Corrie Weekly Updates 2013 for Kindle

If you're a fan of my Coronation Street weekly updates - which have been going strong since 1995 - then you'll be happy to hear that all of my 2013 Corrie weekly updates are now available for Kindle.

2013 Corrie weekly updates for Kindle. Buy it here.  Or if you're in the UK, here.

Unofficial Coronation Street weekly updates from 1995 to 2013
19 years in 19 lovely, fan written, e-books
All the wit and warmth of Weatherfield, none of the waffle

Written by Coronation Street Blog editor, Flaming Nora.
 
Available from amazon.co.uk and amazon.com
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

My Coronation Street year

Coronation Street Blog's best bits of 2013. 

Could not be more chuffed! 

Onward to 2014 and all it will bring...

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Corrie weekly update - nosey parker in a parka

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week the update includes Norris the nosey parker in a parka.
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What I'm looking forward to on TV this Christmas

Christmas specials of Trollied, Hebburn and Vicious; the return of Grand Hotel; Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty; the finale of Mad Dogs; my ex-English teacher Malcolm Gerrie interviewing Blondie's Debbie Harry and Chris Stein in Talks Music Now; the Ladybird Books Story; John Barrowman Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

Well, it is Christmas.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Corrie weekly update - our favourite table in Roy's Rolls

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week the update comes from our favourite table in Roy's Rolls.
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Corrie weekly update - you may now kiss the babysitter

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week on Corrie, the Devster had all the gear but no idea.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Flaming Nora for sale, all offers welcome

If you enjoy this blog or the Coronation Street Blog which I set up in 2007 and have edited since, you'll know I've got a creative pair of hands.

I also have the ability and inclination to work damn hard. I'm an experienced administrator who writes freelance - and not just about Corrie.

If you appreciate the work on the Coronation Street Blog and can offer paid work that's creative, do please email at glenda.young@btinternet.com

Thank you for reading.

Find out more about me here.  
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Weatherfield weather

To the new set of Coronation Street this week for the big reveal to the press, at which I was privileged to be invited in my role as editor of Coronation Street Blog.

Read about the visit - and how we ended up on the ITV news.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Corrie weekly update - the jar full of little acorns

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week on Corrie, Steve was worried about what Michelle might do with his little acorns.
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Corrie weekly update - the floozy bit of spare

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week on Corrie, we find out there's a floozy bit of spare at Streetcars.
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The red rosary bead

In July 2013 I found this glass pebble on Scarborough beach.  It's a lot smaller than it looks in the above picture. 

Here it is next to a 5p piece:

With thanks to the Finds Office at the British Museum, the pebble has been identified as a bead that may have been used as part of a rosary, dating from the post medieval or early modern period. 

Full details on the bead are at the British Museum Finds Office website.

I am offering it for sale to any collector who would like it.  Please email me if you're interested in buying it.

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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Corrie weekly update - the full biscuit tin

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week on Corrie, Eileen gives Todd a lesson in biscuit tin etiquette.
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Proper shops

Last year I made a conscious decision to do as much Christmas shopping as possible in proper shops and not online.

Now, I love Amazon and play.com as much as anyone does who likes cheap stuff that arrives through their front door.

But I hate this more.

And that's why this year I'll be shopping Sunderland, shopping local and buying nothing online, again.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Corrie weekly update - Hairy Mary, odd Todd

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week on Corrie, the Toddmeister returns - that London has a lot to answer for.
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Best of Belgium

I love Belgium, me.   

I've been to Brussells twice, staying in the rather splendid Metropole Hotel.

And have visited the following places in Flanders all once, for long weekends of eating, drinking and being a tourist - Mechelen, Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges, Leuven and Ostend.  From Ostend we took the tram to De Haan which was magical and my pics are on flickr here.

It's the quirkiness of the Belgian culture and people I love. Like the time we arrived in Antwerp in the middle of a cow-weighing competition in the main square.  And yes, there's a YouTube.

Or in Mechelen watching a parade where a doll - representing a baby - was thrown up in the air and caught in a blanket.  And staying in the brewery there, now that was really nice.

And in Antwerp again, in a local cafe watching them go wild, dancing to the organ - there's a Youtube of it here.

Or in Ostend, where there was Friday night tango in the park.

Anyway, as I said, I love Belgium, me. I feel at home there. I love the culture. I love the art. I love the huge portions of good food and the mustard that makes my eyes water. I love the beer and the chocolate.  And if it wasn't for the fact that the language is almost inpenetrable, I might just want to live there. 

