Tag Archives: caught my eye

Caught My Eye: Coffee and Black Ops

Posted on by

Caught My Eye: Coffee and Black Ops

Coffee seems to have been in my life a lot recently. Testing coffee in a new business – Brett’s Own Brews (good for a post at a later date), acquiring a new coffee machine and doing some experiments. I’m not talking instant here. And I’m also not talking high street coffee. No, it’s been all about great coffee from various suppliers for different purposes.

Personal Coffee Machine

Like many people I do enjoy a good cup of coffee in the morning. Producing a really good cup of coffee can be a real hassle, especially when it comes to the clean up afterwards. Back in my student days I had a great little single cup filter machine. That’s useful – fill it up in the evening and load the filter with some good quality ground. In the morning, just switch it on and a few minutes later there’s a tasty, steaming cup of coffee ready to get you going for the day. Afterwards, just wash the cup and clean the filter and it’s ready for the next cup.

Morphy Richards SAingle cup coffee filter machine.

I haven’t had one of those for years, but I was given one recently and I’ve really been enjoying it. I’m currently enjoying a Rocko Mountain coffee from Monsoon Estates Coffee Company in Stratford upon Avon. In my view it certainly beats the Nespresso hands down.

Contact Coffee Company

I have also been given a bag of “Black Ops” from the Contact Coffee Company. Tried this one this morning, and it is everything it promises. Kick start your day with a mug of this and you will not be dozing off any time soon.

There’s not much “about” the company, but to quote from a search “Contact Coffee is an idea from two military men derived from our passion for Fitness, Military and most importantly, Coffee!”. Good coffee guys!

Coffee Blogger Italy

Rome Coffee Guide

Taking a trip to Rome? I also found this interesting post about coffee in Italy, from a Northamptonshire (that’s nearby!) blogger, Nicole. Now this looks good – I think I need a getaway soon!

Coffee Cups

And before you go, do have a look at the selection of coffee mugs on my site, featuring some of my photos from various places. One of these is my morning coffee favourite. A good solid, interesting mug which is dishwasher proof!

Golden Coffee Mug

Please Pin This

Coffe & Black Ops - pin this!
Blogs which Caught my eye

Caught My Eye – 13 January 2018

Posted on by

Caught My Eye This Week – 13 January

This is a slightly new approach for Travels of the Hairy1. Reading other blogs and articles of interest, especially in my own niche, is a key part of staying up to date and keeping the ideas flowing. In any week I will read, probably a few dozen different blogs. Time is tight, though, so sometimes it’s a matter of ticking the “Like” box and moving on. In any week a few posts will stand out. I have decided to re-blog some of these in a quick summary.

There are many, many good blogs out there, these are just a few that caught my eye.

Sunrise on the Beach

Andrew Harvard’s post Positivity is contagious and makes it all better realy positively spoiled my week 🙂 with his Durban sunrise photo. We were right there in October, almost on the exact spot, though not at sunrise. And now we sit in the cold and (generally) grey of the English winter. I’m reminded of what I am missing. I have to say that I do enjoy Andrew’s photos.

For what it’s worth, the cost, south of Durban in kwaZulu-Natal, is where we used to spend our holidays. Durban is also where I went to University. So this is not just an “I went there once” comparison.

Sunny Winter Days

David Oakes Images – Sunny Winter Days. I do enjoy David’s excellent images. These photos from Derwent Water on a sunny English winter day particularly caught my eye.

I have to admit that I tend to be a fair weather photographer, unless there is something exciting like a sunny day after a few feet of snow. David’s images do tempt me to get the camera out even when it is cold and grey.

Those Christmas Markets

Peter and Dona’s post about the Christkindlmarket in Chicago on Living the Q Life made me wonder just how many German Christmas markets there are around the world. We seem to have developed a habit of visiting the Annual Frankfurt Christmas Market in Birmingham. From the photos it looks as if they all offer similar products and follow a similar format.

I really think we may need to do a winter trip to a proper German market one of these years.

 

Just a Photo

Beautiful light in this image on Documented Wanderlust, showing a gathering storm.

Source: Gathering Storm, Ft. Atkinson, Wisconsin – Documented Wanderlust

How it’s done

There are a number of tools available, both free and premium, which will allow the user to follow website, blogs, etc. For me the key is that the tools I use are available on all of the platforms I use, being iOS, Android, Linux and Windows.

My two main tools are:

  • The WordPress app. This is available in the browser, or as an installed app on mobile devices.
  • Feedly. This tool is available in browser and as a mobile app.

    WordPress

    You need to be signed up with WordPress.com to use this. Sign-up is free and allows you to set up a blog. You don’t need the blog to use the app though.

    Using the reader, you can create lists, follow tags and follow WordPress sites. Generally it follows wordpress.com sites, self-hosted WordPress sites, using the Jetpack plugin are also visible.

    Feedly

    Feedly is a feed reader. Most blogs have an RSS feed of some kind. Feedly simply connects with the feed and displays posts in the feed.

Summing it up

Enjoy this little summary and watch for next week’s summary.