My back continues to be my major preoccupation. It started to ease up a bit Thursday and Friday, then Saturday it just seemed to be back to square one. :( The plan for next week (half term) was to sort out the house and repaint a couple of rooms but, sigh, I don't think I'm going to get very far with it.

Thankfully there wasn't much on this week. I had my first meeting about learning overview and scrutiny committee, to fix the dates for a few preliminary meetings, etc, and I had a full board meeting at Bron Afon. Anthony had his community council AGM and was appointed Vice Chairman.

Other than that I watched a lot of TV, wrote a few short stories, and generally wallowed in self pity...



I haven't posted much - read: any - this week because I've been too busy feeling sorry for myself. I will doubtless backdate content... at some point.



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The big thing this week was officially finishing as Mayor. It's been such a life changing year - I've always suffered with a lot of social anxiety and wasn't sure how I'd hold up having to go out and meet new people, day after day. It has been hard at times, I can't deny, but I'm so glad to have done it. Especially as it turned out to be the very last chance I would have gotten!

You can read the speech I gave to full council about it on Tuesday HERE. Or watch it via the webcast HERE.

All the nominations made at Labour group last week were accepted and agreed too, which meant I could stop stressing about them. Normally I wouldn't put myself forward for anything, but my family nagged and nagged about how if I never tried I would never know, so I filled out a few application forms and crossed my fingers. I ended up being voted in for Chair of the Learning Communities Scrutiny Committee. It was really hotly contested and it means a lot that my colleagues were willing to let me have a go at it.

The committee chairs were then all put in a ballot for 'presiding member' - the replacement for the Mayor to chair full council - and I won that too. I did suggest that we took it in turns, like on a rota, but there was no appetite for that, hehe.

After council we went to Bob Jones' funeral. Bob was a former Mayor and an active member of Pontnewydd Labour Branch, so I've spent lots of time with him at meetings and events over the years. The church service was really moving and then the crem was so packed it was standing room outside only. Anthony stayed out afterwards with some of the guys from Cwmbran Community Council, where Bob had been serving as Chair, but I was still feeling raw from working myself up over council AGM and my granddad's funeral, so I went home to get Marianna early.

What else did I do this week? Hmm... On Monday I went to a seminar on the pressure on children's social services in the borough. (Constantly growing, probably the same as everywhere else in the country.) Thursday I had Audit and Ethics Committee at Bron Afon - my last one, in fact, because I'm going to switch to staffing & HR which I feel is much more my natural home. (I don't know why I always end up on audit / finance!)

The main point of this week was that it was to be a fresh start. I was off Friday through the rest of the weekend, so the plan was to start sorting out the house. Except Friday morning I was sorting through the understairs cupboard and pulled something in my lower back. What I've actually spent the weekend doing is shuffling about like an old woman and looking at the piles of junk I can't face bending down to sort out.

Ah well, I have loads of free time now. The schedule being pushed back to next week is not the end of the world. :)

Me and Hywel Davies, the Mayoral chauffeur and support officer. I couldn't have done any of it without him!

I posted a clipping from the South Wales Argus on Monday - our litter pick made the grassroots section. On Wednesday I went with the Top Ten Fandom Blogs, and on Friday I posted my Top Ten Tracks for May.

I also set up my very own TinyLetter this weekend! I used to run a few fandom newsletters so it should be fun to give it another go.



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Reverend Canon Harald Thomas (Chaplain), Me, Alison Ward (Chief Executive of TCBC), Stuart Evans (Deputy Mayor)
I made it! It's been an amazing year - surreal at times, sure, but something that I know will stay with me forever. I did about 250 official engagements, and have written about some of them that made the local papers in my 'In the Press' series. Below is the speech I gave at council today about my year in office... (It can also be viewed on the council webcast HERE.)

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Torfaen Deputy Mayoral Chains
It has been a real honour and a privilege to serve as Mayor this last year. I have met so many inspirational people, seen some of the truly amazing work going on in our community, and attended all kinds of weird and wonderful events. I've officially opened not one but two toilets, embarrassed myself countless times over in the name of charity, and blown the starting whistle at the Men's Roller Derby Associations' world championships.

(If, like me, you didn't even know the sport existed before hearing that, I highly recommend you check it out. It's great fun to watch!)

There has also been a more solemn side to the role. I attended the funerals of two former Mayors during my time in office - Doug Davies and Ann James - and, of course, this afternoon we have the funeral of another former Mayor, Bob Jones. I think that sense of upholding tradition, of being a civic representative, most hit home for me at remembrance events. Remembrance Day was especially moving, and I would like to thank my fantastic Mayoral cadet, Seren Gunningham of Torfaen Sea Cadets, for all her support.

