Today is a relaxing one after a fun-filled weekend trip to my old stomping ground of Newcastle with an equally fun-filled gentleman of several years patronage, and having arrived to glorious sunshine and a hotel bed loaded with gifts (including the largest Easter Egg I have ever seen outside a charity raffle and an Easter bunny as interpreted by Ann Summers, as well as treats from Lush in the form of fizzy bath bombs, whose barmy exuberance never fails to cheer me up) I settled in immediately and celebrated with a very nice tuna fish sandwich and a look at the cheap and cheerful womens magazines I found kicking about on the train. As with internet porn I have long convinced myself that no-one actually pays for these nowadays, and they are instead distributed strategically about the carriages by publishers’ representatives to encourage us to buy books rather than read any more of the vapid, platitudinous crap within, but having forgotten my Kindle it was them or weekend-early-evening TV and you have to draw the line somewhere, after all.

Needless to say, some things never change and an after dinner stroll up Grainger Street provided reassurance that despite all media claims of doom and gloom there are still plenty of folk getting their glad rags on and hitting the town (to zealous exponents of tiresome Government anti-binge drinking campaigns which paint every working class British adult as a pissed-up simpleton: warning, people enjoying themselves – look away now) and a spot of fresh-ish air/kebab-dodging later, having decided to give the Bigg Market a miss on grounds of sobriety/dress code (I was wearing one) we settled back down at the hotel for Match Of The Day and a good old catch up; good enough that we missed the end and had to get up for the repeat, which officially marks the earliest I have been awake and compos mentis on a Sunday morning since packing in my shelf-filling job in 2005. And thus my hotel-karma was restored!

Following breakfast (including tiny mini-croissants and Danish pastries as well as black pudding, faultless toast and proper marmalade) I said my goodbyes and set off for home newly enlivened, deciding on a pit-stop at York for some fresh air, a cornet and a look round the shops; there are probably safer places to explore with an overnight fee in one’s bag but as it turned out, being Easter Sunday most were shut  – oops! Sarah Coggles was not, and superhuman strength was required to drag myself away from the new D&G mimosa-print pleated sundress (£925) sobbing piteously (on the inside at least, the outside remaining as imperious as it is possible to be whilst travelling home after a late night carrying a gigantic Easter Egg and with forgot-That-Brush-again hair that would frighten a police horse). I did have the sense to take the dress off first.

To this week, and the next few days I am spoken for entirely – sorry! I will be free on Friday if anybody else is at a loose end, but that aside and bar any changes of plan my next Scarborough availability will be a week today; next stop is Heathrow for a brief flight of fancy (sorry) midweek and I will not be back until late Thursday evening. Add on the race-training inbetween and availability will be extremely limited between now and the 9th May but fear not, a special offer week will be announced shortly to celebrate (and apologise to) all of those who have or wish to make a donation to my Race For Life fund, so all is not lost!

Back soon – have a great week everybody!

My current Best Time for the 5k is just over 37 minutes with a few walk breaks – this is on the treadmill in the gym which conveniently absorbs a great deal of impact, and even more conveniently tells you how far you have gone and how long it took; my first foray into the world of road running earlier in the week was less successful and since I made it maybe 500 yards before having to stop, in retrospect I probably should have thought about picking an area of Scarborough which is well, flatter. As it is, and since my poor jarred hips are still aching a bit, I have made the executive decision to continue the training on the treadmill for now although as I have yet more tearing about to do over the coming fortnight it will be very much as and when I get the chance, particularly as my usual on-the-road footwear in the form of nude patent MaryJanes with 4″ heels is entirely unsuitable for sporting purposes and my lovely Brooks running shoes don’t fit in my handbag (and even if they did, my built-to-withstand-nuclear-attack sports bra would still require it’s own carrying apparatus).

The rest of the week-wise, I have been especially delighted to meet several new callers who between them shared a startling amount of common ground with yours truly including fishkeeping, a mild Tripadvisor addiction and Pimlico; I was even fortunate enough to encounter one charming new visitor not once but twice (subtitle: When An Hour Is Not Enough). I have arranged exciting escapades to far flung corners of the land and eaten far more sausage sandwiches than is good for anybody after getting overexcited at the butchers, and the remainder of the Easter weekend will be seeing me travelling in the opposite direction from the rest of the population of Yorkshire and heading out of Scarborough until Sunday evening; anyone wishing to book for Monday, please do try and get in touch promptly as I will be away from the computer for a day or so! Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday next week are spoken for already – apologies to those not fast enough…

So only a brief Good Friday update after the madness of last week’s entry, but a very Happy Easter to all, and more will follow soon – promise! And thank you kindly to all the keen folk who responded with their own Crap Towns (and even crapper hotels); I’m seriously thinking of taking up where the original left off and compiling a list. Luton, anyone?

This last Friday and Saturday have taken me in a single 24 hour stretch to Leeds city centre, across to Rochdale, back to Leeds (one of my favourite hotels, a grand old building of impeccable vintage, comfortable beds and woefully unpredictable plumbing), and finally the early train back to the coast in order to continue the good work uninterrupted until such a time as I was able to relax and enjoy some of the Easter break in a manner more befitting a public holiday; namely eating Peking duck in my pyjamas, gossiping on the phone and watching QI repeats on the television whilst the comforting and ever-present whirr of my faithful washing machine provided gentle and homely background ambience.

