Category: Journal
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The Highland dancer and inside Hoss
Elizabeth had a Highland Dance performance on Sunday afternoon. She was wonderful! I enjoyed watching this show immensely. Highland Dancing is so different to the dancing I’m used to and I love that they get to dance with swords. Luckily the swords are not sharp otherwise a few of the children would be missing toes…
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Crying through My Fair Lady and Hoss
I think I have a name for my new bike: Hoss. People under 40 probably won’t understand the reference. It’s even old for me except that I watched too much TV as a child. I blame my older sister: she was a TV addict and refused to play with me. We couldn’t have survived without…
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The Beast
A few months ago I bought another bike but didn’t tell anyone because I’ve been too scared to ride it. However necessity prevailed today because we had to be on the other side of the city centre in a time too narrow for walking and so with trepidation I took the Beast out. The Beast…
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Sustrans Cymru criticised for active travel scheme
This appeared in my Twitter feed yesterday: Great to see new @WG_Economy funded #activetravel schemes in #aberystwyth @CeredigionCC pic.twitter.com/faLRnRIcbW — Walk Wheel Cycle Trust Cymru (@WWCTrustCymru) June 20, 2018 It generated a lot of discussion on Twitter. Can you see what’s wrong with the photo and the accompanying text? Sustrans is a national sustainable transport…
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Desk cycling
I recently noticed that my scales are telling me I’m heavier than I really am. It’s like the problem of clothes shrinking while hanging in the wardrobe. I think it’s because I’m not cycling as much as I used to. The kids are too big for Busby and we walk most places now. This is…
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Aquafaba
I learnt a new word on the weekend: aquafaba. It’s the leftover liquid from cooked legumes which, when whisked, becomes white and fluffy just like egg whites. I tried it on the weekend with the liquid from a can of chickpeas. Instead of tipping it down the sink, which is what I normally do, I…
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Meet Rambo
I just finished Rambo, the latest addition to our household. He’ll be proudly joining Wishart on one of our walls.
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The pleasures of gardening and composting
I never thought I’d be excited about a compost bin but I am. He arrived today and he is a Hotbin. I haven’t given him a name yet but he’ll apparently reach temperatures inside of 60C, even in winter! Some people keep them in their glasshouse as a source of heat over winter. He’ll make…
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It’s not all or nothing
I’ve recently started drinking oat milk drink. I usually drink soya but Ben recently went dairy-free at home and prefers oat drink so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s delicious. I’m addicted and prefer it to soya now. I like that oats are grown widely in Scotland and so I feel virtuous buying…
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The Last Kingdom
Men fight over women, money, and land and have been doing so since the beginning of time. I suppose money and land are essentially the same thing and we can simply say men fight over women and money. This is exactly how season 2 of The Last Kingdom panned out. The two Viking brothers, Erik…
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Worst invention ever
I’ve heard designers say the customer is not always right because if Henry Ford had asked his customers what they wanted they’d have replied with, “A faster horse.” I disagree. The car is the worst invention in the history of all humankind. Some 3,287 people die every day in road crashes and more than half…
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Mince lemons and how not to die
My favourite cookbook right now is the How Not to Die Cookbook by Dr Greger. The recipes are delicious, fairly easy, and very nutritious. They are also kid-friendly. I will share some on my blog in due course however right now I want to post a tip from the book which I can’t believe I…
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A plant-based diet and the protein myth
Some people have missed the memo because I still hear the myth that meat consumption is necessary for protein. It’s like the myth that the MMR vaccine causes autism. Despite evidence to the contrary it continues to spread around the blogosphere, like a zombie that never dies. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy…
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The interminable battle with slugs and weeds
I’ve been struggling with the slugs at the allotment this year. Most of the seedlings I’ve planted have completely vanished, presumably eaten by slugs. Last month I applied nematodes to the soil and put out a heap of beer traps. There seem to be fewer slugs now and although I’d like to take the credit…
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If you want to eat less soya, then you should eat soya
There’s a great quote from George Monbiot in the Guardian this week. Part of the reason [why a plant-based diet is better for the environment] is the extreme inefficiency of feeding livestock on grain: most of its nutritional value is lost in conversion from plant protein to animal protein. This reinforces my contention that if…
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Sustainability
I’ve been thinking a lot about sustainability recently both through my work at Award Force and also on a more personal level. It has become fashionable for corporations to talk about sustainability and I think, when done sincerely, it represents the best of humanity. I know there’s a certain level of green-washing where corporations will…
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Bikes and mikes
I gave a talk at the monthly climate cafe last night about my petition for a bike path on Union St. It started badly. The microphone was too short and in my attempt to adjust it I dropped the clicker to advance my slides. When it hit the floor the back came off and the…
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A pear tree in a whisky barrel
The local school was selling fruit trees for fund-raising and I bought a pear tree. They were meant to be dwarf/patio varieties which appealed to me because although I have a large garden, it’s full of established shrubs and trees already and I don’t have space for another large tree. I already have two plum…
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Blue poppy
The Himalayan blue poppy is flowering in my garden again. I always love watching the garden spring into life after winter. The changes are so pronounced and so quick. Every week there’s something new.
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GDPR aftermath
May 25th has now come and gone and I’m hoping this will bring an end to all the emails I’ve been receiving on a daily basis. I’m a little shocked by how many mailing lists I’m subscribed to and have taken the opportunity to unsubscribe from lots of them. For many businesses it’s the culmination…
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