I may be a bit biased because I've lived here and work here but Cardiff really is a great place to live and work. You don't need to take my word for it because this article over on the Twinings Infusions content portal on Huffington Post backs me up. 'London might boast the highest salaries but the pricey cost of living in the capital means that Londoners do worse on disposable income than elsewhere.' Other important factors are workplace equality, transport links, job satisfaction and the quality of work on offer. London might be exciting but people looking for a work life balance and a good quality of living might want to head elsewhere.


I'm very lucky to have a secure public sector job because there are so many universities and government jobs in the area and I also get to have the coast, a city and a national park all within an hours drive.

I posted some photos from the first day on my holiday a few days ago but I've still got plenty that I want to share. These photos were all taken on the Sunday when Martyn and I headed to Corfe Castle on the Swange Steam Railway.



The line from Swanage to Corfe Castle was closed in the 70s but a group of enthusiasts have worked hard to re-lay the tracks and restore the train stations along this line. You can read more about the history of the line here. The train engine we had that day actually came from South Wales and used to transport coal from the pits to Barry Docks.


Towering over Corfe Castle station were the magnificent ruins of Corfe Castle, it was certainly an impressive sight. One of my favourite views appeared on my old commuter line, the Rhymney Valley line. I loved leaving Aber station and being able to see wonderful views of Caerphilly Castle and this reminded me of that.


Corfe Castle was built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates back to the 11th century. It was one of the first to be built of stone instead of wood. In 1572 Elizabeth I sold the castle to Sir Christopher Hatton and Lady Mary Bankes, led the defence of the castle when it was twice besieged by Parliamentarian forces in 1643 and 1645. In March 1645 Corfe Castle was demolished on Parliament's orders and it is now owned by the National Trust.



The ruins were beautiful as was the surrounding town but the rain and wind meant that we couldn't take the long walk that we planned. We headed back on the steam train from Corfe Castle to Swanage and had an early night with plenty of pulled pork, tea and a good film. My pulled pork was lovely but using the holiday let oven which was super hot meant that the outside didn't fall apart as much as I had hoped but it still tasted divine.

My last Brit Pack post was an outfit post but as a girl who wears mainly black a pastel theme is a little tricky for me. I am now the owner of a glittery mint jumper but that didn't arrive until last night so I thought I would share a post about what I'm obsessing over at the moment, homeware. I'm moving house (sorry to keep going on about it) in a few weeks time and I've been looking at items to spruce the place up.

My boyfriend and his friends have been living in the house for a few years. The others have all moved on now but the house still feels like a bachelor pad. There really wasn't a feminine touch to the house before I met Martyn and I've slowly been filling the place with useful things like a little bin in the bathroom and adding some colour with new bedding. Now that I'm moving in I want to add my stamp on the place and make it feel like our home.

Martyn's bunny called Buttons has ripped some wallpaper and I want to paint my bedroom but there's not much major work or repairs that needs to be done so now I'm getting all excited about soft furnishings and I'm going to go for a pastel colour theme in my dressing room/guest room and in the kitchen. I've already got a lot of things in these colours so I won't need to get much but it would be great to have some items that we have bought together for the house.