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Highland dance competition
Elizabeth competed in her first highland dance competition at the Newtonhill Highland Festival. She did very well and came 3rd in the Highland Fling and 4th in the Lilt. Well done, Elizabeth! No photography was allowed at the competition so I couldn’t photograph or film her there. She says she enjoyed it and may participate […]
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Growth spurts and the Queen’s Jubilee
Daniel is growing at a rate of about 2cm per month and is now 1.5cm shorter than Ben. At this rate he’ll overtake Ben by the end of June. He’s quite obsessed by it too and checks regularly to see whether he’s taller than Ben yet. I’m the tallest in the house so he’s still […]
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Jumper, cat, and comedy
I made another jumper. It’s a bit too warm and thick to wear right now so I’ll have to wait until winter. But I love it! Last night I put some cat food out for the fox and set up my wildlife cam to get some pics. Here’s the “fox” eating the cat food. I […]
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A new laundry
It has been about 2.5 months since we were woken in the middle of the night to discover a fire in our laundry and I’m thrilled to say we now have a new laundry thanks to our insurance. It’s the first time we’ve made an insurance claim and I am very impressed by how much […]
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Fantastic Mr Fox
We were all very excited to see a fox in our backyard today. We sometimes see foxes in the neighbourhood but this is the first time we’ve seen one in our yard. He was eating the peanuts from a bird feeder that had fallen to the ground. At first I thought it was a dog […]
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Chocolate bean balls
My mother-in-law shared this delicious recipe with me and I’ve modified it slightly and am sharing it now with you. These balls are a hit with the kids so it’s a good way to get fussy eaters to eat beans. They can be modified for adults with the addition of whisky but I think they’re […]
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Aberdeen to Glasgow in an electric Renault Zoe
On Wednesday I had to go to Glasgow for an appointment. Usually I would take the train but this time I decided to try taking the electric car mostly because it was miles cheaper. It shouldn’t be cheaper to drive but it is. The train was going to cost over £140 return for two of […]
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Hamster escapes!
Bella (our hamster) escaped from her cage last night. Daniel was still partly awake when he heard a thud in the hall outside his bedroom. Eventually he dragged himself out of bed to check on his hamster and one of the tunnels had fallen off. She has three levels connected via tunnels, and one of […]
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The avocado tree
A few years ago I planted an avocado seed from a supermarket avocado I ate. Within a year I had a nice potted plant for the kitchen. Here it is back in 2020. Today the tree is close to 3m high. It lives in my office beside my desk. I’m not sure what to do […]
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Slow food
Cutting out salt has been a bit of a learning curve for me. But we’re slowly falling into a good routine and I thought I’d share some ideas for inspiration. I started making my own bread and whether it’s a coincidence or not the start of homemade bread consumption is when my blood pressure dipped […]
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Bunny roundabout
There’s a roundabout in Garthdee in Aberdeen that’s home to a colony of rabbits. It’s a very busy junction in a fairly industrial area with large shopping centres and building supply stores. Someone feeds the rabbits. There’s always a selection of carrots and green leaves and bunnies can usually be seen munching away when you […]
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The greenhouse
We were lucky to inherit a greenhouse with our house when we bought it almost 7 years ago now. I love growing veggies in there through the summer and love sitting inside on a sunny spring day when it’s still cold outside. Today in Aberdeen is 10C but inside the greenhouse it’s 28C. Sometimes I […]
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Eat healthily or fit in?
My average blood pressure for the past few days is 115/73. A few weeks ago I thought I’d never see a reading under 120 but then one day I got one and gradually over the next few weeks it happened more and more often to where this is now the norm and I’m disappointed if […]
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Some crochet garments
I accidentally sprayed my armpit with peppermint oil this morning. Don’t do it: it stings! I thought it was deodorant as the bottles are the same. We bought some peppermint oil recently and put it in a glass spray bottle to spray as air freshener after the fire. It did a good job of hiding […]
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The evolution of salt
The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine is an ancient Chinese text dating from 300 BC. A translation from the text reads, If too much salt is used in food, the pulse hardens… The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine The Chinese knew more than 2000 years ago that salt causes high blood pressure. In […]
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Homemade haggis
I made my own haggis last night for the first time ever and it was delicious, better than the supermarket version. I got the recipe from the Scottish Vegan Cookbook by Jackie Jones. It’s a wonderful book and I do recommend it. Scottish food is renowned for being fatty, meaty, and generally unhealthy but Jackie […]
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Birsemore Loch
There’s a lovely loch in Aboyne that I didn’t know existed until recently. It’s only small so good if you just want a quick walk through forest. It’s called Birsemore Loch and it’s special not just for the beautiful scenery but because you can walk past the Queen’s Hut which is a log cabin built […]
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Loch Callater
It’s always nice to find a new walk we haven’t done before and that happened today with a walk up to Loch Callater. The walk starts about 3 miles south of Braemar at Auchallater Farm. There’s a small carpark there which costs £3. It’s about 7 miles to the loch and back from the carpark […]
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Knock Castle in the snow
It snowed in Ballater today so we decided Knock Castle in snow was the place to be and we weren’t disappointed. You can’t beat a castle ruin in Scotland in winter snow. I got Ben doing a jumping shot this time. My jumping shot is fab. Look ma, no legs! You can go inside Knock […]
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Craigendarroch, Ballater
We went for another fantastic walk today, this time up Craigendarroch in Ballater. I got lots of great photos. We’ve climbed up Craigendarroch many times now and in all seasons and weathers. Today was mostly sunny and a very easy climb except for the beginning bit where we ended up off the path. We usually […]
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