Four years today

Four years ago today, this blog was born. You can see my first post here. Try as I might, I can't remember how I became aware of the world of blogging but I do know that I have had great fun with it. I have, at times, got bored with Blogger and migrated to other platforms, but always returned 'home,' usually because I liked the people who became regular readers over here. Through blogging, I have 'met' lots of lovely people- Daphne, Silverback, Yorkshire Pudding, Dale in Canada, Beachhutman and the longest standing, Gemmak who is practically my twin in blogging terms as she started her blog only a few weeks before me and was the first one I ever commented on. I've fiddled with templates, the air has turned blue on occasion, but eventually I learned that it is a Good Idea to save one's blog first before diving in to make irreversible changes. (OK, so I'm a slow learner!) I have also been in trouble over teaching-related posts, to the extent of being refused a reference by someone who took exception to what I had written. When I re-read that first post this morning, I realised that what Jay had pointed out in her comment on my meme, was quite right. I am a truly 'demob happy' teacher and I won't bore you all yet again by going on about my disillusionment with teaching. Suffice it to say, I am pleased to have left that world behind. Let's live for today! Innit!

Tidying NASA

This post on Gemmak's blog yesterday made me smile but with a hint of envy too. As it happens, I had just spent half the morning attacking the chaos, confusion and collection of debris that is Keith's computer desk, aka NASA. It is called this because, as long-term readers will possibly recall, it used to be three tiers until I persuaded him to remove the top one to give it at least some semblance of a normal computer desk. That was quite a milestone for Keith. I won't say he needed counselling afterwards, but suffice it to say, he is inordinately attached to NASA. However, this piece of furniture does sit in the corner of our living room, for heaven's sake, a blot on an otherwise reasonably normal landscape so I really do feel I have to take charge now and again.

So when I told him on the phone that I had blitzed it again, the response was less than enthusiastic and of course, now, almost twenty four hours later, he has worked hard to reduce much of the evidence of my work. However, you can see how it looked when I had finished, not wonderful but definitely better than it had been. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to work the same transformation on the box. It seems to be essential that the side is permanently removed and the DVD rom is hanging out of the side rather than being installed in the slot allotted to it.

Oh well, can't have everything, I suppose.

(I wonder if Gemmak is available for hire. Maybe he'd listen to her.)

Try this one for size

Yorkshire Pudding has a meme on his blog and an open invitation to anyone to borrow it and put their own stamp on it. I'm not usually over fond of memes, but this one looks harmless enough, so here goes:

My ex... headteacher, one of them, made several years of my teaching life a misery.
Maybe I should... hoover upstairs... tomorrow.
I love... a certain eccentric Welshman, my children and grandchildren and... sitting in the garden listening to the birds.
People would say... that I am a bit on the bossy side - and they would be right!
I don't understand... people who don't grab their chance of happiness when they can.
When I wake up in the morning... I am thrilled that I am no longer teaching.
I lost... faith in the education system several years ago.
Life is full of... highs and lows, happiness and sadness, freedom and constraints.
My past is... another country about a different me.
I get annoyed when... BMX drivers behave as if they own the road.
Parties are... sometimes boring, sometimes enjoyable, depending in who else is there.
I wish... that Keith could win the lottery, just enough to ease his worries about his business.
Dogs... wonderful companions, especially my Lucy.
Cats... a delight, although Keith wouldn't agree!
Tomorrow... I shall be going to my Gestalt course and then to the hairdressers, followed by a visit to some friends in the evening.
I have low tolerance... of selfish people who couldn't care less about anyone but themselves.
If I had a million dollars... I would take Keith on a long holiday, wherever the fancy took us until the money ran out.
I'm totally terrified... of spiders, of course!
Over to you, folks, whoever feels the urge to make this their own.

Chester again

If there's one thing about Chester, they believe in sex equality there. Never let it be said that a girl can't do a job just as well as a man. Hence the appearance today of a female town cryer. Yes indeed, and what's more, she had a strong voice and did the job beautifully.

And then, after a few moments sitting in the beautiful sunshine just by the Cross, Gill, Julie and I went off for lunch and a catch-up.

