insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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A doggy to cuddle and I made sauerkraut
Today I’ve had Millie for company. She’s an adorable 1-year-old cockapoo. As you can see she’s made herself at home 🙂 Millie is our first dog from Borrow My Doggy. Her owner works all day and wanted her to have some company while he’s at work. I’m at home working all day and also wanted…
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Scottish poetry and highland dancing
I managed to clock up over 12,000 steps on my Fitbit yesterday while sitting on my butt. It’s not like the last time I boasted about doing exercise without doing any exercise – last time I really did exercise, thanks to active travel. However yesterday we used the car-club car to get around and so I…
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Highland dance and TV rants
It has been a crazy busy week and the craziness is still going. Elizabeth has been performing in her Highland Dance show and we’ve had rehearsals and performances all week with the finale tonight. I helped backstage on two nights and it was really well organised. I’m so impressed with the dance school. The students…
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A clothing library
I got some great stuff at the charity shop on the weekend. One treasure is this turtleneck top made by Geiger of Austria which I bought for £7. I’ve not heard of this brand before, probably because it’s out of my price range, but I love wearing turtlenecks in winter and this one is very thick…
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It was summer here in February
It has felt like summer here for the past week or so and lots of temperature records have broken. A 120-year winter temperature record for Scotland was broken on February 21 when Aboyne reached 18.3C. This is unprecedented for this region in winter. 18.3C is a summer temperature for us. On the 25th February the…
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Where underpants come from
I’ve successfully completed one week out of 52 in my quest to avoid made in China. You might be wondering why I’m doing this. I have several reasons. China is producing many of the world’s goods and doing so with a poor track record on the environment and workers’ rights. Chinese-made products are often poor…
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Comfy socks on a deserted island
I’ve gone sock crazy! I’ve just finished making a pair of socks (these are definitely not made in China!) and they’re so luxurious I had problems finding something to wear with them. Last weekend I discovered the magnificent yarn of J.C Rennie, one of Scotland’s last woollen mills. There’s something about a beautiful yarn that…
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Mishmash of crochet, forceful vegans, ISIS brides, and made in China
I’ve been a little quiet recently which does not mean I haven’t had a lot to say. I’ve just been busy. All my spare time lately has been spent crocheting. I’ve become obsessed with socks and have made so many now and even designed my own pattern for crochet socks which I’ve put up for…
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Tinder for dogs
We’ve been doggy-sitting a friend’s pooch today. Meet Bramble: Our dogs died several years ago and with the harrowing pain that came with their death and our move to another country we haven’t felt we could take on another dog. However I miss having a four-legged friend sniffing about the house and so we decided…
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Back home through Ballater
We are back in Aberdeen after a lovely few days staying in Braemar, my favourite village in Aberdeenshire. We stayed in self-catering accommodation in the centre of the village – Tigh Na Tri Cottage. I definitely recommend it. We had everything we needed and cooked most of our meals at home. There were also toys…
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Creag Choinnich
We walked up to the top of Creag Choinnich today and it was marvelous. It’s probably one of the loveliest hill walks I’ve done in Aberdeenshire. The views from the top are even nicer than those at Bennachie. I love hill-walking. The effort required to get to the top is always rewarded with magnificent views…
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A lost kayak and the Queen’s Drive circuit
Some kayakers lost a kayak in the River Clunie today and we watched the rescue operation. I’m amazed anyone kayaks on this part of the river because it looks way too treacherous to me. The kayak was bobbing up and down for a long time – at least half an hour. It was caught in…
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Photos of Braemar
We’re in Braemar today and gosh I love this place. I think I could retire here. You can just make out the River Dee in the valley in the next photo. This is the River Clunie gushing beside the Fife Arms Hotel. The entrance to the Fife Arms is beautiful. This is the duck pond…
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How to be a healthy vegan
Climate change is spawning a mass vegan movement in a way that concern for animal welfare never did. Animal Liberation was written in 1975 and until the last few years, veganism was a fringe movement with a bad reputation. Its impact has been small and slow. But this has changed with rising concern for the…
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Skiing in Aberdeen
We had another glorious day in the snow today. My mum is visiting and here she is getting into the spirit of the day and throwing snowballs at the grandkids. We got out our skis and went into the park to practice. Even Granny had a go. It was snowing quite heavily. You can see…
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Winter wonderland
We woke up to a glorious winter wonderland this morning which was followed by a lovely sunny day. I cycled to Newton Dee like I always do. It wasn’t slippery but it was hard work cycling on the snow. There was lots of resistance; a bit like cycling on the grass. I was grateful for…
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Happy birthday, Daniel
My boy turned 12 yesterday. Where did the time go? He came into the world listening to his mother swear like all babies did prior to the word “epidural” entering the lexicon. It wasn’t my choice not to have pain relief. He was just too quick and we were living in a third world country…
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How to get exercise without doing any exercise
I’ve started wearing my Fitbit again and yesterday, without doing any exercise at all, I managed to clock up 15,427 steps and 87 minutes of moderate activity in one day. Now before you get all excited about the possibility of getting exercise while Netflix cruising on the sofa, let me explain what I mean. Yesterday…
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Burns night
It’s the 25th January today which in Scotland means it’s Burns Night. This is an annual celebration of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns. It’s not a public holiday here but that doesn’t mean it’s any less a special day for Scots. It’s typically celebrated with haggis, whisky, tartan, and of course poetry. Every year at…
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Ice on the River Dee
There are big chunks of ice on the River Dee today. I took pics. It’s very pretty.
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