At long last the Swansea area has seen some respite from the torrential rain and winds of the last 36 hours. Early media reports suggested that Mumbles had seen the strongest winds overnight, with one gust reported of 70 mph. I can well believe it as the sound of the wind outside – not to mention one huge clap of thunder at around 3am) – certainly made it feel like a mini storm.
So with the wind and rain slacking off for a wee bit, we decided to make our usual fortnightly visit to the civic amentity site (to dispose of our plastic rubbish) and then head off to Fforestfach to do some last minute Christmas jobs. As is the norm for Fforestfach it was chaos – although I was suspecting worse (if it could get any worse!).
It was perhaps a little surprising that we found ourselves in a relatively quiet Pizza Hut for lunch, did somebody know something we didn’t? For a change we tried the new ’4 for All’ pizza – which was ideal for the 3 of us and a lot lighter on the stomach than our usual choice – a stuffed crust. I must say though that the best Pizza Hut in this area is the one at Morfa, both in terms of the pizza’s and the service.
I weighed this morning and got a pleasant ‘ish surprise – 16st 13lbs – I was expecting it to be more and before you say/think it, no I know pizza isn’t going to help my wasteline *sigh*
This is a live update from the Hansons at Chelsea cafe in Swansea – the venue for my first Christmas party 
More later after I’ve finished my food …..
We are top of the league say we are top of the league! A 1 nil win for the Swans tonight against a useful monkey hangers outfit – but in all honesty we rode our luck (‘pools hit the crossbar twice) and were lucky to get the 3 points in the end. So Angel Rangel take a bow son, your goal was a cracker!
Whilst I’ll savour the moment of being top of the table, it doesn’t disguise the fact that once again we struggled to break down a well organised and physical team. It was without a doubt a frustrating night with only glimpses of the free-flowing passing game the Swans can play. I still can’t get my head around the 4-5-1 formation either, especially at home.
I won’t bother commenting much about the game itself – I’ll let you read the media reports for that, but here are a few choice comments about all and sundry:
1. I still can’t figure out why a 5o odd year old man – a complete stranger I hasten to add – wanted to show me his adult porn collection on his mobile phone pre-match?!!?!?
2. Andy Robinson is unfit, lazy and even uninterested. January transfer window anyone?
3. Dorus, Chuckles, Painter, Anderson and Bodde were the stars this evening.
4. Jason Scotland is NOT a target man, please don’t try to make him one.
5. The boo-boys have seemingly left the asbo east stand – thankfully.
So roll on Friday and the luxury of seeing the Swans live on Sky Sports against Horsham in the FA Cup 2nd Round.
Earlier in the day, I was invited out to lunch with my old working buddies from work to celebrate a birthday. The venue was the Anarkali in St. Helen’s road, which is rumoured to be the first tandoori restaurant in South West Wales since 1978! Well however long it’s been there, its reputation seems well earned as the food was delicious.
Despite arriving before the chef and having to wait nigh on 30 odd minutes for food – after munching some delicious poppadoms – it was well worth it. My chicken korma, chips and keema nan were spot on and all for the bargain price of about £9. I will definitely be going back there sometime soon!
At last the Huish Park bogey has been laid to rest and I was there! The Swans had failed to score or even get a point on our previous visits to Yeovil, but today the 1,400 odd travelling Jack Army saw that duck broken with a 2-1 win.
Once again I was part of the much travelled Dieters Bar Jacks contingent as we headed off to Yeovil at around 8:30 am. The initial mood in our affectionately named ‘bang bus’ was as subdued as the misty and drizzly conditions that greeted us all this morning. In no time at all we reached our first pit-stop (or p*ss stop in Helmut’s case) at Sedgemoor Services (southbound). After a very brief stay – long enough for me to stain Lance’s bang bus with blackcurrant juice and Helmut to grab hold of Sven Jacketts nuts (as in magazine) – we were on our way again and duly arrived in Yeovil at around 10:45.
Contrary to popular belief we hadn’t turned up early looking for some Yeovil Yoof to go dancing with – it was purely for the sake of going shopping (which I hadn’t instigated for once). We were looking for the well reknowed triathlon shop Tri-UK and after some 45 minutes or so of cruising around Yeovil town centre we got there. Now anyone who’s been to Yeovil will know that it takes like 3 minutes to go around the town centre (by tractor) in traffic. Anyway, we found the shop and the lads bought some cycling and swimming gear. After seeking the advice of the main man in the shop on where was best to eat – we headed off in search of the Half Moon in Mudford.
Westons traditional scrumpy was the order of the day (all 6% of it) and within 3 pints I was deep in ciderspace.
More to follow…
Oww what a lovely warm taste and feeling I had, as I devoured my first bowl of home made cawl this autumn/winter. Bizarrely I used to hate the stuff as a kid, but somehow miraculously Mrs DDWT converted me back some 5 or so years ago – and I haven’t stopped making the stuff since!
Not that I’d eat cawl all year round of course, but come the cold winter snap you simply can’t beat it – as I’m sure any Welsh person would agree. Try it with beef or lamb, either way it’s simply sublime.
I gave my trainers a workout lunchtime today – especially now I’ve signed up for the Reindeer 10k. My 24 minutes 54 seconds stint was somewhat weird as on the way out I was faced with a biting north-easterly wind (a la yesterday) and on the way back it was shirt off time and running vest weather. Probably because I’d worked up a sweat and was like a beetroot by then!
