At a time when just about everyone in the country is fitting energy saving bulbs in their homes, tightening their belts against the economic crunch we are facing, having cavity wall insulation installed, closing curtains at dusk, turning down the thermostat and wearing extra clothes, switching off pilot lights and lights that are not strictly necessary……

At a time when many Local Councils are switching off street lights completely to conserve energy and cut costs…

Penyrheol Primary School is lighting up the sky again.

It is, however, not quite so wasteful as it used to be.  Only eight of the massive globes were lit this week.  They also went off by 2100 hours which is a slight improvement.

On other occasions, there have been 18 globes lit from before dusk until after 9.00pm  Indeed, on more than one occasion they have all been left on all night.

Now…. at this time of the year, all the children are safely home before dusk.

These lights are presumably there to help adults to find their way into the school to attend keep fit classes and the like.  There was a grand total of 5 cars in the car park on Thursday

There are already adequate street lights in Penyrhoel.

They are on all night.

There are already adequate security lights around the school.

Why cannot the people attending the school in the evenings, each purchase a small torch …possibly like the one I myself use when I take my dog for a walk at night?

Presumably it is our Council Tax which is used to pay for this blatant extravagance?

Grrrrrrrrrrr !

Sadly, the cockle beds in the Bury Inlet and the Three Rivers area of Carmarthen Bay have had to be closed today because an outbreak of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) has been detected.

The news was issued by the City & County of Swansea Council in a bulletin this afternoon

They say that it is still OK to walk on the beaches and even to bathe in the water.

However, with a brisk westerly wind blowing up the Loughor Estuary and the rain battering horizontally, probably nobody would chance a swim today!

Here’s hoping the problem will be quickly sorted, though, to allow the local cocklers to get back to their work.

It is to be hoped also, that this time around, the tests are more accurate than those conducted in 2001 when DSP was detected in this area, closing the beds for fourteen months …. and unnecessarily, as the readings were later found to have been unreliable.

Because of them, we have not taken our dog for a run on the beach at Llanelli.… She refuses point blank to go out in the rain.

There have been several reports of ‘hazardous’ findings on many beaches between Cefn Sidan and Rhossilli over the weekend.

Some are said to be packages with ‘Spanish words’ on them.

There are many people in the area who speak Spanish, so one has to wonder why, in a city with two universities, they were not translated and identified even as soon as they were reported?

Our dog neither speaks nor reads Spanish, and I suspect that most other dogs don’t either….. so I hope somebody will tell us soon what is in these ‘hazardous’ packages…

There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, we tried to make the break once before, when we sailed away in 1999. We sent everyone on our huge list a card with instructions to keep it and put it up each year with the others, and to think of us, but not to send us cards. However, once we returned from our six year Odyssey, we somehow got sucked back in.

Last year we sent ‘Welsh Air Ambulance’ charity cards to everyone on the list and I included this web address, so that hopefully, any people who wonder where their cards are will come here to find out!.

This year, all the money which would have been used to purchase cards, and all the money which would have been spent on postage, will now be sent directly to the charity.

We have also decided not to give prezzies to the grown ups… only to grandchildren…. and they are having Premium Bonds rather than plastic trash. The children are old enough now to realise that not only will they have the chance to increase their holdings if they re-invest any winnings, but that eventually they will have some money saved up for when they are older and will be able to buy something substantial when they become independent.

As for the adults, the reasoning here is that most grown ups can do a better job of buying things they want/need, so it makes sense to avoid the mad rush and stress of shopping for things we hope they will like, but which, if they had really wanted them, they would have bought for themselves already.

All that… plus… we are getting old and have decided not to ‘do’ stress anymore!

Obviously, we shall not be expecting any gifts either, so think of the saving on prezzies, wrapping paper, gift tags and boxes… and think of all the trees that will not be wasted, and think of all that recycling space that will be free for others to fill.

Reading this through, I appear to be taking on the mantle of a certain Mr Scrooge.…. but nothing could be further from the truth. I just get cross about the amount of hype and ‘must have’ that accompanies the winter festival.

All this though, leads me on to my New Years Resolution, which is to make more effort to phone and/or Email friends and keep in better touch….. (since the invention of Email, there really is no excuse)

And still on the subject of Christmas, we have been to the children’s school Christmas concerts, which were excellent. But we were amazed to find not even one reference to the reason for the celebrations… not a crib nor a shepherd in sight… no Baby Jesus….no Joseph … no Virgin Mary…..no Magi…. no bright star….. Just Disney characters and Santas and woodland animals …..Whose birthday is it anyway?

Bah! Humbug!!!

Oh Yes…. And Merry Christmas everyone!

There has even been talk of the possibility of closing the famous St Helens Rugby and Cricket Ground to build a raised platform to allow bendy-bus passengers to have a better view of Swansea Bay as they travel towards Mumbles. What about the rest of us? Is our view just to be of these lengthy beasts?

