Style and Fashion In The Grainger Market - #32 - 1988 - Primitives - Crash

I know nothing about fashion . If you have ever seen me I know you will agree whole heartedly, but today after dropping by The Little Bazaar and Pet Lamb I lunched at Olivers and enjoyed

'FASHION SHOW ' Grainger Market 180 Years in Fashion' which involved several of my friends and was extremely professionally executed and well recieved by the many people watching there. The models and their dress looked amazing . As I said I am not the one to be offering opinions on this but I enjoyed it and took a short Instagram Video. You should visit the link if you are any way interested in fashion , history and the Grainger Market , all combined to make a gloriously entertaining afternoon.

Cat Walking Grainger Style

And the musical Odyssey winds on hitting year 32 and though the charts were awash with Kylie Minogue when she wasn't good , I chose this absolute gem "Crash" by The Primitives.

Have a good night (or morning Lee) , the weekend is coming closer.

Here Be Dragons ...A Little More Bazaar #28 - 1984 - Kirsty MacColl - A New England

Georgie.....

I've loved the Grainger Market for years , and in my last post I gushed about the Little Bazaar. and I dropped by to today to ask Georgie for a photograph , she is a lovely lady and obliged . I love chatting with her as she is so positive and is perfect for the surroundings of the shop. It doesn't have an online presence so you have got to go and see it yourself. You couldn't create the atmosphere online, you have to visit and experience it. It's a great place to visit as I go into the Grainger Market for something to eat , fruit , veg and other stuff. So I had to write this so you can see her in her wonderful hat......

..and her Dragons

Anyway the musical Odyssey continues and I originally chose "When Doves Cry" by Prince but it isnt on Youtube, but more importantly my youngest daughter was born in 1984 and her name was influenced by one of my favourite singers of the time the sadly missed Kirsty MaColl who hit the charts that year with A New England but I had loved her since her first single "They Don't Know" . So you get a song written by Billy Bragg and sung by Kirsty MacColl , what's not to get euphoric about?

Enjoy your Monday Night and get yourself to the Grainger Market tomorrow , it is a veritable cornucopia

A Little Bazaar #27- 1983 - The Cure - Love Cats

At the weekend I was in the Grainger Market and dropped into this gem of a shop the Little Bazaar in the Grainger Market presided over by a lovely lady called Georgie who wears a wonderful green steampunk style top hat. It has lots on incense , scarves , candles m stones and things , and you could lose yourself in the intoxication of it's welcoming atmosphere. The Grainger Market is a brilliant place to be these days and this is one of the many reasons why it is so good. You should really take a look and buy something. I love it.

A Little Bazaar

The Odyssey hits year 27 , 1983 . Lots of people complain about how rubbish music was in the 80s . Well was it. 95% is always rubbish and among lots of others The Cure were a major fixture of the 80s and they are without doubt one of the greatest bands ever and I love "The Love Cats" , how could I not choose that , a good start to what will be a great week.

Happy Monday everyone.

How To Make Your Weekend Better - Hug Someone

Pet Lamb Cup Cakes

The weekend is here , Autumn has come , the mornings are dark , but you are probably lying in bed as I write this as really I should be , but I just thought what could make a good thing a little better. I'm actually doing something for work this weekend , it's not been asked and actually gently discouraged , but the people I work with are great guys and I am happy to put in a little extra effort because I know that they would do the same for me. I brought in cake yesterday because that's the sort of think we do , except I got mine from Pet Lamb in the Grainger Market as the cakes have maltesers , chocolate orange and all sorts of goodies. Love treating my friends.


And really it's always good to give someone a call ad a hug because that makes you feel better and them feel better. It's to easy to put things off til next week or next month which turns in to next year. Do it now , reach out to someone, it will lift both of you and you never know your friend my need it , you don't know what's happening unless you talk, which is vaguely the subject of my TED talk submission which I will send off when they are next looking for speakers.

We should all talk more , hug more , spend time together more , and we will enjoy life more. So Saturday starts here , and if you want a hug from me me let me know , I always have one for my friend , family and those I love.

Someone at work checked out my blog this week and they said that they found it remarkably uplifting, I do hope they read this as well , but what better , more uplifting start to the day could you have than Elbow's One Day Like This , wouldn't you just give that guy in the video a big big hug . I would!

Have a wonderful day.

