Sugar Loaf walk

We went for a walk yesterday up the Sugar Loaf. This is the hill you can see in the picture behind Brian and is named Sugar Loaf because that is what it looks like.


It is just outside Abergavenny just inside the Brecon Beacons national park. As you can see from the pictures the scenery is stunning and you can see for miles in all directions from the top. The weather was lovely and bright sunlight, though the wind was a bit chilly.


It was not really a climb, but it was a steep walk, especially when you are unfit as I am, so we had quite a few pauses for breath - for me to catch my breath and for Brian to stand around waiting.

It is an area I haven't been to before and it is absolutely lovely. We had problems finding the car park and ended up dashing into Smiths to buy a OS map which showed us the car park up (and I mean UP) a single track road. However now we have invested in the map we will have to explore the area more. Though probably most of that will be after the winter - it will get cold and snowy up there in the winter.

Edinburgh

Carl and I have just spent a really great weekend in Edinburgh. Having thought I had never been there, I actually realised I've been there twice but once was just at the airport and the other was for a conference, both work related and both precluded seeing anything of the city. We went to meet up with some of our friends from our Cyprus days. Alison and Craig live in Lanark which is about an hour away from Edinburgh. They now have two little girls, so Alison's parents who live in Austin, Texas, have set themselves up with a flat in Edinburgh so they can visit more often. Nice for some - and nice for us as it turns out - free posh digs right in the city centre! We were also joined by our friends Buzz and Emma who flew up from Cheltenham.

It was a lovely weekend with too much food and FAR too much alcohol (when in Rome, or Edinburgh...) and we also really fell for Edinburgh. It's got a really great atmosphere with loads of history, loads of things to see, lots going on - we loved it. Will post some pics once I get them off my camera. We went to the castle, then went on a whiskey tour (complete with hangover) which was very well thought out and not a boring museum-y experience at all. They'd worked really hard to make it interesting and interactive and we really enjoyed it. Then we pottered about and ended up in the National Museum of Scotland which was good and in amongst the relics of the Stewarts was a science bit where we went to visit Dolly the cloned sheep who now resides like a Damien Hirst piece in a perspex box.

If you haven't been I'd definitely recommend it for a weekend. Pics to follow.

Kate xxxx

GMail ad that I think is just lovely!

Still using my time profitably...

GMail are doing something right with their advertising!

More anon

Dogs

Following Kieran's previous post about YouTube videos I just had to post this. I never sit and watch YouTube but Carl does. A lot. Most of what he watches is rubbish (Taff Wars anyone?!) but this is genius and apparently done in one take which I find a bit difficult to believe!

YouTube Doggie Video

Kate xxxx

A comparative media project

Alice and I have, as always, been spending our time profitably by watching videos on you tube. As we explored the vast internet, we came across an amusing ad campaign by Old Spice in the US. This was extended by a series of answers to twitterers.

We can tell its gone mainstream, as now sesame street have done a version

Chox away

We decided to have Trev's birthday celebration yesterday as he has to go to London on his actual birthday. The forecast was fairly soggy so that ruled out really outdoor stuff and the railways were having engineering works so that ruled out London. So we decided to got to the Imperial Museum at Duxford which is just a short drive from us.
Erin clearly wasn't enthused about this idea and decided she had urgent shoe shopping to do. She declared, infact, that if she went she would be rolling around on the floor within 5 minutes. (As a child if she was bored this tended to be where she ended up!)
So Trev and I went on our own and had a lovely, if windy, time. It is mostly undercover but you have to walk between hangars. We got a little damp but not too bad.

Anyway, here are three things I learned yesterday. The wind whistling through the safety barrier made a very strange Aeolian Harp sort of noise. No wonder there are always rumours about WWII airfield being haunted.
When the GIs were in East Anglia in their thousands there was a rodeo in Norwich!!!
An alsation called Brian joined the paratroupers. On his arrival in Normandy he was scared of the noise and barked madly. Apparently, he was "assisted" out of the plane and landed on a tree from where he had to be rescued. Anyway he survived the war and was awarded a Dickin medal for his services