A Simple Life of Luxury

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

Author: Alan Cole

Another Dead Garmin 0

Fitness

Another Dead Garmin

<A HREF=”http://ws.amazon.co.uk/widgets/q?rt=tf_cw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=GB&ID=V20070822%2FGB%2Falslikklworls%2F8010%2F8ebd5228-42fe-40a9-a43c-847af574634c&Operation=NoScript”>Amazon.co.uk Widgets</A> It looks as though my beloved Garmin Forerunner 305 that I bought just over a year ago has stopped working. Well, that isn’t entirely true as it is working, I just can’t switch it off, and can’t start / stop it or use any of the functions. It is however still alive...

A Blog-Worthy Weekend? 1

Family / Fitness / Swimming / Triathlon

A Blog-Worthy Weekend?

Although we were quite busy this weekend we didn’t really do much of note so there hasn’t been a blog post for you to read. Saturday was a lovely day, cold but sunny and with no wind. I went out for a bike ride with INTR triathlon club in the morning. It’s time to start...

Horsehead Nebula 2

Astronomy

Horse Head Nebula

I’ve always liked the Horsehead nebula (also known as Barnard 33 in emission nebula IC 434). I remember looking at amazing photos of it in astronomy books and marvelling at it. It is s a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of the star Alnitak, which is farthest west on Orion’s Belt. I haven;t yet been...

Ministry of Silly Walks – Run Technique Session 0

Fitness

Ministry of Silly Walks – Run Technique Session

I went to a Triathlon training day with INTRtri Club at the weekend. We started off with a nice 90 minute swim session which was fun, and then headed out for a run session. Although, to be honest we didn’t do a whole lot of running as it was a special technique session so we...

Stargazing Live at Nant yr Arian 0

Astronomy / Fitness / MTB

Stargazing Live at Nant yr Arian

Following on from the BBC Stargazing Live programmes, there was an event at Nant yr Arian yesterday organised by the Physics Department at the university, so we booked onto it and had been looking forward to it for a while. Our plan was to get there mid afternoon, have a mountain bike ride / walk...

Not feeling much like a Triathlete 0

Fitness / General / Triathlon

Not feeling much like a Triathlete

Can’t say I’m feeling much like a triathlete at the moment. Not that I’ve ever REALLY felt like a triathlete mind you! My back has been playing up for a few days so I’ve had to ease back on the training and now the lurgy has me well and truly in its grips. I should look...

Red Sky in the Morning 0

Nature / Photography

Red Sky in the Morning

After a glorious night of star-gazing last night we were treated to an amazing sunrise too. You can’t beat the natural world for a light display.

Andromeda Galaxy 2

Astronomy

Tracking down the Andromeda Galaxy

After spending some working on the basics of piggyback astro-photography with some shots of Orion, I decided to turn my attention to the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). I hadn’t been able to see this object yet, either with the naked eye or through the telescope, but I had a good idea of where it was. I therefore...

Warm clothes on! 5

Astronomy

Astro-Photography – My First Attempts

We had another lovely clear night last night so once again it was time to get our new telescope out. I had to have a bit if help from Anna to carry it out as my back was still sore, but we all wrapped up warm and soon had the necessary equipment in the garden....

Getting old is no fun at all 2

Fitness

Getting old is no fun at all

All has been going well with my training lately – I’d been building up the weekly volume slowly but surely and had just about managed to burn off the extra weight put on over Christmas. I hadn’t been out on the bike at all, but both my swimming and running were feeling OK. I wasn’t...