For more like this, check out my post from Wednesday's - Robin's Top Ten 'Holy' Exclamations!
I can't believe the weather was so nice and summery last weekend, yet this week it's been grey and miserable all over again. I was planning to tackle the garden as I had a couple of days off at the beginning of the week. Needless to say the garden remains as much of an eyesore as ever.

There was only one Mayoral engagement this week - the Chair of Pontypool Community Council's charity concert at Abersychan School on Thursday. It was a lovely night and I even won a raffle prize. When I became Mayor everybody said to me that I would win loads of raffle prizes, half because the chains are lucky and half because of the sheer amount of tickets I would be buying.

They were lying.

Since last May I've only won two raffle prizes. I've certainly bought enough tickets so it must just be my luck that is wanting!

The other thing I've been focusing on this week is getting the raffle and quiz prizes sorted for my own charity quiz night next Friday. I think the selling point should be 'everybody wins a prize' there are so many of them. If you can make it, please do come along - tickets are £2 at the door and all proceeds will be going to the Mayor's charity appeal. At the end of the civic year I'll be splitting the funds three ways between Torfaen Mind, Cyfanol Women's Aid, and Lincoln's Legs.

In honour of it being held on May 4th there will also be a bonus Star Wars round. I've got a bladebuilders set for the winners.



It's been a week of ups and downs with the blog. I had an email from Feedspot to tell me I'd made their list of the 100 Top Parenting Blogs - #52 - but then in the Tots100 update I slipped 50 places to #153. I was really disappointed with that as I'd hovered around the #115 mark all last year when I was only posting once or twice a month.

Anyway, my posts for the week included a review of MforMiniatures for my Mini Mart series, a round up of my most listened to tracks in April, the 30 Days of Doctor Who blogging challenge, and a post about Louis Le Prince - the inventor of the motion picture camera - and his mysterious disappearance.

Yesterday I celebrated Save The Frogs Day with a post about the Top Ten Frogs of the Silver Screen. :)





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Since 1980 somewhere in the range of 200 species of frog have disappeared. Our remaining frogs are faced with threats including, though not limited to, pollution, infectious diseases, loss of habitat, climate change, invasive species, and over harvesting for the pet and food trades. So, in 2008, Save The Frogs! was founded as America's first public charity dedicated exclusively to amphibian conservation.

One of their first moves was to get the last Saturday of April designated as Save The Frogs Day, and since then the media coverage and reach of the campaign has continued to grow and grow!

So, in deference to the occasion, here are the top ten frog movies for your perusal...

30 Days of Doctor Who blogging challenge I adapted from one I found on Tumblr.

One of the greatest things about the classic Batman series, aside from Bruce Wayne's fashionable array of sweaters and the Joker's grease painted moustache, was Robin's penchant for exclaiming 'Holy --somewhat relevant word--' in response to, well, just about everything. According to Holy Smokes Batman, the sadly defunct archive of the sayings, Robin used the catchphrase no less than 359 times over 120 episodes.

Here are 10 of my personal favourites!

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S03:E23 'I'll Be A Mummy's Uncle'. King Tut purchases a plot of land adjacent to Wayne Manor with the aim of drilling for the supposedly unbreakable Nilanium. Thankfully Tut is restored to his true self - mild mannered Yale Professor, William Omaha McElroy - while his gang has their memories erased by Batnesia gas.

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S01:E26 'Batman Sets The Pace'. Batman and Robin escape from the Joker's makeshift prison and track him down to his hideout. The Joker doesn't stand a chance against the Caped Crusader and his shapely calved sidekick!

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S01:E09 'Zelda The Great'. Zelda, AKA The Bank Bandit, robs $100,000 every April Fools Day. This year she kidnaps Aunt Harriet into the bargain. If only Batman hadn't stole her heart she might have gotten away with it too...

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S03:E24 'The Joker's Flying Saucer'. Ruling Gotham is child's play - the Joker has ambitions to rule the universe! Can Batman and Robin measure up?

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S03:E15 'The Ogg Couple'. Olga, Queen of the Bessarovian Cossacks, teamed up with Egghead to steal the the Sword of Bulbul and the Egg of Ogg from Gotham City Museum. Poor Robin was just done with the whole escapade.

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S01:E28 'The Pharaoh's In A Rut'. King Tut captures Batman - cue Robin to the rescue! After Alfred drives the underage young master to the scene of the crime.

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S02:E52 'Batman's Satisfaction'. The Dynamic Duo get their very own crossover with Kato and the Green Hornet when the fate of a stamp factory is on the line.

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S03:E11 'The Londinium Larcenies'. Batman and Robin accompany Commissioner Gordon to Londinium in the old country, where Lord Marmaduke Ffogg and Lady Penelope Peasoup have been getting up to all kinds of rapscallionry - like stealing Her Majesty's priceless snuffboxes!