If this has whetted your appetite, in any way, to learn more about Belgium, I heartily recommend Harry Pearson's book A Tall Man in a Low Land.  It's funny, easy to read and gives a great insight into what makes Belgium best.
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Corrie weekly update - Groce Grace and other Hallowe'en horrors

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week on Corrie, there were some right little monsters.
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When life gets in the way of writing about life

Went to Blackpool for two nights for a special event and stayed in a hotel room with the most bizarre view I've ever had in my life. Enjoyed Jim Broadbent in Le Weekend at the flicks.  Listened to John Otway play guitar after answering questions from the audience who'd just watched his film Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure. Loved every minute of an Alison Moyet gig. Started Spanish lessons. Had cold and had to take a day off work. Recovered. Got cold again and had to take two days off work.  Had a flu jab after which the pharmacist gave me a Peppa Pig plaster. Edited the increasingly popular Coronation Street Blog. Walked on the beach. Joined a national day of action. Had my pebble looked (and no, that's not a euphemism). Went on holiday to Greece. Started making lists for Christmas.

And that, my friends, is why I haven't been blogging lately. Life's got in the way - in a good way.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Corrie weekly update - knickers, knackers, knockers

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week on Corrie, Tina's hair was whipped into a frenzy.
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Corrie weekly update - the update with spontaneity scheduled in

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week Coronation Street was in Blackpool.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Corrie weekly update - this update's not his, it’s mine

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week in Corrie, Daddy Connor returned.
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Corrie weekly update: mothers, sons and the return of evil Dave

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week in Corrie,we're waiting for Owen's inner monster to roar.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Corrie weekly update: pedantry, pigeons and a leopardskin onesie

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week in Corrie, we're trying not to cry.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

The Hartlepool 84' pipe mill

It appeals, very much, to my tidy mind that when you're on the train going through Hartlepool and you pass this building, you don't have to guess what it is or indeed, where you are.
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Books I read on my holidays 2013

Books I read on my summer jollies 2013, in order of reading.

Jonathan Harvey, The Confusion of Karen Carpenter

Jonathan Harvey is one of my favourite Coronation Street writers and the writer of Gimme Gimme Gimme, one of my favourite TV shows ever.  His first novel, All She Wants, I read on my jollies last summer and laughed out loud at it in a few places. Despite having had the book for some weeks, I kept it specially to read as my first holiday book.  Sadly I didn't enjoy this one as much as his first novel. I love his work on TV and wish his naughty, saucy humour would show itself more in his novels too. A disappointing 6/10.

Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

 

I romped through this book, despite disliking the two central characters a lot - which I think is rather the point. A fab book, tense thriller. Couldn't put it down. 10/10.

James Kelman, Mo Said She Was Quirky

A novel set in the day of a life of a woman called Mo.  I would have liked to tell you more about this but at page 45 I said to myself if it didn't improve by page 100 I would give up on it. I didn't even get that far, and gave up at page 67 instead.  If the author had used apostrophes instead of trying to be trendy by not including them in his work, it would have helped.  A disappointing waste of money. 2/10

Monique Roffey, Archipelago

I read Monique Roffey's novel Sun Dog earlier this year and fell in love with it so couldn't wait to read her new one, Archipelago and fell in love all over again.  Her style of writing and the content of the story swept me away on a voyage of discovery. A beautiful tale of a dad, his daughter and their dog sailing on an adventure to try to escape grief.  I read this by the beach with the waves breaking and boats sailing by as I turned the pages.  A perfect setting to read a wonderful tale. I think I might have had something in my eye at the end though.  11/10.  Yes I know 11/10 doesn't exist but for this book it does.

T C Boyle, San Miguel

 

T C Boyle is one of my favourite authors and didn't disappoint with this historical tale of those who lived, loved and lost on the island of San Miguel off the Californian coast. Lacked a little in tension but had some excellent characters and dialogue.  9/10.

Scott Thorson, Behind the Candelabra

After seeing the movie Behind the Candelabra at the flicks a few months ago, I was intrigued to read this book to see how much of it was based on Scott Thorson's words.  It's a revealation.  If you enjoyed the movie, you'll love the book on which the film was based.  Thoroughly enjoyable and somewhat sad. 10/10.

Danny Baker, Going to Sea in a Sieve

As I'd now read all of the books I'd bought and brought with me on holiday, I had to resort to reading some of the books from my husband's pile he'd brought with him.  I didn't fancy his sci-fi much so I plumped instead for Danny Baker's autobiography (volume 1).  I was never a huge fan of Danny Baker until I was off sick from work for a prolonged and horrible time in 2009 and filled my days listening to the radio.  Being too ill to get up and turn the radio off or over when Danny Baker came on, I started listening to him and only then begain to get an inkling of the man's genius and sense of humour. I've been a fan ever since.  If you're a fan too, you'll love this book.  He knows how to write and he knows how to tell a story.  It's a very - very - funny book, I giggled and tittered all the way through, laughing out loud and often with tears in my eyes.  Looking forward to volume 2 already.  A stonking 12/10. Yes, 12/10.

