Waterfalls R us

Waterfalls I have seen. I will add more pictures when I have scanned them in. I will also update the list as it is not yet finished.

Wales

1. Ystradfellte- There are 4 waterfalls here, listed below.
· Sgwd Clun Gwyn
· Sgwd-yr-Eira
· Sgwd Gwladus (v.impressive)
· Neath River Falls, (unnamed)

2. Pistyll Rhaedr Falls, (got a crazy natural arch in the middle of it.

3. Swallow falls
4. Aber Falls, (v.impressive)
5. Devils Bridge falls

Iceland
6. Gulfoss (this really does have to be seen to be believed)

7. Skogafoss

8. Seljalandsfoss

9. Svartifoss (V.famous. Would have been more impressive but been quite dry, lots of crazy basalt columns)
10. Hundafoss (on way to Svartifoss)
11. Magnúsarfoss (on way to Svartifoss)
12. Thjofafoss (on way to Svartifoss)
13. Foss á Siðu (literally “waterfall at Siðu”) Seen from the side of the road. Very long and narrow.
14. Faxifoss, (the first waterfall we saw in Iceland, not high but impressive)

15. Öxarárfoss (within Thingavar national park, it had been dry so it wasn’t that impressive)

16. Fagrifoss, (my favourite, on the way to Laki up some crazy ass track)

17. Plus various others we saw on the side of the road but can’t remember their names.

New Zealand
18. Bowen Falls
19. Stirling Falls

Others
20. Dunns River Falls (Jamaica, stunning)
21. Umauma Falls (Hawaii on the big island)
22. Wailua Falls (the ones on Kauai not Maui)

Still to do
Dettifoss, (Iceland)
Godofoss (Iceland)
Iguassu
Angel Falls
Niagra
Victoria

Pictures all my own, don’t copy them or I’ll send the boys round.

Size 0, F**K that!!!

I got really cross the other day.
I got home from work, unlocked the door and picked up the post. The postie had scrawled on one of the envelopes that there was a parcel behind my recycling bin, it was some stuff I had ordered online. After picking up my parcel I turned my attention to the aforementioned envelope, which the postie had written on. It was addressed to a previous occupant of the house, I opened it with the intention of getting the return address, shoving it in a new envelope and sending it back.

When I opened it I was completely shocked and then really really angry. What did it contain I hear you yell? Not hardcore pornography or a death wish; no something far worse, (in my eyes anyway). It was an advert for a diet pill, not any old diet pill. One that has catcheley called itself the ‘size 0 diet pill’. I’m sure regular readers will no my past when it comes to eating issues so this really is a subject close to my heart.

The advert claims that you could lose 24 lbs a week but advises you to order a course of 2 weeks tablets so you can lose 48lbs!! And you could go from a size 24 to a zero in 6 weeks! Oh my god!! There was a little leaflet within the trash in the envelope by some supposed doctor telling the gullible wrecks they send this twaddle to that it was definitely safe blah blah blah….The truth is losing weight that quickly could give you a heart attack. Also the size zero pill contains flipping Clenbuterol which is a tablet giving to horses to help them with their breathing. It’s just preying on the vulnerable, I mean why the f**k would you want to be a size zero anyway?!! Well obviously I know why some women do, it’s because they are ill and need help to alter their own self-perception. Tin pot companies sending shit like this through the post should feel absolutely ashamed of themselves and if this company wasn’t based in Holland I would find their address and go and have some serious words. The obligatory picture on the front was of some chick holding out a comedy pair of oversized trousers in a classic weight watchers stance. The difference being this lady had been air brushed to within and inch of her life. Well I hope she had anyway, her waist and arms were so skinny she looked like she shouldn’t be able to stand up. I’m going to scan in the pic and put it on here I reckon. Not as ‘thinspiration’ but as a reminder to myself never to go to that dark dark place again.

Weekend activities

I had a marvellous weekend.

Bob disappeared off to London to go on Gaz’s annual magical mystery tour for his birthday. I wanted to go but made an executive decision to spend some quality time with my mates for a change. I haven’t seen Smally for months and hadn’t seen her little girl Ella since her first birthday party back in January.

