I could swear I woke up the other afternoon after a night watch and this crack was in my bedroom blind.... I thought "Oh Feck, the crack in time is fed up with following Amy and is coming after me"
I really think I am working too many hours with not enough sleep at the moment.... either that or I am completely and utterly barking!!
Thought I better make a post and let you all know I'm not dead. I must admit since they banned Blogger at work I have been very lax in posting. I do think of things I want to say but then I forget to come on here and post about them.
I shall try and make an effort to blog more regularly and catch up with what I've been doing. In the meantime can you let me know if you want me to carry on so I won't be wasting my time.
I am not a very happy bunny!! Wednesday night was Neyland pub quiz and we were home to the Benbow, usually a bit of a walk over for us, they are not renowned for being one of the best teams in the league. However, the questions were terrible. In the Neyland league each team writes their own questions the week they are the quiz masters and we had the Jollies, who are also not renowned for writing the best questions.
Basically the questions were crap and we lost. This really dosnt bother me that much, some you win, some you lose, the main thing is it is a fun night out. However, Ianto got in a real little temper tantrum, threw his toys out of his pram and just walked out, it was all rather embarassing to be honest.
Anyway last night was Milford league and I turned up at the Con Club to find that Ianto wasn't there. Myfanwy was and she said that Ianto is now refusing to play again in the Neyland league and he dosn't want her to play either, which would mean that we would no longer be able to field at team, as even by roping in Angharad we would only have three players.
I am very pissed off to be honest, his whole attitude is completely childish not to mention selfish and will certainly taint my feelings towards playing in the Milford league with him on a Sunday. I hope he realises how pathetic he is being as I really enjoy my quiz nights... looks like I shall have to start looking for a new team to play for :o(
Lots to catch up on... I.. shall try and be brief.. Rugby, we won some (by the skin of our teeth)... we lost some (by the skin of our teeth)... sorry Scotland, up yours France!!
I have had 16 days off during which we have been away for the weekend to Swansea to see Mike Doyle with Chris and Julie.. That was good, we had lunch in Carmathen, arrived in the Hotel, had an hour in the spa then watched the Irish stuff the english in the bar. The show was excellent as was the meal. Julie managed to make it home without being sick this time..so we did good.
There have been various teenage romantic dramas, which I won't go into details about we shall just say that as of tonight Erin and Martin are sort of together and Ffion and Craig are in text contact but estranged.
Yesterday we attended the funeral of Noel's Aunty Olive, I am never very good at funerals as I cry all the time at everyday events so funerals just finish me off, I was pretty good until they played Calon lan then I lost the plot. It was quite a sobering occasion because if was the first funeral of one of the "older generation" in the family, it suddenly made me realise it might be Noel's parents next and I dont know how I would cope with that.
I have had a false tooth fitted after having a front tooth removed by force by my dentist, not a nice experience. I loath my false tooth, it is awful, it makes me feel sick all the time, my sense of taste is buggered up completly and my mouth of permenantly dry. I have to have it in place for at least 6 months before they can attempt to bridge the gap, I shall proably go mad during that time.
Thats about it for news.. I go back to work on Saturday, hopefully there will be less of a wait for me to blog again.... love you all xxx
My blogs lately are a little bit retrospective I'm afraid, this is mainly due to the fact that I am no longer allowed to blog at work. Blogger has been deemed a Social Networking site and as such a tool of ultimate evil and is now banned at work, along with Twitter and Facebook.
Anyway I am gradually catching up. Saturday 13th February was my Grandparents 67th Wedding Anniversary. They were married in 1943 right in the middle of the War, my Grandad got a weekend pass to come home to Swansea to marry my Gran and then had to go back again the next day.
They were both just 19 but as with most photos from that era they look a lot older. They are now 86 and still going strong, although getting slightly frailer every year, it would be lovely to think that they will make 70 years.
Sometimes you just start to go a bit stir crazy in the house in the winter so last Thursday, after a brief trip to Haverfordwest to do a bit of shopping I took a detour to St. Brides.
