Work-Life Balance restructured via A Simple Life of Luxury
Those who know me or read this blog regularly will know that I fund my ‘Simple Life of Luxury’ as a freelance website designer which in many ways allows me to get my work-life balance just right. Although, as I’ve said elsewhere in this blog there are pros and cons to working from home and things don’t always work out how they should.
Being self-employed gives me the flexibility to work when I want to and get out an enjoy my surroundings at other times. Being my own boss also (to certain extent) allows me to choose what I do and when I do it. It does of course mean that I am almost always working and find it hard to switch off, that there is no one to work with on problems and such like. There is also the worry (especially in these uncertain economic times) that...
Anna’s car has decided to die on us… Perfect timing as this has already been an expensive few weeks! First we’re having some work done on the house which will cost quite a bit, we’ve bought some new household appliances too I lost around £750 worth of windsurfing kit at sea and we booked a snow-boarding holiday for the New year, Christmas is coming, my car needed a new battery and its MOT and tax is due and now Anna needs a new car!
Oh well, no choice but to head off an buy her one, so yesterday we drove around to Dyfi Yard Repairs on the other side of the River Dyfi to see if they had anything suitable. It didn’t take too long and after a quick test drive of a dinky little red Nissan Micra. It seemed fine for our needs, economical, small but perfectly... 
As the scariest day of the year approaches, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is pleading for people to ‘think green’ this Hallowe’en.
With ready-made costumes available in many stores, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is challenging people to go back to basics and think about creating their own original Hallowe’en outfits using materials they already have.
So whether it’s a witch’s cape made from an old skirt or piece of fabric, a ghost outfit from an old
bed-sheet or curtain, or even a pumpkin outfit made by customising a big cardboard box, now’s the time to get creative with the unwanted materials lying around your home.
Cabinet Member for Frontline Services Cllr Anthony Christopher said: “Recycling is one of our top priorities and although we are now one of the top authorities in... 
Continuing our anniversary day out we headed off to Llanerchaeron House near Aberaeron. This is a National Trust property so it isn’t cheap to get in but we decided that it was our anniversary so we may as well treat ourselves and have a look round, especially seeing as I’m into gardens at the moment anyway.
We wandered around the gardens and the lake and then had a look round the house. Th house itself isn’t huge but it was interesting. We were actually more interested in the service areas out the back of the house rather than the luxurious living areas.
The gardens were nice too, if only we had a little more protection from the wind here. Of course, being a National Trust property they did try to get us to join. We would if there were more National Trust properties in... 
I thought I’d give my Dad (who is something of a master carpenter) something to inspect, and no doubt laugh at, next time he visits us in Wales. So, yesterday afternoon was spent building a pergola in the garden.
We had plenty of wood left over from the construction of our timber deck so out came the tools and with no real plan I started chopping it up and fixing it together. It actually went fairly well and although it looks a little out of place at the moment once I’ve built another flower border on the other side of it and have some climbing plants on it it should be a nice garden feature and effectively divide the garden into two.
I’m sure I’ve built it wrong, no doubt it isn’t perfectly square and I’ve used the wrong joints, but it was supposed to... 
A News Update from the Children’s Food Campaign including a plea to LOBBY your MP to protect children from junk food advertising.
Support grows among MPs for the Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill
Writing to your MP about the Bill is the one most effective thing you can do to help protect children from junk food advertising, and will take no longer than five minutes.
Pressure is growing on MPs to attend the Second Reading of the Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill. The Bill will protect children from all forms of junk food marketing, whether via TV, the internet or packaging.
Thanks to all the support we have received from our members and from national organisations in the fields of health, consumer rights and children’s welfare, Early Day Motion 445 which... 
Yet another Rhondda Cynon Taff Allotment site is threatened with closure, this time it’s in the village of Trallwng, near Pontypridd.
Adrian Sheperd (in the photo left), Field Secretary of Mordecai’s Allotment on Merthyr Road, Trallwng, explained : “Rhondda Cynon Taf are proposing the sale of the allotment land as surplus to requirements”.
Occupancy at Mordecai’s Field Allotment site is 100% with a long waiting list. Two plots on the allotment are taken in a partnership with a local school offering precious experiences to children on how food can be grown locally.
Allotment gardening in Rhondda Cynon Taff is very popular with full occupancy and waiting lists throughout the County Borough. There is, however, intense pressure on the Labour-controlled County... 
As a new YHA member I was looking at the location of Youth Hostels last night and dreaming about the idea of walking around the Pembrokeshite Coastal Path stopping off at the Youth Hostels on the way. I’m not sure if it is possible yet to do this, but I’ve always wanted to walk the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and maybe when Morgan is a little older we’ll do it.
However, Pembrokeshire is just a start, according the CCW work has started on a 6 year project that will eventually lead to an all-Wales coastal path. Walkers will be able go all around the Welsh coastline on a continuous path by 2012, says the Countryside Council for Wales.
Sixty per cent of the coastline is already accessible, but the plan is to create new sections of path and upgrade others to improve access to... 
