Review of the year

Ive been doing a review of the year -

So its New Years eve 2012 and I’m racing towards the start of the year of my 50th Birthday (eek) and I am looking back at what I’ve achieved this year and I have to say that it didn’t seem to amount much and certainly not a patch on what I achieved in 2011 – and that was a really difficult year all round for me. But its not really as bad as I thought.
In January we climbed Pen y Fan again – but with both our daughters this time 
In February I managed to get myself in the accident book at Cardiff Ice Rink after having a skating lesson LOL but also walked out to Whitford Point in Gower.
In March I attended an even with my boss and was definitely the most OVERDRESSED woman there – typical.
In April we saw the Glossy Ibis in Marloes Mere and the Cappuccino Girls in Swansea – great company, great show and attended the first show in the newly reopened Gwyn Hall.
In May I played the Wii for the very first time (yes really).
In June we went on the ferry to Ireland – first time in Dublin – fantastic.
In July I spent a fabulous day on one of Brigits Bee courses – amazing.
In August I didn’t get my eyes ‘done’ like planned but had a fab few days in Brum and also went to the Black Country Museum.
In September I failed to complete my 9 mile hike for British Heart – wrecked my ankle and had to come home – doh!! And I turned 49, had an amazing birthday with fab friends and family. Met two new great nieces and my great nephew (and saw my nieces other halves for the first time) and got to the final WWT site – all nine visited now.
In October I saw the Hairy Bikers in Cardiff and held a fund raising event in work for ABF .
In November I saw Kevin Bridges in Cardiff.
Finally in December I have passed my ILM Level 5 course, seen 120 plus Waxwings, 50 plus Snipe, watched the Siren Sisters in the Gwyn Hall, youngest got a new job to start in January (well done sweety), eldest got engaged (congrats sweety)

I also made two new really close friends, made contact with a couple of old ones and hopefully am ending the year still sane(ish).
But to the rest of you who joined in with helping make this the year it was – thank you - you know who you are and what you did xxxx

Phew – okay 2013 whats next – make it good!

18 days to go!

Pack has arrived!!!

Somehow when Pete registered he ended up being Professor Sharp LMHO!!! Just adds to the whole madness of it all.

18 days to go :)

Inspiration

There have been a couple of things lately that have warmed my heart and inspired me.  Quite a list actually. 

Things that have been happening to friends, watching them overcome health problems, fighting back against long standing issues.  Of course the heart warming part is seeing them win, the inspiring part is seeing how they have handled the fight.

This evening I happened on a programme on S4C - a Llangollen concert, Karl Jenkins The Peacemakers.  Karl Jenkins has composed some amazing music,  Adiemus being my favourite. It made me think of  both my daughters, who have been in choirs and performed his music, which led me to think of them as much younger children and being in school.  The camera then panned across to a young man, playing the cello beautifully.  I knew, before the camera moved up to his face, that it was Steffan Morris. Steffan and his sister were school with my daughters, his mum gave my older daughter her first piano lessons and his aunt was teacher to one daughter and choir mistress to both.  This incredibly talented young man always makes me smile.  His dedication to his art is inspiring.  I remember being told that he would practice early in the morning, before school, as well as into the evening.  It is always a delight to see him play.  At the end of his piece he shook Karl Jenkins hand and then .... he took over as conductor!  After the initial 'wow' moment I settled in to watch this very young man hold the respect and concentration of a huge choir and marvelled at how relaxed he was in his role.  At the end of the performance the announcer said (in Welsh but I got it) that Steffan's mum, dad and sister were in the Choir.  Wow again.  I had hit record so that I could show it to the girls, so I quickly ran it back to see if I could find them.  I watched the whole section and found his mum and his sister.  When we got back to the end of the section again I realised that his sister was in the final shot with him, absolutely beaming at him, full of pride for her younger brother. 

The music had given me shivers, in only the way that a well written, well performed piece can. I always feel sorry for people who have never experienced that. Watching the whole family sharing the moment was just so heart warming. Talking of moments, seeing that young man's success was a real 'grin' one for me.  Because although I know that he has worked extremely hard and im sure that there have been difficult times for him, it was nice to see someone apparently taking life in his stride and loving every minute of it.  Something we could all look to at least try to do.