Sailing by at night

Since my retirement from teaching, I generally sleep fairly well, but last night was one of those 'nuits blanches' when I was still awake to hear one of my favourite pieces of music, Sailing By, written in the 1950s by Ronald Binge. It was chosen as a prelude to the Radio 4 shipping forecast just before 1a.m. apparently because it is a piece that can be started or stopped at any point, which is useful as it can be fitted in to allow the length of time necessary for the subsequent forecast. (Hope I'm making sense to you here, I'm getting a bit confused!) So when the lads out at sea hear this music, they are all set to listen to the forecast.
It also reminds me of my three year old self when part of my daily routine was to sit down at 1.45pm for 'Listen with Mother' which was then followed by the shipping forecast. Those strange names , Dogger, German Byte, Fisher, Forties, Bailey, Rockall, Shannon are still familiar to me and I am not much wiser about them now than I was then, although I have now found this interesting site which gives a very clear explanation of the shipping forecast. I had no idea, for instance, that each bulletin consists of 350 words. Now that makes me wonder why 'Sailing By' needs to be of variable length. Maybe I can think about that if I am awake and listening to it again tonight.

Rheilffordd Blaenau Ffestiniog

As we in north Wales had a fine, sunny day yesterday (Did I mention that in an earlier post?), Keith and I set forth on our wanderings which took us, by a convoluted route, to Tanygrisiau where we happened to see two of the narrow guage steam engines. This railway's original purpose was to transport slate from local quarries but, with the decline of the slate industry, it closed in 1946. Enthusiasts, however, stepped in and reopened the line in 1954 and it is now a leading example of railway preservation.
We also drove through Beddgelert, which I love visiting when the rhodedendrons are in bloom. This is the home of the grave of the famous dog Gelert, who, legend has it, was left by his master, Prince Llywelin, to guard his baby son. On his return, the prince discovered, to his horror, that the child was nowhere to be seen and the hound was covered in blood. With a cry of rage, he drew his sword and killed him. Only on further investigation, did he discover the baby safe underneath the overturned cradle and the body of a wolf, which had been killed by Gelert to save the baby. In reparation, Prince Llywelin buried Gelert by the river and erected a memorial to him.
Rumour has it that this story is complete fiction and was thought up by a local publican to attract more visitors to the village, but if it is true, you can bet your life that never again did Llywelin jump in with his size sixes before first checking the facts!

Ring the changes!

As we up at this end of the country are about to have a 'nice day' weatherwise, Keith and I may well be toddling forth to search for yet more wonderful eating places in north Wales, but meanwhile, let me spread the word.
For those of you who are currently prostrate in admiration before my new template and no doubt wondering aloud at my incredible talent vis a vis the old html etc, (like good old Yorkshire Pudding, for instance), I have a confession to make. Not that I'm going to admit to being thick rather than talented - oh no - rather that I owe it all to someone else's incredible talent (which could mean that rather than being talented, I am just your average, bog standard anorak, I suppose.)
Step forward Amanda, she of Bloggerbuster fame.
Get yourself over to her amazing site right now, click on 'Download templates' and Bob's your uncle. She has also written very detailed and easy to follow tutorials on how to transfer your widgets to a new template and other such delights. For those of you 'dahn sarth' wondering what to do on a wet and miserable bank holiday (Am I overdoing the crowing just a bit?), there are delights on this site to keep you busy for hours.
If you asked Keith, he might mention moments of extreme frustration and inordinate swearing while I was doing mine. It goes without saying that this would be gross exaggeration and character assassination, of course.

Back home

When I set off from Bristol this morning, the weather, in true bank holiday style was wet, wet and more wet, which got a bit boring after a while so, a few miles from Spaghetti Junction, I was interested to see a sign on the overhead gantry proclaiming to all and sundry that it would be wise to slow down as there were 'animals at large.'
"Aha!" I thought, "This should brighten up a dull journey," and I began to wonder what sort of animals I was about to see. Giraffes? Elephants? The odd rhinoceros? Well, I have been reading 'The Life of Pi' recently, hence the fact that my thoughts turned immediately to zoo animals rather than farm or domestic ones.
Disappointment! Apart from a Canada goose legging it smartly along the hard shoulder, nothing else was in sight. How typical - arriving when the show's over!
Mind you, later on, I did see a whole lot of lemmings hurtling back home from the car boot sale at Chirk but it was a poor substitute, especially as the resulting queue on my route was so long I felt I was losing the will to live.
Still, I arrived home safe and sound, just in time for Formula 1 on telly! So glad I didn't miss that.....(not!)