Alternative Office

New to this? Check out the First Post

Hello

I am working from my alternative office - not the library or my home office - but the pub!
The Lymestone Vaults to be precise - our favourite pub in Newcastle.

I did spend all last night filing my tax returns online - as an employer (stress!!!) and setting up my Real Time PAYE reporting for the next year. It was a long night!!


New Office

Then today I have been getting all my documents ready for the Internal Auditor - updating risk assessments and asset registers and all manner of other documents and filling in the Annual Audit return with big numbers. It doesn't come naturally to a librarian - I can tell you!

So - with all that done I thought I deserved a break - so we have come out for lunch and have both got our laptops so we can work from here too! Well - I just intend to blog :-)




Also (feeling virtuous now) we walked all the way into town and will walk back later - so I am also practising for my Walk for Life next month! It is over 5k!

Nice half a cider!

Office Lunch :-)

I can't believe I've completed all my tax forms 19 days before the deadline!! Hope you are impressed by that Mr Mawbs!!

So I don't think much work will get done this afternoon! Maybe some Candy Crush Saga (I won't put a link in to that - I wouldn't want you to get addicted like I did!) -
but not work!!

In Quizzing news - we've had some unrecognised success and some total success!

Last Saturday we went to Basford Tennis Club - after being invited by someone - we are not members! It was the occasion of heir annual quiz so we thought it might be fun.

There were just 4 of us - Nathan, Laura, the aforementioned Mr Mawbs and myself. Other teams had more people in them - but we didn't feel too intimidated!

There were quite a few sporty questions - but plenty of other stuff too. We felt we'd done okay - and after marking the paper of the team next to us - thought we'd done better than they had. The Quiz Master told us not to add up the total scores as he would do it for us.  Imagine our horror and shame as he announced that Team Interference (for that is our name) had come LAST!! He said never mind - we'd done well as there were only four of us. He gave us the "wooden spoon" prize of a block of Aldi Rum and Raisin chocolate!

I was so convinced that we'd done better than the team next to us - so I asked him if I could have a look at our marks - so we could see where we'd gone wrong.
We looked at it - and N added up the score - and he had missed 8 points (from the science round!) off our score! I didn't want to make a fuss in front of everyone - but I did have a quiet word with him and said we weren't bothered about the prizes. He had a check and then said "Oh yeah - you would have come third" He was entirely unconcerned and certainly didn't tell the rest of the room.

We probably won't be going back there again. Maybe it's just a local club for local people and they don't like "outsiders" - heehee!

To make up for that though - we went to the Sunday Night Quiz at the Wulstan - just N, L and myself and we won outright! We shared £28 - which was nice and paid for a few Sailor Jerry and cokes :-)
We were particularly proud of getting a football question right - without our sport expert Mr M. If you are wondering what the question was - "Which English football team has the shortest name?"

Answer at the end of this blog!!

To be fair - it had been a question at The Greyhound Quiz a few weeks before - and we had managed to remember it! I reckon that if we go round all the local pub quizzes - pretty soon we'll know all the answers and will be able to clean up wherever we go! Then we can all give up our day jobs :-)

Talking of quizzes though - have you watched the new one on C4? "Five Minutes to a Fortune" I love the complicated lateral thinking questions! For example - they ask a question and you have to spell out the answer using elements from the periodic table! It is really difficult! You can win a lot of money though if you are good. Or lucky!! N and I are thinking of entering. I'll let you know if we get on!!

On the medical front - nothing much is happening. No hospital visit this month! I am feeling great and fighting fit. Looking forward to doing the Race for Life on 11th June. Thanks to those of you who have sponsored us so far. I even got Mr Coxon - our favourite library customer - to give us something too.

I'll put photos on here when we've done it. Our very loud pink t-shirts have arrived - and I'm sure Tracy is getting a pink feather boa!

xx

The answer is BURY :-)

Ditched the wigs!!

New to this? Check out the First Post



Hello!

I have been brave these last couple of weeks and ditched the wigs completely! Well, it was getting warmer - and my own hair is growing back so thick now - it was poking out anyway.