In truth, there are more people I need to thank than I can possibly fit into this short speech. Everybody who invited me to an event, and everyone who supported my charity appeal: the money will be split three ways between Lincoln's Legs, Torfaen Mind, and Cyfannol Women's Aid. I specifically want to thank my Chaplain, Reverend Canon Harald Thomas; my Deputy Mayor, Stuart Evans; my Mini Mayor, Marianna; and my consort, Anthony Bird - who complained about the initial draft of this speech because he wasn't mentioned.


I would also like to thank Chris Slade and everyone in the office for making up for my lack of organisational skills, my mum for babysitting above and beyond the call of duty, and Hywel Davies for everything. I literally would have been lost without him. I think I speak for all of us when I say that Hywel has been a real driving force in the role of the Mayor, and in the two decades he has been in the job he has shown nothing but dedication and professionalism of the highest standard.

I personally can't wait for his memoir!

Because this really is the end of an era. When I was first elected to the council in 2012 I was quite dismissive of the idea of us needing a Mayor. It seemed outdated and unnecessary, and I struggled to see the point. Over the years however I changed my mind - not, sadly, because I was getting paid £50,000 like some people assumed after the budget savings went public, but because I could see that it did matter to people. Actually serving as first Deputy and then Mayor was a real eye opener to how important the office still was to many members of the public, and the positive impact it had on people's lives.

What to you is just an afternoon of shaking hands and handing out certificates can be a really special memory to those involved. I have been incredibly touched to see how much it meant to people that I - or, perhaps more accurately, what I was representing by wearing the chains - attended their event.

Being apolitical for the year was a little lonely at times. You're not at group, and you don't see your colleagues as much as you usually would in committee, or the members' room. But it also gives you a unique ability to represent the authority without all the political baggage you would usually have. When you are elected you become the people's representative to the council, but as Mayor you become the council's representative to the people. I really hope going forward that we work to maintain that civic engagement with our residents and neighbours.

Sitting for my official Mayoral portrait

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It felt very strange handing over the chairship of the council to the new Presiding Member - not least because it was me! The PM has to be chosen from committee chairs, so at Labour group I went through two rounds of voting to be selected as the nomination for chair of the learning communities scrutiny committee and then chair of council.

Today those nominations were accepted and agreed, so I'm looking forward to a whole new challenge!

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Parts of this speech were quoted in the Pontypool Free Press (17/05/2018).

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This week has mostly been about winding things up and getting organised. I want to write to all the groups / organisations I visited during my time as Mayor to thank them for the invite and helping to make the year special, so I've been stocking up on note cards, writing paper, and stamps. I feel like I finally have a use for all the stationery I keep buying! It's all ready to go now and I'll start actually writing them out next week.

On Tuesday we went to a 100th birthday party in Blaenavon - there must be something in the water up there - and then I had finance committee and school governors at Maendy. Of course I didn't check my email before going so I had to be like, oh yeah, I totally knew I was chairing today. (I'm the Vice Chair.) It was fine though and we managed to get through the AGM by 7pm.

After that we had a little 'retirement' party for Marianna as she had served her last day as the Mini Mayor! I officially finish at the Council AGM next week but, as I'll be the last Mayor, it's just going to be an ordinary business meeting so there's no point in taking her. Instead we bought her a cake with candles, and the Moana dress she has been asking for. The only problem was that she kept thinking it was her birthday... :)

I went up for pre-council briefing on Friday morning, then went to my granddad's funeral. I didn't think I'd be too bad but I cried floods once it actually started. (In fact, I'm crying a little now, just writing about it.) So on Saturday we all just took it easy and I went through my email inboxes. I have five now for different things - work, blog, comping, etc - and they were all full of junk.

From the vaults! My brother Rhys with our maternal grandparents.

All I've had all week is SEO people emailing me to try and get me to include their links on my site. I've nothing against this and will sometimes edit a post - if it's relevant. But they've clearly not even given the page a cursory once over before insisting that their new infographic / article / whatever is a perfect fit for my readers. Ads for 1:1 scale furniture on a post about 1:12 scale doll houses? The same link you asked me about last month and I said no? Passive aggressive 'if you want to miss out on this awesome content that's fine' spiels?

No, no, and no.

Is anyone else inundated with this kind of thing? It's so annoying.

In other news, I mostly posted stuff I had saved in drafts because I didn't feel much like writing this week. So there was a review of Commaful, the much hyped flash fiction site, and a guide to the best multifandom fanfiction archives on the web. I also posted a listicle of the top ten patron saints of random causes, and wrote a review / giveaway for Britta Lundin's new fandom-centric YA book, Ship It.



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It's been quite a varied week! On Tuesday morning we went to Greenmeadow Community Farm to welcome the Sommerakademiet - a Norwegian group that runs creative courses and promotes cultural exchange - to Torfaen. After being shown some of their amazing knitting and textile work, we took Marianna for a quick look around the farm. Her favourite 'animal' was, as usual, the dragon statue which was originally created for the Garden Festival of Wales in 1992. According to Marianna it, and just about every other animal in the place, is called 'Elsa'...

