insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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Street art Aberdeen
Last night we went for a walk around Aberdeen to look at some street art. The Nuart Festival was on in Aberdeen over Easter and 11 international street artists added some colour to our city. That was very nice of them. Here are some pics.
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Ethics into Action
I’m reading this terrific book about the life of Henry Spira, a New Yorker who challenged large corporations over their abuse of animals, and he did so effectively, without money and with no large organisation behind him. The book is not so much a biography but a book about Henry’s strategy and why he was so successful.…
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Pedal on Parliament 2017 Aberdeen
We gathered on the Beach Esplanade at 11am this morning for the Aberdeen Pedal on Parliament ride. This is the third year running for Aberdeen and the sixth year for Pedal on Parliament in Scotland. We were an energetic, cheerful, and brave crowd hoping to convince the Aberdeen City Council to give some road space…
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Pedal on Parliament 2017
On the 22nd April mums, dads, sons, daughters, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, and friends will be cycling in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness (Glasgow on the 23rd April) to urge our politicians to improve cycling infrastructure all over Scotland. That’s this coming Saturday! Tomorrow! We need as many people as possible to have the…
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No-sulphur organic red wine
I bought a mixed case of no sulphur organic wines from Vintage Roots and they arrived today so I’m trying the first bottle which is a French red called Mas des Tannes. The grapes were organically grown in the south of France. It’s delicious! I love the smell of red wine. I think I would be happy…
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A rainbow in Duthie Park
I took this photo of a rainbow in Duthie Park last night at around 7pm.
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Mystery person
At Madrid airport the other day I was waiting at a shop for them to heat up my lunch (which turned out to be disgusting but more on that later) and I thought I saw someone famous. Who is this dude with the curly locks? Should I know who he is? He looks familiar. A…
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Homemade hot cross buns
Every year on Good Friday, for as long as I’ve known him, Ben makes hot cross buns. Having stuffed myself silly with about half-a-dozen of them now I can say with honesty that this year’s batch was particularly good, maybe even the best yet. They are vegan, without peel, and preservative-free. Perfect! Ben says he used…
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Doors that don’t open and preservatives in food
At my work meetup in Madrid this past week I embarrassed myself one night just before dinner. There were eleven of us and we arrived at the restaurant at 8:29pm. The restaurant opened at 8:30pm and when I tried to open the door it was locked. We figured they would open it at any moment and waited…
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Climate change and the elephant in the room
Livestock farming produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transport sector. That’s all the planes, trains, trucks, buses, cars, and boats on the planet. Exactly how much the livestock farming sector produces varies depending on which study you look at. The most conservative estimate is from the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United…
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Diversity at Heathrow airport and living in the UK
I’m back in the UK and waiting at Heathrow airport where I’ve just stuffed myself full of food and am thinking of going back for more. I threw myself at Pret a Manger like a ravenous lion who hasn’t eaten properly for months. I love Pret. It’s one of my favourite eateries. Here’s what I got…
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A plate of artichokes
The food situation over the past few days has been diabolical. On Sunday the choice was omelette or meat balls, on Monday night it was steak or fish, and lunch today was steak or pork loin. They look at me with horror when I say I would like something without meat. It seems to take…
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A conversation overheard
Ben overheard this conversation between Daniel and Elizabeth. They were playing some game together on their devices which involved Elizabeth making a BBQ and inviting Daniel’s character. Daniel: What will you cook? Chicken? Pork? Elizabeth: No. Daniel: Beef: Elizabeth: No. Daniel: Mutton? Elizabeth: No, none of those things. Daniel (in a despairing tone): If it’s…
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Photos from Madrid
We wandered around El Retiro Park in Madrid yesterday. I took some photos on our walk there and in the park. I have been to Madrid before, some 12 or so years ago now, and I remember this park and the glasshouse. The glasshouse is beautiful but completely empty. I suspect if they put plants in there…
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Temple of Debod
The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple in one of the parks in Madrid. It was moved from Egypt to Madrid in 1968 to save it from the threat of construction of a dam. It was built in 200 BC. We went and took some photos there at sunset last night. It doesn’t…
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Madrid bike tour
We went on a fantastic bike tour today of Casa de Campo Park which is the largest park in Madrid and absolutely enormous. We barely touched the surface of it. Bravo Bikes provided bikes and a very knowledgeable and friendly guide. I can’t fault them at all and it’s one of the best meetup activities I’ve…
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Camel toe knickers
I was sitting at Heathrow airport today watching people go by when I saw the most pronounced case of camel toe I have ever seen. I happened to be texting my sister at the time and I mentioned it to her and she told me that this is a new fashion. Apparently you can buy camel…
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The cane chair bike
I saw this bike at Newton Dee yesterday. There are no pedals but it has an electric motor. I think it needs a couple of cushions on the seat but otherwise looks fun.
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Making friends at school and cycling in the rain
It’s tough when your kids don’t have any friends at school. That has been the case for Daniel until this year. He was put into the wrong year when we first arrived and was the youngest in his class both in age and maturity. The children were all nice to him but they didn’t view him…
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Population crisis and hairy legs
I’ve got a population crisis in my stick insect habitat. It’s swarming with them now and there’s a range of sizes so this is more than just one lot of offspring. They’re breeding like rabbits and I’m not sure what to do with them all. There are so many that I can’t take the dead…
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