July 2012 - thin hair

Just look at the difference between last July in Slovenia - when my hair was hardly there at all! (I chopped it all off when I got back from this holiday) and now. It has surprised me how dark it has grown back - and how curly. I have to straighten it to keep it under control!

There has been quite a reaction - in fact many of my customers have walked in and then right past me without saying hello - only to be surprised when they come to be served. "Oh it is you!" they exclaim "I thought they'd sent someone from Newcastle!"



March 2013 - thick hair!

I was quite cheered to find out how many of them had not realised that I had been wearing wigs. I thought they were pretty obvious - and felt rather self-conscious wearing them. But it seems that most people were oblivious to the fact. I needn't have worried!

It's nice to be back to me now - all natural. There are even some grey hairs in there too! Must have been the stress :-) I'll keep growing for a while and see how it looks. I'm not allowed to put chemicals on it for 12 months. I might like it by then!!

Have been busy at work over the last week or so. Of course the schools were on holiday so the library has been full of young people. On the whole they were pretty good - if rather noisy! Seems peaceful again now but it was good that they think of coming into the library. Even when the computers were busy they still found things to do - reading the Guinness Book of Records and the latest bio of Tom Daley seemed popular - as well as colouring in - meant for the younger ones - but seemingly popular with teens too!

Also the Parish Council work has been a bit manic too - with the end of year accounts to sort out. Soon I will be off to see the dreaded "Internal Auditor" with my  books and spread sheets. I remember doing it last year - and feeling so ill. I had to wear a big scarf because all my neck was peeling off from the radiotherapy. Don't worry - I won't be putting that photo up again!!
It's the worst thing I've ever seen :-) This year I feel a lot more on the case!



Nice of them to warn me :-)

Had a bit of a shock when we came back from shopping one day last week. There was a note through the door - a little like one you get from a courier when you are not in. Oh no - we though - we've missed a parcel. It was close to Laura's birthday and we were expecting a few things. But when we opened it up - it was a warrant for arrest! It was addressed to someone whose name we'd heard before - and we realised it was meant for someone who lived on a road with a very similar name to ours! We often get post, taxis, curries and pizzas arriving at our door - which are meant for them.



Space training :-)

Having read the message we thought we'd better ring them quickly - so they didn't try again by battering the doors down in the middle of the night! Who knew they actually warn you they have been to arrest you. Surely most people would skip the country??? Nathan rang the number on the card - and they quickly realised that they had been to the wrong house.  Even though we thought it was really funny - they didn't seem to. Perhaps they were a little embarrassed.

Heeheeheehee.

Anyway - I will stop for now. I leave you with a photo of me as an astronaut that I have now retrieved from Nathan's phone.

B xx






Race for Life

New to this? Check out the First Post

Hi!
I am feeling pretty excited!
I have registered to do the Race for Life at Trentham Gardens on 11th June. Not only have my good friends Janet and Tracy agreed to do it with me - but we have also been joined by Dawn - Tracy's sister. It is going to be fun!
The serious part though is that we will be raising money for Cancer Research. I don't have to tell you how important this is to me. Although I am now cured of my secondary cancer thanks to the wonderful staff from the Cancer Centre at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. None of us have any idea where the Primary Cancer started - or went to. So it is a bit of a worry. Much more research is needed into CUP (Cancer of Unknown Primary) so that treatment can be more targeted and specific.

So we have a fundraising page - http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/the-book-group
where you can donate online - it is totally secure.

A quicker way to donate is to text 70070 with the code BOOK56 followed by any amount from £1 to £10 - it is easy and very fast!

If you prefer to deal with real money we'll have sponsorship forms too. I'm sure we'll pop one in the library - if you are nearby :-)

We are aiming to raise £50 each - a total of £200. If you could spare anything to help us reach our target we would be very, very grateful.

Cancer - we're coming to get you!!!!

In other news we went to see Derren Brown last night at The Regent in his new show Infamous - and he was incredible! He has a lot to say about quacks and so called alternative healers. However - due to the fact that he made us all promise that we wouldn't divulge what happens in the show I can't tell you anything about it. Something nasty will happen if I do - so I can't risk that! Heehee! Catch it if you can - maybe it'll be on TV eventually too. Maybe then he'll lift the curse :-)
(We couldn't take photos either)



Dabber!

