Go As You Please

Love this shop display, this is something that really appeals to me, I`d have pictures of Benwell in the 50`s all over mine. Just like the owld buildings I`d be dust.


Small Faces, what a blast from the past.




I was fifteen when this group were about, we all went to see them at the Majestic which later became a Bingo Hall. Just as well really, I remember people used to chuck chairs from the balcony onto the dance floor. Happy days, no drugs, just violence. There were purple hearts, but we never took them, we`d heard of people who did, imagined that they were Batman and "flew" out of the window. One lad hid in the corner thinking he was food, scared to move in case anyone ate him, how sad is that.


Just completed seven pages of text to go with the local history bus tour I`m speaking on. It will be great practise for me and has been interesting to learn more about the area.

D is going to a vintage car rally tomorrow at Seaburn. Don`t think I`ll go, it`s not long since we went to one at Beamish.

Was at the Let`s all laugh at the BNP on Friday at the Cluny, it was a great show, and the acts were brilliant.

Egypt Cottage is about to close along with Tyne Tees Tv, it seems ages ago since my brother worked in the TV building as a graphic designer, he can`t believe that it is being pulled down. We called in there for a drink late on Friday and met some great people. The owner is now looking for new premises.

1st Episode of Yogi Bear Show

I remember this show so well, first went out in 1961, I was nine years old. After watching, all I ever drew for months were Yogi bears in all different sizes, poses colours. Then when my kids were growing up, it was Button Moon, Trap Door and Grot Bags. How time flies, I wonder what my grand children will watch, when I get grand children.

Dreams can come True

In all the time we`ve been together,38 years, I can say that my husband has never once said to me "Last night I dreamt that........" So when, at breakfast he started his sentence with these words, my mouth dropped. It was the equivalent to someone walking in with flowers after 38 years of never having bought any. I was all ears.

D " I dreamt that I had a bear suit, it was really tatty. I took it to an antique shop and the owner said "What a fine suit, it`s just what we are looking for, I`ll give you £600. He turned it inside out and it was a lovely golden colour. I said that it didn`t belong to me really and that I would have to ask my brother if he would sell. So, I left the suit with the man and went all around town shouting for my Brother (He hasn`t a brother as a point of interest) But I couldn`t find him, then I noticed that it was nearly five o`clock, the shop would be shutting and I might not get the suit back. Just then, the alarm went off so I got up to get ready for work."

Roughly translated I would say that as our son has moved out D is wondering if he has done off with any of our possessions. Son G had a habit of rifling through things in the loft when he was at home, then selling his brother`s things on e-bay. I also asked around my friends if their husbands ever told them of dreams,only one could claim yes.

We invited G and E round for Sunday lunch.

G "What are you cooking?"
D "Beef"
G "Can you get duck as well, it would be nice?"
D "I daresay it would, but I`ve already paid £15 for beef, so no chance."

D came home after work, I was out, a spicy aroma was in the air, so he looked in the pedal bin. There were two Thai curry boxes in there, one was melted beyond recognition. We received a phone call from G

G "Have you been buying a new microwave?"
D "Yes, the old one packed in. By the way were you round here eating Thai curry?"
G "Yes, and I didn`t know how to use the new microwave, it melted the first meal, so I had to put another one in there."
D "Correct me if I`m wrong, but didn`t you move out?"
G "You`ll have to show me how to set it when I next call around."
D "Not unless you`re planning to cook us anything in it!"

D said that G reminds him of Shirley Valentine`s daughter.

Came back from town about 6ish, two blokes walking towards me to board the bus, talking about Man United, as they passed they damned near burned the back of my throat with the whiff of their after shave.

D was rubbing his leg

D "I had a trapped nerve and it went solid."
Y "You`re supposed to stand on your tip toes, it helps."
D "I tried that and it didn`t work."
Y "You should try giving birth, when contractions start the stomach hardens like concrete."

It all seems so long ago, my kids are 30 and 32 now.

Left work on Friday,went to the Corner House for a meal and a drink at the end of the shift. They nominated me to order the meals, saying that it would be my last task. I wrote down the order on a piece of paper. When I came back, they were all wearing turbans, in honour of Florrie, the character I use when working on memory sessions and for certain entertainment venues. Really going to miss the lasses, but at last I`ll have more time to write, take photos and become more involved with the heritage department of the library. Never thought I`d see the day, kids flown the coup and me with time on my hands, ahh, this has got to be a dream come true and not a bear in sight.

What a difference six days make

Des Walton has created a scrapbook of Jimmy Forsyth press cuttings. At 89, he is still very much involved in the history of Jimmy on Tyneside. He loaned me a brilliant video No Fancy Shades which shows how Jimmy wandered around the Elswick, Scotswood area from 1954 taking photos with a box Brownie camera.

On Wednesday son G moved into his new home with girlfriend E,ahhhhhhhhhh. However, I woke up on numerous occasions on Wed night, on my way to the bathroom glancing in the direction of the empty room. Must admit, It did feel strange not to have him at home. I`d developed a habit of looking at the foot of the stairs where he always kicked his shoes off, then I knew he was in safe. On Thursday on our way home from work, a call from G on the mobile

"Dad, can you call around with your lawn mower?"

On Friday we turned the corner of our back street and I said to D

"Isn`t it strange that his car isn`t there?"

