Tales from a down-shifted family
- Making the most of modest means
Day two of our island-hopping trip in the Philippines ended up feeling more like another travel day than a proper day of adventure. After breakfast at the Henry Hotel, we piled into minibuses with our luggage and headed once more into Intramuros — literally meaning “within the walls.” This was the same area of the...
Borth to Dubai Often, the journey to a destination is as much of an adventure as the destination itself. Even short trips to places such as the Isle of Man sometimes warrant a full blog post. When the destination is halfway across the world, crossing several time zones and taking a couple of days to...
I’ve been heading out on MTB night rides again lately. It’s something I used to do religiously every week, but it fell by the wayside while I was triathlon training and then dropped off the radar completely after my heart attack. Recently, though, I’ve decided it’s a good way to ease myself back into some...
Yes, I’m getting older, and I’ve been wearing glasses for a while now. I need varifocal lenses as I can’t be bothered to carry more than one pair around or keep swapping between them. My distance vision isn’t too bad but does need a little help, while my near vision needs quite a boost these...
Our robot lawn mowers might be in winter hibernation mode, but the off-season is the perfect time for… upgrades. On a recent trip to Bristol, my Dad deployed his 3D printer (aka the family’s unofficial R&D department) to produce a pair of traction rings for the wheels on our Mammotion Yuka Mini. Now, the stock...
Having had our solar panels and home battery storage system for four years now, we’ve grown used to its capabilities and the money it saves us. It’s also given us time to evaluate it and decide where best to upgrade next. The obvious choice was to add more battery capacity — so that’s exactly what...
I think we’re beginning to slip properly into the Christmas spirit now. Anna probably has been for a while thanks to the various Christmas concerts and carolling she’s been doing with the band, but I joined her for the festive fun at the weekend too. After a gentle run around Borth on Sunday morning, we...
It’s December, just, but we kicked off the Christmas events slightly early this year with a pre-Christmas trip to family in Bristol. Logistics meant going a week or so earlier than usual, so we weren’t quite in full festive flow yet, but it turned out to be a good way to get things started. It...
With a decent forecast for wind, Steve and I planned a windsurf session on Sunday once again. I therefore didn’t go for my usual Sunday morning run — I didn’t think my joints were quite up to that before a windsurf session. I had at least managed a nice mountain bike ride on Saturday afternoon,...
With the temperatures dropping and the days shortening, I’m hoping the grass has finally stopped growing. Time, therefore, to give the robot mowers some well-deserved rest and recuperation and let them hibernate for the winter. That was my chore for Saturday morning. It was a grey, slightly damp, chilly day — but not too bad...
Fitness / Technology / Triathlon
Fixing the Altimeter on my Garmin Forerunner 910XT
Monday, March 17th, 2014
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MTB / Trail Guides / Wales
Traws Eryri Day 2 – Dolgellau to Trawsfynydd
Wednesday, October 7th, 2026
