home, home on the range

I've been pretty bad at keeping up to date with my blog since moving back to dear old england, sorry Ruth!
It's been a strange transition, moving from freelancer that flits from job to job, location to location, to warehouse monkey with a set pattern of work hours and days. Luckily working on the evening shift means I don't have to drag myself out of bed before the sun rises and cram myself onto a rolling sardine tin, just to repeat the cramming on the way back! Yes, the hours I keep are quite anti-social, but the off-peak trains keep it cheap and I get a seat every time!

It's been nice being back in dear old england, being able to see old friends, spend time with my family and have my favourite ale easily available! I get to come back to the land of my uncles this weekend though, as part of an ongoing adventure with Ignite in Cardiff Students Union and the great tech team that work behind the scenes to get the show moving and (hopefully) running without a hitch.

A bit of trivia for you: the angel that sits on top of Guildford Cathedral sits on top of mobile phone masts from a couple of mobile networks, the angel itself was added when scenes from The Omen were filmed at the cathedral.

Lets go exploring!

Given that I've had a few days where I haven't had any work to do, and that i'm now living in an area of cardiff i've only ever driven past i thought I'd do a bit of exploring.

Ever the technophile, I had to do a google maps search first, so that i wouldn't miss anything major. I was mainly looking for a small (or large) park somewhere nearby since i used to visit Roath Park a lot but now live too far away to get there comfortably.

LO AND BEHOLD! I come across Waterloo Gardens, a small green crack in the grey newport road area landscape

The area is dotted with little patches of grass, flowers and trees, with the odd stream running through them. a quite idyllic setting for chilling in and watching the world rotate.

As well as the public garden I also discovered Waterloo Gardens Teashop, which is a medium sized tae shop done up in a modern style akin to an english version of Starbucks. On the wall is a list of teas that they serve and can be bought in sachets over the counter, all loose leaf of course!

They're very much a local shop, supplying locally made cakes, vegan chocolate and exhibiting local artists work, with a commission from any sales of art given to charity.

Waterloo Gardens Tea Shop
Hipo Hyfryd (Chocolatier)