Third week of December, it's beginning to feel like Christmas

On Saturday I put my tree and decorations up, I go with the whole 12 days before thing like my mum does. I have a large 7 foot white artificial tree, which goes together by poking each individual wire branch in it's hole. It's pretty time consuming, but looks nice when it's done, and at least last year I put it away neatly so I didn't have to sort the branches first. Apart from the tree I just hang some tinsel around the tv and fire place, and then put up my snowman and mouse. The mouse is a bit poorly this year, it sings and jiggles to "let it snow" but you can now hear the whirring noise of him moving. 

Last Sunday was a relaxing affair as I was off work, so I pretty much just sat around catching up online. 

The rest of the week was a mixture of work and getting the last of my Christmas shopping done. The highlight of it was posting my brother's presents to France, and it only taking 5 days to get there. 

On the Friday I went out with my dad, but with the damp weather we just went and had a look around the shops in Morpeth. I didn't even take any photos. 

Overall it was a good week, I got some jobs done, although not as many as I'd like, but overall I'm happy.

Second week of December 2014

Last week was a busy week, as you might expect in December. 

On Monday we went to have a look at what was for sale in the auction in Newcastle, they had some lovely things, although the general sale was pretty empty of things. There was nothing we wanted to buy though.

On Tuesday I went to Seahouses with my mum and dad. My dad is paying for me and my mum to go for a pamper day at their leasure centre, it's our Christmas present, but we won't be going until January. It was a nice day and we had a walk around the harbour. 

Wednesday saw us going across to my parents so my husband could have a look at their outside light. It was completely broken so they've bought a new one, and my husband will fit it when he gets the chance. 

Thursday was my works night out. We went to greyhound racing at Newcastle, it was really good fun. It was also a cheap night, as my work gave us money towards it, and we won a little bit of money, so I came back with £7 more than I went with :). I did end up paying for it on Friday though as I felt ill all day :). I might have over done it, although I only had two and a half pints of cider.

First week of December 2014

This week seems to have flown by and I can't believe it's already the second week of December. It really will soon be christmas, I should probably get on with that christmas shopping.

This is one of those weeks were I don't know what I've done with my time, I wasn't at work a lot as they are cutting back on overtime, but I don't seem to have done much at home except make lists. I'm great at making lists, but not so great at doing them lol.

One thing I have accomplished this week is to make more money online, I use a combination of different earning sites, and this week I've made about £20, although the only thing I've actually cashed out is a £10 Complements voucher from the Ipsos Mori survey site. I've also joined Clixsense, and restarted doing Neobux. Both are paid to click sites, I've made a little bit on them, but my laptop overheats so I don't get the clicks in I'd like.

My mum and dad came back on holiday this week, and they both seem to have had a nice time. They went whale watching at Tenerife, and on a horse and cart in Las Palmas. When it came to my usual friday out with my dad we both went to a local pub called the Kitty Brewster for a bite to eat. The food was nice, I had a bacon egg, and mushroom sandwich, which came with chips and salad.

I think that's about it for my week :)

Last Week Of November 2014

Last week was the last week of November and the year seems to be flying by, or I should say has just about flown by.

I started the week last saturday with a trip to the coast with my husband, he wanted to film the sea :). It was quite rough as the tide was coming in and I managed to get some great photos. It was a nice day, chilly but sunny and dry.

We went around nearby Seaton Sluice bay, and my husband got chatting to a fisherman at one end, while I took photos of nearby St Mary's lighthouse. By this time it wasn't long before sun set so the light was great for taking photos.

That looks like a great place to fish, if you like standing on the edge of a cliff.

The rest of the week was pretty wet, and I didn't seem to get much done except work.

I did send the court paperwork in for taking the council to court for the loss of his hackney carriage license, but they've returned it as they wanted more information for our fees remission. That was pretty annoying as it was all there, but I've added another bank statement which had come in the post, and hopefully this time it will go ok. 

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.