Ouseburn Art

I recently spent an arty day around Ouseburn, including eats and drinks of course! There’s a lot going on down here and it’s getting better all the time. Biscuit Factory I start off at The Biscuit Factory. This contemporary art gallery is housed in a former Victorian biscuit manufacturing warehouse and many of the original […]

Read More

Flat Caps Coffee

Welcome to the first edition of my Cafe Hopping series! With the cafe culture booming recently I wanted to let you all in on my cafe hopping shenanigans. I find cafes are great places to hangout with friends, catch up on my reading or even work out of them. Visiting more than one in a […]

Read More

Thrifting in Newcastle

A definition of thrifting – when one visits several different thrift shops, second-hand shops, and vintage clothing stores in the hopes of buying several items of cheap and unusual clothing and other items. One usually does this with friends. This is exactly what we did in Newcastle a few weekends ago, from vintage pop-ups to regular retro shops. We spent a […]

Read More

NE1’s Summer in the City is much more than a single day out; there are so many other events happening and planned, we only scratched the surface. There is something on offer for little ones, families with teens, friends and date nights. It’s brought the city alive in the summer and it could not have come at a more welcome time.

Read More

Hard Rock Cafe

So eventually after a long, bumpy start, the Hard Rock Cafe is finally open. Getting a table reservation is harder than Newcastle winning the Premier league, but hurrah, we got one and it doesn’t disappoint. Situated in Newcastle’s historic Guildhall, the famous restaurant chain landed in the North East to great anticipation. Complete with a […]

Read More

Soju&Gogi

A warm welcome is guaranteed at Soju & Gogi in Dean Street, Newcastle. A traditional Korean BBQ restaurant situated on the way down to the Quayside and it does not disappoint. Quick decisions are necessary as you arrive, to BBQ or not BBQ, This is because not every table has the traditional BBQ grill and […]

Read More

Campfire at Brockwell Woods

Brockwell Woods is 26 acres of ancient woodland, with large natural pitches hidden amongst the trees and only 7 miles away from Newcastle upon Tyne. Blaydon Burn Farm owns the land and camping here is for those who want a real back-to-nature experience as there are no shops, toilets or showers on site. It’s real […]

Read More

As a lot of the UK did this year, we opted for a staycation (which is just what regular holidays used to be when I was little). Knowing the British weather can be unpredictable during the school summer holidays we decided on glamping in Northumberland. After some research we found some cute wigwams at Herding […]

Read More

Online Musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber

So we’re several weeks into lockdown and working from home each day can be mostly confusing! I’ve found it’s really important to have boundaries between work and home life to make sure I switch between the two and ensure I have evenings and weekends with my daughter and feel ready and motivated to work each […]

Read More

Put Yourself First book

AD Book Printing UK sent me a wonderful book to review, ‘Put Yourself First’, by Marianne Killick. I was only too happy to read and review something that was marketed as ‘my own personal health coach in a book’. Prioritising our own health and well-being is really difficult for a lot of us and sometimes […]

Read More

Murder at the Museum

Murder at the Museum was great fun, a real ‘whodunnit’ led by Tall Tale Mysteries based in the Great North Museum (Hancock) followed by a scrummy afternoon tea. It was a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon. This is a spoiler free review so it’s safe to read on, but there are a few […]

Read More

Lone Wolf

My route to self-publishing a book took a very long time. Many years ago, I finally got around to finishing a book I started to write just before my daughter was born (she’s now 14!). Sleepless nights and endless nappies took their toll and my notes and ideas were just lost in a drawer for […]

Read More

AD When I last wrote about traditional Geordie home cooking and foods it took me back to the good old days of Comptons gravy salt and Atora beef suet but there’s no reason why the same traditional dishes can’t have a bit of a modern twist thrown at them with a brand new recipe mix […]

Read More

Newcastle City Guides are a group of enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteers, who are passionate for the history, heritage and culture of Newcastle and Gateshead. They were established in 1962 and have a programme of 50 different heritage walks which cover Newcastle City Centre out towards Gateshead, Jesmond, Gosforth and to the Coast. There are a […]

