Happy Belated New Year

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.

Christmas and All That

Well that's another Christmas done and dusted. I must admit I did enjoy this year a lot more than the last two years... probably because I didn't have to work. The run up was pretty normal. We had our Port Control Christmas do over two nights on the 16th and 18th December, to enable everyone to go. I went on the 16th and had a very nice night... the food was ok (typical Christmas dinner but very edible) and the company was fine. The alcohol was free and this is always a help. I ventured out on Black Friday but that wasn't very successful at all. Having worked all day I didn't get out until 7pmish and by that time the group I was meeting had been on the beer since 12pm so after just two drinks in two pubs they all went home. I ended up in Charlies where I had a drink with Erin and one of the boys from work then got a taxi home. I was all tucked up in front of the telly by 9.30pm... hardly something to be proud of on Black Friday.

The following night we went out for dinner with Phil, Karen, Richad, Jackie, Rose and Adrian for a pre-xmas get together. That was a great night, the food was excellent and the company brilliant and it was lovely to catch up with everyone. On Tuesday the 22nd I went into work for Secret Santa, I shall not bother again, I am so out of touch with everyone in the General Office now it really wasn't worth it. All I got was a bottle of red wine, not the most imaginative gift (especially as I drink white). I then went out to lunch with Cory Brothers Shipping Agents which was very nice of them to ask me. We had a nice meal in Charlies then I went home and got on with the Christmas preparations (i.e. housework).

Wednesday I got up at stupid o clock and went to Tescos in Haverfordwest to do the main food shop, I was home in the house by 7.30am. Christmas Eve was most spent preparing food, making pate, turkey stock, tirimisu etc and watching lots of Christmasy things on the telly.

Then dawned the big day. Not too early a start for a change. Erin managed to stay in bed until 7.30 so it was about 8am before we all gathered in the lounge in front of the open fire and opened the pressies. I was a lucky girl again this year with more Clogau Gold from Noel. This time a necklace, earrings and bracelet.

Ffion and Erin got me a lovely thick fluffy dressing gown, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and Series 1 of CSI NY which for some stange reason I never saw. I also had silly things from Noel such as a packed of Haribos and some Jaffa Cakes, he really pushed to boat out this year and got me a double pack from Lidel.

My Mum and Wayne came over about 9.30 and we did more presents then about 10.30 Dawn and Julian from next door came up and we all jumped in the hot tub with some Bucks Fizz and Smoked Salmon nibbles (they were on a plate on the side cos they might have got soggy otherwise.) It was a beautiful morning and it was really nice sat out there, quite a different way to spend Christmas Morning.

After that my grandparents came round and I had another large book from them, this time Stephen King's new one Under the Dome , which I think should keep me going for quite a while. The afternoon was spent preparing the dinner which we finally sat down to about 4.30pm. I was delicious and I was very pleased. There were 7 of us for dinner. Noel's Mum and Dad, us and Martin, it was a really nice family meal. After all the clearing away had been done I settled down to watch Doctor Who and promptly fell asleep so I missed it, good job I had recorded it!

I slept till about 9pm then went to bed so Christmas night didn't really happen in our house.

I was back in work on Boxing Day and am about to complete my last night after which I shall have 14 days off \0/. We shall be having a small soiree on New Year's Eve which I hope will be reasonably attended. If it is pictures will no doubt follow. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and have a great New Year.

So Cruel

A very sad and upsetting post this morning I am afraid. I just cannot believe how cruel some people can be. Ffion's best friend Kirsty (the one with the baby) acquired a kitten a month or so ago, a gorgeous little thing apparently. Earlier this week it came home very badly injured and she took it to the vets. The vet was of the opinion that its injuries were due to it either being kicked by someone or thrown against a wall.

It was in urgent need of an operation which would have cost £600, unfortunately Kirsty could not afford this and had not got pet insurance so the poor little thing had to be put down. There isn't a lot else you can say about this, it is just too horrible.

New Additions

We have two new additons to Chez Smith. Not content with four cats, Ffion went out on Monday and bought two Chinese Dwarf Hamsters who are now in situ in her bedroom in what can only be described as a spaceage hi tech hamster cage.... personally I think she only bought them for the cage.


They are called Iggle Piggle and Haribo... I have absolutely no idea why, personally I wanted to call them John and Edward but as they are two girls that wasn't really appropriate... or maybe it was!

This is a fleeting glimpse of one of them... not sure if it is Iggle Piggle or Haribo. Ffion and Craig can tell them apart but I can't yet. The cats have not yet twigged that they are sharing their house with what to them would be a light snack and we are all under strict instructions to make sure Ffion's bedroom door is kept firmly shut... I still have a horrible feeling it will end in tears.

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

As the title of the post says its actually beginning to feel a lot like Christmas for the first time in the last couple of years. I think its because I know I won't have to work Christmas Day this year and that makes all the difference, I am really looking forward to the festivities this year.

We put the tree up yesterday and finished most of the rest of the decorations today, I need to get a few more bits and pieces and by the end of the week the house should be completely Christmasified.

This year the tree theme is red and gold and it looks very warm and welcoming. I usually buy decoratiolns in the sales for the following year and last year I got these super spirally baubles which look really nice on the tree. I also bought this really unusual wreath which we have got on the wall in the hall.

Nickname

I don't know about where you work but where I work nicknames are rife. We have Chunky, Shenko, Yuppie, Yomper, Mad Marine, Yorkie, Clarance, Fidgit, Gunner.... do you get the gist?

We also have a new recruit who needs to be trained and as I have been on watch the last two days it has fallen to me and as a result my boss has decided to grant me a new nickname and I have a horrible feeling it is going to stick...

I am now "The Headmistress"..... oh well I suppose it could be worse... marginally!

How much worse can it get?

I truely didn't belive that my life could get more mundane and ordinary than it is. But this week it reached an all time low, when on a rare sortie to "big" Tescos in Haverfordwest I became overexcited because I found a red cabbage.

Yep my life is officially dire. It must be if the sight of a red cabbage can become the highlight of the week. It also proves that our Tescos in Milford is crap, you never get red cabbage there. The red cabbage rush was only equalled by the sheer excitement of buying a bulb of fennel... shall I just shoot myself now?

To add to my depression I went back to work last week, it was a major anti climax. Due to the high winds recently everything was delayed and it was just a case of trying to move what we could when we could and arrange overcarries/undercarries of all the others, eventually we ran out of Pilots, so nothing much moved at all.

In an effort to escape this dull humdrum existence I am slowly becomeing a "Twigh-hard"... I know they are all supposed to be 13 to 17 but I am loving the films and the books ( I have read all four books and am on my second reading of Twighlight) and went to see New Moon in the cinema last week. It was full of lots of gratuitious shirt removing which was very pleasant and pleasing to the eye.. Robert Pattinson is certainly fit... even though I am old enough to be his mother.... is it so wrong to perv???

I also bought the sound track to New Moon which is brilliant, I have it on in the car all the time... oh well I suppose it is time to head for bed with Twilight and escape my dull boring life with a little romance with Edward and Bella. Nos da xx