Category: Journal
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Dunnideer Castle
It seems like too long since we went for a proper walk. That is how I felt this morning when I woke up and so off we went in search of a hill. I got my fix just next to Insch, at Dunnideer Castle. Insch is a small village about 45 minutes by car north west…
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2018 in review
I scanned through the posts from 2018 on my blog and was surprised by how much I did and accomplished. I hope I will have as much energy in 2019. It started with our January 1st walk up Bennachie which was marvellous. There was ice, lovely views, and an incident that involved a dog stealing…
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Happy New Year!
The clock has ticked over and it’s now 2019. Happy New Year to you all! I don’t have any new year resolutions other than to try and exercise as much as possible and eat less sugar. How about you? Yesterday was Elizabeth’s birthday and as we do every year on her birthday, we went to…
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Winter swimming
We went to St Cyrus beach for a swim today. My sister-in-law is visiting and she has a penchant for icy showers and swims in freezing lakes in Switzerland. The photos make it look like a warm summer’s day but it’s actually winter here and the water temperature was 7°C. I’m preparing myself psychologically before…
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How to cook for 10 people for less than £8
They say healthy food is expensive but this isn’t my experience. Unhealthy, processed food is expensive but healthy, fresh food is cheap, albeit time-consuming to prepare. Today I made a lentil shepherd’s pie for ten people and as I was cooking I couldn’t help thinking how cheap the ingredients were so I decided to add…
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Merry Christmas 2018
One of the nice things about having a blog is it becomes an historical record of what I’ve done or where I was at a particular moment in time. I sometimes wonder what I was doing for Christmas in 2012 or 2013 and all I need to do is go back through the archives of…
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Merry Christmas from the bike path
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King Street cycle path competition
Last week, on behalf of the Aberdeen Cycle Forum, I launched a design competition for a cycle path on King Street in Aberdeen. Out of all the cities in Scotland, Aberdeen was the only one not to apply for Sustrans Community Links Plus funding this year which is specifically for infrastructure projects like this. The…
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Foodstory
Ben’s mother is staying with us and it was her birthday yesterday so we went to Foodstory for dinner. Foodstory is hands down the best cafe/restaurant in Aberdeen. Daniel’s plate of chilli was huge. But it disappeared very quickly. He’s only 11 and very skinny. I’m not sure how he can be so skinny yet…
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Christmas holly
Yesterday I discovered Christmas decorations growing over our back fence – holly. Holly is a native shrub in Britain and commonly used to decorate homes over Christmas. As a child I only remember seeing plastic holly but why buy the plastic stuff when you can have the real thing FOR FREE. That said, it’s probably…
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Strong, fit, and healthy
I love Saturdays. I feel so strong and energetic right now and the weekend is my time to get outside for some physical activity. Today I have been particularly active having spent my morning hefting huge bags of grit salt up the hill to the church. Several months ago the city council invited people to…
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Sunday at the beach
Elizabeth was invited to a birthday party today at Laser Tag which is by the beach. We don’t go to the beach very often because it’s a bugger to get to by bike but we survived the traffic to make it there in one piece. To be fair, all the motorists were very good and…
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Vegan panforte
Ben’s mother often makes panforte during the Christmas period and it’s one of the yummiest things I’ve ever eaten. I thought I’d try making a vegan panforte this morning and it turned out beautifully! It’s dangerously delicious which means I’ll need to find some self-control to avoid stuffing my face. I used this recipe but…
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It’s 4C and I’m hot
I love our Saturday bike rides to Highland Dance for Elizabeth followed by lunch at Newton Dee. My bike told me it was 4C: But I got hot from the exercise. I feel so happy after a bike ride. We’re so lucky to live somewhere we can cycle all year round. I love feeling the…
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In praise of my electric cargo trike
Elizabeth has been off school sick this week and not wanting to make her walk to school each day when we go with Daniel, I’ve been taking them in Hoss instead. It has been over a year since I stopped cycling the kids to and from school in Busby – now we walk. It’s good…
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Family history
For several years now I’ve been working on a family tree at My Heritage. Recently I discovered another Elizabeth Martin on Ben’s side of the family. Our Elizabeth’s great-great-great-grandmother was also Elizabeth Martin (nee Frisken). She was born in Scotland and moved to New Zealand while our Elizabeth was born in New Zealand and moved…
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Air pollution event recap
I helped organise an air pollution event in Aberdeen yesterday. This was a joint initiative of the Aberdeen Cycle Forum and Friends of the Earth Scotland. Air quality has been in the news recently because we’re only just starting to understand the harmful effect air pollution has on our health. It’s particularly harmful to young…
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The amazing Daniel
I’m so proud of this boy who was voted House Captain by his peers! Well done, Daniel. You can’t see the yellow badge very well so I took a closeup although it’s a bit blurry. The vote happened on Wednesday and there were two others going for House Captain in his house. Daniel gave a…
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Cycling on the AWPR and a weekend of protests
The AWPR still hasn’t opened. It has been beset by delays and no-one knows when it will open or even if it will open this year. Members of the Aberdeen Cycle Forum organised a protest about the new motorway and the failure to include provision for cyclists in a demo in September this year. We…
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King Robert the Bruce
Earlier this year I was reading the kids a children’s book on Scottish history. In it was a chapter on Robert the Bruce and although I had heard of him before and seen statues of him (there’s one in Stirling), I’d never heard his story. At the end of the chapter I was thinking, “Oh…
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