insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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Drumtochty Highland Games plus fox update
We went to the Drumtochty Highland Games yesterday where Elizabeth participated in the highland dance competition. Overall she was a bit disappointed with the results but nevertheless she managed a 3rd out of 12 in the jig and got her final intermediate stamp so she’s pleased with that. Technically she can still compete in intermediate…
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Bellflowers
The Balmoral Castle shop was selling these flowers for £22 a pot but I’ve got them growing wild in the back garden. I don’t even know how they got there as I don’t recall planting them. Aren’t they beautiful? They’re Campanula persicifolia or peach-leaved bellflowers. The garden has exploded over the past month as always…
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Inside Balmoral Castle
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles made the decision to open Balmoral Castle up to the public for exclusive guided tours. Tickets for these tours went up for sale last year and were completely sold out the same day. Back in January when more dates and times were announced I made sure…
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Feeding the microbiome
At various points throughout my life I thought I was healthy. But as I’ve grown older and wiser I’ve learnt more and realised I wasn’t very healthy at all. As a child I ate a lot of white food – white bread, white rice, white pasta. Although my parents cooked at home it was often…
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Irish Jig
Elizabeth danced the Irish Jig at her final school assembly today. This time I got it all on camera. She hasn’t forgiven me for missing the end of the Hornpipe when my phone battery ran flat. It’s nice for her to see herself dance as it’s not something she gets to do very often. Filming…
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Bird spikes and netting
There’s a railway bridge not far from us that the city council recently decorated with anti-bird netting and spikes. In previous years we saw pigeons raising chicks there so it made me sad to see it all netted up with spikes everywhere. I wrote a letter of complaint and got a reply explaining that pigeon…
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More on the fox cam
We discovered a dog bowl near the railway line not far from where we’ve been feeding Rita’s family and this morning I went down to pick up some of the rubbish that’s there as it’s an awful mess. As I was putting stuff in the bin two little cubs appeared looking at me hopefully. One…
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A tour of His Majesty’s Theatre
I’ve always wanted to go on a tour of His Majesty’s Theatre (HMT) in Aberdeen because it’s such a gorgeous building. Today we got the opportunity as part of the Light the Blue festival which runs from 1st to 15th June. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in December 1906. It’s a…
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The fox family
There has been much fox activity over the past week. We think there are five foxes: Rita, her mate whom we’ve named Ted, and three cubs. The good news is we’ve managed to get some medication into Rita. It wasn’t me but one of the other volunteers, Theresa, who stayed out until 11pm waiting for…
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Rita the fox
Earlier this week someone shared a photo of a poorly fox on an Aberdeen Facebook group. Her tail is missing all its fur and part of her back is also looking raw. She is suffering from mange which is easily treated with a tablet. We’re lucky in the UK to have the Fox Angels Foundation…
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Daniel’s Prom 2025
Daniel had his school prom last night and was very fetching in a striped navy suit. The theme was The Great Gatsby but most students didn’t follow it much to my surprise as that’s such a fun theme with so many cool options. Daniel’s suit matched well with the theme but is also modern and…
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An award for academic excellence for Elizabeth plus Drum Castle
Elizabeth won an award today for academic excellence in grade 10. We’re very proud of her as you can see. She’s a good all-rounder, Elizabeth, and does well in all subjects plus has a lot of extra-curricular interests with her dancing, musical theatre and violin. We’ve always wondered which direction she’ll take when she leaves…
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My turn to dance in a show
It was my turn to perform on stage last night and today as my highland dance school put on its annual show. This was quite a thrill for me as the only time I’ve been on stage was in a school rock eisteddfod when I was 13 years old. I dance at a different school…
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Elizabeth on stage with Capercaillie at Aberdeen Music Hall
Elizabeth had the very great honour last night of playing the violin on stage with Capercaillie at Aberdeen Music Hall as part of the Scottish Culture & Traditions (SC&T) youth performance group. They played two songs with the renowned Scottish band: Callum’s Road and Lisnagun. Elizabeth is the 4th from the left counting from the…
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My first cable jumper
I just finished knitting my first cable jumper. I’d never knitted with cables before but I’m always up for a new challenge and it turned out to be easier than I was expecting. It still took me ages because I ran out of yarn at one point and was also knitting several other things at…
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Exams, birds, and what we can learn from the anti-slavery movement
Both kids are in the thick of exams right now. Elizabeth is doing iGSCE and Daniel the International Baccalaureate (IB). Elizabeth has 16 exams in total which seems like an enormous number but she’s managing it all very well so far. Daniel has 14 and is through the worst of it as he completed the…
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Ducks, walk, and hamster
The ducks appeared in our yard again today so I watched them to see what they would do and they went to our pond. We have a tiny pond that only fits one duck at a time and the drake was the perfect gentlemen and let his girlfriend go first. She spent a little while…
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Dancing, ducks and dinner
Yesterday Elizabeth danced at her school’s annual international festival. She did the hornpipe and it was fantastic but I’m in trouble because my camera ran out of space mid-way through recording it so I only got the first part. It was the best hornpipe I’ve seen her do too. Ben got some photos which I’ll…
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Dinner last night and earlier in the week
I’ve been meaning to share photos of dinner each night because that’s what people do these days isn’t it? Plus I’m sure everyone is dying to see what I eat. Last night was a lentil almond curry, make with beluga lentils but red lentils would work just as well. We had it with brown rice.…
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How far does a hamster run each day?
Our little hamster has settled in really well to her new home. She’s now in a Savic Plaza 120 which is 118cm long and 64cm wide. It’s a huge cage and I can tell from her body language that she’s enjoying it as she’s been doing very hamster things like burrowing, foraging, and rolling in…
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