Tee for two...

Yesterday evening me and my buddy Phil expended a bit of energy by blasting a number of small yellow spherical objects from a patch of green with what I'm going to call a 'club'. This is known as golf, and I'm told that it IS possible to remember the 23 things that need to be remembered before actually hitting that small yellow thing. It turns out the two main things for me to remember are... swing slowly, don't lash at the thing... and keep your eye on it rather than turning your gaze to where the ball is going to (hopefully) go.

Sunset over Cramlingtonvilleshire...

A Grand Day Out...

Bidding farewell to summertime and welcoming the winter months, we got the day off to a cracking early start by heading up to Netherwitton and Mitford. Gracie loved the freedom after being cooped up in the house for a couple of days because of the rain.

Later on we headed down to Blyth beach and later on to The Delaval Arms for a lovely roast lunch followed by Apple and Blackberry Crumble... with custard, as you can see! It was great to be in this pub again. It has hardly changed at all over the years apart from a spot of paint here and there and some new pictures. I used to meet my dad here for a pint sometimes on a Sunday morning after he had walked all the way from the High Point (Cullercoats), his weekend constitutional.

Songster Serenades Sand Dancers in South Shields... Shock!

Resisting the temptation to blog about Mr Nick Griffin and his appearance on Thursday evening's Question Time, I bring you instead the lovely news that a rare visitor of another kind has been found lurking in a South Tyneside quarry. The eastern crowned warbler will not be alone this weekend, with thousands of twitchers due to arrive and keep him/her company. Come to think of it, NG did a fair amount of twitching last night too!

Humanist type on 'I Love Typography'

A good type series on 'I love Typography'. The first one in the series is Humanist, aka 'Venetian'.

Ex-Nun in toon....

Our friend Jo was in Newcastle today. We happened to be browsing in a Jesmond shop and the owner said she thought Jo looked like an ex-nun(!)... "So, what DO you do then?" she said. "I'm a comedian" says Jo. Here she is. What do you think.... Ex-Nun or Comedian?

Fairground attraction...

Annitsford hosted a fun fair during the weekend. We went with Leon yesterday and he enjoyed a few of the rides. I accompanied him - so that he wouldn't be scared - on something that went around and around and up and down (both at the same time mind!) at a great rate of knots. "This is great fun isn't it grandpa?" "Yes," I replied... through gritted teeth. I have hated these things ever since I was a child, and I never get used to them. After the ride finished and my feet were once again on Terra Firma, it took me a couple of hours before I stopped feeling sick. What a softie I am!

Typo Toast

Jonny Baker explains 'bread suspension - worship trick 73' on his blog. Always looking to be creative and engaging, his community 'Grace' got the worship cooking by baking some alphabet bread shapes and then toasting them.

"...we came up with the idea of getting some alphabet cutters and cutting text into bread that was suspended on washing line across the front of the space saying i am the bread of life. we toasted it so it was less floppy - grace toast!"

ECG Northumberland

Today I was at the 'Encouraging Christian Growth' day conference at Morpeth. This is an inter-church initiative aimed at drawing together and encouraging people to engage with God and with their communities. I was there partly to help promote the excellent 'Kairos' missions course with colleague Andrea. Also in the resources/exhibitions area I bumped into fellow mischief-maker Julia and her hubby Paul, who were promoting the 'Hope UK' initiative at the conference.

Canny Newcassel!

Into Newcastle yesterday for a meeting with The Tyneside Church Leaders network. Pleasant bus ride to the Haymarket and then a lovely walk down Northumberland Street... Grey Street, down The Side to the Quayside.... then to my final destination... The Copthorne Hotel.

Following my meeting a trip over town to visit buddy Paul Wright, (who has featured on this blog before). Paul hangs with the Toon creative elite at his studio in The Biscuit Factory and helped perform some dark magick over an illustration I am preparing for a book. Paul knows much that is hidden in the sinister world of Photoshop and other mysteries.

Cramlington.... tonight....

Oops!

The BBC web site currently has a 'LATEST' scrolling text headline which says this...

...but when you click through to the article it reveals this...

UPDATE: They've changed it now to this...

The Newcastle Gateshead Art Fair

A visit to the above yesterday to see what was on offer from the north east's artists. Lovely stuff was the answer, although a reasonable percentage of not-so-lovely stuff too! Alan and Susan were scurrying around, talking to customers, doing deals and hopefully selling pictures too. Karen was in attendance... with her work on display courtesy of Alpha Arts. I also bumped into mate Paul who was lurking around to see what the competition had to show. Paul does the most amazing panoramas and is the only official Adobe 'expert' on colour balance in the north east.

A visit to Calderdale Scribes

Saturday I took a trip down to Halifax to visit The Calderdale Scribes. It was their AGM and there was also an exhibition of members work, including these two magnificent pieces from Jim Winstanley.
During the afternoon there was a lecture from Timothy Noad about his work as a heraldic painter and scrivener. He told us that as a twelve year old he had a dream to be a heraldic artist at The College of Arms, and that is exactly what he has achieved. Tim is a professional calligrapher and illuminator, Fellow of both the Society of Scribes and Illuminators and the Calligraphy and Lettering Arts Society. While the majority of his work consists of formal commissions involving traditional skills and materials, he also introduces more experimental and innovative elements.