rachel.blog

insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman

  • What to do in Aberdeen?

    My favourite thing to do in Aberdeen is to cycle along the Deeside cycleway to Newton Dee. We’ve been doing it multiple times a week over the summer holidays and I never tire of it. However in the list of “Things to Do” on Trip Advisor it’s way down the bottom. It needs a higher…

  • How to use a telephone

    I’m feeling a bit dumb. I had to make a work phone call to a company today, a big company, and I was feeling nervous. I’m not good on the phone. I prefer text or even video. Nevertheless I was fully prepared and sitting waiting by the telephone for a good 30 minutes before the scheduled…

  • Dogsbody and wood chips

    The past couple of weeks I’ve been reading Dogsbody to the kids at bedtime. I love it! I’m now a huge Diana Wynne Jones fan despite having never heard of her before. The book is so well-written and so entertaining in a can’t-put-it-down kind of way. It’s a fantasy novel told from the perspective of a…

  • bounce, bounce, bounce

    For many years now we have wanted to get a trampoline. But not just any trampoline, a Springfree trampoline. Friends of ours in New Zealand had one and their kids loved it (and still do). The inventor of the trampoline is also an engineer at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch where Ben used to…

  • Sunflowers and cucumbers

    I have a sunflower at last! One of the flowers opened up in the rain today. It was one of the smaller, sickly-looking plants so I was not expecting to get a flower out of it at all but here it is with a bee hard at work. It’s lovely. We also picked our first cucumber today.…

  • Harald: my Butchers and Bicycles MK1

    I got Busby back about a month ago now but I have been continuing to ride Harald on a daily basis. I think this is probably an endorsement for Harald. He does have some shortcomings but I can’t think what other bike I’d rather ride. Even if I had all the money in the world I’d…

  • Tall things

    I took this photo in Aberdeen this evening. Check out the ladder! Is someone really going to climb all the way up there? It’s also not just one ladder but several all tied together. What are they thinking??!! One of my sunflowers is so huge now. It just keeps growing taller and taller and there’s still…

  • Countesswells Woods and a strange dream

    I have just been to the best children’s party I’ve ever attended. Ok, so maybe that’s not saying much: children’s parties aren’t exactly known for their entertainment value to adults. But this was different and I can honestly say it was an enjoyable and even relaxing experience. The words “Children’s party” and “relaxing” don’t usually go…

  • Back in civilisation

    We’re back in Aberdeen after a lovely break in the Cairngorms. The wifi at the place we stayed was so bad that I didn’t write very much on my blog while we were there. I couldn’t even load the site on my laptop. However I was able to publish photos using the app on my…

  • More photos of Scotland

     

  • Photos of Scotland

       

  • The Cairngorms

    The Cairngorms

    We’re in the very lovely Cairngorms in Scotland for a short break. I love this place. It’s my favourite landscape: rivers, fields, forest, and hills. It’s so quiet and peaceful with very few people around and is perfect when you want to relax and unwind.

  • Harald has been Wapuued

    I finally did it! I plastered Wapuu stickers all over Harald. These are the Wapuus of Europe. I also took another selfie of my sunflower which is now taller than I am. Five days ago it was about up to my eyes (pic here). Now it’s over my head. I’ve discovered there’s a downside to having a…

  • Ben has been awarded a chair

    There has been some good news this past week, despite all my misery over the trees. Last week Ben was promoted to professor of pure mathematics. In the UK this means he now has a chair. I have no idea why they call it a chair but when Elizabeth was explaining it to Daniel she said, “It…

  • Depraved local authorities and Brexit

    My chalk protest message on the street washed away with the rain yesterday. So I wrote it again last night and again this morning and I’ll continue writing it over and over again until all my anger and grief is gone. Or until I run out of chalk. I didn’t think they would really do…

  • Bird song no more

    We’re in the paper this morning. I’m still miserable about this. We used to hear bird song from our bedroom but that is no more. All we can hear now is the heavy machinery on the street. I spoke to one of my neighbour’s this morning who said she cried all day yesterday too. She…

  • Goodbye trees :(

    A part of me is dying right now. The Aberdeen City Council is killing the remaining few mature trees on our street because they’re afraid of being sued. Once upon a time our street was so beautiful that artists painted it. Here’s how it used to look: Here’s how it looks right now: To say…

  • What’s growing in my garden?

    Gardens change dramatically with each season in this part of the world so I thought I’d post some more photos of my garden now that we’re well into summer. The last post like this was back in May. Last winter I scattered wildflower seeds in the garden and the annual cornflowers have just started flowering. I’ve never…

  • Bathtubs for the garden

    I took this photo outside the front entrance to the 25Hours hotel in Vienna. I love that they’ve got old galvanised bathtubs filled with plants! They’ve also done a good job with the plants where the mix of colours, textures, and heights is pleasing to look at. Most hotel entrances are sterile places devoid of plant…

  • Photos from WordCamp Europe 2016

    I work with so many wonderful photographers that I’ve stopped taking photos myself when I’m around them. There are always so many terrific photos that come out afterwards which other people have taken. Here are some of them. This one was taken by Elio. We look like gangsters, don’t you think? It looks like I’ve got…