While on holiday in Snowdonia we visited Llanbeblig Caernarfon Cemetery and it has to be the worst cemetery i have ever seen. Such a lack of respect for the dead is shown and it seems to be the local hangout for drunks and druggies.One male and 2 young females were sitting on the graves around the back of the church while we went around taking photographs. Your life must be quite dismal or just downright pathetic if this is the only thing you can think of doing on a Friday afternoon. In a way it's quite apt actually, seeing as they are probably going to be 6ft under if they keep up their hobby. One can only hope.
This place also shows how useless Caernarfon council / Mayor is, paying for stupid shows and events to be held while letting their dead rot in a place of utter disgust. One grave of three children all under 14 was broken, overgrown and covered in beer bottles and it was upsetting to see. There are also war graves there, all forgotten about and among the debris.
Today we arrived home from our holiday in Snowdonia.
Apart from two days which were a wash out (Literally!) We had a good time. We visited the Great Orme Copper Mine, The Welsh Mountain Zoo, Anglesey Model Village and Gardens,Welsh Slate Quarry Museum Llanberis and we also drove around Snowdon and stopped off at various points to take photographs and enjoy the views.
The Anglesey Model Village was a bit disappointing. It is a fairly reasonable price wise to get in but it takes up only about 15-30 minutes. The names of the mini shops are quite amusing...for example Dan Druff- Hairdresser and i suppose if the sun is shining it would make it worthwhile to visit if you're passing. Children get a quiz to fill in as they go around and this seemed to occupy ours. They also have a small cafe which sells a limited amount of souvenirs. Anglesey Model Village
The Great Orme Copper Mine seemed to be a hit with hubby and the children. At 5ft 11 i was constantly hitting my head on something. Thankfully the helmet you get given stopped me having a serious injury! Don't get me wrong, i enjoyed it but my shoes don't have brilliant grip so in some parts i was crapping myself :) Yes i'm a wimp!Honestly if you are in the area it is well worth a visit Great Orme Mines
The Welsh Mountain Zoo was brilliant, i could of spent several days there. The cost to get in is fair seeing as it can easily take up a day. The birds of prey display, Sea lion show and penguin feeding were great to watch. I loved the Red Panda, i have never seen one before and it was very cute. The children loved the Sea Lion show, it was a really nice experience for them and they are still talking about it. The Brown Bears were another great thing to see, especially as one was having so much fun cracking into and eating a coconut. Welsh Mountain Zoo
A really worthwhile and cheap day out which i highly recommend would be the Welsh Slate Quarry Museum in Llanberis. It's free to get in! and has so much to explore. It's another place that could easily take up a day. After visiting we went to have a look at the lake that is just a minutes walk away, i let our two girls paddle in the water as it was shallow where we were and our youngest ended up getting a cut on her thumb. We walked over to the Quarry Museum as that was where the nearest first aid kit was and she ended up passing out on me after getting a plaster put on her thumb. It must of looked quite a picture me and her on the floor with her white as a sheet. Anyway as it was quite a deep cut we had to detour to the nearest doctors so she could get some butterfly stitches. She is now very proud of her thumb and can't wait to show it off to friends...!
Anyway that's about it from me for the moment, i will update tomorrow with some more holiday snaps and no doubt have something else to chat about by then.
While i think of it R.I.P. To the people who died in Norway and the young and talented singer Amy Winehouse. *Both tragic news*
I best start off with an apology to FunkiMunkiBadge lady Leah :( Just realised i have something here that i haven't posted yet! darn..it will be in the post tomorrow..*promise*
It's been one of those weeks..actually months. The one really good thing is we are off on holiday Saturday, and it also happens that our daughter will be ten on the same day. Are we off to somewhere exotic i hear you ask? Well that would be a big fat no. Not unless you call North Wales exotic...but regardless of the fact it doesn't involve a plane or half a dozen semi naked men running around waiting on me hand and foot..oh and yes i'm feeling nice so i would of chucked in half a dozen semi naked women running around for hubbys benefit too. I'm sure the holiday will be enjoyed.
We usually go on our holiday in school time but what with important exams and other such things we can't really take the children away from important classes this coming year.No matter how much money we would of saved doing so! The prices for breaks in the summer holidays are almost laughable, though i suppose it is classed as a luxury to have a holiday nowadays. Though personally i think it is more of a necessity.
I like to be away from everything and everyone i see day to day and just spend time with the family, exploring new places. Oh gawd i'm getting excited... roll on Saturday!
This week my smile moment was when i received some very yummy rumblers pots. I am a huge fan. I could easily have an addiction to them..i had Strawberry,Raspberry and Chocolate delivered. What more could a woman want? I just love the fact it's good for me and yet tastes divine. They are perfect for breakfast, a lunchbox or picnic.
