BLOG 15

So gutted the other day....the legendary Red Arrows were at RAF Valley. They did a practise display in the afternoon, and....guess what....I missed it :o(   I have, however got a few pictures of their aerobatics all thanks to someone more besotted than me with aviation...diolch blod.... :o)  Anyway you have to admit looking at these pics of the Hawk T 1A, the skill of the pilots is amazing...the precision and the timing of each manoeuvre is carried out with amazing accuracy. It must be such a buzz to be a part of these displays. Did you know....bear with me you knowledgeable ones out there, not everyone is aware of these trivia facts :o) ….it is not so easy to become a member of the Red Arrows....oh no....each pilot has to have had completed at least one operational tour on a fast jet like a Tornado, Jaguar or Harrier. And did you also know that if one of the pilots can’t fly they fly in an eight plane formation but, if the Team Leader ‘Red1’ is unable to fly, then the display doesn’t go ahead. Each of the nine pilots always flies in the same position in formation and they don’t have reserve pilots. This is because a spare pilot would not perform often enough to fly to the standard required. I could go on and on it’s fascinating.... :o)  Honestly, if you ever get the chance to watch them up close, or just read up about them, I’m sure you’ll feel the same about them. =o)

The Olympic Flame has now run its course through Wales. Did anyone get to see it at all?

It trundled its way through Dolgellau on Monday morning and it was a good turnout for the runners who took part. A procession including circus acts, acrobatics and street bands came ahead of the torch and Coca Cola reps gave out limited edition bottles of coca cola and frisbees at random to the crowds. Crowds of school children lined the route through the town. It was difficult to take photos though as there were so many people clamouring at the same time :o(

The only thing that struck me as strange though was the talk that Ras y Gader was being held to commemorate the Olympic Flame passing through!! I’m sorry but as I recall Ras y Gader has been held annually for a good few years and is not something new created for this event. Ras y Gader is a race of 10.5 miles from Dolgellau to the summit of Cader Idris and back down. It is a well organised fell run which is very popular in all categories. This year’s winner from Eryri running club was Matthew Roberts in a time of 1:28:43. Well done to him.

It’s been quite a few years since I went up to the top of Cader...it would probably take me about a month to walk up it now lol. It is beautiful up there though, the views, the tranquillity....if you ignore the sheep bleating :o) Although you know what they say about Cader Idris don't you....apart from the stories of the Tylwyth Teg (faries).... they say that if you spend the night on the summit, you either become a poet or a mad man!....Anyone care to try?... ;o) lol

When we were little we used to go for a walk with mam and dad, usually on a Sunday, along Cader Road, past Cader Idris and the Dam and home through the Wenallt. When we used to go with dad when we were a bit older, it was an adventure. Mostly because he used to take us to places he used to go as a child.....the only problem was at times, the fact that the lay of the land had changed since then....not that it bothered dad, he used to use that route so he saw no reason not to continue that way lol. Often a shout would be heard by an irate farmer telling us we were trespassing...until they saw who it was, then it was a case of: “Oh hello Treb, didn’t see it was you...etc etc”. Even if there was barbed wire on the top of a fence, it was a case of...”Duw that never used to be there..never mind...over you go...” Bless his cotton socks. :o)

When I was growing up we had picnics in the summer at the foot of Cader and when I had my children and we used to come down to Dolgellau, I would take them for a picnic there. When my mam and dad came with us, dad used to enthral them with stories of his youth and the folk tales connected to the area, and even my granddaughter has been for picnics there, memories shared through the generations :o)

That's it for now......

Stay safe and happy :o) xxxx

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Feel free to comment on here :o)

BLOG 14

Well did anybody watch the The Diamond Jubilee: Armed Forces Tribute, either at Windsor or on the television Saturday morning? I watched it live on the TV and I thought it was brilliant. The parade of all the armed forces marching past the Queen and Prince Phillip on the Castle Quadrangle was good but to me the best bit was the flypasts. The first one was a diamond formation of nine RAF Typhoons and later a flypast featuring 78 current and historic aircraft was led by 13 helicopters consisting of Merlin, Chinook, Sea King, and Apache all from RAF Odiham. These were then followed by the historic Lancaster bomber PA474 flying with 4 Spitfires from RAF Coningsby. Then we had 20 Short Tucano RAF trainers from RAF Linton-on-Ouse who flew in formation creating a perfect 60 in the sky over Windsor castle. Next came the RAF transporters..the Hercules, two flew one behind the other. A VC10 RAF Tanker flanked by two Tornado bombers had her fuel hoses out as she flew. These were from RAF Brize Norton. Then we had the fantastic....not that I'm biased lol....Hawk RAF/Navy trainers from RAF Valley flying in formation to show the E 11 R in the sky....brilliant. Last but by no means least....the legendary Red Arrows creating a three dimensional diamond to finish a flypast they should all feel immensely proud of. The skill of the pilots and the hard work of the ground crew and organisers was superb. :oD

Felt a bit cross with myself the other day for allowing myself to get upset indirectly by that 'person' I had 'trouble' with in work. She came up in conversation and it really upset me to realise that she is still getting one over me, and it still brings back the memories of what she did galloping towards me and landing like a depth charge in my gut....I thought I'd gotten over it, or at least put it in a box in the back of everything....obviously it's not going to go away in a hurry....or her either as she is still connected to too many people I know. Don't know what to do to make it better.... :'o(

Meet Olly, my granddaughter's guinea pig, isn't he gorgeous? :o) 

He loves snuggling up to her at the nape of her neck and under her hair, peeping out....lol. I have had the odd....and I mean odd....conversation with him over the phone. I kid you not....I speak and he squeaks lol.