We finished off celebrating N's birthday last weekend when his friends were all up for Easter. He wanted to do something a bit random - that he hadn't tried before. After much thought he settled on bingo!

So last Saturday afternoon we took ourselves off (with Mr M and Jo) to Mecca Bingo and joined the club! We were just in time for the afternoon session and we were given "Easy Cards" which meant that each page had 6 bingo cards which contained all the numbers. So as the caller called out the numbers - we knew that each number was thee somewhere once. It didn't help too much - as the caller went so fast!! No more "Two fat ladies - 88" its all "8 and 8 - 88, 3 and 4 - 34" etc. We did have a bit of trouble keeping up!


Birthday Fun

All the old ladies were way ahead. Eventually we realised that the numbers were in columns - and the actual number being called popped up on a display on the table!

We did get into it - and it was a good laugh - but not one of us got so much as a line!

We were very proud of our lovely pink dabbers though!

Pondering the menu at Jalsa

That evening we got everyone together for a few drinks and a curry at Jalsa. it was nice to see the others. Danilo came down from Edinburgh and Si and Heidi came up from London. Thanks for coming guys - it was great to see you and we had a really good time!

So tomorrow I am off to the hospital for a check-up. My first in two months! I guess by now that Dr Gahir has had her baby. I don't know who I will see - but I am hoping that we'll be able to catch up with Frank in the waiting room.

I'll let you know how it goes!
xx

Birthday!!

New to this? Check out the First Post

Hi
Isn't it nice to have a few days off? I hope that you all have a lovely Easter!


We have had a busy few days with one sad occasion and one happy one.


The sad occasion was the funeral of Nathan's Uncle Roy - who had lived in Manchester. I was sad that I had never met him and wanted to go - luckily Tracy offered to work all day so that I could take some time off.

We went up to Manchester on Monday for the funeral at the Crematorium by the famous Southern Cemetery. We went into the cemetery when we first got there and it is huge. There are many famous Mancunians buried there including Sir Matt Busby and my mum's favourite painter, Lowry.



Tony, Auntie Jean and Leon

It was a touching ceremony and the vicar, Ken, read out a beautiful eulogy written by N's dad. Afterwards we went to a local pub and there was a buffet. It was really nice to meet some of Nathan's family that I had never seen before. Several cousins were there , I remember one called Tony who (I think) sells sausages on Bury market. He was a lot of fun - and even brought some sausages for Nathan's parents - since hey had asked! They all sounded very familiar - as they talked like my parents too! I also met Christopher, Angela and Tracy - and Leon who asked N if he'd enjoyed the Paralympics. it turned out that he had been working for the company that sent out all the tickets and he'd seen Nathan's name and address on tickets he was sorting out.

N's mum and Tony the Sausage King!

Small world!

It was good to catch up with them. It was interesting to know that Tony had been to visit another cousin who lives in Las Vegas!! I asked if he liked to have visitors :-) Seems he does! He is an electrician there - which in a place like Las Vegas - he must be in great demand!




It was Nathan's birthday recently - and I like to surprise him on his birthday by taking him somewhere he has never been before. I think the favourite one so far has been Bletchley Park a couple of years ago. (I like to make sure it is somewhat geeky :-) )

So this time we set off in the car and headed East, over towards Derby then got on the M1.

It wasn't until be got close to Leicester and N saw the signs with a rocket on them that he guessed that we were going to the National Space Centre!

I hadn't realised that we had a Space Centre in the country until I saw it on "Don't Tell the Bride" where a groom had arranged a wedding there for his unsuspecting bride! It had looked pretty impressive so I thought we should go!



National Space Centre

Awesome cake made by N's mum

It was pretty quiet when we got there and we started by going up the four floors, next to the huge rocket, that explained the Space Race between the USSR and the USA. it was brilliantly done  - I especially enjoyed going into the secret session with the Soviets who extolled their many victories over the Americans. Mainly because the voice offered us vodka when we entered and sat down at the table - although it didn't actually materialise! Tell you something though - that Yuri Gagarin was a brave man! When he put himself in that rocket to go into orbit round the earth his odds were not great. The previous two tests had worked - but before that it was 50/50 whether it actually would explode or not. He didn't even tell his wife and kids - just left home without mentioning he was off to space. No wonder he was a national hero on his safe return!