St Helens was formerly the home of Swansea RFC (All Whites) before their metamorphosis and amalgamation with former arch enemies, Neath RFC (All Blacks) to form the ‘Ospreys’ rugby team, who now share the magnificent new Liberty Stadium on the other side of the city, with the Swans, the local soccer team.

It is also where Garfield (Garry) Sobers hit the first ever ‘six sixes from six balls…’ bowled by Welshman, Malcolm Nash. You can click here to see a video of the achievement.

Thankfully, the roadworks in the city centre have been put on hold for the run up to Christmas to reduce traffic hold ups, however we shall have to put up with them all over again, no doubt, in the new year.

I was interested, then to read of a problem being experienced in Aberdeen where they already have some of these flexible monsters in service.

In order to comply with European law, any notice affixed to the rear of buses, must be printed in each European language. Because of this, they have decided instead not to label their vehicles at all as ‘Long Vehicles‘, seemingly resulting in occasional problems with traffic having difficulties of miscalculation when overtaking.

Another case of political correctness gone mad?

Here in Wales, we have legislation which requires every sign, notice, council newsletter, job application form etc., etc., to be bilingual, Welsh/English. There are, of course, cost implications to this, but that is generally accepted.

I wonder though, what might be the possible reaction of the council to the further increased cost of including all the possible European languages?

Time will tell!

It has not had an easy ride. It has met with a great deal of protest along the way, and as it nears completion, it is meeting more opposition at the English end too.

For me this all feels a bit like ‘deja vu’ .

In the sixties , my father was involved in the construction of the massive North Sea Gas network of pipelines which wended their way all around Wales.

Talk over the dinner table involved a lot of ‘wayleaves’, and ‘compensation offers’, and also ‘backfill’ and ‘land restoration’, not to mention the occasional ‘pig’ .

Dad was very keen that full photographic records were kept of ‘before, during and after’, and he was very proud of the fact that they met with very little opposition. He felt that on the whole this could be put down to careful negotiations with each individual landowner. They all do get compensation payments, you know!

Some thirty five years on, I doubt if anyone could point out where the pipes were buried underground….. so I feel that the current protesters might be pleasantly surprised be how well the scarred countryside will quickly recover.

Once he had finished pipelining Wales, he began the task of converting every home in the country to North Sea Gas in the early seventies. Monday mornings were “C Day” (C = conversion) in a different town or region each week. Every household was visited by a fitter and every gas-powered household item had the be individually modified. It was an enormous task.

Dad was aways on site each Monday, in time for the start, often leaving home around midnight to drive to the designated town awaiting its conversion.

After it was completed and everybody was able to enjoy the benefits of the new gas supply, my Dad was awarded the M.B.E. for his services to the Gas Industry.

How quickly time passes and things around us change! The North Sea Gas has dwindled and all but run out. I am sure that my father would never have believed that this could have happened so soon.

The new gas pipeline will carry Liquified Natural Gas which will be shipped via the the much expanded port of Milford Haven from the Middle east.

So we must look forward to the future and hope that this project eventually serves the people well and does not run out too soon.

Last year when we were camping near Perpignan , sheltering from a strong and long Tramontana wind, we had our own personal flying display from this fantastic machine.
It was was early in the season and there were very few people around.

We became aware of a noise even louder that the constant strong wind, then suddenly it roared overhead, and we at once recognised it as the gigantic Airbus 380, whose wings had been manufactured at Broughton in North Wales.

We tried to follow its progress as it was flying very low. It returned to the airport just to the west of us, appeared to land and then shot upwards again… and kept doing so for ages.

The region is famed for its strong and gusty Tramontanas, indeed a tree was blown down on the camp site that very day, (though fortunately it smashed onto an unoccupied pitch). This caused us to check out what kind of tree it was, and to ensure that there were none which were of a similar type upwind of us.

The plane was based at Toulouse, but had been waiting for just this weather to be able to fly down to Perpignan for these essential wind trials for real.

We felt excited and privileged to have been in the right place at the right time to witness these important trials.

So now she is off on her professional career.

Her first passenger carrying flight will be a charity ‘do’ later this month, before the money making trips start in earnest.

Godspeed.

In Wales, the changes were introduced on April 2nd this year.

As a non-smoker myself, I find it is now very pleasant to go into a pub, usually at lunch time, and not to have to find a secluded seat away from smokers in order to be able to eat a meal in comfort.

However, there is a bit of a downside to the new regime. Because people now have to go outside to smoke, and also because many pubs, particularly in Wales are not dog-friendly, whereas I used to be able to enjoy a seat outside on fine days, in the fresh air with my furry friend lying quietly at my feet, I now find myself surrounded by smokers and full ashtrays. Ugh!

To my mind though, the biggest advantage of the change has been that it has acted as an extra encouragement to several people whom I know, to give up a damaging and increasingly expensive habit! …. which in turn might mean a saving of resources for the NHS !!