St. Brides is a beauful little cove on the south side of St. Brides bay about 5 miles from where I grew up. I used to spend a lot of time there when I was young and it was one of my favourite beaches.
Right on the side of the bay is this gorgeous cottage that I always wanted to live in, could you imagine spending your summers right on the beach it was every childs dream and just like something out of the Famous Five.
Right by the beach is also a lovely Church called St. Bridgets (I always wanted to get married there but didn't live in the parish unfortunately). Close to the church is a big country house, now called St. Brides Castle, it was once the seat of the Earl of Kennsington and later became a TB hospital in the 1920's. In one corner of the grave yard are these seven simple little graves of child victims of TB ranging from 18 months to 13 years, I have always found them very sad.
It isnt a very large church yard but it does have one very imposing monument, to the Earl of Kensington, it looked quite spectacular against the beautiful blue sky.
It was a freezing cold day, but it certainly blew the cobwebs away and left me feeling strangely at peace and very chilled out... odd how graves can have that effect on you.
As the last two posts have been been generally event specific, i.e. me escaping and us going out on the lash, I though I had better bring you up to date on some of the other bits and pieces that have been goin on.
Firstly my baby girl... that would be Erwin, turned 17 last week, and for the first time in 17 years she wasn't here for her birthday. Instead she went with Martin to Centre Parcs for a mid-week break. It was very strange not having her around for her birthday.
As she was going away she wanted money for her birthday which wasn't a problem, but we also bought her a candy floss maker, which we gave her when she came home. It was an instant success and she had been producing copious amounts of candy floss ever since. I was actually quite impressed how good it was, as I was expecting something a bit pathetic, like some of the chocolate fountains that you can buy cheap these days but it really does work and makes very genuine candy floss.
Another new acquisition was my new Blackberry phone. I have been due an upgrade on my mobile for while but I finally bit the bullet last week and went and got something high tech. It is surprisingly easy to use and I can get all my emails and Facebook updates straight to it and quite frankly I love it!!
I have also been able to copy all my ringtones and photographs to it so now I get advanced warning of who is ringing me... not that anybody other than Noel and the girls does actually ring me :o(
I have started four days off this morning so my plan is to try and catch up on some serious housework, unfortunately the hunt for a cleaner is still no further along, I am also trying to sort out somewhere for us to go on my next two weeks off, which is only about two weeks away.
Finally I shall leave you with this really cute photo of Skittles exploring one of the kitchen cupboards.
After work on Friday night I headed straight off for St. David's as we were going out with Chris and Julie to the Cwtch where they were having a "School Dinners" quiz night. We had been working on our fancy dress all week and really looking forward the night out.
Got to their house at about 6.20pm and after a glass of wine to unwind we all got changed. Noel and Chris had obviously been to the same school (St. Brutus's Correctional Facility for Exceptionally Naughty Boys).
Julie was obviously ex. St. Trinians and I was ex. Mallory Towers, or was it St. Clares?
We were going in a big party, some of whom we knew and some we didn't. When we arrived outside the Cwtch and glanced through the window we couldn't see anyone else dressed up and began to wonder if we were the only ones who had been brave enough. Doubt didn't last long though as up the road came four more "schoolboys/girls/transexuals".
They had stuck us in the back room at the Cwtch which was probably just as well as we turned out to be a right rowdy bunch. The table was laid with slates and chalk for us to graffitti with, and bowls of sherbert flying saucers to nibble on and as we had all dressed up we were each given a free cocktail, which was very nice.
The menu was the Cwtch's take on school dinners and three courses for £15. The starters were Leek and Potato soup, Fish fingers and chips or beef and onion pasties and chips. I opted for the "fish fingers" which were actually lovely homemade fish cakes with real chips.
Main course was a choice of Chicken Curry half and half, Cottage Pie or Vegetable Casserole. Most people went for the curry but I was different and had the Cottage Pie which was really lovely and very filling.
The wine flowed freely, the craic was excellent and some old acquaintences were renewed as it turned out the Noel and Colin had been in school together and had not seen each other since about 1979. School day confessions were exchanged, including my tale of getting my tongue stuck to a lampost in the playground in Aviemore when I was about 4. The was also an awful lot of singing and all this was before the quiz started.
