The World of Siân

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...

Ms James and I were well up for an evening of reminiscing and jazz hands as we planned a little outing to the theatre to watch an old time classic Bugsy Malone. We met up and went for food in one of our favourite places, Henry’s Café Bar . The service as always was fantastic, Ms James really fancied the noodles that were on the menu but the only options were with chicken or salmon, she asked if there was any chance as she was a vegetarian to have the noodles on their own (personally we both felt there should have been an option to have the noodles with vegetables) this wasn’t a problem at all and they were more than happy to serve it without Chicken or Salmon. After much deliberation I decided on the Pork Belly with dauphinoise potatoes, seasonal veg and gravy, it was gorgeous but could have done with a little more potatoes. Our hunger satisfied we had a little time to spare before having to head for the theatre so we went on a mission to find me some shoes to go with my dress...

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a brilliant T-shirt company. Their designs are unique and are submitted by anybody who wishes. If you submit a design and it’s successful your t-shirt will then go on sale and you will get some goodies for your creativeness (and part of the sales profit for a certain amount sold). I think this is a fabulous idea and you get some really unique and brilliant designs on there. Not only is this a local company to me but they also promote fair trade and their t-shirts are printed on fair trade certified cotton. I have purchased a couple of t-shirts from this company and both the quality and print are very good. I would encourage people to check them out and get designing some fab t-shirts.  They're called Fair and Bare and are based in Taffs Well

Ms James and I booked another afternoon tea, what a great way to spend a flexi afternoon. We were meant to be going the Mad Hatters tearoom in Cardiff but due to a mix up in dates we couldn’t go. Both of us wanted to try out Pettigrew Tea Rooms after following the guy who runs it on twitter ( I want to bake free ) from before he opened it and following his dream through to reality. Well… it’s in a glorious setting just off Cardiff Castle on the entrance to Bute Park. It’s a really quaint looking place, but there is not only the room downstairs but upstairs as well and when the weather is fine there is outside seating. We were greeted as we entered and shown to a table. The décor of the tea room was lovely with a variety of pieces of furniture giving the place its own unique character. There is also a display cabinet to show off the tempting goodness of the wonderous cakes on offer. There was an awesome array of teas on offer and we decided we would leave the tea until a...

The other weekend the fantastic Mr Bus and I went to the Dyfi forest for Mr Bus to take part in the final stage of the Gravity Enduro races. I like a dutiful girlfriend went on long to support and offer encouragement, I was happy enough I said as long as there was somewhere for me to sit, get a cuppa and read my book. Well the brilliant Mr Bus booked us into a delightfully gorgeous B&B called the Plas Mawr which is in-between Machynlleth and Aberystwyth. First of all with the dreadful summer we have been having I was glad not to be camping in a soggy field as much as I love camping. On arrival we were able to locate the B&B with ease as it’s just on the main road through Eglwys Fach. In the vicinity is RSPB Nature Reserve and numerous areas for beautiful walks. We were welcomed by the friendly and charming owner Tina, she greeted us at the door and made us feel right at home from the word go. Mr Bus had been in correspondence prior to our arrival to give a rough time of...

         I was given this book “How to be a Woman” by Caitlin Moran for my birthday off a dear friend of mine. I was unsure what to expect really, and it wasn’t something that I would have picked up off the bookshelf myself. Well… the first few chapters freaked me out and I thought they were really gross, it was like a car crash no matter how much I didn’t want to read any more I felt myself compelled too. Reflecting back it was a good start following Caitlin into adulthood and her experiences, so it did progress at a good pace. To be fair you could start reading this book from a young age and just read a chapter at a time where things correlate with your own life, I think it is most insightful in that respect. As the book goes forth so does Caitlin into womanhood and I found some areas really interesting and that I could relate to most things she was saying, she even covers issues like sexism, feminism, children and abortions. I think...

I have a love for Gilbern Motor Cars. Gilberns were produced in a place called Llantwit Fardre in South Wales. They were founded in the late 1950’s by a master butcher and a German engineer. Giles Smith and Bernard Frises. These brilliant cars are made with a glass fibre body. The Gilbern was always a component car rather than a kit car with the all the components being new and under warranty. The original cars were based upon the Austin A35 mechanical components, while a variety of engines were offered. A few different models of Gilberns were developed over the years being the GT, Genie, Invader Mk I, Invader MkII, Invader MkII Estate, and the Invader MkIII. Unfortunately by March 1974 Gilberns had ceased trading. Even though not many of these lovely cars were built some still survive today and most are kept with the Gilbern’s Owners club. I enjoy going to vintage car shows and so if they are not in Wales it is a particular challenge for me to track down a Gilbern at one ...