hauxwell

I have to pass it to get my bus. Lots of trendy tropical looking bars, it was busy but I think the warm weather helped. They demolished the old pictures last year. Earlier this year they started to put these containers together. I had no idea what they were doing, I thought it was going to be used for storage. It only took them a few months to build it and get it up and running. When I realised what it was I expected it to be a load of rubbish, but it looks nice and well planned. They have done something similar across the Tyne in Gateshead on a smaller scale. Must be a new trend using containers to build bars and restaurants, there’s a fish and chip shop at Tynemouth sea front and they have used an old storage container.

Some countries have return vending machines in their supermarkets for plastic and glass bottles. You put them in the machine and you get a voucher or cash back. Not sure which country it was but they achieved 90% increase in recycling. Don’t think it’s a bad idea.

I’m wondering if they can claim their money back from the cruise line operators?

No it’s not what I’m saying, it was something I read a few years ago, might be outdated now. Also the report went on to say something similar to what Cyclone said, boys are better at doing a big exam, although girls did better than boys at A Levels, boys tended to do better than girls when it comes to doing a degree, they get better grades.

A few years ago there was something on the news about girls getting better A Level grades than boys. It’s because girls worked harder than boys at school. I think the government said it was going to address the problem. You need A Levels to get into university and if the girls were getting better grades that could be one reason more of them are going to university. I don’t think the study said it was anything to do with girls being more intelligent, the girls were taking education more serious than the boys.

At some stage I think she will be on This Morning with Holly and Phillip giving her story, how she survived in the sea for 10 hours, she could say she was drunk, they say alcohol makes you do daft things, or she could say the ship was hit by a rogue wave and washed her overboard if nothing shows on the cctv cameras. Seriously I still think she had guts not to panic and survive until she was rescued. The alcohol could have helped her stay calm when she first entered the sea, don’t think it would have been to long for her to sober up when she realised where she was. On the positive side it could be used as a training exercise for future rescues.

Now I know there was cctv on the ship, doesn’t it show If she climbed over the railings or fell off the ship. Or perhaps it doesn’t do close ups.

Thank you for that, didn’t know that’s how they located her.

I would have thought there would be surveillance cameras that cover all of the ship this day and age.

She must be fit and a good swimmer to survive 10 hours in the water. I wonder how heigh these cruise ships are, they look big, the fall alone could cause damage. One calm and lucky lady I would say.

I love the atmosphere of the winter gardens, I don’t wonder round and look at the plants every time I go in. it’s some where to go and rest your feet with a takeaway coffee, especially if it’s a bit chilly or raining outside. It’s clean and there’s plenty of seats. I like the structure of the building and how the galleries are connected to it. I just find it relaxing. I wish my home town offered something similar, I would be a regular visitor with my takeaway coffee.

I agree with you about the Winter Gardens, I love to sit there with a coffee and watch the world go by. All the above places you have mention are lovely. Also The Peace Gardens.

I’ve been told in Scotland you get bus passes at 60, free prescriptions for all, students don’t pay university fees and long term care also paid for, you don’t have to sell your house, could be a good place to move to if it’s true. If Sturgeon calls for another independence referendum and wins, will all of that change?

She was the Queen of soul. R.I.P

I think M&S closes at 7, but all the large department stores are open till 8 and it is busy in Newcastle Centre after 5’0 clock. Come Thursday and Friday evening when all the stags and hens are here it’s not always a good place to be.

Just read Australia#4, now I’m curious to know why you went to art school, so I will sit back and hope you will fill in the blanks at some stage.

The Bitter Suite were very good, remember seeing them a few times, mid to late seventies I think. The main singer had a lovely voice, I wonder what happened to him? I do remember them singing that iconic song Dreamer. They were very trendy at the time. Didn’t realise John Parr was in the group until Choogling mentioned it. I’ve been listening to Parr on YouTube, he’s good.

