Archive

things I might dump in 2026: A list of things I might dump in 2026: ‘social’ media snickers duo changing blog platforms the second cup of coffee the news carbs the Apple Watch I never use some old shirts I never wear work backpack pretending to journal podcasts that just interview people with a new book to sell eating whilst …

no more decisions please: We have been having some work done to the house, requiring a lot of decisions. Colours of things, types of things, position of things, order of doing things, do we want to do this whilst I'm here things? Couple this with the early decision making on Christmas, what presents would you like, when …

my favourite art from the RWA Annual Open Exhibition 2025: Think this is my third visit Royal West of England Academy Annual Open Exhibition and the first I have managed to capture my favourites and cobble them together in a post. I know very little about art, I couldn't comment on the motivation behind each piece of work. I have no idea how brilliant, …

dry september - an early finish: I did start my dry September experiment slightly early and that might justify an early finish, but to be honest that wouldn't be telling all of the story. The real story is that after three weeks I just wanted to sit down with my wife, watch a film and have some wine. Not much thought, or angst …

dry september - an early start: January has always seemed to be the worst month to stop drinking alcohol. Cold weather, short days and the excitement of Christmas a distant memory. I have tried to do it a few times, the longest I lasted was 4 days, we do dry September instead. why september? Post holiday exuberance and getting …

apple watch experiment - update: I'm about 2 months into my apple watch experiment, and to be honest, I'm not wearing it now. I haven't worn it on a daily basis for a few weeks. It is upstairs, on my bedside cabinet happily charging away. To start with I really enjoyed wearing it, the technology seemed great, notifications were …

the ballad of wallis island: Went to Watershed in Bristol today to watch the ballad of Wallis island. Excellent film, a bit of British awkwardness, some fabulous comedy, a bit of sadness and some amazing views of west Wales. Would recommend, some would say it is a bit of a romcom, but don’t let that put you off - this reminded …

my apple watch experiment: One of the apple products I have never owned is an Apple Watch, I was recently offered a spare watch by my parents so I thought I would give it a go. I have always wondered if it would be useful or a bit of another kit that makes more demands on my time and attention - another thing to charge! There …

back to wordpress (again): As I continue to wonder aimlessly around the world of blogging tools I have returned to Wordpress. Something seems to be different this time, I'm not sure whether it is the Wordpress software or a change at my web hosting but the lagginess seems to have disappeared, even Pagespeed agrees. the sort …

a compost bore: Now that I am a gardener I need to sort out the compost bins. I have three of them, I have geeked out on how to do it and made a start. My suspicion is that I will become a compost bore. I also suspect my other half is going to point this out to me.

I am now a gardener: We have lived, up until now, in houses with lawns and simple borders. My main gardening tasks were to keep the lawns mown and to keep the worst of the weeds at bay (weeds are just plants that are really easy to grow, right?) That changed recently when we moved house with a rather different gardening …

no longer listening to podcasts: Something has been bugging me about podcasts for quite a while. I was getting a bit daunted by my ever increasing backlog of episodes, they were another visual cue of more things to-do. I have also noted an increase in the level of adverts, and worst, those 5 minute ‘advertorials’ that appear to …

apple shortcut – quick add to apple notes: I use a shortcut to add to my daily note in apple notes all the time. Lets me capture my thoughts, lists and things my brain is bound to forget. The shortcut asks for input and then adds this to the bottom of a daily note in the notes folder. I have set the title to be the date in ‘241005 Sat 05 …

hedging my social media position: update: I am going to use only mastodon for a while. I can't manage three social networks. In the old days there was twitter. I had a twitter account, found some funny people to follow and would get the best customer service from companies twitter accounts. Roll on a few years and I have twitter, …

autumn in the lake district: We have always tended to visit the Lake District at Easter or during the summer. This was our first visit in October and the autumn colors did not disappoint. Being lucky with the weather helps, and having access to well maintained paths means walking isn't the mud-fest that can sometimes occur. …

an obsidian update: I discussed in an previous post that I would be trying to stick with obsidian for a whole year. I will admit that there has been some swapping between obsidian and apple notes, but I seem to be finally happy with the way obsidian is working. This appears to be down to a new theme that I love and …

