I love Bank Holidays!

Can't believe that its wednesday already!!! I think that it should be bank holiday every monday and the world would be a better place! : - ) Tuesday brought us striaght in the middle of the action at Glynneath with Suzie and her Guinea Pigs! Check out the pig action here from her lastest blog updates!!!

This morning Owen and Myself have been at the ARC delivering our weekly pop-in session with some familiar and new faces! ..............and yes ...i've spent the rest of my day so far downloading the rest of Portmeads school concert. Copies of this lovely concert will be avilable for the public soon from the school so you....as have i...can enjoy it over and over again!!!

AWOL!!

YEAH!!!!!! you'll all be very happy to know that I'm back in my blog!!!! I have no idea what was happening with me earlier today but i seriously couldn't remember how to get into my blog!!!!! All brain functions had ceased! and even though i have done this a hundred times before and have taught others how to there was still no helping me! After trying all possible combinations of my user name and password i had to admit defeat and text Owen for alittle reminder! and if that wasn't embarrassing enough Mr. digital Owen himself decided to post on my blog for me. So let there be hope to you all.......Digital Outreach Worker's brain absent without leave!!!heeheeee!!!

Ha Ha, you've been hacked!

Ha Ha Ha! Its me, Owen and I've stolen Claire's blog because she can't remember her log in details and I guessed them! Now, do I change her password before she works it out?

Word perfect!

Yet another successful day of digital stories for the DCN. We were in Tairgwaith today and had about 25 people come to watch our digital stories (also helped by the amazing cakes that had been made by our kitchen staff there!!) This week I've consumed more cakes and sugar than i would normally nibble through in a year!!! My weekend is now going to consist of eating nothing but rabbit food and green things as a result!! However, if anybody would like me to perform a 'live' digital story that would now be no problem because i know not only every word but tone of emotion and pause that makes up my story Debz and Nickys!!!! They are all brilliant stories but man alive...after the 50th viewing there are no surprises left! We now just have Ammanford left to woooooow with close up images of my beautiful face and underlying gas noises (if you have no idea what I'm referring to then just click on this link to see for yourself) heeehee!!! it'll bring a tear to your eye! happy viewing, see you tomorrow!

3 down 2 to go!

The idea of having lots of free cakes on offer during our adult learners week Extravaganza has gone down a treat (and thats just with me and Owen!) As well as getting the chance to show case our digital stories we've also been chatting to loads of local people about the other goings on of the DCN. If this is one of the first times that you've logged on to my blog then click here to find out more about the project, watch some digital stories online and see some fab photos of us in action!! The site is regularly updated sooooo keep watching for some new installments!!
Monday was spent in Banwen, yesterday Glynneath, today to ARC.......bring on Tairgwaith and Ammanford for the rest of the week!
You can rest assured that mine and Owens blood suger level will turn to normal overnight and we'll be in tip top condition to view Debz 2 ice-creams, Nicky's friends man boobs and yes... my smiling face on dvd for yet another day!

Chocolate cake in Bawen!

The day started with our weekly diary meeting at the ARC, everybody was on top form this morning, the tea was flowing there were smiles all round! We were joint by Jennette this morning too (our new trainee community development worker from scvs) the lucky Jennette gets the spend 2days of every week chasing me and Owen around up and down the hills and mountains of our beautiful welsh valleys and boy did she do some miles today! While Owen and Jennette heading up the mountain to Banwen I had to stop off at Tescos to buy some yummy cakes for the beginning of our celebrations for adult learners weeks!! I was a little embarrassed when i filled 3 bags full of chocolate cakes and had to hand £35 over to the cashier! I don't think that she believed that they weren't all mine, though i did look dead excited at the sight of them!!!! heeehee!!! In Banwen there were cakes and digital stories all round, even the bikers enjoyed a cake or 4!!! and yes...back at the ARC the staff were very pleased to see that there were left overs too...

...but there's always one that goes that step too far!!!!! I'm not sure about Julie's new look?

After our finally visit to the ARC for the day we all raced down to Ammanford to do some editing and blogging with some teen girls, i think that they were almost more excited than Owen! Our Owen loves a good blog! Here he is snapping away, blogtasic is that boy!lol.

At 4:30pm Jennette and I popped back over to DOVE for spot of blogging with Bill and Ben and all 7 flower pot men!!! check out their news here!!!

