insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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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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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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