Suits you sir!

Of course that led the USA to plan the moon landings to go one better. Shame I wasn't done for the good of all mankind - not just to get one up on the rivals!

This led to the floor with many interactive displays about the moon landings and the brave astronauts who undertook them. It was fascinating! I wanted to launch Nathan into space - but there were too many school kids playing on that one. Maybe next time :-) He does look good as an astronaut though!

One of the most interesting things was the mini-cinema where we got to see the first ever science fiction film. It was made in 1902 and was a French film called "Le Voyage dans la Lune" It had English subtitles and was only 12 minutes - but as amazing! The bearded astronomers were fired to the moon in a shell that looked very much like a rocket and encountered hostile moon men. They managed to return to earth by getting back into their shell and falling off the edge of the moon. I loved it!  We also went into the Patrick Moore Planetarium to see a 360 degree film entitled "We are Aliens" narrated by Ron Weasley :-) It was all about the possibility of like on other planets. It was 3D in[places as we whizzed through the galaxies to the ends of the universe. They did warn you that you might feel a bit travel sick! It was quite thrilling. We came back later to hear a live presentation from one of the staff about what we would be able to see if we looked out at the night sky at 9pm that very night. He showed us all the constellations, planets and galaxies that may be visible - if there's no cloud.

We stayed until 5pm but we still hadn't seen everything. We had a delicious lunch in the restaurant which is directly underneath the huge rocket. In fact, every few minutes it starts to smoke then there are red flames coming out of the bottom and there is a tremendous noise and a countdown through the speakers as if it is about to launch and take us all with it. As soon as it starts up excited kids run right under it and squeal with delight! So, I guess the smoke and flames aren't too harmful :-) It is quite spectacular!

Space food!

Before we left we had to browse in the shop of course. I got some space food! Freeze dried ice cream. I'll let you know what it's like when I've tried it!

It took us about an hour and a half to get back to Staffordshire.

Work is fun :-)

New to this? Check out the First Post

Hello
I've been having fun at work - but before I tell you about that I must tell you that Nathan has been interviewed for a MSDN website and now they have put the finished article up there - have a look here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ukmsdn/archive/2013/03/19/from-a-side-project-to-windows-8-store-featured-app-the-interference-story.aspx

They think that his story will be an inspiration to other developers - I am very proud of him :-)                                                                



Starbooks anyone? :-)

We have a few new projects in the library. Our first one is The Library Café (or serving hot drinks!)

There isn't anywhere you can get a cuppa in Silverdale - and we have been asked plenty of times!

But,  unless one of the local churches happen to be having a Coffee Morning - there isn't anywhere we can direct people.






So, we decided we'd do it ourselves. So, for just 30p you can get a cup (or mug!) of tea or coffee and biscuits. We think it might take off. We started on Monday - but only had one taker! I guess word needs to get around We have made a noticeboard with pink balloons on it - we'll put it out tomorrow and see how it goes!









Sadly tomorrow is the last day of term for the Keele Poets in Silverdale. They won't be back until September. On Tuesday Roger brought in their poems about Silverdale that he had printed out, for us to put up on the wall. Some of them have relatives that lived in Silverdale, or that were miners. Others were inspired by the black and white photos that we have up on the walls and by reading the local history books.

I have put them near the old mining photos that we have on loan from the Borough Museum. The poems they have written are amazing. Very relevant and moving. They are even paying to produce booklets with them in for us to give out. Come in and have a look at them - I think you'll be very impressed.

I like so many of them - but the one called "Waiting" by Megan has reduced most people who read it to tears. They are a very talented group.

What is Coming Soon???

Talking of talent - Tracy has been busy making flowers from yarn and have a look what she has done with them! The noticeboard is looking very colourful and eye-catching. She is doing a great job of getting people to ask about it! She had even bigger plans in the pipeline as her group are working on a "secret project" Watch this space!!







