31 07 2010

Almost home! When I reach the canal at Gilwern, I know that there is not far to go....whatever means of travel I use.

Location : Maes Y Gwartha Rd, Llanelly, Monmouthshire NP7 0,

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30 07 2010

I took advantage  of an early Friday finish in work to get home and straight out into the countryside for a good walk in the improving weather (no rain!). My walk was from my home west to pick up the westerly end of Church Road, I then followed around to St Elli's church itself. As you can see from the shot above the view opens up to show a brilliant panorama with Gilwern in the foreground and Abergavenny away in the background between the Deri mountain on the left and the Little Skirrid in the middle leading to the Blorenge just out of view on the right.

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One gem on my walk was the secret Victorian churchyard, not quite on a par with Highgate but still full of some unusual and striking  gravestones

The cross above and inscription below is interesting as this is the memorial for Alfred Crawshay who was a son of William Crawshay II the 'Iron King' the owner of the great iron works in Merthyr the home of  the Industrial  Revolution in who built Cyfarthfa Castle

Another fascinating memorial is that below - where Lt Colonel Robert Preston Sandeman's dog watches over him in sleep. Lt Colonel Sandeman was nephew of William Crawshay, his mother was Amelia Crawshay..... he married a Crawshay (Jessie) - they say keep it in the family!

There were also a number of gravestones in Welsh from around the 1850's the one below is for Mary (Gwraig) wife of Thomas Williams who died aged 65 on 21st (Gorffenaf) July 1854 (156 years ago!)

29 07 2010

Today's image is of the view from underneath the local canal in the tunnel on my cycle route (7miles today).

The tunnel was used in the late 1700's to bring limestone down to the kilns which are dotted around the area for the smelting of iron. 

Location : Address not available

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28 07 2010

Today........just about! ! This post was begun at one minute to midnight following our return from Inception, hence the image from the current edition of Wired.

Initial report on the film, it takes a while to get going and when it does I found it disappointing. For me poor characters, plot and outcome. ..... brooding Di Caprio again!

For me a score of 6/10.....it was all a dream.

Location : Maes Y Gwartha Rd, Llanelly, Monmouthshire NP7 0,

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27 07 2010

I came across this former blacksmith's shop in a local village on my 6 mile walk this evening.

Location : Heads of the Valleys Rd, Llanelly, Monmouthshire NP7 0,

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26 07 2010

The loneliness of the long distance walker,

 This evening after work and the long drive home, I decided to get out and enjoy a good walk around the village for an hour. I was out from around 6.30pm when it would appear that most people were either at home or on holiday, I believe that I only met around a dozen people during my walk. I have found that this time alone is great for thinking.... I am not sure what about, however think I do.
A vexing question at present  which I am able to mull over during these quiet moments is the decision whether to follow my job to The Hague in January of next year. I am currently torn between the desire to follow through what I have started to its conclusion, while on the other for those who have been following this blog I quite like the area in which I live and of course the proximity of my grandchildren. I fully realise that The Hague is not far away and returns could be handled on a better than once a year basis with careful handling, which could give me so much more, including the experience of living and working  in a different country for a while. The eventual exit strategy there is not clear as I have around 13 years still to work prior to retirement, I am not sure that I could carry on for that, while constantly becoming more difficult to employ at home!!!! I must admit that the desire to work on new exciting web2.0 projects with kids is quite a draw, if only there were the option to do this on a consultancy basis........ Arghhh teaching again!!!!!I have around two months in which to decide my future.

You see dear reader why  I require more walks in order to synthesise my thoughts.

25 07 2010

Today as part of the Cardiff Festival 2010 the Red Dragon Centre in the Bay was home to the Family Festival - an event where Ddraig Goch met a Red Dragon ( above) at the Red Dragon Centre......

A great event enjoyed by all in attendance.

24 07 2010 (2) Newport a state of mind :-)..... 'nuff said!

Newport.... a state of mind! ( I couldn't resist this additional post today)

24 07 2010

Following my new regime of taking more exercise today was the turn of my bicycle to emerge from a shed after several years of neglect.
I have put off bringing the bike blinking into the light because I knew that it was going to require some work, including two new inner tubes and tyres in addition to the general lubricating and cleaning. Today I grasped the task picked up the required apparatus and spent four hours preparing for the inaugural run out to shake down the bikes gears and brakes.
It was well worth it as I was able to get out on the road ( with my cycle helmet of course) at around 4pm for an hour trip.

