Newcastle & Surrounds

Newcastle is where John's family live and we were are spending most of our time. John's mum Pat is 86 and very well, still active as a little bee buzzing around for pollen, especially when I am looking for DIY projects to do around the house! John's brother Richard and his Fiancée Katie live about 20 minutes from Pat, Sam - John's 19 year old nephew lives just around the corner and John's other nephew Jack lives in Sheffield.

John grew up here and it is fun to reminisce and revisit old haunts and relive some tales. My favourite one to date is that John belonged to the Banana Appreciation Society at Uni - funny thing is it is the only fruit John doesn't eat! Must have been a girl that went....

Pat lives in a bungalow (basically a detached house on one level), it has quite a large garden and John is helping her with the weeding - yesterday was our first day in the garden with Pat. My jobs were fixing leaky hose pipes.

Oh yes and big news was that I tested positive for COVID on Monday, in the UK you don't have to isolate but they do recommend that you were a mask when going into indoor shops, outdoor exercise is fine. So we have played golf the last 3 days which is a lot better than 7 days ISO elsewhere. Pat got a scratchy throat and we did the COVID test (her first one - I am killing myself laughing right now) and she doesn't have COVID but I don't think she will be a willing participant for another test. In the UK the tests say you have to swab the back of your throat, then each nostril and the the liquid etc.. Well Pat would get the swab to within a centimetre of her mouth and start gagging. I had to put loud music on otherwise we would have both been gagging.

Golf

We have joined a local golf course called Close House, they have had a few issues setting up our handicaps, so we cannot play in comps yet but as I have had COVID this hasn't been a bother at all. So much for a World Handicapping System - I think it is World as in most countries use it and not in World as in transferrable! It has been millionaires golf, on Sunday our first round there we were a 2 ball and so was practically every other group, 20 min tee times and no-one around. It is quite a hilly course, so I have been very grateful for the buggy option + plus I have been sick "yeeessss"!

Some photos below of the Lee Westwood Colt Course.

There are 3 golf courses here, we have only played the one as I write this. The Colt Course is the members only course and I have to say has been absolutely gorgeous, especially so when you have COVID and thought you would have to isolate for 7 days and you can get out and experience this with your husband and no-one else around. The filly course is an 18 hole championship course appears to be busier as non-members can play on it and then there is a par 3 course which you can play at any time. There is a state of the art driving range - all with Top Tracer bays, putting lab and fitting bays. Ben would love a set up like this - all weather and really really swish looking.

They have accommodation as well, so anyone wanting to visit - we have a lovely place for you to stay. It really is lovely.

Alnmouth

Sunday we had a family day which involved going to the beach - yes that isn't a typo! John and I spent a good few hours at the beach and plodding in the freezing North Sea whilst Jack boogie boarded. The UK is having a heat wave with record temperatures in the high 30ºc - for us it is a beautiful humid free warm summers day.

Here is a little video of the day at the beach.

The Garden

Pat spends a lot of time in her garden, with Richards help she has a wildflower meadow, mowed lawns, english summer flower pots. John had an afternoon of weeding and there is more to come.

Yesterday, we went out into the country to Breamish, had a picnic and a good family day together. Not without it's pranks, laughs and patty funnies.

Patty's garden

Day out at Breamish

Stand up Paddle boarding

Richard and Katie do quite a bit of Stand Up Paddle (SUP) Boarding, they have inflatable SUPs - which sounds weird. I kind of imagined lilo type things but they are not with the right amount of pumping they go very rigid and are almost like a rigid SUP. After an exhausting 30 mins of pumping up the boards, another 10 mins getting John's wetsuit on - they were ready to go. The

A video of the Paddle Boarders in action. Sit down, get a cuppa and I promise no-one was hurt during the making of this video!

More Golf

We have been playing golf most days, we have the course to ourselves and zip around in under 4hrs. We played the Filly course, which was enjoyable apart from the fact that I couldn't put a tee in the ground on the Ladies tees. It annoyed me and for this reason only I prefer playing on the Colt Course. Some more photos of the course.

We are playing in our first Club comp this Saturday. Guess who else is in the field? Lee Westwood and his son.

John has COVID

In Ireland you have to isolate for 7 days, Norris and Rachel also have COVID - so it is only John that hasn't had it. Poor John has had a nasty cough for the past 3 weeks - always testing negative. he is a bit like his mum with the tests and there is a lot of snorting, sniffing and gagging that goes on. We honestly thought that he must have had COVID and that I caught it from him. On Sunday we started sneezing, then had a head cold and voilà he tested positive for COVID. All I can say is thank goodness we weren't in Ireland as John would have had to isolate for 7 days.

He has had it mildly and actually feels better than he did before. I think he has felt so awful with this chesty cough and COVID seems to be clearing the cough. More golf...

