Wonky Wall

It was about midnight we went to bed, at The Newport Hilton. It's not the best Hilton I've stayed at, with our room and the spa facilities needing decorating. I even had to order four extra pillows as the four we had were 'flat'. Well, I was tired and within half an hour I was knocking out the 'zzzzz's'.

About 6.00am I was woken by my wife's phone alarm sounding. The fact I had slept solid through a night of thunder and lightning was wrong. Apparently, I should have been awake with her! Anyway, I was now awake and could hear the thunder.

At 8am we were at breakfast, and I was rather too indulgent with the cooked breakfast (I rarely eat them) and it seemed to make me more lethargic than normal. By 8.30am, I was on my way home and the wife was on her way to work.

Later in the afternoon, I popped into the barber shop in the next village. Just leaving was someone I used to work with. I didn't recognise him at first. For about fifteen years he's had Parkinsons disease and he's gone to look really old, and really suffering. Amazingly, he's stilled employed as a police officer in the intelligence department. After he was diagnosed he did an Open University degree and now his passion is writing poetry. I was on the Disability Group at one stage and used to attend meetings and run him about. It opened my eyes, as often people thought he was drunk, and looked with disdain at him. When I first knew him, in 1997, he was a dog handler. he looked so young and handsome.

Just as I sat down to have the grey cut off, my stepson, Nathan, walked in for his haircut. He's been back about four months from a year working in Australia in his trade as a HGV fitter. He was in his working overalls and covered in oil. He lives in a penthouse apartment, with his mate, opposite Caerphilly Castle.

Afterwards, I drove up the local mountain and took some photographs of what took my interest. This one of a dry stone wonky wall I like best. It looks as I feel - tired!