A beautiful little addition to the family...welcome Ella Grace

Yesterday our lovely niece Jasmine (Andy's Sister Bev's daughter) gave birth to the latest addition to the family, her name is Ella Grace and she weighed in at 6lbs 14ozs. I popped up to say hello after my shift had finished and was totally gooey about the little poppet. She has a mop of dark hair and the sweetest rosebud mouth.

Congratulations are in order to Jaz and her partner Bradley.

here she is ...

Ella Grace

The family circle just keeps getting bigger...Ella is the 2nd Grandchild for Bev and 10th Great Grandchild for Andy's Mum Betty!

What blessings and a lovely start to 2012.

This makes me smile every time..my beautiful Daughter Kaye singing 'Black Velvet'....press the play arrow

The fabulous Kaye singing her heart out....love it!

Black Velvet

A sad,sad day for us....

Today has been a very sad day for us at home. Our quirky, funny cat Felix,aka Stinky Pinkerton has died. She had not been well for a while with repeated bladder problems and she rapidly deteriorated today and had some sort of stroke/fit and I took her straight to the vet this afternoon. I brought her home and this evening we buried her in the little garden patch where our beloved dog Blue is buried,under the Lilac tree.

We don't know exactly how old she was as she was a feral cat that Dan rescued......he was the manager of a scrap dealers yard in Clydach quite a few years ago and there were a lot of feral cats. It took him nearly a year to make friends with her, first throwing her a bit of ham and gradually getting her to come closer until she came into the office. Once a trust had been forged she would let him pet her and she even sat on his lap. He left the yard to work elsewhere and after a couple of weeks was told by a friend that the new owners were having the feral cats exterminated the following week. He was anguished about the little cat and drove up there on the Sunday morning with a cat carrier to bring her home. To his utter dismay the yard was shut,metal gates padlocked and no way in. He took the cat carrier out and put it on the roof of the car while he walked the perimeter to see if he could see her and get her to come to him, but with no luck. He walked across to the workshops opposite to say hello to the guys who were working there and had a chat for a little while. On returning to the car he saw, sat as bold as brass in the cat carrier the little cat!! He closed the flap and brought her home and we all thought she was grey and black but after a while in a clean environment she turned black and white!

He named her Felix as she was the image of a cat on the TV of that name and equally as mischievous. Our dog Blue learnt to love her and they were very close, the cat went into a real period of mourning when Blue died and was never really the same again. She hated the new puppy little Tink and left home for a bit in protest (only to Dan in the cabin).

She came home eventually after a couple of weeks and an uneasy truce ensued. 

She was a real independent character and was really only ever Dan's cat, she kind of tolerated the rest of us but she adored him, rolling on her back and purring to have her tummy tickled. He is very upset at her passing and will miss her greatly. We will all miss the sassy madam too, she made us laugh so very often, even if it was tripping Andy up first thing in the morning as she demanded her breakfast!

The end of an era....sleep tight Felix. XX

 

The railway cycle path walk with little Tink....

On a happier note today I went with my super cute little Chonzer dog, Tink to do a few errand, we went in the trusty Gert and she rode shotgun in the passenger seat wearing her seat belt of course,she has a booster seat too so she can see out of the window. We eventually finished all the errands and pulled into the Railway Inn car park and set off in a westerly direction (I think) we turned left anyway onto the path and set off at a brisk pace. Tink had her coat on as of course did I and we needed them it was murky and cold and there was a real chill in the breeze. We started to jog for a while and then slowed back to a brisk walk. I find this is a great way to excercise without getting too exhausted & sore on tarmac. About 2 kilometres along I was struck by the lovely woodland either side of us and stopped by a beautifully still pool of water to just breathe in the rich, damp, earthy smell.