Can you believe that the newest addition to the family....my grandson....is now four weeks old, doesn't time fly when your having fun :o) I'm told he is changing daily, but unfortunately I still haven't met the little man, and joke that he'll be graduating from university before I get to see him :o( ....but that will all change soon I hope and I will be full of news about him :o)

Sitting here writing this and I've just had an idea....yes it did hurt.... :o).... What if I was to do an OU course?

I mean I'm quite intelligent....yes I am....so why not at least look into it? Can't do any harm to look no? 

Lol get me, mature student in the making ha ha ha....

Hmm, I am going to trail through the OU website now to see what's what....

Watch this space!

Ok I'm done for now peeps....

Please RT on twitter and share on facebook with your friends....

Oh yea, please don't forget to leave comments for me and others to share....thank you ;o)

Keep safe and happy :o) xxxx

BLOG 13

Blog 13....lucky I'm not a superstitious person eh, or I might be tempted to skip it and go on to number 14 lol

Well I am soo gutted that I can't....didn't get to, depending when you're reading this....go to watch the rehearsal at RAF Valley for the Jubilee Flypast. It's not an airshow, it's a just a rehearsal for one of the most complex airborne spectacles ever attempted. I know I can watch it on telly, but it doesn't begin to compare to actually being there. :o(  I love jets....not got much to say to the big commercial planes but I do love the jets. The Hawk and Typhoon are firm favourites, but my all time favourite has to be the Harrier Jump Jet. What a machine :o) I also love the Red Arrows Aerial display team and admire their skill in the air. Sadly they have had two tragedies close to each other in the past year or so and heartfelt sympathy given to their loved ones and colleagues.

On a lighter note one of my all time favourite films....you guessed it lol....Top Gun showing all those action shots of the F-14 Tomcats and starring the gorgeous duo, Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards, not to mention Val Kilmer....phew :op.

Still on the conversation of aircraft, I am also rather partial to helicopters, my favourite being the Chinook, followed by the Apache and Sea King. The Sea Kings of course are used by 22 Squadron RAF Valley for their Search & Rescue. I used to go to RAF Valley to watch the aircraft coming and going. The Hawk pilots when taxi-ing on the runway waiting clearance to proceed would wave to you whilst waiting.... I am so easily pleased aren't I? :o) The car park is literally across the road to one of the runways and further along, near to a lane leading to a small beach you can park and watch the helicopters. I used to find it both relaxing....yea I know that sounds strange, but in a funny way it was....and exciting at the same time. It's strange how you lose all sense of time there. Often there would be all sorts of people there of all ages, some die hard spotters and ranging to families and people just being curious. :o)  Sometimes you could be there for ages and not see a thing and other times they would be really busy there. If you were lucky you would see something different coming in like the Eurofighter Typhoon....which I never saw land :o(  and the Hercules which was good. Of course at the other end is the Anglesey Airport which has flights to Cardiff and the Isle of Man. I really miss going there, but maybe one day I'll get back. Sometimes I used to go there alone but mostly my friend and me used to go there together and spend loads of time watching them and taking photos. I haven't been taking photos all that long as I didn't have a good camera until a couple of years ago, but, even if I do say so I'm getting quite good at it....though I doubt I'll ever be in his league of course. I can hear him agreeing with me as I write lol :o)

Anyway this Chinook photo is one of mine. :o)

So what did everyone think of the two big games for the two Manchester clubs? Unfortunately, once again the ugly side of the sport came out in the City v QPR game with the unnecessary violence of Joey Barton. Why? Who knows why they do it. I hope he gets a fitting punishment, but I doubt it very much.

Well once again the sun is shining with blue skies filled with fluffy white clouds....getting all poetical again :o) I hope we get a really nice summer this year, I said the other day that I reckon we are going to get a really hot summer like we did in 1976....watch this space lol

Oooh, I've just realised, I haven't had a rant for a while....hmmm :o)

Ok, that's your lot for this one, hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to comment and share with your friends on Facebook and RT it on Twitter.... :o)

Keep safe and happy xxx

Blog 12

Afon Arran

Hey...get me, I've worked out how to put pictures on my blog, yay!....errm....I'm so easily pleased lol :o)

This a picture of the Afon Arran in Dolgellau just before it goes under Bont yr Arran which leads into the town itself. We used to walk along the river, under the bridge and down to Cae Chwech as it was then, opposite the park. Some of the braver kids....you'll be surprised to hear I wasn't one of them ;o)....used to swing with a rope from a tree, across the deeper part of the river to the opposite bank.