In other news - as members of CAMRA we were very happy to hear in the budget that George Osbourn has abolished the tax accumulator that was making the price of beer rise above inflation every year - and has actually reduced the tax by 1p.



Watch this space...

 

The number of pubs that have closed is terrible and it is good to see something that might help slow this down. We tried to do our bit to support the industry by attending the Porthill Beer Festival this weekend. It was held in the Cricket Club - and we went on Friday night initially - but it was absolutely packed! I don't know how they got so many people in the room! I have to say that there was a good selection of beers and a few interesting ciders too. They were each sponsored by a local business (for Example Tooltastic sponsored "Proper Job  or some other amusingly titled beer) This meant that they were pretty cheap compared to the usual guest ales you find in a pub.

We couldn't stay long though - as there was no room to breathe!

We were chatting to the manager the next day and he said he'd served 1400 pints that one night! They'd had to get on the phone early the next morning to the brewers to frantically try to get more beer for the rest of the weekend festival!

Saturday lunchtime was a bit calmer and we could try a few different drinks while eating their excellent cheese and onion baps. I had a rum cask cider and a whisky cask one - and I have to say  the rum flavoured one was far superior! It was strong and smooth. Very easy to drink.
Sunday was St Patrick's Day and we celebrated in Stone. had a very nice lunch with Nathan's parents. His dad got a very fetching hat to commemorate the day! I think it quite suits him :-)

Back to work....

New to this? Check out the First Post

Hi

It was nice to get back to work - and see it so busy! Seems that everyone is gradually coming out of hibernation - although we've had a couple of icy blasts at times!

It is sad that the Keele Poets have only two more weeks to go until they finish until September. The place is never the same without them! This term they have been working on (among other things) poems about Silverdale. I gave them all the local history books to look at or take away and from what Caroline showed me last week - they have come up with some astonishing and moving stuff. This week they are going to print them out and I am going to display them around the library under the photos we have of Silverdale Colliery and its workers.

The colliery closed down on Christmas Eve in 1998 and the site is now a beautiful country park with a lake and is teeming with wildlife. However it remains very much a mining village with a proud history. The photos we have are on loan from the Borough Museum in Newcastle - the poems should compliment them nicely!

Tracy is doing great with her new Knit and Natter, Crochet and Chatter group and we have been talking about finding a project for them to do together. Can't wait to tell you what it is - but I will - until we have photos and stuff. Watch this space....



Getting a bit longer...

I am still wearing my wigs - as they keep me warm. However under them - hair is growing still! I did have a lot cut off a couple of weeks ago - and now I do straighten it - so I got Nathan to take a couple of photos this morning. I think it starting to look a little more normal!

My friend Susan from South Carolina, America sent me a link to a very interesting article about Hyperthermia Therapy for the treatment of cancer. It was something I hadn't heard of before - but apparently it is showing promise as an experimental cancer therapy.



Cool spikey bits :-)

Seems they heat you up to make the cancer cells more susceptible to the usual treatments - but when they give you the radiotherapy and chemotherapy they can give you much lower doses. Sounds like a great step forward to me. They can only use it on certain types of tumours - but it sounds very promising.

Less chemo and radio have got to be much better for your quality of life after cancer. Less damage to other bits and bodily functions.

I am currently feeling great though - I don't have to go to the hospital at all this month! It is nice not to have to think about it until next month. :-)

In other news - Nathan went for his audition as the Yorkshire Ripper - he had to improvise a scene where he was questioned by police. The series is part of Crimes That Shook Britain series - and he would be in the background, but you wouldn't hear what he was saying or anything. Just a "reconstruction" Will let you know if he gets it - so you can all look out for him :-)

Hope you all enjoy the rest of the week!!
xx

Week off

New to this? Check out the First Post

Hello


Unboxing!

I've had a nice week off work. Pretty chilled out and quiet really. Typical - when I get  a week off Nathan suddenly gets busy! He's spent the week going into schools to give demonstrations of his new school app with his business partner Darren. They have been very well received so far!








