Well what an eventful Saturday the house of DDWT has had. So much so that we’re all now completely zonked and stretched out on the settee, apart from DDWT Junior who’s fast asleep in bed! I don’t suppose the 5am wake up call from his nibs helped, but hey what the heck we’ve had a fun day.
Being up so early meant that I could go for a nice early morning run, which is unusual for me especially on the weekend. Anyway the run lasted 33 minutes exactly and the route along the Swansea valley canal meant a nice change from Swansea bay and SA1. The only downside really was that I somehow managed to jar my knee – which has only really become apparent as the day has wore on and I’ve started to limp. NOT good news.
After breakfast it was time to hit the road and head off to botanical gardens in Singleton Park for a ‘Tree Party‘ – organised by the BBC as part of National Tree Planting week. It was quite a good event with a variety of demonstrations throughout the day. There was also a variety of owls on display (such as the one pictured below) and a numerous squirrels darting here and there.
The squirrels were the tamest I’ve ever seen to be quite honest as they would quite readily come and accept food off you, standing only inches away – a rare but pleasant site indeed, but much to DDWT Junior’s joy. I took a few other snaps whilst we were there as well and for anyone who’s been to Singleton Park, I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say what a great park it is.
After the park it was time to hit the beach opposite St. Helen’s rugby ground and spend some time chucking pebbles in the small pools of water left behind after the tide had gone out – wayyyyy out I hasten to add. Can you see Mumbles head in the distance from the shot below?
Having walked quite a bit by now we were all feeling somewhat ravenous to say the least so I decided to take Mrs DDWT and Junior to the Village hotel for lunch, having enjoyed my last two visits there myself. Everyone (thankfully) enjoyed the change of venue and food (steak and kidney pie with chips and sausage & mash in onion gravy). So with our batteries now recharged and our tums full we headed off back into Swansea to do some Christmas window shopping.
I also took the opportunity to ‘clock’ the giant ferris wheel being built in readiness for next week’s launch of Swansea’s Waterfront Winterland.
By 5pm we were all out of gas and ready to come home – tired but happy and having enjoyed a nice day out and about. What better way to round the day off as well, with a nice warm bowl of home made cawl when we got home.
… a day makes. The warm (‘ish) autumnal sunshine of yesterday has gone and been replaced by overcast, blusterely winter like weather.
Given that it was rather windy, I decided to go for a run as opposed to a bike ride – as I’d much prefer battling the wind on foot rather than the saddle. As you can imagine my 25 minute jaunt was a rather hard going affair!
It wasn’t like that first thing this morning though, in fact we looked set for another sunny day – as the rising early morning run produced the most amazing orange glow over the hilltops of the Swansea Valley.
As for DDWT Junior well he enjoyed his usual Monday stint of cooking in school – with diwali sweets being the order of the day this time around. In case you were thinking that’s an odd thing to make in school, well it was simply because this week they’re studying Hinduism.
The house of DDWT is fast becoming the equivalent of Ready Steady Cook on Sundays’ as the Mrs and I take it in turns to conjure up something new and by that I mean different in the kitchen.
This Sunday it was my turn and I decided to try and rustle up some sausage and mash fritters at lunchtime, and stuffed chicken breasts (herbs, cheese & carrots) with sliced green beans for dinner/tea/evening meal/supper – call it what you wish. The fritters were quite tasty but needed a little more cheese if I’m being hyper critical (which when it comes to cooking I am!). As for the chicken breasts, well they were a major disappointment as it were simply overcooked – the result being that they were very chewy. The panel of judges (well Mrs DDWT to be precise) gave the fritters a thumbs up and a “cook that again Sam”, but as for the chicken breast – forget it!
The rest of our day was spent down the beach overlooking Swansea Bay – which is always a great place to be when the sun is out, as you can see from the pictures below.
I also found a little bit of time to do some jobs around the house, such as re-assembling the rocking chair and putting up a new bike rack in the garage – to create some much needed room!
Hold the front page as I’ve now managed two training sessions in two days. Now that’s what I call progress after weeks of dilly-dallying 
As suggested yesterday, I went for a run today along the Swansea Bay foreshore in glorious autumnal sunshine with only a hint of a breeze. It was great and as it was such a clear day the views out and down the bay were great – and the perfect anecdote to my puffing and panting!
Oops, I’d almost forgot the most important bit (well important in terms of my training diary) and that was the amount of time I was out running – 17 minutes.
Well OK we’re not really your typical kind of fit ‘as a fiddle’ family but with Mrs DDWT supplementing her cross-training workouts by now going to Bodymax sessions as well, and me hitting the road (on foot) again we’re trying our best to keep in shape. Although I suspect that today’s 1 hour Bodymax workout was a darn sight tougher than my 25 minute beach run.
My training routine has somewhat gone to pot lately (this year even?) for one reason or another but with Winter fast approaching I’ve decided to adopt the same approach to training as I had during my rugby playing days.
It’s not rocket science, but I always believed that if you were ever going to catch up – or even get ahead – on the fitness front, then Winter is the time to do it. Why, well quite simply most people hate training in the Winter and with this time of year encompassing Christmas – vast amounts of food and drink are consumed. You get the drift I’m sure
I can’t believe that it’s a month to the day since DDWT Junior started nursery school. The time has just flown by but I’m more than chuffed that he seems to have settled in very quickly and is enjoying it. Mind you with cooking on Monday’s, Welly Wednesday (nature stuff) and Gym on Friday perhaps it’s little wonder.
On a more serious note though, I’m intrigued to see how the ‘learning through play’ teaching style is working at the school. It’s a National Assembly of Wales initiative to encourage the development of children through play and is the first ‘Play Policy‘ of it’s kind in the UK. Only time will tell if it’s a success of course – but I hope for the sake of my child and everyone else’s that it is.
I just had to share the following picture with you – taken from my office at home at about 7 am this morning. Pretty cool eh?
The squirrels were the tamest I’ve ever seen to be quite honest as they would quite readily come and accept food off you, standing only inches away – a rare but pleasant site indeed, but much to DDWT Junior’s joy. I took a few other snaps whilst we were there as well and for anyone who’s been to Singleton Park, I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say what a great park it is.
After the park it was time to hit the beach opposite St. Helen’s rugby ground and spend some time chucking pebbles in the small pools of water left behind after the tide had gone out – wayyyyy out I hasten to add. Can you see Mumbles head in the distance from the shot below?
Having walked quite a bit by now we were all feeling somewhat ravenous to say the least so I decided to take Mrs DDWT and Junior to the Village hotel for lunch, having enjoyed my last two visits there myself. Everyone (thankfully) enjoyed the change of venue and food (steak and kidney pie with chips and sausage & mash in onion gravy). So with our batteries now recharged and our tums full we headed off back into Swansea to do some Christmas window shopping.
By 5pm we were all out of gas and ready to come home – tired but happy and having enjoyed a nice day out and about. What better way to round the day off as well, with a nice warm bowl of home made cawl when we got home.
