Mutterings for the Minority

Felling trees

Before anyone gets over excited and bends my ear about tree preservation - let me just put the record straight and say that I’m referring to 3 - already dead - trees in my garden.

How do I know that they’re beyond repair, well quite simply they’ve not grown or blossomed in over 2 and a half years - which for a plum and apple tree is not good (I’m sure you’ll agree). So armed with my trusty garden spade and tree clipper I pruned the trees back and dug them up. They are now on their way to the garden recycling depot for use as compost and bark.

On the bright side, we now have a bigger ‘play area’ in the garden and DDWT Junior can no longer use the trees as make believe catapults!

Vouchers 4 U?

I’ve been toying with the idea of launching a blog all about freebies, discount codes and other online vouchers. Primarily because being an affiliate of many web affiliate schemes I often have such offers sent to me - which can sometimes mean a saving of between 5% and 20%, which is a nice little discount in anyone’s book.

The blog is already setup - Vouchers 4 U - and I intend to add codes, etc to it as things go along. However, I’m still not 100% sure that it’ll be worth my while as the market for this type of ‘code sharing’ appears to be pretty much cornered.

Still we’ll see how it goes for a week or two and then I’ll re-assess the situation then. In the meantime, if you do fancy a peek at the type of vouchers and codes, etc I’m likely to publish - take a look at Vouchers 4 U.

Remember Matey?

DDWT Junior had his first taste of Matey tonight

Feeling groggy after yesterday’s fall

Got ticket for Swans v Levante game

Get me out of here

With the weather still wet - so what’s new - it was little wonder that everyone in the house of DDWT felt like throttling each other due to being in the house again. In fact we’ve been pretty much confined to the house most of the time lately, with outdoor activities pretty much a non starter - thanks to all of the rain.

Things did did improve this afternoon - after a roast pork dinner (cooked by moi) I hasten to add - and we thankfuly managed to get outside for a bit. The way our moods lifted was almost tangeable. In all seriousness though, it was great to be able to go into the back garden and have some fun - especially for DDWT Junior.

Now on the subject of pork dinners, well perhaps more porker in my case - the result of this week’s weigh-in was 16st 9lbs. Not a lot to say about that is there really!!

With ‘Daddy’ trying out the scales, DDWT Junior also insisted on having a go. He is now 2st 11.5 lbs and quite a little lwmpin in the making

Beale Park and Bracknell

As I’m having a couple of days off we decided to make the most of it and headed off to Berkshire for a break.

Our first port of call was Beale Park - a wildlife park and garden - some 6 miles from Reading. I’ll give the lowdown on the park when I add the pics to this post.

After the park it was time to head off to our hotel in Bracknell - a Travelinn I hasten to add. So now we’ve stuffed ourselves silly at the adjoining Brewers Fayre, it’s time for an early night - in readiness for Legoland tomorrow.

—- ?Sent using a Sony Ericsson videophone

Nursery visit

Today saw memories of my pre-school days come flooding back, when DDWT Junior went and had his first peek at the nursery he will be attending in September. I vaguely remember mine - probably because it wasn’t a very pleasant experience!

Understandably he was a little nervous when he first got there - using his mother’s leg as a shield to hide behind. But as soon as the headmaster started showing him some toys and the other boys and girls started fussing, he was away and having fun. The class teacher was lovely and the kids seemed more than happy in her company - which is always a good sign.

Whilst we’re obviously execting a tough time come September and getting DDWT Junior into the school routine, today has at least helped ease some of our fears. It’s also made us realise how quickly kids do grow up and perhaps emphasises the importance of enjoying them at such a small age.

I wish I could say the same sweet things about the weather. The non-stop rain and generally conditions made it feel more like a December day than a July day. Little wonder then that I spent late evening mucking around on my Playstation 2 again. Will the rain ever stop?

Gower bike ride

After sleeping in a little later than I wanted to this morning, I finally made a start to the BHF Gower bike ride at 08:15, which was only 15 minutes later than I’d originally hoped.

I’d gone solo this year for one reason and another and as a result took 1 hour 50 minutes 59 seconds to complete the 29 mile course. Ironically, this was an identical time to last year’s ride, bizarrre or what. I averaged 15 mph over the entire course with a max speed of 38 mph, which was clocked up coming down the Mayals I’m sure. I did use slicks this year instead of bobbles, but conversely I hadn’t put the miles in prior to this years event as I had last year. Hopefully next years attempt will be me break the 1 hour 50 minute barrier!!

Perhaps most importantly I raised £60 odd in the process, so thanks to all of you who sponsored me and shame on you those who didn’t

No Sunday would be complete without a mention of my weighing scales. 16st 12lbs was the reading this time around and I’m still trying to figure out if it was a good psychological move weighing before the bike ride or not!

Dan yr Ogof showcaves

With the weather being glorious, we decided to spend the day at the National Showcaves of Wales - better known as Dan-yr-Ogof in these parts. As you can imagine with DDWT Junior being mad about dinosaurs, it was the perfect day out for him! We did manage to visit one of the showcaves as well, but in all honesty it didn’t hold much excitement for a 3 and a half year old.

Here are just a few of the snaps we took of the 100 plus dinosaurs that are at Dan-yr-Ogof, not to mention a mini-farm as well.

We also found this little lizard (?) enjoying himself in the bright sunshine!

If you get bored looking at the dinosaurs and/or caves then there’s always the small farm to keep the kids amused with a selecton of ducks, donkeys, rabbits, pigs, llamas, ostriches and horses on show.

I think this picture would make the perfect postcard!

There’s also ample room for a family picnic and the £27 entry fee (2 adults and 1 child) was money well spent. For those of you planning a visit, make a visit to the official website before you go and print-off the voucher for a free dinosaur - we did!

When we got home it was time for me to give my bike a tune-up prior to tomorrow’s Brisith Heart Foundation Gower bike ride. I’m planning an early start, so it’ll be bed early tonight for me - especially as my feet are killing me after the walking today!!

Destination Gowerton

With my cycling circuits being about as regular as trains being on time, I decided to change my lunchtime destination today and head out to Gowerton. I was hoping that this would kick-start me into making it a regular habit again - the truth be known I think I overdid it somewhat.

I totalled 18 miles altogether - after I’d taken in Gowerton (via cycle route 4) and the SA1 development - which took me 1 hour 9 minutes to do (not very quick I know). Still I was quite happy that I managed to average 15.3 mph and topped 22 mph at the max.

Only time is going to tell if it’s had the desired effect, although judging how my lower back feels at the moment I suspect it’s had the opposite!!

The lower back pain stems from a nasty knack I have of hovering just above the saddle when I’m really pushing the pace or hitting rough ground. I know I should just ride it out in both cases, but it’s just a bad habit I’ve got into.