Ava's Diary

I spent Tuesday afternoon painting.

As you can see, I was very successful. I painted anything that came near me. Paper, the table, chairs, my hands, my face, mam. What a hoot. Clearly I have got grandpa’s artistic streak.

Ava's Diary

Last weekend I went to stay with nanna and grandpa in Swansea. Had a whale of a time, playing with grandpa (who was knackered by the time I went home) and going for long walks to the park with nanna (equally knackered). I slept well each night; I guess they wore me out too.

Nanna managed to get me to sit still long enough to put some pigtails in my hair. Cute, eh?

Ava's Diary

Lots to catch up with. A few weeks ago I spent some time down at our caravan with mam and dad; one of the few nicer weeks all summer. They tell me that it doesn’t rain every summer. I’m not convinced.

I went to see a local sheepdog trail at, appropriately, St Dogmaels. Anyway, the result was that the sheep won. There wasn’t a single dog and owner that could round up the sheep and get them into the pen. Most of the time the sheep stood around biding their time before making a bid for freedom. Sometimes through the fence and into the next field. It was great fun.

The next day we went on the Teifi Valley steam railway at Henllan, pictured. I waved to the trains and had a great time.

I had my first trip to a ‘soft play’ indoor play centre, Teifi Mania. It was a rainy day. And it was chaos. I had great fun though, climbing up some big steps and sliding down the slide, and I played in the ball pit. I was only allowed to go in the toddlers’ area though.

On the way back to the caravan after a day in Newport (Dyfed, not Gwent), and guided only by a brown tourist sign, we went to visit Penlan Uchaf Gardens which, officially, are in the middle of nowhere. After miles on single track roads leading up the hillside and with no signs of civilisation, suddenly the farm appears, like the Lost Gardens of Heligan. With the wind blowing hard, and the gardens being on the side of the Presili mountains, I spent far too much time falling over.

I spent some time on Penbryn beach, but the wind was blowing so hard it was like being sand-blasted.

Rugby Notes

Ebbw Vale lost their opening game of the season, 23-27, at Glamorgan Wanderers. After going up 23-0 at half time, Ebbw shipped 27 without reply in the last 20 minutes. By all accounts though, it was a huge improvement over last season and there were lots of positives from the match, along with one bonus point.

There are match reports on the Ebbw Vale RFC website and the Glamorgan Wanderers’ website. The Western Mail’s report was clearly mailed in and not worth reading.

Next Saturday, Ebbw’s home opener is against Cardiff. I’ll be there.

TV Notes

Its back. The headlong charge to the Christmas Number 1 started last week with the new series of The X Factor. Its sort of a guilty secret, and probably the only programme that ITV makes that’s worth watching nowadays. There’s some terrible singers, but some gems get unearthed.

The video is Jamie Afro’s wonderful audition, singing Sex on Fire by the Kings of Leon. Skip the first 2 minutes to get to the audition proper.

Meanwhile, over on BBC, Shooting Stars is back, in exactly the same format as it had 20 years ago, even down to George Daws. For me, the funniest thing on TV.

Bear Notes

Here's a great story.

Ava has become very attached to her Bedtime Bear; he’s her favourite and the one she has to take to bed each night. I’ve heard horror stories of how upset some kids get when their favourite toy disappears, so I started searching online to get a spare bear.

Having failed to find him online, I contacted the manufacturers directly. I found an email address on their website, and asked if they still made Bedtime Bear. They told me that the range was discontinued, but they had a slightly larger one, the last one, if I wanted it. I asked if I could buy it, but instead they sent it to me free of charge with a nice note. Now that’s what I call customer service.

Thanks Aurora World soft toys.

IT Notes

Rather than the usual 404 error messages that come up when an internet page can't be found,
this website has some clever pages that have been developed. Who says programmers don't have a sense of humour?

Old Jokes Home

Its Edinburgh Festival season, and the best (and worst) comedian's are trying out their new material. Here's a selection:

Have you heard about the dyslexic alcoholic? He choked on his own Vimto.

I’ve just been attacked by an agoraphobic skinhead. He said: "Oi you! Inside."

How do you kill an entire circus? Go for the juggler.

I had a ploughman’s lunch the other day. He was well annoyed.

What do Mexicans put under their carpet? Underlay, underlay.

