insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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Police Scotland say roads unsuitable for slow-moving individuals
Tomorrow Aberdeen will be having a mass bike ride in protest of the lack of cycling infrastructure in the city. This is part of a nation-wide group of protests under the umbrella of Pedal on Parliament 2019. Several weeks ago I notified the police of the event, out of courtesy. In the past they’ve usually…
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In our convertible on the hottest Easter ever
It was a hot weekend and since my bike, Hoss, is a convertible we went out on Saturday with the top down. Apparently it was the hottest Easter for our region since records began which is, sadly, a sign of things to come. It will continue getting hotter and hotter unless we get our emissions…
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A new year, a new challenge
It has been one year since I started my new job at Award Force. We make software for managing award programs, competitions, industry recognition, recruitment, grants and more. It’s a great industry to work in because we get to see all that is great about human achievement. Humans love to receive recognition for a job…
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Baking, gardening, and baby cyclamen
I’ve had the day off work today and it has been lovely to just potter around at home. I did some gardening and baking. Ben made hot cross buns this morning, just as he does every Easter. I made scones. Both scones and buns were both delicious! Earlier this year I noticed my cyclamen producing…
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Mass bike ride in Aberdeen on Sunday 28th April
The Aberdeen Cycle Forum is organising a mass bike ride on Sunday 28th April at 11am, starting from Marischal College. This is part of Scotland’s Pedal on Parliament 2019 but this year is a little bit different because the usual Edinburgh ride which attracts thousands of people is not happening. Instead the focus is on…
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Birnam, Dunkeld, Beatrix Potter, and a bookshop
We’re back at home after a wonderful week in Glencoe which is now at the top of our list of the best holidays we’ve ever had. We stayed in a self-catering holiday house which quite possibly has the best views in all of Britain. There were plenty of walks from right outside the front door…
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Pap of Glencoe
We walked part of the Pap of Glencoe walk which is a hill walk starting from Old Glencoe Road, just a little bit east of Strath Lodge Glencoe. It’s a rocky, boggy walk with bits that require scrambling on all fours. There are also streams that you need to cross over although with a bit…
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More pics of Glencoe
The last time I was in Glencoe was more than 20 years ago and I’d forgotten how beautiful it is. Unlike the east coast of Scotland the mountains here are rugged and domineering and make one feel small and insignificant which is comforting. April is a wonderful time of year to tour Scotland because there’s…
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Rachel Martin: Closing keynote – Blogging as therapy – the Christchurch earthquakes
Here’s my talk at WordCamp Edinburgh in 2017 on blogging as therapy and my experience of the Christchurch earthquakes.
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Oban, Stalker Castle, and Glencoe
We visited the Oban Distillery in Oban today and did the tour. Kids are allowed on this tour which is great because Daniel and Elizabeth find it very interesting and distilleries are fascinating places. As is often the case with these things the process is much more complicated than you think and I’m always left…
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A day of rain and fearsome mountains
We awoke to a rainy gloomy day today and spent the first half of it relaxing inside by the fire and eating soup. To avoid coming down with cabin fever we ventured out in the early afternoon to take in some of the sights around Glencoe. The mountains looked particularly fearsome with dark clouds above.…
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Pottering around at Glenfinnan Viaduct
We visited the Glenfinnan Viaduct which is a concrete rail bridge built in the late 19th century. It’s located at one end of Loch Shiel, in the west of Scotland, about 17 miles from Fort William. It’s famous for being a film location in the Harry Potter movies: the Hogwarts Express traverses the Glenfinnan Viaduct…
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Glencoe and Hagrid’s hut
We’ve had a lovely couple of days in Glencoe, Scotland. What a beautiful place! Part of the reason we came here is because we recently read all the Harry Potter books to the kids at bedtime. This is the second time I’ve read them aloud because I did it for Daniel some years ago and…
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LGBT lessons and protesting parents
Parents in Manchester have been protesting outside schools about the No Outsiders programme which teaches kids that it’s ok to be gay. When I first saw the protestors I thought schools must have been showing kids x-rated pornography, but it turns out all they are doing is explaining that some kids have two mummies and…
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Fudgy no-bake brownies
Elizabeth made the fudgy no-bake brownies from Dr Gregor’s How Not to Die cookbook yesterday. They’re so easy to make even a kid can do it. I just helped her a bit with the food processor. They’re delicious and healthy. There’s no sugar in the recipe and they’re gluten-free and vegan. Ingredients 1 cup walnuts…
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Aurora hunting, vegan treats, and made in Scotland
We went aurora hunting last night because every newspaper said we’d see a magnificent light show when a solar storm arrived, supposedly sometime between 6pm and 9pm. But it turned out to be a non-event because there was no aurora. We drove to Dunnottar Castle thinking it would be a good spot because it’s away…
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Inside Hoss and guns
Elizabeth and I had an appointment this morning which I cycled to on Hoss. We were a little early and it was cold so I hopped inside Hoss with Elizabeth because it’s cosy and warm in there. We took some photos. An adult can fit comfortably inside. My head did touch the roof but because…
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Aberdeen’s beach and veganism is mainstream
Daniel was invited to a birthday party today and much to my disappointment it was at a trampoline place by the beach. I dislike going to the beach in Aberdeen for two reason – 1) It’s a bugger to get to by bike. There’s no good route and I’m always stressed and worried about large…
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King Street Design Competition
We announced the winners of the King Street Design Competition today. It took a bit longer than expected because we extended the competition by one week and then the judging took just over two weeks. However the whole thing was a great success. I’m so impressed with all the designs we received and it was…
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TradeMe must stop selling guns
The news out of my old home town of Christchurch today is very sad. Kia Kaha, Christchurch. I feel like I say that a lot. Christchurch has had a really rough decade. When will it end? I wish the media would not report the names of terrorists. It encourages idolatry and copy cats. They should…
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