Which included a four/five mile run along the local canal tow-path which is of course delightfully flat.

Unfortunately as we above the canal pretty well all journeys require an uphill stretch home - however my gears worked perfectly enabling me to make steady progress home for some rest and recuperation!!

Mmmm!!!, I am not sure if this will have helped to keep the weight off.......... I did only have one bottle!

23 07 2010

Yay!!!! Laura has finally ventured into the world of Twitter and about time to. What is it about these 'Digital Natives' that makes them so slow to adopt new technology (LOL)....... says Silver Surfer :-)

Great shoes Laura!

Sian has been a Twitterer for slightly longer. Both Sian, Laura and of course Emily are still addicted to Facebook, as is their mother :-)

All of this of course does tend to back up the data that was published recently by the BBC regarding social networking take up, which clearly shows the ever upward march of Facebook over others.

22 07 2010

Amazingly this week is time for The Private Life of Pigs....... following Cows and last week Chickens!!!! a good job really as the weather outside is horrendous with passing downpours and thunderstorms.... not an evening for any kind of walking sadly...... tomorrow is another day.

21 07 2010

I have continued my new 'one hour walk' per day ( weather permitting) today with a brisk stroll along the canal as far as the new underpass beneath the A465 Heads of the Valleys road. (see below)

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It was a lovely evening - not too warm and not too cold, also at 6.30-7.30pm relatively quiet enabling me to build up a good head of steam! Some of the views from my walk:

Sleepy canal narrowboats dozing in the early evening

Bridge 109 in the near distance.

It is the time of year here in Wales when apples are ripening in the orchards and as you can see above the hazelnuts are ripening and about to fall.

20 07 2010 (202/365)

The 'Indian Summer' became somewhat damp today as the afternoon brought torrential rain to Wales and the western parts of the UK today as you can see from the puddles around the garden!

19 07 2010

I have begun my attempt to remove my apparently ever expanding waistline which has occurred over the past three years due to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.
I have cut out large meals in the evening and will try my best weather permitting to go for a brisk one hour walk as many times as I can throughout the week.
This afternoon I was home at around 5pm, the day was overcast yet still around 24C just right for a walk around the village. I missed a spectacular photo opportunity as I reached the canal as they had just lowered a narrow boat from a low loader into the canal with the help of a large mobile crane. Instead my shots are from my walk....

As you can see the countryside is quite green still even after the good summer with low rainfall that we have had over the past two months.

I intend to keep up my new regime over the coming months and hopefully by the end of 2010 and this blog project I will have some good news...... watch this space and see how my will manages to hold!!!

18 07 2010

We were invited to my god-daughter's 21st Birthday Party at the Park Hotel Pandy. The weather could have been a little kinder however a great afternoon of chat and memories enjoyed by all.

 Happy Birthday Alice.

17 07 2010

A stolen image today..... I did actually visit the coffee shop at Marks and Spencer Cwmbran today during a short trip to the Cwmbran Shopping Mall. Unfortunately I had left my phone/camera at home today, and as I didn't return home until late this afternoon there were no genuine images today!!!
Apologies to anyone following the blog as this post is not quite up to standard....... not a case of blocked blogging more a strange case of computer apathy!!!

16 07 2010

Loops I very nearly forgot to post today. Quietly sitting watching television I looked up to see that it is 11.45.....TGIF! !!!!!

Location : Abergavenny, Gwent NP7 0ER,

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Location : Maes Y Gwartha Rd, Llanelly, Monmouthshire NP7 0,

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15 07 2010

Today we received a letter from Laura who is presently working at Camp Lake Hubert in far away Minnesota. It was 'awesome!' to hear her news, and that she had enjoyed discovering the special treats that we had sent her recently.

She is much missed. ......it is kind of quiet without her around,  however I guess that we are going to have to get used to it as she is off to Liverpool pretty soon after her return to the UK.

