After getting some more DIY stuff done with Dad this morning (extractor fan installed! lightbulbs completed! car lights and tyres checked!) I headed into town with Mum and Dad for a walk. We had some lunch at the Christmas market and went to see Fenwick’s Christmas window (a Newcastle tradition), then had a wander over the bridges into Gateshead and back.
Another nice evening meal tonight! Back on plan tomorrow prior to Slimming World weigh-in on Friday.
Not an OOTD: Mum and Dad outside Fenwick’s Christmas window. This year’s theme is Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.
Mum and Dad were round today, which meant I was able to draw on Dad’s DIY expertise for some of the house jobs I’ve not got round to recently! We now have a lot of replaced lightbulbs (Geth and I had been living in a mostly-dark house for a while) and are working towards a replaced extractor fan (it was delivered a couple of months ago but we’ve not got round to installing it till now).
In the evening we went for tapas at El Torero in central Newcastle, which was up to its usual high standard.
Will be finishing off the DIY and doing a bit of shopping tomorrow!
Not an OOTD: let there be light! I love these brass light fixtures and it’s nice to have working bulbs in them again 🙂
Today’s earworm playlist:
Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman – ‘Somethin’ Stupid’ Duran Duran – ‘Winter Marches On’ Kuana Torres Kahele, James Ford Murphy and Napua Greig-Nakasone – ‘Someone To Lava’ Ellie Goulding – ‘Lights’ Roxette – ‘Listen To Your Heart’*
I sort of don’t want to say I’m feeling better, because every time I do, I feel like I’m jinxing myself for another setback… but I have felt a lot better so far today, and I’ve managed to get a lot of stuff done without making myself feel ill again, so I’m feeling hopeful.
I had a bit of day job work to do during the day, and have also managed to get in some ukulele practice. Christmas decorations are very nearly finished as well!
I’m out and about again the next couple of days, so I’m really hoping I’ve recovered enough not to make myself unwell again.
Not an OOTD: the Christmas mugs are out. Hot drinks are very welcome in my current state!
Today’s earworm playlist:
David Essex – ‘A Winter’s Tale’ The Justice Collective – ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ Kuana Torres Kahele, James Ford Murphy and Napua Greig-Nakasone – ‘Someone To Lava’ Pretenders – ‘2000 Miles’ Sam Bailey – ‘Skyscraper’
I’m still coughing a bit, but I feel like there’s light at the end of the tunnel with regards my cold. One more day inside and hopefully I’ll have got rid of the worst of it.
Today was a lovely relaxed Sunday with lots of music and good TV (I’m all caught up with Strictly and I LOVED the semifinal – looking forward to the final next week).
Assuming I don’t have another setback, it feels like I’ll have the energy to put the final few touches to the Christmas decorations tomorrow. I also have a bit of day job work to do, but at least that can be done from the sofa!
Not an OOTD: Spotify have sent me my 2019 music listening summary. Unsurprisingly, Duran Duran were my most listened to artist yet again!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Traditional – ‘Bleak Midwinter’ Blur – ‘Country House’ Richard Marx – ‘Right Here Waiting’
Definitely not better yet – I seem to keep veering between feeling totally fine and feeling like I can’t even stand up. At least I’m managing to get a few things done now during the ‘feeling fine’ hours!
I was too poorly to go to parkrun again this morning, so the date for my 100th parkrun is now the 21st December. If it gets pushed back any further (i.e. if I can’t parkrun next week either) I will be extremely cross (and also a bit worried, because the ‘bad’ stage of a cold really shouldn’t be going on for any more than a few days, let alone a fortnight!). However, I’m hopeful that I will be able to get rid of this thing in the course of the next week.
I did manage to get out and see the Marian Keyes talk at the Sage Gateshead this afternoon though. It was really good and I’ll do a more detailed post on it soon!
I have also finally managed to get my main Christmas tree up (a whole six days later than intended, but there you are). Just one last push to go tomorrow and then I will be done with the decorations (other than the few bits and pieces that I still need to do at Mum and Dad’s).
I now have two days in a row where I won’t be leaving the house, which gives me a really good opportunity to rest up and recover!
Not an OOTD: it’s always nice when I’ve got this tree glowing merrily away in the corner.