We’ve just got back from a ‘proper’ family holiday in Slovenia. We stayed in Kranjska Gora in the NW of the country. It is a small resort town, aimed at snowsports in the winter and wlaking and biking in the summer. We were there at the end of the winter season so the snow wasn’t great whilst we were there, but we did manage to snowboard every day, and then on the last day it snowed properly so at least we got to see it in ‘Winter Wonderland’ guise.
Overall we had a great time. Morgan enjoyed the kids club and the swimming as well as playing in the snow. Anna and I had fun snowboarding, although Anna ended up with a few more injuries than I did! The hotel was nice, the locals friendly and we made friends with some other holiday makers there. I managed... 
Anther busy weekend has been and gone. It was the Aberdovey Windsurf Demo weekend and typically there was no wind at all forecast. I did show willing and drive around to Aberdovey on Saturday morning and had a little look at the kit. Not much was happening but seeing as there was no wind at all that wasn’t surprising.
I did meet some people we windsurfed with in Dahab though which was good, but by around 11.30 we decided it was time to head off for some mountain biking. Steve, AndyW and I headed off to do the Climachx Trail and we passed a couple of the kitesurfers (Graham and Jon) on the trail. After gettgin nice and muddy we then headed off to the beach at Ynyslas for a quick surf which was really nice after a hot sweaty bike ride.
Steve stayed over on Saturday night so we had a... 
Steve had the week off this week and wanted to go out for a cycle in the hills. I should really have done some work, but couldn’t resist a day playing on our bikes so we headed off to the hills around 9am. I know, ‘It’s a Hard Life!’, but you only get one life so too much work and not enough play isn’t the way to live it.
We started off on the Pendam Trail but as soon as we got going Steve realised he couldn’t change gears properly. Not surprising really as his front derailleur was clogged up with dirt and grime. there wasn’t a lot we could do about it there so I put it into the middle cog for him and off we went. Steve was a little uneasy on the technical downhill bits, but was better than me on the uphills. Cycling to work everyday for the last... 
Today I came across a weblog entry from a family in Suffolk who have just had a holiday in Wales. So what? Loads of people holiday in Wales! Well, they do, but not as many as used to. Holidays to France, Spain, Portugal or even further afield can often be less expensive than a good old fashioned British holiday. The weather in foreign locations is often more predictable and alomost always nicer, and a holiday to Wales just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore when trying to ‘keep up with the Jones’s’.
Its a shame really as Wales, and many places in the UK have so much to offer, especially for families. There is so much to see and do and if the weather holds out it really can be a spectacular place. Of course, if the weather takes a turn for the worse then, yes, the whole... 
Following on from my epic walk in the Arans on Saturday Anna and I decided to make the use of our babysitting facilities whilst Anna’s Mum is staying with us and treat ourselves to a meal out.
We decided to try out the Steak House on the top of Constitution Hill in Aberystwyth. originally I thought it would be nice to walk over from Clarach, but Anna wasn’t really that keen and to be honest after my long walk during the day I wasn’t either! So, we parked at the bottom of the hill and took the cliff railway (The longest Cliff Railway in the UK apparently) up to the top. The train scares Anna but we made it to the top successfully and went into the restaurant for our meal.
Overall, is was OK, but not great. It feels more like a cafe trying to be a restaurant. There was... 
Well, the final day of our holiday was here already. The weather was fairly non-descript so I headed off for a walk around Ardnave Point whilst Anna, Pat and Morgan went to the Port Charlotte Natural History Visitor Centre, which was apparently really good. It isn’t huge but is full of well thought out interactive displays and activities. Morgan was too young for most of them, but it sounds like a really good place to spend an afternoon.
My walk was fairly uneventful but nice a quiet and then the wind picked up so I went windsurfing once again in Loch Indaal.
We then all had an lovely dinner in the bar at the Port Charlotte Hotel before heading back to the holiday cottage to prepare for an early start the next morning and the journey home.... 
Not such a nice day today, raining at first so we drove to the Oa Peninsula where I ran off into the rain and murk to do a quick geocache at the huge American Monument whilst Anna, pat and morgan sat in the car. We then stopped off at Kilnaughton Church near to Port Ellen before having another lunch in the Old Kiln Cafe within Ardbeg Distillery.
We then Took Pat to Kildalton Chapel, by which time the sun had some out so we also went to Clannaig Bay where Morgan threw stones into the river. On the way back we stopped off for a quick look at a ruined castle near to the Lagavulin Distillery and for some tourist style shopping in Bowmore.... 
Today looked a little less inviting for most as far as the weather goes. Grey and a little windy, which is perfect for me so after dropping Anna, Morgan and pat off in Bowmore I headed back around to the northern shores of Loch Indaal and spent all day windsurfing. First there was just enough wind so I was out with my new board and big sail, but as the day progressed the wind filled in and I changed down first to my 5.7m sail and big board then my 5.7m sail and smaller board then 5m sail and small board and eventually my 5m sail and bigger board…. See, it was worth carting it all that gear all this way.
The rain held off and I had a good day playing in the sea, covering 35.4 nautical miles in the process with a top speed of 28.8 knots.
Meanwhile Anna, pat and morgan had planned to...