A Simple Life of Luxury

Tales from a down-shifted family
- Making the most of modest means

A Simple Life of Luxury | Weblog

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Coast Path / Fitness / Health / Running / Trail Guides / Wales

The Journey Behind “A Thousand Mile Run”

Endurance events always come with hurdles: injuries, other commitments, the unpredictability of life. But nothing tested me more than the global pandemic and, ultimately, my unexpected heart attack. That moment changed everything. It forced me to question whether I would ever be able to finish what I had started. For someone who thrived on pushing limits, the uncertainty was crushing.

Yet, A Thousand Mile Run isn’t just about setbacks—it’s about overcoming them. It’s about resilience, persistence, and adapting to the unexpected. Completing this journey meant finding new ways forward, learning to listen to my body, and redefining success.

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General

Exploring Dental Options for a Worry-Free Outdoor Life

An active outdoor lifestyle is a cherished goal for many, but dental concerns can often create barriers to fully embracing this journey. Imagine preparing for a thrilling mountain hike or a peaceful day at the beach, only to be held back by worries about your teeth. Dental health is critical in overall comfort and enjoyment...

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General

Chasing Nuttalls in Snowdonia: A Perfect Winter’s Day

With spring in the air, I couldn’t resist a quick trip to the hills at the weekend. There are still plenty of Nuttalls on my to-do list, so it would have been rude not to bag a few while the sun was shining. Having tried to summit a few at the beginning of December, only...

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Beekeeping / Gardening

Spring has Sprung

What a lovely day today. Spring has finally sprung! The garden has another new shed as well, and there are lots of new gardening tools on the way. Hopefully, if I find the time, I’ll get the garden looking nice again. There’s certainly plenty of signs of life out there. The bees are busy, the...

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Lifestyle

A Valentine’s Surprise: Sunday Lunch at Penmaenuchaf Hall

We don’t usually do much for Valentine’s Day. However, this year, Anna bought me a chocolate banana from M&S! Then, I received an email from Penmaenuchaf Hall saying they had finished some of their renovations and were open again. I took it as a sign, so I decided to reciprocate and asked Anna if she...

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Travel

Journee Clues – Our Mystery Destination

Spoiler Alert – If you’re going on a Journee trip, tread carefully! We won’t give anything away—partly because we don’t even know where we’re going yet! But we also don’t want to ruin the surprise for anyone else. With our mystery trip fast approaching, speculation has been rising about where we’ll end up. We’ve been getting...

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Gardening

Early Garden Chores

It seems as though the start of the garden chores gets earlier every year. It was the first day of February at the weekend, and I was out working in the garden before the sun was up. The first job was to finish off some edging around the new shed. The wooden edging wasn’t high...

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Nature / Wales / Weather

Ynyslas in Colour: An Unexpected Double Rainbow

I quite often walk across to the beach to see what’s happening. It’s not far, only takes a few minutes, and there’s always something different to see. On Sunday, as I started to head over, I caught the glint of a rainbow in the sky. It wasn’t fully formed, but its bright colours lit up...

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Technology / Website Design

Improving the Efficiency of My Solar Panel Monitoring Plugin: Optimising PHP, MySQL, and Caching

As a part of my ongoing efforts to optimise and enhance the functionality of my solar panel monitoring plugin, I’ve recently made some significant improvements that have boosted its performance and security. If you’re interested in solar generation data or just want to know how to improve the efficiency of a WordPress plugin, this post...