Blogs
We decided that it was kinda boring having a solid block of color on either side of the screen display so we thought we'd put the space to some use. Once a week we will be presenting a new picture taken somewhere in Wales. Of course those of you with sufficient screen resolution will only see a small portion of the pic and the challenge is to guess where in Wales the shot was taken. Please post your answer in 'comments' below. No prizes ....just for fun....pob lwc 
For anyone who cant see enough of the image to attempt an identification there is a screenshot below. Click thumbnail for a larger image.
Jack the Station Cat author Alan Cliff says "You're never too old to write."
By Ceri Shaw, 2010-12-20
AmeriCymru spoke to Alan Cliff, the author of the 'Jack The Station Cat' childrens book series. Jack is based on a real life cat who lived in Wrexham and Rhyl. In the series he resides at Tails End Station and holds down the post of Station Cat.
Americymru: Hi Alan......what drew you to writing children's fiction?
Alan: From 1993 to 2006 every month I wrote a column for aBritish model railroad magazine "British Railway Modelling." In thiscolumn which was entitled Lock's Siding" I featured a station catcalled Jack named after one of our own cats.. Several readers plusmembers of my own family challenged me to turn Jack into thehero of children's stories. I had no erxperience of writing children'sfiction. I decided the best age group to write for would be forreading age 6-8 which would also allow younger children to be readto. I talked to my younger daughter Ailsa who teaches primaryschool children. Armed with her advice I settled down in 1998 towrite the first Jack stories. Eventually I found a publisher in NorfolkEngland, Wendy Webb Children's Books, and September 2000saw the first book "Jack the Station Cat Goes to School"published. When Wendy Webb Books gave up publishingchildren's books in 2004 I was taken on by the Welsh publisherGwasg Helygain of Rhyl in North Wales. I am still with thispublisher.
Americymru:Jack the Station Cat is based on a real live cat is he not? Care totell us a little about the real Jack?
Alan: Jack was a real cat but the only station he ever saw wasthe one on my model railroad. He loved to get on the baseboardand dislocate traffic. This gave me the idea of "Jack the Station Catgoes to School" where Jack learns to be a first class station cat.There is a painting of the real Jack by Rhyl artist Mari Bell at thefront of the book. Jack was born in 1988 near Wrexham the largesttown in North Wales. He originally belonged to our younger sonNigel. Nigel is the illustrator of all the Jack books bar the firstversion of "Jack goes to School" and "Jack lends a Helping Paw."However he came to live with my wife and me in Rhyl when only afew months old. He died in 2000 after a full feline life but lives on inthe shape of his alter ego "Jack the Station Cat."
Americymru: Jack has raised quite a bit of money for charity. Can you tell uswhat charities have benefited from sales of the book?
Alan: The Jack books have supported a number of Britishchildrern's and youthcharities. Half my royalties go to the charitynamed at the front of the book. These include the WinnicottFoundation at St Mary's Hospital Paddington London.:The NationalAutiistic Society: The Railway Children: Fitzwilliam CollegeCambridge poor students fund: National Children's Home (renamedAction for Children) a Methodist Church foundation, one of Britain'slargest children's welfare charities: The Children's Trust, Tadworthan offshoot of Great Ormonde Street Children's Hospital London:TY Gobaith (Hope House) children's hospice at Conwy, NorthWales and Save the Family, a charity working to keep families thathave become dysfunctional together, based at Northop Hall, NorthWales. Jack also supports "Cats Protection" the UK's largest catwelfare charity.
Americymru: How many Jack the Station Cat titles have been published todate? Are you working on any other series of children's books?
Alan: There are 13 titles to date, five published by Wendy WebbBooks and nine by Gwasg Helygain. The Wendy Webb books areout of print.
Gwasg Helygain republished "Jack goes to School" in 2008. Irevised the book and Nigel reillustrated same. Two of the GwasgHelygain titles "Jack and the Great Little Trains Robbery" and"Jack and the Lost Kittens" have been translated into Welsh byBerwyn Prys Jones. All the books have puzzles at the back a fewset by myself but most devised by Brenda Wyatt from Kinmel Baynear Rhyl. All the Gwasg Helygain books, English and Welshlanguage, are in print.
I have written another children's series, three books,about Jack'scousins Grabbit and Skoot who live in the country. The books areout of print though I have a few copies left for sale. A Wendy Webbpublication I need a new publisher for them.
Americymru: Where can people purchase Jack the Station Cat titles?
Alan: Wholesalers should approach my publisher www.gwasg.com e-mail:- guto@gwasg.com Private buyers should look at Jack the Station Cat's web-site www.jackthestationcat.co.uk find the Book Sales page and clickon to Amazon Books logo. This will take them straight to Amazon.co.uk Alternatively there is a link from each Jack booklisted on Jack's web-site to bfkbooks.com the international bookreviewers.. A link then goes from the review to Amazon.
