It's sunny, it's a Saturday, and this is Sam's blog about a stupendous day.

I've had a truly brilliant day.

Saturdays mean a whole lot more when you're working office hours the rest of the week. Today felt really long, which was nice.

The sun was shining and it was warm, which isn't that normal for up here, whatever the locals tell you...

I was with family friends and had a quiet morning watching Everybody loves Raymond (which i... love...) and enjoying not being at work really early!

And then I decided to discover the METRO CENTRE...

Now, if you have been doing some research, or reading these posts carefully, you will know that Newcastle is very fond of the word "Metro".

Its underground trains are called the Metro, there is the Metro music venue, the Metro Centre, and probably a dodgy pizza place called "Metropizza" as well.

But anyway, the Metro Centre is a large shopping centre (the biggest in the North East, England, Europe, the galaxy... take your pick) and is actually in GATESHEAD. So I made a mistake above.

People in Gateshead are understandably keen to point out that many of the newly built attractions - the Sage concert theatre, the Baltic (a modern art gallery) and the Metro Centre, are all in Gateshead, and not Newcastle.

This place is indeed massive - red zone, blue zone, green zone, yellow zone, central arcade. All on two levels - and loads of shops.

I bought a few small things - some nice pens and a holder to brighten my desk, and a very swish bedside light. It really is very nice. Very nice. I like it. :-)

And then I came out into more sunshine and warmth to watch football on the tele.

Newcastle were playing, live on BBC 1 - which was exciting. And as a new Newcastler, I was supporting them - they drew sadly, and were wearing a horrendous yellow striped shirt. It really is awful.

I also enjoyed a lovely piece of salmon, and homemade chips, and watched Total Wipeout.

Total Wipeout is a programme I don't think I'll find funny every time I watch it, but I do. Its just brilliant!

So, a lovely day, and now off to sleep. :-)

New layout

I'm trying a new layout. What do you think?

Longbarn life

Before I talk about Longbarn life, I'm listening to a programme on Radio 4 about MI6 - or the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) as they are formally called - and its quite sobering.

It seems to be pretty different to Spooks and James Bond, some of it must be quite dull and office-like I think. The programme is talking about 'moles' in the service as well, which sounds awful (unless they were moles in the KGB...)

So anyway, Longbarn. What a great camp it was again.

What really struck me this time was seeing children changing as the week went on.

Every night we had 'S.T.E.P' (singing, thinking, exploring, praying) when these 50 children heard a Bible story, along with great songs (with me singing too which was fun).

Children who seemed very uninterested at the beginning of the week were singing and listening enthusiastically by the end of it. It really made me think about why I do it and encourage me that it makes such a difference.

This year was also great with the leaders! We had a lot of laughs, about everything from playing Top Trumps, to falling over in the mud, to losing at handball (6-2 on one day!).

It was so much fun.

But now I'm back in newCASTLE.

And I like it here. I'm getting to know places and enjoying exploring the area.

Work is good too, and I'm enjoying being paid a lot too!! (I'm enjoying it a lot, I'm not being paid a lot, well more than when I was at Essentials...)