Pride in Your Streets - Pride in Your Work

I have always been taught to take pride in my work. I have a strong work ethic and believe that when in employment nothing less than 100% effort is acceptable.

When I was working for a Japanese company, there was a set standard for how your work station should look. Sounds crazy and controlling but they got it right..... a neat desk equals an organised mind. (Pity I have never employed this thought to my own home!!)

I have always taken pride in my work and am always self critical because I strive to do my best for others.

I honestly wished that the refuse collection service of Wrexham Council applied the same ethics.

Considering our council tax has hiked year after year and cuts have been made to our services at the same pace.... I do expect to have a service delivered with pride.

This is not the case.

Although I have seen "Pride in Your Streets" bandied about by the council, it seems a bit of a double standard when their workers don't have pride in our streets and yet we are expected to!!!

What am I talking about??


THIS.................

Each week I take out my refuse and recycling bins and place them neatly outside my house to the side of my driveway and virtually every single week THIS is what I come home to.

We live in a small cul-de-sac with not much parking space or room for manoevre so its frustrating to have to abandon my vehicle blocking 4 other driveways while I remove the said obstacles.

All they need to do is place them back where I put them! Is that too much to ask? That way I can come home from work, park on my drive and then take my bins back in.

Rant over, complaint going in to the council!

My Baby is 11 Tomorrow

Just looking at these photos now, I just cannot put into words the deep love I feel for my little boy. All those years ago he came quickly into our lives like a hurricane and now he is maturing into a caring and loving boy who I am so proud of.

North and South Wales are like Chalk and Cheese

Before I start writing this post let me explain about the title. I am not criticising any part of my country, I am purely making my own observations which to be perfectly honest with you, after my South Wales holiday has been a bit of a shock. The view I have always held of my country is that of unification, as one-ness but it isn't.

I suppose I could compare Wales to a beautiful and amazing diamond.... unique, priceless, beautiful, sought after and if you hold it in different lights it changes........... No matter what the change it remains utterly beautiful and the light can show you hidden aspects.

I live in North Wales, in one of the largest towns in the country - Wrecsam. I actually live in the borough of Wrecsam in a border hamlet called Lavister which is now part of Rossett (Yr Orsedd). Its very agricultural in the North with farms and cattle all around us. Even towards the Llyn Peninsula and Anglesea the story is the same.

Farming is a tough industry and alot of farms have either failed or diversified in order to stay alive. So sadly the North part of Wales has become a mixture of farming and tourism. In fact places such as Abersoch and Llandudno are nick named by us locals as "Little England". Abersoch is a particular eye opener with the amount of range rovers, yahts, boats........... we feel quite poor when we visit in Jason's "truck" in comparison.

The North Wales welsh tend to be insular, and that isn't a criticism, I am a northerner myself but I think it must be the structure of our towns and villages and the fact that everyone *used to know everyone in their town.

The impression I got of the people from the South was warmth, friendliness, a more cosmopolitan feel.They didn't feel as aggressive... Maybe that description is a bit harsh but whenever I have used public facilities in the north, there has been an element of aggression to the point that I can't leave my 10 year old son who is on the autistic spectrum because he usually gets picked on. I know I have only used the LC2 in South Wales but the feel I got from that facility was one of fun.... people were there to relax and have fun..... I felt relaxed and didn't feel the need to be on my son's back all of the time...... Guess what??? he didn't get picked on once!

I expected the South part of Wales to be industrial but I found that it was a mix of the two.... Consider a beach town right next to or part of an industrial and countryside community..... I found that very odd but very attractive.

Having had a hard day at the office........ take your family down to one of the local beaches for a BBQ and some beach fun.

The beaches themselves weren't crowded either as they can be in the North but I suppose that is because North Wales lives on tourism whereas the South doesn't have to.

So.......... I fell in love with South Wales!

* I will cover the town of Wrecsam in another post. I started to describe the town but it became to complicated to include in this post and I felt that it deserved one of its own.

Friends

Friends come in various forms and for me, animals are my favourite types of friends. They don't judge you, they don't care what you look like, they love you for who and what you are. I find the greatest peace with my animals.

Pickles pictured above is my little girl! She is independent, bossy and loving and she is devoted to me. I adore her and her quirky little ways that make her my special friend.

