insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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On hating vegans and cyclists
There was a good article in the Guardian yesterday titled, Why do people hate vegans? It references a 2015 study that found vegans suffer from the same level of discrimination as ethnic and religious minorities. In 2015, a study conducted by Cara C MacInnis and Gordon Hodson for the journal Group Processes & Intergroup Relations observed that vegetarians…
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Back to Craigendarroch
We went for a glorious walk up Craigendarroch today. The landscapes are beautiful at this time of year with a palette of yellows, oranges, golds, reds, browns, pinks, and greens. Craigendarroch is a steep and craggy hill overlooking the village of Ballater in Aberdeenshire. It’s covered in oak trees, hence the name Craigendarroch – craig…
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Newspaper pics
Elizabeth and I were in the paper last Saturday in a story about a council consultation for more walking and cycling links between the Bridge of Don and Aberdeen city centre. The photographer took lots of photos and I went onto their website this week to see the others (is it a bit vain to…
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Baby shark abs challenge
We’ve got a 30-day challenge going at work as part of health and wellbeing which involves doing the baby shark abs challenge every day for 30 days. It’s the hardest 1 minute and 30 seconds you will do all day. I’ve been doing it since last Friday and for the first three days, I thought…
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In the paper and studying for the life in the UK test
This past week has been a very busy media week for me. As part of my volunteer role with the Aberdeen Cycle Forum I respond to all queries from the media and they seem to come in waves. For months it’s quiet and then suddenly everyone wants to write about cycling and they call the…
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The perfect burger
One of my favourite meals to eat that’s super easy to make, vegan, inexpensive, and anyone, even the most cooking-averse among us can easily create is the vegan burger. In my freezer, I have several packs of different types of burgers that I get from the supermarket. There are chickpea burgers, chilli bean burgers, parsnip…
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An open letter to the Aberdeen City Council about South College Street
This past week I have felt very frustrated with the Aberdeen City Council after I read about their plans to spend £5.5 million adding another lane for private motor vehicles to a road in central Aberdeen. A bike path has not been included in these plans and the road in question is uninviting for pedestrians…
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But where do you get your protein?
We tried to go and see The Game Changers at the cinema last weekend: we bought tickets, we bought popcorn, but at the last moment we got stopped because the documentary is rated 15+ and Daniel and Elizabeth are not 15. They gave us our money back but I was very disappointed and I felt…
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Scotland bans smacking
It’s history in the making today with politicians in Holyrood voting to make it a criminal offence for parents to smack their children. We are the 58th country in the world to outlaw smacking and the first country in the UK. Sweden was the first in the world back in 1979. New Zealand did it…
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A nutritious, cheap, and easy vegan meal that kids like and vegan bodybuilders
I made a delicious and disgustingly healthy meal tonight which was a hit with everyone, including the kids. It was also very simple, indeed half of it required no cooking at all. The cooked half was a recipe from Rukmini Iyer’s The Green Roasting Tin which involved bunging orzo and tomatoes in the oven for…
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The Game Changers
I’m really looking forward to seeing The Game Changers, a documentary directed by Louis Psihoyos and produced by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, and Jackie Chan. If you’re in Aberdeen it’s on at the Belmont Filmhouse this evening at 6:30pm. It looks like it will be available on iTunes from early October. The movie challenges the…
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Red sauerkraut
I’m making a batch of sauerkraut with red cabbage and it looks so pretty. I can’t wait to try it.
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BBQ cabins and walks in the woods
Yesterday we went out to Deeside Log Cabins to get a part for our shed (we bought our shed from them) and they have a wonderful BBQ cabin/spa/sauna that I took some photos of. On the inside is a BBQ and very inviting seating area: A spa: And a sauna: The whole thing costs about…
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Aberdeen climate strike
We did our bit and attended the Aberdeen climate strike today. There were about a thousand people there which is pretty good for an oil city. It’s definitely the biggest protest I’ve ever seen in Aberdeen. It was a hot and sunny day. Unusually warm for September but I suppose that’s apt given we were…
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Global climate strikes
The global climate strikes begin tomorrow. The Aberdeen event is at Marischal College tomorrow at 11am. I will be there along with Ben and the kids. You can use the map at https://globalclimatestrike.net to find your local event. I am lucky that my employer is supporting me in attending this event otherwise I’d need to…
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A little bit hyper
I had a great day yesterday and got so much done. My employer gives us all our birthdays off work and I wanted to make the most of it so I baked scones, made another batch of courgette chutney, made the no-bake walnut oatmeal cookies from Dr Gregor’s book, did some crochet, I vacuumed the…
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The Henry
It’s my birthday today and as a present to myself because, well, why not? – I got myself a Henry vacuum cleaner. Henry’s are made in the UK so I passed my test not to purchase something made in China (although I have failed numerous times already this year). We did have a vacuum, a…
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State schooling
Daniel started high school last month and he’s loving it. I was worried about it all summer but I needn’t have been. He’s settled in so well, his best friend is in his class, and he’s enjoying the wide variety of subjects he gets to study now. He especially likes home economics where they get…
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Brexit disaster kit
Before the Christchurch earthquake sequence began I had prepared an earthquake emergency bag. It was a backpack containing batteries, candles, a first aid kit, a radio, a torch, matches, and various other things. I was probably the only person in Christchurch to have one. Then the earthquakes came and now everyone in Christchurch has one.…
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Chernobyl
Ben and I watched the first episode of the TV series Chernobyl last night and it was brilliant! I’m looking forward to watching the rest. One of the protagonists is the same actor who plays the dad in Friday Night Dinner. It’s a very different role for him in this series and because of this,…
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