insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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Wallpapering again
I thought I’d never do it again but this week I felt inspired to remove some wallpaper in our kitchen that was starting to peel off. It’s time-consuming to remove old wallpaper and then stressful applying the new stuff because the glue ends up everywhere and the paper invariably tears and then there’s the anxious…
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Kishorn and Courthill House
All good holidays must come to an end and that end, for us, is today. Yesterday we spent a quiet day pottering around Kishorn and sitting in front of the fire. I even did some crochet. Here’s a photo I took of Loch Kishorn a couple of days ago when I got up early and…
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Diabaig, Scotland
I must be a sucker for punishment because we went for another scary drive today. This time we took the road from Torridon to Lower Diabaig. Like the Bealach na Bà it’s also steep, narrow, and with hair-pin bends but marginally less scary and without the snow. It starts off with a drive around the…
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The Applecross Pensinsula
Yesterday we drove over The Bealach na Bà which was terrifying. It’s like driving into the jaws of a giant mythical creature. The towering cliffs that rise on either side and seem to engulf you as you get higher are the beast’s teeth. I’ve taken a screenshot of the route on Google Maps. It’s only 11…
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The Bealach na Bà
I summoned the courage to drive the Bealach na Bà today and it was a hair-raising and buttock-clenching experience. The road rises to 626m in just 5 miles with an almost 20% gradient in parts and is the steepest ascent of any road in the UK. It’s a two-way, single-track road with several hair-pin bends. If…
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Lochcarron Weavers and Strome Castle
Yesterday was rainy and so we had a lazy day and pottered around Loch Carron. We spent an hour in the Lochcarron Weavers Shop. They have over 500 tartans and lots of knitted garments. This is my kind of shop! Daniel spoke to one of the shop assistants at length about Martin tartan. They don’t…
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Torridon, Scotland
I didn’t think we could top our day yesterday, in terms of scenery and entertainment but we did. This time we went north to Torridon, a remote village in the Western Highlands. Much of the road there was single track and we saw very few other vehicles. It’s hard to believe we are on the…
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The Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye
We visited the The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye today, as well as a couple of other places. I’ll let my photos tell the story. Loch Carron: Balmacara, heading towards Kyle of Lochalsh and the bridge to the Isle of Skye. The last time I visited the Isle of Skye was a little…
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The West Coast of Scotland
We’re on the West Coast of Scotland. It has been more than 20 years since I’ve been over this way. It’s only about 4 hours from Aberdeen which isn’t far, but it is too far to come for just a weekend which is what most of our trips are. Fortunately we all have a full…
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McPiggy and the meaning of life
Aberdeen Climate Action recently had a competition to design a mascot. Children completed entries at Climate Week North East earlier this month and the runner-up is my favourite. Meet McPiggy who eats plastic and poops paper. Designed and illustrated by the 8-year-old Ashton. I thought of McPiggy this morning when I read about a true…
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Highland dancing and trees
Elizabeth had her Highland Dance exam today and it went very well. Here she is before the exam. Her kilt was too long so I got some braces and hitched it up. That did the trick and meant that I didn’t have to attempt hem surgery which would have been a huge undertaking with all…
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We’re all quoting Shakespeare, every day, without realising
I’m reading Bill Bryson’s book on Shakespeare which is typical Bill Bryson and full of fascinating facts put together in an entertaining way. What is amazing for me is how much influence Shakespeare has had on the English language. I did not know this but around 10% of all quotes in circulation today are from…
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Pedal on Parliament Aberdeen 2018
When: Sunday 29th April at 11am Where: Starting at Rubislaw Terrace Gardens and cycling along Albyn Street, then Union Street and finishing up at The Town House on Broad Street. Pedal on Parliament is an annual event to promote bike-friendly cities in Scotland. The Scottish government wants to increase rates of cycling but money has…
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A Highland Dancer
Elizabeth has her very first Highland Dance exam coming up at the end of this month and her kilt arrived today. It’s a little bit long and I’m not keen to take up the hem because there are so many pleats at the back. Maybe I can put her on a stretching rack instead? That…
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More sledging bloopers
These were taken last weekend. All the snow has gone now and we probably won’t see it again until next winter. It was fun while it lasted. No one was injured in the making of these videos. Me speeding down the hill …. or not. Daniel speeding down the hill and falling off. Daniel speeding…
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Emotional attachment to a place and good bread
Have you ever felt an emotional attachment to a place or even a landscape? A feeling of belonging when you go there even when you’ve never been there before? I feel that way about Scotland and to a lesser extent, England. It puzzles me a bit because the environment I grew up in was so…
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Growing your own food
Climate Café no.5 was on in Aberdeen last night. If you live in Aberdeen I highly recommend this series. It’s an initiative of Aberdeen Climate Action, a community organisation for which I’m a volunteer, and we are spreading inspirational messages to encourage our communities to tackle the problem of climate change. Inspirational is absolutely the…
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Nutcrafter Creamery Vegan Cheese
Today I was feeling particularly decadent and bought myself some vegan cheese from Nutcrafter Creamery. Foodstory sell some of their artisan cheeses and I got the Aged Smoked Chipotle. It’s not cheap at £8.50 for 190g but it was oh so worth it. The main ingredient is cashews. The nutrition information doesn’t make much sense.…
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The Beast from the East
We haven’t been as badly affected as other parts of the country by the extreme weather. We’re close to the sea which always helps to moderate the temperature but we also haven’t had the huge snow drifts they’ve had elsewhere. No one is panic buying food and it hasn’t been particularly cold. That said, we’ve…
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Sisters
I got to see my sister on my recent trip to France. And my niece and nephew. It was my niece’s birthday. I have visited Antibes several times over the past 20 years. This next photo of me was taken on one of my first trips, when I was about 21. I’m now 42 and…
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