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S03:E12 'The Foggiest Notion'. Lord Marmaduke Ffogg and Lady Penelope Peasoup are plotting to take over the Londinium fashion world by stealing a shipment of mod clothing material. If they get their dastardly way perhaps Robin's will no longer be the only legs on display?

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S03:E03 'The Wail Of The Siren'. Loreli Circe, AKA The Siren, starts hypnotizing men with the power of her voice. What will the Boy Wonder do when Bruce Wayne falls under her spell?

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It's been a sad week - my granddad died on Tuesday and even though we all knew it was coming it's still a hard thing to come to terms with. He was such a big influence on my life and it's awful to think that I'm never going to see him again.

But, for the rest of us, life has to go on. I had Mayoral engagements every day this week, and a Full Council meeting to chair on Tuesday morning. (You can watch the webcast HERE.) Council agreed to create a 'presiding officer' role to replace the Mayor who will come from the pool of people already on an extra allowance - i.e. the new chairperson of Council will have to be one of the scrutiny committee chairs. I think it will be a bit bumpy next year as we work out which events should continue to receive support, but hopefully the teething pains won't last too long.

On Wednesday we went to a floral demonstration with national demonstrator Susan Philips at the Congress Theatre in Cwmbran, organised by the Pontypool Floral Art Society. I know nothing about flower arranging and didn't even know demonstrations were a thing that existed. It was so interesting though; I learned loads and the finished arrangements were so beautiful! Marianna had to come with us and was mostly really well behaved, but she started to get antsy towards the end and crawled about the floor under my seat.

To be fair to her, she had just completed her very first full day at nursery! She started 'Rising Threes' on Tuesday, which she will go to every weekday afternoon now until the end of summer term. We had the option of paying for her to continue to go to playgroup in the morning which I wasn't overly keen on - I worry that it's too much for her at this age, and I'm also a massive cheapskate. But, Anthony got his own way and we're paying for her to go Wednesday mornings. She takes a packed lunch and then goes on to nursery in the afternoon, so she was tired by the time she finished but she seemed to enjoy it just fine.

I had a meeting of the Mic Morris Trust (a great little charity which supports young sportspeople to buy equipment and pay for training, etc) on Thursday. The Mayor has always chaired the Trust meetings thanks to a quirk of history, so it was kind of sad to know that link is broken now. On Friday we went to the Pontypool Community Council annual dinner - the original date was cancelled due to the snow, so the menu was a little out of season. The food was still gorgeous though, and we had a really nice evening catching up with everyone.

Yesterday we went to the induction of the Reverend Branwen Rees as the new URC (United Reformed Church) East Wales Regional Minister at Pontnewynydd. The service was lovely - really uplifting - but Marianna didn't even make it through the doors. Instead she and Anthony stayed out in the sun in 'Jesus' Garden' so she could finish having a sulk!



I reviewed some cute gaming miniatures from Spain on Monday and a toy storage basket from Room To Grow on Thursday. On Wednesday I finally posted my epic guide to GCPD Miniatures. I've been collating stuff on police miniatures in general for a while now, and splitting it by country (and department for the USA) seems the most sensible way to go about it.

I also did the 30 Days of Food tag challenge on Friday, and posted about Healthy Movie Night Snacks on Tuesday. Yesterday I posted a wishlist of super cute kids' clothing from Fashion World.






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30 days of food blogging challenge, adapted from A To Za'atar.

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#01. Your Favourite Food

Bread and butter.

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#02. Your Favourite Restaurant

I'm not a big foodie or anything, so I don't really have a favourite restaurant. I'd sooner call in the local chippie!

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#03. What's In Your Fridge?

Not a lot. Shopping day is almost here again...

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#04. Your Favourite Chef

Fanny Craddock, obviously.

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#05. Your Favourite Meal From Mum

Porridge. Nothing makes me nostalgic like porridge, and nobody makes porridge like my Mum. ♡

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#06. Favourite Condiment

Salad cream.

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#07. Your Favourite Cook Book

I'm a big fan of retro kids' cook books. Just check out these bad boys! :)

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#08. Favourite Snack

Crisps! I never met a crisp I didn't like enough not to eat it...

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#09. Most Exotic Food You've Tried

I'm not very adventurous... Maybe goat or something?

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#10. Favourite Starter

Has to be prawn cocktail. They knew how to live it up in the 1970s.

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#11. Favourite Main Course

You can't go wrong with some kind of mix of cheese and pasta.

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#12. Favourite Dessert

Ice cream - especially the whippy kind. Spinkles and sauce are a definite plus.

