The World of Siân

Last Friday there was still hope of Wales being in the final for the World Cup in the Rugby and the weather was warm enough to walk around in t-shirts. This Friday we’re in the 3rd place play offs for the Rugby World Cup and I had to scrape ice off my car this morning!!! What a difference a week can make. Anyway, back to last Friday. I took a flexi day leave (one thing the government hasn’t taken from us poor Public Sector workers yet) and spent it with my superb friend Ms James . We had a late morning start catching the train to Cardiff Bay where we took a little stroll around enjoying the sun and popping into some boutiques. We then decided to go for a cocktail before heading for our champagne cream tea. Mimosa’s was our place of choice and we settled down for a lovely Manhattan whilst taking in the view of the lovely barman with gorgeous blue eyes, ensuring we will have to return there. All too quickly we had to finish our cocktails and head off to find the place we were h...

24th September 2011 saw the Great British Cheese Festival come around once more to the great landscape of Cardiff Castle . What a spectacular venue for a glorious event. My mum, sister and I tend to go to this magnificent festival at least every other year, sometimes every year. This year we also decided to take my wonderful niece and nephew. Luckily we arrived early, just as the big wooden doors opened revealing the wondrous sight of peaks rising up from all the tents, the colours and aromas from the flower and herb stall and the magical sounds of the music being played on the bandstand. We headed straight for the main market hall tent, luckily it was fairly quiet which allowed us a preliminary walk around before we selected our purchases. The twins enjoyed trying the cheese my niece enjoying them slightly more than my nephew, taking a great liking to a hard goat’s cheese. I purchased a Boksburg Blue and three Snowdonia Cheese , the black bomber, amber mist, and green thun...

What a wonderful way to start my flexi day off watching one of the Rugby World Cup matches. With this lovely relaxing start the day was looking good. Soon it was off to Swansea to meet my friend Taggers for a spot of lunch at the first stop of our tour. Oystermouth Castle has been newly reopened with accessible walk ways and interpretation panel. They have done a fine job of making this castle agreeable to the public for a miniscule entrance fee which is well worth the price. You can even walk around some of the battlements taking in the spectacular views of the Swansea coastline. There was some scaffolding in place in certain areas of the castle when we visited which looks like they are doing further works either to just make it safe or to increase the amount which is accessible to the public. Either way, it’s a lovely castle, in a great location near fab coffee shops and the best place to get fresh cockles. From here we went to Swansea Castle in time for our scheduled t...

For my 30th birthday my fabulous friend who I have known for 12 years bought me a voucher for afternoon tea for two at a location of my choosing. Unfortunately as me and said friend live quite far apart I was unable to take her with me, so took my other fabulous friend Fordy. On arriving in Stratford after many a detour around the M5 thanks to having too much fun in the car and not concentrating on directions (also I refuse to use Satnav it makes me even more of a road rage victim) we found the hotel we had booked the afternoon tea in and parked up. Brilliant, as we were using the hotel’s facilities and having afternoon tea there we could park for free and it was a two minute walk from the shopping centre. It was a glorious day, a lot hotter than we had anticipated but not that we were complaining. We donned our sunglasses and headed for a look around the shops. I just had to stop for a drink and chose a gorgeous Strawberry milkshake that was quite filling really. We he...

My fantastic friend Ms James (blogger of 1001 fun things to do in Aberystwyth , Cocktails at Dawn and Fat Ninja Girl ) organised a surprise weekend for me the other week. I was to be at her house for 7pm Friday evening when all would be revealed; all I was told was bring an overnight bag, dress smart casual with fairly smart but comfortable shoes and a pair of dresser shoes to change into. Full of excitement that Friday work couldn’t pass quick enough and when 3 o’clock eventually ticked its way around I was ready to sprint out the door and whiz home. Not knowing what to expect I was a bit perplexed as to what to pack. I decided to have a shower and mull it over. With bags then packed and shoes at the ready I headed over to Ms James abode. On arrival I was greeted with an envelope which inside contained the details of the wonderous weekend ahead. It began that evening with drinks in our local as it was a gorgeous warm evening then back to Ms James’ for delightful little munchies,...

Is it wrong to judge a book by its cover? I think in the literally sense maybe when talking obviously about a book. However, even then I have seldom chosen a bad book based on its cover. When taking into consideration the cover of a book you have to remember to look at it in its entirety and that this would include the blurb on the back cover as well. When looking at this principle where people are concerned I have never been wrong when judging them by their covers or how I find them from a first impression (remember to look them up and down now!!) I do of course try and give them the benefit of the doubt that I am taking them as I see them from a first impression, but I am always proved right with my gut instinct. Maybe this could be put down to women’s intuition, but I can spot a person who is out for themselves from the off and I am rarely wrong. Lol talk about blowing my own trumpet. These people always show their true colours even if it takes some people longer to catch on th...

Thursday 12th May was not only Mass observation day which I took part in but also a fantastic beer launch hosted by Gwdihŵ café bar in Cardiff. Gwdihŵ café bar is a quaint little bar which has a unique boho chic feel about it, the bar area itself is small but adequate and the staff are friendly, generally young and fairly trendy looking, it’s all very comfy and the DJ booth is fab and well placed. There is a lovely beer garden, consisting of what look like old sofas and chairs, along with mini barrels to be used as stools or side tables. Part of the beer garden is undercover as well and quite sheltered giving it a lovely homely feel. The evening started with my fabulous friend Erika getting us free tickets to the event entitling us to a free sample of the beer Kozel . Kozel is the Czech word for goat and of course is a Czech beer; Gwdihŵ is one of the first places to be serving it. Kozel is what I would call a Lager Beer, a bit like Budweiser but slightly more refreshing and a bit...