March started off with St. David's Day, which is the day to commemorate the Welsh National Saint, Dewi Sant. There wasn't much on in Cardiff. We went to the Riverside Markets, and bought up large on the last lot of a cave aged cheddar, which we'd had before. It was so tasty that we bought up 1 ½ rounds - £15 worth! With any luck it should last us for a while. Mmmmm, cheese.
There are daffodils out everywhere, in huge swathes.
Huge amount of daffodils near the Taff
Matt with the Daffs
It was a a lovely sunny day, when it wasn't windy. Because it was sunny there were people out everywhere – lots of families and dogs all out playing. Pretty cool.
We spent a lot of the month watching, or preparing to watch rugby. Because it was the middle of the 6 Nations, pubs around the place had rugby-themed beers on tap. Mmmm, yummy.
On the 15th we bought some yummy bits and pieces from the market and had a picnic in Bute Park.
Kathy reading in the sun
It was just beautiful. There were so many people out and about enjoying the sun, with their dogs and kids. There was even a little terrier playing football. It was so beautiful. There were lots of cherry trees in flower,
and when Matt was having a bit of a wander around he found a tree stump which had been carved to be a man sitting on an eagle.
Kinda cool. After the picnic we went to the Halfway and watched the England v France game. What twilight zone did that team come from?!? Who would have thought that England could play that well? Part way though the game a group of families came in. The boys had just been playing rugby at Llandaff Field. The boys disagreed with something the ref did. The Dad's said “ The ref is always right. We don't care if you know him, and we don't care what he did. The ref is always right.” Cool. It's good to see kids learning the important lessons early.
The weekend of the last round of the 6 Nations was upon us. We'd tried to organise our first UK party, with very little success. The chicken heartedness from the Newport lot was amazing. They didn't want to come in to Cardiff on match day, and they didn't want to then come and they didn't want to risk getting home to Newport afterwards. Cowards. After inviting 10 people, we ended up with only 2 coming. Sigh – what a pair of Nigels we are. Anyway, they missed out on a great day. The weather was fantastic. We started the day with our usual breakfast at Cibo,
Kathy having coffee at Cibo
and were tempted to join the pair of 50-somethings having snifters of something yummy looking with their espresso, or the pair of lads having beers at breakfast, but felt that discretion was the better part of whatever, and didn't. After breakfast we headed in to town. It was buzzing. As we were walking past the bus park at Sophia Gardens we passed a coach load of Frenchmen. They'd set up a trestle table and had covered it with charcuterie, bread, cheese, wine and bottled water.
Are they... yes, they're opening up the wine! And having lunch! Gotta love that attitude towards food. We met up with Pam and Glen at The Cottage, and had a really good time. Poor Pam was outnumbered – 3 Aussies to 1 Walian. (is that actually a word?). Anyway. We went over, after a while, to 33 Windsor, to catch up with Tim Clode. We didn't stay for more than 1 beer – mind you, though, it took Matt 20 minutes to get served!! It was as though he was standing in some sort of invisibility spot. After our drinks we headed back to our place. The crowds were starting to increase, and outside the Castle were 2 guys dressed up like knights – 1 playing Wales, 1 playing Ireland, which was fairly fun.
Pity about the result with the rugby. Never mind, we had a good time.
Pam, Glen and Kathy
The next day was Mother's Day, and it was another beautifully sunny spring day. We went for a walk and saw more daffodils than we could poke a stick at, and lots flowering trees.
Flowering cherry trees on Cathedral Road
Kathy in Bute Park
We also watched a swan taking off and landing on the Taff, and a camera-shy robin in a tree.
The last weekend in the month saw a cold snap. It also saw us mark 12 months in the UK. We booked in to Cibo, our favourite place to eat, and had a lovely long lunch. There was prosecco, campari and soda, red wine, fabulous food, and great coffee. What more could we want? It was great.
The last day of the month saw the start of daylight saving. Humph. Dark mornings again. On the bright side, we caught up with Linda and Phil, and one of their sons Matt. We had a really great time, but Matt said the calzone wasn't as good as the one that Cibo does. Young Matt is off to New Zealand in May to go to a film making course in Auckland. He should have a fantastic time. We hadn't seem them since before Christmas, so it was really great to see them. We also made plans for future catch ups, including possibly a trip away. On the way to the restaurant, we walked past the back of SWALEC Stadium, which is where the Ashes will be played in only a few months. A whole chunk of seating has been removed.
What the...?!? We also noticed that squirrels are becoming a lot more active. In fact, Matt got bested by one when he tried to take a photo of it! He ended up chasing it around, and around a tree. “You win this round, squirrel!” Kathy hadn't laughed so hard for a long time.
Food and drink things this month:
Roast venison, served with a tasty montepulciano
Yummy calzone at Cibo, filled with spicy Italian sausage and spinach
Beers for the month:
Grand Slammer tasted quite smoky, a bit like lapsang souchong tea.
Native Storm, which was quite hoppy.
Pride of the River
6 Nations (SA Brains)
HSB Superb
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