Trees Trees Trees

Wow what glorious weather we have been having lately and that can only mean one thing, lots of outdoor adventures, exploring new places, picnics and spending time with friends in the wonderful sunshine. Bute Park right in the heart of Cardiff were running two fun outdoor inspired days during half-term - as Mr A is at home we usually avoid these type of things during half term as they are normally so busy it can be overwhelming and opt for countryside walks but at they were doing a Tree activity day and a Bat day we couldn't resist and to our surprise it was very quiet - I don't think many knew about it. The tree day was a great combination of outdoor fun and educational activities from tree and bark rubbing to making green tree monsters as well as learning about the rings on the trunks and telling it's age as well as planting our own tree seed to take home. The Bat discovery day was more a drop-in style event at the Bute Park Educational centre a......

24/08/2013

Exploring somewhere new....

So we love exploring new places, park's, beaches, forest walks, big or small, as long as it provides some wonderful family time outdoors we are in. I have been mentioning Margam Country Park to John for a longtime and for some reason we have never made it over there until now. It was a very impromptu affair as we were actually on the way to somewhere else, with Johns parents, when we saw a sign for Margam and thought why not. The Orangery Margam Park is famous for it's 18th century Orangery, which is very impressive and is one of the first things you see when entering the park, alongside some old ruins and various sculptures that pull you into the landscape. 850 acres means a lot of space to explore and have fun. We heeded up to the visitors centre and Margam Castle, which is a beautiful building with wonderful details, right opposite the castle is wide open fields, perfect for Mr A's favourite pastime at the moment which is flying (as seen below) Flying high ......

23/06/2013

Discover the real valleys

Mr A with a view of the Rhondda Valley So with the MTV show The Valleys coming to a close I felt it was time to share my thoughts about the "real" valleys. First of all we are renting a small cottage just outside Cardiff, it takes us 23 minutes from our front door to the city centre, on a good day it can be even less, which I have to say to get from any house to the heart of a city is not bad at all, yet our house falls within "the Valleys" but on the show they make out like it's a 100 miles away! We are on the commuter belt, a lot of people who live in this area commute everyday to Cardiff, the are all "making it" in the city, but they often opt to live outside the city due to house prices. I am not going to sugar coat the fact that there are parts of the Valleys that are deprived, lack good transport links, lack good facilities, where ever second shop is closed down and areas that have drug and teenage pregnancy problems, but is there not a p......

14/04/2013

Discovering and collecting

Just as you think spring has arrived, so does the rain and mist but at least it's been milder in the South of Wales. This week we have been discovering the simple pleasures and magic that lies in the outdoors. From turning over stones to look for worms to collecting all the wonderful pine cones that now lie on the ground, throwing stones into the river and climbing fallen trees. Unfortunately I had a bit of a camera malfunction this week, although happy to say it's all sorted now, but it does mean this posts was document on my phone, so images are not as crisp as usual. We really try to promote Mr A to be adventurous, to climb things and jump in puddles and as long as it's supervised and you use common sense we like him to be a boy, he had such fun when we came across this cut down tree in Bute Park, he had to climb it over and over again and jump off the end on to the grass. We also love collecting pine cones to paint or put on our nature table at home. I......

25/11/2012

Photos Talk

Taken on my new Sony xperia So first of all this is Not a sponsored post - believe me I wish it was because having to fish out £169.99 for a new phone because yours dropped down the toilet after placing it in your back pocket is no fun. I have heard of that kind of thing happening to others and never thought I could do something so stupid but I proved myself wrong on that front. So goodbye iphone and alas I do not have £339 to buy an iphone 4 let alone an iphone 5 and only being eligible for an upgrade next year August didn't leave me many options. As a blogger I there are certain requirements I need from a phone 1. Good camera! This is a must, especially since I have a toddler that I want to capture when he is doing something funny. 2. Needs to be able to connect to various social media platforms easily. 3. Has to be Wifi compatible. 4. Needs to be fairly easy and smooth to navigate. 5. Can run Apps in an fast and efficient way. What are your requirement for a phone......

18/11/2012