There are not many of us who wouldn’t trade chilly British life for the cultured towns of Spain or Greece. For most, the chances of being outside with a jug of Sangria any time soon may be quite slim, but the odds might actually be in your favour as a revamp is due to take place within the next 6 months.

Oxford will be enjoying a taste of the Mediterranean as the mini-square off a side street in East Oxford is all set to be rejuvenated. There are plans to create a cafe-culture in the old square after Oxford City Council has released £19,000 for the scheme.

And to make sure things don’t linger on too long, (like many new builds can), an Oxford restaurant owner has also stumped up £50,000 to get the square open ASAP.

I think it’s a fantastic idea. Exotic Oxford restaurants, as well as shops, a deli and an Oxford jewellery store.

Who needs to go abroad?! Take a look at the article in the Oxford Mail.

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Christmas is just about as big as it gets for piling on extra pounds, and our New Year’s resolutions often see gym memberships and diets in Oxford at the top of the list.

That said, an article on the Oxfordshire Council website discusses how our fitness and leisure centres in Oxford are encouraging people to avoid that expanding waist-line by keeping trim in the run up to Xmas and New Year.

I must admit that the button on my jeans fails to do up after the Xmas season every year, so being careful and burning some extra calories before the big day feast might not be such a bad idea. I suppose it happens to everyone, but it’s better to try and catch these things before they become a problem.

Apparently we can put away 6,000 calories on Christmas day- no wonder we put on weight.

Health centres in the city are appealing for people to take care of their bodies and professionals are providing information and tips to keep fit, even if you can’t afford to join a club, including dance school in Oxford, ice-skating and ‘spin’, a class provided at many gyms for a small fee.

Every year Oxford gyms see a boom in memberships throughout January, but December is fairly quiet. This is clearly due to the rush for gifts, putting up the tree and generally being busy around this time, but would it really hurt us to take 30 minutes out for a bit of exercise, or are we just a bit lazy? I know that I am!

I was made redundant from my job in consultancy last year, and decided to set up my own business and work from home. I had plenty of contacts within the industry so I didn’t think it would be too difficult. The stumbling block came when my wife told me she didn’t want all of my work stuff strewn around the house.

I had toyed with the idea of converting the shed into an office before, but if I was going to be running a business from home I was going to need a much bigger space. If it was up to my son, we would have had a garden office that could be converted to his own recording studio. He has been in bands ever since he was 11, and I decided that if he wasn’t going to have his own studio, I should at least pay for some recording sessions for him. I had heard about www.recordingstudiosoxford.co.uk so I decided to book some recording sessions for my son there.

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It took a lot to admit it, but my construction business was going down the toilet. The quality of the work hadn’t changed at all, but things were just drying up. I’d tried newspaper advertising, but I hadn’t had a great response from it. It was time for a change.

I racked my brain trying to come up with a solution, and eventually decided an image overhaul was needed so I could try and re-market the brand. A friend put me on to www.graphicdesignersoxford.co.uk, so I called to see if they would be able to work with me on a new logo and new visual branding. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally, after years and years working and saving, we had the time and money to go and do a bit of travelling.

However, the problem we had was finding insurance that we could afford.

Being active 60-somethings, we didn’t want to be penalised by our insurance company because of our age.

So we decided to look for a specialist who would understand our requirements. I looked up pensioners’ travel insurance companies in Oxford where we moved to after we stopped working in London. Read the rest of this entry »

My mum has always been a cat person. Not only does she have the pets she has all the paraphernalia which goes along with being a cat person. It’s an obsession.

So when she was going away for the week with the girls the most important thing was making sure the cats were sorted out. www.holidayhomesforcatsoxford.co.uk seemed like the perfect option.

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My husband was in remission from cancer and finally felt well enough to take the long trip from Oxford where we live to visit his sister in the States.

We were really worried that he wouldn’t be covered by any insurance companies because of his cancer.

I turned to the internet and searched for travel insurance pre-existing medical conditions, and remarkably there were several companies who did provide insurance cover for cancer patients. Read the rest of this entry »

I have been looking for a reputable company that deals with home services in Oxford for some time now. The doors throughout the whole of my house are terrible! They are this sort of old fashioned wooden furnishing which compliments nothing in the house!

Prior to me buying the property there was an older person living in the house and the doors mustn’t have been changed for years and years. So, for that reason alone the doors need replacing!

One of my friends was telling me a company that deals with replacement doors called www.replacementdoorsoxford.co.uk. They offer a full range of doors apparently which aren’t too expensive either. I thought rather than getting one door replaced, I may as well just get the job lot done! Read the rest of this entry »

It was my friend’s fault that I got into triathlons, but I was completely hooked. But just before the Blenheim Triathlon my knee gave way. Luckily my friend is a GP and told me that I hadn’t broken anything, but recommended that I go to a sports therapy clinic for some sports massage. Read the rest of this entry »

We had been trying for a baby for over two years. As we were still relatively young, it didn’t worry me that nothing was happening at first.

However, after year two and having to watch several of our friends fall pregnant easily, I felt that we should start trying IVF treatment.

Before we started, a friend urged me to go to see an acupuncturist. She said that acupuncture was renowned for improving infertility and that you could do it alongside IVF treatment. Read the rest of this entry »