Loving Life with a Glamorous Owl and Medusa

While it's nothing earth shattering there were a lot of nice things going on today. This follows on from yesterday where I heard a friend had an offer on a house accepted , and was so pleased for them, and they were happy. And yesterday was extremely good.

And then today I had tasked myself with getting some new jackets , and after trailing through shops found a pair of linen ones in John Lewis and when I got to pay found they were half price , so it was effectively 2 for 1.

Glamorous Owl Candle

I wandered through the Grainger Market stopping off in Reflex and a chat with my mate Phil who works in there, then down through the Bigg Market towards RPM and noticed a shop that had replaced the beloved Attica , The Glamorous Owl and it is a wonderful and joyous place full of locally produced things  and the people are wonderfully welcoming. You have to visit this place it really is a jewel.




Then on to RPM where Marek told he had something coming in , a collection of local 60s / 70s vinyl coming in , which should be very interesting.

Medusa on a Man

Then in Fitzgeralds was served my a waitress who had the most amazingly stunning Medusa Tattoo , a true work of art , but I was too much of a gentleman to ask her for a photograph of it , but it was very impressive.

Anyway , the Joe Walsh song should suffice for the soundtrack to this post because the title sums up my feelings today even though I am very tired,

Oh and Preston won today which is always puts a smile on my face.

So enjoy the rest of the weekend. I know things are going to get much, much better

Frozen But No Snow But Some Otway

Well woke up this morning to a frozen landscape, frosted rooves and cars, footpaths like a skating rink but still no sigh on snow. I was quite surprised to see someone saying "Right that's Christmas Over" around mid day on Christmas Day, well not in our house , there#s twelve days of Christmas I seem to remember, and I will keep the spirit of Christmas going all year round , caring and helping where I can , friends family and those less fortunate than myself, and let's face it , I am fortunate.

Grainger Market

I'm still suffering from a cough , cold , runny nose, sneezing etc etc but am coming out of it and tomorrow will be a day back at work, clearing all the stuff I've not looked at over the past four days.

I managed to get out for a couple of hours yesterday and get some food at the Grainger Market and some CDs at Reflex.







I suppose my only disappointment was that John Otway didn't hit number one (you can buy it here) , instead some faceless X-Factor contestant hit number one. I do feel sorry for the contestants because who even remembers who won last year's on the years before. The only talk is of the the judges and Simon Cowell, which is all that matters really, anyone can be a contestant.

Anyway , it's Sunday Morning, the sun is shining and I am looking forward to another relaxing day as I sip on my nettle tea and sign off this post. Have a most excellent day everybody.

One Misty Moisty Morning

Well woke up today to a grey day and and Steeleye Span song which was one of my mum's favourites, though I think I introduced her to this version.
at 1 pm it's still grey , moist and cold. Not the most inspiring weather and a day to be wrapped up and warp inside. The

Today has been quite manic, firstly I had to do some major coding changes on the website as Amazon have changed their tracking method, at least they actually tell you unlike Play.com and Emusic who just stopped their tracking years ago.  That took me a coule of hours and got me thinking about mortality and the fact that as you get older time seems to go faster. As a kid when you were six you got six weeks holiday in the summer and that was like forever. It was like 1/52 of your life  so far. To do the equivalent summer holiday now I'd need more than a year off. It doesn't really pay you to pay too much attention to these sort of statistics, though I suppose I am a little fore resentful of things that take away my leisure and enjoyment time such as work, although actually I do enjoy my work as well, despite some exasperating situations that do crop up.

The French Oven

After that I nipped into the Grainger Market for some fruit and veg and I nearly came out because of the queues at the stalls and the sheer volume of people in there. It was wonderful to see people at The French Oven and all the cafe's with barely a seat free. I didn't bother venturing into the town center as, no doubt , it will be full of Christmas shoppers, despite the fact that it's still six weeks before Christmas. My dad's Christmas strategy usually consists of complaining that there is nowhere open at 8pm  on Christmas Eve.

So I am now back home, and I've cleaned out the wood burning stove and made up a fire , though not yet lit it, it's had one run out this week and it does warm the room very well. So I'm all set up to have another excellent weekend and hope you are too. Have a good one.

Darkness To Light

One of the good things about Autumn / Winter is the fact that some days you wake up in darkness and get to see the sun rise andthe day come up. This brings in me a feeling of exhilaration. In summer you wake up and it's light and you've missed thousands of sunrises, although you are warm and you've had a night's sleep.

