Biking in South Wales

A few weekends ago, Matt and I went along to North Wales to camp with some of the same gang that we went with last August. This August, however, I had my own bike! Butterfly did extremely well on the trails and I must say I was so impressed with the number of trails I could this year that I did not even attempt last year. Good times of fun in the sun; exercising and relaxing around a campfire with friends.

I am currently sitting on a train from Derby (have been here for three days on a gig) to Port Talbot, South Wales, where we are going with the same bunch of London folk, to camp and ride again. We are going to the ‘Afan Forerst’ just 10-15 miles out of Port Talbot. I don’t know anymore about it than that, but it promises to be fun. So, from Derby I have two train changes and a four hour journey ahead of me. I may actually get some blogging done. S’been a while.

Let you know how it goes....

xo

In Memory Of...

Our beautiful Nana went home to Jesus yesterday.
It is such a sad day for us here, as we will miss being blessed by such an amazing lady. It's also a day of rejoicing, as we think of Nana in heaven with Jesus, and knowing that one day we'll hug her again.

We Love You Nana!!

Ok Ok, So I did it!

I've finally gone to the dark side and signed on to Facebook.

Check me out!

xo

World's Longest Commute

I’m writing this on behalf of Jo who I've just dropped off at work. She left Northern Sydney for work just over 29 hours ago - and still arrived 5 min's early. Amazing.

I met her at the airport at 0630 this (Monday) morning and drove her straight out to Huddersfield. (In truth, we did briefly visit our house to drop her luggage off, and our local Caffé Nero for a large coffee)

I wonder what she has planned for dinner tonight? :)

Jude & Yves-Pascal’s Wedding

Last weekend, Matt and I saw two beautiful friends get married. Jude married her Belgian fiancé Yves-Pascal.
It was a brilliant day, loads of fun, with all the quirky traditions of both cultures. It was interesting having everything translated all through the day from the sermon to Matt explaining where the toilette’s were. (Matt and I were MC’s for the day).
We had everything from a Hog Roast during the day, Parasols made from Belgian lace for the little bridesmaids, Belgium Waffles made to order, a good ‘ol BBQ at night to go with the games and disco, and excellent French Champagne.

Congratulations Monsieur and Mrs Gayet!
(photos coming soon)

Aussie Friends in York

Hi, just a quick place-holder for our weekend in York with Aussie friends. More info to come. :)

Some of our photos!

Easter Riding

Over the Easter long weekend, Matt and I, and David (friend from Matthew's work) and his son Ben, had four amazing days of Mtn Biking in Scotland exploring the 7Stanes (a series of 7 Mtn Bike tracks the Forestry Commission has set up on the South West Coast of Scotland).
We stayed in a cute little 16th Century B&B on a Farm in the middle of nowhere which was just perfect. Sheila (host), was amazing and her cooking: just brilliant. Good 'ol Scottish Breakfasts each morning which helped us get through the 17-25 km rides we did each day. The farm was the perfect place to come back to after a days riding.

After expecting forcasted below freezing weather, rainy and yucky, we were delighted to wake up each morning with the sun coming through the window. While the weather was still below freezing, there was also loads of sun. The conditions were excellent. On a couple of the days riding, it snowed like I've never seen before. Huge powdery flakes came down in sheets; it was absolutely gorgeous.
I had been really really ill with English Flu (in bed for 10days, couldn't eat or walk), and so was amazed at how well I held up for the four days. I was only expecting to ride for maybe one day at the very most, but I felt fine for the whole weekend. I was a little weaker than usual in terms of fitness but nothing like we all expected. Praise God! I'm feeling loads loads better now, almost 100%. It really was nasty, I've never been that sick in my life! Just awful.

Anyway, here are our photos... and our youtube'd vid's... Enjoy!

Jo xx

Also embedded following:

Smart Car

That's what they're for...

The Disposal of the Heater

Well, right in the middle of the chill of Manchester winter, our heater broke! Not the best when the weather outside is lucky to make -5 degrees in the middle of the day.
After close examination the electrician was able to say, "Yup, it's broke, the thermostat's gone son".
After long excuses about legislation and not being covered by insurance to fix the heater, and £80 later, we were stuck with a broken heater, still.

Good news though, the manufacturer sent us a new one for free, and Matt installed it for us.

So, what to do with a broken heater? Well, I guess you just put it down the refuse shoot, right?

Dundee Anniversary

On Tuesday, for the first time in a year, Matt and I happened to be in the same place for work! It usually happens that Matt is in Dublin, while I am in London, or vise versa. This time however, we were both in Scotland! I was in Edinburgh for a gig for the National Museums Scotland and Matt was in Dundee, (just north of Edinburgh). So, on Monday night I caught a train to see Matt for the night! Yay! Matt was staying in one of his favourite hotels that offers a gym and spa and a nice restaurant, so we worked up an appetite at the gym and swimming pool, and went downstairs to the restaurant to celebrate our second anniversary of being in the UK, which also happened to fall on that day.

I caught an early train the next morning and was back to meet the boys to travel to our venue for the gig for the Managers of the National Museums.

It was like a little cheeky holiday on a school night. What fun!