Wendy’s suggestion today: Our Frappucinos from Starbucks’s happy hour this afternoon… Especially good in today’s warm weather!

There’s probably some fascinating reason why this rock-with-a-hole is displayed in Newcastle’s Exhibition Park, but I’m afraid I have no idea what it is. So, my comment on this photo is really limited to “nice rock”!

Look what Wendy’s bought me! It seems so unfair that it can’t be counted as one of my five-a-day!

I’ve never seen this coffee cart in action, but I’d be intrigued to see how they’ve managed to squeeze everything in… and you’ve just got to love the name!

I love Wendy very dearly, but even she will admit that she isn’t always the best at sorting and putting away her washing. The situation has reached a level this week where I’ve had to start labelling the piles…!

I suppose it’s just a reflection of how hard she works and the crazy hours she does… or, at least, that’s what she tells me!

I’ve just finished watching the complete West Wing again, and I’m experiencing that odd withdrawal / mourning feeling that so many of my friends describe, and that I had most acutely back in 2006 after my first run-through.

It seems incredible that it’s 12 years since I first saw The West Wing, and six since it ended. It’s a really fantastic series, and if there’s anyone left in the country that hasn’t seen it, you really must buy it now.

One of the best things about living in Newcastle is that it has a thriving city centre, but fantastic greenery surrounds the city: Weetslade Country Park, as in today’s picture, is just seven minutes from our front door.

When I last visited I got soaked, but today Wendy and I had a lovely stroll in the sunshine!

Hall One is acoustically astounding, and also looks gorgeous. Unfortunately, a photo can’t really show acoustics, and my bad photography makes the hall look pretty dull (though the decision to drape a black curtain in front of the rear of the rear of the stage doesn’t help).

Nevertheless, Wendy and I really enjoyed seeing Ramin this evening, and as we left the Sage, we saw the Tyne Bridge looking twinkly and pretty.

It may be an apocryphal tale, but I understand that the Vermont Hotel, in response to Council cuts, paid the electricity bill for the lighting of the Tyne Bridge for to benefit its guests’ views. If it is true, the owners will no doubt have celebrated when the current LED lighting system was installed, as I’m sure it cut the bill substantially…

Though, having said that, the hotel recently went into administration. It’s since been sold, and is now anticipating a £3m makeover. Hurrah!

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that Wendy and I were evacuated from the Handmade Burger Company at the Metrocentre tonight after our meal was rudely interrupted by the restaurant setting on fire…!

One of the downsides of the open kitchen is that the flames were quite clearly visible. Initially, we were told to ignore them, as the gas had been turned off and they’d soon subside. But we were warned that our chips might be delayed.

As the flames persisted, the chef produced a fire extinguisher, which also failed to extinguish the flames.

We were reassured that everything was fine, even as the fire alarms were blaring… it was only when the sprinklers started that the staff decided the time was right for an evacuation… of the whole centre. We didn’t even get our chips!

The picture shows the fire engine that came to the rescue. There may have been more than one, but Wendy and I walked across to the McDonalds on the nearby retail park as soon as we were out – we were hungry!

I guess you could say that our whole evening was flame-grilled, not just out burgers!

This is a bit of the 2.9km A19 Tees Viaduct. It was built to cross the Tees at an appropriate height for big ships to pass beneath, yet since the port at Stockton was virtually disused at the time the viaduct was built, that specification probably wasn’t necessary. Only 15 years after it opened, the nearby Tees Newport Bridge was fixed in its lowered position, blocking any river traffic anyway.

Most days, mine is one of the almost 90,000 cars that use this 37 year old structure. It’s the largest bridge of its type in the UK, but is prone to frequent congestion at peak times as it’s operating at a capacity way that for which it was designed.

Mini-steps like ramp metering and CCTV monitoring have been taken to try and deal with the congestion, but with more and more vehicles using the viaduct each year, it seems likely that something more drastic will have to be done before too long.