You can follow them on twitter at @RumblersPots or check out their website here for stockists Rumblers
Anyway that's my lot tonight as i'm totally shattered.
Me and hubby have spent a lovely afternoon in Goodwick Harbour this afternoon. It's easy to forget how lucky we are to have the sea right on our doorstep.
There were quite a few people about making the most of the sunshine. It really is a perfect day, sunny yet with a lovely breeze and there is something quite refreshing sitting down, looking out at the sea and breathing in the sea air.
There was plenty of pesky seagulls as normal waiting for passers by to drop a bit of food.
We spotted a very happy border collie having a splash about in the water and then running across the sand, shaking himself off near his owner and then burying his toys.
I loved looking at all the different pebbles that have been washed ashore, hubby managed to find some really nice layered ones. I tried looking for fossils but unfortunatly couldn't find any. There was plenty of crabs,snails and mussels about though. Our youngest daughter always ends up with pocketfuls of pebbles when she comes here.
These are the emotions i experienced due to my nan having Alzheimer's. It's really hard to imagine someone you love so much losing their memories of you unless you are put in the awful situation of it happening to you.
Anger :- I think i experienced Anger mainly at myself for not having the courage to face my nan in her final years and at the so called "god or higher being" for giving my strong willed nan who had brought up five children by herself , one of whom was disabled such an awful illness when she deserved to have so much happiness in her later years.
Fear. I think this is of the unknown. How long do they have? How long before they forget you? How will i be able to cope without them in my life?
Shame. For not visiting when i should of. For not being there. For not being the model grandaughter she had probably wished for.
Sadness. You mourn for them when the illness is diagnosed. You mourn for them when their memories fade. You eventually mourn for them when they are no longer with us.
My nan died in April 2009, 3 months after my grandad. She was from Faicchio in Italy yet lived most of her adult life in Wales. She is now at rest back in her home town in Italy. We shared a birthday, many laughs and tears over the years. She was my nan and i loved her more than anything.
It always surprises me when someone dies that people seem to move on with their lives quite effortlessly, forget if you will and continue their lives as normal. Since April 2009 i have longed for the day when i can no longer think of my nan each day without tears welling up in my eyes. I know..life goes on and people have to move forward but i'm still in mourning. Maybe i will always be.
Hopefully one day there will be a cure or something that significantly delays the symptoms so other people don't lose their loved ones to an illness that seems to cruel.
Hold your loved ones close. Nobody knows what tomorrow holds.
"Maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have"
Well i noticed the other week that our tadpoles had started growing legs and were spending quite a bit of time sat on the rock rather than in the water. I didn't want to release them till they had fully turned into frogs but common sense told me it was time to "Free Willy" them before they started leaping about and leaving the haven of a lunch box that had been their home over the last few weeks.
We returned them to where we had originally collected them from. Youngest daughter gently tipped them into the water and they seemed quite happy. I must admit i'm rather sad to see them go. They were a reminder of my childhood and how much time i had spent with my wellies on searching the local ponds for any tadpoles that i could gather into my jam jar. I may have come home looking like a drowned rat on more than one occasion but i was one very happy drowned rat.
A quick reminder, i have only had one email so far regarding the giveaway i ran on my blog. It would be ever so helpful if the other winners could email me asap as i hope to be sending the prizes off on Tuesday. Thank you.
Tonight my children have been having loads of fun making the Galt Bouncy Balls Kit. It was sent to us to review by the lovely people over at izziwizzikids.co.uk
I just happened to be online at the right time and spotted a shout out for testers on their facebook page (check them out!) and i thought that is something my children will love to have a go with. Unfortunatly oldest daughter was having a bad hair day so didn't want to go on video, luckily my 9 year old adores the camera and bad hair day or not nothing would of stopped her reviewing this kit. She did make some mistakes on the video..in fact her brother was in stitches *silent* laughing but i thought we would just use it anyway. I'm not into making our children seem word perfect on camera, mistakes are all a part of life anyway and it didn't take much away from the review.
The kit is really simple to make, the packets of crystals which make the balls come in a variety of colours and you just need to pour the crystals into one of the two included moulds (one small, one large) You can mix colours together for a nice effect. Then you put the mould into water and wait 2 minutes for it to set. Then you remove the ball from the mould and rinse it under a cold tap and wait for it to dry and then you have a fantastic bouncy ball. It says for age 8 upwards which seems about right, though i'm sure younger children would enjoy making them aslong as they were fully supervised.
Ours had loads of fun making them and bouncing them about afterwards, even my young teenage son. My youngest loved the fact that they glow in the dark and took great delight in turning off the lights in every room just to see them glow!
