sunshine and the seaside!

Okay, so I took a few days off work last week. I booked these days completely randomly, over a month ago, because I had annual leave allocation that needed to be used before the end of September, which I hadn't managed to take any earlier because of work being manic and desperately short-staffed and whatnot, so I just looked at my calendar and randomly selected a few days when I had no meetings. And then those few days arrived and turned out to be absolutely glorious and a terribly unseasonal heatwave, and boy did I feel good about randomly selecting them for random days off work!

To celebrate having time off work in a glorious heatwave and absolutely nothing better to do than indulge, I went to the seaside two days running. On Wednesday I went to Penarth, which is the next town along the coast from Cardiff and has a fabulous Victorian pier and a shingle beach and coastal walks and all good things. I took a friend and a book and plenty to drink and had a lovely day, relaxing in the sun. I mean, seriously - look how glorious for the end of September!



( More pics behind the cut )

Then on Thursday, I went to Barry Island to meet up with an old school friend who lives there these days. And once again, it was an absolutely glorious day - with temperatures of around 28oC and glorious sunshine, you'd never dream it was the end of September!


( More pics behind cut )

So there we have it - two glorious days at the seaside...at the very end of September. Recorded for posterity, as I'm sure it will be raining again soon, and the sunshine will once more be a mere memory!

sunshine and the seaside!

Okay, so I took a few days off work last week. I booked these days completely randomly, over a month ago, because I had annual leave allocation that needed to be used before the end of September, which I hadn't managed to take any earlier because of work being manic and desperately short-staffed and whatnot, so I just looked at my calendar and randomly selected a few days when I had no meetings. And then those few days arrived and turned out to be absolutely glorious and a terribly unseasonal heatwave, and boy did I feel good about randomly selecting them for random days off work!

To celebrate having time off work in a glorious heatwave and absolutely nothing better to do than indulge, I went to the seaside two days running. On Wednesday I went to Penarth, which is the next town along the coast from Cardiff and has a fabulous Victorian pier and a shingle beach and coastal walks and all good things. I took a friend and a book and plenty to drink and had a lovely day, relaxing in the sun. I mean, seriously - look how glorious for the end of September!



( More pics behind the cut )

Then on Thursday, I went to Barry Island to meet up with an old school friend who lives there these days. And once again, it was an absolutely glorious day - with temperatures of around 28oC and glorious sunshine, you'd never dream it was the end of September!


( More pics behind cut )

So there we have it - two glorious days at the seaside...at the very end of September. Recorded for posterity, as I'm sure it will be raining again soon, and the sunshine will once more be a mere memory!

(no subject)

Bloody fucking hell.

My house was burgled tonight. I went to see my Aunty Lel after work, as she's home from hospital now but still pretty much housebound so appreciates visitors. I got home at about 7.15pm to find the back door kicked in and the house ransacked. The TV's gone and most of my jewellery, most of which wasn't worth anything and I don't care about, except the bastard took the necklace I inherited from my Aunty Joan who I was named after, which was the most precious thing I owned and now it's gone.

The cats are absolutely frantic and wouldn't even come in the house at first. I had police here half the evening, taking my statement and going door to door down the street - turns out, the bastard went down the whole street looking for opportunities. Several people saw him - he went down the row, trying doors and peering in windows only to be scared off by residents who were home, until he struck lucky at my house which was empty.

My parents and Chel came round to sit with me while the police were here and Dad has temporarily secured the back door.

Tomorrow I have to wait in for SOCO to come looking for fingerprints and whatnot. In the meantime I can't touch anything - which means I can't sleep in my bed because it's got stuff scattered all over it, like the jewellery box that's had its contents emptied. I have to carefully step over the muddy footprints on the kitchen floor. At least the police have a description and those witnesses also mean they have an approximate time - he was seen around 6pm or just after, so couldn't have long gone when I got home. The one officer reckoned he had a fair idea who it might have been, based on the description, so maybe if we strike lucky with fingerprints they'll be able to nail him. They also recommended visiting local jewellers and cash generator shops tomorrow to see if anyone's been in trying to sell my stuff - it's probably the only chance I'll have of getting my necklace back. It's the only thing I care about.

I feel sick just thinking about it. How am I going to sleep tonight?

(no subject)

Bloody fucking hell.

My house was burgled tonight. I went to see my Aunty Lel after work, as she's home from hospital now but still pretty much housebound so appreciates visitors. I got home at about 7.15pm to find the back door kicked in and the house ransacked. The TV's gone and most of my jewellery, most of which wasn't worth anything and I don't care about, except the bastard took the necklace I inherited from my Aunty Joan who I was named after, which was the most precious thing I owned and now it's gone.

The cats are absolutely frantic and wouldn't even come in the house at first. I had police here half the evening, taking my statement and going door to door down the street - turns out, the bastard went down the whole street looking for opportunities. Several people saw him - he went down the row, trying doors and peering in windows only to be scared off by residents who were home, until he struck lucky at my house which was empty.

My parents and Chel came round to sit with me while the police were here and Dad has temporarily secured the back door.

Tomorrow I have to wait in for SOCO to come looking for fingerprints and whatnot. In the meantime I can't touch anything - which means I can't sleep in my bed because it's got stuff scattered all over it, like the jewellery box that's had its contents emptied. I have to carefully step over the muddy footprints on the kitchen floor. At least the police have a description and those witnesses also mean they have an approximate time - he was seen around 6pm or just after, so couldn't have long gone when I got home. The one officer reckoned he had a fair idea who it might have been, based on the description, so maybe if we strike lucky with fingerprints they'll be able to nail him. They also recommended visiting local jewellers and cash generator shops tomorrow to see if anyone's been in trying to sell my stuff - it's probably the only chance I'll have of getting my necklace back. It's the only thing I care about.

I feel sick just thinking about it. How am I going to sleep tonight?