The weekend!!!!!!

I've waited all week for this very moment! Chinese on a Friday night! Mmmmmm..... cant wait til tomorrow when i get to spend all day in my pj's...the excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posh Nosh

What an exciting week!! Myself and Owen are currently sitting in Ammanfords pop-in session playing on the computer and eating chocolate (giant choc buttons) to keep our energy levels up. When i heard my alarm clock go off this morning i thought for a moment that i had either gone blind or that i was in a coma, my eyes wouldn't work and i couldn't move my legs!!! A sign of a successful hard working week of work!!! lol.

We've been working hard on recording Portmead Primary Schools AWESOME 50th year celebration performance this week. Its included days of watching 200 kids jumping around with excitement and singing beautiful songs in both English and Welsh...oh the talent we've seen, all this while dancing in a variety of forms, entertainment at its best!!! Last night was the grand finale...and the highlight was knowing that now we have to sit and listen to the whole thing over and over and over again while editing the hundreds of hours of dancing and singing to make it into home entertainment for the whole family!!!!!!!

....and then of course there was our posh nosh!!!! Dinning with the Lord Mayor, and what a funny night it was!! The evening started at Debz house with many cans of lager..classy chicks, i know!! I wonder if the Lord Mayor knew what she was getting her self into?? The Evening continued at the Mansion House with lush wine (of which Bobby tipped on the carpet...red wine!!lol.) and even nicer food! What a treat! the Lord Mayor was very welcoming and very relaxed, we had a great night celebrating the achievements of the Action Resource Centres long life learning in BPP. The evening finished with a tai chi demonstration - (it's really hard holding your giggles from 10mins in a silent room!) keep your eyes piles for my digi story telling you more tales from the evening!!! heeeeheee (you can also check out more photos of the nights events here!)

Never work with children or animals!!!

Portmead Primary School rock!!!!! They've been practicing their school play for the last 2months and they are amazing!!! There's something for everyone, music, dancing, drama and plenty of comedy moments, (and that's just some of the teachers)!! Owen will be attending tonight performance and recording all the action while i dine with the Lord Mayor. I'll be sure to let you know tomorrow what we eat for our posh nosh and how many times myself and the other do something embarrassing....should be funny!!!

Monday, Monday!

Yes..... its Monday again, where does the weekend go??? I started my weekend with a delightful trip to the dentists on Friday afternoon. Left the office late because i got a little too involved in clearing my office and moving all my stuff to Bobby's room. Yes Bobby gets the joy of sharing an office with me for 10weeks....luck him, though i will have to learn to talk quieter, could be an experience...well for bobby anyway!!! lol. The dentist started OK though with quite a handsome young blond dentist staring into my eyes (my mouth is close) until he pocked me in the lip with his needle...blood that i didn't expect and an experience that cost me £12!

I then spend most of the remaining of my rainy weekend in the not so sunny rhondda valley visiting the family! A trip never returns without a story!!!!

and today.......today has been manic!! the morning starts with a diary meeting at the ARC to fill the gang in on Owen's and My exciting plans for the week and then a lovely trip up the valleys to Banwen for our pop-in session which today was filled with a tutorials on video editing and downloading images from a mobile phone to a CD. ohhhh the fun we have! Then this afternoon was filled with tales in the life of two teenage girls in Ammanford. It makes me feel so old talking to teenagers sometimes! But during the miles covered on our journeys Myself and Owen did manage to put the world to rights!!! so you can all rest well tonight, Oh the wisdom of youth. heeehee!!!

Poor Betty!!!

I can’t believe it!!!! Yet again Betty didn’t won’t to go anywhere this morning soooo…. I’m currently sitting at my table at home doing some work while I wait for Owen to come to the rescue again! However while I play the role of damsel in distress Owen loves playing the hero (all he needs now is a black cloak) and he’s learnt some valuable skills in how to jump start cars, he’s getting pretty good now too! I was meant to be in DOVE Workshop in Banwen this morning helping some of the PC Surgery volunteers to set up a blog so they can tell us some tales from the mountains but Sorry guys Betty had other plans, me and Betty (hopefully) will be with you next week instead!!