BUT, when I entered the house with a couple of shopping bags, there was G lounging on the sofa watching an episode of Friends.

Me "What are you doing here?"

G. "E is having a girls night in with a pizza and some wine so she dropped me off here so that I can go to the pub with the lads.......oh, you`ve been shopping, have you got any of that chocolate with the nuts in?"

Spent Sunday arranging ourselves around the place to utilise all of the extra wardrobe, cupboard, bathroom cabinet space and I`ve also noticed how clean the bathroom is staying. It`s only six days in from him leaving and already I`ve noticed how little there is in the washing basket. This is going to be great.

I Love the Orange advert, those funny little animated things are hilarious, one doing the moonwalk and a spring legged being. Also love the Old Speckled Hen ads, that bloke dressed as a moose dancing with his hooves mincing around is a hoot.

Went out today at 8.30 with two heavy bags and an umbrella raised as it was belting down. Halfway through the day, a thought popped into my head "I can`t remember struggling to lock the back door, did I lock the back door, I don`t think I did because the Clematis is growing wildly around the door and I can`t recall swiffing it aside?"

All the way home, I imagined our stuff being strewn all over the place, not being able to claim on the insurance and being nagged to death, but most of all, I worried that Chico would have been taken. I need not have worried, I had locked the door, but I think it may be time to start writing little notes or talking to myself before I leave the house "Have you turned off the....locked the......... etc.

Also thought that I was rich the other day, found a 20p piece without the date on, I`d heard of folks claiming up to £70,000 on ebay, but it was a new coin, there`s a kind of smooth half with no markings, but the date is on the other side. Shucks.

Watching Sky Arts,Helen Chadwick had created the Piss Flowers, she and her partner literally made piss holes in the snow (as kids, we used this phrase to describe someone with piggy eyes)She created the deep hole and her partner made a sprinkling corolla. Plaster was poured inside. The works were displayed on daisy shaped plinths. Some of her other efforts included melting tons of chocolate buttons into a huge vat with a fountain in the middle. They were mixing it up with a spade, there were 25 kilos in per hour. I think it had something to do with making mud pies as a child.

Well, now there are no children left in our house, we have become empty nesters........so the next question has got to be "When will we become grandparents?" Somehow I think it will be quite a while before this happens, but that`s ok, I`m going to be busy busy when I leave work at the end of this month.

The Shadow of a Smile

(Photo from The Guardian)
Fabulous fella Bobby Robson has passed away, so dignified and what a character, just goes to show the measure of the man, at a friendly match in his honour the week before his death. A true battler who was loved by the Geordie nation. Bob, draped in a fancy black and white scarf, hat at a jaunty angle and smiling as ever, people are going to remember that smile.


I defy anyone to visit Poundland then only spend a pound! I bought two mugs, yeah I know, what a mug, but one was for me, The Bash Street Kids and the other Coronation Street (Constipation Street) for my husband. Noticed a David Cameron book alongside a Katie Price biography, which didn`t surprise me, but to see Michael Palin`s Himalaya with them was uncalled for, love the bloke, especially Ripping Yarns. While in the queue, two women walked past with a Katie book each. I was tempted to buy Michael`s, but as I handed my notice in at work this week,thought better of it, but I`ll be in town on Tuesday, so if there are any left......!

Yes, in a couple of weeks, I`ll be free to write,compute and best of all to spread myself out around the house once my eldest son G has moved in with his girlfriend E. There has been a constant toaster, towels,kettle procession scuttling back and forwards to the car today and it`s great to see all of the boxes disappearing from the top of the stairs. I`m looking around for anything that I can palm off to them, saves me a trip to the tip, a massive umbrella plant which is scaling the ceiling has been accepted. Next on the list will be any owld bedding, glasses, cups etc.

I usually open the top of the cage for Chico to get out, he then climbs down to the front door and opens it with his beak. Yesterday, we noticed that he was spending a fair bit of time hanging around the area outside his water dish. Didn`t give it a thought until this morning, I took the cover off his cage, but didn`t open the door, he pushed on his dish and that door opened. The sly little sod had opened it the night before leaving it shut to ready for his escape. Fortunate for us his ploy was foiled, otherwise we could have come back home to chewed furniture. He has already pecked the back of my swivel chair, pedal bin, holes in the curtains, book covers etc. African Greys are lovely birds but very naughty and destructive.

We have some bamboo posts in our shed, D has threatened to make an arrangement in our garden with them for about five years. Sister in law A visited today and asked for one. I opened the door and she launched herself in there over mower, chairs,shelving and every other bugger of things. Then, she screamed jumping from foot to foot, I yelled in unison thinking it was a spider, but no, a mouse, well that`s alright then. I gathered that they were in there when I climbed in a couple of weeks ago to retrieve the sun lounger to find a gaping gnawed hole in it and bits of chewed sponge all over the deck.

I have a fabulous spider catcher contraption, it is a see through pyramid shape at the end of a long stick, it needs to be long as I won`t go anywhere near them. Once the pyramid has trapped Incy inside I use my foot to slide the door along ready to drop him far away at the top of the garden, but the little bastards still keep getting in. When our Bull Terrier Bullseye was here, he used to enjoy eating them, they were easy to see on light laminate flooring. I wonder if I could train Chico to eat them, perhaps not.