So I was planning to spend most of Friday evening in the gym before nipping over to Ross-on Wye on Saturday afternoon to see the small one, (and the little one). Welllllll, I was just leaving work on Friday afternoon when I got a text from Helen. I went Worcester uni with Helen years ago but she had to leave because of some issues and sort of disappeared off the face of the Earth for a bit. I happen to bump into her about 4 months ago in my old gym and we swapped numbers. She texted me to ask if I wanted to go to a little get-together at her place that evening, so off I toddled. It was great catching up and reminiscing about old times. Not wanting to get too inebriated as I was sort of saving myself for Saturday night, I left at about 11:30 and stumbled the 300 or 400 metres home.

Saturday dawned, it was gloriously sunny and I was up quite early. I nipped across Worcester on me BMX to pick up a parcel from the sorting office then tore over to the gym. I did a bit of crazy workout as I had missed yesterdays sesh. Then I did a spot of gardening before driving over to Ross-on Wye. It was a shock to see little Ella, she had almost been walking when I saw her last but now she is wandering around all over the place. AND, she has gone blonde, Smally tried to tell me she must be mine. Ella has also developed a fab sense of humour, laughing with her mouth wide opened sounding a bit like a pirate seems to be her speciality. She isn’t very chatty yet but Smally has taught her some sign language which is odd for me as I have no idea what she is trying to say to me with her arms and hands waving about. She must have thought I was well stupid.

We went for a nice walk around the lanes to get Ella off to sleep, which was sooo nice in the sunshine. Later on we had vino and some din dins, Pete came back from the pub and we all just chilled. It was lovely. Another early night beckoned. I was asleep by about 11 I reckon. Rock and Roll.

Next day I lounged around for a bit causing a nuisance, then I drove home via the Cemetery in Hereford where I visited my nan and granddad. Why they are buried in Hereford I will never know. I did a bit of speed tidying then drove to the station to pick Bob up.

RIP bugs

I’ve had rather a stressful start to the day.
Richie just came running into my office to tell me it was all going on outside. I have an external door in my office that looks out onto part of the carpark. Well a bunny had wedged itself behind the water butt outside whilst a cat stalked around. Richie had scared the cat off once but it was far too interested in the rabbit. I went outside and saw the bunny, literally about a metre from my office, he had miximatosis. Oh F**k. If I had a shot gun I would have shot him there and then, better the poor bugger goes quickly than die of flipping mixi or get chucked around by a cat for a few hours. I told Richie it needed killing, he wasn’t doing it and neither was I. I went and got Dr Bob the IT manager who whacked it across the head with a hammer. Now I have a dead rabbit in a bin bag outside my office, and the cat is peering in through the glass door giving me dirty looks as if I stole it’s toy.

Workouts and mongeese

Not a very exciting weekend but I feel compelled to write about it anyway.
On Friday I had to leave work early to take Bond home. It was quite worrying for a time, he lost half his vision in one eye and then got a big headache. It sounds like a migraine but he doesn’t suffer with migraines. Anyway, I took him home and I worked from home the rest of the afternoon. We had the most intense rainstorm at about 5:30.

Bob was supposed to go to work on Saturday bit his boss rang up at about 8 to say that the fields were too wet so he had an unexpected day off. I went for my gym induction and then stayed for a work out. I went a bit mad actually and can still feel the tightness in my shoulders now. It was sooo lovely working out in a proper gym again. They have this vibration training thingy that I have always wanted to have a go with. I think it’ll be good for my dodgy calf muscle. The upstairs bit of the gym is purely CV equipment and is mostly filled with women, downstairs there are a few bits of CV stuff and the weights machines as well as the boys room. I think I prefer it downstairs. Well apart from being in a bit of a goldfish bowl, people wander past on Malvern Road and stare in at you as you’re working out. I’m not so keen on that and may have to start mouthing things like ‘pervert’ at them.

Anyway, enough of my working out addiction. When I got back Bob was killing people on the internet, (Call Of Duty 4). We had some lunch and drove to Halfords for Bob to buy bits for his rapidly disintegrating car, (freaking south American steel). Outside a loda of lads were on BMX’s. Normally wouldn’t mention this but they were all on Mongoose, rather a good make and just happens to be the make I have. I was considering nipping home and getting mine and hanging wit da kidz. But then though they probably wouldn’t appreciate a 30 year old chick coming and being all motherly every time they fall off an graze their knee. On the way back form Halfords Bob I noticed a 70’s VW for sale. Oh dear, we had to stop and have a quick peep. It was lovely, the horrific orange colour but I can forgive that, not much rust which is always a bonus. We resisted banging on the door of the house though. It is really only a question of time.

