29th February 2024 - Leap Year

Thought for the day :" Thinking of opening a baby food shop but need to do a rusk assessment first!"

Rain 42 : Dry 17

Bag 14.

Popped down to the post office and saw this bit of crochet

Daffodils trying to pop up next to the roadside bench 

Cheers !

28th February 2024 - More flowering

Thought for the day :"Dog Walkers - Most disgusting flavoured crisps ever!"

Rain 41 : Dry 17

Bag 14.

Playing catchup

Daffodils starting to pop up by the roadside bench 

 Playing catchup 

Cheers !

27th February 2024 - Wet but growing

Thought for the day: "Certain people have been making hurtful remarks about my choosing to wear mittens rather then gloves, but I don't like to point fingers."

Rain 40 : Dry 17

Bag 14.

And back to the wet again 

But flowering 

Playing catchup 

Cheers !

26th February 2024 - Moving

Thought for the day :"Give the gift of life - become a Necromancer today"

Rain 39 : Dry 17

Bag 14.

Early start down to Nancy with steps to assist with the delivery of the furniture to her place in Llanboidy.

Getting too old for this lark.

Can't believe that the two days for her move were the only dry days that we have had this last month 

Cheers !

25th February 2024 - Just a thought

Thought for the day :"Some people mistake me for a adult because of my age"

Rain 39 : Dry 16

Bag 13.

Sunday 

'nuff said

(Playing Catchup)

Cheers !

24th February 2024 - Provincial Meeting - RCC

Thought for the day :"I am street smart - Sesame Street Smart!"

Rain 38 : Dry 16

Bag 12.

Saturday and Provincial Meeting at Bridgend for the Red Cross of Constantine ...

First Dry day we have seen for a while and I have been ensconced in a Masonic Meeting  

Not much to post today 

Cheers !

23rd February 2024 - Gazebos and Trackers

Thought for the day :"I think I am going to try and grow vegetables, rather than elect them"

Rain 38 : Dry 15

Bag 12.

Sorted out one of the old gazebos today and with lots of extra bits in other bags managed to get one full gazebo up and ready to use. Put it up at Tom's so he could get on with some painting in the rain.

Windscreen wipers failed on the Landie, and had taken it up to him to look at and in fairness he dropped everything and striped the motor down and rebuilt and it is working now. Seemed only fair to give him something in return.

Gt caught in two showers walking the dogs.

Gave up with the pet trackers as they were just not working. In fairness had an excellent response form the Tech Support from Amazon - not that they could do anything with it - but they within a couple of minutes of requesting a call back and  decided straight away to refund. Cannot complain about the service at all. Better than buying from the supplier, who wanted me to pay for the return postage and wait until they had examined it before refunding.

In other news

In other news

On 23rd February 1959, the flag currently in use was officially recognised as the national flag of Wales.

A history of factors associated with the Welsh Flag;

It is thought that the Romans brought the dragon emblem to what is now Wales in the form of the Draco standards carried by Roman cavalry units. The Draco itself originated with the Sarmatians, a unit of whom were stationed in Britain from the 2nd to 4th centuries.

The oldest known use of the dragon to represent Wales is from the Historia Brittonum, which is commonly attributed to the Welsh monk Nennius around 830. The text describes a struggle between two serpents who prevent King Vortigern from building a fortress. This story was later adapted by Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136) into a prophecy by Merlin that the white dragon, representing the Saxons would at first dominate but would eventually be conquered by the red dragon, symbolising the Celts. Geoffrey also tells us that King Arthur had a golden dragon banner.

In 1400 Owain Glyndwr raised a golden dragon on a white background as his banner during his revolts against the occupation of Wales by the English crown.

Henry VII's banner at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 incorporated a red dragon, which he attributed to Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd from c.655 to 682, on the Tudor colours of green and white. Afterwards it was carried in state to St Pauls Cathedral and included as a supporter of the Tudor royal arms to signify their Welsh descent.

Cheers !

22nd February 2024 - A bit of History and a bit of Rain

Thought for the day :"I have a reluctant potato. I think it is a hesitator"

Rain 37 : Dry 15

Bag 12.

A real mixture of a day. Raining in the morning - that constant stuff, then some really strong hail storms, and then Nan popped up with Ziggy who is to be a house guest for a few days and the sun popped out for a while. 

Later the skies opened again 

But things are growing 

In other news - some influence form Oliver Cromwell

On 22nd February 1650, during the Commonwealth government of Oliver Cromwell introduced 'The Act for the better propagation and preaching of the Gospel in Wales'.