Location : Abergavenny, Gwent NP7 0ER,

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Location : Abergavenny, Gwent NP7 0ER,

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14 07 2010

Today I was lucky enough with 10 others to attend a presentation at Peterson House on Squeak (Etoys) and Racket - we were looking at how these basic and long lived programming tools are great for K-12 pupils.The former object based and the latter formula based computing programmes.
You can see the IB's OLPC in the background at the presentation, it of course has Squeak pre-loaded. The OLPC was bought through the US buy-one give-one scheme.

13 07 2010

How can people say that there is very little on UK television..... look part one of a three part series on The Private Life of Cows! Surely this could only happen here..... unless you know differently?  How marvellous ;-)

12 07 2010

Going to the Carwash yeah!!!

Location : Heads of the Valleys Rd, Llanelly, Monmouthshire NP7 0,

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Location : Maes Y Gwartha Rd, Llanelly, Monmouthshire NP7 0,

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11 07 2010

Following Abergavenny Carnival procession yesterday we were very pleased when Deb won the trophy for best dressed walking participant as a World War II British Land Army girl - all part of her Am Dram group's promotion for BLITZ their show which will be on this coming October..... Well done Debbie.
Sunday saw the family take advantage of the weather and head for Porthcawl for some beach time. Pictures to follow.

10 07 2010

Today my plan was to upload images from yesterday's Sports Day, however there appears to be an upload issue with  Blogger.com this evening and all I am faced with is a continuously rotating upload image.... I actually managed to post the images to my Picasa account for the 365 project here and here. My wording for the article today would have been

Ready! Steady!......................Go!

09 07 2010

Today has been a leave day for Debbie and I, we spent this morning at Llanfoist's Sunshine Playgroup Sports. The weather was just right not too hot nor too cold, and we had an excellent time.

Highlights included Abi winning her sprint and sack race, Jaycob taking part in all of his races. Emily came first in the mum's race while I somehow triumphed in the dad's and grandad's race!!

This evening Abergavenny hosts a professional road race which will be followed by a weekend of events including the town Carnival and open air Abba tribute concert.

Location : Charles Edwards Close, Llanfoist, Monmouthshire NP7 9,

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Location : Charles Edwards Close, Llanfoist, Monmouthshire NP7 9,

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08 07 2010

I had this image sent to me this afternoon, it of course depicts, Emily and the gang! :-) We are looking forward very much to attending Playgroup Sports tomorrow morning.... I hope they don't have a grandparents race!!!!!

07 07 2010 188/365

Another day at t'mill today, my image today is of my new mouse mat, soon to take pride of place on my desk at work along with my other beautiful objects.
I am looking forward to a long weekend this coming weekend and intend to visit the Cardiff International Food and Drink Festival in The Bay ( Roald Dahl Plass)this coming weekend ( 9-11th July) all part of the Cardiff Festival 2010

06 07 2010 187/365

I was carrying out some necessary tidying up this evening ( why do we collect so much stuff????) when I cam across a small goldmine of memories which transported me instantly back to August 2008 and a wonderful time that Debbie and I had in New York City........

Such marvellous memories.

05 07 2010 186/365

No comment required for today's image :-)

04 07 2010 185/365

An afternoon snack today at Waitrose Llanfoist - A breakfast panino and a latte plus a browse through the Sunday Telegraph at 3.00pm on a quiet Sunday....... relaxing.

03 06 2010 184/365

Following my arrival home at 2.15am after babysitting duties last night ( this morning!) I was up early to take grandson Jaycob with me for our monthly haircut - he was quite upset that I wasn't as early as normal (9am), just proving that you can't win!
The image today is taken from this week's Mail on Sunday 'Live' magazine my question is that with a fast moving competition why editors of these magazines include sections such as this which are so full of 'if and buts' that they are rendered entirely useless...... it is only very rarely and quite by accident that their predictions are correct.
The games actually were : Germany v Argentina ( 4-0)
                                        Spain v Paraguay ( 0-0 currently after 11minutes)

02 07 2010

An evening babysitting and watching football! Signal not good enough for picture,  will add it tomorrow!Please excuse my horrid toes!!!!!




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01 07 2010........182/365

Today a picture of Abergavenny Castle. Originally a Saxon motte and bailey castle it had later 12th and 13th century additions.  The wall is obviously a 20th century breeze-block structure! !

Location : Maesygwartha Rd, Llanelly, Monmouthshire NP7 0,

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Location : Maesygwartha Rd, Llanelly, Monmouthshire NP7 0,

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