GORDON AND PAT

I didn't sleep well last night.  Apart from it being hot and sticky  we had lightening and very loud thunder.  I found it hard to settle but when I did I was woken up by Lily crying loudly - she must have been freaked out by the weather.  She kept up her row for ages.  So I got up for a bit and then tried again to settle - but I couldn't.  So in the end I got very little sleep.

I had to make an early start - got the bus at 8.15am to Newcastle and then the Metro to Monkseaton.  Heading for The Monkseaton Arms.  Got a bit lost.  Asked someone who pointed me in the right direction.

I was meeting up with Pat ( Shygirl73 ) and attending an extra meeting of The Monkseaton Village group which Pat had arranged.  She had invited a special guest to give a talk. GORDON GRIFFIN  He has family connections to Monkseaton.  He is an actor, casting director, dialogue coach, singer, composer and lyricist. and audiobook reader. He has appeared in numerous stage plays over the years and also on TV - he has been a presenter on Play School, appeared in Byker Grove, The Likely Lads and on radio he performed in Mrs Dales Diary.

In 2017 Griffin was appointed MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List " For services to People with Sight Impairment " He has recorded over 850 audiobooks.  His more unusual audio recordings include having been the courteous voice advising alighting passengers to "Mind the gap, please" on the London Underground.

 Gordon is a very friendly and unassuming chap and his talk was very interesting. I was pleased to get a nice photo of him with Pat for my blip shot.

Musical link - theme song for THE LIKELY LADS

After saying Goodbye to Pat I made my way back to the Metro station - but got lost AGAIN.  Wandered around for a bit trying to follow a route I had found on Google Maps.  Finally saw a Metro train whizzing by so I headed in that direction.  I was ever so glad to finally get on to the platform

When I got to Newcastle I went to the cafe in John Lewis as I had a voucher for a free small tub of ice cream.  I chose strawberries and cream flavour.  It was delicious.  A nice treat ( and only 7 syns ).

Did a bit of shopping before catching the bus home.  I fell asleep on the bus and missed my stop so I had a long walk back to get home.  I was exhausted when I got into the house and sat outside on the patio and relaxed for a while. 

The weather today has been warm and close again - hopefully we won't get another thunderstorm overnight.

Steps today - 15,444