It was a very lighthearted quiz and neither of our teams won, although we did beat the other side of the table with our score of 23 compared to their 21.
When the festivities at the Cwtch finally broke up we all headed to the Farmers for a night cap, but only the one as unfortunately I had work the next day and Chris and Julie were off to Yorkshire, but it had been an absolutely brilliant night out with fantastic company.... even if we did all look a right load of plonkers.
Friday presented another opportunity for me to escape from the Ivory Tower. Fraser (our new recruit) is at the stage where it is best to leave him on his own to do the job without standing over him all the time. As there was going to be pollution training I asked if I could go and as this was ok I kitted up and headed for the jetty.
We were going to go out on the SEA SWEEP which is one of our two pollution craft, especially built to clean up major oil spills. Thankfully we have not had to use them in anger since 1997 and the SEA EMPRESS, but we still have to train on them regularly.
I was only going as an observer so luckily I could stay relatively warm in the wheelhouse and not have to freeze to death on the deck with the other trainees. We headed off from the jetty towards the east and away from the open water. We had to find a relatvely sheltered position to deploy the boom. We reached a point near the Semlogistics terminal and began to stream out the boom behind us. The boom is used to coral any oil on the surface of the water to make it easier to retrieve.
It took nearly an hour to get the whole 300 metres inflated and deployed but once it was out it trailed behind us like a long snake, making the SEA SWEEP harder to maneouvre as it acted like a giant rudder.
By this time I was frozen despite being inside the wheelhouse with the heater on so how the guys on deck must have been feeling I can only imagine. It was a really cold, blustery day, with showers between the sunshine and I managed to get this lovely shot of a rainbow landing directly on the deck of the BRO AGNES... I should have chased it and looked for the gold.
We finally headed back to the jetty at about 1200 and I couldnt wait to get back into Port Control and try to defrost, but it had been really nice to get out on to the water for a change. As I have said before the job does have its advantages.
There must be something about being up at stupid O'clock that buggers about with your brain.
The wee small hours seem to distort things and result in rather silly thoughts. Tonight's random thought involves some sand dredgers which have arrived in the Haven. They are managed by a Dutch company call Van Oord... which to me sounds a bit like the Ood, so I was wondering if the crew are tentacley faced and carry their brains around in their hands.
Its surprising what a bit of sunshine can do to lift your mood. Today I feel much happier, I won't say the January Blues have been banished completely but I am certainly feeling better.
I also have a couple of good things to look forward to next week.
Tuesday we are going to Druidston for one of their "all you can eat" buffets (Italian) with Chris and Julie. I have turned down another overtime night watch for this, I couldn't face having another of my four days off buggered about with.
Then on Friday we are going to a themed quiz night at the Cwtch, also with Chris and Julie and several other couples. The theme is School days and it is fancy dress, so plenty of photo opportunities. The food is also going to be the Cwtch's take on school dinners, so that should be interesting.
So today the sky is blue, the sea is blue and the ships are pretty colours, my cooker is fixed, its Friday and I anticipate a kebab and a bottle of Pinot Grigio this evening with possibly a soak in the hot tub... thing are looking up when the sun shines!!
I have the January Blues. Everything today is grey (not blue really). The sky is grey, the sea is grey, the ships are grey and my mood is grey. My four days off was buggered about by having to do an overtime night watch in the middle and I feel as if I've not had any proper time off at all.
My cooker packed in on Monday and although it was been fixed today it was been a pain not having an oven. The house is a mess, pub quiz last night was cancelled after I had trekked all the way to the Jolly Sailor for nothing and my pile of ironing is nearly reaching the ceiling with more washing piling up all the time. I feel a bit like Edvard Munch's Scream at the moment. It must be that time of year. I really need sometime to motivate me but my whole attitude at the moment is "I can't be arsed"... I hope I snap out of it soon because it is really depressing me. Sorry for the moan, hopefully I shall feel more cheerful in the near future.
It was with huge sadness that I just read on the BBC News website of the death of Bill Mclaren at the age of 86.