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#13. Restaurant You're Desperate to Try

Not a restaurant as such, but I'd love to try an Ice Bar.

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#14. Favourite Food TV Show

Does Rosemary and Thyme count?

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#15. What Are You Best At Cooking?

Toast, though Anthony says I burn it because he believes toast should be slightly warm bread rather than toasted bread. *sigh*

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#16. Dine In or Take Away?

It's nice to go out sometimes, but nothing beats the comforts of home! I mean, you've gotta wear shoes and everything at a restaurant.

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#17. Best Hangover Food

Crispy bacon sandwiches. :)

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#18. Favourite Drink

Ribena, tea, and strawberry milkshake.

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#19. Lunch: Make It or Buy It?

In an ideal Pinterest world I'd love making it, complete with cutesy little labels and a pretty lunchbox. In reality I like to pop into Tesco for a sandwich meal deal...

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#20. Favourite Food Blog

I don't really follow any in particular.

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#21. Where Do You Do Your Food Shopping?

Aldi mostly, supplemented by Morrisons because it's the closest supermarket to us.

(I say this like Aldi itself isn't a fifteen minute walk away... We're spoiled for choice with six major supermarkets in walking distance of our house.)

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#22. Favourite Fruit

Kiwi.

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#23. Favourite Soup

Tomato. To be honest, it's the only soup I really like.

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#24. Sweet or Savoury?

I like sweets, don't get me wrong, but savoury is better in my opinion.

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#25. Favourite Vegetable

Carrots.

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#26. Favourite Fast Food Restaurant

McDonalds, for sure.

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#27. Your Favourite Food Memory

Making yorkshire puddings with my Nan for Sunday dinners. They didn't resemble any yorkshire pudding you've ever eaten though. My Nan made them really thick, kind of like cake. If there was any left over we sometimes cut them in half and had jam in the middle like a Victoria Sponge!

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#28. What's In Your Freezer?

Slightly more than is in the fridge, but that's not saying much. I spied some ice cream, a chicken and mushroom pie, and some chicken nuggets.

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#29. Favourite Breakfast Food

I don't usually eat breakfast, much as I should, but I'd love to live the life of American TV and eat pancakes with syrup every morning.

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#30 Your Favourite Seasonal Food

Seeing as I literally just talked about my love of pancakes, I'll go with mince pies instead. I can happily eat one every day from the moment they hit shops. (In, like, October.)

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#01. Your Favourite Food
#02. Your Favourite Restaurant
#03. What's In Your Fridge?
#04. Your Favourite Chef
#05. Your Favourite Meal From Mum
#06. Favourite Condiment
#07. Your Favourite Cook Book
#08. Favourite Snack
#09. Most Exotic Food You've Tried
#10. Favourite Starter
#11. Favourite Main Course
#12. Favourite Dessert
#13. Restaurant You're Desperate to Try
#14. Favourite Food TV Show
#15. What Are You Best At Cooking?
#16. Dine In or Take Away?
#17. Best Hangover Food
#18. Favourite Drink
#19. Lunch: Make It or Buy It?
#20. Favourite Food Blog
#21. Where Do You Do Your Food Shopping?
#22. Favourite Fruit
#23. Favourite Soup
#24. Sweet or Savoury?
#25. Favourite Vegetable
#26. Favourite Fast Food Restaurant
#27. Your Favourite Food Memory
#28. What's In Your Freezer?
#29. Favourite Breakfast Food
#30 Your Favourite Seasonal Food

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It's been another quiet week - it's still half term here and there hasn't been much on at work. On Tuesday we went to a Parkinson's Awareness Week event at the log cabin in Penygarn. Read more about it in my #UniteForParkinsons post.

We went to visit my granddad on Thursday as he's really ill and the doctor's say it won't be long now. He looked so weak and frail. :( Marianna and I have been staying at my mum's for a few days, so it's been nice to be around family all the time.

She did go to watch Peter Rabbit with my in-laws in the week though. But as soon as the film actually started she began screaming and crying because Peter Rabbit was a mascot - her number one fear in life - and they had to leave after about five minutes. I'm glad I wasn't there to be honest!

Mostly though, I've just watched a lot of TV and written about 15,000 words of a short story I'm working on.

#uniteforparkinsons - Marianna on Tuesday.

A post shared by Jessica Powell (@babi_a_fi) on Apr 14, 2018 at 3:55pm PDT

Monday was National Unicorn Day so I blogged about the top ten unicorn films. On Thursday I did a post on how to find and fix broken links on your blog, and my post for Friday was just a link to an interview I did with the South Wales Argus.

I also reviewed Tatty Arbuckle's Yard for my Mini Mart series, and yesterday I did the 100 Truths Blogging Challenge.







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