rachel.blog

insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman

  • I’m in the newspaper, allotment signs, and more jumping

    I’m in the newspaper, allotment signs, and more jumping

    I received another email from the council this week about my allotment. You may remember that they emailed me (and presumably everyone with an allotment in Aberdeen) a couple of weeks ago to say plotters would not be able to go to their allotments while the pandemic restrictions are in place. However, this was quickly…

  • How is South Korea managing the pandemic?

    Everyone on the interwebs is singing the praises of South Korea for beating COVID19 without having to endure a lockdown. Is that really true? I work with someone who lives in Incheon in South Korea, Dakota McCarty, so I thought I’d get the inside scoop from him. This is straight from the horse’s mouth and…

  • How long should the lockdown last?

    If there’s anyone you absolutely must follow on Twitter it’s Peter Singer. He’s the world’s most influential moral philosopher and someone I would describe as a modern-day Jesus. You can follow him here: Tweets by PeterSinger In 100 years the world will look back and see Peter Singer as someone who did more than anyone…

  • All humans must self-isolate by order of the Daleks

    I saw this on Twitter yesterday. I don’t know where it was taken but it’s obviously somewhere in the UK – the scenery, the sky, the houses, the signs, and the Dalek on the left side of the road all point to somewhere in the UK. Things are getting pretty serious. pic.twitter.com/OLc6egO9V5 — Ben (@Jamin2g)…

  • There are no political parties today

    Boris Johnson was moved to intensive care last night as his condition with COVID19 worsened. The country is united in wishing him a full and speedy recovery. I sincerely mean it when I say he has been handling the crisis well and I’ve watched other leaders lead through tragedies having lived in Christchurch during the…

  • Exit strategies and collateral damage

    Professor Neil Ferguson was on The Andrew Marr Show this morning. He’s one of the authors of the paper that catapulted us into lockdown a few weeks ago. This has apparently given him the unfortunate nickname of Professor Lockdown although, to be fair, he was one of many authors and while their paper steered government…

  • COVID symptom tracker app, fake news, and Rachel jumps

    COVID symptom tracker app, fake news, and Rachel jumps

    Doctors and scientists at King’s College London have developed an app called COVID symptom tracker. You can download it to your smartphone and each day report how you’re feeling, even if you’re feeling well. The data will be used to learn more about the virus and how it spreads. I have not had any symptoms…

  • Music, privilege, and virus incubators

    Some music. This is Elizabeth playing The Blue Danube. I learned recently that Aberdeen has been through all this lockdown business once before. In 1964 there was a typhoid outbreak and schools were closed, there were travel bans, and people died. The source of the outbreak was a single tin of corned beef. Meat is…

  • I did it! I did it!

    I did it! I did it!

    I made sourdough. Yes, it’s a funny shape but it tastes delicious and now that I have my own working starter there’s no going back. I followed a recipe from Rachel Mulligan’s Ferment book. The starter took 5 days to make and this loaf another day but most of that was it just sitting in…

  • Kale, parsnip, and a recipe for bannocks

    Kale, parsnip, and a recipe for bannocks

    I went to my plot today to pick some kale. I also found this huge parsnip. It was pretty quiet at the allotments with practically no one there on what is a beautifully warm and sunny spring Sunday. Everything is starting to come to life including the rhubarb. We’ll be eating rhubarb crumble before too…

  • On escaping to the Highlands during a pandemic and preparedness

    I think Prince Charles made a grave misjudgment in coming to the Highlands last weekend. He was apparently well when he travelled last weekend but the key point is not that he was well but that he travelled last weekend. It was prior to last weekend that it became clear people were trying to isolate…

  • BBC Four Pandemic and something to do this weekend

    I just watched the BBC documentary, Contagion: The BBC Four Pandemic. It’s very good and I can’t believe I hadn’t seen or heard of it before. In 2018 the BBC simulated a pandemic across the UK to gather data for mathematical modellers to help with a future pandemic like the one we’re experiencing now. Tens…

  • Outbreak #COVID2019

    The Prime Minister now has coronavirus, as does the health secretary, and the chief medical officer is isolating after experiencing symptoms. They’re dropping like flies. It begs the question of whether they’ve all been following their own advice of social distancing and washing hands. Boris Johnson videoed the announcement about testing positive and shared it…

  • What the kids have done in their first week of quarantine

    What the kids have done in their first week of quarantine

    Day 4 of quarantine and Elizabeth said to me today, “Quarantine is going pretty well”. She may feel differently after several months of this. For me, it has been rather nice not having the school drop-offs and pickups along with Highland Dance and everything else. I feel like I’ve adopted a slower pace and am…

  • Lockdown updates

    I’ve got aches and pains all over and am hobbling around like a wounded animal. No, it’s not coronavirus. It’s because I’ve been doing Joe’s PE lesson at 9am with the kids each day. He live-streams a 30-minute workout for all the kids stuck at home and I decided to join in with Daniel and…

  • Eating during a pandemic

    Eating during a pandemic

    On Sunday, for Mother’s Day, I felt like a fry-up and since all the restaurants and cafés were closed we made something at home. We had mushrooms, baked beans, toast, vegan sausages, spinach, my home-made sauerkraut, and vegan black pudding. The black pudding is made by The Bury Black Pudding Company and contains black beans.…

  • Lockdown with exercise #COVID2019

    Lockdown with exercise #COVID2019

    We are now in lockdown. I had hoped it wouldn’t get to this but it seems people have not been obeying the 2m distance rule and so the government yesterday banned anyone from leaving their homes unless it’s to go to work, get essential supplies (food or medicine) or go out for exercise. It is…

  • Tips on how to be productive when working from home

    There’s a lot of information online about the software you can use to work from home like video conferencing tools and chatbots, calendar and scheduling tools, workspaces and document collaboration. However, what is often missed is the non-technical element that’s probably more important than having the right tools: self-discipline. This is the ability to motivate…

  • Resources for kids at home #COVID2019

    It’s the first day of homeschooling and the kids have been following the timetable they created yesterday. It’s likely this will change as we figure things out but it’s working well so far. The schools have also provided work for them to do but Elizabeth hasn’t been given much yet as I think the teachers…

  • A bumblebee, extraordinary changes for the UK, and thoughts on mother’s day for the most abused of all mothers

    I got stung by a bumblebee yesterday for the first time in my life. Since all our usual Saturday activities were cancelled I took the opportunity to do some gardening and as I put on my gardening gloves I felt a sharp prick. Thinking it was a spider (I’m terrified of spiders and yes I…