The still & beautiful pool

 The deep covering of leaves was now turning to a leaf mould and no longer crackled underfoot, so I just stood in silence. Something caught my eye on the right and I watched in astonishment as a greyish brown animal with a darker stripe running all the way down it's back was trotting along a fallen log, it moved quickly so I only saw it for a moment or two but I am pretty sure it was a Polecat(wild relative to the domestic ferret). It was definitely NOT a squirrel!

I am pretty sure this is the kind of animal I saw 

What a treat.We  carried on for about an hour and then turned for home and I stopped to take in the magical feel of the trees in winter. 

We arrived home muddy and cold and both of us had a warm bath (not together of course) and a hot chocolate before getting dinner on the go. I thoroughly enjoyed my jaunt and feel energised and refreshed and yes....I am blessed.

Oh no not another burglary on Sandy Lane!

I cannot say how angry I am about the latest burglary on Sandy Lane. It seems that Dai & Helena's shed had the door kicked in and a chainsaw was stolen. Cartref is being rebuilt and the chainsaw is one of Dave's tools that he uses frequently. This awful situation has to stop! Can everybody be extra vigilant and maybe go for more frequent strolls around the lane to keep an eye on things. I hope the culprit is found soon as this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. For those that have been the victims of these dreadful crimes the impact is obviously much worse and must shake your sense of security and safety when your home has been violated and that's what it is, a violation of people's personal, private space by someone who is uncaring or unmoved by the distress that is being caused. Whatever the reasoning behind this, whether it is someone who is just greedy, desperate or just too stoned and lazy to do it for themselves or too proud to ask for help, the resulting distress is not to be trivialized. 

Watch out, watch out...there's STILL a thief about.....

A weekend walk on Pobbles Bay with Andy & Tink

Today we had a lie in after seeing The Journeymen at The Tav last night in Swansea with Sal & Law,Mark & JJ plus about 100 others!! The band were awesome, great classic blues and the lead singer has an amazing voice...could have been Robert Plant himself singing the Led Zep covers! Had a lovely brunch then decided to blow the cobwebs away with a walk onto Pobbles. It was blowy but not raining and not too cold. We rounded the bend and were a bit shocked to see some brave/mad soul running into the frothing waves.....nutter we both said simultaneously as he dipped in quick and ran back out!

Crazy person on Pobbles Bay

Little Tink loves the beach and ran like a crazy thing, in and out of the waves which were quite impressive.....

Andy & Tink rock climbing

 She loves to scramble over the rocks and doesn't care about the rock pools, just skids to a halt every now and then for a quick spot of furious digging, she never digs anything up but she loves it.

Tink loves her daddy

Digging!!

White horses

 We watched as a lone surfer tried to catch some waves but he totally missed everything and we didn't see him get up at all. Andy and the kids used to surf a lot when they were younger, Karl still does whenever he can get down to the water. He was such an adrenalin junkie he would go night surfing with his mates and worry me to death.Poor Andy has spent many an hour walking the bay with a torch to get him home. I bought him flares and waterproof torches to strap to his arms and he promised to use them, but I have a sneaky feeling he never really did! That wasn't the only dangerous thing he did in the water, he terrified his older sister Danielle one summer when he let her into his secret pastime...CLIFF JUMPING off a ledge by Hunts Bay. She cried in terror, sure he would be killed, when he miraculously survived she made him promise never to do it again. I think it lasted about a week before he was up to his old dare devil tricks and she grassed him up to me! KIDS, no wonder the years fly by, there's never a dull moment.
There were lots of folks out and about all enjoying the fresh air and Tink met lots of new doggy friends, so many dogs just want to say hello and play but every now and then one is unexpectedly aggressive and this has made her a little more cautious than she was. I think if you know your dog can be unpredictable it is sensible to keep it under control while you are out, but it's obvious that there are some dog owners who do not share my opinion. They then can't understand my scathing fury when their rabid mutt turns on my little girl....get 'em on a lead I say and then No Problem!