The last two days have been pretty busy for myself and Owen, one of our local primary schools have been working on a play (200 kids, all mad heads dancing, acting and singing) that show next week and we have been helping the kidz to make a dvd of the practices and the finally event! Step back Steven Spielsburg!!!! So we’ve been working on editing some of the hundreds of hour’s of footage that has been taken, with the same song going round and round and round and round in my head. I even came home from work singing it yesterday, “living in a coal mine, coal mine, coal mine, living in a coal mine” catchy I know!!! I even sung it to the head master for a special treat! I’m sure that the night will go off with a bang and that all the kidz will do an amazing job but still… Good luck guys!!!!! Break a leg!Looking forward to see you in action!!!!

p.s - thought you'd like to see Owen playing in the rain!!! heeeeheeehe!

What a weekend!!!!

Man alive it's been a busy bank holiday weekend!!! The weekend started with me heading down into the welsh valleys of Tairgwaith to complete the first part of their digital story. Del boy and co did really well, almost finished now! I then returned back home to start work on my new adventure!!! Yes, the gardening's gone one step further...... I've now got a veggie patch!!! Amazing!!! Can't believe how excited i am! My 'little' veggies have been doing so well that they are now growing out of the pots that I've put them in and are starting to take over the whole garden so i decided that it was time to give them a proper home...bring on the veggie patch! It wasn't quite as easier as i thought i would be though. The first thing i learnt was not a go to the tip to collect compost with bin bags and a spade while wearing flip flops!!!! I could tell that all the other men there collecting compost didn't quite take me seriously!! But we live and learn! It took me a whole 4 hours of Manuel labour, removed a two foot wall (underneath my garden) and filled 5 bin bags full of grass, weeded the 'grave', then 'fed' it all before any veg can go anywhere near it!!! My excited started to dwindle.......but then .........amazing ...yes the first fruits of my labour...........food...eatable food!!!!!Awesome! Then today came!!!!!! I was up comparatively early for a Tuesday morning after bank holiday only to discover that blinking Betty wasn't having such a good morning!!! So this morning i've had to abandon her and i'm in Glynneath without her! Poor Betty! she's not doing well of late but it was of cause a pleasure to be driven around by Mr Owen! Saved the day again!

Del Boy!!!

Awesome....look what i managed to take a photo of in Tairgwaith on Saturday!!!Our very own little Del Boy!lol.

Pretend it's Friday again!

Its Friday morning again! Back in sunny Ammanford on market day….how exciting! I’ve just past the stall with the tiger towel that Owen had lust in his eyes for last week, so tempted to buy it for him!!! Lol. But look what a found!!!! heeehehee! We've had a few interesting characters in today looking at doing digital stories, can’t wait to see what they come up with! It’s like being ‘big brother’ having an insight into people’s private lives. If you haven’t already taken a look at some of the digital stories that we have already created click here at view our website! There are some really funny photos in Nicky’s story which will make you laugh.
I’m back in this neck of the woods completing our first digital story in Tairgwaith with the circle of youth tomorrow. No doubt I’ll run into a few chickens, stray dogs and a wanna be ‘Del Boy’! I’ll try and capture it on film for you! And then…….YES….bank holiday weekend!!! I’m planning a spot of gardening (one must look after ones baby veg and give them lots of tlc) and getting Betty (my car) fixed still! She doesn’t like mornings very much just like her owner! Have fun sunbathing in the garden, nor star!

Old ladies with attitude!

As you may all be aware (i know that certain people read my blog everyday) that i haven't updated it since Thursday! Although I can understand that you don't want to miss out on the action of my exciting life!! I could write a book...... a day in the life of an ex-valley girl, got a certain ring to it i think! Take a look at this photo.....went to Bristol on the weekend for some retail theory on the same weekend as the Italian car festival, there were loads of amazing cars with some very 'cool' men in their motors but what i didn't expect to see were two old ladies with headscarves and sun glasses strutting their stuff!!! amazing!!! you go girls!! They were loving it and even mangaged a smile for the camera!!! class!! I also had some other car activity during the weekend, poor little Betty (my car) wont start after i'd abanned her in a car park for 2 nights!!! So ...yes...we had to push her, with the help of our AA man down 2 levels onto the main street for her to have a little mini operation to make her better again! She did get us home again but she's currently undergoing heart surgery at a local car doctors!!!!! Get better soon Betty!!!! Mean while i'm driving Terry the Tank!!!! The fun!!!!