Talbennyhall's Weblog

New baby

talbennyhall — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 13:58:18 +0000

Grumpy old Rod isn’t so grumpy today, why? because one of his babies (Chloe) has had a baby, and it’s a girly baby, and it’s 9lb 2oz and it’s beautiful and it’s nothing like her grumpy old Dah-de-dah, but oh so like her lovely Mum and Dad…….well her Mum anyway cos Dad’s got a beard!!!!!!!! So today isn’t a rant, just an outpouring of luuuuuuuuuuuuuve! I wonder what they’ll call her?

It’s May!

talbennyhall — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:24:10 +0000

No time, not much to say, can’t really be bothered, new government, economic gloom continues, loads of decorating to do, fed up, BUT……. it’s hot and sunny!!!!!………………AH! but for how long? Anyway I just wanted to post a blog during May before it’s too late. Don’t worry I shall be back to my normal cheery self soon, say in June?

Sharing not gloating!

talbennyhall — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:33:11 +0000

Some of you may know that Daphne and I were invited to join a very good friend of ours for his 60th Birthday celebrations at his expense! We were to accompany him and his family plus three other friends on a mystery holiday. No information was forthcoming except the need for passports and decent clobber. No problem there then, well except the BA strike!

We all meet in London at some poncey hotel, with me expecting a nice restful evening after the trauma of the long and tiring journey from Talbenny…..NO! we have to have dinner, then off to the theatre to see that pufter kid prancing about in that Billy Elliot musical! Well it had better get better than that I thought, but no it was still going downhill. I presume that due to the BA strike the flights to our destination had been cancelled, why? because we are going by train!!! I ask you in this day and age who wants to spend hours in some old, grubby train? not me. As many of you know it is not in my nature to offend, so grudgingly I dragged our suitcases to Victoria station only to be told to get on some old train (just as I thought!) with ‘Pullman’ written on the side. Where the hell is Pullman, some obscure and forgotten resort on the south coast? Anyway, after some posh scoff and bubbly wine we got off and onto a bus which drove onto another train called The Eurostar which then went to France, under the English Channel! then onwards to yet another old train. This one could be better I thought; at least it was fast and gave a hint to our destination….’The Orient Express’……well that was wrong on both counts; first we stayed in Europe and second it wasn’t fast…26 hours on board!

This is getting a little tedious all round, so let me cut to the chase, we had a sleeper cabin to each couple (not even a double bed) plenty to eat and drink (this was on the plus side!) loads of nice scenery which reminded me of Snowdonia, then eventually arriving in some remote part of Italy of all places, where you can’t even get a proper taxi….Venice!!! Yes it was very nice for somewhere foreign, and we were grateful for the sunshine, but get this; after 3 nights we got a plane home (well Gatwick…not even Cardiff Airport) in 90 minutes, yes 90 festering minutes!!!!!!!!!!

Yes well we did have a good time and all, and the food, drink and hotel were very special, not to mention Venice itself and we were very grateful to be included in the celebrations, but 90 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Supermarkets

talbennyhall — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:55:19 +0000

I don’t like supermarket shopping, but it has to be done and I’m a dutiful husband who feels that it’s only fair to take my share of this tedious chore, so I regularly push the trolly on Fridays. Like most people I do enjoy the booze sections with their vast array of tempting wines, spirits, beers etc. But (oh! yes there has to be a but!) who do these supermarket bas…ds think they are, when after stocking your favourite greek white wine for years they decide….’you can’t have that anymore’…. Why? because they say so. It was the same with a popular spanish brandy. Obviously though these were products that I regularly sneaked into the trolly when Daphne was busying herself with trivia like cereals and toothpaste, I’m not only concerned with alcohol as that would suggest that I may have a bit of a problem in that department???!!! I’m sure that if you think of products you have bought from your supermarket on a regular basis that there are items which have inexplicably disappeared, only to be substituted with an alternative of their choice, not yours! Let us rise up against this tyranny and demand that though sales of your choice products may not be great, they should take to heart that ‘every little helps’

Australia….extra!

talbennyhall — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:35:08 +0000

Just thought you might be interested Australia’s bank notes are waterproof, so no problem with the surfing….I personally found this to be very useful?