During the Commonwealth, the enforced use of the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer and the episcopal government of the Anglican Church were both suspended and the introduction of the act encouraged Puritan dissatisfaction with the Church of England and ultimately resulted in widespread nonconformism in Wales and the establishing of many chapels.

Much of the development of Dissent revolved around the Church of England's perceived toleration of certain practices associated with the Roman Catholic Church and a desire to recover a purer form of Christian belief and organisation based firmly on the teaching of the Bible. Charles I's religious policies, and his marriage to a Roman Catholic, made him mistrusted by dissenters, who thought his views were too Catholic.

The two most significance dissenting movements in Wales at the time were the Independents, also known as Congregationalists, and the Baptists. They were both Calvinist in doctrine and embraced the idea that a congregation of believers constituted an autonomous church which could appoint its own ministers and officers.

Dissenting activity in Wales was mainly associated with the border counties of Denbighshire, Radnorshire and Monmouthshire, and the ports and trading centres with good communications between areas of Dissent in England. The first Baptist congregation in Wales was established at Ilston near Swansea in 1649. As a result of the act, the radical Puritan Vavassor Powell of Knucklas in Radnorshire, acted as a principal adviser for the commission, actively employed in removing from their parishes those Welsh ministers he regarded as incompetent, replacing them with a band of itinerant Puritan evangelists led by himself. These Dissenting preachers were encouraged to occupy the pulpits of the parish churches and to organise worship according to their own convictions

The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 saw the return of Charles II as king who declared all acts of worship that did not conform to the practices of the established Church of England to be illegal. 'The Act of Uniformity in 1662' saw the beginning of a period of reduced civil rights and persecution of dissenters, who defiantly adhered to their beliefs. All clergy were required to be ordained according to the rites of the Anglican Church and those who refused to conform were ejected, resulting in the origin of the term ‘Nonconformist’. Many of the Nonconformist ministers set up schools as a means of income and to continue preaching their beliefs and this resulted in an increase in literacy in parishioners. Vavassor Powell was arrested for illegal preaching and served two terms of imprisonment before his death in London’s Fleet Prison in 1670.

In 1688, Charles' brother James II was ousted by William of Orange and 'The Toleration Act of 1689' allowed religious freedom for dissenters and allowed them to build their own places of worship, which resulted in the building of many Independent and Baptist chapels. By the end of the seventeenth century, there were four main denominations of Noncormists in Wales Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists and Quakers.

Also today was the date of the last invasion of UK at Carregwasteg - and Jemima Nicholls

On 22nd February 1797, 1,400 members of the French Legion Noire of the French Revolutionary Army landed in Carregwasted bay near Fishguard, which remains the last time Britain was invaded a foreign military force.

Irish revolutionary leader, Wolfe Tone had received support from France to help end British rule in Ireland. Part of the plan was to organise French invasions of Britain to divert and weaken the British forces, with the overall aim of sending a much larger force to Ireland to overthrow the British there. However, bad weather and poor organisation resulted in only the invasion through Wales, to target Bristol and the west of England, going ahead.

The invasion force was led by an Irish American colonel, William Tate and consisted of 1,400 men, nearly half of whom however were deserters and convicts. An initial attempt to land was unsuccessful due to the defensive cannons at Fishguard fort, so the fleet landed 3 miles away in the bay at Carregwasted under the cover of darkness. They moved inland and established their headquarters at a nearby farmhouse, but the convicts and pressed men deserted, got drunk and ran away. The next morning the French moved inland and occupied strong defensive positions on high rocky ground. Meanwhile, the British, although outnumbered, decided to attack, with many Fishguard locals volunteering to fight, notable among whom was Jemima Nicholas, who single-handedly took twelve French soldiers prisoner in St Mary's Church armed only with a pitchfork.

These actions convinced Tate that although he had much the superior forces, he had to accept an unconditional surrender and the following afternoon the French laid down their weapons on Goodwick sands.

(Also see Feb 23rd 2023 )

Cheers !

21st February 2024 - Lights mending in the rain

Thought for the day :"I am working on a theatrical performance about puns, it is a play on words"

Rain 36 : Dry 15

Bag 12.

And so we are back to the rain again !!  Surprise Surprise. Dodged the showers to get the dogs out but tracker still not working and no reply form Support at Petfon - not even an acknowledgement.

Somehow could not find the hwyl to do any real work.

Meerkat Mountain back in place

And late night mending of the fairy lights to the lower quarter 

Still very wet down here

Failed to repair the riverside lights - will have to look again tomorrow if it is dry 

Cheers !