Back to School

School days wasn't the happiest of times for me, it was great in the infants and juniors because it was on a short walk to and from school whereas in the Secondary-Modern we had to catch the buses laid on for us as the school was about 6 or 7 miles away. I hated that journey, especially in winter months as I was always afraid that if the snow came we wouldn't be able to get home! Luckily that misfortune didn't happen so it was an unnecessary worry.

My own children have grown up and got children of their own, both Grandchildren are of school age, the eldest Granddaughter has another 2 years and the youngest still has 7 more years left. Nowadays I'm on duty for the school-pick-up 3 times per week. So I'm still tied up and have to be available in half-terms holidays and all the others while their parents go out to work.

This week I've been roped in to help with the school project. They are planning a large Tapestry to hang on the school wall, so the whole school has to take part. Each child has been given 1 square to work on, and on each square they have chosen a picture from  history they have to embroider, my grandson has chosen a large ship. They have to learn how to sew in silks and using a cross stitch as a filler and a chain stitch for the outer work. I wish I could do one myself but we have to supervise the children. The girls are getting stuck in and are really confident, but the boys are looking for a chance to escape at all times!

Its been a nice change to see the difference in the school I went to and my youngest Grandchild's experience in class. Its been a pleasant surprise all round, although not today when they had the fire-drill so we all ended up in the school yard shivering. The children were really good and lined up and walked out quickly as they had been taught to do in an emergency. It was a chilly ten-minutes before we back in the warm classroom. I was amused at the end of the afternoon to have to walk out in the same order as the children and wait until the duty teacher came to put the code into the gate before we could leave. It was good to see our little ones are in secure seroundings.

All in all it was a good experience. Next week its half term so the week after I will be having another day in school!

Remembering old times

Its strange how I forgot that I joined this blogging site and I've only found it again while searching for the"Llanhilleth Past and Present" link. I used to blog quite a lot a few years ago but I haven't any friends/followers on this site so I didn't think my previous blog was interesting so I'm sorry to say I gave up!

I was born in Llanhilleth but my family moved up to Swffryd because my Mother suffered from Asthma she needed to get up to the mountain air. Sadly she only lived 10 years after our move.

I now live in the Rhondda Valley and have done so for many years, I' also retired now but I'm still tied up with the family, but I will find time to come on here and blog about something soon!

Walking

Last weekend the weather especially good for walking. Our usual day is a Sunday, we don’t have any commitments so we can pack a few drinks & sandwiches and off to go. We set off at 1.pm minus the dogs, we had planned to walk to the next Town (3 ½ miles) then bus it back home, but the dogs were left in the garden and I just felt so guilty leaving them, I'm not bothered on a weekday when we normally do that trip, but I didn't plan on shopping, and there wasn’t a good reason to go so we turned back and got them!..

We set off again and decided to go to Barry-sidings, it’s a usual haunt of ours, there’s so much wildlife around and on sunny days its so invigorating. We found an empty bench and ate our lunch, there were lots of people around so it was good to sit watch the world go by.  Then Jeff said how about going up through the Forestry and see where it takes us, we did that walk last year from the opposite way, so this time it was going to be a harder walk as we had a longer climb.  Once you get up to the top its like you are in a different world, no traffic noise, just the bird song and  wonderful views, we did see a rabbit darting across the path ahead, but other than that we didn’t see another soul, last year we took Bailey with us, and he did really well for a 5 year old. We got home at about 4.30, and except for the stop to eat (20 mins) we had walked the whole time we were out, I was aching a bit when we got home but I felt better for being out doors, it was a cloudy day, so not too hot, in fact it made the walk easier.

The next morning (Monday) we decided to walk to the next town to do some shopping, then bus it back, just before we set off Julia & Bailey turned up, Bailey decided to join us on our walk, then he changed his mind and then back again!..We warned him once we set off there’s no changing minds and turning back, he said OK and we set off.  It was a warmer day with hot sunshine, but we kept a steady walk and arrived in the next town in 1 & ¼  hours, we normally take 55 mins, so that wasn’t too bad.  We hit the shops, I just needed a few things, but we ended buying pasties from a café and a few cola’s to drink and ate those before we did any shopping, I forgot the impact of coca-cola on a 6 year old,  and it wasn’t pleasant!..Bailey just can’t keep still after drinking it, I was fed up of hearing myself saying ‘Don’t touch’…‘hold Jeff’s hand’…‘Bailey come here’…I think the next time we decide to go shopping it will be minus any kids!….

