to be conquered so down I went, this time on my toes, not on my nose! Tuesday was ;-) full of happy pictures and sunny smiles. Wednesday was my weary, catch up day. Thursday was a crazy day so I drove over to Lisa's and she took me out on an adventure. We met the builder with the big dog who seemed to take a bit of a liking to Lisa. He even asked if she'd be coming in again and if she was.. could she leave her friend at home?! How rude... ;-) I don't think he liked my bonkers dancing ;-) On Friday, Waitrose admitted that my cheese and ham croissant had seen better days. They only forgot they'd put it in the oven and burnt it! Friday was also 'thieving cheaters' day! Some thieving little bug has been spending my money so first I got mad, then I swotted it! And, Friday, the radio started playing Michael Jackson music and hasn't stopped... !! Where's the off button, fed up now! Saturday was one of the best day's out I've had for ages, not counting the fact that my camera battery conked out after the first photo of the day, doh! There's something very comforting and nostalgic about all that vintage stuff! I got kissed by an old war veteran, met, had a chat with Churchill, watched the 'battle of Highley Station' and took a step back into my past. I had almost run out of energy as I arrived at the final day of the week. But, Sunday has turned out to be a ball! The 'oh so lovely' girls from the gallery in Cheltenham came over for dinner. They loved my crafting heaven and enjoyed the Gumstool Inn. It was the perfect end to my whirlwind week!

The Famous 5...

Oh what a day... packed with nostalgic moments and fabulous memories. And, before you ask cheeky, no, I don't remember the 1940's! I do however remember spending oodles of time walking around and in this park in Bridgnorth. It was a favourite haunt every weekend in a former life and it was a good one. This time it was the end of the line, quite literally... the end of the Severn Valley Railway journey. Here we are having a well earned rest accompanied by a bag of eclairs and murray mints! We had such a fabulous day. The sun shone, the music kept on coming, the trains were on time and the day just went off with a bang!