Today’s earworm playlist:
George Cole and Dennis Waterman – ‘What Are We Gonna Get For ‘Er Indoors?’ Coldplay – ‘Christmas Lights’ Martin & Shirlie – ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ Spandau Ballet – ‘To Cut A Long Story Short’ Sister Sledge – ‘Lost In Music’ Kuana Torres Kahele, James Ford Murphy and Napua Greig-Nakasone – ‘Someone To Lava’ Duran Duran – ‘Winter Marches On’
I’ve tried to have a ‘not doing anything’ day (i.e. just mindless internet browsing and so on) today in order to try and recover from my cold. Not doing anything, it turns out, just makes me feel frustrated and bored, like I’ve wasted the day. I’ve got a show at the Sage Gateshead to go to tomorrow afternoon, and although I will have to wrap up warm, I think I’m going to feel a bit better for getting out.
Also, there’s a loose connection in my laptop mouse, and it keeps beeping every five seconds to inform me that it’s either just connected or disconnected. Time to order a new one, I think. In the meantime, I’ve just given up and turned my laptop volume off.
Not an OOTD: Geth was given some Kona Brewery beers as an early Christmas present from a colleague, so he dug out his souvenir Big Kahuna glass from the time we went to Hawaii. It’s making me long for tropical islands and sunshine, which is NOT the way I usually feel in December when I’m excited about Christmas coming up! I’ve been researching some traditional Hawaiian ukulele music as a result.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Gary Glitter – ‘Another Rock ‘N’ Roll Christmas’* Kuana Torres Kahele, James Ford Murphy and Napua Greig-Nakasone – ‘Someone To Lava’ Coldplay – ‘Christmas Lights’ Bananarama – ‘Really Saying Something’
I travelled back to Newcastle first thing this morning (although I didn’t go to Slimming World because (a) I had a few last-minute clients with urgent deadlines today and (b) I’m really struggling with my cold today – wish it would just go away now). Have had a nice quiet day playing my ukulele and catching up with Strictly episodes!
Tomorrow will be all about staying in the house and trying to knock this thing on the head!
Not an OOTD: after a whole term of only playing my soprano ukulele (because it was the one I was using for class and I thought it was probably better to keep practising on the same one), it was nice to dig out my concert uke today. I’m hoping I’ll have a gig bag for it soon so that I can carry it around more easily!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Jennifer Rush – ‘The Power Of Love’ Coca-Cola – ‘Holidays Are Coming’ Lewis Capaldi – ‘Someone You Loved’ The White Stripes – ‘Seven Nation Army’ Gary Glitter – ‘Another Rock ‘N’ Roll Christmas’* Kuana Torres Kahele, James Ford Murphy and Napua Greig-Nakasone – ‘Someone To Lava’
*I KNOW. You never hear it anymore (because… Gary Glitter) but it’s on the That’s Christmas compilation album from 1994, which I listen to every year when I’m doing Mum and Dad’s decorations, and it’s REALLY catchy.
Looking at the Google Street View image, it seems that pretty much nothing has changed about this phone box (or its surroundings) in the last ten years (well, apart from the small detail of the phone inside having been removed)… which is kind of nice!
I’m still in Edinburgh (Geth is holding the fort at home, and reports that my paper chains haven’t fallen down yet, which is a real victory as they’re a bit delicate – will be reinforcing them at the end of the Christmas period), and still feeling a bit ill. However, it’s been a good day – I went to my yearly dental checkup this morning (the main reason I’m in town – the Christmas stuff is a bonus), did some more decorating of Mum and Dad’s house this afternoon, and then caught up with my cousin Freya this evening.
A very early train back to Newcastle tomorrow morning so that I can pop into my Slimming World group before heading home.
Not an OOTD: Dad also dug out the Micro today. We confirmed it works and everything! Looking forward to having a play with this over Christmas when I bring the disks up from Newcastle.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Coldplay – ‘Christmas Lights’ The Midnight and Nikki Flores – ‘Light Years’ Phil Collins – ‘Another Day In Paradise’
It is the week of tree decorating, and I’m finding that despite my cold, I can occasionally stand up long enough to put some ornaments on there! I’ve not done my main tree at home yet, but I did do my ‘upstairs tree’ this morning (it’s an old one I’ve had since 1994 that still scrubs up nicely with a bit of tinsel and some lights!), and I headed to Edinburgh today to decorate Mum and Dad’s tree for them. The seventy-year-old ornament collection is still gradually expanding, and I put 140 of them on the tree this year!
More trees to decorate over the next few days…
Not an OOTD: it’s the ornament collection, seventy years in the making, that makes Mum and Dad’s tree so special. I’m not bad at finding branches for them, though, if I do say so myself!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Coldplay – ‘Christmas Lights’ The Ronettes – ‘Chapel Of Love’ Duran Duran – ‘Femme Fatale’ Sheena Easton – ‘For Your Eyes Only’ The Midnight and Nikki Flores – ‘Light Years’ Take That – ‘Babe’ The Beatles – ‘Drive My Car’