Tomorrow we have Bailey here again so we have decided on another walk, this time to a place called “Llanwonno”, it’s a mountain climb again, but its well worth the effort, this will depend on the weather tomorrow, its suppose to be cloud and sun, I’m hoping its not too sunny as cloudy and up mountains will be more comfortable. I will post some pictures so you can see the climb and the place we end up!

Healthy way of life.

Its been onwards and upwards since the end of March when I gave up smoking!..I've not had a cigarette since that day, but since then the weight has crept up by 7 or 8 pounds!..

The first few weeks saw my appetite increase which I know is normal as your sense of taste improves and instead of smoking you tend to want to constantly snack, I've always loved chocolate but I forgot the fact that when you give up smoking your metabolism slows down, and you need to exercise more!...

I've improved with the exercise and walk most places, (when its not raining) I try to keep active all day finding things to do (even when it doesn't need doing) If only I could eat a healthier diet!..I think if I lived alone I could lose weight, so what should I do?...

Most of us in the U.K have had some Horrid weather the past 2 months and have been kept in-doors, so this week we decided not to let it get us down and get out walking.

Monday morning the sky was blue and cloudless, so I packed a cool-bag with sandwiches and drinks and off we set to the next village with both dogs in tow.

This is the place we were heading for, its about 2 miles from where we live, so double that figure with the return trip and that's a 4 mile walk.

On the way we set to go down a path we have not ventured before which is to the right of where this picture was taken, and we could see that the local council have at last provided a place for the children with bicycles to ride, and we watched a couple of boys enjoying the facilities with their mountain bikes. 

Further along the track we were wondering if there was a way out then noticed we could get through some gates at the far end which went past the scrap merchants, we could hear a dog barking as we walked past, but nothing prepared us for the shock we ended up getting!..

Poor Freddie started squeaking and I looked down to see this enormous Rottweiler, he was huge, and his head was bigger than Freddie's body, she was so scared, he was really playful, but she didn't want to play with such a big boy!..LOL!..By then scruff had started hollering as well, so Jeff had to pick him up, I was too scared to pick Freddie up in case the Rottweiler decided to jump on us both, luckily a car came down the lane and the Rottweiler skitted back, but boy, was I scared! I think we'll think twice about taking that route again!..The dogs were both fine, Freddie is normally quite a feisty lass, but I think the shock will curb her temper in future.

Today we decided to go to the next town, its about 3.5 miles to the outskirts, so we set off and as takes about an hour normal walking we decided to change the route as we got to the outskirts and did a bit of a half circuit, it was a bit cloudy and started to spot to rain about half way, but we sheltered under the trees for a moment or 2 then set off again.

When we reached the town we headed for the park, but picked up a pasty and drink each as we passed a shop, we found the park to be almost empty so could pick any bench we wanted and soon found a good spot to sit, its a great park with plenty of flowers in bloom so a perfect spot for a a picnic. I was a bit miffed as I wanted to pack a few sandwiches and was shocked to find that the 2 pasties and drinks cost us 30 pence short of £5....We will be taking a packed lunch next time!...

After a while we walked through the park and decided to visit the Museum, that turned out a no-go as when we got there it was under 'Renovation'...So it was up to the bus-terminus and straight on the bus and home. I am happily resting my feet now but don't regret the over-use of them, we are both feeling fitter and we need to get the extra pounds off we've put on while off the ciggy's..

I've just had a look back and can see its 13 and half weeks since we've smoked a ciggy, it was March 28th I wrote in my blog that the night before we had the last of our tobacco! Jeff has finished his patches and I'm really proud of him, well we should both be proud, but Jeff did smoke more than me so it must have been harder for him....

We have a big test on the weekend, its Jeff's Mums 86th Birthday and all the Family are going for a meal, so its a case of here goes!...