Operation Ske-dawdle

What a crackin' day out. My mate and I took the train up to Tenby this morning as I'd never been before and an escape day was needed.



It's a beautiful seaside town even with biting winds and no sun! We walked down to the beach and along to the renovated visitor area at the RNLI.



A pub lunch then a walk round the town. We found a cool little cave on the beach that sheltered us from the wind.






Watched the sea for a while then ambled back into town. Window shopped & took in some art.





From Tenby we took the train about half way back and got off in Carmarthen. Coffee and cake, cocktails then dinner out before heading home.


Must research exact measures for Amaretto Sours. Beautiful!

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Egg roulette

Enjoying an interesting game at 'youth' that pretty much involved people smashing eggs on other people's foreheads. The roulette part is whether the egg is raw or hard-boiled..!


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Elaine's visit

On our own little planet, we walked the 5 or so miles up to Burry Port


checked out the port, ate chips



and got a little 2 carriage train back along the edge of the bay to Llanelli. Very pretty.

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The maddest thing I've ever been told?

Surely this is the maddest? For reasons of Christian charity alone, I am going to protect the identity of the guilty but...

... I was recently told that the spirit of my dead husband had been living vicariously through me for the last 4 years because he hadn't realised he had died.

This wasn't said by anyone you know or anyone I will ever see again!

In other news, I learnt the text symbol for 'monkey' and I think this will serve me better in life than anything else in this post;


:(|)


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Street pastors

This evening, as part of our trip to Scotland, we went out with a team of street pastors to the centre of Glasgow.(www.streetpastors.co.uk)

SP's look out for anyone vulnerable. They see young people home safely after a messy night out, give first aid, collect glass bottles from the pavements and dispose of them so they can't be used as weapons, give out flip flops in the early hours to girls struggling in high heels and are used by bouncers who see people in trouble and radio in for help. Essentially these are the good guys who proverbially ( or literally), 'hold your hair' while you puke.




It was a pretty quiet evening but we only stayed for the first half of the evening while the real heroes stayed out til 4a.m.

It was summed up for me as; 'The least cringy way...of working out your faith'

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Pillow fight

I won. That is all.

Well I should just say that I won because my opponent said after that she wondered if she was going to die. True story.


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Woof

Had to share this great picture taken by 'one of my kirstys'.

Funny to see my big ole' Monty dog dwarfed by another dog. Also I think the colour and composition is great.


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Yesterday I was thinking about how much better I've become about dealing with the little annoyances in life and not getting irritated by trivia.

Today I'm sat on a LONG train journey with my neighbour who has sat about 2 inches into my personal space from Paddington to beyond Newport.

Back to the drawing board Joy.



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Extra snaps

Will someone design an adult version please?


If the course doesn't work out, I could always try grass-balancing..?




Sass :)





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Burkina yarns

Welcome back to 'Lighter Bites' and this week I shall provide for your delectation, tales and curiosities from beyond the Volta.




This picture is the start of an unusual cup of coffee. It is a long glug of condensed milk with a sprinkling of Nescafé. Once the hot water ready, your glass is filled up and you mix up the milk and water for something that tastes like a latte with half a bottle of syrup shots added. Great to bring you back to life after a long journey!



This picture, being in my top 5 favourites from my time in West Africa, is a lorry side used as a blackboard. Here, the future simple tense has been explained.




In my ten days, I visited Ouagadougou (pronounced waga...), Koubri & Bobo Dialasso.

It was my first time in West Africa, sleeping under a mosquito net and eating millet. My first time going into a neighbourhood at night and seeing 200+ people coming out to watch a film in the square. My first time taking anti-malarials, doing public-speaking in French and watching Burkina get to the semi's in the African Cup of Nations. (Eventually got to the final but lost to Nigeria.)

I found the country to be resourceful;



Refreshingly free of H&S regulations;



beautiful;



quirky;



welcoming, diverse and safe;




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All-nighter

11:30 pm - leave Llanelli
00:15 am - bus from Swansea
04:00 am - arrive Bristol airport
06:20 am - flight to Brussels
12 noon - flight Ouagadougou
16:50 pm - arrive in Burkina Faso!



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The digs

2 weeks back in Llanelli and living in a new place. Roaring log fires in Pam's wood burner is one of the highlights of living here!




Pam is a lot of fun and takes my teasing in good form. I even caught her giving some back the other day.

The house is beautifully quiet and we enjoy lots of ordinary things together; eating, chatting, praying, reading, watching iPlayer and DVDs.

I've met the hounds next door 'that way' and met another neighbour 'the other side' who took an instant dislike to me and expressed her feelings clearly and repeatedly. I hadn't done anything and I was polite but it seems my very existence was an irritant to her. I got used to that a long time ago!




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A rambling post in which many subjects are touched upon

I am back in Wales, returned to Llanelli, in new digs and ready for the next step.
My new room is a good size and although the floor is covered with bags still, the most important job is done - books are the bookshelf!
Have had Minky returned to me after his trip to South Sudan, Uganda and Egypt over December.
Ate amazing Pizza at Verdi's and followed it up with 2 scoops of their famous ice-cream. 1 x apple crumble & 1 x praline pecan. Too happy-making!
Tears last night as Greta and I prayed about 2012-13 together.


More tears from nieces as they dropped me back here and had to leave.


2012 has been incredible in many ways. I have been particularly grateful for my travels to Greece, North Africa & Iceland. The move to Wales has also been hugely significant. The year has not been without its pains either.
2013, similarly, promises to be a year of travel, change, excitement and challenge that will be costly. But I am not journeying alone and there will be coffee




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The 12:00 to Diss

Sitting opposite a reader of impeccable taste who has invested in a 3'6 copy of Under the Net. My own read, 'Passage to India' is an interesting study in shame V guilt culture


but not consistently engaging and as much as I want to be impressed by a classic I'm rather underwhelmed.

Wishing the passenger two seats away had an absorbing book!


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'Unreal city...'

Today in London I saw three men dressed as Elvis on the underground, a door numbered as eleven and a half, a super fun skirt with Laayoune on it,


drank Afghan tea



and may have had a sighting of spiny Norman




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Pre-Christmas festivities

It's been an endless round of cuteness in nativity plays, long lie-ins, meeting friends for coffee, brunches out and dinners in.




I've hung out with the hound of distinction again and taken him for tramps through the woods. Was twice asked if he was an army dog!




Met a new baby, listened to my nieces read, started catching up on Downton and exchanged presents. I'm now ill with a stinking head cold but there's plenty of fun and more good food on the horizon.




Can't wait to hang out with mini-me over Christmas week, see my folks and then it'll be back to Wales and another type of adventure starts again.
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Back in the 'ford

Back to Bedford and already had one of my nieces restyling my entire look;


So far I've had lots of Sunday morning hugs, breakfast, coffee, lunch & dinner invites, space to chill and a nativity play with a show-stealing Herod.

Retreat day

Time to process some of the last 3 months & eat rhubarb and orange crumble.




Beautiful woods



Anyone know what this plant is called?







Had to scramble in a river for this one!




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'Work week'

Once a year there is a 'work week' where everyone gets involved in building, painting & cleaning. I was asked to head up the painting crew. It's been fun and after slapping one of the core team in the face with a loaded paintbrush and having a full on fight through the coffee bar and reception with 'grown ups' telling us to stop, I now have an H painted on the back of my t-shirt. Thanks Hugo!


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Thanksgiving in pictures

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