Author Archives: BarryH

The tyranny of buying presents … but things are brightening up

Posted on March 22, 2012 by BarryH

Let’s be brutally honest.  Buying presents isn’t a chore, it’s a nightmare, a tyranny which has us enslaved.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t want to give presents, I actually enjoy giving things which people will enjoy … Continue reading →

Posted in Grumpy Old Men, Pontypool, Reflections, Spring | Leave a comment

Health, fitness and Welsh Poo Sticks

Posted on March 13, 2012 by BarryH

I’ve been thinking about health and fitness recently.  I long ago concluded that if every time I had some minor ache or pain I stopped exercising I would soon end up doing very little.  Instead I adjust what I do … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Health and humour, Reflections | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

An Extra Day; a trip to Cardiff and The Big Leap Year Swindle

Posted on March 5, 2012 by BarryH

Wednesday 29 February and I decided to spend The Extra Day doing something different.  Shame to waste a freebie just doing ordinary stuff.  I arranged to meet up with friends in Cardiff and it turned out to be a great … Continue reading →

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Ambitious plans

Posted on February 28, 2012 by BarryH

Having been mulling it over for some time I have now finally bitten the bullet and booked a flight to Greece and have an ambitious itinerary beginning to firm up for travelling on the mainland , visiting Crete, Santorini and … Continue reading →

Posted in extreme gardening, Greece, Spring | Leave a comment

Out of the Winter and out of the freezer

Posted on February 20, 2012 by BarryH

Winter came to an end around here 10 days ago.  During the previous week I had been wandering around the ridge-tops of South East Wales most days to take full advantage of the snow and ice. As noted in my … Continue reading →

Posted in extreme gardening, Grey Britain, Pontypool, Winter | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Grey Britain: life at the margins

Posted on February 12, 2012 by BarryH

Thursday and I thought that my optimism of a return to winter had been well founded.  After the second night of temperatures below zero (-7.7 and -3.4oC) the forecast was for it to continue close to freezing all day with … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Pontypool, Winter | Leave a comment

Grey Britain: a short pictorial history of winter 2012

Posted on February 6, 2012 by BarryH

I have bemoaned the fact that we haven’t had a winter in Grey Britain 2011/2012.  November and December were very warm compared to average and so was most of January.  Despite the lack of interesting weather, at the end of … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Winter | 1 Comment

Grey Britain: an alternative view of Politics

Posted on February 2, 2012 by BarryH

I was accused after one of my recent blogs of being a rabid socialist.  Socialist, yes: rabid, if in this context it means passionate, yes, that’s why I find it difficult to be humorous about politics and politicians.   But at … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Reflections | 2 Comments

Grey Britain: changed reading habits and an alternative view of World History

Posted on January 27, 2012 by BarryH

The best thing about rambling is the frissance of uncertainty about where you might end up, the slight anticlimax of finishing where you planned to be, day dream dashed. There may have been somewhere or something more interesting which you … Continue reading →

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Moving forward

Posted on January 22, 2012 by BarryH

I dislike painting and decorating.  Or to be more accurate I dislike the preparation work which precedes the painting and decorating. It’s messy, fiddly, long drawn out and invariably the room looks far worse, positively depressing, before it starts to … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Winter | 1 Comment