My March 2026 round up

March kicked off on St David's Day and I went to the celebratory parade in the city centre. The parade finished in Cardiff Castle, where I got a pic of this handsome Draig Goch.

I've been busy on the blog again this month. My book of the Month was A History of Wales, my album of the month was by Garbage, and I even posted a throwback snack of the month too. Meanwhile my monthly Blood Bowl game was a Battle of the Undead (!) and we battled away while munching on Easter Crisps.

It was another month with lots of traveling. I had a work trip to London where I got to see the new workwear: fleece tops (just in time for summer!)

It had been a while since my last trip to London and the Paddington Bear Shop in Paddington Station has a big Lego model in the window now. It's really nicely done.

I went to Shrewsbury and spent (most of) Mother's Day with my mother. We got her a 6-player version of her favorite game, Rummikub.

Me and mum also went out on the Saturday night as it was Mother's Day Eve. It was also Pi Day (3/14) and I had a pie. (But I ate the pie without taking a pic. Social media fail!)

At the end of the month, we were back in Shropshire for a few days. We took a ride on the Bridgnorth cliff railway for notalgia's sake. We also went to a birds of prey centre and a couple of football matches.

It's been a mixed month on the political campaigning front. One of the Plaid Cymru candidates in our area stepped down from the election race. On a more positive note, I completed all the stations in our constituency when we went to Cathays on the last Thursday of March.

We also had canvassing sessions in various bits of Cardiff, including Butetown where we were joined by Plaid Cymru's leader, Rhun ap Iorweth. I got a selfie with him.

Butetown

Plasdwr

Cathays station

While out canvassing I also saw this defiance against the fun police!

Cathy and I had a couple of cinema outings. We went to Cardiff Bay to see the new Disney Pixar film, Hoppers. We enjoyed it.

And on our trip to Shropshire, we went to a vintage OG cinema in Bridgnorth and watched The Magic Faraway Tree. We both liked it, and the cinema. I particularly liked this big M&M in the lobby:

I had a decent month of football, getting to 6 games. That included watching Shrewsbury Town play Cheltenham in the company of my brother and our friend Kate.  On the way in, Kate and I worked out we have been friends for over 30 years. 

Later in the month I hit some Futbology milestones at 3 games in a row, including game number 650 at Cardiff Dracs and stadium number 150 in the very next game when I saw Ludlow Town. 

I was the only Futbology user to check in at Ludlow - but I wasn't there on my tod. I had the real pleasure of Cathy's company at the game.

And then on the 31st March, I made it three games in a row with a Futbology milestone badge, when I collected two at AFC Bridgnorth!

The ground in Bridgnorth hasn't changed in the 30+ years since I used to go there with my Dad. It still has the slope and the tea bar. It was a very nostalgic evening for me, and Bridgnorth won!

This postmark is a hoot!

I arrived home after a week away to find an eBay purchase waiting for me - a package from Germany with another philatelic passport for my collection.

This passport was issued at the German stamp show in Nuremburg in 1999. It's not complete but it has an interesting mix of stamps from different countries and what is probably one of my favourite postmarks of all time!

May 2022 - a month of bumpy beginnings

I had a week off after leaving my previous job before starting my new job. We did plenty of stuff, including a trip to Oxford to see a friend. We had some time to wander around Oxford includng a very brief look into the Ashmolean Museum.

We also saw the Bridge of Sighs. Here's Cathy stood under it to give an indication of its size.

We really liked the gargoyles on Brasenose College. This owl really caught my eye. He looks like he's pumped!

And there was some modern cultural artwork in the shopping centre.

Unfortunately, I came back from Oxford with a respiratory memento.

Yes, over three years into the pandemic I finally caught the 'rona. I felt pretty rough with it for a few days, with a raspy cough and feeling like I could not fully inhale air into my lungs. 

Unfortunately, the timing meant that I couldn't go into the office on my first day. I spent my first week and a bit logging into meetings virtually. It wasn't the way I wanted to meet my new team but everyone was kind about it. I am slowly getting a handle on the new ecosystem I am working in now. It's a slightly odd feeling, leaving behind a work context I really understood and having to learn a new one.

