insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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A walk in the cemetery and frustration with the council
We’re allowed to go out for exercise more than once per day now provided we maintain social distancing. We often don’t go out at all because we do Joe Wicks’ PE class daily and we also have the trampoline but it’s nice to explore a bit on the weekend. The weather was very strange today.…
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The Dirty Vegan and a momentous announcement from the government today
I found a new vegan cookbook today. When I first went vegan they were hard to find but they started breeding a few years ago and now you can find them everywhere. This particular one appealed to me because the author does not exactly fill the weedy hippie vegan stereotype. Indeed, there’s nothing sexier than…
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Two years at Award Force and the dandelion war
It has been more than two years since I started with Award Force and a year since I became a product manager. I love my job, my role, the company, and all my colleagues. I am so fortunate in all respects and am particularly grateful to have a full-time job at a time when so…
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There’s nothing like a good root
We ordered takeaway from Roots Catering this evening and I got to try the Beyond Meat burger patty for the first time. For those who don’t know, Beyond Meat is a US-based food technology company that makes meat-like food products from plants. You can buy the Beyond Meat burger from Tesco but I’d never tried…
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The future of meat
Eating animals poses a major global health risk and the costs are enormous and they’re not borne only by the meat-eaters themselves nor by the animals but by everybody on the planet whether they eat meat or not. I say this because we’ve seen this over and over again that epidemics and pandemics have come…
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Colours of spring
Everyone should have a trampoline. They’re wonderful things for every age. I like that I can get cardiovascular exercise similar to running but without the same impact on my joints. Ben took these great photos today. The colours in the background are so nice. In spring when the leaves first open they’re a light almost…
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Tollohill Wood by bike
The one thing I find myself missing during this time of lockdown is long country walks up hills, past lochs, and through castles. I miss our weekends away and Sunday adventures. Last week on one of his bike rides, Ben discovered Tollohill Wood, a woodland only 2 miles from home. I never knew this place…
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A walk around Aberdeen harbour to Torry battery
We dragged the children out of the house against their will and walked to Torry Battery today, an artillery battery that was used as a defensible barracks for Aberdeen from 1860. It is now a ruin but a nice place to spot birds and dolphins in Aberdeen harbour. I think the kids are enjoying quarantine…
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Would you agree to quarantine in a “facility”?
There was a good article in The Times last weekend – Coronavirus: The new rhythms of life will jolt and jar as we try to live with this horrible teenager. In particular, I thought it would be good to get people’s thoughts on this quote: “In Asia we are doing mandatory quarantining,” says Ben Cowling,…
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City mobility index and the adaptability of kids
Citymapper has a mobility index which gives a graphical illustration of how locked down cities are over time. The data comes from public transport trips planned in the Citymapper app. According to this index, the two cities moving more than any other are Seoul and Hong Kong but both are still way down than is…
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Testing capacity in the UK and cruciferous vegetables
The UK seems to be finally catching up to Germany in terms of testing capacity, albeit a couple of months late. I’m not 100% sure why it has taken so long but the government here says it’s because we don’t or didn’t have much of a diagnostics industry in the UK. I think there’s some…
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I can do the baby shark abs workout
I started doing the baby shark abs workout last October. I found it very difficult at first but after about a week it started to get easier. I continue to do it most days and Ben took this video of me doing it today as a sort-of proof for future Rachel that past Rachel could…
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Contact tracing apps, escape room games, and two interviews
Ben uses a very old smartphone of mine, an iPhone 4S. He’s never been able to download any apps to it or to his Mac due to a problem with his Apple ID. It’s not something that has particularly bothered him because he’s a bit of a Luddite and only uses the phone as a…
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When will it start and when will it end?
Before the lockdown started it seemed like everyone was desperate for it to begin – “When are schools closing?”, “Why haven’t schools closed yet?” Now that we’re in lockdown is seems like everyone is asking, “When will it end?” I can’t see how it can end any time soon because the virus will just rebound…
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Two vaccine trials in the UK
There are two vaccine trials soon to start in the UK. One is the Oxford University trial which will see actual vaccine injected into volunteers starting this Thursday. Last Sunday Sarah Gilbert, the vaccinologist leading this development, was interviewed on the Andrew Marr show. Here it is below: Imperial College London is also developing a…
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May you live through interesting times
There’s a Chinese curse, may you live through interesting times. On a personal level, the Christchurch earthquakes make this pandemic seem like a walk in the park because that was a much tougher period of time for us. Nevertheless, both events brought strange changes and have made me think of the Chinese curse. But there…
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Online school
The kids started online school today and so far so good. You can choose which subjects they study and they each have seven. Classes are live via video link and they’ve all been reasonably small. I think the biggest class they’ve had so far had only 12 pupils in it. One of Daniel’s subjects today…
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Kim Hill interview with virologist Chris Smith
Kim Hill is a New Zealand journalist, famous for presenting Saturday Morning on Radio New Zealand National. Last Saturday she interviewed Cambridge virologist Chris Smith about coronavirus. You can listen to the podcast here – Chris Smith: Virologist on latest Covid-19 science. Chris talks about lots of interesting things including whether it’s realistic for places…
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Perennial vegetables
I harvested lots of green leafy veg at the allotment today. I’ve remembered what the cauliflower-looking plant is. It’s a perennial broccoli that I planted last summer called Brassica Oleracea Botrytis Asparagoides. It should continue producing these cauliflower-type heads for five years as long as I continue to harvest them. It’s only just starting fruiting…
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The River Dee and Brig o’ Dee
Often on weekends, when there’s no pandemic, we venture out into the countryside for walks and picnics. Today I found myself missing that peace, quiet, and feeling of remoteness since we haven’t left the city for more than a month now. I do love living in the inner city with its convenience but I also…
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