So young Mr Morris - thank you for the exceptional performance, for the trip down memory lane to Ysgol Gymraeg Castell Nedd and for the 'grin' moment. 

When you have walked back and forward, lost endlessly on well trodden paths. When you have wandered from sad to bad, from desperate to desolate and you find yourself staring into the abyss – don’t jump in!

Don’t let yourself fall and don’t allow yourself to be pushed.  Look around you for those ways less often used, by you or anyone else.  They may not be immediately obvious, it may be that you have to search for them and it may be that you need to call out to a friend to help you.

The most wonderful paths in life are those where you have to seek the way, to push through obstacles, to explore, sometimes doubling back on yourself before you find the way.  But in the end those paths can lead you to a feeling of achievement, self worth, peace of mind, security, happiness, health or all of these. Life isn’t always a straight, flat road.  We are meant to work hard to climb the hill, so we can be rewarded with the view and the pleasure of the stroll back down.

Longer Steps

Yesterday I received an email - my regular Countryfile Magazine email - I spent a while looking at the various articles, read that this Sunday's programme will be talking about Suffolk, particularly the area around Aldeburgh, looked at the various walks they were promoting this time and then an advert popped up which really caught my eye.

It was for the British Heart Foundation, the first thing I saw was footprints, the next was the words 'Leeds to Skipton' (I love Yorkshire), but it was a rolling advert with the pages changing and what I had missed was the words 'Hadrians Wall' - somewhere Ive always wanted to see and walk a section of - now what made me click at that point was certainly a moment of madness, simply because my head was already telling me 'dont be daft, it will be a marathon distance, you'd be mad', but ........ click I did and there it was - 'support the BHF by walking a 10 mile section of the wall' or words similar to that. 

Actually what it says is 'This trail is not for the timid'.  Well I dont think I've been timid for a while now,  so .... I registered. 

Its in September, so actually it could be very cold, wet, possibility of snow or ice, definitely windy, in fact all round exposed! Even a mile in those conditions would be miserable.  So I comfort myself that this IS a challenge.  Okay so its not a marathon distance (though the Stonehenge to Avebury memory walk is still on my list) but i'll still do my best to raise as much as I can and keep my fingers crossed for a warmish, dry September.

And of course the BHF is an organisation Ive supported for a long time.  Ever since 1997 in fact, when my dad died from a massive heart attack.  It was quick, it was a shock and he was only 58, far too soon.  His own father had suffered from 'flutterings of the heart' during a routine operation before he was to be demobed (1945) and died on the table.  My grandfather, on my mum's side, had to have a triple bypass and my gran, (dads mum) also died from a heart attack but at least at 80.

So you see im surrounded by the problem.  So it was time.  Last year I raised money for Cancer Research by doing the Race for Life twice, and also by completing a Memory Walk for the Alzheimers Org. 

So this year im going to follow my heart and do something good for my own heart, something good for others' hearts and something good for the organisation.  I'll have the exercise, not only on the day but before as I prepare.  The organisation will get the advertising and the money which will help educate some and assist others with existing problems. And its good for the soul, being outside, knowing you are doing something to help others and at the same time helping yourself in endless ways.  Though im sure, when I hit mile 8 or 9 that I will be questioning my sanity at doing such a thing and grumbling. But hey, thats then!

For the moment im really pleased to be getting the chance to achieve an ambition as well as help the BHF.

My hubby is going to walk with me and is really chuffed to be getting to walk part of the wall too.  We had a bit of a wobble when he realised that we should wear red! He doesnt do red (odd I know, since he is a Welshman LOL) but he's going to at least carry the tshirt LOL.

So the link to donate is below.  Any small amount would be appreciated but, like it says on our page, if you cant spare the cash, please spare some things you no longer need and take them to your nearest BHF charity shop so they can raise money that way.  My nearest one is in Neath. Im sure there will be one not far from you too.

So thank you in advance.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/madminiogs

What goes down .....

must manage somehow to get back up again!

This year seems to have been less about climbing up and more about climbing down.  Trouble with that once you have climbed down! you have to climb back up again.  Still these things have to be done.

