Tales from a down-shifted family
- Making the most of modest means
Well, that was a fun long weekend. After scrambling up Moel Siabod on Friday, the weather did indeed change. The sun disappeared on Saturday, but it was replaced by a significant amount of wind—so it was off to the beach for me with my windsurf kit. Saturday saw me windsurfing in a decent south-westerly breeze...
I’ve orchestrated my working life around a four-day week — the idea being that day five is for freelance work, leaving the weekend free. It used to be a 3:2 balance between contracted and freelance work, but since Covid and my heart attack, I’ve been gradually scaling back the freelance side of things. This year...
Having climbed Crib Goch and summited Yr Wyddfa last Sunday, I couldn’t resist doing it again on Friday. The weather was still glorious, and Morgan wanted to do it, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to head back to Eryri for another mountain adventure. There was a big ultra-trail marathon over the weekend, though....
And so the amazing weather continues — sunshine, more sunshine, and then yet more sunshine. I heard on the news the other day that we’ve had more sunshine this spring than we had throughout the entire summer last year. That’s been reflected (well, absorbed actually) in our solar panel stats, too, with record-breaking months throughout...
With my sights set on summiting all of the Nuttalls in Wales, there were a few that I knew I’d definitely climbed in the past—but quite a long time ago. That meant that although I’d done them, I hadn’t used a GPS device at the time, so I had no ‘digital evidence’ to confirm it....
Following a busy start to the weekend, we enjoyed a more relaxed Sunday and Monday. We’d been invited to Sophie’s 50th birthday party (she’s the wife of Alan’s friend Dennis—and has therefore been a friend of ours for a while too!). The party was being held at Mwnt, just over an hour down the coast...
With another bank holiday weekend on offer and the weather looking good, it was time to head to the hills again to bag some more Nuttalls. I wasn’t working on Friday, so it was a long weekend for me and there was no rush to get started. I headed out for a little mountain bike...
Running around the Isle of Man Coast Path has become a slow but steady project. Each trip adds a few more miles, and although I’m moving more slowly these days, the scenery — and the small adventures along the way — make it worth every step. This weekend, with a tweaked back and patchy weather, I managed to tick off another stretch between Niarbyl and Peel.
I’ve been growing this juniper for about 20 years. It started off as a tiny little plant with no real place to call home. Over the years, I moved it a couple of times to temporary spots—always with the intention of giving it a proper location, but somehow never quite getting around to it. Now...
With a long Bank Holiday weekend on offer, it would have been rude not to bag a few Nuttalls. I left it until the end of the break to do so, though, as Friday, Saturday and Sunday were taken up with other things—including lots of shopping and gardening. So, on Monday morning, I set off...
Fitness / Technology / Triathlon
Fixing the Altimeter on my Garmin Forerunner 910XT
Monday, March 17th, 2014
 |
 |
More live data from Ynyslas
Subscribe for full access.
Weather trends, weather extremes and historic data. See what you get here.
Is It Worth It? Chasing Grams on the Hebridean Way
Wednesday, June 4th, 2025
