![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Aug. 21st, 2016 05:05 pmMy niece has decided she wants a MCR backpack for her birthday. And I've run into issues because I can't actually find one in the UK. If she wanted a messenger bag I could have had a choice, even smaller pilot bags would have been okay, but backpacks? Apparently they'd need to be ordered from abroad, wouldn't come in time, plus cost far too much. I may just buy her the very cheesy 'I love Gerard' pencil case, she likes stuff like that.
Like I said in my last post, last week I went to a new cat cafe. I found out about it one night, checked it out, and we went there the next day. I enjoyed going there, it had a very different vibe to Mog on the Tyne. This one was themed more like a garden and was more chilled. It also had mostly pedigree cats with one foster cat they bring in to introduce to potential forever home owners.
Like Mog on the Tyne you pay a £5 cover charge per person that goes toward looking after the cats, but at Catpawcino for that price you can have a cold drink or cup of tea or coffee, too. It also has the bonus of being on the Newcastle quayside, so parking was easy.
( Lots of cats! )
It was a beautiful day that day, so we had a short stroll along the quay and then shared an ice cream at a Swedish deli, which was very much chosen because it reminded me of Turlough.
After that we went on to MetroCenter for a cinema visit. The initial plan was to see Nine Lives and keep the cat themed day going. But for some reason the Odeon website and app wouldn't let me book my free carers ticket. So we went to book at the cinema itself, and got to talking to one of the staff members who we've come to know. After explaining the issue he checked the screen, but the only seats left were the first two rows. We were about to pick one of those and he told us full stop, don't, as it was a small screen and you wouldn't be able to comfortably see anything from those rows. So, despite the queue building up behind us, he went through everything else that was on, and sold us on seeing first, The Shallows, then walking out of that screen, along two more, and then into Nerve, where the actual main feature would just be starting -- and it worked out exactly like that, his timings were spot on.
We also found out the reason I couldn't book a seat was James' cinema card had run out the day before. Thankfully being regulars helped there as he just fudged the tickets somehow so I got in for free anyway. And by that night James had renewed and paid for his next year of ticket.
As for the films, I went in with no expectations for either. The Shallows was entertaining enough, but one scene really turned my stomach. While I enjoyed Nerve so much more than I expected.
Nanna's stair-lift is in, but her getting used to it is a work in progress. Yesterday we got a phone call saying she needed the toilet but was frightened of going up on it on her own. So we quickly nipped up. Today we called in because James had made her a big print sign saying how to use the stair-lift which he's taped to the walls, and she was so frightened of getting stuck upstairs that she'd used her commode instead.
She was getting a bit distressed today about not having the nerve to use it alone. But like I told her, it's a very new thing for her that she's had for all of a few days. She just needs practice -- and for her friend to stop telling her how she got stuck on hers for three hours once -- and she'll gain the confidence to use it easily. Until then, she's got the carers and if need be, we're not that far away.
James is on his second shift of his shorter night shifts today. We still need to experiment with them because yesterday he wanted to go swimming, and thought it would be okay as didn't start work until 4:30 staying until 2. I was a bit worried whether it would be too much on a night shift day, and it sort of was. Because we like swimming early before it gets busy he needed to get up early, then after we'd finished we popped into Asda as it's just over the road, then called in nanna's, and really, he had no time to just chill before going to work. So from now on, while it does seem he would have time to do things like swimming, energy wise it's not a good idea. Much better to sleep until he wakes naturally, and then have a short drive out if needed or wanted.
Corey's been home this weekend and has just gone back to Newcastle with James dropping him off on the way to work. As always it was lovely to have him home, and it really doesn't seem like a year since he got his A level results and we had the panic of realising he was just a few points short for his first choice uni.
Like many I've joined Imzy, though have done nothing over there yet. But in the unlikely event anyone who wants one still hasn't got an invite, feel free to ask. All I'll need is your email address.
Like I said in my last post, last week I went to a new cat cafe. I found out about it one night, checked it out, and we went there the next day. I enjoyed going there, it had a very different vibe to Mog on the Tyne. This one was themed more like a garden and was more chilled. It also had mostly pedigree cats with one foster cat they bring in to introduce to potential forever home owners.
Like Mog on the Tyne you pay a £5 cover charge per person that goes toward looking after the cats, but at Catpawcino for that price you can have a cold drink or cup of tea or coffee, too. It also has the bonus of being on the Newcastle quayside, so parking was easy.
( Lots of cats! )
It was a beautiful day that day, so we had a short stroll along the quay and then shared an ice cream at a Swedish deli, which was very much chosen because it reminded me of Turlough.
After that we went on to MetroCenter for a cinema visit. The initial plan was to see Nine Lives and keep the cat themed day going. But for some reason the Odeon website and app wouldn't let me book my free carers ticket. So we went to book at the cinema itself, and got to talking to one of the staff members who we've come to know. After explaining the issue he checked the screen, but the only seats left were the first two rows. We were about to pick one of those and he told us full stop, don't, as it was a small screen and you wouldn't be able to comfortably see anything from those rows. So, despite the queue building up behind us, he went through everything else that was on, and sold us on seeing first, The Shallows, then walking out of that screen, along two more, and then into Nerve, where the actual main feature would just be starting -- and it worked out exactly like that, his timings were spot on.
We also found out the reason I couldn't book a seat was James' cinema card had run out the day before. Thankfully being regulars helped there as he just fudged the tickets somehow so I got in for free anyway. And by that night James had renewed and paid for his next year of ticket.
As for the films, I went in with no expectations for either. The Shallows was entertaining enough, but one scene really turned my stomach. While I enjoyed Nerve so much more than I expected.
Nanna's stair-lift is in, but her getting used to it is a work in progress. Yesterday we got a phone call saying she needed the toilet but was frightened of going up on it on her own. So we quickly nipped up. Today we called in because James had made her a big print sign saying how to use the stair-lift which he's taped to the walls, and she was so frightened of getting stuck upstairs that she'd used her commode instead.
She was getting a bit distressed today about not having the nerve to use it alone. But like I told her, it's a very new thing for her that she's had for all of a few days. She just needs practice -- and for her friend to stop telling her how she got stuck on hers for three hours once -- and she'll gain the confidence to use it easily. Until then, she's got the carers and if need be, we're not that far away.
James is on his second shift of his shorter night shifts today. We still need to experiment with them because yesterday he wanted to go swimming, and thought it would be okay as didn't start work until 4:30 staying until 2. I was a bit worried whether it would be too much on a night shift day, and it sort of was. Because we like swimming early before it gets busy he needed to get up early, then after we'd finished we popped into Asda as it's just over the road, then called in nanna's, and really, he had no time to just chill before going to work. So from now on, while it does seem he would have time to do things like swimming, energy wise it's not a good idea. Much better to sleep until he wakes naturally, and then have a short drive out if needed or wanted.
Corey's been home this weekend and has just gone back to Newcastle with James dropping him off on the way to work. As always it was lovely to have him home, and it really doesn't seem like a year since he got his A level results and we had the panic of realising he was just a few points short for his first choice uni.
Like many I've joined Imzy, though have done nothing over there yet. But in the unlikely event anyone who wants one still hasn't got an invite, feel free to ask. All I'll need is your email address.
