insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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We don’t get to choose our ancestors
Yesterday I was pondering on my blog whether any of my ancestors were suffragettes. My mother-in-law told me that one of her ancestors was a signatory on the women’s suffrage petition in New Zealand to grant women the vote. She was Annabella Naumann (nee Macaulay, born in Glasgow) and she’s even recognised on the New…
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The suffragettes and a tartan scarf
I got myself a wonderful tartan scarf in the suffragette colours this week. I was inspired by the woman who was ejected from Scottish parliament for wearing a scarf in the Suffragette’s colours. Scottish parliament later apologised claiming it was a mistake but by then scarfgate had taken off and these lovely scarves have since…
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Meals that start from 9 pence per person
Early last month I gave a short talk at Aberdeen Climate Action’s Climate Café where I shared my top tips on how to easily and cheaply reduce your carbon emissions. Taking action on climate change can sometimes feel overwhelming or even impossible. Many solutions are just not practical for the individual like putting solar panels…
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A weekend away in Angus and a trophy
We just had a wonderful weekend in Angus and in addition to the wonderful visit we made to Glamis Castle on Saturday Elizabeth brought home a trophy. Part of the reason for the trip was so Elizabeth could participate in the Forfar Highland Dance competition on Sunday. These competitions typically start in the morning and…
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Glamis Castle
Glamis Castle is famous for being the ancestral home of the former Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. It has been in the Lyon family since 1372. Princess Margaret was also born in the castle. Perhaps an even bigger claim to fame is as the setting for Shakespeare’s Macbeth and also as a film location for some…
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Rocket the hamster pics and video
We’re loving having Rocket. He’s such a cool little dude. He seems quite happy in his new home. At least he never tries to escape even when the door is open. He likes taking food from our hands but doesn’t like being held. He loves, loves, loves his wheel and is very fond of food…
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Winter, recycled cashmere, and soup
We woke to our first frost this morning. It’s very late in the season to only be getting a frost now. It has been the mildest autumn since we moved here with most daytime temperatures in double digits still. For the first time I was a little sad when summer ended as I’ve so enjoyed…
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Apple and butternut soup
It’s Halloween so it seemed apt to have butternut squash soup for dinner tonight (also known as butternut pumpkin in Australia). Lately I’ve been thinking it might be worthwhile to share cheap meal ideas since so many people are struggling with bills right now. It’s not hard to feed a family of four on a…
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I am intimidated by buses on Union Street
At the beginning of this year I thought my days of cycle campaigning were coming to an end. Not because I didn’t still fully support the need for cycling infrastructure but because the designs the council were showing us were all good and aside from minor details I felt confident and positive about the future…
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Aberdeen’s critical mass
Last night I participated in Aberdeen’s second ever critical mass bike ride. Technically I believe it’s not quite accurate to say it was the second as I’ve heard from members of the cycling community that it was previously done in the late 1990s. This was therefore the second in a recent resurrection after more than…
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Scottish things, foraging, and a haircut
Where did the weekend go? It’s nearly November and autumn is in full bloom. I wish I’d taken some photos today as Aberdeen is looking very pretty in its autumn clothes. My tomatoes are just about dead but there are still a few fruits ripening. Two weekends ago I picked this from the greenhouse. And…
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Elephants, chopsticks and the economy
Watching the Tory government over the past few weeks has been like watching an elephant try to pick up marbles with chopsticks. It would be quite funny except that we all now have to pay the price of their blunder with higher mortgage rates which are likely to last for years. Just three weeks of…
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Royal Lochnagar Distillery and Albert’s Cairn
Yesterday everything seemed to go wrong with the Glenfiddich distillery being closed and our subsequent failed attempts to find a distillery with a tour that wasn’t fully booked and that permitted children. Today we planned to go for a hike in the Cairngorms and I decided to check Royal Lochnagar Distillery on the off-chance we…
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Three whisky distilleries and a castle
Daniel’s friend from New Zealand is visiting us for the weekend again and we wanted to take him to Glenfiddich Distillery for lunch and a tour today. Glenfiddich is the only distillery I’m aware of that lets children accompany adults on tours; however, despite their website and social media accounts and even their answering machine…
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Covid in the house, school camps, and Rocket the hamster
Ben has had covid this past week. He started feeling unwell on Friday night over a week ago. On Monday he took a lateral flow test and it was positive. He says he’s felt achy, very tired, was a bit feverish and headachy for a couple of nights, and lost his appetite. He’s much better…
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Meet Rocket
We adopted another hamster from the SPCA. When Bella and Daisy died I looked on the SPCA website and saw Rocket there. He had been there since August and we decided he needed a home. We don’t know how old Rocket is or his history other than the SPCA taking him from his previous owner…
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Photos from our weekend
Friends of ours who we haven’t seen since 2014 visited us from New Zealand this weekend. It’s wonderful to catch up with old friends again. Daniel in particular really bonded with the son who is a similar age to him. Here’s a photo in our backyard, complete with finger in front of the lens. On…
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Pets and wildlife
I think Victoria has been missing the hamsters. She used to like sitting above Daisy’s cage watching her. It was hamster TV. Just before Daisy died she came out of her burrow and simply stopped moving. I knew it was over then. Victoria started making whiny noises and tapped on the side to try to…
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Another hamster death and the fox returns
Daisy our hamster is dead. After Bella died earlier this month I decided I wasn’t going to make the same mistake with Daisy and a few weeks ago I took her to the vet. It can be hard to tell when a hamster is unwell as they’re out at night when we’re asleep and both…
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Street art for Deeside Way
Earlier this year I applied for a grant from Sustrans on behalf of the Aberdeen Cycle Forum for art on a popular walking and cycling route in Aberdeen. Sustrans have an ArtRoots fund especially for projects like this. The funding application was successful! This was a very different campaign for me. I’ve organised protests, cycling…
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