We did nowt in the evening, I struggled to light the chimnia as it has absorbed loads of water it being clay and porous. I got it lit in the end and we had some lovely bangers from Dayhus in St-Johns.

Next day Bob went to work and I nipped to my parents for Sunday dinner, mmmmm. That was about it really. I tried to go to the gym on Sunday evening, (yay for fabulous opening hours) but I forgot my bike lock key so decided to burn around Worcester on me bike instead. I still get odd looks and that is only going to get worse as I get older and still continue to ride my BMX short distances. Maybe I’ll start riding my mountain bike instead. Well actually no I love my BMX and always will.

The sun has got his hat on

Well briefly so it would seem.

I still have the most persistent cold ever. I have had it now for about 4 weeks. Yesterday I felt fine and even considered going for a run, the torrential rain soon put pay to that idea. Bob and I nipped out for a pizza last night and this morning I have a whole world full of snot falling out of my head. Maybe I’m allergic to wine. I only had a couple of glasses last night; I’ll give up for a bit and see if it makes any difference.

Instead of going for a run I wandered over to the new sports centre in St-Johns and joined up. My ‘ladies only’ gym membership ran out last week, which happily coincided with the new council run sports centre opening, yay!! My old gym was rubbish, when I joined up I suppose I had images of a kind of mini sisterhood with lots of empowered women going and getting sweaty together. Well the truth is I was generally the youngest in the place by about 15 years and I seemed to be the only chick with sweat glands there. I thought the point of a ladies only gym was not to be embarrassed about that sort of stuff but it made me feel even more conspicuous. The gym was small and cramped with no air con and the CV equipment was in the same room as the classes, which can be really off putting. Imagine you are trying to pace yourself running when some noisy bint of an aerobics teacher screams 1, 2 , 3 , 4 over her hideous taste in dance music.

So I got shown around the new sports centre, we walked into the first room and the first thing that hit me, air con!!!! Now don’t get me wrong, I generally hate the stuff but it is almost essential in a gym full of people working out. Then the second thing, the return of the boys room. I’ve been a member of a few gyms before. The one before last unfortunately went bust after last Junes rain made the roof collapse, and I was a member of another two before that too. All have in common this little cordoned off room at the back which has the proper heavy weights in. I didn’t think I’d miss it but I have. The sound of grunting, the smell of fresh sweat, the bull dog like men with thick necks stalking around the rest of the gym in between sets. Give me a week and I’ll be whinging about them again but at the moment I want to go and wrap my pathetic in comparison arms around the big hulking brutes that hang out there.

Anyway, I have my induction on Saturday so will be able to work out, get sweaty and not be embarrassed. Also there may be someone my age who wants to talk about something other than the kids or what their husband is up to. BTW my husband is generally playing Call of Duty 4 when I am at the gym.

Hydrogeekery

Iwatched the rain get worse again. My colleague from upstairs came and informed my boss that the surface water was starting to gather in Tenbury Wells again. As the Environment Agency have refused to fund any sort of defences in Tenbury my boss is putting a case together to try and get them some flood warning instead. So off he went in a 4×4 wearing my waders and my high viz jacket. The rain continued. There were was a steady rain with some really sharp intense bursts. Bond and Dr Bob left whilst I waited for Bob to come and pick me up. He was coming from near Bodenham and had to come through a road that I had just heard was shut on the local radio. Anyway he made it and we set off.

Well I got home ok but I did have to push a poor Morris Minor out of a flood at Cotheridge, (between Bromyard and Worcester on the A44). We watched it shudder to halt as we were waiting to go through the water, this has become the common occurrence on the roads of Herefordshire and Worcestershire recently. A rare show of manners as you wait patiently for the cars coming towards you to drive through the water in the middle of the road as the middle of the road is generally higher. Then some twat in a 4×4 will overtake the waiting cars and whizz through engulfing the cars coming the other way and forcing them to deeper water. This happened when I was getting out of the car to help the Moggy. I ran towards the Moggy in me wellies to help the poor hippy chick push her beloved car out whilst the cars behind sat doing bugger all waiting for us to remove the car. Yeah thanks for that. Another chap who was behind us helped too and so did Bob but that was it. We ran up the road pushing the Moggy as the chick desperately tried to start it up. No such joy, but the other chap who had stopped seemed to know a thing or two about engines and so stayed with her. Ahh knight in shining armour.