On Saturday we decided to visit the Gower Wildflower Cafe to have a look around and get some lunch.  Sadly there wasn't much there in the way of plants but we had an amazing lunch (OH's was a beef chilli pastie AND beans - pity there's no spare room!) and there was so many tempting organic and free range goodies to buy that I could have spent an absolute fortune.  I did splash out on a jar of Gower Honey (that's the dog starving for the next week lol).

These lovely meals were accompanied by lovely coffees and there was definitely the need to drag our lazy selves out  to walk off all that food (not to mention consider fasting for the rest of the weekend).

So we groaned our way back to the car, grabbed the map and looked where, in Gower, we hadn't been. 

Southgate! Between Pennard and Three Cliffs.  I'm ashamed to say I'd never even heard of it but I'm delighted to have found it now.  There appeared to be two paths down to the beach / bay (there may be more) and the one we chose is really steep in parts. As we walked down over mud, then scree, then broken concrete over a pipe my brain was thinking - bad move - at least when you walk up first, you have the comforting thought of the potentially more relaxed walk down.  However, at least we'd be walking off some of that meal. On the way down we were serenaded by Dunnocks who flitted from shrub to shrub in front of us, which distracted from the steep descent.

The sand was much softer than we imagined but on reaching the beach the delights were numerous.  Fantastic rock formations, the like of which I don't really remember seeing anywhere else, which created fantastic rock pools, full of life.

As we explored the beach, looking across to Oxwich point, we could hear birds calling above us.  One bird's call made us both stop and look up immediately.  Could it be what we thought it was .... I managed to catch a quick glimpse of it as disappeared round the edge of the cliffs.  OH was luckier and managed to catch this. (Clever boy!)

Of course - its a Chough -  and we were chuffed to see a Chough (sorry bad joke LOL). 

The weather started to turn a little darker and we puffed our way back up to the top of the hill, but it was made all the better by enjoying watching a pair of Stonechats as the male sang and 'chinked' his little heart out at the top of one of the shrubs.  Once we reached the top, we turned and walked a little way across the top of the cliffs towards Pennard, stopping every now and then to take pictures and to watch the many gulls battling with the wind above us.

The afternoon was great in all ways.  Lovely food, a beach for OH,  a cliff walk for me and bird watching and great views for us both.

Perfick!

Sad but smiling

Rubbish title, sorry.. 

An uncle of mine died on Wednesday evening.  It was expected but sad all the same.  He would have been 88 this year.  I say uncle, Great Uncle is actually the correct description, in more ways than one. He was my grandmothers brother, one of 4 brothers.  But the sadness that he has gone doesnt last at all because every time I think of him, I'm smiling - because it seemed like he was always smiling.  His resting expression was with an upturned mouth, ready, waiting to break into that smile or to throw his head back in that laugh.  Thinking of that makes me smile even more, because its the same laugh that they all share(d), my Grandmother, her brothers, my mum, her younger brother and my cousins.  And of course me.  Thinking about him for the last few days has made me recognise some traits which are definitely from that side of the family and its lovely to think that they are the good ones.  We have the same smile, the same sense of humour and the same laugh, and yes I suppose thats to be expected, but its nice to have inherited those good things.

He was a shepherd and farm worker for most of his life, had that ruddy complexion that goes with spending your life outdoors, he would greet us girls with a bear hug that would take your breath away - something all three of my grandmother's younger brothers are known to do - or the men with a strong handshake and a slap on the back. His name was Peter and its always been a source of amusement to me that my family, like many, have not been very original with names.  Both sides of my mum's side of the family are filled with Peters, Andrews, Williams, Georges and Johns.  So of course my cousin and I followed suit and I married a Peter and she married an Andrew. LOL

Our family is very large and my grandmother's youngest brother is only 5 years older than my mother.  Not uncommon in those days.  So these Great Uncles and Aunts have been considered as purely uncles and aunts, and my mum's cousins have been like mine, on both my grandmothers and grandfathers side of the family. My mum's two brothers have been like big brothers to me (and as just as irritating on times as if they were real brothers but I love them really).

So on Friday I will be flying to Scotland at some ridiculous time to spend the day back with those smiling people and yes, we will be sad and yes we will be drinking 'tea' afterwards in my mum's cousin's pub (tea?? - really?) but mostly we will be remembering.  Remembering a lovely, happy and generous man who I'm really grateful to have known and even more proud to be related to.