I’ve spent all day doing editing work for clients, but I am done now and looking forward to the weekend! Going to have a relaxing evening with my videogames, then tomorrow Geth and I will be at parkrun early for the traditional Newcastle parkrun Great North Run t-shirts photo. Then there’s a vintage fair in town (I could not be more excited – haven’t been to one since February), and I will be meeting up with Geth after his Open Day work duties to do some more regular high street shopping as well!
Hoping to get some writing in this weekend as well. Should be a good one!
Not an OOTD: the trees in Gosforth are turning beautifully. Nice to get out for a brief walk this morning as well.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Duran Duran – Friends Of Mine Koji Kondo – Super Mario Bros. Theme Kelly Rowland – Stole Spandau Ballet – Gold Anne-Marie – 2002 Pet Shop Boys – On Social Media Trevor Something – Miami Nights
After Geth and our houseguest Erik headed off for their conference in York this morning, I spent the morning catching up with work. The Hermes driver finally picked up my MusicMagpie order that I put together last month (it’s taken a few attempts), so I don’t have boxes clogging up the hall anymore (and I am NOT thinking about the contents that I struggled to let go of…I am NOT…).
In the afternoon, I got on with some ukulele practice (class starts again next week!) and then went back to my videogames.
A slightly busier day tomorrow.
Not an OOTD: Pokémon Picross, one of the 3DS games I was playing today. You can add a Pokémon theme to anything if you put your mind to it.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Dee Cooke – 1964* Michael Land – The SCUMM Bar** Duran Duran – Rio Fleetwood Mac – Dreams
*A musical number that came to me in my dreams and would not leave me alone for two hours after I woke up. ‘Yesterday’ it is not.
It’s been an okay-ish day. I had a good loss at Slimming World this morning (not sure how, but I’m relieved to be losing again after a few consecutive weeks of gain!) and have been writing all afternoon. Geth is out boardgaming this evening, so I will be going back to my videogames.
Work all day tomorrow and then it’s Great North Run weekend!
OOTD: my favourite top for weigh-in. Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), hoodie Uneek Classic for Mesh (2016), vest top Primark (2018).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Timecop1983 and The Bad Dreamers – Back To You Duran Duran – Rio Disney – Prince Ali* Shakin’ Stevens – Green Door Pretenders – Back On The Chain Gang The Beatles – Drive My Car
A fairly early post today – I was awake at six (this is happening a lot recently, which is not like me!) and so was able to get up and get my work done nice and promptly. Have been getting on with a few admin tasks this afternoon and am now going to retreat back into my escapist videogame world.
More of the same tomorrow!
OOTD: nice to dig this t-shirt out. Can’t believe it’s been three months since UKGE already! Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), hoodie Gildan for Resistanz (2013), t-shirt Fruit Of The Loom for UK Games Expo (2019).
Today’s earworm playlist:
The Midnight – Wave Duran Duran – Do You Believe In Shame?
I didn’t get everything I wanted to do today done (partly due to booting up Puzzle Pirates for the first time in seven years…oops), but the stuff I did do has made me feel a bit better. I went for my run this morning, which means I’ve just got one more to do before the GNR, and I got some admin done that I’d been putting off for a week. I also got a bit of editing done, as some work for clients has come in this week.
In general it’s going to be a quiet week, so I’m hopeful of getting everything done…provided I can resist the lure of the videogames!
Sort of an OOTD: I didn’t make much of an effort with my own outfit today, but at least my Puzzle Pirates character looks cute.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Heaven 17 – Come Live With Me Jared Emerson-Johnson – The Office
I did my longest GNR training run this morning – 19k. The last few weeks of training seem to be paying off as my legs are holding up quite well this evening – which is probably for the best seeing as I’ve got parkrun in the morning!
I had some work for a client to do this afternoon, but it’s all finished now and so bank holiday weekend is ON.
New Hits to follow tomorrow.
OOTD: I’m not actually as tired as I look, I just couldn’t be bothered doing my makeup after my long run. Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), hoodie Uneek Classic for Mesh (2016), vest top Batman (2018).
Today’s earworm playlist:
The Midnight – Wave Ollie Wride – Back To Life The Midnight – Sunset
I’ve had a slightly quieter Thursday today for the first time in a while. No boardgaming guests tonight and Geth is out at a Keyforge tournament, so I’ve just been getting on with a couple of editing jobs and trying to get some rest before my longest GNR training run tomorrow.
Very nearly the weekend now!
OOTD: the cooler weather means that the cosy hoodies are coming back out. Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), hoodie Uneek Classic for Mesh (2016).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Timecop1983 and The Bad Dreamers – Back To You Duran Duran – Planet Earth Billy Ocean – Love Really Hurts Without You The Midnight – Days Of Thunder
I went for a short run this morning (absolutely loving my new running watch, which buzzes to let me know every time I’ve run another kilometre!). I’m getting a little faster on the short runs, but I think I’m going to have to slow down for the next couple of weeks until the Great North Run is over. After that, I can really concentrate on getting my speed up over the autumn.
I then spent the rest of the day editing for a client. Just a couple more documents to do tomorrow, and then – unless anything last-minute comes in – I should be able to get an early start to the bank holiday weekend! I have lots of plans. It’s the first time since 2013 that Geth and I haven’t spent the August bank holiday weekend in Bradford for Infest, but it’s still going to be a great weekend – I’ve got a couple of music events to go to and a lot of running to do. Looking forward to it!