Pat and Shaz's little adventure to buy upholstery fabric

Who thought that going shopping for upholstery fabric would be that exciting. The UK is famous for its small winding country lanes, one way bridges and passing lanes. Pat and I are off to find a few metres of fabric to recover her headboard. We have a 20 min journey to Prudhoe pronounce Prudah! They all laugh at me every time I say a word - coz I never get the pronunciation correct for the Geordie dialect!

There is a little village called Ovingham (pronounced offingjam) and we have to cross the Tyne river to get there. This is when the excitement occurred, we go over this rise and are faced with this - I have to show a picture as I cannot find the words.

Please note the pillars where the cyclist is... I had to reverse because my one tyre caught the edge of it - now that I think of it - very clever design as it didn't scrape the car, just causes some friction on the tyre, because it is wider at the bottom. Off we go onto the bridge, I am thinking - is this a car bridge. It does have a sign saying "Caution Weak Bridge" - Thanks - very helpful. There is a car behind me and the bridge is clear.

Pat is in the passenger seat, when we are driving on normal roads without any impending danger, she is pushing he foot onto the imaginary brake! Squeezing herself in the chair when we are passing cyclists with a 2 metre gap, wincing when we come within a metre of another object. You get my drift, a fidgety passenger. Can you imagine what happened when we came over the rise - there was a little "woah" and a "oooo" and a "aaah" and maybe a "ssssss" then rigor mortis set in as her knuckles went white clenching the side of her seat. Thank goodness no other cars came the other way and I was a bit perturbed that the car behind me followed me onto the weak bridge! Needless to say we ent back a different way.

and the good news is.... We found the perfect fabric, met a nice lady who told us of an alternative route home, via a hardware type store that would have the upholstery tacks that I need as the only tools I have is a hammer. We found my new favourite store B&M and went in for tacks and came out with a spirit level, a staple gun, a cordless screw driver, and many other items - no tacks! So GBP8 for the Staple Gun, GBP6 for the fabric, Pat has a new headboard.

Alnwick Gardens

Alnwick Castle is home to the Duke of Northumberland and the gardens are his wife's brainchild. 12 acres of meandering and magnificent Gardens are home to the world’s largest Tai Haku Cherry Orchard, a Grand Cascade comprising 120 water jets and the worlds largest Treehouse Restaurant. It was a lovely day out meandering, keeping an eye out for Pat. We have decided that we are going to get an Apple Tracker for Pat, especially when we go to Italy as she has zero sense of direction and can get lost in an open field.

The fountains have different settings throughout the day, The Cherry Orchard has many swings in it for you to enjoy the shade and the Tree House is really Hansel and Gretel and large. Below are lots and lots of photos.

The bamboo maze

The Rose Garden

The Water Garden

The Tree House

Alnwick Village

DIY Day

Part of the reason for the lengthy visit was to spend time with Pat and help with any maintenance tasks that may need doing. Poor Pat, I think she is dying for "hurricane Shaz" to depart just for the break. We all do things differently and it is important to respect that, but in my case hard to accept when so inefficient. E.g. is it practical to take each piece of recycling out to the recycle bin, which involves opening 2 doors and a big wheelie bin lid each time. Pat says it gets her exercising but I was exhausted and irritated by having to do it every time... So we have a temporary indoor recycling bin.

The cutlery draw is a hidden draw within a draw, so to get a teaspoon out, you need to open one draw then another... I was looking for some rice and Pats grocery cupboard consisted of quite tall shelves, so items were stacked on top of each other and quite hard to see. Remember Pat is short, so one third of the shelves are rendered useless. So after a bit of research we found some wire draws that pull out, this would mean that we could make them as tall as we can and Pat can pull them out and see what is at the back of the cupboard. Pat was not happy with all the changes I was suggesting - it was all a bit much, so we had to slow down and demonstrate the shelves. So we ordered 6 x baskets which were delivered within a day. So armed with a screw driver, hammer and a nail - I installed the first one to show Pat. "Yes, I can see that they will be better", so we had approval to continue. Borrowed Rich's tools, which consisted of a spirit level that was 20cm long, there was an electrical drill with screw driver bits but they were so stumpy they wouldn't work. Each shelf/drawer had 14 screws, which had to be hand screwed. Yikes my tennis elbow! She loved the shelves, so we ordered another 6.

At B&M I managed to get a cordless screw driver for GBP8, and a 60cm Spirit level for another GBP8 - bargain. The final 6 units were installed today and we have had fun and laughter as we sorted out the kitchen cupboards. With the 5 packets of Arborio rice, 15 tins of tomatoes, 6 packs of bin liners, 6 tins of chick peas, dried chick peas for Africa, packets and packets of Basmati Rice and the list goes on an on. I think it has made the space so much more usable, but I know poor Pat won't be able to find anything.

