rachel.blog

insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman

  • Squirrel Nutkin and a fish ladder

    I saw not one Squirrel Nutkin but two Squirrel Nutkins this morning (and by Squirrel Nutkin I’m referring to the very elusive red squirrel). I went out by myself just after breakfast and it didn’t take very long to spot them. They’re much smaller than I thought and very, very cute. They’re incredibly agile and…

  • Pitlochry

    We are in Pitlochry in Perthshire, which is in the middle of Scotland. We caught the train from Aberdeen yesterday and plan to spend two nights here. We thought about booking one of the Co-wheels cars but it actually worked out to be the same price, if not cheaper, to catch the train. That’s including the…

  • Creeper family

    Elizabeth drew this picture of Creeper’s family (I especially love “bruver”. She still pronounces “th” like a “v”): I’ve eaten too much chocolate this past week. I’m never eating any chocolate ever again. I just have to finish my Easter Eggs first, though 🙂 Ben has a tradition of hiding Easter Eggs around the house…

  • Ice-skating, The Satrosphere, and climate change

    It has been a very sunny and warm 17°C today. We’ve been out on our bicycles and I must admit that it was almost a bit too hot. Whose idea was it to move to such a balmy climate? For me the range from 5°C-10°C is the best for cycling otherwise I get stinky armpits. We went to…

  • Litter bugs and pissing in the street

    Ever since I read Gemma’s post about her Bishop’s Meadow litter pick, I have been thinking I should do the same. There are some lovely rose gardens and a small field of daffodils very close to our home and both seem to be permanently spoilt with litter. One afternoon this week as I was cycling…

  • Hunter or bully?

    I saw this photo of Donald Trump’s son this week and want to write about it: There’s nothing more attractive in a man, in my view anyway, than kindness and cleverness. Any man with these traits will send women weak at the knees. Ok, so if men want something more than weak knees they may also need…

  • Easter, ethics, and Debussy

    As usual I fell for all the April Fools’ Day jokes yesterday including the one about Jeremy Clarkson joining the fossil fuel divestment movement. I guess I was just feeling hopeful 🙂 The kids have been asking me lots of questions about Easter that I’m having problems answering like “How does the Easter Bunny travel?” and…

  • Job losses at the University of Aberdeen

    Aberdeen University are calling for voluntary redundancies in a bid to save money. At this stage it is just voluntary but typically in these situations, if enough people don’t volunteer, they progress to forced redundancies. The physical sciences and mathematics are usually fairly safe so I think the chances of Ben losing his job are quite small,…

  • Platonic solids

    Last night, just as I was about to hop into bed, I was forced to endure a lesson on platonic solids. And no, unfortunately platonic solids have nothing to do with sex or lack of. They’re far less exciting. This is one of the side-effects of being married to a mathematician: I get lessons. He’s…

  • Running in the rain, bras, husbands, and apocalyptic sex

    I’m just back from a run in the rain and sleet and it was glorious; the best run I’ve had for ages. I felt wonderfully alive. It’s good to suffer a little bit every now and again. Although someone living in a rich country with a warm home, running for half an hour in the…

  • Ethical investments?

    I just got around to joining the superannuation program offered by my employer in the UK and so I thought I’d investigate fossil fuel divestment. After all, I don’t want my, er, £364 going into the pockets of fossil fuel companies. I’m sure fossil fuel companies are shivering with fear just at the thought of…

  • Explaining charity to kids

    The schools here have regular fundraising for various different charities. I quite like this as I think it’s good for children to learn about donating to those in need. This week they’ve been asked to donate a pound to a charity in Africa but Daniel questioned this. “I don’t want to give them something if…

  • Celebrating small boobs

    I recently watched a couple of BBC documentaries: My Small Boobs and I and My Big Breasts and Me. Both were good but the small boobs one was quite sad. It followed three beautiful young women who were deeply unhappy with their appearance. As a small breasted woman myself I thought I would write about how…

  • Aberdeen Jazz Festival

    We spent a couple of hours at the Aberdeen Jazz Festival this afternoon. It was terrific. I love jazz. Especially live jazz. We used to go to the Christchurch Jazz Festival every year which was at a similar time of year; April I think. I wonder whether it still runs? The Aberdeen Festival was just…

  • The solar eclipse and a space diary

    There was a solar eclipse this morning and just as it went noticeably darker I glanced out my window and inadvertently looked right at the sun. How bad is my luck? All week I’ve been desperately hoping to see the aurora borealis only to be disappointed by cloud and fog. The minute there’s a solar…

  • It is people! It is people! It is people!

    I’ve just come home from collecting my kids from school to a lovely surprise that I want to share. I’m ashamed to say that I never learnt very much about about Māori culture when I lived in New Zealand, but aside from knowing only a couple of cool words (like puku and whanau) I do quite like this proverb:…

  • The dentist and playing dress-ups

    I took Elizabeth to the dentist this morning and everything is fine which is a big relief after the shock we had last year. We’ve found a terrific dentist here. He told me that what Elizabeth had done, with the stainless steel crowns on her back molars, is the best treatment she could possibly have…

  • Pine martens, red squirrels, and aurora borealis

    The Northern Lights were on display across British skies last night but I didn’t see them. I looked out many times before bed, I woke at 3am to have another look, and then again at 5:30am but there was nothing. Only clouds 😦 Here’s what I might have seen: Stunning Northern Lights displays lit up…

  • Balmedie Beach

    We had a superb day today. We booked one of the Co-wheels cars to try out and went to Balmedie Beach where I went for a swim in the North Sea. We drove one of the electric cars parked very close to our home. We have a swipe card which unlocks the car from 5…

  • Tree Change Dolls

    An Australian woman has gone viral for her doll makeovers, although in this case, they are makeunders rather than makeovers. She finds second-hand Bratz dolls, removes their face paint, paints on a new face, and her mum knits the new clothes. The transformation is quite remarkable. It’s hard to even believe they are the same dolls.…