View through the rock from Three Cliffs

A pensive moment for Andy

We decided to head for home as the weather started to turn a little more grey, heading up off the beach I was fascinated by the huge lumps of wood washed up by the power of the high tide, it is a marvel what the water does to it....

As we climbed up the bank on our way home I turned and the sun was streaking through the clouds and reflecting onto the water....truly magical

As we climbed the hill home we noticed that the gorse was starting to flower, along with other things that seem a bit early again this year. I love the gorse it's happy yellow flowers always make me smile and we reminisced about the years when we collected the flowers and got lots of scratches so that we could make wine. It was delicate and delicious with an almost coconut hint to it....note to self, must do it again soon!

The sunny yellow gorse

We rambled on home  and snuggled up tired but content in front of the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and an alpen light bar (very slimming world) and waited for Dan and Lyndsey to join us for dinner after returning from their snowboarding holiday in Austria...life is good and we are blessed to live in such a beautiful place.

Alternative uses for a wooden chip fork.....

I thought it might be fun to think of some different uses for wooden chip forks so here goes, (feel free to let me know of any you think of)

• Putting under wobbly table legs.
• Cleaning your nails
• Removing bulbs from fairy lights
• Playing mini 'jenga'
• Making horns for fancy dress
• Miniature snow shoes for The Borrowers
• Plant name markers
• Making a fish mobile
• Tile spacers
• Making models such as The Eifel Tower
• Signal paddles for miniature aircraft
• Instead of cocktail sticks

Stranger than fiction.......

I think it's a bloke thing...stashing stuff in any drawer that comes to hand. Most men seem to have a 'bits' drawer full of things that might come in useful sometime and Andy is no exception, he however has stuff stashed in every drawer in the house apart from my underwear drawer!. I find odd collections of items in the strangest places, but, by far the strangest was the collection of wooden chip forks I discovered secreted away in Andy's pants drawer.....what were all these piles of little wooden forks doing there? why would anyone need so many? Was there some other use for them I had not yet discovered? I asked him about it and all he said was "They were just there, free in the chip shop, so I thought I'd keep some in case I ever needed one" How could he use them if they were in his pants drawer?? There were not just a couple there,there were loads and obviously collected at different times from different places. I wondered if I had unwittingly discovered some strange new obsession ? Was there a help line for it ?  This odd behaviour has not been repeated, but is often talked about, much to Andy's chagrin. Oddly most men seem to understand this strange behaviour...they were there,they were free, take some home....simples! I am still baffled and now approach any drawer with a flicker of trepidation, wondering what he's stashed in there this time.....I'll let you know. If you can think of alternative uses for a wooden chip fork please let me know

Risk Assessment at Pretty Suns !

Everyone that knows my lovely husband Andy will tell you that he is a little accident prone at times. Always has been, the source of much hilarity to the children as they grew up when he would trip,fall,stumble or bump into things. He was so busy talking to Kaye in Swansea one afternoon that he completely failed to see the signpost in front of him and walked into it with a very large bang! Staggering around dazed in the street while the kids were helpless with laughter.....bless him. One very memorable moment and also very public one, was while we were shopping in Boots store in Swansea about 6 years ago, we went upstairs and turned to the left towards the baby things, there was a central display console with fitness equipment on it and I noticed that someone had taken a step machine off the shelf and placed it on the floor to try it out, I avoided it easily, but Andy, blithely unaware of his surroundings tripped over it. I saw him falling out of the corner of my eye and shot out a hand to steady him. How fantastically quick were my reactions I hear you say, sadly the only effect was for me to punch him in the side of the head as he fell, he reacted by doing a commando roll whilst covering his head and shouting loudly "don't hit me again"  The shop came to a halt, as all eyes were trained on us and I tried to tell him through tears of laughter, (I can't help my sick sense of humour) that I was trying to save him and not hit him! He has never forgiven me and this story comes up regularly around the family dinner table, much to his discomfort. 
Today he came home from work and went to plug in his lap top, bending forward to reach the socket he caught his nose on the hook for the tiebacks. He stood up holding his nose as I asked if he was O.K. and what had he done, he explained and with a bemused smile I said that we needed to risk assess the house and remove all sharp objects. Without blinking an eye he said that would be great but what would we do with my tongue!!!! I couldn't help but laugh and did see his point. 
That's why I love him, he makes me laugh in every way, every day and doesn't take himself too seriously. I am truly blessed.

