The World of Siân

Something needs to be done to up the pace.   I am not far off my target weight with just 12lbs to go, this is the tough part.   I am trying very hard to juggle living life in two places what with work, friends and family, due to this I am falling down on the exercise front and this needs to be addressed. I have been considering going for a quick fix with a silly diet (something I have never done), but realise I need to have a lifestyle change.   With living in two places this should be easier, in the week I can be really good and maybe cut down on the amount of carbs I have, replacing pasta and rice with salads and more vegetables, then I won’t feel so bad on weekends when I can then indulge a bit.   I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so don’t eat chocolate, I do have a weakness for crisps, I have already addressed this and go for the healthier option ones and at the moment love the Velvet Crunch ones. When I started writing this post it was 6 weeks until C...

This year the wonderful Mr Bus and I have bought our first home together so we were not in the position to justify a holiday abroad.   Luckily the British weather was kind to us and the summer weather was amazing and beautiful.   We booked a lovely holiday down in Cornwall staying in our favourite place The Deep Green Lodge . Having stayed here last year I couldn't wait to return. Mike is a brilliant host and hopefully we will return in the future at a time when I can meet Lou as well.   Everything is spotlessly clean and there is a laid back relaxing atmosphere and eco-friendly products. The breakfast is delicious and you can have as much or as little as you want, it sets you up for the day and there is lovely fresh coffee and a range of herbal teas.   The rooms are gorgeous and the new decor very complimentary and fresh. This time we stayed in room 1 which was lovely with a view out to the rear of the property. This B&B although central to Newquay is in ...

Personally I have never described myself as such but many have described me this way.   I don’t think I am overly Geeky but alas names such as ‘The Queen of Geeks’ I have been labelled with, I don’t think I am worthy of such a crown.   Also when did it become cool to be thought of as a Geek or a Nerd?   I am certainly positive that the people wandering around with it labelled on their t-shirts are certainly not Geeks, as if you would need that constant kind of reminder or to be able to tell the world.   This is not the attire I think that Geeks or Nerds choose. Apparently being Geeky is having a passion about something that you then of course know a lot about and being a non-conformist.   If this is the case anybody can be a Geek.   My boyfriend tries to tell me we are geeks as we love our comic book heroes, our computer games and certain subjects we’re passionate about.   Is having a print of Iron Man above your fireplace   or Transf...

The other day I popped down into town with the fantastic Mr Bus to sample a local beer garden, unfortunately a lot of people had the same idea of a Friday afternoon and we had to sit inside.   We didn’t mind too much as it was baking hot outside and it was time to enjoy a refreshing beverage. Whilst browsing the bar I was going to have a nice refreshing bottle of bud, until I spotted it, there gleaming from the fridge like a beacon calling to me with the cool beads of condensation gently falling along the curvature of the smooth glass bottle. I had to have it at once, there was no other choice, and it was Lemon Hooch .     At once I was excited, and memories of my early drinking days come flooding back, I had to facebook, tweet and instagram it at once. This lead to my friend and I reminiscing about the good old days going to Bowlers nightclub in Bridgend getting drunk on hooch and Bacardi breezers and the DJ playing Happy Hard-core tunes like We are t...

As much as I have been dying to veg out in the house with lovely food, computer games and superhero films the weather has been too nice and Mr Bus and I have been trying to take full advantage of this.   So last weekend Mr Bus took me to Buxton and then Bakewell. Our first stop was Buxton , this is a pretty little town in Derbyshire and is described as the gateway to the Peak District National Park, it also lays claim to having the highest elevation of any market town in England.   Of course it is also famous for its water.   We enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the town and up through the park where we had to indulge in an ice-cream while watching the ever so cute ducklings, they were so small and fluffy.   The most random thing about Buxton on this occasion was the presence of a large number of Morris Dancers and quite a few of them we were surprised to see had black painted faces.   There are also a number of boutique shops in Buxton and a lovely market...

Well if you haven’t guessed I do enjoy an afternoon tea even though I don’t have a sweet tooth.   For my last birthday my lovely friend Fordy got me two vouchers for afternoon tea at Weston Hall , Stafford.   Having a browse on line beforehand this looked like a marvellous setting. We arrived at this lovely building which was very picturesque the only down side was that it was quite close to a main road and this spoiled the view a bit but the noise levels weren’t too bad.   We headed into the Cellar restaurant where our afternoon tea was booked and showed into the lounge area where we would be having it.   Mr Bus and I chose some lovely sofas to sit on next to the fire, although it was the end of May we went the weather was still cold and wet so this was welcome. For our afternoon tea we could choose from a range of teas or coffee and we opted for Assam, being one of our favourites.   We were expecting to wait a little while and started to have a nose at...

I was always interested like most in the history of the Tudors and Henry VIII but this got lost by the whey side when following my education and career in Archaeology and Museums.   I am watching for the second time round the BBC series on the Tudors, and I have to say it’s just as gripping as the first time I watched it.   I really like how they have portrayed all of the characters even if Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a bit too hot and doesn’t really get fat and aged. I also enjoy how they convey the different political stances within this period and also the change in religion, making it easy to understand for the lay man.   You also see how different members of this period behaved in order for personal and family gain, and how they manipulated their circumstances and people they were in contact with.   It shows a bit more to Henry and the people he surrounded himself with rather than concentrating on him having so many wives. I feel both times I ...

Just by chance the other day I came across an advert for a free sample of Chanel mascara (first come first served – limited stock) – Le Volume de Chanel.   I never thought that I would be sent one.   Well one arrived in the post for me last week and I was looking forward to trying out.   I have to say it’s great, a bit heavy to put on but gives a wonderful look to your eyelashes, a girl friend of mine even asked if I was wearing false eyelashes!!   I was very pleased with outcome and would be tempted to buy some as the price is fairly reasonable as well for such a brand.

