Good gigs

This week excitement mounted as tickets were booked to see two of my favourite female singers over the coming months. First off is Siouxsie Sioux in November where she'll be promoting her cracking new album Mantaray. And then in January next year it's the fantabulous Alison Moyet who'll be showcasing The Turn.

Xylophone

For my birthday this year, I was given a xylophone by my lovely man.

I just need to learn how to play it now.

Christmas catalogue

It's not yet September and I've just received my first, of what I'm sure will be many, Christmas catalogues. Well, it is a charity which I donate annually to and therefore I suppose I don't mind that much really but I thought I'd have a moan anyway. I haven't even been on my summer holidays yet.

Apples from the garden

Last year the apples from our tree weren't dropping and ready for picking until mid-September. This year they're ready now and I've just picked a carrier bag full to take to work tomorrow to share out in the staff room.

Cake! Presents! Cards! Drink!

Happy birthday

This blog is one year old today, August 18. Have a look at last year's posts during August.

Why the ladybird cake? Here's why!

Next week, there's another birthday celebration but it's not the blog's, it's mine. Wahey.

National Express, oh no

One of the most upsetting experiences of my life happened on a National Express bus. So the news this week that GNER has been taken over by National Express fills me with little joy as I travel up north often by train.

I was young and trying to get home safely from London after my friend and her parents had driven me from Oxford to London's Victoria Station to get the bus back up north. Despite the fact I was travelling alone, a very young teenager with the correct ticket to board the bus, the snotty-nosed ticket woman wouldn't let me on, something to do with my ticket having the wrong code on it which the travel agent had written on when I'd bought it. Anyway, I won't bore you with the details but I ended up in tears (not a pretty sight) in the middle of Victoria Station (ditto) miles away from home as the National Express bus driver and his partner in crime - a woman who brings back memories even to this day which make me grind my teeth in anger - laughed at my upset and distress. This was way back in the depths of the late 1970s, before anyone had heard of Human Rights, or even good manners.

With National Express now taking over the GNER railway line, does this mean passengers will be belittled as they get on the train, reduced to tears, then forced to stop at Newark for a toilet break after being served stale bread sandwiches and forced into a whip round for the driver before they're let off at the other end?

And heaven help you should you find your travel agent has put the wrong code on your ticket. You have been warned.

Out and about in London

I feel like I've been out loads lately, but that's probably because I have. There's been a theatre visit every couple of weeks over the last few months, which is great because a) I love live theatre and b) I love eating a posh dinner out before we go to see whatever it is we're going to see.

Went to see Elling this week which starred John Simm from Life on Mars (pictured left). One of his Life on Mars co-stars was in the (very cosy) theatre audience and I also spotted Russell Brand too. It was a night for celeb-spotting as we passed Justin Lee-Collins in the Street being hugged by a woman before we got to the theatre.

And there's football this coming Sunday with a trip to Craven Cottage to watch Fulham v Boro as my boyfriend is a Boro fan and two more theatre visits again in the next couple of weeks. Oh, lovely, lovely.

Where were you when Elvis died?

Where were you thirty years ago today when Elvis died? It was August 16, 1977 and I was 12 years old, on holiday in Gorleston-on-Sea with my parents and two younger brothers, who at that time were the two most annoying people in the world but these days, are ok. I remember the adults at the guest house where we were staying were all sitting around in the lounge, upset, reading The Daily Mirror and wondering where it all went wrong. I didn't realise at the time what had truly happened.

My favourite Elvis movie ever is Blue Hawaii and I even have the soundtrack on CD, sad muppet that I am.

Sadie the bra lady

Sadie the bra lady is a north-east legend. She was due to be featured on Channel 4 last night in their Three Minute Wonder slot but they changed it at the last minute so she didn't get her three minutes of fame. Mind you, it's not like she needs it as she's won all sorts of awards for her lingerie shops. Her adverts in the local cinemas up north call her 'The Original Kwik-Fit Fitter' and it's true. I interviewed her once when I was doing my journalism course at Sunderland Uni and she said the only time she ever gets a tape measure out in one of her bra fitting shops is when she's measuring up to put new shelves on her wall. So, how has she managed to sell the perfect fit of bra for over 50,000 women? Ah, that's her secret and I'm not telling. Find out more on the Sadie the bra lady website.

Football season starts next week

It'll be football o'clock in our house on Saturday 11 August when the footy season kicks off again. I can't wait, especially now with Sunderland AFC back in the Premiership. Anyway, one of the joys of the football season starting again is that Soccer AM is back on TV. It's one of the best things on the box at this time of year, even if it does include the embarassingly cringe making Soccerette spot. I have to go and make a cuppa when she comes on.