2014: In Pictures
31 December 2014: New Year
This year Lee and Leigh were the hosts. In the picture is (left to right): Nicole, James, Catherine, Lee, Christopher,
Leigh, Anthony and Michael.
30 December 2014: Iced Up
I went for an 11.4 mile walk today and many of the puddles on the paths I usually follow were iced over. It wasn't
that cold though so I didn't risk standing on any to see if they'd take my weight!
29 December 2014: VS43
I spent a while watching this flight via Flightradar as it spent hours in a holding pattern before successfully landing at
Gatwick despite a landing gear problem. It's a truly awful photograph which shows how little I've improved since I started
doing this at the beginning of 2010!
28 December 2014: Newcastle 3-2 Everton
It was a beautiful dusk as we walked up to St James' Park to watch Newcastle play Everton.
27 December 2014: Tynemouth Walk
It's tradition to burn off some of the Christmas calories by going for long walks so today we walked just over 9 miles to
Tynemouth and were rewarded with a bit of a wander around one of my favourite areas.
26 December 2014: Boxing Day Loafing
I wanted a day of loafing around the house so ended up wearing my new pyjamas and slippers for most of the day.
25 December 2014: Christmas Mission
We had Kathy round for Christmas dinner so while she watched TV I set to work assembling everything, with help from
Michael. I'm pleased to report the mission was a success!
24 December 2014: Wrapping Hell
I finally got round to wrapping my Christmas presents. You could be forgiven for thinking I hate my family, given how
aesthetically displeasing they look, but hopefully the contents will be well received.
23 December 2014: Demonstration
Lisa demonstrated how to perfectly pour prosecco into sorbet to make a beautifully mixed cocktail.
22 December 2014: Hertha Jacket
The lads chipped in to buy Michael this awesome jacket for his birthday.
21 December 2014: Champagne Selfie
Newcastle 4th derby defeat in a row to Sunderland didn't ruin the celebratory mood on Michael's 30th birthday so we
headed to Aspers and bought some champagne.
20 December 2014: Allotment 2-2 Consett
We returned to the Blue Flames (having thankfully not disgraced ourselves last night!) to watch West Allotment Celtic
earn a good point against Consett.
19 December 2014: Michael's 30th
We celebrated Michael's 30th birthday (which isn't for another two days!) with a party for friends and family at the Blue
Flames. He's still got the same smile!
18 December 2014: Sachins
I went out with Nicola, Olwyn and Lorraine for our team Christmas party, which was a beautiful curry at Sachins. It
was infinitely better than those cheesy hotel party nights!
17 December 2014: Glitterball
This glittery bauble is one of very few decorations I have up at work. I do love that photo of me with Linda on my 21st
birthday as well! Scary to think that was almost 8½ years ago, but I don't suppose I've changed much.
16 December 2014: Candy Cane
It's been a while since I saw one of these, and I certainly haven't tried this exact kind before, since it's from Harrods!
15 December 2014: Thank You
We received this lovely thank you card from Rachel & Ron.
14 December 2014: Advent Progress
I'm making good progress on my calendar, it's just a shame the rest of my Christmas preparation isn't moving along
quite as swimmingly!
13 December 2014: Card Collection
We're building up a nice little collection of Christmas cards so far.
12 December 2014: Christmas Jumper Day
It was Christmas Jumper Day at work but I don't do Christmas jumpers, so I wore these instead.
11 December 2014: De-Fluff
One of my pairs of black jeans has a habit of collecting a lot of fluff, so I went at them with some sellotape after ironing
them to wear tomorrow.
10 December 2014: Work Tree
We finally got round to putting our team's Christmas tree up. It's looking a little limp this year and is lacking an angel
at the top so far, which is mainly because I've exhausted my supply of embarrassing photos of colleagues. I'll try and come
up with something.
9 December 2014: Teenage Wasteland
We were only 6 rows from the front at the Arena for The Who. Their setlist was packed full of hits, including Baba
O'Riley which was, of course, what they were playing during this photo.
8 December 2014: Saumur
Once again I got a free bottle of wine from work, courtesy of our court agents. I've no idea what it will taste like but I do
like the label.
7 December 2014: Graveyard
It would have been Michael's dad's birthday today so we went to his grave (not pictured) to lay some flowers.
6 December 2014: Solano
We had a couple of drinks in Number 9 Bar before seeing Newcastle beat Chelsea 2-1 and ex-player Nolberto Solano
made an appearance.
5 December 2014: Unicef Bleach
As usual my Friday morning started with a spot of cleaning. Apparently I'm supporting Unicef by using this particular
brand of bleach.
4 December 2014: Who Are You?
The first day back at work after a week off can be a little depressing so I started to look forward to the next event:
going to see The Who.
3 December 2014: Rehydration
After several days of drinking more beer and less water I was ready to rehydrate. A litre of apple & blackcurrant squash
in a cup obtained from the Olympiastadion was a pretty good start.
2 December 2014: Baggage Drop
We were so organised in getting to the airport that we had to wait about 20 minutes before the baggage drop for our
flight opened!
1 December 2014: Escape Game
We spent part of our last full day in Berlin playing a live escape game. I love playing them online and it was great fun to
take part for real. The aim was to solve the puzzle in less than an hour so we managed that and it didn't seem to be a bad
effort for a team of just two people.