A wonderful weekend in the midlands

I have returned home tonight after spending a lovely weekend in the Midlands. I travelled up in the trusty Gert to my Sister Sharon's on Friday night and Gert was not quite as trusty as she has previously been. I just got to Ross and she started to splutter and cut out....argh! Freezing cold and pitch black I kangaroo jumped to a lay by and thought about what I had in the car to sort the problem. It felt like fuel starvation so I thought a quick look under the bonnet might give me some idea...oh no, no torch in the car. Then I remembered a small torch I keep in my handbag for emergencies (I am a Virgoan after all). Donning scarf, coat and gloves I braved the cold and had a look, it was very obvious not much fuel was getting through and the problem was a blocked fuel filter. I needed to clean it out but it was firmly held by 2 hose clips and I didn't have any tools in the car (so unlike me) back to the handbag with everything in it and I found a flip out screwdriver on a keyring..hooray, 5 minutes JOB DONE! Gert now sloshing with fuel and running fine I carried on to Kidderminster to a very welcome cup of tea and gorgeous meal with my wonderful sister. We then sat and chatted until the early hours about all manner of things both past and present and rolled off to bed happy and content in each other's company. Next morning I took off to meet my Granddaughter Erin in Worcester for a bit of shopping as an early Birthday treat as she is off to Rome next month with St. Mary's Choir to sing in 2 concerts in The Vatican. No young lady should go to Rome without a few fab new additions to her wardrobe and so we hit the shops! We had a great time and bought shoes, jeggings, tops,skirts,tights,leggings,dresses and a scarf and gloves! Erin was delighted and I was delighted at her obvious pleasure. 

Erin in one of her outfits

The fab shoes from Office!

Back to Danie's for a short visit before meeting my brother Graham and his wife Dorothy with my sister Sharon at The Fox Inn at Chaddesley Corbett for a wonderful meal before going back to Gra & Dorothy's for coffee and much hilarity as we reminisced together  and played with their little Jack Russel Max.

Sharon and I had a very late night and got up late this morning. We had lunch in Worcester at The Perdiswell which was more like purgatory with all the screaming children in there! We went our seperate ways and I arrived home to a very enthusiastic welcome from my little Tink who almost wagged herself in half! My wonderful Hubby had cooked a lovely curry and rice for tea and after a nice cuppa and a cuddle I was totally snuggly back home.

A wonderful weekend with family that as usual makes me count my blessings......

TOTALLY AWFUL THEFTS CONTINUE>>>

I am so annoyed that the spate of thefts has continued on Sandy Lane. It seems that Mandy at Hedgeways is     
the latest victim. After unscrewing a window to get in it seems he/she/they spent some time in the house before leaving with a bottle of whiskey and jewellery. It is my thought that whoever is doing this must be a familiar face on the lane and does not arouse suspicion...no car as only small transportable items are taken (so far). This leaves me with a sick feeling that we may know this person.
Sandy Lane has had it's share of villains over the years but on the whole we are a pretty low crime area. This kind of thing is really sickening in our small community and if anyone can think of a way to catch the thieving git please let everyone know. In the meantime just be extra vigilant and make sure you lock up and put valuables away. 
If anyone does catch them please can we give them a sound thrashing before calling the police? I think they deserve it!

THE THIEVING B*****DS HAVE BEEN AT IT AGAIN!!