Pat was busy doing the washing and house work - she had done 2 x loads of washing and the ironing by 9am. Literally the 3 of us had a 15 min sit down for lunch, 10 mins for a cuppa and that was about it until 5pm. John was gardening all day, He did an amazing job pull weeds out between pavers, not sure what his back is going to be like tomorrow. Some before and after photos of Johns handy work below.

DIY and clean out

John's dad was an engineer and had a garage full of tools, I mean image your DIY expert and quadruple it. Alan died nearly 20 years ago, so a lot of dust had collected. It was a mucky job but interesting as well as some old relics were found and resurrected. The garage is now spotless and there is pleanty of room for the 5 brooms, 2 lawn mowers, fertiliser spreader and the like.

John has been weeding ferociously and jet washed the paving stones to get years of moss off and weeded them - below is a photo after a stint on the karcher!

Needless to say garden benches are brighter and the paving stones less slippery and the garage is gleaming. There is a lot of upkeep in a house and I think John and I are just getting a glimpse of the maintenance. Richard does all the routine stuff, so it sounds like we are sweeping and doing all this stuff but it is a little dent in comparison to what Rich does.

More golf and a hole in one.

We got our UK handicaps sorted and entered our first club competition here. They work a little differently than they do in Aus. We were late comers so John and I didn't get to play together - I was grouped with current Club Champ Claire, her hubby Nigel and ex golf pro and Darren. John played with two Jamies and a Dave. It was the Club Captain's day - all you Aussie Club Captains out there you need take out a mortgage to be club captain in the UK. What a day and what a welcome to comp like at our new club. We had breakfast provided before a 9am shotgun start, then there was a roving bar and three stationery bars - all free booze, pies and pasties. When we got in there was a full buffet and an open bar. Captain provides all of this plus the prizes. Nigel who I was playing with was a previous captain and the day cost him GBP20k. Yikes - you have to be keen!

I am sure you can gather why it was a fun introduction. Lee Westwood and Graham Wiley (owner of the club) were in the field and Lee presented the prizes - which meant I got a little cuddle for my nearest the pin.

Then the big news, playing yesterday John got a hole in one. We love playing there, tee off at 8am and we are finished by 11'ish. We met friends for lunch as there is a really nice restaurant at the club - yes the food comes at the same time and so far you get what your ordered - exactly! Avondale members will understand why I am impressed with this. Some more photos of us at Close House.

Day of disappointment

Sometimes they happen and today was one of those rare occasions. We had a contractor come and collect all of the rubbish from the garage clean out, but there was a lot of great tools and spanners and useful stuff for someone - so we didn't want to bin it. So I phoned around and found a mens shed who would take them. I especially explained that they were wired (i.e. not cordless), they were old and rusty looking. No no Pet that is fine we will take them, so off we trek the 15 miles with the tools rattling and clinking in the boot - to get there and he proceeded to tell us how much he had invested in tooling up the shed and the tools were new and cordless - these were too old! F*^!....

So off we go to the Art galleries, Jack - John's nephew is very creative and interested in Art. The first Art Gallery was lovely but not that interesting for Jack - poor thing, so off we go to the Baltic - which we knew there was an activity based exhibition - so off we go. Road works and detours meant we had to go round the houses, with the Duchess in the front wanting to know why we were driving away from the Baltic and not going towards it. We kept explaining that the navigator will get us there e v e n t u a l l y.... We were so lucky, grateful and excited that we managed to get a park in the closest parking lot. So off we go and as we approach the Baltic a couple come out with their grandson and say it is closed! You are kidding, they close Monday and Tuesdays - F&%$.....

Now it is past lunch time we are getting hangry, so we decide to go the the Laing gallery, we check it is open. So back through the detours, with the rattling, clinking and jingling tools a constant reminder of our earlier failure. John drops us off as the parking is quite far, so we will meet in the cafe at the gallery. No probs, we go to the Cafe - it is open! Go to order and the lady says there is no hot food, so we have a choice of Ham and Cheese, Tuna Mayo and Cheese and Chutney sandwiches. John won't eat any of that - so I call John and say get something on his way from the car park as there is nothing to eat here, I dont think he believed that it was that bad and came to the cafe without getting anything to eat. Saw the menu and went out to get some lunch. We ordered our lunch and happen to order the exact same sandwiches as the couple behind me in the queue. Why is she telling us this - you ask! Well that is because the sandwiches that take 30 minutes to make were given to the couple who were served after us. So after a l o n g while we eventually got our sandwiches. By this time John got back after going to find something to eat and eating it and walking back to the gallery and we hadn't even had a bite yet.

We had a quick tour of the gallery - nothing much of interest.

So now we are going to take the tools to the tip - the one we are going to takes the tools but only if you are residents of Newcastle = Pat lives in Northumberland by about 500m. Grrrrrr! Clink clink, jungle jingle we go back home.

The end