Americymru:What's next for Alan Cliff? Will we be seeing more Jack theStation Cat books?
Alan: There are two more Jack books on the stocks.
Americymru:Any final message for members and readers of AmeriCymru?
Alan: You are never too old to write. I was 64 when the first Jackchildren's book came out in 2000. Ten years down the line I stillenjoy writing even if I am a little slower than I used to be. The Jackbooks keep me young at heart.
'Jack The Station Cat' Immortalized On First Day Cover
The return of snow and ice is causing major disruption to the transport network across Wales. Almost 900 schools closed on Friday, bus services were suspended in many areas and there were delays on trains. (And the postponement of many a football match, too).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12012042
Friday 17th December saw our first downfall of the white fluffy stuff!
It fell over-night and covered the landscape to a depth of about 3". The dogs thought it was absolutely great and tore about the garden stopping for a moment to roll in it! They seemed to have difficulty trying to find their usual toileting spot and took ages to 'do the business', or perhaps it was deliberate delaying tactics on their behalf because they were having so much fun. I was freezing all the while and wanted to get back inside in order to light the log burner!
So, this morning 18th December more snow had fallen overnight and this time it was a more substantial dump - approx 6", I say approximately because my measurement is inaccurate: it relates to how high it reached against the bodies of the Yorkies who are 2-hands-high.
Caro examines her snowy legs and decides the best course of action is to eat the snow!
Little balls of snow had stuck all through her long hair and you can probably tell she got very wet in the process.
The other two dogs Rhia, Caro's sibling, and Pepsi the old lady of the pack, were also covered in these little balls of snow. Their tactic for removing them was different: they raced around the house shaking themselves furiously .. it didn't help to remove the snow but by the time they had finished shaking, rolling and spinning, the snow had actually melted. This of course is why I cannot show you pictures of them, they just refused to stay in one spot long enough for me to take the shot!
Slight panick this morning
My OH was travelling back from a business trip late last night and his ETA at Swansea train station was just after 02:00 am in the early hours of the morning. You can probably see where I'm heading with this - did he make it home considering the weather conditions he had to face overnight? Well eventually he did - at 04:00 am.
The train arrived on time and he collected the car from the long-stay carpark however getting from the station to Gower was an absolute nightmare. He related the story to me this morning. Driving through the centre of Swansea along the Kingsway he was amazed at how many young people were milling around having exited the night clubs around about that time. He was aghast at the minimal clothing worn by some of the young women and the fact that they were wearing strappy 4" stilettoe heeled sandals.
The problem soon became apparent. There were no taxis running out of Swansea because of the dreadful road conditions. Sensible approach when you think about it, and it's a shame the young night-clubbers weren't as sensible about venturing out on such an arctic night.
My OH is a kind and generous type of guy but I'm SO glad he took the decision he did, not to stop to pick up these drunken abusive people who tried to stop the vehicle by standing in front of it and hurling abuse.
He managed to traverse the icy, snow-covered main road across town and on to Fairwood however with a 'dingly-dell' to get through and a 'not insubstantial hill' to climb he decided to park up in a lay-by and walk the rest of the way home. He arrived home some time just after 04:00 am.
These are photographs I took at 07:00 hrs this morning on waking and taking the dogs our for their first toileting stop:
WINTER WONDERLAND
EARLY MORNING SUNLIGHT BRAKING ON THE FARM TRACK - OH'S FOOTRPINTS IN SNOW
WHEN I SAW THE ROAD LEADING TO OUR FARM TRACK I REALISED OH HAD NOT DRIVEN HOME, OR TAKEN A TAXI HE HAD WALKED HOME!
MIST AND SNOW ON MOORLAND OUTSIDE THE FARMHOUSE.
I took these photo's with my iPhone so they aren't the best quality photos but too good not to share with you.
It's a beautifully sunny day now so I expect we will attempt to take the three Yorkies to the beach a little later for a full blown blast to get rid of some of their energy: otherwise we'll have to endure their antics indoors while they expend some of it by racing from room to room chasing each other! Wish us luck either way!
This week's puzzle is on food and dining.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a native or even competant Welsh speaker so caveat emptor on these translations. The purpose of these puzzles is to give the user some exercise in looking up and researching Welsh words and hopefully hearing audio files of how they should be pronounced. This week's translations come from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David site at geiriadur.net , from Google translate and the hardcover edition of Y Geiriadur Mawr: The Complete English Welsh - Welsh English Dictionary . If two sources agreed on the Welsh translation of an English word, that's the word I used. If they all disagreed, I went with geiriadur.net. If they all gave multiple answers, I chose the one that seemed most likely to me and had an audio file.
Download the pdf, below, to do the puzzle and see the image below to see this week's puzzle.
This month Gold, Silver and Bronze Sheep of Excellence are at stake together with a copy of Liz Whittaker's 'A Court In Splendour" . These are the rankings so far:-
1. Sexbomb 20
2. Lorin Morgan-Richards 19
3. Mona Everett 16
4. Rhianne Griffiths 12
5. Zoe Brigley Thompson 11
Still a close race for first place and still time for a newcomer to crash in to the top five.