As someone who grew up listening to his voice commentating on just about every rugby match I ever watched, he was for me, as for the rest of the world "The Voice of Rugby".
This is the man who called the mighty JPR a Jet Propelled Rhino, who likened forwards racing up the pitch to a "herd of rampaging wildebeest". He was a legend. I was priveledged to be at the final game he ever commentated on, Wales v Scotland in 2002 at Cardiff and joined in the standing ovation he received from the crowd before the game. He will be sorely missed. RIP Bill Mclaren a true great!
Noel is forever on the lookout for new ways to torment the cats. He is joined in this endeavour by Meurig who this year bought him a remote controlled four wheel drive car to chase them around the house with.
No satisfied with this, while we were in Cardiff Noel spotted one of these in The Gadget Shop. As both Erin and I have a huge phobia of spiders it was not the most popular of purchases.
Hopefully I shall get some video of him tormenting either the cats or Erin with it shortly.
Wow it's 11th January already, this is not a good start to a year of blogging.
We had a very quiet New Year, just Noel, myself and Meurig. We watched some TV, soaked a bit in the tub and saw 2010 in very quietly if not quite soberly. Ffion and Craig went to Haverfordwest and didn't get back till about 5am. Erin and Martin also had a very quiet time staying in together, mostly because they couldn't be certain that Erin would be able to get into anywhere.
New Year's day we had our first sprinkling of snow. I won't say too much about the snow because I am sure you are all more than fed up with it by now. It was however, very pretty.
Luckily I am on 14 days off at the moment so it has not affected me very much. Noel and Ffion however have done a lot of walking to work in the last week or so much to Ffion's disgust (she does exercise about as much as I do).
The weather moderated enough at the weekend for us to get up to Cardiff for our weekend away with Chris and Julie. We went to see Les Miserables in the Millennium Centre on Saturday night be decided to make a weekend of it by going up on the Friday. We stayed at the Mecure Hotel on Newport Road which was very nice and as we used our Tesco's vouchers, very cheap.
Friday we mostly wandered around the shops, had a leisurely late lunch in Positanos then retired to Iguanas for cocktails during Happy Hour. After a quick nap back at the hotel we returned to Iguanas for a meal which was very nice.
Saturday morning we caught a bus down to Cardiff Bay where there was still a lot of snow on the ground and it looked lovely
It was very lethal underfoot though and it was like trying to walk around on an ice rink. We had a look around the foyer of the Millennium Centre then wandered across to Mermaid Quay for a a cup of coffee. We then decided to have a look in the Welsh Assembly building, the Senedd. It was very quiet in there and we had a guided tour which was very interesting and we were able to actually go into the chamber. The building really is architecturally amazing especially the ceiling which includes a mushroom shaped dome which allows natural light into the chamber. After we had picked up the tickets for the show that evening we returned to Las Iguanas for more cocktails and some lunch both of which were very enjoyable. We then returned to hotel via the shops to get changed for the evening. We caught the bus down to the Bay and arrived at the Millennium Centre in time to have a drink before the show. Our seats were in the front row of the Upper Circle so we had to go to the fifth floor where the bar was just inside the lettering that adorns the bronze dome of the Centre... it was quite unusual to see it from the opposite side.
The show was amazing. We have seen Les Mis twice in London and this production was by far the best we have seen. The three hours flew by and I cried buckets at the end, as well as when Fantine died and in other places (I won't say too much and spoil it for JoJo).
After the show we went to Strada on Mermaid Quay and had a lovely meal before getting a taxi back to the hotel.
Sunday morning we had breakfast then headed back west as it had started to snow again. It snowed all the way back and by the time we got to St. Davids to fetch our car it was quite heavy so we went straight home. All in all it was a wonderful weekend. I shall leave you with a little bit of Les Mis.
Not sure if anyone will actually be interested in the ravings of an over the hill Welsh girl like me but you never know.
