Snow Kayaking in Crickhowell

To avoid the onset of cabin fever brought on by the recent snowfall, we decided to pull on extra socks, pack a flask of coffee along with a  huge slice of leftover Christmas cake and made our way up to the Table Mountain overlooking Crickhowell.

It was a rather cold slog up through some impressive snow drifts and the temperature chilled as we progressed towards the top but the views were spectacular, not least because we could enjoy them in peace (the children were kindly being looked after and we discovered after, had enjoyed their first ever viewing of Teen Wolf).

The coffee and cake came as welcome relief in the little rocky shelter on the top, not least because the wind had teeth and was positively gnawing away at my nose and ear lobes.  It dawned on me that I should have worn a balaclava perhaps but I always feel I should be wielding a gun and painting my face with mud in order to justify this "look".

Anyway - on our descent, we came across two young men who were clearly up to fun and by this, I mean placing their bottoms into kayaks and then paddling down the snowy steep slopes.  At first I will admit to thinking that perhaps this was not a sensible idea but when I actually saw the one boy travelling at break neck speed,  his paddles acting as both brakes and ballast, I did have a severe moment of "extreme fun envy".    It looked totally exhilarating.    We did wonder at how he would stop prior to slicing through the hedge and potentially decapitating his head but after a few controlled doughnuts, he came to a perfect parallel stop.

I really wished I had been able to film it on my phone but my hands were bloody freezing.  This winter sport appears to be quite popular and when you see it in first person, you really can see what all the potential fuss is all about......Fun Fun Fun.

It's not going well......

Well - I have to admit to not behaving particularly well on the plan to limit my intake of "crap" since my last posting.

It all went wrong when a colleague brought a load of semi-out of date mince pies into the office and I fell at the first hurdle.  In my defence I was sat in a freezing office in one of thee most depressing areas on earth and my cup of tea craved company whilst it travelled down my oesophagus.

Since then, I have also eaten some Celebrations (mostly Twix and Mars) whilst holding back tears when watching the baby elephant starve and die on the recent episode of BBC's brilliant new documentary Africa.

Today, despite the fact that I have eaten a load of dried Apricots and raisins at the desk, I now feel bloated, full of "farts with teeth" and cannot bring myself to get Davina out of her box.

I am planning a muddy run on Sunday.....does that mean I can have a slice of Christmas cake?

2013 - RIGHT THEN!

Well, the Xmas tat and decorations are packed away in the shed and I am going to try and be a bit more consistent with my Blog postings as I have been truly useless over the last few months.

I would love to say that I have been busy (which is not totally far from the truth) but the sad fact is that I have been struggling with a low mood and hence any blog posts would have only darkened the screen upon which it was read and who needs to read about boredom and negativity - we have access to the news and the Daily Snail for that.

I am going to focus on losing a bit of weight over the next few months and firm up on the wobbly bits which I must blame on the ease of eating the childrens' chocolate without guilt.  I have done a few small jogging sessions over the Christmas period (well, two) but in fairness, the River Usk did pop over its banks during the Christmas holidays due to all the rain - probably some of that "Extreme" variety all the meteorologists are going on about.

Good old Davina Body Buff is going to help me burn some calories in the privacy of my lounge - (I will have the decency  to draw the curtains) and I also plan a little Zumba - again from the lounge, as I cannot face going to the local sessions, get knocked in the head by a strangers flailing hand (or worse - foot) and pretend I am Madonna......I AM NOT.

So - having just downed a cup of mint tea, I am going to finish watching the second episode of Borgen and plan my fat attack for the next few weeks.   If you are really lucky - I might just bore you with the plan, the "action" and the results......which means I might have to buy a weighing scales tomorrow in Asda on the weekly shop.   

Toodle Pip

The Baby question......

We recently spent a night at my sisters which allowed both the nearest/dearest and myself to savour a night out enjoying the Christmas disco favourites this year......namely GangNam Style, the Macerna, Oops Upside Your Head and to end.....Fairytale in New York and New York New York.

