BYKER

The weekly shop has been moved to tomorrow so today I decided to go over to Byker to pick up a couple of items from the auction house. The valuer had advised me that they weren't worth putting into auction. So I got a bus to Newcastle and then the Metro to Byker. Picked up my 2 bits of china and got the Metro straight back to town. Byker doesn't have much to offer. In fact its a bit run down. Years ago it was worth visiting but now there are so many empty shops that it doesn't have much to offer.

So back in Newcastle I took a look at Fenwicks Christmas window. Fenwicks is a large department store which is famous for the wonderful Christmas windows it has every year. This years window was lovely but the theme was Alice in Wonderland - personally I prefer a Christmas theme.

I bought a " posh " bottle of gin in Fenwicks for my brother's birthday which is tomorrow. Then I went to John Lewis and bought a gift for my son in law for Christmas - some sloe gin.

I cooked roast chicken for my tea this evening. It was delicious. Haven't had roast chicken for ages.

The Forum challenge today is Wednesday Wisdom. I found these words of wisdom on a wall at Byker Metro Station. It is part of an artwork entitled " Heroes of Byker showing famous people from Byker and the East End of Newcastle. The words were written by Jack Common ( 1903 - 1968). His best-known book is the autobiographical Kiddar's Luck. It is said that he was a major influence on George Orwell and VS Pritchett.

The rest of the mural shows drawings of famous local people. The two shown in my blip are Lee Hall the playwright who wrote Billy Elliot and the pop star Cheryl Cole. ( Of course these days she is known as Cheryl Fernandez-Versini )

Might be better if you look LARGE

Steps today - 9,048