Wilbur is a goofy kind of friend! He is so silly but loving in a different way to Pickles. She is always on the hunt for food or cups of tea whereas all he wants is YOU. At night, he snuggles himself so tightly and squirms until he is virtually on your knee.

Other friends are special in a way I can't describe. Always there through good times and bad. Not many words are needed with this sort of friend, silence is as acceptable as noise. These friends are solid like the rocks you need in your life. They keep you afloat and keep you safe.

Some friends you just know are going to be with you for life and others maybe just for a weekend. That doesn't matter though because friendship is unique and friendship does not require the confines of time.

Social networking has meant that friends from all over the country, indeed, all over the world can meet and share common ground. In some instances we actually get to meet up and share good times.

The social network is newly established and sadly as the likes of Face Book are the property of USA, the UK laws have no powers. I have personally made many friends through the social networking sites, and I thoroughly enjoy chatting with them on a regular basis. Now and again, Face book puts us in touch with people we would not normally socialise with and this creates its own set of problems.

You may go on journeys with some friends and then not speak for months and months. This doesn't mean that your friendship is lesser because speaking from my own personal point of view, I might not talk to certain friends all of the time but they are rarely far from my thoughts.

Good times and bad, special friends weather those storms with you and you sail onto placid waters strong in the knowledge that if that storm comes again you will get through it together.

Some friends like Albert the rabbit are grumpy and moan allot, That doesn't matter because they bring their own treasures and no matter what, they love you whatever.

This particular friend, Cola is more than that to me. He is my confident, my best friend, my physiotherapist, my fitness coach - he is my life!

Some friends are with us for a lifetime, others a moment, some a short time. Each friendship brings something into your life to help create the person you are yet to become. They might bring with them bad experiences or good but there is no difference because each type makes you stronger and more whole.

Many friends creep into your heart and when their lives are cruelly cut short they leave a gaping wound.

Friends...... they are the souls who share our life's journey. No matter where they go or what happens to them or us, they remain with us...... some in our memories and others firmly planted in our hearts.

Training

My training for the Tatton Yule Yomp is going well. I am up to 2 1/2 miles in a single run and hoping to increase it little by little each week. I am using my bike to warm up and check out the route and distance for the run then using it for a gentle cool down. All in all I am getting a pretty good work out.

My running time isn't good at all, I am currently running a 13 minute mile but at the end of the day, for me, the race isn't about getting a personal best or by crossing the finish line first. Its about getting back to where I started from before cancer, getting fit and raising a lot of money for the Love Hope Strength Cancer Foundation.

At the moment, the total raised online and offline stands at approximately £260. If you are reading this and would like to support me you can do so by visiting my Just Giving page. I have had some little business cards made with my details on so over the next few weeks I am hoping to distribute them and put a splurge in our village magazine, possibly even in the newspaper - we shall see!

My weight is peeling off me at a painfully slow rate but I am not a quitter, once I have set myself a challenge I will get there! I have at least 14lbs to lose but 20 would take me back to my old weight.

I am enjoying being active again, its something you take for granted when you are fit and well but when illness strikes it knocks your body for six. I have always lived my life at 100mph but now I dont want to lose a second because it is so precious to me.

I am a bit fed up with schools and paediatricians at the moment!

Some incidents in my sons mainstream school have left me frustrated. Not being a person to let any injustice be done, I have expidited the matter and can let you know that I will become public enemy number 1. I am fed up with having to wait around for assessments and tests, it seems to take forever. At the end of the day my son is in year 5 and has the level of a reception/year 1 pupil when it comes to reading and writing, it is such a worry.

My older son is plagued with allergies. Last week he had a serious allergic reaction to something which left him covered in a painful and itchy rash. This spread to his face and airways so we spent a few hours in A&E making sure he was safe. I have had two appointments now with the paediatric team and I feel as though they are putting me on some sort of "holding" process. I need to know what my son is allergic to so that I can make his life more comfortable but they are not willing to do the tests.

Sorry about all of the moaning when my blog started off so positively!

Life is Fast These Days

The children are now on their summer break and as if on queue, the weather turns for the worst. Last week we had horrendous downfalls of rain which lead to localised flooding (luckily not in my village). It has done the grass some good and weeding my ponies paddock is alot easier so I can't and won't grumble (too much).

