Football recap - October 2023

Continuing my account of this season (and freeing up space in my round up of the month for other things!)

Game 22: Cardiff Metropolitan University 2-1 Barry Town

Reason for going: An easy away trip for Barry. Although Cardiff Met is one of my least favourite away grounds to go to. The fan experience there is dismal and it feels like the club actively want to make it as dismal as possible. 

Point of interest: Barry's academy graduate, Callum Huggins, came on as a sub and scored Barry's goal with his first touch. It was his first senior goal.

I made a major error and didn't take any photos of this game so you all get to miss out on the dismal dismalness of a plastic pitch next to a massive sports hall in north Cardiff. 

Game 23: Cardiff Draconians 0-4 Swansea University

Reason for going: It was a beautiful sunny Saturday and this was one of the nearest games on. Plus I like going to watch the Dracs.

Point of interest: the players posed for a photo to show their commitment to 'give racism the red card' - if you look closely in the background you might be able to spot me!

I took a photo of the photoshoot as well.

Game 24: Barry Town 6-0 Porthcawl Town Athletic

Reason for going: This was a very late choice. I was working supporting a virtual conference that finished at 2pm - which was the kick off time for this Welsh Cup game. I decided as I logged off that I would see if I could get to at least the second half of the match. I actually made it in the ground about ten minutes before half time. I'd missed the first goal but I saw all 5 that were scored in the second half.

Point of interest: Callum Huggins came on as a sub and scored with his very first touch for the second game in a row! 

Game 25: Stockton Town 1-1 Dunston UTS

Reason for going: I was in the North East of England because my friend Tom was having a big birthday party and it felt like a good opportunity to see a completely random football match. Tom felt the same so off we went. 

Point of interest: This wasn't our first choice of game. A lot of matches were off because of Storm Babet. We stood in "The Shed" with the noisy Stockton fans who kept us entertained with their banter if the game was getting a bit dull. 

Game 26: Briton Ferry Llansawel 3-1 Carmarthen Town 

Reason for going: I'd not been to the Old Road ground before and this game was on a Friday night, which was the only slot I had free to attend a match on the last weekend of the month.

Point of interest: I think this was the first time I've heard bilingual announcements on the tannoy system for a normal league game.

Recap of the month - October 2023

October was a very busy month of travelling. In addition to our trip to DisneyLand Paris, I spent a weekend in Hartlepool (where, yes, I saw the monkey in the Marina!), and had a day working in London as well. 

The trip to London was to do some filming in the Diabetes UK London office. It meant an early start. I also had an extra-late finish because I broke my journey home in Reading, to attend the Quality in Care Diabetes Awards. One of the projects I worked on a couple of years ago, How to Manage a Mammoth, was nominated - and won!

As I said on LinkedIn, it was a long journey from the initial discussion around a kitchen table about doing this kind of book. My friend Rose wrote it. Another friend of mine, Richard, illustrated it. And now it's published and been turned into a short cartoon as well. 

It was a great night out for many of my colleagues from Wales. My friend Scott, who I keep bumping into at football matches, won an award too. And my former colleagues on the SEREN education programme were highly commended for one of their modules. 

Fist pump from Scott

"Team Cymru clean up again"

An added bonus was catching the train home afterwards with my friend Sara, which gave us a fab opportunity for a proper catch up!

Photo on the bus that took us to the train

The next week we went to DisneyLand. The day after we returned, I drove up to Hartlepool. It was during Storm Babet, and it felt like most of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire was under water. 

I went up for a birthday party for my friend Tom. He had insisted on a dress code of "double denim" and had decided to complete the look with a mini mullet haircut. We all have different ways of dealing with growing old.

The final weekend of the month saw even more travelling as Cathy and I headed over to Gloucestershire to meet up with more family. I didn't take a photo of us all, but I did take a photo of the amazing cupcakes that Bonny made - all Sesame Street characters.

I really liked the look of Count von Count, but someone else called dibs. So I ended up eating Ernie instead. 

Our scary cute Hallowe'en

Cathy has arranged some suitable toys on our mantelpiece for Hallowe'en.

I particularly like how Jack Skellington is next to Sally... Brown from Peanuts. Is he moving on to a new Sally squeeze? 

This chap is new to the mantel this year.

And the mummified Grogu is also a new addition.

We also have some spookified Cars characters - Luigi and Guido.

A Lego Hallowe'en scene

A vampire mad scientists lab with Frankenstein's monster in Playmobil. (The ghost also lights up!)

A Sylvanian Families little cat in a ghost costume (cuteness overload!)

And a bucket of bats who can zipper their wings together to keep warm!

It might not be very scary but I love our seasonal display of toys!

And if you want to see the mantel on TikTok, you can!

Disneyland train delays

I was just about to get on the Disneyland train, for a leisurely trip around the park, when the attendant stopped me. "We have a problem with the train," he said.

Cue a group of engineers and maintenance guys gathering on the platform trying to work out what was wrong. 

However, the worst thing about the delay was that I was there without any of the other members of my party. And there were no other people from the UK near me in the queue. I was just about to make a joke about 'leaves on the line' when I realised the French, German and Spanish families near me probably wouldn't get the reference!

Eventually we got moving and I got to see Disneyland from the train. It gives an odd view of the park. My dad once said that travelling by train meant you saw "the backside of cities" and, it seems, the same was true on this train ride.

I liked the view of Thunder Mesa, home of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, though. It seemed to lean and loom more from this angle. 

There are a couple of 'vignettes' that are only visible from the train. There was a trope of abandoned vehicles...

Frontierland station was the only other station open besides Main Street. 

Discoveryland station looked eerily deserted as we choo-chooed through. 

And then I was back at Main Street again. My train photography skills were as bad and uninspiring as on the regular railways.

Cymru in Disneyland

In my post about Disneyland Paris I said I didn't get a good picture of the Welsh characters on the It's a Small World ride. So my sister sent me a picture.

She also took a picture of me eating a healthy lunch!

It was delicious.

Disneyland Paris

For the first time in seven years, Cathy and I left the country on holiday. We went to visit the most magical of lands... Disneyland! We took over 1,400 photos. Here are a handful for your enjoyment.

Because it was nearly Hallowe'en, Disneyland was decorated in autumnal and Hallowe'en decorations. There were pumpkins everywhere!

We saw all the big stars including Mickey and Minnie...

...Donald...

...and Daisy (in the Hallowe'en Parade)

Minnie was also in the Hallowe'en Parade with a giant horn of plenty symbolising harvest.

We went with my sister, Sarah, brother-in-law, Dan, and their three kids, Iona, Jura and Finlay. We mixed and matched going on various rides together. Finlay joined me on the Mad Hatter's Teacups.

My favourite ride was the Thunder Mountain Railroad. I liked it so much I literally bought the t-shirt. In the evening I got what I think is a great photo of it, all lit up.

Other rides I enjoyed included Star Tours (well, naturally...), the Ratatouille ride and the Cars Road Trip. And, of course, It's a Small World!

There were some Welsh representatives in the visit to all the cultures around the globe, but I didn't get a good photo of the little Welsh people. However, it's not just humans depicted on the ride - there's animals too!

The main Parade attracted a big throng of people. Cathy got a kerbside view and took some great pictures.

There were also plenty of other places to take selfies and other funny photos.

We had a bit of rain one afternoon we were there, but our final morning was bright and sunny again. The last ride I went on was the classic carousel.

And then, sadly, it was time for us to go. We left the castle behind, looking stunning in the sunshine.