Bearing this in mind, and that the earlier part of this week was spent in Manchester with the latter part of next week unfolding in That London, I have decided that enough is enough for now, and I am sorry to say that for the approaching two days I will be persona non grata, at least to those not known to me already. Normal service will be resumed upon my return, and as the week is beginning to fill up gradually but steadily I would strongly recommend getting in touch early, as appointments will be as limited as always after a busy week away (plus it is high time I got on with some more decorating…)

I am, however, never out of the office for long and have already begun to make tentative plans for my next few trips, anticipating, amongst others, a return to Scotland as well as a possible jaunt to Wales (by way of Bristol, which I have been intending to get to now for months and still not quite managed yet). Details soon to be available, as soon as I have reassured myself accommodation-wise that a repeat of the Liverpool situation will not be an issue, and actual communication with people not in the same room will be guaranteed. The next London trip is likely to be the start of June; as some will know I have a brief sojourn at the end of this month for the Erotic Awards ceremony, but this is already pretty much booked and I have no plans to take further appointments – apologies, but the emphasis is to be very much on going to the ball!

The prospective (but now-defunct) rail strike had been on course to present me with problems this week and rightly so, otherwise what on earth would be the point, although this seems to have been anathema to some of BA’s unlucky customers  following  recent  industrial action, who, whilst quite understandably put out, seemed to completely miss the point that the major purpose of a strike is to draw attention to an underlying problem by causing noticeable disruption, and not just to bugger up their holidays. Not unsurprisingly the journey between Scarborough and York failed to meet the designated ‘skeleton service’ criteria, and all services were to be cancelled for the duration – including my morning train intended to connect me with my comfy seat on the National Express.

The options were limited: get up around 5.30am to catch the  843 service bus from the town centre, a journey spanning over two hours thanks to the designated route which laudably, but not particularly helpfully, stops at every conceivable hamlet between here and the final destination. Being as we are in a coastal corner of North Yorkshire, trust me when I say that’s an awful lot of B road. Alternatively I could pay £50+ for a taxi to travel in relative comfort and at a civilised hour, but I do not plan trips carefully and in good time so that I can spend this kind of money on travel, and as far as I am concerned there are far better (mostly edible) things to do with fifty quid. So it was with some considerable relief that news of the injunction was received, and ought to be a particular bonus to my charming visitor on the Wednesday evening, who is now in no danger of having to wake me up mid-appointment (although this being a repeat meeting, I can state with some confidence that this would be extremely unlikely under any circumstances bar a blow to the head, a strong sedative, or prolonged exposure to the Parliament Channel).

I must take time to thank all of those who have kindly emailed in appreciation of my new pictures – more are in the pipeline and will be posted soon (and yes, I promise to try harder to conceal the camera remote this time). And lastly, a very happy Easter to everyone!

]]> http://www.adoreamy.co.uk/blog/index.php/2010/04/04/girl-from-all-over-the-north-country/feed/ 0 http://www.adoreamy.co.uk/blog/index.php/2010/03/30/mad-for-it/ http://www.adoreamy.co.uk/blog/index.php/2010/03/30/mad-for-it/#comments Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:02:46 +0000 amy http://www.adoreamy.co.uk/blog/?p=1811 A brief post by way of update from out in the field, or at the least the basic but spotless and wonderfully central Manchester hotel room where I am temporarily ensconced for the day and night ahead. For whatever reason, this is not a city I have regularly visited in recent years (although true to form, it is still raining) and this afternoon I have enjoyed some delightful company followed by an idle and aimless potter round Selfridges and a monumental dim sum lunch, the quantity of which challenged even me and bearing in mind the weather, made me even more grateful that my hotel sits right on Chinatown’s enthusiastically festooned and fabulously neon-lit doorstep.

Having had my evening appointment regrettably cancelled (probably just as well given the dumpling-fest), I have been checking online listings and am planning a walk across town to the pictures. The Crazies is currently (and somewhat regrettably since I have never to date seen a poor showing from Ben Kingsley, including his cameo in my second-ever-favourite Sopranos episode) beating my first choice of Shutter Island purely by virtue of starting within the next hour and a half, and as those longer standing readers will already be aware, I have always been of the unshakable belief that you can’t go far wrong with frenzied zombie rednecks (in the celluloid sense obviously; those seeking the real thing would be best advised to attend the first day of the sales at the Sunderland branch of Primark).

As those of you arriving here by the traditional route may well have already seen, yesterday was spent meticulously cropping, resizing and uploading and my lovely new pictures have started appearing on the Gallery page, albeit after a couple of false starts. I will never be techy and finally crawled from my chair some three hours after starting with searing backache, a spinning head and eyes like Scotch eggs,  but needless to say I hope they prove popular and equally that I have not inadvertently removed too many favourites. More will be following soon when I have time, energy and slightly embarrassingly, some clothes to put on for a change (any suggestions welcome, since I am becoming aware my penchant for wandering about joyfully unfettered is beginning to take over a bit). New ‘outdoorsy’ ones will also be following as the weather improves, and improving it is; my journey here included my first sight this year of lambs, primroses and the unarguable sign that summer is approaching, an optimistic-looking family of holidaymakers alighting at Scarborough station sans flasks and waterproofs.

In terms of Easter availability; I will be back in Scarborough for incalls on Wednesday 31st although availability is shrinking, and Thursday likewise. Friday and Saturday are already booked. Sunday, in all honesty, is as yet undecided (the possibility of being presented with things bearing the codewords ‘Green and Black’s’ will certainly affect the process). As ever, as much notice as possible please and to the intrepid travellers amongst you, please do keep in mind that it is Bank Holiday, Easter and school holidays all at once and thus the chances are that driving and parking situations are likely to be, well, fraught.

London? Unless you wish to visit on Thursday 8th – sorry.

Demand for this visit has been such that I am, however, in the process of compiling a standby list for the other days – if you have a preferred time  in mind and wish to contact me (or be contacted) in the event of cancellation then please do get in touch wth details. To all other idle readers, have a very happy Easter! (and for those who were wondering, Scottish updates hopefully to follow soon…)

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