DECEMBER DIARY

December went by in a blur!

I started the month at the retirement/farewell of a lovely colleague at Pippys. A good time was had by all.

I did my final radio gig for the year, reviewing Richard E Grant's A Pocketful of Happiness. I always love this gig, and look forward to more in 2023.

Dad has his birthday and we celebrated with a family dinner at the local pub, followed by cake and frivolity.

Because I am still without a car I pared back my social occasions, but the few I had were really enjoyable.

A work dinner at The Bavarian at Charlestown.

Lunch with Jen at Cardiff Bowling Club where we had a great meal prepared by The Blind Chef.

Brunch with Cathy at Poppys which is such a beautiful venue. It is an amazing cafe inside the Garden Centre out at Gateshead of all places. A little piece of paradise tucked away.

Our Belmont team got together, at The Gunyah, to celebrate another successful year.

My gorgeous gals came out to collect me and we had a lovely celebration at Sephardim Tappas. The food was amazing!

The weekend before Christmas I headed to Sydney to meet Andrew and we went to see Nick Cave at the Sydney Opera House. We had a great dinner at Rossini prior to the show and breakfast in the city the following day before heading home for that final week before christmas.

And that week went fast, before I knew it I was at my sister's property for our Christmas Eve tradition, BBQ, snacks, drinks, chats, and a few games of Pool. 

The next day was a blur of presents, breakfast, naps, lunch, collecting Andrew in the late afternoon and then supper at my parents. It was all quite lovely.

My birthday was a quiet affair, a laid back day filled with greetings, love, and a visit from Mary. I felt the love. We headed out for a family dinner at The Gunyah Hotel. Always a great meal.

After a days rest, Andrew and I headed back to Sydney. We visited family and watched tele and napped. 

NYE was quiet but lovely as Andrew prepared a roast, I read my book, and we watched some tele and movies with the fireworks (outside and on tele) finishing the year.

Here are my reviews for December.

Stay tuned for my year wrap up and my lists for 2022.

 

MARCH/APRIL DIARY

March commenced with a visit from my sister from Melbourne, and a lovely night out at Emilios.

Jayne and I headed into City Hall for the Newcastle Writer's Festival Launch with the amazing force of energy that is Costa Georgiadis. Now, I didn't really know much about him or gardening for that matter, and he was so very impressive. His nervous energy was catchy and admirable. He was absolute joy and it was a fabulous way to launch what looked like to be a great program.

Our work held their yearly GLAM conference, and I was lucky enough to attend on the Friday afternoon, listening to some creative and inspiring colleagues and being treated to the fabulousness that is Timberlina. Also these events mean long overdue networking and catch ups with colleagues all over the state.

I had my yearly check-up with my oncologist, the first one in real life for a while. And after 4 years I was discharged, what a relief and odd feeling it was. I was very emotional and the tears flowed once I made it to my car. I still need to have my regular breast check ups with my surgeon of course, but one more milestone passed and behind me. Whilst being a cancer survivor is absolutely a gift that I am blissfully aware of every day of my life, it can be a heavy thing to carry around.

We finally got all the gals together and headed back to Rombergs for drinks, supper and chats. It was as impressive as the first time, I don't think those view will ever get old. 

Andrew and I headed to the Burwood Inn for one of their big steaks for lunch one Saturday. I had been promising to take him for ages, and he was super impressed. It is an excellent meal there.

As always the Oscars were celebrated. Every year I say I am going to give it up, but every year I get sucked back into the vortex!

Here are my reviews of some Oscar films.

Here are my predictions.

And here is how I went along with some thoughts and fashion!

I also finished my first TAFE teaching stint at the end of March. I have been teaching Collection Management - my most favourite thing in the whole world of libraries. It was pretty full on juggling the teaching with FT regular work but I got there and enjoyed the experience too.

The month ended with a literary trivia night at The Stag for the NWF. Our group, which was initially 5 but became 3 ended up coming second, which was pretty impressive. It was such a fun night.

April commence with the Newcastle Writers Festival, as always it was magical and wonderful, you can read about it here.

Due to our brilliance at the literary trivia night, we won a table at the Moho Magic Bar that was in town, so headed there for an early show. What fun it was. We sat at a bar, where roving magicians moved around and did amazing tricks right in front of us. Some lovely cocktails were had, and many laughs.

I headed to our Toronto Branch to do a little guest gig, as you can see the views there are unparalleled. I don't think I could work there, well, I wouldn't get much work done!

We also had a belated Christmas dinner for work at The Argy Hotel and also had a go at their trivia.

I had a lovely 2.5 weeks off around Easter, commencing with a lovely family gathering at my sister's on Easter Sunday, then I spent the first week with Andrew at his place, which was a nice break, returning to celebrate my sister's birthday. MY second week was a chill week catching up on jobs around Club Cathy and catching up with friends and taking in the beauty that is Newcastle.

The month ended with a trip to Maitland and Morpeth, with a great lunch - as always - at Morpeth Pub.

AS always there were markets.

Bookclub and my radio spot at the ABC.

And some photography