That is good news…….

We sometimes take cans of drinks both for ourselves and for the children.

That too is good news…….

However, we also need to think of the wider implications of our actions, whether we are at home or out in the fresh air.

Not only should we crush the cans when empty, and dispose of them in the appropriate recycling bin, we need to consider the plastic holders that are so convenient in keeping the drinks together when we buy them, and which are so often forgotten once their work is done.
It is not enough just to put this strappy plastic in the bin (preferably of course, a plastics recycling bin)

It is also extremely important to cut the plastic in such a way as to remove any closed circles. I have seen many sea birds severely hampered and injured by uncut plastic strapping. They think it is a juicy bit of food and get either their beaks or feet tangled, usually permanently and often fatally.

It only takes a moment to cut the pack strapping down to size and your thoughtfulness can save lives.

…….Now that is really good news……..

Thinking and drinking can be done together!

Although this is not the actual cat… it looks very similar!

We had already done a full morning’s voluntary work for the animal centre… a dog, three rabbits and a cat had been transported to the vet’s surgery for treatment.

We had done the shopping for the mid-morning break for the workers at the centre. We had driven to the other side of the city to deliver instructions the the sign manufacturer, and had been to the carpenters’ shop to collect two large sacks of sawdust for the small animals.

It was time to head home to our own dog to take her for a walk along the Loughor Estuary. It was lovely and peaceful and she had a good run around whilst we enjoyed the views and the spring sunshine. Just as we were returning to the car, the mobile phone rang. It was the centre’s manager. They had a very sick cat which needed to be driven to the vet.

We were due to return to fetch the morning’s animals so we left early to fit in the extra passenger, a lovely ginger cat who was put into the ambulance in his cat carrier by a member of staff, and covered with a blanket as he was ‘not a well boy’.

Dave was driving, and when we were just half a mile from the vet’s, the cat started mewing. Without turning round I reassured him that we would soon be there, and not to worry etc., etc…… as you do when carrying nervous animals.

The next minute there was an extraordinarily loud screeching from beside my right ear. (In the small van there is no guard between the cab and the back of the van)

I looked round to find myself face to face with a very cross cat! He had somehow escaped from the cat basket! Scared of losing him, we stopped and sidled out of the cab and into the rear of the van and eventually managed to persuade him that he really did have to go back in the box! We double checked that the gate at the front of the box was secured properly this time, puzzled that a reliable handler could have made a mistake in not fastening it first time.

When we arrived in Walter Road in the Uplands area, we got out of the van and started to walk towards the vet’s, chuckling at our good luck in being able to secure him before he could get out of the van itself.

We still don’t know how he managed it, but suddenly, the box shook, the blanket which was over him twitched, and with one bound he was out!

There he was on the kerbside of the busy main exit road from Swansea towards The Gower. Astonished, we dropped everything and made a dive, but it was too late…. like a streak of lightening, he shot across the road, narrowly missing cars on the way.

Safely on the other side of the road, he took refuge in St James Gardens (lots of long grass and trees). After the pair of us had risked life and limb to cross the busy road, Dave tried to climb the metal railings, but thought better of it and followed me along to the side road and into the Gardens through a hole in the railings there. But the cat was narrow enough to pass through at any point he chose…. and he did … several times …. in several directions. There was the usual abundance of cars parked all along St James’ Crescent and he must have hidden under every one of them at some point!

We were joined by a lady who had witnessed the problem from her office window, and by a young boy from the nearby school who was certainly physically better equipped than either of us to bend down and look under the cars to pinpoint “Houdini’s” constantly changing hiding places . (Its not actually so much the bending down but, rather, the getting up again that becomes difficult)

He didn’t stick to one side of the road, either. He swapped sides constantly, and we had to leap out in front of cars to slow the traffic down.

Suddenly Dave shouted: “This way, quick!” and he was off, one tiny ginger streak followed by two puffing OAPs and a panting secretary.

Eventually, six roads, scores of cars and several gardens later, he turned into a blind alleyway. Not a small alleyway, but certainly more restricted than the open highway!

He was about to make his final bid for freedom via a twelve foot high stone wall covered in ivy, rather like the one in the picture above. Dave shouted to me to dive on him…. ..”NOW!”…. but I knew I couldn’t bend far enough or quickly enough. So I hesitated and it paid off. As he mounted the wall and reached my face level, I managed to get my hands around his middle. Dave quickly arrived and took a more secure hold of him and we managed to find our way back to the vet’s without being scratched to peices. There they quickly found us another, more reliable, basket and after some persuasion, he agreed to go into it.

He didn’t look too much like a sick cat. He sat there purrrrrrrring.

I think it was the best adventure he had had in ages… or maybe he was just amused reminiscing about the sight of us running for miles around the Uplands faster than either of us has moved in years?

And the obviously faulty cat basket? Scrapped!