insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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New Year’s walk up Mither Tap
I woke up this morning determined to climb a hill. I pitched the idea to the kids first. Me: Would you like to climb a hill today? Elizabeth: Ok, sure. Daniel: Will there be a cafe? Me: No. Daniel: Then I don’t want to go. Me: We could take a picnic? Daniel: No, thanks. Me:…
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Birthday activity list and happy Hogmanay!
Elizabeth is 8 today and to celebrate her big day she’s put together a list of activities for us to do: We found it interesting that she put “open presents” as one of the last things to do today. She has opened a couple of present already this morning but all the rest she’s chosen…
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Royalty
I like to think I’m not at all interested in the Royal family because we Australians are not known for our deference to royalty or to people with titles and money. Jack’s as good as his master, as the saying goes, and it’s what I think and live by. But, and there is a but,…
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Rusty pliers or something else?
Is this a rusty pair of pliers? Am I eating a rusty spanner? No, I am not eating a rusty spanner. It’s a chocolate gift that Santa brought for me. All vegan too.
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An almost frozen pond at Duthie Park
After a very mild Christmas the temperature has suddenly plunged. There were a few flakes of snow today and the pond at Duthie park is starting to freeze over. It’s funny how enthralled the kids are by a bit of ice. It won’t be cold enough to freeze the River Dee. I took this photo…
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Build your own computer kit for kids
Elizabeth received a Kano computer kit for Christmas this year. It consists of a Raspberry Pi with all the other bits required to build your own computer and learn to code. She’s very interested in learning programming and I’m very happy to encourage this (although I keep trying to tell her there’s much more to…
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A merry vegan atheist Christmas
Things that make me happy: A green landscape. Old furniture. Victorian buildings. Snow. A good pale ale. Vegan food. Music. My family. I got all these things for Christmas except for number 4: snow. However snow and a green landscape are mutually exclusive so I’ll accept that I can’t have both. How does a vegan…
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Brussels sprouts, ceilidhs, and ethical clothing
I went to the allotment yesterday after an absence of almost a month due to treacherous ice on the bike path. It was just as well I went as most of my netting had been blown off and was no longer protecting plants. Something has been having a good nibble of this: I wasn’t even…
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Be kind to living things
I’ve haven’t written much lately because I’ve been busy. Everyone is busy, I know. All the snow has melted here but it hung around for a long time. Usually when we get snow it’s all gone within a couple of days. The chances of a white Christmas now are very remote. It looks like we’ll…
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Ice-skating at the Christmas markets
Sometimes life feels like Groundhog Day. Has it really been a year since we went ice-skating at the Christmas markets? We went again today and it felt like we just did this yesterday but it has been a full year. I love ice-skating. What I like most is the physical activity without all the sweating.…
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Sledging bloopers
We had a fun time sledging today. Snow turns every hill into a playground. I took a short video of some of the fun, including a bit at around 30 seconds where Elizabeth careens into a tree. Ben also falls off at one point and he gets up afterwards with the speed of someone who…
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Winter wonderland
We’ve been so lucky with the snow so far this winter. It’s another winter wonderland outside this morning. Elizabeth told me that when she sees all the snow outside it makes her feel good. I know exactly what she means because I feel happy when I see it too. Here’s the bike path today: There…
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Tidal and wind power in Scotland, and adapting to a post-oil future
Originally posted on Sustainable Living: The second climate cafè last Tuesday evening was a great success. We heard two terrific talks. The first was on the future of tidal power in Scotland and was delivered by Dr Ian Davies of Marine Scotland Science. Then we heard from Dr Leslie Mabon from Robert Gordon University talking…
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Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen
I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with Daniel. I never had to take insulin and it went away after his birth. Oddly, I didn’t have it during my pregnancy with Elizabeth and I say oddly because usually it gets worse as you get older. Most women who have the disease during one pregnancy…
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How to pick a lock
One of my talents, it seems, is picking locks. I must have inherited this from my convict great, great, great, great grandfather, Michael Burns, who was sent to Australia on the 14th April 1827 on the Marquis of Hastings. He was convicted of stealing jewellery and tried and sentenced in Manchester in 1826 at the…
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Snow in Aberdeen!
Yesterday there was lots of snow in Aberdeen and the Martin household was jumping with joy! It’s very pretty when it snows. There was much excitement in the school playground with snowballs flying in all directions. Somehow I managed to avoid getting hit. Today was a different story. It rained on the snow yesterday afternoon…
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Living without a family car
It has been three years since we dispensed with the family car and I don’t regret it, not even a little bit. Car ownership is governed by the same law that rules chocolate: when there’s chocolate in the fridge it will be eaten and when there’s a car in the garage it will be driven,…
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Snow, castles, and a squirrel mug
Snow or castle? That was the question we asked ourselves yesterday when deciding what to do today. Fortuitously, we got both at Castle Fraser. The snow we had this week hasn’t completely melted at Castle Fraser and we got a taste of it on our walk around the estate. Here’s the family portrait. And the…
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The Christmas markets and some new boots
The Christmas markets have opened in Aberdeen already. I’m sure they start it earlier and earlier each year. This year it’s a little bit special because it’s on the newly pedestrianised Broad Street. The Aberdeen City Council has been promising pedestrianisation of the city centre for about a decade now and finally they’ve managed to…
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