After our festive day out in London, Looby and I decided we couldn't wait any longer to deck our halls and bring Christmas to the Charlton house.  And then Abigail said she had an inset day so the festooning began.

Now I have to admit that things in our house had already began to get a little jolly, I'd been preparing gift guides since September after all and then this little chap and his babies arrived!

If you're a fan of Fantastic Beasts you may remember that the Niffler is a cute mole like character with a penchant for all things Gold and shiny, much fun has ensued since his arrival courtesy of Kap Toys, he arrived in glorious form with his Niffler babies which are brand new and available from independent toy stores and I think these are going to make the most wonderful presents this Christmas, just make sure you don't sit them too near your sparkly things.

Being one of the hosts of the #Nifflers Twitter party I can say was the most fun I'd had in ages, Nifflers really are the cutest and even more so in real life, the big one is so squishy and soft and the little ones are just the right size to fit in this years Christmas stockings, I'm actually surprised Holly Bobbins hasn't helped herself to one yet!!

Anyway, I digress, back to decking the halls and merrily festooning.  In total it's taken nearly a week to get everything the way we want it and I still have nothing outdoors, my garden is a mess and the weather has been too evil to do anything about it.  Indoors though we are a sparkly haven of warmth and twinkle.

and so to me, everything is now at one with the world, I've started my Christmas shopping and actually I'm doing pretty well with it, my house is sparkly enough that I feel no need to venture into the outdoor world and thank goodness for that as I score at least a 7/10 for being a reclusive hermit currently.  Next week is my annual Christmas party and I'm attempting to turn my entire kitchen table into a giant grazing platter which will go with my Christmas punch which combines Red Shloer with Prosecco, grapes and cranberries guaranteed to make any party a festively fabulous one!

The next few weeks are sure to pass in a blur, this time of year is so busy after all, I've pretty much turned down all invitations apart from my own party because I feel it's safer to let people come to me.  I shall however be taking a couple of weeks off at Christmas, I didn't book myself any weekends off last year so I reckon I'm overdue a long break where I can catch up on some books I've stockpiled, there can be no going back now though, Christmas 2018, we are coming to get you!

How not to behave at a Sage Gateshead concert

My beloved RNS, please note, I'm not breaking any rules here, this was before the performance hence empty seats

I'm very lucky to freelance for a couple of fabulous north east sites reviewing concerts and events, namely NE Recommends and Nights Out In Newcastle, mostly at grown up, fabulous venue Sage Gateshead and occasionally at the Theatre Royal or the Whitley Bay Playhouse.  Last year I saw more music performances than I'd seen in my whole entire life, The Bootleg Beatles playing Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club, The Beach Boys, Elaine Paige and it's pretty well known that I am the original Royal Northern Sinfonia fan girl, I love live music.  I love orchestra's performing live, for me, the RNS can do no wrong, they could play the alphabet and they would still make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.  I'm quite alright to miss ASMR which irritates the life out of me, just give me an orchestra performing music I love and I'm in Heaven.

Sage Gateshead is in my opinion one of the most splendid music venues in the whole world, indeed it was Ben Folds who called it one of the four best symphony halls in the whole world, it attracts all kinds of performers from the world of classical music right through to pop, each concert is unique and brings it's own kind of audience, it's not a shouting, getting drunk and trying to crowd-surf type of venue although on certain occasions certain audience members have seemed to think that's exactly what it is.  Behaving badly at concerts is one of my absolute pet peeves and I've seen some pretty awful behaviour over the last year, let me take you on a journey through things you should never do at a concert.

1. Do not go out drinking all day and turn up with your "bessie mates" whilst wearing reindeer antlers.

2. Do not shout at a woman who's irritated by you and threaten her with a fight mid concert.

3. Do not try and have sexual relations in the row in front of me after having way too much to drink

4. Don't get told off by stewards for putting your handbag on the stage.

5. Don't be that drunk middle aged couple swinging each other around taking photos of the crowd.

6. Don't try and film the entire concert on your big screened phone, it's on every door that video and photography generally allowed during the performance.

7. Don't spread eagle yourself and settle down for a nap during a classical performance.

8. Don't have a big old chatter throughout an intimate performance when you are sitting just above the performer who's trying to play the piano and sing.

9. Don't have a chat with your workmates who are sitting at the opposite side of the concert hall

10. Don't try to high five the band or climb on the stage during the performance, this is a grown up venue not the back room of a pub.

Now, I realise, I'm a grumpy middle aged woman but really, doing any of the above things will only lead to you being told off or possibly ejected from the hall and you've probably paid quite a lot of money for the tickets to that performance.  If you want to get rowdy, go to a venue which has a mosh pit but don't for the love of all that is music, do it at a grown up venue featuring world class performances.  I've seen children at playgroups behave better than some of the adults I've seen getting ejected from concerts I've been at.

Sage Gateshead is the most wonderful building, the most unique concert venue and it's home to our beloved RNS, don't let your behaviour spoil my most beloved concert venue in the whole world.