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.....

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year

THEFT ALERT

PLEASE BE AWARE THERE HAVE BEEN THIEVES ABOUT ON THE LANE.

NEW DAWN WAS BROKEN INTO AND A CAMERA AND KEYS TAKEN. IT APPEARS THERE MAY BE A LINK TO A GREEN SALOON CAR SEEN AROUND ON A COUPLE OF OCCASIONS CONTAINING SOME FOUL MOUTHED UNPLEASANT YOBS WHO TOLD A 7 YEAR OLD TO F**K OFF! IF YOU NOTICE IT PLEASE JOT DOWN THE DETAILS,MODEL MAKE AND MOST IMPORTANTLY REGISTRATION & RING IT IN TO THE POLICE WHO ARE INVESTIGATING.

SAD TO SAY THIS BUT LOCK EVERYTHING UP

A WORD OF WARNING TO THOSE COMMITTING THESE DESPICABLE CRIMES....YOU'LL WISH YOU'D BEEN ARRESTED IF WE CATCH YOU AT IT!!

I CALL IT KARMA & I SINCERELY HOPE YOU LOT GET YOURS SOON.

Blazing Paddles!

What a busy week we've had in our house...Kaye is here with gorgeous Sebastian who even wakes up smiling and gurgling, he's so laid back! This has entailed a bit more washing etc but baby clothes are sooo cute it's almost fun. We all got together on Wednesday night, by we I mean Andy and I, Kaye, Karl, Pip, Finn, Dan & Lyndsey. The table was full, we ate drank and chatted and it was lovely. Little Sebastian was the pass the parcel as everyone wanted a cuddle with him before he went to bed. A lovely night! On Thursday Kaye, Sebastian and I went to visit our bestest friends, Sue and Mike. Susie is now fully recovered from her carnival over indulgence and can now bend over with impunity!

Mike with the new improved access canoe!

Mike was very excited as he had launched his newest acquisition into the Neath canal that morning. The 1950's classic canoe that he recently bought and repainted with go faster stripes. Sue was there to take a pictorial record, she admitted she was waiting for it to sink but it didn't and Mike paddled around with abandon. Mike has never canoed before and had learnt his technique on the Internet. Sue was warned that she might struggle to capture the action of the paddles as they may move too quickly. I asked if he had got Sue wake boarding behind his speedy craft but he said no as Sue still has not conquered the art of swimming,even after several people have tried to teach her. After messing about in boats for a couple of hours Mike decided to get back onto Terra firma....more easily said than done! When Mike tried to vacate the canoe via the hole he had got into it through he found himself pretty much wedged. Sue had visions of cutting holes in the bottom so he could walk home wearing it, but, after much straining and maybe a bit of lubrication (don't ask) he did emerge from his tight fitting craft. Back at home we found him cutting his canoe to enlarge the hole. When asked why,  he replied, it wasn't safe in case of fire, he couldn't get out!!! I howled laughing and commented that his paddle stroke must've been quite something to worry about fire...blazing paddles came to mind and conjured up some disturbing images. We love Mike's super quirkiness and inventiveness but you never know what he's going to come up with next. Susie takes it all in her stride and smiles indulgently, most of the time anyway. Kaye and I laughed most of the way home even when we got wet with the rain, Good times!

Poop scooping!

Walking Tink around our beautiful area I always have a roll of poop bags with me to clear up after her,it's a neat little red bone shape holder that dispenses the bags from a roll and is refillable. It cost under a pound in a cheap shop in town and refills are 2 for 99p. There is also an added benefit that I have discovered these bags can be used for any kind of rubbish that I come across. Sadly I always come back home with some to dispose of. Why can't people take their cr*p home with them...I guess they are not blind to the beauty of the surroundings they find themselves in ..so why do the morons leave litter everywhere?  It's the glass I hate most due to the injuries it causes both humans and animals and it is difficult to transport home without getting a nick yourself as it slices through litter bags.
My message to these amoeba brained idiots is.. 
IF YOU BRING IT...TAKE IT HOME WITH YOU!!

I collected this within 30minutes of leaving the house!

I have also noticed that the art of bush, stone and tree decorating is growing at an exponential rate...everywhere we go we see the multi coloured little plastic bags of doggy poop festooning the surrounding foliage and landscape! What the hell is the point of picking up the poop, which although unpleasant is at least biodegradeable, wrapping it tightly in a plastic bag and then throwing it willy nilly over everything...are these people real?
In my usual forthright way I tackled a chap who was gently depositing his bright green, plastic, poop filled bag by the signpost on the golf course. I asked him who did he think would clear it up? He replied quite seriously "Oh sorry, I don't come from around here so I don't know where to take it" I politely told him where he could put it and even offered to deposit it for him if he couldn't manage...he picked up his bag and scuttled off, back under the bloody stone he crawled out from I suspect.
GRRRRR....I get very angry and each time I encounter litter dropping I AM going to say something, maybe it really is just total ignorance or maybe it's just no fear of consequences...now where did I put my Shillelagh stick?

From Southville to Pennard Hill Cottage.....The Mail Man Cometh!

I have been harking back recently to days gone by and finding more old pics as well as chatting about old laners with family and friends. I got to thinking about some of the lovely people we have been lucky enough to have delivering our mail. For many years it was the realm of the little dynamo Lillian (Dobby) who knew everyone by their first name and often had a cuppa with us as well as attending our gatherings. Lillian was moved by the powers that be despite a petition to keep her. After a few fillers in she was followed by the lovely Tony who fed tidbits from his sandwiches to the dogs and could often be seen doing his round like the pied piper of dogs. He was a sweet and generous soul who when misfortune came upon people on the lane would donate bits and bobs to help them out. Tony retired and again we had some fillers in whose name I do not recall (feel free to comment with anyone you remember). For the last eight years we have been blessed with the human smile machine that is the wonderful,friendly and ever helpful GRIFF!! 

This morning we got chatting and he told me he had never seen anything like The Lane before he came here and wondered what the hell he'd signed up for. He now loves his round on The Lane and delights in the characters and changes that he sees on an everyday basis. He always has a smile and little Tink adores him. Blue however took great pains to bark at him through the window and Griff would often laugh at him through the glass much to Blue's chagrin! Whatever the weather Griff manages to get the post to us, even in the worst of the snow it was only a couple of days before he was trudging through the snow and slush to give us our letters and parcels. Whenever he is on holiday other people stand in for him and can often been seen wandering aimlessly with a forlorn look carrying a large stack of post as yet undelivered.....we try to help with directions and advice but plainly some of them just give up and we eventually get a catch up post when Griff thankfully returns. I have in the past asked him to put in holiday requests with us in writing so we can prepare for the inevitable disruption...he roared laughing and said he'd just cancelled a holiday that was booked for the following week because there was no-one able to cover the dreaded Sandy Lane round. He tells me he wouldn't want to change his round now and I for one hope he doesn't. Thank you Griff for the waves, the smiles, the chat and of course THE POST!!

A FEW MORE PICS ON REMEMBER WHEN PAGE....

A few more pics to take you back....click on the pic to enlarge and if you can't copy it let me know and I'll do you a copy...Please feel free to leave comments at the bottom of the page and you can email me any pics you have..by the way Trish wants some old pics of Downside if anyone has them. My email address is penny@harris-john.co.uk. ENJOY!

Photographs of Sandy Lane,Three Cliffs Bay etc.

Feel free to add your photos, especially I would like anyone with older photos to post them here and maybe we can start a photo history!