Ebbw wins!

Happy tenth anniversary to our Brother and Heather over the pond in Shrewsbury, MA.

And Helen, good luck with the new house. Hope you have some great times there.

Spent the weekend in west Wales. Even though it’s called the Cwmwennol Country House Hotel, it’s not much more than a big B&B. Perfectly adequate as a base for Saundersfoot and Tenby though.

Saturday afternoon on Saundersfoot beach the challenge was to stay upright in the face of a howling gale. The sand dunes were piling up in the High Street – you start to realise how Egyptian temples can be lost for thousands of years when you see sand dunes up against parked cars.

The chip shop on the front was the perfect place to revive ourselves. Milky coffee and chips all round.

Despite living in Wales for all of my 40+ years, Sunday was my first visit to Tenby. What a pretty place. Helped by a cloudless sky and winds a bit less brutal than the previous day.

Went to a funeral on Tuesday. Huge turn-out: the people of Merthyr really are the salt of the earth. Everyone adjourned to the upstairs function room of Aberfan Constitutional Club where chicken legs, sandwiches and sausage rolls were laid on, all washed down with a few lagers. Mid afternoon there was a disco. Honest.

Travel notes

Enjoyable – The Metro has been launched this month as a freebie paper in the Cardiff area. Nice to see it being handed out at Pontypridd station this morning. Clearly Ponty is part of the metropolis after all.

Rugby notes

After an encouraging performance at Bedwas last Friday, Ebbw Vale finally came good on Tuesday night with an excellent win over Aberavon. Some key players coming back into the side after long absences – Andrew Bevan showed up well, Chunky seems to be back to his form of old, Jon Hawker had a great game at outside half, and the whole pack performed well – especially in the line out.

After a drought of rugby, it’s a torrent now. Another big game this Saturday when fellow basement dwellers Glamorgan Wanderers visit. I’ll be there.

TV notes

The Apprentice – if Manny is a world class presenter then I’m Donald Trump. Doesn’t Jo get it – she’s in the boardroom despite putting in her best showing to date. It’s a matter of time for her and Syed.

Running notes

Now that the evenings are getting lighter, it’s possible to get out running after work instead of lunchtime. Good run yesterday with C around the Common. Will have to get back into the running habit.

Squirrel notes

Another squirrel-proof bird feeder bit the dust this week. I didn’t realise that plastic was a staple of the grey squirrel’s diet. Moved on to metal feeders now. It’s a matter of time before the oxy-acetylene torch is out though.