Read More

We used my mam’s 100 years of BERO Baking book to make our Christmas Cake this year. I used this recipe book when I was a little girl (so that gives you an idea of how old it is!). The cake was delicious and quite light compared to our usual Delia Smith recipe that we […]

Read More

New Year, New Resolutions, so why not a new trip as well to the wonderful New York!! Booked up ready to go in April and while researching my must-do places to visit, it got me wondering about the similarities and comparisons between our beautiful Newcastle and New York City and I came up with a […]

Read More

Welcome to the first Sweet Geordie Life Christmas Gift Guide! Revealing my Top 10 Gifts from businesses that have featured, inspired or impressed me in 2019 and revealing their extra special offerings for this Christmas time. Read on to get some fabulously festive ideas for local and online gifts for those nearest and dearest to […]

Read More

Things are taking a  wonderfully Christmassy turn with a number of Festive Afternoon Teas being offered throughout the region – read on to find your ideal way to spend an afternoon full of cake and goodies this winter. Tip of the day – if you’re anything like me, the tea never looks enough when first […]

Read More

I love wreaths for the door at Christmas, but it can be expensive to buy one or even attend a workshop to make one, so why not make one yourself? It might be easier than you think and you can make use of natural foliage much more (sourced responsibly of course lovely people). As I […]

Read More

Ballet Wales’s (Ballet Cymru) award winning production delivered a unique and dark portrayal of Shakespeare’s classic love story. Winner of Best Large Scale Dance Production at the Theatre Critics of Wales Awards 2014, the intense, full throttle fight scenes and passionate despair of this adaptation would not have been out of place in a Hollywood […]

Read More

I’m a bit of a film buff, particularly when it comes to horror, ghost and supernatural films (and books). I also love, love, love the ‘found footage’ genre of film, think back to the best and original of these in 1999 with the Blair Witch Project. So I decided to list my Top 10 movies […]

Read More

#AD/GIFTED Coffee & Kin based in Alnwick, Northumberland recently sent me some boxes of their Nespresso compatible pods to try. Not only was I assured they were great tasting, but the pods themselves are 100% plastic free, biodegradable and compostable!! It’s great that someone is finally tackling the fact that 95% of coffee capsules end up […]

Read More

Northern Stage expanded its NORTH programme from actor training to staging and touring, which is where I first witnessed the production of The War of the Worlds. Not only did it sell out, it had a very successful tour. Now we have the second offering from NORTH – The Hound of the Baskervilles. Originally written by […]

Read More

Painting a selfie in the style of Picasso? Surely you can’t go wrong! The Paint and Sip Co run sessions quite regularly at various locations and last weekend I popped along to the event running at Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead to see what it was all about. We arrived 10 minutes early to grab […]

Read More

The Winery by Laneberg Wines opened in 2017 and is located on Team Valley in Gateshead. They are a regular on the event scene now, attending Low Fell Market at Saltwell Park on the 1st Saturday of each month and more recently I had the pleasure of tasting their wines at the Sundown Social in […]

Read More

#Gifted Tyneside Cinema launched their Christmas programme on the hottest day of the year, but surprisingly I was still excited for Christmas after I arrived out of the hot sun and into the cool, calm interior of the Digital Lounge complete with tinsel, mince pies, a Christmas tree and even Santa himself. The screen showed […]

Read More

LOOPED is an open and transparent effort to make safe and effective basic closed loop technology widely available to reduce the burden of Type 1 diabetes. So what does all that mean? Since my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes 4 years ago it has taken over our lives and while it doesn’t stop […]

Read More

My employer recently set up some free wellbeing events at work. Such a great idea, workplace health and wellbeing is moving up the corporate agenda and more and more businesses now recognise the benefits of taking care of their most important asset – their staff. It aims to increase productivity, mental clarity and creativity of […]

Read More

I joined the Food Waste Revolution! I’m going to help make a change. So what is it all about? So much food can be lost or wasted along the chain from farm to table. It’s not just the food itself that goes to waste, it’s all the resources that went into making it, from water […]

Read More

My new colourful reusable Silicone Straws complete with 2 cleaning brushes turned up today at my Amazon Locker. I’ve bought these to primarily use at home but also wanted to take them on holiday too. They are about the diameter of the straws you get when you order bubble tea, so wider than average drinking […]

Read More