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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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

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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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

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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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

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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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

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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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

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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I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

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