The low life scum are at it again!! Tower field has been the target this time and poor Tony from Jubilee had the door forced and a wallet and 'phone stolen.

This happened on a Tuesday the same day as the other recent theft...could this be a coincidence or is there someone around on a Tuesday that isn't normally about? Be vigilant folks, lock up and put valuables away..if you see anything suspicious report it straight away to the police,  then come and round up some Laners to dish out some instant Karma to the thieving s**tbags or of course that could be in the opposite order if the mood takes you!

A Bench To Remember Joe Park

On Christmas Eve as many people who could make it gathered in the middle field to dedicate a bench to the memory of 'Joe Park'. Thoughtfully placed in front of the very spot on which his famous yellow van was sited for so many years. A lovely gesture and  wonderful way to remember a very special Sandy Laner.

Joe's bench outside Hillsboro

2012 has arrived ..HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

The New Year is here...after the celebrations over Christmas with family and friends it is nice to draw a line under the over indulgence and return to normality. We went to Fat Fighters on Thursday and miraculously I only put on 2lbs! Andy (who has been a bit of a piggy) gained 5lbs. Having said that he loses it far more easily than me  so I'm sure he'll be back on track in a week or two. 

Xmas day was spent in Malvern with eldest daughter Danie and hubby Charlie and the fabulous 6 kids, Erin,Kate,Will,Ben,Grace and Tom. We went up on Xmas eve after collecting the Organic Norfolk Bronze turkey crown and the biggest slab of Welsh Black beef you can imagine. The van was loaded to the hilt with food,booze,presents,decorations and party things, not to mention suitcases. The children went off to bed after the traditional reading of a beautiful paper sculpted book..The Night Before Christmas. We read it to our children every Christmas eve and still do even though they are all grown up and now it's the Grandchildren's turn.  We then had fun sorting out all the piles of prezzies and getting ready for the big event. On Christmas day we were joined for a fabulous lunch by my lovely Sister Sharon and cherished family friend Heather...12 of us around the table with party poppers and crackers..lovely grub and great company...HEAVEN! We played daft games in the afternoon and then settled down in the night to watch Xmas movies. Danie was very clever about present opening and it was done in several stages allowing the kids to actually enjoy the gifts before moving on to the next.

On Boxing morning we were joined by Kaye,Simon and little Sebastian, all dressed up in his little elf suit. 

Sebastian in his Elf suit

After lunch we made our way home and were greeted excitedly by the little Tink and Dan and Lyndsey. More presents to unwrap...especially Tink! On Tuesday I was back in work for the morning,did a bit of shopping in the afternoon and cooked a full turkey dinner for the evening arrival of Kaye,Si and Seb. Yet more present opening and even more goodies for Tink. She especially loved the Xmas hat and scarf for the lovely Gemma Bevs!

Super cute Xmas Tinkerbell.

The mighty Joe Schmo played their now traditional 'inbetween',  gig at The Plough and Harrow in Murton on Wednesday night and it was packed to the rafters as usual.

Friday got us all together again this time Hannah,Megan,Karl,Pippa,Finn, Sue and Mike joined us and we somehow squeezed 13 around the table for a huge roast gammon joint with all the trimmings and followed by the biggest trifle in the world,cheesecake and a flaming Xmas pud, not to mention the vanilla sponge castle cake with chocolate frosting the girls made!!! 

Megan & Hannah with their Castle Cake...Yummy!

The damage to the waistline doesn't count on such warm and momentous occasions and after a great game of 'Don't Panic' which Hannah won by a mile, we all agreed it was a lovely day.

We saw the New Year in at Sue and Mike Prankerds with more scrumptious food,copious amounts of booze,great friends and a finale of fantastic fireworks and a bonfire in the garden. 

2012 has gotten off to a great start and I have a feeling it's going to be one of the best years ever! 

I have been blessed with a year of marvellous happenings that have given me wonderful memories and I know that I am truly blessed and for this I am deeply thankful.