insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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Fyvie Castle
My sister rang first thing this morning sounding very upset because she had slept in and missed her flight and was consequently unable to come and visit us this weekend. We were all very disappointed and so we took off for Fyvie Castle to lift our spirits. Fyvie Castle is an enormous 13th century castle about…
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I ate a box of chocolates yesterday
I turned 40 yesterday; I’m officially middle-aged. I didn’t do anything exciting other than eat almost an entire box of chocolates. I didn’t even feel sick and I’m unlikely to put on weight because a) I’m vegan and b) I’ve got Busby. The interesting thing about Busby is that there’s a positive correlation between my age and the amount…
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Incompetence at BT
A week ago I wrote about how BT emailed me to say they were sorry to see me go and that because I had cancelled my contract early I would be charged. I was a bit confused at the time because I had never cancelled my account and nor did I wish to cancel my account.…
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We’re famous
There are a couple of photos of us in today’s EveningExpress taken at the Wee Jaunt yesterday. Not such a great one of me because it looks like I’m flashing but fortunately you can’t see anything. Ben showed his photo to a PhD student at work hoping to impress him but his response was, “It would look more…
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Wee Jaunt Aberdeen
Buying a house seems to have sapped all the fun out of lives so we decided to do something to rectify the situation. This morning we participated in the Wee Jaunt Aberdeen, a Pedal for Scotland initiative to encourage cycling and raise money for a children’s charity. They closed off several roads in a 6 mile route…
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Bad neighbours
In light of our recent insurance woes I have been thinking about bad neighbours. We have lived in quite a few different houses now and most of our neighbours have been really great. Our last neighbour for instance, was just terrific. I wish he could have moved with us. But the worst neighbours we ever had were…
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Insurance woes
Is it possible to insure someone else’s property? Our house insurance doesn’t cover the damage caused by our water pipe to the downstairs flat. They only cover our house. So I rang AXA, our insurer, to look into purchasing a policy for her flat so we’re covered next time should this happen again but they…
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More dramas and a bit of a rant
Yesterday afternoon the lady who lives downstairs knocked on our door to say water was leaking through her kitchen ceiling. Our kitchen is above her kitchen but there was no sign of any leak in our kitchen at all. I turned off all the water and the central heating as no-one was able to come until…
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Frogs in my garden
My father is making a very speedy recovery now and going from strength to strength which is a huge relief. This means I can start worrying about unimportant things that don’t matter like staining white sofas. Some new sofas arrived yesterday afternoon. We got rid of ours in New Zealand before the move and our rental…
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A new home
It has been a hectic and stressful week this week. Settlement for the house we bought was on Friday and we moved in yesterday. But the most stressful part was when my father took a turn for the worse on Thursday night. He had an emergency heart bypass last Tuesday and seemed to be recovering well.…
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Mending hearts
My father had a routine angiogram yesterday and was raced into surgery less than 24 hours later to bypass a blockage. The operation went as expected and he’s now starting his recovery. Phew! I didn’t sleep very well last night but I’m sure I slept much better than my father did before his operation. I’m…
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On eating roadkill
George Monbiot has written an article about how he recently ate roadkill: a grey squirrel. I think that if we must eat animals then roadkill is probably the most ethical of all the options since the animal is dead anyway. But in his article he describes how he was admonished for doing this by people…
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Cycling infrastructure in Aberdeen
We went for quite a stressful bike ride today. It was supposed to be a pleasant afternoon cycling along a newly discovered bike path but traffic and a lack of suitable crossings for bicycles made it stressful. I took a photo of one of the crossings we made to point out how inadequate it is for bicycles.…
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The Rocket Bike
We’ve been thinking about getting a new cargo bike lately because our kids are getting a bit small for the bakfiets. The main problem is that Daniel is too tall when the rain tent is on – which is all the time – and so the kids have to sit on the floor of the…
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British pubs
I’ve always liked British pubs for their atmosphere and uniqueness. They’re not like big chain restaurants that are all the same. They’re all different and often a bit quirky like the Slains Castle pub in Aberdeen. Lately we’ve been going to pubs for dinner more often. This is because I’ve just discovered how good they are for…
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Is Jeremy Corbyn sexy?
Of course he is! He has integrity and he’s kind and you won’t find sexier qualities than these. If I were a member of the Labour party, which I am not, I would be voting for Jeremy Corbyn. I hope he wins! I found this video of him from 1984 and any 35-year-old man who proudly wears his…
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An update on the nonhuman rights project
A little while ago I wrote about the litigation in progress to try to free two chimpanzees being held captive for experimentation in a University laboratory. Lawyers for the chimps (Hercules and Leo) argued on the basis of habeus corpus, a writ in common law which provides a way for detainees to end unlawful imprisonment.…
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Mediaeval battles at Drum Castle
We went to Drum Castle today. I have been itching to visit this castle again ever since our cycle ride from Banchory to Aberdeen via Drum Castle. It was so hot that day and we were so exhausted by the time we arrived at Drum Castle that I took one look at the tower with all its…
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Sex education in schools
I was rather surprised to read yesterday that there’s no sex education in British schools. I think this should be a compulsory part of the curriculum. I went through school more than 20 years ago now and it was a part of my schooling way back then. And that was 20 years ago and before…
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