Stroodel

Loves the fuckwit spaniel, & a mate for the ginger tosser, who is gradually taking to her. Fitted in just perfectly and the boys adore her.

She's a rescue kitten, so it's nice that she's ended up with us.

Glamping

Had a weekend in these pod thingies, and it being Wales, it pissed down in the night, so it was rather pleasant not to have to pack up a wet tent in the morning

Had a bit of a chilly day on the beach, but we did get a few hours of sun which made it worthwhile

As well as finding a sheltered spot in the dunes for a barbie and a cheeky wet

Headed off to Cardiff bay the following day and had a good mooch and lunch next to the water. A few of us ventured onto a R.I.B with 400 horses on the back for a blast across the bay. Scared the crap out of Josh, I've never seen him hold on as tightly to anything before, white knuckles indeed.

A cracking weekend was had by all. Good times.

Gaza

Gaza has no army, no air force, and no navy. It is under attack from Israel, the fourth largest military power on the planet.

Israel has declared that all people within a 3km strip of the border must leave their homes, effectively driving them into the sea.

David Cameron urged Israel to show restraint, and yet since that statement they have killed civilians indiscriminately, including in a school, and a packed market place. America has also admitted to supplying the Israeli's with arms deemed neccessary for urgent purposes.

The UK government has sent £10m relief aid. They'd be better off rebuilding Gaza's only power station, there is little or no electricity after the Israeli's bombed it. Another accident, no doubt.

We are shamed by the non actions of our politicians.

So far during this latest conflict, three Israeli civilians have been killed, three, and yet they are free to commit mass murder on a daily basis.

It's a mad, mad world

The world seems a bit fucked in the head today.

Once again, the leaders of the most powerful nations sit back and do the square root of fuck all as Israel slaughters civilians. In a week of shockingly indiscriminate killing, the death of the four young boys playing on the beach particularly sickened me. They were the same age as my son, just doing as eleven year old boys do, mucking about with their mates.

And then the shooting down over Ukraine of a passenger airliner with nearly three hundred people on board.

Sometimes, the capacity of the human race to heap suffering on each other simply astounds me.

R.I.P Jinxie

Our wonderful little black cat.

October 2005 - 9th June 2014.

Very sudden, but we all got the chance to say goodbye.

Scrubbing up nicely

The Gumph in all their finery

Be careful that time doesn't pass you by. Jeez, they get big quick.

The season ends

On a scoring note

And then a pause for reflection

It seems an awfully long time since this, the very first game

Modern art

Josh loves Banksy, so he was rather excited when he found out about the new picture in Cheltenham.

It's brilliant, and here's Josh as part of it!

Busy times, happy times

Life at Gumph towers has been somewhat of a whirlwhind over the past few week.

In no particular order, Amanda ran the London Marathon, my little sis got married, Charlie went on rugby tour, played in the North Mids cup final and had a trial with the Welsh Exiles.

All rather splendid and emotional stuff. I'm turning into a proper softie.

Amanda was just fantastic running 4.23 on a very hot day. First and last apparently, we'll see. She's still stiff a few days on and still on a real high after a nervous and tense week leading up to it. When you've not done one before, the prospect is full of unknowns. We went up with Josh and her Mum, Charlie had rugby ( more of which later) and her sister, brother in law, their kids and her cousins all came along. We saw here at thirteen and twenty four miles, and although we all went batshit mental, she serenely breezed by, oblivious with ipod on full blast. It was a superb day, London looked great, the atmosphere was ace, and she was bloody marvellous.

No idea where the England floag came from, dubious stuff from my nephew

My sister's wedding was lovely, and I found it a rather emotional day (much the same as seeing Amanda do the marathon, no idea where this sentimentality has come from) It was in the middle of nowhere near Crickhowell, they'd actually married in a civil ceremony in Singapore, this was the big blessing, and what  a bash it was. The church was tiny, we were crammed in like sardines, there was no parking on the single track lane, so we were ferried up in a fleet on minibuses. They'd booked out the Gliffaes, on the banks of the Usk for the weekend, a wonderful part of the world.

It's just great to see her happy again . Adrian is a lovely, kind man, who adores her. The pics are a bit limited, as Josh was in charge of photography, he rather enjoys it, but he managed to lose the camera, so we have a few snatched shots on my phone. He had a high old time, boogieing way into the night. The same couldn't be said of his brother, due to this

Rugby tour.

Thank god it was in Cardiff, and made it fairly easy for him to be on tour and come to the wedding with a bit of running around. I was banned from going until Sunday, just as well really as it's a boozy affair for the dads. Charlie missed the fun stuff on the Saturday, but played in the games on Sunday at Cardiff Arms Park, pretty special. He was also there for the the usual Sunday afternoon shenanigins of tour court which is a good laugh..
He's had a busy few weeks. He stayed with friends when we went to London as it clashed with the North mids cup final. He was gutted not to come to London, and I was gutted to miss the final. Not just because of him, I'm one of the team coaches,and the collective effort by the boys to get there was superb. They lost to a very good side, but they and he have had a tremendous season. I took him to Llandovery college yesterday for a trial with the Welsh Exiles. It's the WRU trying to pick up Welsh qualified players who play for clubs outside of Wales. It was tough, and a high standard, but he performed well. We'll wait to see what comes of it.

We're all shattered after the last few weeks, the kids are on holiday for a couple of weeks, so they can have some down time. These two don't seem too rushed off their feet, the fuckwit spaniel and the ginger tosser, oblivious to all around them.

Not singing hymns and arias

Wales have been a bit rubbish this six nations. I'd like to be flippant and say that we're letting someone else win for a change, but I fear it's lean times ahead for Welsh rugby as a whole.

Here's someone I prefer to watch at the moment, resplendent in his county training kit and the remains of a shiner!

Oh really?

Cuntsmurfs.

Every where I turn today, I am met with cocksockets at every junction.

Steaming great knob wipes with seemingly nothing better to do than piss on my chips.

I shall vanish for the remainder of the day and remain cocooned from the populace at large.

Well, later anyway, when I'm less busy. Until then I shall endeavour to tolerate the never ending stream of assorted loons and spunkmuffins who seem intent on crossing my path. It will not be tolerated with good humour, fuck 'em all bendy.

I stuffed some squid last night. Go me. Fiddly as fiddly thing on a particularly fiddly day in the middle of a fiddly fit.