Doorstep Days - August 2025

Every month I say it's been a busy month. And August was no different. The quieter day isn't coming.  

Spotted while canvassing

The first two weeks of the month I discovered how much fun canvassing was, knocking doors on behalf of Plaid Cymru in the council by-election. I continued my election tradition and reviewed the leaflets from all the contesting parties. It was a bit weird that I was giving out some of those leaflets this time. Although the result didn't go our way, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would - and the exercise did me good too. I went out canvassing or leafleting at least ten times and didn't get rained on once, which I feel is pretty good going. 

I started August with a gig on the very first night. I had some free tickets to see Catfish and the Bottlemen at the Principality Stadium, courtesy of Cathy's cousin, Adam. (He'd won them and asked if I could make use of them.) I went to the gig with Ian, which was the first time we had done something together since watching Alien: Romulus last year. I wasn't massively impressed by the headline band, but it was fun seeing Travis in their role as support act.

Pre-gig selfie

The fans got into the headliners

In the middle of the month I went on the Keep Grangetown Tidy litter-pick, on another warm morning. Litter-picks are so much nicer in the sunshine even if the amount of litter seems to be getting worse. I usually find a lost toy; this time it was a Baby Shark.

Do do do do do do do do do,
do do do do do do do do do,
do do do do do do do do do,
in the bin!

Sports-wise, I went to seven football matches, including Shrewsbury Town's opening game of the season accompanied by two of my nephews. I bought a Shrewsbury shirt because it was a nostalgia trigger. The trip to see Shrewsbury coincided with my sister and her kids being in town and we had a great time hanging out as an extended family. 

On the second Saturday of the month I drove down to Carmarthen to watch Cardiff Draconians in their first away game in the Welsh second tier. Carmarthen was a great away day. I met up with my friend Charlie, who I hadn't seen for a couple of years, and also ticked off all the ground in the Dracs's division! 

I made the most of a long weekend with three football matches and an ice hockey game on my bank holiday of sport, which included a diversion in Swindon to STEAM, the museum of the Great Western Railway. My seventh game of the month was another Dracs game, a disappointing defeat in the league cup, which is sponsored by the Welsh Blood Service and is therefore known as the "Blood Cup" (Cwpan Gwaed in Cymraeg!)

Last minute 'goalie up for the corner' excitement

Speaking of the "Blood Cup" I lost my Blood Bowl game with Bryan this month with my 'naive Norse' getting turned over by the wood elves. We have managed to get a game in every month this year so far, despite both being really busy! I still haven't picked my Blood Bowl team for September yet. But it's probably not going to be Norse...

Football Recap of the Month - April 2024 part 1

I went to nine games in April, so am splitting the month report over two posts

Game 52: Haverfordwest County 2-1 Barry Town

As I went in to the ground I saw what looked like a filled in bomb crater in the goal-mouth. Haverfordwest's late winner came after the Barry keeper slipped over in the mud. My company for the night was Jon, who I had last seen at the Newport County game I was crazily late for back in August. (The time when the train from Cardiff didn't stop until Reading.) It was Jon's first Barry away game and he said he might well come to another one. 

Game 53: Penrhiwceiber Rangers 3-1 Cardiff Draconians

Penrhiwceiber is at the start of the Cynon Valley. It has a low wall along one side of the pitch that is really comfy to sit on. Company was Scott, my former NHS colleague, whose son plays for the Dracs. The game hinged on a rather soft penalty that gave 'Ceiber the lead early in the second half.

Game 54: Truro City 1-2 Torquay United

This game was played at Gloucester City's Meadow Lane ground, which I hadn;t been to before. It means the "home" team travelled further than the "away" team and the "away" team had to travel further than if they had travelled to the "home" team's home. It was played in Gloucester because Truro's borrowed pitch is unplayable - this was towards the beginning of a terrible schedule for Truro where they were playing four nights in a week, including on consecutive evenings. 

Company was Adam, Cathy's cousin who lives in Gloucester and has been a Torquay fan all his life, his son Luke, and Adam's friend, Nas. We also saw England and Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins at the game because he has a friend who plays for Truro. 