I also hope there is more to come. I’m curious to know what their first job was because they didn’t have much money so I would imagine they needed to find work straight away. Where they moved to after leaving the flats. It was a lovely piece of creative writing, something I could never do, so I will keep my fingers crossed Downsunder will do few more chapters, covering a ten year period of his life.

Enjoyed reading this and I do admire your courage as I do all expats who move to another country miles from home, I would be scared of the unknown. Can’t be easy leaving family and friends behind and with only £30, knowing that you will miss occasions, like christmas and birthdays. I’m sure keeping in touch is a bit easier these days for new expats because of better technology such as Skype. Hope your new country lived up to it’s expectations.

I was in Sheffield at the beginning of the week. I don’t think the city centre is that bad. There was a lovely atmosphere with the fun fairs and things to do. Even the large Megabus parked outside John Lewis, doing a promotion didn’t look out of the way, giving free candy floss and pens. When I was in Sheffield a few days before last Christmas there was a magical Christmas atmosphere then, with the Christmas market, the carousel on Barkers Pool, and the decorated cathedral. Much better than Newcastle and surrounding areas such as Durham, Alnwick, Hexham and Morpeth. Very rarely would I say this but well done to Sheffield council if they are the ones responsible for creating the Christmas atmosphere. There are some sad places as there is in the centre of Newcastle near where I now live. One thing we have here In Newcastle is called Alive After Five, when all multi storey car parks are free after 5’0 clock, in the centre and surrounding area. Not sure if Sheffield do anything similar, if not could be a good idea, but the shops stay open till 8’0 clock here, not sure they do in Sheffield.

I had my first visit to St George’s yesterday and didn’t see anything, apart from the nest box, but I wasn’t there very long, it was late afternoon. When I was on the tram earlier on in the day, you could see the top of the building from West Street, and I thought I saw one flying around, but I could be wrong.

Just watched a film based on a true story about Florence Foster Jenkins who was suppose to have been the worst opera singer at that time, she died in 1944. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the film when I thought I would only give it five minutes. I’m not a big fan of the main characters, Hugh Grant and Meryl Streep, who played the part of Jenkins, but it was good acting from both of them. When M Streep was singing and trying to reach the high notes she looked and sounded like a chicken in pain trying to lay an egg, made me laugh, I didn’t expect that awful singing or expressions, neither did the people at her concerts. Although it made me laugh it was sad to think that Jenkins caught syphilis at the age of 18 from her first husband, she ended the relationship when she knew. She didn’t have a sexual relationship with a man after that, in case she passed the disease on, therefore she didn’t have children which she wanted. She was told by doctors she did well to live with syphilis for 50 years, there was no antibiotics in those days. I couldn’t help but admire this lady. 8/10

The new mayor wants all the media attention he can get, good or bad. when he’s finished doing his stunt as mayor he’s got some sort of hidden agenda. I’m wondering if he wants to go on Britain’s Got Talent, wearing his sombrero with one the magicians or musicians he wants to use to entertain at council meetings. ---------- Post added 05-08-2018 at 17:50 ---------- If he is, it’s definitely worked here in Newcastle.

I think a house on Cookson Road once won the award for best garden, can’t remember what year it was. Think his second name was Clark who lived there. He was awarded the CBE medal, not for his garden, something to do with his job I think. Not many people would walk past his garden without looking at it, it looked lovey. Now like the majority of gardens on that road it’s a mess.

Many years ago I called the pest controllers in because of a wasps nest in my garage roof, where I use to live, and that is all they used. Didn’t listen to my old neighbour then who was going to spray round the area with ant powder for me, could have saved myself some cash. My present neighbour works in a old building, they had the pest controller for a wasps nest last year and they told her that’s all they used. My neighbour has just used ant powder a few weeks ago on my porch and within hours they had all gone. I couldn’t see the nest, but spraying the powder where they enter does the trick. So I would strongly recommend it.