The River Dee burst its banks in Aberdeen last night. According to locals we know around here this has never happened before. I went to have a look this morning but the water level has gone down already. However there were signs of flooding along Riverside Drive where there are great swathes of sand.
There are not many residential homes along this road but one block of flats was evacuated to a nearby hotel last night. There are also a few businesses affected and I saw people cleaning up the mess this morning.
The river also entered Duthie Park, flooding the car park and one of the playgrounds. The car park is still flooded this morning even though it is no longer connected to the river.
This is the model boating pond at Duthie Park which could probably accommodate full-size boats now.
Things are worse inland of Aberdeen. The River Dee starts in the Cairngorms and winds its way through villages before reaching the sea at Aberdeen harbour. The Dee passes through Ballater which has been hit quite badly. Ben pointed out that for us it’s just another natural disaster and, as such, makes him feel at home 🙂
It’s Elizabeth’s birthday today. She was born on New Year’s Eve 6 years ago. It was a very easy birth which only took a couple of hours. There was no pain – thank you epidural – and no tearing or any complications whatsoever. I went home from hospital 3 hours after her birth.
We’re having a party for her this afternoon and sent out 12 invitations but only 7 people replied. Does that mean the other 5 are not coming? We’re hoping that’s the case.
I let her choose a cake from the Australian Women’s Weekly Kids’ Birthday Cakes book, an iconic book in Australia and one I can remember admiring when I was a child. Thankfully she chose a fairly easy cake. Here’s my attempt. It’s supposed to be an island and the upside down cone is the volcano:
Happy New Year everyone!
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