In football terms, I missed a few games while isolating. I still made it to four games either side of having covid. The month started with the Welsh Cup final, which had quite an exciting end as Penybont scored twice from 3-0 down and were pushing for an equaliser at the very end of the game. But TNS held on and were crowned 'pencampwyr'.

As a bonus, when I logged into Futbology, I got a badge for being at a cup final!

There was another cup final at the end of the month. I've been to see Cardiff Draconians a few times this year. After the league campaign ended, there were some league cup fixtures. The Dracs progressed through to the final, which was held up at the Bont in Penydarren. That was a new ground for me so I drove up after work.

The Dracs were posing in the goalmouth before the game.

But it was Trethomas Bluebirds who lifted the trophy.

Sadly, I was having a problem downloading the update for Futbology so no 'badge' for me at this cup final. I did, however, have the most marvellous chips from the New Dolphin fish bar in Caeharris, which is up the hill and then up again from the ground. 

And despite the enforced break from going outside for both me and Cathy (who tested positive a few days after I did), we still managed to see the Snoopy statues on the Dog's Trail. I'm going to post a load of selfies at some point, but for now, here we are outside a toy shop in the Queen's Arcade.

The big 2014 Christmas Card Audit

This is the third year I've done this (see 2013 and 2012), so I'm beginning to get observable trends. This year the big thing I noticed is that yet again religious-themed cards rarely featured the word Christmas. Small things that stuck out included a fund-raising card for a political cause (the Countryside Alliance), the emergence of Owls as a theme, and the return of dogs in Santa hats.

New categories are marked with an asterisk And here are the numbers...

Total number of cards: 91 (down from 97 in 2013 and 104 in 2012)
Hand-made / home-produced cards: 7 (no change)
Cards with magnets on: 0 (no change)
*Cards with detachable tree decorations: 1

Cards sold in aid of charity: 47 (up from 44 in 2013 and 42 in 2012)
Of which...
Traidcraft cards: 8 (up from 5 last year)
Oxfam cards: None (for the second year running)
Main charity represented: Traidcraft
Total number of charities represented: 40 (down from 62 in 2013 and the same as 2012)
Marks and Spencer cards: 6 (down from 12 in 2013)
*Notable newcomer: RNLI (3 cards)
*'Political' fund-raising cards: 1 (Countryside Alliance)

Themes
Religious-themed cards: 27 ( down from 33 in 2013 and 37 in 2012)
Cards featuring the Nativity: 18 (up from 15)
Christmas story 'characters':
Three kings: 2 (down from 5 in 2013 and 9 in 2012)
The shepherds: 3 (down from 4 in 2013 but one more than in 2012)
The star of Bethlehem: 0 (down from 2 in 2013)

Other themes 
'Peace': 2 (stays the same)
Santa: 7 (down from 10 in 2013, but up from 6 in 2012)
Penguins: 4 (up from 3 in 2013, but down from 5 in 2012)
Various cartoon bears: 4 (up from 2 in 2013 but way down from the 12 bear high point in 2012)
Dogs in Santa Hats: 1 (up from 0 last year)
Deer/reindeer: 4 (down from 6)
Christmas decorations: 5 (up from 4)
Christmas trees: 4 (down from 5)
Robins: 4 (up from 3)
Mistletoe: 0 (down from 2)
Winter scene/scenery: 14 (double the 2013 total of 7)
*Snowmen: 5
*Owls: 3

Messages
Cards that mention 'Christmas' on the front: 33 (down from 35 in 2013 and 45 in 2012)

Conclusions and trends
Despite fewer cards received, many of the categories stayed pretty constant. The big change was the number of cards featuring winter scenes and scenery. They ranged from country churches covered in snow, through to the cute dog character Boofle, out sledging. I was very pleased to see a return in the Dogs wearing Santa Hats category, as I feel it captures the essence of Christmas. Although the overall total was down, the number of cards we received that raised funds for charity went up and percentage wise the balance towards fund-raising cards was much higher.What nice people we know!

Once I've done this for 2015 I will have four years worth of data and by then I can start creating graphs and stuff. So roll on January 2016!