For a long time I thought we had avoided falling into the Frozen trap because Marianna wasn't fussed on it. Then, in a matter of weeks, it has become her all abiding obsession. I thought it was one of the weakest Disney films when I first watched it back in 2013 and, after a few hundred viewings, my opinion has not changed. Still, I suppose I'm not exactly part of the target audience.

Anyway, after that we went to Leadon Court care home in Thornhill to visit my granddad. My great uncle said it would be really nice if we could go in the Mayoral chains before the end of my term of office, and I'm so glad we managed to!

It was Torfaen Labour group AGM on Thursday - more on that some other time - followed by the first meeting of the renewed LCF (Labour Campaign Forum). It's a separate meeting schedule that's supposed to run alongside CLP (Constituency Labour Party) if your council boundary covers more than one CLP - TCBC covers part of Monmouth parliamentary constituency. Hopefully going forward it will become more of a place for policy discussion.

On Friday it was my charity quiz night, AKA ridding the Mayor's parlour of raffle prizes before the office comes to an end on the 15th. It went well and we made over £100. I still have a few more prizes which I'll raffle off before the council AGM. You know, just for the people who couldn't make the quiz. ;)

It was advice surgery on Saturday but Anthony kindly went in my place as community councillor. Proof of why he's top husband material, right there! In the evening we went to the Cwmbran Baroque Singers' spring concert at St. John the Baptist Church in Newport. If you're not sure what baroque sounds like, there are a few vids of them up on YouTube. E.g. performing Confitebor tibi Domine.

Later today we're going to St. Cadoc's Church in Trevethin for the Monmouthshire Regiment Commemoration Service.



It was #InternationalSpaceDay on Friday so I posted a guide to 1/6 scale astronauts. My other posts for the week were Mailto Links Explained, Top Ten Fandom Podcasts, Fan Conventions and Paying for the Privilege, and my overview of April in Fandom.

Yesterday I posted my book review round-up for April, with a giveaway for Treasure Island. :)




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First up, I have another little book giveaway. This month it's for a paperback copy of the Wordsworth Classics edition of Treasure Island. Originally serialised between 1881 - 82, this classic by Robert Louis Stevenson is a must for any bookshelf! :)

Blurb: When a mysterious sailor dies in sinister circumstances at the Admiral Benbow inn, young Jim Hawkins stumbles across a treasure map among the dead man's possessions. But Jim soon becomes only too aware that he is not the only one who knows of the map's existence, and his bravery and cunning are tested to the full when, with his friends Squire Trelawney and Dr Livesey, he sets sail in the Hispaniola to track down the treasure...

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Treasure Island Paperback

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The Missing Reel: The Untold Story of the Lost Inventor of Moving Pictures by Christopher Rawlence
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Non-Fiction, 1992. The narrative is disjointed and sometimes difficult to follow, but the actual content is fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the family detail which is usually left out of online accounts of Le Prince, and hearing about the personal connections Rawlence had that inspired him to work on the story.

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That's Not My Unicorn by Fiona Watt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fiction, 2017. Simple but super cute pre-school book with lots of different touchy-feely elements, ranging from fluffy to sparkly to bumpy. My three-year-old adores it and can already recite the whole thing.

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Where's My Cow? by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fiction, 2005. When Sam Vimes gets bored of reading about farmyard animals to his baby son, he starts introducing some of the characters he encounters every day on his beat along the streets of Ankh-Morpok. This is a fabulous take on the ubiquitous 'that's not my...' kids' book format, making it a must for (future) Discworld fans everywhere!

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The Abdy Farm Murders: Who killed two little girls at Kimberworth? by Jeannette Hensby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Non-Fiction, 2017. Detailed account of a case I hadn't come across before. I especially liked the careful explanations of the distances involved and the likely visibility (or lack thereof) of the murder site from the road, which helped make sense of how the killer was able to commit the crime. The family involvement in the book really brought home the tragedy of the case, and played on my mind for weeks afterwards.

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Fatal Passions by Adrian Vincent
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Non-Fiction, 2016. 16 brief overviews of historical crimes of passion, some better known than others. A well written, engrossing read, with short enough sections to pick it up and put it down as necessary.

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The Woman In The Attic : The True Story of Blanche Monnier by Jennifer Morgan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Non-Fiction, 2017. Interesting but very brief overview, would work better as a chapter in a wider book on such cases.

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Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes about the Stars and Legends of the Movies! by Stephen Schochet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Non-Fiction, 2010. An absolute treasure trove of Hollywood trivia from a professional Tinsel Town tour guide. The stories come without sources or references, but one or two at the very least will definitely whet your appetite to go googling for more info!

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