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The mysterious case of the missing reference
This week my father asked me to get ChatGPT to write a two-page report on the efficacy of green leucaena seeds for controlling gastro-intestinal parasites (worms) in children. He could have done it himself but you how oldies are with new technology so I duly obliged. ChatGPT spat out a report that was very good […]
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More skiing and a 16th birthday
It’s Daniel’s 16th birthday tomorrow – I can’t believe how big he is now. He is turning into a wonderful young man. Yesterday he asked if he could vacuum his room. Although he’s the first 16-year-old I’ve had I can’t imagine this is a common request. He’s kind, polite, considerate, has a wonderful sense of […]
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The icy Deeside Way and an ant drowns in honey
Last weekend when I took Elizabeth to highland dance I decided to cycle her in Hoss, our cargo bike, because the bike path was looking icy and I thought it would be safer. Big mistake. The bike path near our house wasn’t too bad but the further we got from the city centre the icier […]
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“This is for Granddad!”
There was much excitement in the house this morning because the ants in Elizabeth’s ant colony took the moth she had given them over a week ago. She put a dead moth by the entrance to their test tube and it had been sitting there for over a week. This morning it disappeared and we […]
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The Lecht
I took the kids to the Lecht today which is another ski field close to Aberdeen. After our successful day at Glenshee last weekend I thought I’d try to keep the momentum going with skiing and get another half day in for the kids. We chose the Lecht this time for several reasons. It’s better […]
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Skiing at Glenshee
We were not deterred by our failed attempt to ski yesterday and went back again today with high hopes. Most of the snow disappeared overnight but Glenshee has snow machines so the beginner slopes were open and we got to ski! One advantage of not much snow is it was quieter. I have been there […]
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“Let’s go skiing, it’ll be fun”
We tried to go skiing at Glenshee today. I had us booked in for an 8:45am lesson because I’m a moron and was thinking it would be packed and we should get there early plus there was nothing else until the afternoon which seemed too late. The early start combined with my usual anxiety of […]
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A walk in the forest and up a hill
We went for a lovely long walk in the forest near Braemar today then finished it off with a walk to the summit of Creag Choinnich. We don’t usually do both walks in one go – we usually either do the forest or the hill but the kids were both keen today and we all […]
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Elizabeth’s 13th birthday and a Hogmanay ceilidh
Welcome 2023 and happy hogmanay! Yesterday was a crazily busy day. It started early with cake-baking for Elizabeth’s birthday. She turned 13 and I finally got to hand over the ant colony which is thankfully still alive. She is still pondering a name for the Queen and her empire. I made a chocolate cake which […]
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Ant colony
It’s Elizabeth’s 13th birthday this week so we’ll officially have two teenagers in the house soon. She’s been asking for an ant colony for months and months now so we finally caved and that’s what she’s getting for her birthday. Expecting delays with the postal strikes and public holidays I ordered it last week but […]
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The 12 outfits of Christmas 2022
We spent Christmas at home this year with friends and it has been lovely. The kids are definitely teenagers now as they didn’t wake up until after 9am. Gone are the days of them jumping out of bed at 6am with excitement about presents. I think they were still excited but they also like their […]
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Pantomime and Union Terrace Gardens
It has been three years since we last went to the pantomime thanks to covid. Although it did run last year they had to cancel after Christmas and our tickets were for New Year’s Eve so we missed it. This year everything is back to normal and indeed covid seems like a thing in the […]
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Christmas at the castle
We went to Crathes Castle today for a walk in the snow. The kids got out of bed very late so we didn’t get there until the early afternoon but this worked in our favour because unbeknown to us the castle was putting on a festive light show with Santa’s grotto, rides, a craft market, […]
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Fleeing the Terminator
Jon and I both made the press today following our deputations on Wednesday to Aberdeen City Council. Jon is from Grampian Cycle Partnership and I was speaking on behalf of Aberdeen Cycle Forum. The Evening Express ran it as the main story on their front page. It’s terrific! Here’s a photo: The Terminator 2 reference […]
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Duthie Park in the snow
Duthie Park was looking quite lovely yesterday. I took these photos on my run.
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When is it ok to trash your family on TV?
I haven’t watched the final three instalments of the latest Dynasty family drama on Netflix so this is just all hypothetical and I have no personal opinion whatsoever because I can’t comment on something I haven’t watched. But I am always interested in hypothetical ethical situations and so what if Netflix offered you £100 million […]
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One last plea for cycling infrastructure
I gave my deputation at the Aberdeen council committee meeting today. I have spoken in council chambers before, several years ago when I presented my petition for a segregated cycle track on Union Street. It’s an interesting experience. You’re not allowed to take photos so I’ll describe the room. It’s huge with mezzanine viewing galleries […]
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Snow and council deputation
The first snow of the winter fell last week and there was quite a lot of it. I’ve been keeping the bird feeders topped up as the birds are very hungry right now. All the snow has melted now as it rained this weekend but there’s more forecast for next week and not far inland […]
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Crochet Audrey 2, Christmas tree, and Daniel is taller than me
Another weekend disappears. Daniel told me last week that he didn’t want to go anywhere for the next couple of weekends as he’s studying for exams. He’s so studious but then I was the same. He’s taller than me now by nearly 2cm. We measured today. That happened very quickly. He’s shooting up at a […]
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What to watch on TV
There’s lots of great TV to watch which is perfect for these cold, dark evenings when all I want to do is snuggle up on the sofa with my crochet. On the weekend I watched The Swimmers which is about two professional Syrian female swimmers who make the trip from Syria to Germany as refugees. […]
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