Also I got a response from First Transpennine about a refund request I put in last night where they're giving be a full refund rather than charging me a ten pound admin fee which is nice. Even corporate entities can sometimes act sensibly.

The French Oven Are 9

I've noticed the excellent French Oven Bakery in the Grainger Market in Newcastle have added me to their circles. We are so lucky in Newcastle having such a concentration of excellent  people like these on our doorstep. One of their vans is parked in the road behind me so it's nice to know that such great people live close to me, being almost neighbours.




Although I normally write blog entries a little longer than this, today will be short, but I am going to have another enjoyable weekend and having a good week.With a few friends at work we'd put a couple of lines on the Euromillions lottery but didn't win even the tiniest morsel , but it gives a little feeling of togetherness, and the jackpot's still not been won, but to be honest I rather be happy than rich , although as Woody Allen puts it:

“Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.” 

Still the day is looking bright and we have the whole weekend to go, which will be great fun, so you go and enjoy yourself , I intend to. I never knew that Louis Prima had done "Enjoy Yourself", always thought Prince Buster had written, a great song always put's a smile on my face as does Mr Prima.

Grapefruit

Grainger Market, Newcastle

Yesterday I was in the Grainger Market getting fruit and stuff for the week, and for some reason picked up a couple of grapefruit (or should that be grapefruits?). My mum reckoned that Grapefruit "burned fat" but that was the 1960s , I think that was because they don't taste sweet.

Anyway put 'em in the fridge and had one this morning , had forgotten just how gorgeous and refreshing they are. I will be buying more I think on my future visits. Apparently Michael Eavis (Glastonbury head guy) eats a whole one every day according to Elbow's Guy Garvey, and he certainly looks extremely well on it.

Well I may try and mow the lawn in cage a deluge appears , and need to do it today as I won't be up to it after the liver biopsy (lifting the lawmower up and down steps not a great idea after the op), and hopefully have a relaxing afternoon . Hope all my friends who are moving or have moved have settled in and are having a brilliant weekend , same goes for all my friends.

Rainy Day

Turkish Grand Bazaar - Grainger Market

Well today started with blue skies , but very cold, now we have a bit of rain. It's nice to have a restful weekend . I visited the Grainger Market  and got some amazing bookmarks from the Turkish Bazaar, which I instagrammed at Christmas as well.

I then wandered past Reflex and saw an impressive looking Ron Kavana boxed set for under three quid  called "Irish Ways - The Story of Ireland In Song, Music and Poetry". It's available quite reasonable on Amazon as well here

CDs from Reflex plus a Bookmark

Obviously this talk of music as well as bookmarks means I do need to put something relevant to the post on here, but should it be British Sea Power or Ron Kavana?

I love both these artists  and recommend both to everyone, and you can find lots of both of them on Youtube.

But having thought about the British Sea Power
 preview of the album I've bought would be a perfect addition to this post, and it could whet your appetite if you don't know them.


Anyway I will leave you with this as I get off to bed, sleep well all.

Here Comes December

The last month in 2013 has started, and the sad thing is that the commercialisation just gets worse as we're with bombarded with excuses to pour money into the pockets of faceless corporate entities. I am slightly claustrophobic ad yesterday went into Newcastle and made the mistake of going through the Eldon to get to Northumberland Street. I could hardly move and people seem to think it's ok to just stop in front of you, push you out of the way or whatever. The reason I was there was to go to the excellent Clas Ohlson for some energy saving light bulbs to replace my last two incandescent ones (in my cooker hood). It turns out they do LEDs for every type of fitting, an excellent shop. I then escaped via the Grainger Market which was far more civilized before returning home.

I'm am going to be thinking of , and talking with friends, being happy and having good times. Be happy yourself and try and make others happy. Make time for friends, don't worry about buying things and have a good time.. And it shouldn't just be now, we should be like this all year round, and it's fairly easy to be nice, so do it.

Maybe I will use December's posts to post a decent Christmas song a day,, so the fist is Light Of The Stable by Emmylou Harris.

I've just thought the letters SO look like 50 which is very good SO for all the birthdays around now I SO want you to have a a SO good time.  There always seem to be a lot of reasons to celebrate at any time of year, sometimes you just need to make yourself aware of them and take the opportunity to celebrate. So do it !!