OOTD: just ’cause I’m not going to Infest doesn’t mean I can’t pull out a goth-ish outfit every now and again! T-shirt Duran Duran (2019), skirt Electric Cabaret (2005), shoes Vivienne Westwood Anglomania for Melissa (2018).
Today’s earworm playlist:
The Midnight – Sunset The Midnight – America 2 Duran Duran – Liberty Duran Duran – My Antarctica FM-84 – Bend And Break
I have been really late with catching up with all my blogging since I got back from holiday. I’m very busy with the day job at the moment and haven’t had much time. However, I finally have a chance now to post all about my travels – better late than never!
Geth and I drove up to Mum and Dad’s in Edinburgh on the Sunday to meet up with the family – my brother and sister-in-law Malcolm and Steff had arrived from Canada on the Saturday – before we all travelled north. On the Monday, it was another long drive up to Aberdeen, with a brief lunch stop in Arbroath for some chippy goodness – separate post to follow at some point!
It was a bit of a wait to get onto the ferry but I was pleased to find that the small cars were loaded first – this meant that once my wee Skoda was in place on the car deck, Geth and I were able to grab a good space for the family in the lounge bar for the evening.
It was a fairly pleasant ferry journey north to Shetland, although first-time sailor Steff found it a bit nausea-inducing. In the morning, as soon as I’d driven to the B&B, I found a space to get on with some work – August has been busy from the off this year!
That afternoon, Geth and I found a nice café called the Dowry for lunch – it was so good that we ended up eating there five days in a row! – and then went for a walk around Lerwick to plot out where we were going to do our long runs the next day. I hadn’t slept well on the ferry so I got a fairly early night before the run.
It was nice running around Lerwick – a good way to see the town again after twelve years, especially as we had to do three laps to make the scheduled 14k we were both running that week! It was back to the Dowry for breakfast, as I’d been eyeing up the waffles the day before, and decided I’d earned them after my run.
Probably completely undid any calorie deficit I’d accomplished with the run. Delicious though!
I had a fairly quiet Wednesday afternoon – I had a bit of work to do again – before meeting up with the family for a meal at an Indian restaurant where we’d eaten when we were last in Shetland twelve years ago.
On the Thursday, Geth and I drove down to Sumburgh so that we could visit the excavation at Old Scatness. It wasn’t really open when we were last in Shetland as it had only recently been excavated, but they’ve got a nice wee visitor centre nowadays. Geth loved the site and could probably have stayed there for another hour!
A bit windswept at the Old Scatness site!
Back in Lerwick, we had an afternoon snack at the Dowry, and a chippy with the family again for tea. (On reflection I’m amazed that I only put on half a pound during the holiday! I did do a fair bit of running though…)
Geth and I met up with Malcolm and Steff for breakfast (at the Dowry again, you’ll be amazed to learn) on the Friday morning, and then went to the Shetland Museum. The museum hasn’t really changed since we visited in 2007, but it’s always worth a poke around.
This is the deck plan that hung on the wall of the passenger deck of the St Clair IV, the P&O ferry on which we always travelled to Shetland in the ’80s and ’90s when I was a kid. I must have looked at that deck plan on the actual ship a hundred times back in the day, and the fact that it’s now in a museum makes me feel a bit old.
In the evening, we met up with relatives Joyce and Douglas at the Waterfront restaurant. There was a lot of fish eaten by everyone else, but I was pleased to find that the veggie option was my old favourite, pasta and pesto. Cheesecake too, which is always welcome (see forthcoming cheesecake roundup post).
On the Saturday morning, Geth and I packed all of our remaining stuff into the car and then went on foot on the Bressay ferry to get to the start line of Bressay parkrun. After parkrun, we visited Joyce and Douglas for lunch and a brief tour of Bressay in the mist, before heading back to Lerwick so that I could get some work admin sorted out courtesy of the Dowry’s wifi.
Later that afternoon, we all drove back to the ferry terminal, and Geth and I and the Skoda got onboard nice and promptly again! It was a slightly bumpier ride than going up, and again I found it difficult to sleep on the boat, but we arrived nice and early in Aberdeen and the Sunday morning traffic was so quiet that we were back in Edinburgh by ten o’clock.
We had a couple more days in Edinburgh – I had to spend all of Sunday and Monday working, but Geth and I were able to meet up with our friend Kieran on the Monday night, and then we went to the City Cafe with Malcolm and Steff to have breakfast with my cousin Freya and her boyfriend Ryan on the Tuesday morning, before Geth and I headed back to Newcastle in the afternoon.
Hopefully it won’t be another twelve years before I make it back to Shetland again!
I was working most of today, but I’ve also set up my new running watch, which arrived yesterday. It’s a lot more advanced than my old one and does things like judging my sleep quality and pinging me when somebody’s retweeted me or emailed me or something. It also shouts at me to move if I’ve been sitting on the sofa for long enough, which could get annoying after a while.
Looking forward to taking it out for a spin when I go for my run tomorrow morning!
OOTD: new aquamarine watch doesn’t exactly go with everything but I’ll be wearing it 24/7 for a while to test it out! T-shirt Punk Masters (2018), jeans H&M (thrifted from Steff 2016), trainers Reebok (2018).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Trevor Something – Your Sex Is A Dream Scandroid – Aphelion Trevor Something – All Night Calvin Harris – Acceptable In The ’80s Ollie Wride – Back To Life Duran Duran – Save A Prayer Ollie Wride – Miracle Mile The Midnight – Days Of Thunder Prince – Little Red Corvette Flogging Molly – Drunken Lullabies The Midnight and Timecop1983 – River Of Darkness