Game 55: AFC Llwydcoed 0-2 Cardiff Draconians

Another game played at a borrowed ground, this time at Rhiw Dar, home of Taff's Well FC. Company was my soul sister Sara, who was impressed by the clubhouse with it's walls plastered in memorabilia, and that you get a biscuit with your half time cup of tea there. The Dracs won with two late goals scored after the 90 minute mark.

 Game 56: Barry Town 2-1 Aberystwyth Town

Two seasons ago Barry lost to Aberystwyth in their last home game of the season and were relegated. This win came after Barry were already safe and left Aberystwyth still in danger of relegation going into the final game. This was Barry's first win in Phase 2 of the Cymru Premier season. I felt mildly nostalgic thinking it was the season was pretty much over. 

10 Christmas cards from the 2022 ACCA

As we received fewer cards this year, as detailed on the Annual Christmas Card Audit (ACCA) post yesterday, I have limited my selection of favourite cards from the audit to just ten. There were lots of great cards, but these were the ones that particularly stood out. 

The first card I want to show off is one that was sent to me by Jon in Melbourne. I met Jon through an online discussion forum and he contacted me a few months back saying how he liked the audits I wrote and he wanted to send us a Christmas card. I liked it so much it's the lead-off card in this post!

Australian animals wearing Santa hats? I might never have met Jon in real life, but boy, did he know what kind of card to send me!

I try to include at least one religious themed card in my yearly selection. I'm counting this one as the religious one this year, even though it's not explicit. Cathy said she really liked the way the dove was drawn, which swayed me towards including it.

Speaking of Cathy, there's a 'couples card'. We had a couple of couples cards, but I only had room for one in the selection.

Robins were a resurgent category this year. This robin design from Oxfam included Christmas greetings in lots of languages, including Cymraeg, which edged it against lots of other cards.

The next card would give me an opportunity to rant about the ballad of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and how Rudolph should have told all those other reindeer to suck it after the way they treated him. But Christmas is a season of goodwill and all that, and besides, if Rudolph has decided to forgive the other reindeer and include them on his team, then who am I to bear a grudge on his behalf?

Some members of "Team Rudolph" had glittery accessories. Glitter doesn't scan very well, so you will have to take my word for it. Overall glitter use was way down this year on the Christmas cards, which is good news.

Occasionally a fairly simple design from an unexpected source gets my attention. This card was sold in Morrisons supermarkets. I think it's a lovely, effective representation of a Christmas tree that really stands out. 

'Christmas elf' was a returning category this year. Technically it was Christmas elves, plural. Our friends Sara and Leanne dressed their twins up for a delightfully cute photo-card. Because, let's be honest, if you're not going to dress them up as props for your Christmas card, what really is the point of having kids?

I am planning to keep that card until the twins are old enough to be terribly embarrassed by it, and then fish it out to show them. Well, someone has to...

We are getting to business end of the post now. Some people get quite competitive trying to send a card that will be my favourite. The remaining three cards are all from family members. They all pin-pointed certain known preferences that I have blogged about before.

So, in sort of third place, my sister Sarah sent us this.

Dogs in Santa hats with a joke on the front and a greeting in Cymraeg? Several boxes ticked there. Just having dogs in Santa hats is likely to get your card a place in the selection. This card takes it to a new level. 

In runners up spot, with yet another podium finish, is Cathy's cousin, Adam. I don't know if he chose this because of my interest in stamp collecting, or just because he was looking for the most off the wall design possible. 

"Replaced with a lump of coal" made me laugh out loud when I opened it. Sounds about right! 

Adam's card was the clear winner for several days, until this final card arrived. 

Yep, it's a narwhal delivering Christmas presents and food. It's just adorable, despite the lack of a Santa hat - but fairylights around his horn is a fine substitute.

The sender was my sister-in-law Abby, who has form for sending good cards - she usually places high in the selection post including a number one spot back in 2018. 

We are, of course, grateful for all the cards we receive whether they feature on the blog or not - so thank you to everyone who sent us one!