A ship heading into a rough North Sea, Brave men

A great video of a boat plowing through the North Sea

Newcastle Castle Keep

My photo slideshow of photos of Newcastle Castle Keep

My Mum's Birthday Week, November 2014

The third week in November is also the week my mum's birthday falls on.

I booked the week off work as I never know if she wants to do something or go somewhere. It turns out she did, her and my dad have gone on a cruise to the Canary Islands :). I was pleased I had the week off work though as we they got picked up at some motorway services at 5 in the morning, and we dropped them off. The services are normally about 30 to 40 minutes away by car, but their were road works on the main route and the road was closed so we went the long way round. We left just after 3 in the morning and got there about 4. We stopped to have a coffee with them, to make sure they were settled. My mum's a worrier so I was pleased when it all went smoothly for them, and they texted me that night to let me know they were safely on the boat.

The highlight of my week was going into the nearby city of Newcastle with my dad on Monday. I had bought a Groupon (a deal site) voucher for two for the price of one entry into Newcastle Castle Keep. We got the metro through to Newcastle, it's a smaller version of the London Underground, and visited the keep first.

I really enjoyed the keep, although it was a bit tiring. It's quite small but there are a lot of stairs. The best part is the view of Newcastle from the top, the keep is close to the river so we could see several of the bridges, and across the city to Grey's Monument and St James (Home to Newcastle United).

A Model Of the Keep

The Great Hall

The Keep

 The view across to Gateshead

The Tyne Bridge

The High level (right) and Swing Bridge

Grey's Monument

St James

The Gateshead Millenium Bridge

The railway station

After visiting the keep we took some photos from the High Level Bridge, and then visited the beautiful St Nicholas Cathedral, which also has a great cafe and a lovely chaplain.

The Altar

The stone masons

The Mayor's Tomb

St Nicholas Cathedral

Finally we had a look at the christmas market, which confusingly I think is only there until the end of November, and the department store Fenwick's Christmas window, which is Alice in Wonderland this year. It was a great day out.

The rest of my week off seemed to pass in a blur of catching up with my favourite writing site Bubblews, doing surveys and tidying the house.

Remembrance Week 2014

Last week started with Remembrance Sunday here in the UK, at 11 am on the sunday and on Remembrance Day itself which is the 11 of November we hold a two minutes silence to remember those who lost their lives. 

I was at work both days and on the Sunday I was surprised by whoever runs the radio station as they chose to play bird sounds instead. It sounded nice, but was a strange choice for a two minute silence :). 

On the Tuesday I was really annoyed by a customer, as despite the fact I was holding a sign to warn people we were holding the two minutes silence, and the radio had just said he proceeded to harass me for a bag and moan that the two minutes must be over. He even suggested when the two minutes was over that it was something we'd made up, as if I have that much spare time on my hands at work.

While I don't always remember the two minute silence when I'm at home, Remembrance Day is important to me as the day we remember all those who gave and continue to give their lives so that we can live and have a better life. I'm only sad that a hundred years on from the start of world war 1, the war to end all wars, that we are still having to fight wars to let people live safely. 

The rest of my week was again a blur of work, and I didn't even get time to go out with my dad on Friday. 

The highlight of my week was probably cashing out on the social writing site bubblews :).

Bonfire night week

The first week of November here in the UK is always a week of listening to fireworks. 

On the 5 th of November we celebrate Guy Fawkes or bonfire night.  This celebrates the failure of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and king James 1 (vi of Scotland). The plot was lead by Robert Catesby, with Guy Fawkes being in charge of lighting the fuse. 

In the UK we celebrate the failure of the plot by having Bon fires, burning a guy (a stuffed representation), and watching fireworks. We also eat hotdogs, and jacket or baked potatoes which are traditionally cooked in foil in the bonfire. 

I didn't go to a celebration as I was working, although I did see a few fireworks. 

My week passed in a blur of work, with the high point being going out for lunch with my dad on Friday. We went to a local pub restaurant, where I had a nice sausage and mash. We spent the afternoon chatting, as it was raining. I did take some photos of the lake the pub is on though.

On the Saturday I went to look at an inside car boot sale with my husband. These are sales in the UK where you put all your old stuff you want to sell in your car, drive to somewhere the event is organised and then out it all on a table to sell. The one we went to looked pretty quiet but I think we are still going to give it a go selling there at the weekend.

Last week of October and Halloween

Well the last week of October seems to have passed in a blur of work, although I did get more done than last week. 

I went back to work on Tuesday, although I was still feeling sniffy and tired from last weeks cold. I combated that by having a few afternoon naps and trying to take it easy at work, not always easy, but I aimed for more of a slow steady pace, which seemed to work. 

On Monday I went to a nearby park with my husband called Jesmond Dene, it's pretty large with lots of different things in it. There is a small zoo with birds and sheep, a visitors centre, as well as lots of old lovely buildings. We walked along to a lovely waterfall, and I couldn't resist looking at the old mill, which is now a ruin. 

On Friday I went out with my dad to nearby Blyth quayside. We had a nice bite to eat at a small cafe which is actually a charity, as its ran by volunteers and all the money goes to the local lifeboat. We then had a walk around nearby Ridley Park, which was lovely and we enjoyed a cup of tea outside :). 

On Halloween I didn't do much, we only had one lot of trick or treaters, and those were my friends children :). I can remember going trick or treating when I was a child, but it wasn't as big in the UK as it is now. I had to make my own costume, and we were lucky to get a couple of sweets, 30p and an apple. Nowadays it's much more commercialised and I know children who get £30 plus lots of sweets :)