Oh yes, just looked outside and its raining again!

This weekend was spent on the welsh mountains at our friends house. She took me to see a wonderful cottage which would be my dream place but sadly its only up for rent. It has land, it is massive with 4 bedrooms and a utility room which could be converted into a grooming parlour. Best of all, no neighbours so I wouldn't have to worry about the dogs excessive barking, the kids could go out to play without worrying about poeples gardens, the children being too noisy, and best of all we would have peace... Its good to have dreams.

I did a silly thing! I used the self checkout machine at the supermarket and only went and left my debit card there so today I need to take a trip out there to pick it up. On the way, I will take my kids for a walk somewhere so we will go prepared with wellies and waterproofs. Watch out for a posting with photographs.

I won in my fight to stop the selling off of Darland High School Tennis Courts, just by the by, thought you would like to know that! I raised a petition of 673 signatures and the plans were dismissed by a respectful majority. If you are interested in hearing more then I will do a seperate blog.

If you are reading this, please could you do me a favour........ log onto Amazon and download a single. It is by a band called Killing for Company and the name of the single is Former Mining Town. The band has recently lost its drummer, Stuart Cable who died suddenly at the age of 40. An amazing person who was full of life, the single has been released in his honour. The proceeds will be split between two great charities which are The Teenage Cancer Trust and Ty Hafan which is a charity caring for children with terminal illnesses. The single only costs 79 pence, so its not much is it but it would help the band, Stuarts family and friends come to terms with their shocking loss whilst supporting two brilliant charities.


The following videos are as a tribute to Stuart Cable. The first one is by his former band The Stereophonics but personally I LOVE the last video "Born Yesterday" where you can see just how passionate Stuart was about his music.

Life is worth the fight

Last Thursday, Mike Peters of the Alarm and a North Wales musician toured the three hospitals in North Wales to highlight their amalgamation. He held a buskathon at each one of the hospitals to raise money and awareness for his charity, the Love Hope Strength Foundation. LHSF has already donated a significant amount of money to the North Wales hospitals in the fight against cancer.

Mike got hit by leukemia about 12 or so years ago, he won his fight only to be hit again with a different form of the disease which is not curable but treatable. Since his diagnosis he founded the LHSF, rocked Snowdon 4 times, Kili, Everest, Rhondda to name but a few. An amazingly talented guy with an equally amazing wife, Jules Jones Peters.

I really wanted to go to the Wrexham Hospital buskathon and Jules invited me to help the team out which I would have truly loved to have done. However, it was my eldest sons induction evening at his new high school so I was unable to make it. I decided to take some flowers for Jules as a show of support and was going to leave them in reception with a little note. When we got to the car park, who should be getting out of their car but Mike, Jules and Matt. To say that God works in mysterious ways is an understatement because I was able to hand the flowers over personally and introduce them to my sons. I was over the moon.

On Monday I went out for an amazing run! Its funny how I come up with the best ideas and thoughts when I am running so I must invest in a dicatphone so that it can come with me on my runs. As I ran in the rain on Monday, I was overcome by the beauty of the world, not just visually but the smell, the rain, it was amazing. I was then struck by the thought that heck, the world is the only treadmill you need. With that thought in mind, I laughed, I jumped and had myself a pretty amazing run.

Our local council has been trying to sell off our high schools tennis courts for development. I instigated a petition and my friend Judy helped me and together we got 673 signatures against the sell off. Judy wrote to the executive council and we were invited to the executive meeting in order to hand over our petition and lodge our objections.

It was quite a heated debate but our community councillor Hugh Jones put forward an amazing argument against the plans. Basically hightlighting the fact that the council had acted in an underhand way and had not made it clear to the board of school govenors the amount of land in question. He also highlighted the fact that selling of school land was against the councils pledge and that of the government. He raised the fact that Prince William was heading a campaign to stop the sale of school land and actually quoted him as saying "recreational land is not a luxury it is a necessity..." He highlighted the fact that Sport for Wales and The Fields in Trust were on our side in preserving the school land. He also drew attention to the fact that in 2009 a survey conducted in our village showed a serious shortfall in recreational facilities.

I am pleased to report that the council voted against going ahead with the planned sell off much to the aggitation of those involved in finance!

So I must report a pretty successful few days!