It’s that time of year again the fantastic Mr Bus’ birthday.   Now last year I decided to design and make him a digger cake, this year of course I had to equal that effort or go one better.   I had a few ideas in the pipeline and decided to ask the Birthday boy what he would prefer.   We went with a VW Bus cake. Now I started with baking a lemon drizzle loaf cake, whilst this was cooling had the daunting thought this was not going to be high enough, so baked another lemon loaf cake, this time without the drizzle, so that I could square off the top to sit the other one on top of it.   After these had cooled down, it was time to build, placing the loaf cakes one on top of the other with a layer of vanilla butter cream in the middle, I covered the cakes all over in butter cream.   I then set about with the icing.   I thought it best to start with the white top and draped it over the cakes, just leaving enough for a slight overlap at the bottom. ...

Well the fantastic Mr Bus and I have moved into our first home together and I have to say it’s gorgeous.   The move went smoothly, a little too smoothly and when we woke up after our first night we were greeted to a moving in present from the house, being a leak coming through the kitchen ceiling!!!   After a few phone calls I managed to persuade Mr Bus to phone his friend Roy: Mr Bus: Hey mate do you know any plumbers Roy: You’re speaking to one And within the hour Roy to the rescue, however, in order to find said leak we had to go in from the bottom and part of the kitchen ceiling was ripped off, didn’t take much as it was plasterboard and sodden.   Looking at it, it couldn’t have been leaking very long.   Roy managed to find the leak, which was a tiny hole in a pipe, not on a join or anything so just a dodgy batch of pipework, just one of those things.   After a week with a temporary fix Rescue Roy was back and fixed it properly for us, so all that...

Just having a bit of reflection and before I know it I am doing grown up things like getting a joint bank account and buying my first house with the fantastic Mr Bus.   How on earth did this happen?   It’s like it crept up behind me when I wasn’t looking and there it is….Adulthood. Now, I have to say that I think there are many benefits of being a “Grown Up”, you can eat what you want when you want to, and you can drink alcohol and earn your own money.   These are all things I have come to love.   I do not miss really my student days of scraping by, having no money relying on the stupid Student Loans Company and a little part time job to make ends meet.   Also I do not miss the restrictiveness of still being in school.   I am pleased my days of exams (hopefully) are over. However, all this said I do miss the ignorance of youth and the simple life that comes with it, that all you have to worry about is if you have done your homework and if people w...

Ok the amazing Chester weekend.   Mr Bus and I were considering what to do for our first anniversary and were very tempted to go to Edinburgh ; however, it was a bit pricey at current so we thought we would wait for a better deal.   We eventually decided on Chester and I think because I had raved so much about Chester Zoo to himself it was a must. We booked this absolutely stunning B&B called the Manderley Bed and Breakfast .   I would have to say it was one of the best bed and breakfasts I have ever stayed in.   It is very reasonably priced and books up very quickly as it’s of such a high standard.   We booked the Super King room as a nice treat for ourselves. We had an amazing stay and Karen and Richard couldn't do enough. What makes this B & B so spectacular are the personal touches. It is also easy to find, in a beautiful area and a short walk into Chester . Karen greeted us when we arrived and showed us around, then to our room asking if we...

    Back in November I was lucky enough to be able to go on the Museums Association Annual Conference up in Edinburgh .   Having not been before I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.   I arrived the night before the conference was due to start but unfortunately too late to meet up with any fellow museum peeps I had been following on twitter. I eventually found my hotel which was the Hilton.   The gentleman on the reception desk was very helpful as there had been a mix up with the room bookings but it was sorted promptly and without much of a delay.   I thought it was strange when he said I had booked in 10mins earlier, argh a time warp.   The following morning I was up early for breakfast and off to the breakfast meet up for people new to the conference and also delegates who were undertaking their AMA.   I started to mingle with new people as soon as I arrived and began an attempt at networking.   The lo and behold a b...

Well what can I say, I have been a bit distracted away from my blog this month, which is a shame as I have a few ideas in the pipeline for posts.  I want to write one on the Museums Association Conference I attended and had a blast at, I also want to write about my wonderful weekend away to Chester staying in the most amazing B&B ever and I want to write about the latest Digital Past Conference I attended which raised some important issues and questions. I suppose they will appear all in good time.  Time seems to be one thing I don't have enough of these days.  There is so much going on at the moment I feel I could do with an extra day of the week just to tie up loose ends that seem to be everywhere.  I am sure I will also write about Birthday celebrations of next week and of course Super Saturday the week after. This month I feel although I have had some bad luck I have had good luck come from it which makes me feel someone is watching over me.   N...

My mum sister and I thought it would be a lovely treat to go the Wales Millennium Centre and watch Dirty Dancing . This was my sister’s favourite film when she was growing up and we thought it would be a lovely girlie day out for us as we don’t often get to do that these days what with one thing and another. We bought the tickets for my mum’s birthday in July and were all really excited about it, as it promised great things coming from the West End. We had a Saturday afternoon showing and thought we could go for a lovely lunch first in one of the many restaurants down Cardiff Bay. When the day finally arrived we headed for Zizzi’s to eat and to be fair the food was gorgeous and tasty. My mum had raspberry lemonade to drink which I had to try some of and it was really yummy, you could taste the raspberries in it for sure. We headed over the Wales Millennium Centre and took our seats; we had not bad ones considering we booked quite late. We were sat in the circle. One ama...