Quick Biog
Name: Karen (Kaz to my friends)
Age 48
Married: To Noel for 28 years
Children: Ffion (22) and Erin (19)
Pets: Chicken, Nugget, Girly,Henry Oeth and Miss Molly
Job: Marine Operator (I tell ships what to do)
I could swear I woke up the other afternoon after a night watch and this crack was in my bedroom blind.... I thought "Oh Feck, the crack in time is fed up with following Amy and is coming after me"
They were both just 19 but as with most photos from that era they look a lot older. They are now 86 and still going strong, although getting slightly frailer every year, it would be lovely to think that they will make 70 years.
Right by the beach is also a lovely Church called St. Bridgets (I always wanted to get married there but didn't live in the parish unfortunately). Close to the church is a big country house, now called St. Brides Castle, it was once the seat of the Earl of Kennsington and later became a TB hospital in the 1920's. In one corner of the grave yard are these seven simple little graves of child victims of TB ranging from 18 months to 13 years, I have always found them very sad.
It isnt a very large church yard but it does have one very imposing monument, to the Earl of Kensington, it looked quite spectacular against the beautiful blue sky.
It was a freezing cold day, but it certainly blew the cobwebs away and left me feeling strangely at peace and very chilled out... odd how graves can have that effect on you.
As the last two posts have been been generally event specific, i.e. me escaping and us going out on the lash, I though I had better bring you up to date on some of the other bits and pieces that have been goin on.
Julie was obviously ex. St. Trinians and I was ex. Mallory Towers, or was it St. Clares?
We were going in a big party, some of whom we knew and some we didn't. When we arrived outside the Cwtch and glanced through the window we couldn't see anyone else dressed up and began to wonder if we were the only ones who had been brave enough. Doubt didn't last long though as up the road came four more "schoolboys/girls/transexuals".
Main course was a choice of Chicken Curry half and half, Cottage Pie or Vegetable Casserole. Most people went for the curry but I was different and had the Cottage Pie which was really lovely and very filling.
The wine flowed freely, the craic was excellent and some old acquaintences were renewed as it turned out the Noel and Colin had been in school together and had not seen each other since about 1979. School day confessions were exchanged, including my tale of getting my tongue stuck to a lampost in the playground in Aviemore when I was about 4. The was also an awful lot of singing and all this was before the quiz started.
It was a very lighthearted quiz and neither of our teams won, although we did beat the other side of the table with our score of 23 compared to their 21.
I was only going as an observer so luckily I could stay relatively warm in the wheelhouse and not have to freeze to death on the deck with the other trainees. We headed off from the jetty towards the east and away from the open water. We had to find a relatvely sheltered position to deploy the boom. We reached a point near the Semlogistics terminal and began to stream out the boom behind us. The boom is used to coral any oil on the surface of the water to make it easier to retrieve.
By this time I was frozen despite being inside the wheelhouse with the heater on so how the guys on deck must have been feeling I can only imagine. It was a really cold, blustery day, with showers between the sunshine and I managed to get this lovely shot of a rainbow landing directly on the deck of the BRO AGNES... I should have chased it and looked for the gold.
There must be something about being up at stupid O'clock that buggers about with your brain.
Its surprising what a bit of sunshine can do to lift your mood. Today I feel much happier, I won't say the January Blues have been banished completely but I am certainly feeling better.
I have the January Blues. Everything today is grey (not blue really). The sky is grey, the sea is grey, the ships are grey and my mood is grey. My four days off was buggered about by having to do an overtime night watch in the middle and I feel as if I've not had any proper time off at all.
It was with huge sadness that I just read on the BBC News website of the death of Bill Mclaren at the age of 86.
Noel is forever on the lookout for new ways to torment the cats. He is joined in this endeavour by Meurig who this year bought him a remote controlled four wheel drive car to chase them around the house with.
It was very lethal underfoot though and it was like trying to walk around on an ice rink. We had a look around the foyer of the Millennium Centre then wandered across to Mermaid Quay for a a cup of coffee. We then decided to have a look in the Welsh Assembly building, the Senedd. It was very quiet in there and we had a guided tour which was very interesting and we were able to actually go into the chamber. The building really is architecturally amazing especially the ceiling which includes a mushroom shaped dome which allows natural light into the chamber.
