Every year Elizabeth pleads with us to go trick or treating for Halloween and every year I say no. We tell children all the time not to accept things from strangers and about stranger danger and yet on Halloween we encourage them to do the exact opposite. Yes, I’m a big fat party pooper. This year I decided to book us a fun dinner at a restaurant with Halloween activities. Unfortunately, the Halloween activities got cancelled at the last moment because of the dreich weather (dreich is Scottish for dreary, bleak) but we decided to dress up go out for dinner to Banchory Lodge anyway.
Since it’s no longer inclusive to celebrate inspirational women (Oxfam withdrew a bingo game on inspirational women from sale because it wasn’t inclusive of all genders) I thought I’d be politically incorrect and celebrate one of the women in the game this Halloween by dressing up like her: Ada Lovelace.
Ada Lovelace was a British mathematician who lived from 1815 to 1852. She is often regarded as the first-ever computer programmer because she published the first algorithm intended for a machine. Her mathematical genius led to a long-term working relationship with the British mathematician, Charles Babbage. She was the daughter of the British poet, Lord Byron, but it was her mother who fostered her interest in mathematics.
It’s amazing to think that it was a woman who wrote the first computer program given how male-dominated the industry is today.
If you want to see what Ada’s program would look like in Python, the blogger Jim Randell, has translated it. Anyway, here’s my costume. I bought it from Etsy from a British woman who makes costumes. She’s very good!
Elizabeth went as her namesake, Elizabeth Bennett (a young version of), from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Daniel went as a zombie and Ben as a maths professor. I’ll let you guess who is with Elizabeth in this next pic.
We once spent the night at Banchory Lodge in 2015 after cycling there from Aberdeen. I took this photo of the kids in the lobby at the time.
Here they are now in the same seat.
And the four of us. I’m not sure how I managed to look so creepy in this next photo. Don’t fuck with me.
Banchory Lodge has a great atmosphere and sits in a picturesque spot beside the River Dee which we could hear roaring past. Daniel said he’s keen to try cycling there again but this time under his own steam. We’ll have to do it!
rachel.blog 
When you write “She was the son of Lord Byron” – do I take it that there’s a typo there, or is there something else going on here?
Good on you for flipping the finger in your own way at the nonsensical withdrawal of that board game. I’m so gobsmacked at the brainlessness being perpetrated now in the name of gender-identity ideology. We heretics are gaining in number though – lol! Nice dress – did you buy it off Etsy just for this occasion? Not that it matters – I’m sure it will find a warm welcome from your collection, regardless 😄
oh haha, that’s definitely a typo. I’ve fixed it, thanks!
I did buy the dress especially for Halloween. Elizabeth started nagging me a couple of months ago about doing something and so I started looking for a costume and found this gorgeous dress. I have always wanted a period costume too. It was sold as 1830s which fit in well with Ada Lovelace.