oh no, glasses: It has finally happened. I didn't quite get to 50 years old and I'm having to wear glasses for reading and screen work as my eyes have finally given in to the onslaught of endless hours of email and teams meetings. To be honest, I've known it was coming for a long time. I've actually owned the …

bullet journal as an antidote to screens: I have been using Microsoft Onenote for all notes for about 6 months, ditching the notebook and pen. I have really liked the ability to take notes and quickly turn into other things, an email for example. The ability to tag it as an outlook task is really handy and is a timesaver. I thought I would …

upfest - bristol street art & graffiti festival: Went on a sunny trip into central Bristol to have a look at Upfest, the annual street art and graffiti festival. Bristol has many festivals throughout the year, but this one we have always seemed to miss so really nice to go - especially as the sun decided to shine. Bedminster is a really nice place …

a week in the lake district: The Lake District National Park has been one of my happy places for a good number of years, here are some highlights from my recent visit. pencil museum The pencil museum is a must do. I've been telling the family this for many years, but until this week we haven't managed to visit. a pencil is your …

and back to hugo: Well, the merry-go-round of changing how I build my website continues, this time from Wordpress back to Hugo. I think I'm going to do the same as with my obsidian year I will stick with this for 2024 - it is too much faffing about. So why change again? Mainly speed, whatever I do with Wordpress some …

my best bits of 2023: A few of the things that made it a memorable 2023. film An accidental find. Quirky, funny and sad all at the same time. Never wanted to go to Honolulu until I saw this. [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JfWZd4CtIE) television The fact that someone even thought of this way of …

apple shortcut - obsidian daily note: This is a simple shortcut that will ask for some content and push it into the bottom of your daily note. If the daily note doesn't exist it will create it. Note: You will need to install the advanced-uri plugin for this to work. It is available from the community plugins section inside obsidian …

a year of obsidian: Perhaps I like messing about with the tools more than actually using them, but I regularly change where I keep my notes - a merry-go-round of Apple Notes, Bear and Obsidian. I suspect this is a good old fashioned example of procrastination, honing the tools whilst looking for the next even better …

and relax: Having just returned from a week lying by the pool in Ravello, Italy I am contemplating what makes the holiday so relaxed and whether I can bring back anything to the hustle and bustle of daily life. the view from the swimming pool I'm not going to recreate the scenario where my breakfast is made …

ok, nothing happened: So far, so bad. My adventures into the world of bullet journaling have rather stalled. Most definitely enjoyed investigated the kit, looking up which pen and notebook I would use is exactly the sort of project I can waste spend lots of time on. Getting the kit and working out which of the templates …

trying a bullet journal: I must be one of the last people who has ever looked up productivity on Youtube and not tried bullet journalling. I remember it being a big thing a few years back, but it never struck a chord with me at the time. I think I was put off by all the images and videos of complex and over-decorated …

the to… list: One of the parts of David Allen’s getting things done that have really lasted throughout the last few years for me is the concept of lists. These lists aren’t temporary, although they may eventually disappear, they are lists of interesting things to do, places to go and activities we would like to …

hard landscaping my 2023: This morning has been spent planning out what is happening in 2023 and making sure we all know what the 'big ticket' items are for the coming 12 months. Blocking out the fixed items in our year helps to reduce 'faff' when things have to be moved around last minute and gives us a view of our year. …

my annual digital declutter: It is the time of year I like to do a bit of a digital declutter, cleaning my digital life sets me up for a new year. It also tends to trigger thoughts about what next year might bring and the things I might like to pursue - always worth having a notebook to capture these as I go. Here are the …

in praise of wired headphones: I have tried to like bluetooth headphones, I really have. I have tried on-ear and Airpods (the pro variety). I live in the Apple eco-system, so I always end up reaching for my Earpods – here is my rational for staying ‘old-skool’. Simplicity The just fit in your pocket, and you don’t have to charge …

back to the commute: Many of us are contemplating the return to the regular commute. Perhaps we aren’t going to be commuting quite as regularly as before, but commute we will. The current thinking seems to be pushing us towards a ‘hybrid’ style of working, with some days in the office but the majority spent at home. …

navigating the hybrid workplace: It looks like I am going to be one of those hybrid workers, in the office 2-3 days per week. COVID19 has taught organisations and employees that the daily grind of office working isn’t getting the best from us. With a mixed home/office working week, the so-called ‘hybrid’ model becoming the schedule …