Category: Journal
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The Queen’s Circular walk, Braemar
Snow has returned to Scotland and today we went to Braemar in search of some fun. Braemar is always gorgeous but particularly so when there’s snow on the surrounding hills and the drive through Royal Deeside is always lovely. We did the Queen’s Circular Walk which is fairly level and has nice views over Braemar…
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Where’s my 8-pack?
I’ve been doing the baby shark abs challenge for more than 30 days now (32 days to be exact). It has got much easier, so much so, that now I think I could go on doing the exercises for longer than 1 minute 33 seconds. I feel stronger too and notice my new strength in…
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Sparkly dress
I got this lovely dress from the charity shop today. The sequins are sewn onto a soft, stretchy fabric which makes it very comfortable and easy to wear. I almost feel as though I could go cycling in it. The label is Hobbs.
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What makes Royal Mail post boxes so attractive?
Have you ever noticed how attractive Royal Mail post boxes are? Compare this to BT’s green boxes: One of these objects is trying to be unobtrusive and designed (by colour) to blend into the surroundings. The other is bold, bright, hard to miss, and right in the middle of the path. Attempts to blend things…
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Motorist hits cat and doesn’t stop
As we were walking to school this morning we saw a motorist run over a cat. The motorist didn’t stop and the cat was screaming in agony in the middle of the road. We gently picked her up and went door-knocking to find the owner. She was badly injured but still alive. A cyclist also…
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Pickings from my allotment and buffet breakfasts
I got a funny mix of summer and winter veg at the plot today. The tomatoes in the glasshouse are still fruiting, although more slowly now, and I harvested the first of my leeks. I also harvested my one and only pumpkin. It has been small and green for several weeks now so I decided…
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Love your greens
I had an epiphany this week. When suggesting a vegan diet to someone to reverse heart disease they responded by saying my vegan diet is more to do with animal rights than cholesterol, therefore, it’s not relevant to them. However, my motives are irrelevant especially since I don’t have heart disease. It’s like refusing morphine after…
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Parent-teacher interviews, visiting relatives, and investing for retirement
Last night we had parent-teacher interviews at Daniel’s school (if any locals came trick or treating at this time this is why we didn’t answer the door then. We were out for a bit). It’s the first parent-teacher interviews we’ve had at Daniel’s new high school so we really didn’t know what to expect. Expectations…
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Trick or high-fructose corn syrup
Every year the kids nag to go trick or treating and every year we say no. I just can’t understand how it’s appropriate to encourage children to go to the homes of strangers asking for sweets. Perhaps we’re just boring and unfair parents. To be fair, the kids don’t seem to mind too much and…
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Those who say it can’t be done should not interrupt those who are doing it
I saw this great Tweet from Pedal Me a few days ago: Those who say it cannotbe done should not interrupt those who are doing it. 300kg of whisky being delivered 4.5 miles for @DistillinginE3 The future is coming. Get on board.https://t.co/ulp84Qi8mR pic.twitter.com/aQxnQuYJXi — Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) October 26, 2019 I’m not sure where this…
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On hating vegans and cyclists
There was a good article in the Guardian yesterday titled, Why do people hate vegans? It references a 2015 study that found vegans suffer from the same level of discrimination as ethnic and religious minorities. In 2015, a study conducted by Cara C MacInnis and Gordon Hodson for the journal Group Processes & Intergroup Relations observed that vegetarians…
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Back to Craigendarroch
We went for a glorious walk up Craigendarroch today. The landscapes are beautiful at this time of year with a palette of yellows, oranges, golds, reds, browns, pinks, and greens. Craigendarroch is a steep and craggy hill overlooking the village of Ballater in Aberdeenshire. It’s covered in oak trees, hence the name Craigendarroch – craig…
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Newspaper pics
Elizabeth and I were in the paper last Saturday in a story about a council consultation for more walking and cycling links between the Bridge of Don and Aberdeen city centre. The photographer took lots of photos and I went onto their website this week to see the others (is it a bit vain to…
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Baby shark abs challenge
We’ve got a 30-day challenge going at work as part of health and wellbeing which involves doing the baby shark abs challenge every day for 30 days. It’s the hardest 1 minute and 30 seconds you will do all day. I’ve been doing it since last Friday and for the first three days, I thought…
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In the paper and studying for the life in the UK test
This past week has been a very busy media week for me. As part of my volunteer role with the Aberdeen Cycle Forum I respond to all queries from the media and they seem to come in waves. For months it’s quiet and then suddenly everyone wants to write about cycling and they call the…
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Scotland bans smacking
It’s history in the making today with politicians in Holyrood voting to make it a criminal offence for parents to smack their children. We are the 58th country in the world to outlaw smacking and the first country in the UK. Sweden was the first in the world back in 1979. New Zealand did it…
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A nutritious, cheap, and easy vegan meal that kids like and vegan bodybuilders
I made a delicious and disgustingly healthy meal tonight which was a hit with everyone, including the kids. It was also very simple, indeed half of it required no cooking at all. The cooked half was a recipe from Rukmini Iyer’s The Green Roasting Tin which involved bunging orzo and tomatoes in the oven for…
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Red sauerkraut
I’m making a batch of sauerkraut with red cabbage and it looks so pretty. I can’t wait to try it.
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BBQ cabins and walks in the woods
Yesterday we went out to Deeside Log Cabins to get a part for our shed (we bought our shed from them) and they have a wonderful BBQ cabin/spa/sauna that I took some photos of. On the inside is a BBQ and very inviting seating area: A spa: And a sauna: The whole thing costs about…
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Aberdeen climate strike
We did our bit and attended the Aberdeen climate strike today. There were about a thousand people there which is pretty good for an oil city. It’s definitely the biggest protest I’ve ever seen in Aberdeen. It was a hot and sunny day. Unusually warm for September but I suppose that’s apt given we were…
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