Talbennyhall’s Weblog

Here I am back home all tanned, honed and watered, and well yes perhaps a little plump here and there due to the odd souvlaki washed down with Malamatina (Retsina to you) and of course Metaxa!!!! So nothing to rant about yet, even the weather was kind to us on our return, though it’s now deteriorating a little. Ho hum mustn’t grumble lots to look forward to;  the winter with loads of rain,dark nights, short dismal days, cold, running out of oil for the heating, coughs, sneezes, sore throats, runny noses, Christmas shopping, rubbish TV,  –  endless rounds of parties, dances, dinners in the pubs and restaurants, lots to drink, New Year, walks on Marloes beach, planning next years holidays, anticipating a good summer, friends, close family.  Not so bad after all, who said ‘BUM HUG’?

I’m not in a ranting mood today.  Well I suppose I could always work myself up to a real rant if I wanted to, as there is so much to rant about, though by the evidence of my last go nobody seemed to know what I was on about so what’s the point? Any road up (as one says in Brum) I just wanted you to know that I shall be away for a month so NAARRDEE-NAARDEE-NAARDEE.  I’m, well, we are off on our hols to guess where? Yes you’ve got it;  Little Haven, Pembrokeshire!  Just joking, though a better place to find is exceeding difficult.  No we’re off to Molyvos in Lesbos again. Yes that’s Greece and yes we went last year and the year before and the year before that, in fact virtually every year for the last twenty odd years! Don’t care, we love it, so I’ll have a rant towards the end of October if you can wait that long?

Now keep this to yourselves because if it gets out things could get a bit iffy for me. 

I can’t really tell you much of what you must keep to yourselves except that it gets right up my nose and I don’t know how it can be fair or even legal when you truly analyse the powers exerted by these people.  The decisions made often have huge impacts on our lives and yet are of little or no consequence to others except for the occasional ‘ridged-backed lesser spotted whelk’  That’s if you are just a simple law abiding and tax paying private individual!  BUT if you are a huge tax dodging suspect industrial conglomerate, anything goes.  Not fair is it?  Obviously I can’t tell what’s not fair, nor even who or what these people are, as I suspect that I may suddenly disappear and that would never do as I would no longer be able to carry on my fight against this injustice!  Please be reassured that I am here and ready on your as well as my behalf to bring them to their knees.  Soon we will have back our rights to carry on as once before, though obviously you are not fully aware what those rights are, or how we used to carry on!  Please keep this under your hat as I don’t feel that secure?????????

There it is again, that expression;  ‘I’m gutted’  it’s so crude and unpleasant, and it makes me feel gutted, as in having my entrails removed! (dictionary definition)  Where has it come from, our North American cousins? Cousins?  how can that be when half of them are called Brodowski or are related to the Sicilian mafia? where  here on these green and pleasant isles we are Ponsonby-Smythe, if you’re English.  Llewellyn-Lloyd-Blodwyn-Davies-Jones if you’re…..it’s so obvious! Maconitsraining… Scottish (or maybe a French grape?) and O’Reallyoimoirish from just across the water.  But I digress, why have we adopted this most unpleasant word without any warning to the more sensitive of us, to describe our displeasure or mild annoyance at the most mundane happenings in our lives?  ‘I’m gutted it’s raining’  or  ‘I’m gutted that I missed Eastenders last night’……..Well I’m gutted that you’re all so gutted, so please think up a more appropriate expression to denote how gutted you really are!

Yesterday was the annual Little Haven Regatta. Well I say annual because it is intended to be held each year, but the weather has had it’s inevitable  say, not least last year!  It’s also suffered from insurance overload;  ’A regatta sir, no problem, now where will that be held?……. At sea!… Ah sea’s extra, we’ll have to load your insurance for that…..Anything else we ought to know?…….Boats with sails!……Ooh boats with sails is extra, we’ll have to load you more for that……What do you mean people in the boats, I’ll have to speak to my superior about that…..’  and so on. Fortunately the regatta is now run in association with Dale Yacht Club and the insurance problems have been overcome.

I was interested in entering the swimming events this year but I wasn’t able on two counts;  1. My swimming costume was deemed to be illegal. My mind immediately went to the World Swimming Championships in Rome and those polyurethane body suits which are about to be banned. But no, it was that mine was a woolly costume and it sags when wet, and thus too revealing!  2. I just missed out on the age thing. Maximum age; 16 years!

I had to content myself with being a spectator again and give assistance to the ailing brewing industry, which I willingy did!  There again I say spectator, what can you see standing outside the Swan when sailing boats are whizzing around Stack Rock 2 – 3 miles away and some bloke keeps shooting at them from the Point? I decided that munching a fabulous baby octopus and squid bap, and a pint of Bass was a perfect way of enjoying Little Haven Regatta, roll on next year!

Here we are then; a new dawn! the electrification of the rail link between London and Swansea. This will be very useful in more ways than one as it means that after 8 years of the conversion, construction, and total chaos of said electric link you will save 20 minutes on the journey. WHOW! that will be worth it then. Of course we must remember that we will be reducing the carbon footprint as this new (?) system replaces the old diesel engines. Nasty old things burning all that dirty, poisonous, polluting, carbon hoofing diesel stuff!  But where oh where will they get all that extra electricity from?  Well, they are going to build a new power station on the  Milford Haven, on the site of the old one (totally demolished about 5 or so years ago!) and burning what to generate all that extra electricity? OILY stuff!!!  At least if you come on holiday to Pembrokeshire you will get an extra 20 minutes of our beautiful county.

Just a thought, if we’ve had electric trains all this time and they are faster and more efficient than coal or diesel, how come they are still struggling to develop an efficient and sensibly priced electric car?  The power of the oil industry!!!!!!!!!!!

I just thought that there may be a few people out there who would wish to know that old Molly, sister to Boss, has now joined him in that sniffy doggy heaven.  She turned up her paws 0n the 5th June, just a month short of her 16th Birthday.  That’s all really, there wasn’t a wake!

A postscript to my last ‘Rant’  I was a little confused by the technology and only managed to post the title;  ‘Rubbish or Treasure’ so read across to where it says ‘about rubbish or treasure, click on and read on!

Rubbish or Treasure « Talbennyhall’s Weblog

It’s been a while since my last ‘communication’  Why? basically I’ve run out of rant material, so I thought that I would just let you (whoever ‘you’ is or are, if you see what I mean) know that I’m still here, and that with no call for the new poet laureate post (see last ‘rant’) I won’t be penning anymore odes for a while!

Of course when I say that I’ve run out of rant material, that’s not strictly true, as I’ve just remembered that my mower has broken down again, the weather has not yet turned into the barbeque summer the met office promised, I haven’t lost an ounce of weight since I’ve been killing myself at the gym twice a week, the otter seems to be back at the lake eating the few remaining fish we have, I still have tons of gravel surplus to requirement and nowhere to put it, I’ve just been told that I should get off the computer as we are going out and we’re half an hour late and I’ve yet to have a shower, shave, and make myself beautiful. Jolly good, back to normal, plenty of ranting material there and I wasn’t even trying!!!!

Spring is sprung, the grass is ris

I wonder where dem birdies is

Dem birds they be on the wing

But that’s absurd, cos the wing is on the bird

Spring is sprung the grass is ris

I wonder where dem tourists is

Dem tourists they be on their way

To Talbenny for a stay

Spring is sprung the grass is ris

I wonder if the sun comes out

Of course  it does, though not yet hot

Everyone knows this is the spot

Spring is sprung the grass is ris

I wonder where dem tourists is

Dem tourists they all shout and call

Let’s have a break at Talbenny Hall!