Fed Up!

talbennyhall — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:25:02 +0000

I’m back and ready to rant……..well I should be after five weeks away in the land of the whinging strine, that was my perception before we left. Oh how wrong I was, the festering place is full of cheerful people, smiling, suntanned, off surfing and saying ‘how’re you goin’ and ‘enjoy your day’ and ‘where are you guys from’ and they are actually interested in your reply! What’s that all about? When we ask ‘how are you’ we really couldn’t care less, it doesn’t matter if you’ve just wrecked the car, or been given three days to live, we’re not that interested!

What about this, Austalians are allowed to be publicly proud of their country, and rightly so! Not like here where to display national pride might be considered offensive to those who do not think of Britain as their country but live here anyway…..Ooh I think that’s verging on a rant!

Look, in a nutshell Australia is amazing; fantastically friendly people, gorgeous scenery, wonderful food, goodish at sport, speak english (sort of) and they’re not planning any terrorist atrocities against us……I think! Oh yes and it’s hot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whingeing?

talbennyhall — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:54:30 +0000

Just a short note; I’m wondering whether whingeing is quite the same as ranting, or whether it is slightly less aggressive? My concern is important for as you know this occasional diatribe is known as ‘Rod’s Rants’ which I think is more butch than ‘Rod’s Whinges’ Now we all know that the Strines (Australians!) call us ‘Whingeing Poms’ charming! Don’t you think that ‘Ranting Poms’ has more guts to it? I think so. Why is this so important to me at this precise moment?………Daphne and I are off to Australia to see Nat and Gloria!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Xmas

talbennyhall — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 10:55:33 +0000

Sorry, forgot, MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Modern Technology/Design

talbennyhall — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:13:28 +0000

Hey, now I like the idea of these new(ish) driving licences; neat, plastic, flattering photo, and they fit perfectly into your credit card wallet! How is it that all credit cards etc, or ‘plastic’ as they are generically known, are exactly the same size the world over? Amazing! that’s what you call coordinated design. So with an exciting adventure coming up, Australia for a month in January, Daf and I have only gone and got ourselves those snazzy driving licences (they like them in Oz) Obviously I had a bit of a problem at the photo booth in Tescos. I was either too big, too close to the camera or not showing my best side, I couldn’t quite work it out. Anyway after a few rejections and spending another fortune on photos in Tescos those nice people at the DVLA sent me my new licence. (Daf had hers first time round and by return!) Anyway was I pleased with myself? I jolly well was! So into my neat little credit card wallet it went, because that’s what it’s all about; tidyness and convenience. Being a thorough sort of person I thought that I should read the small print on that green bit of paper that came with the licence; it’s called ‘Counterpart Driving Licence’ there’s a clue! it says; ’Important document – The photocard and paper counterpart should be kept together.’…… Here we go, just you try to fold that piece of paper to the exact size to fit into your ‘neat little credit card wallet’ NO CHANCE! but the said piece of paper is a different size to the original licence (before the plastic photo one) so presumably the new system was created at the same time and by the same designers, and at great expense. Money well spent! Not only that I’ve had to buy a bigger wallet to accommodate the big piece of paper!….. PROGRESS

This situation has not turned me into a Jacobite (I probably mean Luddite!) and I would point out that I don’t have a particular problem with the idea of identity cards, but if the driving licence debacle is anything to go by you can bet your bottom dollar that it will have to be accompanied by your Birth Certificate, and that certainly won’t fit into your credit card wallet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Retirement

talbennyhall — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:57:45 +0000

I know you won’t believe it (!) but some people have said that I can be a little grumpy at times, and that as I’ve got older perhaps even more fractious than before. Absolute nonsense of course, as I’ve become older I feel that I’m more understanding, tolerant, easy going, and generally a jolly good sort! However, in order to maintain this new karma I must be stress free, and to this end Daphne has decided to keep me away from the cottage guests (who yelled hurrah?) Obviously she won’t let me leave Talbenny Hall, so I’ll be locked up inside whenever guests need any advice, help or a friendly chat. This situation will mean that Daphne is also not available, as she will be busy making sure that I cannot escape, and remain shackled to the computer typing up my gentle RANTS!

To ensure the continuity of our high standards we are handing over the management of the cottage business to our agents; ‘Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire’ tel:01437 767600 All enquiries for 2010 should be directed to them.

In the event of my occasional escape I may just say ‘hello’