Llanelli Onine It was many years ago that I first met Ceri Shaw online. I would go so far as to say that both he and I gave Zuckerburg the idea for Facebook. At the time we were dabbling with what technology was available, basically an old sospan fach, a cheeseboard, some tin foil and a transistor radio demolished for parts. That said we managed to create two networking sites. Americymru and Deheubarth. Years later a magazine fell off my dusty old shelf and up popped Ceri's name again. I guessed that the platform called NING had long gone but also guessed that Ceri might have found...

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Out And About In Oregon (4) Maupin, Eastern Oregon   Photos: 18 I am not normally one to press my holiday snaps on others. Too many glazed eyes and polite stifled yawns over the years have convinced me that it is unwise. If, however you have a few seconds to spare please check out the pictures of Maupin in the gallery above. Maupin in Eastern Oregon is an undiscovered gem and apart from kayakers and anglers it is largely ignored by visitors to the state who, understandably concentrate on Mt Hood, Crater Lake or the beautiful Oregon coast. In my opinion Maupin is well...

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ANY TIPS? One of our Western Hemlocks in the backyard recently suffered a catastrophic 'cascade failure' and we were forced to remove two trees that were threatening to collapse on the house. We did this with a heavy heart since neither of us wanted to see them go. You can see the havoc they wrought in this post . On the plus side, however, we now have a lot more room and less shade so we thought we would develop a 'kitchen garden'. We have four growing areas and they are listed below together with a description of our current plans for them.  Basically we are seeking ideas...

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Falling Branches2016   Photos: 3 We have three Western Hemlocks perched on a bank at the back of the house. Since we are close to the crest of a hill they are somewhat exposed to the elements. Pictured above and below is the aftermath, in our backyard, of the recent winter ice storm which passed through Portland a few days ago. About 16 branches fell off one of the trees because of the accumulated weight of ice. Needless to say, since these were falling right next to the house and just outside our bedroom window, we left home for a night or two. Sorry about the delay on...

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Out And About In Oregon (3) Sylvia Beach Hotel Gallery This last week, Ceri took me down to the Oregon Coast, to the most fantastic hotel I’ve ever stayed in.  As a disclaimer, I’ll say that I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels, a lot of bad hotels and a lot of expensive hotels, and my idea of fantastic is not any kind of chain, regardless of cost, so it doesn’t include Motel 6 and it doesn’t include the 4 Seasons. Like, apparently, every other state in the United States, Oregon has a town called Newport.  Our Newport is a small town, both a rest or fun destination and a working...

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Out And About In Oregon (2) We took a few days to explore the backwoods of Oregon this winter and headed for Lakes Billy Chinook and Simtustus near Madras. We packed a Canon Rebel and a GL2 and spent many happy hours filming and photographing the glorious surroundings. I hope to get some film footage up shortly but meanwhile you can find some of our pictures on this page and more here Lake Billy Chinook Gallery A Canon Rebel is not the best of cameras and the light was not good but we hope our shots have done the area some justice. Anyone wanting to visit will find a google...

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Out And About In Oregon (1) OK so this is a little off topic but I thought I'd post an album of photographs taken during a visit to The Painted Hills a few years ago. It is a singular tribute to my prowess with a camera that I am able to take fairly ordinary photographs of even the most "visually stunning" subject matter Painted Hills, Oregon, Gallery   I want to make these photos available to friends and family back in Wales (and elsewhere) and this is the first of an occasional series of travel blogs which will appear on my Out And About In Oregon page. Here is...

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