insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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Smarter and distinguished
I just got my first pair of reading glasses. I guess this is what happens when you reach your mid-40s, or almost. I’m 44. I’ve always had 20/20 vision even up until a couple of years ago. But lately, I’ve noticed I have to hold things further away from my face to read the print…
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Morse code
The other day Elizabeth was waiting anxiously for Daniel to get home from school because she wanted his help with something. I asked her what she needed him for and it was to translate morse code and hexadecimal. This prompted more questions. How does Daniel know morse code and hexadecimal? And what was Elizabeth wanting…
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A vegan’s blood test results
I recently had the Well Woman blood tests done by Medichecks. There’s nothing wrong with me but now that I’m 44 I thought it would be good to start monitoring things like cholesterol since there’s a family history of it. I also like to check my HbA1c regularly for diabetes. Since I don’t have any…
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Scottish reindeer, Cairngorms
We visited the Cairngorm reindeer herd near Aviemore today. Reindeer are native to Scotland but were hunted to extinction by humans a long time ago. They were reintroduced in the 1950s to the Cairngorms and there’s now a managed herd of 150 of them. They cap the population at 150 because that is all the…
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Treezone, Aviemore
I’ve wanted to try one of these tree-top obstacle courses for years and we finally had our chance today at Treezone in Aviemore. It was thrilling! The course was mentally harder than I expected and I felt scared initially despite not being afraid of heights. You are quite high up in the trees and although…
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Loch Morlich
We went for a walk around Loch Morlich today. Loch Morlich is an inland fresh-water loch near Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland. It’s a reasonably flat walk on a good path that goes through forest and along the beach. Yes, Loch Morlich, which is miles away from the sea, has a beach with sand.…
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A cucumber in Scotland in November
Yesterday I picked all these tomatoes at my allotment and even discovered a cucumber! This must be a first for Aberdeen: a cucumber in November. I thought my cucumber plant had died but it’s a bit of jungle in the glasshouse and I didn’t notice this cucumber until yesterday. I picked all the green tomatoes…
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Electionmania
Since we moved to the UK we have participated in so many elections. We narrowly missed the independence referendum in Scotland in 2014 but since then we’ve had two general elections, several council elections and European elections, and a Brexit referendum. This week there’s a council by-election in our electorate and next month there’s another…
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Don’t get a puppy for Christmas
One of the other parents at school today told me they’re getting a puppy for Christmas. They finally caved in after the relentless nagging for a dog from their children and a puppy has been ordered. Being the straight-talker that I am I tried to convince her to change her mind but I think it’s…
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Pies from The Vegan Skinhead
Someone came to the house this week to ask whether we’re interested in getting milk delivered to our home. “I’m vegan”, I said. He replied, “We also deliver eggs and orange juice. Would you be interested in either of those?” Vegans do not eat eggs and as a family, we don’t buy orange juice because…
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The Queen’s Circular walk, Braemar
Snow has returned to Scotland and today we went to Braemar in search of some fun. Braemar is always gorgeous but particularly so when there’s snow on the surrounding hills and the drive through Royal Deeside is always lovely. We did the Queen’s Circular Walk which is fairly level and has nice views over Braemar…
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Where’s my 8-pack?
I’ve been doing the baby shark abs challenge for more than 30 days now (32 days to be exact). It has got much easier, so much so, that now I think I could go on doing the exercises for longer than 1 minute 33 seconds. I feel stronger too and notice my new strength in…
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Sparkly dress
I got this lovely dress from the charity shop today. The sequins are sewn onto a soft, stretchy fabric which makes it very comfortable and easy to wear. I almost feel as though I could go cycling in it. The label is Hobbs.
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What makes Royal Mail post boxes so attractive?
Have you ever noticed how attractive Royal Mail post boxes are? Compare this to BT’s green boxes: One of these objects is trying to be unobtrusive and designed (by colour) to blend into the surroundings. The other is bold, bright, hard to miss, and right in the middle of the path. Attempts to blend things…
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Motorist hits cat and doesn’t stop
As we were walking to school this morning we saw a motorist run over a cat. The motorist didn’t stop and the cat was screaming in agony in the middle of the road. We gently picked her up and went door-knocking to find the owner. She was badly injured but still alive. A cyclist also…
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Pickings from my allotment and buffet breakfasts
I got a funny mix of summer and winter veg at the plot today. The tomatoes in the glasshouse are still fruiting, although more slowly now, and I harvested the first of my leeks. I also harvested my one and only pumpkin. It has been small and green for several weeks now so I decided…
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Love your greens
I had an epiphany this week. When suggesting a vegan diet to someone to reverse heart disease they responded by saying my vegan diet is more to do with animal rights than cholesterol, therefore, it’s not relevant to them. However, my motives are irrelevant especially since I don’t have heart disease. It’s like refusing morphine after…
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Parent-teacher interviews, visiting relatives, and investing for retirement
Last night we had parent-teacher interviews at Daniel’s school (if any locals came trick or treating at this time this is why we didn’t answer the door then. We were out for a bit). It’s the first parent-teacher interviews we’ve had at Daniel’s new high school so we really didn’t know what to expect. Expectations…
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Trick or high-fructose corn syrup
Every year the kids nag to go trick or treating and every year we say no. I just can’t understand how it’s appropriate to encourage children to go to the homes of strangers asking for sweets. Perhaps we’re just boring and unfair parents. To be fair, the kids don’t seem to mind too much and…
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Those who say it can’t be done should not interrupt those who are doing it
I saw this great Tweet from Pedal Me a few days ago: Those who say it cannotbe done should not interrupt those who are doing it. 300kg of whisky being delivered 4.5 miles for @DistillinginE3 The future is coming. Get on board.https://t.co/ulp84Qi8mR pic.twitter.com/aQxnQuYJXi — Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) October 26, 2019 I’m not sure where this…
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