Car manufacturers Suzuki and Cross Hands-based J and J Motors are helping to rev-up the fundraising campaign for the Healing The Wounds charity.
The charity, now celebrating its first year of operation, is raising funds for a suitable facility within Wales for the treatment of Armed Forces Personnel, Veterans and their families, who are suffering from stress-related illnesses such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).
The charity also aims to provide a convalescent home to allow them to heal and recover from the traumas of conflict. The Healing The Wounds charity wishlist currently has the historic mansion at Golden Grove in the Tywi Valley earmarked as a potential base.
The charitys work is moving on very quickly and we have already raised 120,000 towards out initial target of 200,000, said Healing The Wounds Executive Director Kevin Richards.
Our fundraising efforts have expanded very quickly in the 12 months since we first set up the charity and we are gathering support from all four corners of Wales.
We have a newly-appointed fundraising manager in Rachel Phillips and the very kind support of Suzuki and J and J Motors means that she will now be able to be more mobile in helping to support our fundraising efforts.
The support of Suzuki and J and J Motors has been very generous and we look forward now to moving our fundraising efforts up another gear thanks to their help.
Caption:
Boost for charity . . . Jonathan Thomas, a director of J and J Motors of Cross Hands Business Park, Cross Hands delivers the keys to a new Suzuki Swift to Rachel Phillips, fundraising manager for the Healing The Wounds Charity.
Notes:
Healing The Wounds) has been launched for the purpose of raising the funds needed to enable the purchase of a suitable facility within Wales for the treatment of our Armed Forces Personnel, Veterans and their families, who are suffering from stress related illnesses such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and to provide a convalescent home to allow them to heal and recover from the traumas of conflict.
Golden Grove Mansion has become available for purchase with 100 acres of Country Park, which would provide a peaceful and beautiful environment that would be the perfect place for recovery.
However, if the sale of the property does not materialise, Healing the Wounds charity will continue to raise the funds needed for the purpose of searching for an alternative suitable property to facilitate treatments and convalescence for our Armed Forces Personnel, Veterans and their families. This is and shall always remain the prime objective of the charity
Golden Grove Mansion was actually used as a hospital for American troops during the Second World War. It was first built in 1560 as the seat of the Vaughan family, descendants of the Princes of Powys. Two hundred years ago it passed to Lord Cawdor and the present mansion was built in 1834. In later years it housed an agricultural college, but is now empty. There are more than 150 rooms and the basic structure is sound. It is a grade II* listed building within a 100 acre conservation area and the grounds include a wooded Country Park, a visitor centre and cafe.
The appeal is more than halfway towards its initial target of raising 200,000.
Donations can be made
By post
To make your donation by post, please send a cheque payable to Golden Grove Appeal, together with your name address and post code to enable us to claim gift aid, to Golden Grove Appeal, 22 Abbey Road, Kenfig Hill, Bridgend, CF33 6HF.
Give in person at Barclays Bank
Call into any branch of Barclays and pay your donation into this account:
Golden Grove Mansion Appeal
Sort code: 20-84-41
Account number: 90516929
Wales is expected to announce tomorrow, that former Wales captain (with 85 caps), Gary Speed, will take the helm of the Wales international footballing side, recently vacated by John Toshack. God Speed!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/league_of_wales/9274410.stm
We recently received the following message from Alan Cliff (Author: "Jack the Station Cat" children's books)
"The Cats on Stamps Study Unit, an affiliate of the American Philatelic Society, has informed us that Jack the Station Cat is the first feline in Anglo-Welsh children's literature to appear on a first day cover in the present century and before. Jack is also the only British children's literary feline, big or small, on a stamp or First Day Cover appearing in stories being written now. The four others who have appeared in philately since 2000 or earlier, Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, Pussy Cat from "Owl and the Pussy Cat," Shere Khan from "The Jungle Book" and the Cheshire Cat from "Alice in Wonderland" were originally published in the early twentieth or nineteenth centuries The Bala Lake Railway and Buckingham Covers have created history.
The credit for unearthing this piece of philatelic/literary history goes to Marci Jarvis Editor of "Cat Mews".the award winning Journal of the Cats on Stamps Study Unit ."
Interested in buying children's books from Wales? Read more here:- Jack The Station Cat
| There are thirteen books in the series to date with the thirteenth (Jack the Station Cat and the August Day) having been published in July 2010. Two of the books have also been published in Welsh, with the translation being done by Berwyn Prys Jones. The books are aimed at children between the ages of 3 to 9 and combine cat stories and railway stories and were originally illustrated by Helen Maffin with the later books being illustrated by Nigel Cliff. As with his Grabbit and Skoot series, the author has chosen to donate half of his author royalties to various different charities. | ||||
 | Jack the Station Cat and the August Day | |||