Unfortunately, as in all redevelopment our play field is now a car park. In all fairness though, it not only is a car park they have also built a leisure centre there, so I guess the kids have benefitted from it. Mind you the biggest improvement I have to say is the park itself. They received funding from the National Lottery and now it is a park where not only the children can have fun, adults can too. I haven't got a picture as yet but I will post one on when I get one.... :o)  If anyone has a photo of the park before or after, please email them to me.... sharonevans2008@btinternet.com .... and we can all share them on here. Sounds like a plan? :o)


Well....unfortunately I no longer am able to read what's in front of my face without wearing my glasses.... :o(  on a happier note I can still read what's across the room.... :o)  So I reckon the best plan of action is to put my book on the table across the room in order to read it :o) Oh dear....massive flaw in that idea....I would have to cross the room each time I wanted to turn the pages over, and the speed I read I'd be up and down more often than a call girl's knickers.... ;op

So what did you all get up to over the bank holiday week-end? Did anyone go to the Victorian Extravaganza in Llandudno?  We used to go a lot, but haven't been for a few years now. My sister-in-law was one of the supporters who used to get into the spirit of it all. She used to make her own victorian costumes and wore them all day and took part in the parade through the town. She persuaded my daughter and her friend to take part once....and it was only once lol ....they both looked very nice fair play to them, but being teenagers the costumes were changed to their own clothes as soon as.... :o)

Happy Birthday today to my pal who is 27....again lol x

Short blog this time, but really will do my best to put them up more often, promise :o)

Don't forget comments please :o)

Stay safe and happy :o) xxx

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Thursday, 3 May 2012, 16:08

Blog 11

Hmmm....decided to write the next blog....got as far as this.... then......

Reading the newspaper this morning I was amazed to read that John Terry the Chelsea player who was sent off in the last Chelsea v Barcelona game is to be allowed to lift the cup if Chelsea win. Unbelievable that despite the racism case looming over him and being sent off for kneeing a Barcelona player in the back, the message that is being portrayed here is, no matter what you do wrong you will be rewarded for it. Not only....in my opinion....should he not be allowed to raise the cup, he shouldn't be allowed into the match and he should be stripped of his captaincy for  not only this misdemeanour, but for all his antics which give football a bad name. You know that I'm not the world's biggest football fan.... in fact I can't stand the game....but even I know that, like it or not, these people are placed on the world's stage and and should set an example.....

Still ranting at sporting atrocities, the news that Dwaine Chambers has had his Olympic lifelong ban lifted!!!! He was caught as a drug cheat, using performance enhancing drugs and banned for life from competing in the Olympics. Surely a life ban should be just that? Once again a poor example shown to our youngsters. Forget putting in all that hard work and dedication. Forget the pride in representing your club and country honestly. Go ahead and cheat your way to the top and take away the honour from normal athletes! I know that I've opened a can of worms with this :o) I have had one or two opinions, good valid arguments. A couple of people agree with me, one agreed and disagreed,  at the same time, and quite a few had the same opinion, in that he has now paid for his 'mistake' and should be allowed to get on with his life, including taking part in the Olympics. Hmm. Anyway what do the rest of you think? Please add your comments and share with everyone :o)

What's the weather like where you are? It has been raining here for two days non stop. Ok it's not torrential like some parts of the country, but it's still wet, lol :o)

I had to delete a friend off facebook yesterday. It's so sad in a way and I never realised he had become the person he is today :o(.  I'll keep it for the next blog....don't want more ranting on this one lol :o)

Oooh.... shhhh....don't look now but the sun has come out to play :o) Isn't the weather fascinating? It's amazing how it can change so suddenly and so often. Talk about keeping us on our toes :o)

To think at the beginning I didn't have anything to say....lol

Been talking about childhood holidays today. We used to spend our summer holidays at my nain's in Criccieth. We often spent most days down at the beach. Nain used to make us jam sandwiches with a bottle of pop and strict instructions to be home for tea and if we were to drown not to come running to her!!!!  lol :o)
In those days children could roam in relative safety. Many free ice creams from Mr Cadwalader and the odd free bag of sweets from Mrs Mansell. Days spent at the castle in our own private games. Walking along Lon Bach to Cae Swings, or to the allotments. One year we discovered a lucrative business at the golf course. The owner/manager or whatever he was would pay for lost golf balls handed in....yep you guessed it....my brother, sister, me and the owner's granddaughter....unbelievable I know lol....surprisingly found a great deal of golf balls that seemed to go missing round about the part of the course that ran alongside the hedge. Designed to allow a bit of privacy I suspect, but ideal for kids to hide under to grab any golf balls that came our way :o)

Does anyone remember when the Corona man came round selling pop? If memory serves me right....that's a bit of a gamble....if you gave him back the bottle with the lid you got your next one cheaper. And who can honestly say that they never got excited when you heard the musical chimes of the ice cream van coming down the street :o)

Good memories :o)

I could write a book about childhood memories couldn't I.... hmmm....

Ok that's your lot for now :o)

Stay safe and happy :o) xxx