What do you call a cat who eats a duck? A duck-filled-fatty-puss.

Rugby Notes

Its almost here.

The new rugby season is almost upon us. Hopes run high amongst Ebbw Vale fans after a busy off-season of recruiting.

The season kicks off with a tricky trip to Glamorgan Wanderers tomorrow. Ebbw Vale give debut starts to seven players for the visit to the Ely Memorial Ground. The Steelmen are led by new club captain Andrew Jenkins (pictured) and include Wales IRB 7s star Nick Wakley and Cambridge Blue Will Jones. The experienced Gareth Bowen takes the pivot role.

The team is: Gareth James, Andrew Bevan, Nick Wakley, Shaun Powell, Lyndon Johnson; Gareth Bowen, Andrew Jenkins (c); Matthew Jefferies, Mathew Williams, Alex Murphy; Nick Eaves, Will Jones; Chris Jenkins, Rhys Jenkins, Rhys Williams. Subs: Dale Powell, Marc Jones, James Thomas, Matthew Amos, Neil Wilcox, Nathan Jones, Mark Lewis.

I won’t be there mind you. It’s a birthday party for one of Ava’s friends followed by a long weekend down at the caravan in Tresaith. I’ll have to save my debut for next Saturday’s home game against Cardiff.

Broadband Notes

Normal services has been resumed and we once more have a phone line and broadband at chez Veale Janes.

It seems as though RCT guys put a spade through the phone lines on Monday whilst installing new street lights in our street. When the BT landline goes dead, you have to ring BT to report the fault and listen to a recorded threat that says if you haven't checked that the fault isn't in the house then they will send the boys round (or words to that effect).

So having done all the internal checks and discovered that, yes, the fault is out there somewhere in BT-land, BT's system is pretty good.

The land number was diverted to Janesy's mobile, and regular text messages were sent to keep us posted on the repair. It took a couple of days, but at least we're back to normal.

Travel Notes

Plans for a gentle weekend, a bit a rugby, catching up with friends and family.

As always though, that turns into another marathon drive around South Wales. I clocked up 200 miles whilst doing very little. Good job we didn't plan to go far!

Two trip to Ebbw Vale (one for rugby, one for a curry) on Saturday and then Sunday's family get together down the other side of Newport.

Travel Notes II

And another thing.

The M4 between Cardiff and Newport is now the most soul-destroying stretch of road in the country. It's got an almost continual 50mph speed restriction, mile after mile of cones, endless speed (sorry, safety) cameras, and not a single workman in sight. Traffic jams on a Sunday morning.

Great way to encourage tourism, people.

Family Notes

Our brother and his family have just returned to the US after vacationing in sunny Newport. Robert and Emma have been staying with their grandparents for almost a month, and Tony and Heather were over for 10 days.

As usual, didn’t get to spend enough time with them. We had a nice evening out at the Maenllwyd Inn in Rudry, a Ebbw get together at the Tara Mahal on Saturday night and a big family get together at the Groes Wen in Penhow on Sunday.

We also managed to spend a day with Robert and Emma before their parents arrived. We went to the Dr Who exhibition and Techniquest down in Cardiff Bay. The guys had lots of fun looking after Ava, and Robert volunteered to babysit whenever we visit.

We’ll have to try and visit next year.

Nature Notes

Sunday afternoon finished with a visit to the Newport Wetlands.

I didn’t know that the place existed, but I sure it will become a regular haunt of ours. Lots of paths to walk through the wetlands, a play area, and somewhere to sit with a coffee and watch the birds. Wonderful.

Film Notes

Watched The Wrestler on Sky Box Office on the weekend. Thoroughly entertaining, with the lad Mickey Rourke playing a blinder. No wonder won a Golden Globe for his role. Without him it would have been just another aging-pro-down-on-his-luck film.

Another top film I watched in the last couple of weeks is Frost/Nixon. Michael Sheen seems to have cornered the market in playing real life characters. He played Tony Blair in The Queen, Brian Clough in The Damned United and now David Frost. Frank Langella plays a wonderful Richard Nixon, steals the film and well deserved his Oscar nomination.

I reckon the last time Cath and I actually went to the pictures was back in May to see State of Play with Russell Crowe and Ben Badflick. Top film too.