Tuesday evening was exciting as the courier arrived with Nathan's prizes - at last!! Three lovely boxes for him to open. One with his new Nokia Lumia 920 in sleek black inside , another with his  ASUS tablet and the biggest one containing his Toshiba Ultrabook. Needless to say he soon had them all up and running. it doesn't take long to set things up with Windows Live Accounts and Windows 8. Simples :-)

Tablet Box



Time to open the laptop

We decided to celebrate Mothers Day early - as places are rammed and rushed if you try to take them out for lunch on the actual day. So we chose to go to The Wayfarer with my parents, Nathan's parents and my brother Dom and his wife Sharon. It is such a nice gastropub and we had been there once before to celebrate a birthday.

So we all went on Thursday lunchtime. It was quiet and we could take our time and the service was wonderful. So was the food! It is a bit pricey - but worth it! We were also celebrating my mum's birthday which is on 18th March!

Quite a few of us had the half a roast chicken option - with different sauces. Mine, Dom's and Sharon's were with barbecue and the mums both had it with lemon and garlic. Beautifully presented - with chunky hand-cut chips. N's dad asked if we had time for him to choose the 8-hour slow roasted lamb shank. He was assured that it had already been cooked overnight so we wouldn't have to wait too long!


Exciting :-)

My dad tried the duck and declared it superb - as was Nathan's Beef en Croute. I did learn something too - you can get much more juice out of a hot lemon.

Most of us had dessert too - only N's dad resisted! I was intrigued by the Baked Alaska with Pistachio Ice Cream - I haven't had one in years! That was a popular choice - as was the Ginger Crème Brulee with Rosemary Biscuit. N loves the chocolate - so went for Chocolate Brownie with Chocolate Sauce and ice cream.






Happy mums on Early Mothers Day :-)

It was all delicious and everyone enjoyed it very much. We retired to N's parent's house for coffee and Thornton's Mis-shapes ( my dad was very impressed with those!). We didn't need to eat for the rest of the day!

 

 What else did we do this week? Well on Saturday evening we met up with Jodie and his lovely girlfriend Claire for a few drinks. They were visiting his parents in Leek and decided they'd come over to Newcastle for a catch-up with us. Jodie used to be an apprentice at the college when Nathan was Network manager there and I was Librarian. He left there to go to Liverpool University and now works in London. We don't see him very often.

It was the first time we had met Claire who comes from California - a couple of hours drive South from San Francisco. She has been working in London for four years and met Jodie through a mutual friend (I think!)

We decided to introduce them to Brad,s pub - The Lymestone Vaults.



Enjoying a pint of Foundation Stone

 It was really quiet as we walked through the wet streets of Newcastle - but as we entered the pub the noise was deafening and it was practically full! We managed to get the last table - sadly the sofas by the fire were taken - and stayed put all night. Well, the beer is great and as N said to him - I bet Jodie was delighted with how much change he got after buying drinks. London drinks are much pricier!

They all tried the locally (Stone)-brewed beer except me. I'm not fond of the bitter taste. The only one I love is Floris Honey beer - but they didn't have that!
I started with some Two Trees Perry and then went onto the Stone's Ginger Wine - which is lovely and warming when it is snowing outside.


Jodie and Claire

We couldn't believe how quickly the evening went by - in no time we were being asked to drink up and go as it was approaching midnight. Hopefully we'll see the two of them again when we go down to London in September for Eurogamer, if not before.

So I am back at work tomorrow - Tracy tells me that it has been manic while I've been away! I look forward to finding out what's been going on in my absence!

Nathan has a busy week too - as well as more demos scheduled for schools he has a special appointment on Tuesday. For ages his mum has been telling him that with his beard like it is - he looks like The Yorkshire Ripper. Then last week he had a call from Seven (we are both registered with them - they are an extras agency) who told him that some client had chosen Nathan's photo from the book because he looks perfect for something they are going to start filming soon - it is a docu-drama about The Yorkshire Ripper! It may involve some acting too. I'm sure he'll be great :-) He has to go for the casting audition in Manchester on Tuesday!

Also before I go for now - good luck to Laura who has a job interview tomorrow with Staffordshire County Council. Hope it goes well - fingers crossed!