With a slightly tender head and stomach the next day, we did not really interrogate my sister on their evening in but were informed that all the children behaved well and thoroughly enjoyed watching the Fusion night of Strictly Come Dancing.

When I returned to work, I opened my emails to discover that my sister had sent me a snippet of a conversation that had taken place between #1 (Who is 7) and herself on the Sunday morning.
(To set the scene...her partner is currently serving in the Royal Air Force)

#1:                 Aunty G, do you think you’ll have a baby one day?

Aunty G:        Yes I’m sure I will #1

#1:                 I guess it hasn't happened because Uncle A is away all of the time.

Aunty G:        Umm........ yes #1

#1:                 Maybe you can have a baby in your tummy when Uncle A comes back!!!

The Woman in Black

We recently received our latest offering from LoveFilm and I was disappointed to see that the nearest and dearest had selected The Woman in Black which had clearly been meticulously timed to arrive for the Halloween celebrations.  Between the mania of half-term and an over abundance of bumph mail, we totally forgot about the DVD and only managed to sift it out of the postal pile and sit and watch it this weekend.

The film is only rated 12A so clearly I had nothing to be concerned about as I am not a fan of viewing various tones of grey and black set against ominous minor tones, but I knew from the first 5 seconds of the film that this was not going to be anything like Harry Potter and I would have to put a brave face on and try not to “poop” myself.

This film is certainly not a 12A in my opinion and anybody who feels that their youngster would be ok watching the film must be living in a different world to me.  True, there is no violence in the film, no swearing and no showing of the dreaded “flesh” but dear God…..the gothic imagery of the “toys” was akin to watching Chucky and on times I felt it was more like watching a Victorian episode of 28 Days Later with all the pale dead children floating around the place.

The weird thing is that whilst I have no intention of ever wishing to watch the film again, it was the first time in ages that my body literally came alive due to the hairs on my nape going vertical with fear.

If you enjoy the slow burn of terror and are not bothered about ghosts, shadows, mist and going to bed on your own without a dog in the house – this might well be worth a watch.

OMG - The idiocy.......

Sorry about lack of recent blogs for those who occasionally wander onto my site.

Here is a quick recount of what I saw during my lunch break yesterday.  I have bullet pointed for added effect....if any......

• In car, just passing Bryn Bach park – piddling down rain
• See approaching car coming up the road, at speed, veering towards my carriage way
• Then note that the car is being used by a cyclist as a towing mechanism
• Cannot believe eyes and pull over further to my left
• Pass the car and then see it start to swerve
• Look back in my rear mirror and see the bike and its brain dead occupant bouncing up the road
• Towing car carries on
• See un-mounted cyclist limping back to collect mangled bike from other side of road
• Eddie Stobart lorry then coming towards him……then lost sight.

What the hell?

I loves working in Tredegar.....perhaps the idiots concerned know the new celebrities of "The Valleys?........

What? No dog poo?

Having just returned from a lovely long weekend in Barcelona, I have to mention, other than the rate sighting of the sun which I have not seen since 1976, that during my stay in the beautiful gothic quarter of the city, I sighted absolutely NO dog mess on the city streets for the entire time spent there.

Now this I find unbelievable, given the high number of dogs that I saw being walked (on leads) around the city and it also makes it one of the most parent friendly destinations in the world but I am at a loss of how they manage to ensure that no dog mess is left presented for the unwary sole of a flip-flop?

I have a few ideas:
• All Barcelonian (or Catalonian) dwellers take pride in their beautiful city and know that it is totally unacceptable to allow their dogs to leave mess on the pavement.
• City dwellers inform on those who are guilty of breach of the above and lock them up in one of Gaudi’s purpose built chimneys – many of which are dotted around the city
• The municipal vans that squirt water over virtually all stone walls at high pressure each night, have aimed at offending animals and washed them away….along with their owners who are micro-chipped.

I know I have a major hang up on the issue of dog mess (see my letter to the local newspaper back in the March posts) but it really was delightful to be able to skip around the city, confident that it was unlikely to step into mess.

For a city of its size and street layout complexity, I am now totally at a loss as to why Crickhowell or any place in the UK are unable to keep their pavements clean…….