The road from Bromyard to Worcester was nowhere near as bad as 20th July last year but the council have done quite a bit of drainage work on it since. I have been informed that the road from Burley Gate to Bromyard was awful and just as bad as last year. Now this is probably because Herefordshire council haven’t got the money to spend on drains.

We got home and I texted my mates in the local area to make sure they were ok. All were fine. TH had been out in South Wales that day but had got back ok. Mer was fine and Bond got home ok. I texted my boss who rang me getting very excited. He was still in Tenbury taking dip readings on the Kyre Brook. This is the smaller of the two watercourses in Tenbury. It was literally lapping at the banks and going to come over. The police had tried to evacuate him but he was having none of it and told them he was trying to help Tenbury so they left him. The Kyre Brook flows at one end of the high street in Tenbury and the Teme is at the other. They both flood and then meet in the middle. This is the 4th time in 18 months that Tenbury has been engulfed! I left my boss to carry on dipping. I should really text him again to make sure he is back home as the road between Tenbury and Bromyard got shut.

The flooding worries continue as the pluvial flood subside and the rivers begin to rise. Last night on our way home from the pub the Severn was lapping at its bank top outside Browns. I should imagine it is now out. Well where on earth are the Environment Agency going to put the demountable barriers. They have started the permanent barriers so the trees have been chopped down and there are big mounds of un compacted clay where the barriers would normally go. We spotted the EA out last night looking at the situation. There is no room between the Severn and the clay so basically most of this is going to get washed into the river. There you go Upton have some red clayey water. I will nip down and see what is going on in a bit. I’m such a geek!!

Talking of rain

It’s been chucking it down here all day. I’m currently at work in Bromyard and having flash backs to my journey home on 20th July 2007. Why does this stuff always happen on a Friday?! I have stayed at work because the Met Office informed me the heavy rain was due to stop at about 2ish so in my hydrohead brain deduced it would be best to wait till home time to go home as the surface water would have dissipated by then and the rivers wouldn’t have had chance to rise too much.

Well it’s still raining and really doesn’t show much signs of stopping. I think the intensity may have decreased a bit. Mu boss has just driven to Tenbury Wells to get some snaps of the Teme and Kyre Brook taking over the town again, if indeed they do. The Environment Agency have refused to give Tenbury Wells nay funding for flood defences even given last years fiasco.

Oh what I said about intensity, forget it. The rain sounds like it is about to come through the roof. Arghhhhhh

Precipitation strikes again.

So the hurricane weakened loads as it hit land and therefore New Orleans got away with it. About 90 people died overall. Still awful but could have been a whole lot worse. I just watched a video of the flood defences, (I know I’m a geek but feel free to point it out again if you like). It looks as if the storm surge was just lapping at the tops of the levees and just the occasssional wind driven wave lapped over the top.

Message to New Orleans. Either finish those defences NOW!!! Come on it’s been 3 years it should have been the priority, before rebuilding the houses you should make sure they are protected. OR, abandon the city, don’t live there any more it’s in a coastal flood plain. The defences will need to be made higher and higher as sea levels rise and hurricanes become more agressive.

Now Gustav has been downgraded to a tropical storm, (do you think it’s upset?) let’s hope the media gives a bit more coverage of what has been going on in India. 90 people dead so far but whole villages have been washed away by the monsoon in Bihar region so they’ll never be able to tell how many peopole have actually died. The Indian Government are focussing on rescuing the million or so people stranded in villages which is excellent work but the relief camps are overflowing apparently.

A tad windy

The fact this is happening again merely 3 years since the last big hurricane is quite terrifying.

I have just watched some footage of Gustav hitting Cuba and Jamaica, it looks crazy. It was still a category 4 and weakened not long after hitting land but will gain strength again over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. At least 71 people have died so far in Cuba, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Haiti. Poor buggers, it’s not like they have the money to protect themselves from this type of thing especially on Haiti. But obviously the media is focussing on New Orleans. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a tragedy that it could hit New Orleans again but less face it the carnage caused by Katrina could have been a lot less if the Government had responded properly in the first place. Like they seem to be this time. I’m not going to get into this argument again because it annoys me. I don’t know whether it was a race thing, let’s hope not.

So this is going to be stronger than Katrina but should hopefully just miss New Orleans. Well let’s just hope it does.