Neil Young, Waging Heavy Peace

And finally, another book taken from my husband's pile of books, the autobiography of singer-songwriter Neil Young.  It's a ramble of a book, not the usual autobiography in many ways. It rocks and it rolls from model trains to cars to guitars and family and Life. Always Life.  A wonderful 10/10.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Gone fishing

I'm going where the sun shines brightly

I'm going where the sea is blue

I've seen pictures of it on Facebook

Now let's see if it's true

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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Boiled sweets

There is a joy to boiled sweets.  I blame my grandma for my addiction; she always had a packet of mints in her handbag and I find I'm much the same now.  And if it's not mints, it's a crumpled, white paper packet of rhubarb and custards or pear drops.

Here's my top three favourite boiled sweets;

Sasparella tablets

 

 

Rhubarb and custard

Pineapple cubes

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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Big kids

The more I cycle to work and back, the more cyclists I see on the route to and from the office. 

And the more other cyclists I see, the more I realise one truth about cyclists. 

We're all just big kids playing out on our bikes.

You might also like:

Life Cycle
18 miles high
Sunderland Big Bike Ride 2013
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Linnet Way walk

Perfect Bank Holiday weather for a lovely walk along the Linnet Way in South Tyneside today.

Yes, we saw linnets. We also saw ducks, horses, blackberries ripe and ready to pick, rosehips as red and as big as tomatoes.  

I took a few photos of our four-hour-long walk and if you'd like to have a look, they've been posted to flickr.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Sign of our times

To York railway museum for a birthday treat last week, where I spotted this fab sign.

There's a lesson there for us all, don't you think?

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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Corrie Weekly Update: Chesney chooses, Paul leaves, Fat Brenda diets

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week in the Corrie weekly updates, Chesney chooses Katy, a miserable girl with lovely, shiny hair.
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Big buns

I'm no fan of style when it's the sort of thing you see everywhere with everyone wearing the same thing, all trying to be different, all looking the same.  

And when it comes to hair I'm even less of a fan. Have it long, short, blue, spiked, shaved or in dreads.  But do something other than have a big bun.

A bun on the top of your head just looks a bit daft.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Fun shoes

My fun shoes have died. They are no more, ceased to be, expired and gone to meet their maker.   

Oh, alright then.

They've split. After more than 5 years of wearing them on weekends and holidays, and having some of the best FUN ever in them, they've split and can not be repaired.

And the worst thing is, I can't replace them. Converse All Star don't make these ladybird print shoes any more.  There are none for sale on eBay. There are none for sale on Amazon.  There are simply, none for sale.

I'm bereft.

If you spot a pair just like these in a shop near you, let me know. I'll send you the money, you send me the shoes. Ladies size 7.  Thank you.

I'll go and bury them in the garden now. I'll say a few words and raise a glass of fizzy pop.  It's what they would have wanted.

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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Courgette conundrum

This spring I was given a courgette plant. "Ooh," I thought. "I've never grown a courgette before. And I quite like them, so it'll be nice when it's grown and I can cook it and that."

I know.

In my defence, all I can say is I had no idea. I really did believe there would be just one courgette to a plant. And instead, there are hundreds of them, or at least it seems that way.  Over the last few weeks my one plant has produced enough courgettes for me to have eaten them baked, grilled, fried, raw in salad and cooked in soup. And they still keep coming.

Today I turned to Sir Nigel of Slater to see what he had to say.  This afternoon I've baked his Courgette and Lancashire cheese crumble (recipe here) and judging by the wonderful smells drifting in from the kitchen as it cooks, it's going to be good.  I think it's the one recipe that could put the Cor! into courgette.

Next year I'm growing carrots instead.

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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Flaming Nora! It's my 7th birthday

It's the 7th birthday of my Flaming Nora blog.

First started on August 18 2006 - and here's my first ever blog post.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Corrie Weekly Update: never get in a car with a strange man

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here

This week in the Corrie weekly updates, Rita's hair survives to fight another day.
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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Exotic beauty

On holidays in hot countries I've often see Bougainvillea growing wild, along the road sides, in all kinds of colours. And I've toyed over the years with the idea that I might grow one at home as an indoors plant, but never really dared to try, thinking they were too exotic and delicate for the likes of my clumsy if keen green fingers.

When I'd found Bougainvillea plants for sale online, they were expensive, and I thought, tricky to grow, so I didn't bother.  But the other week a local greengrocer had Bougainvillea plants for sale along with their apples and pears.

They had two sizes of plant, small for a fiver and large for a tenner. I went for the small one, thinking it would be less money to waste on a plant I might not be able to make survive as a house plant in the North of England, when it really should be growing wild and pretty on a Spanish plain.

But I've done it... and I couldn't be more proud. The plant that cost me a fiver has been repotted and grown huge, it's even flowered twice this summer so far and is as happy as larry.  And do you know what, so am I.

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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora