insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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We’ve joined a car club
We don’t own a car and we have no intention of buying one. It’s very easy to live in Aberdeen without a car as we can walk and cycle everywhere. This is our car (photo was taken a couple of months ago when there was snow and ice on the ground and I think Ben…
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Dressups, hair removal, and pine martens
The kids had to dress up as a character from a story at school today. They both chose to wear hats I had crocheted for them. Isn’t that sweet? I didn’t threaten them, I promise. At what age do kids start to hate the things their mother makes for them? Elizabeth is the big bad…
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Vegan for more than 10 years and still alive
The best thing about having all our belongings back is that I’ve got all my cookbooks again. I’m not that good at just making recipes up and I also like flipping through cookbooks for inspiration. We had visitors over last Sunday and so I really needed some inspiration. I ended up making four vegan dishes:…
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In praise of cinnamon buns and hydro power
I’ve just discovered something quite wonderful. Apparently the smell of cinnamon buns has been shown to increase blood flow to the penis. Just joking! I mean, it is true apparently, but that’s not the wonderful thing I want to talk about. It was just a cheap shot to get your attention 🙂 Perhaps not quite as exciting as an…
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Global warming = smelly armpits
One of the best things about living in a cold climate is an almost complete absence of armpit stink. Women aren’t supposed to get smelly armpits but we do in fact get just as smelly as men. Perhaps we have the heating too low in our home here in Scotland but for whatever reason, I find…
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A pic and should healthcare be free?
I took this photo of a church on Union St this morning because I found the colours really striking. The blue-grey of the sky and the gentle sunlight shining on the church spire made me want to whip out my camera and capture it as I raced to a 9am appointment. I went to the…
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Be careful what you say
A couple of times recently I’ve replied to a Twitter direct message on my iPhone expecting my reply to also be a direct message only to be horrified to see my message become a Tweet on my public profile. At first I thought maybe I had done something wrong so I tested it out today. A friend sent me…
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Voting, blogging, times tables, and Aberdeen
Apparently we can vote here. Amazing. I was under the impression that we couldn’t vote since we don’t have permanent residency but it seems I was wrong. When I arrived back from Barcelona in early January, I caught a taxi home from the airport and the taxi driver was talking to me about voting. I told him…
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The dress, Oliver Sacks, and more writing from Elizabeth
The results of the poll in my last post are, at this point in time, 42.3% for blue, 42.3% for white, and 15.3% for other. In my family, I see blue, both my kids see blue, and Ben sees white. It’s quite funny because the kids are now concerned about Ben’s eye-sight and have been…
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In praise of cycling and a dress colour
It must be about time I posted another photo of Busby so here he is, with precious cargo: I cycle to and from school everyday and I love it. My only complaint is that it has become too easy and the distance to school too short. I’m stronger than I was when we first arrived and…
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My reckless childhood
Modern parents, like me, have a tendency to wrap their kids in cotton wool. We do it because …
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Women and the Islamic State
As a woman living in the 21st Century, I have enjoyed the freedom to study, to work, and to express my thoughts without fear of punishment, and so I am completely dumbfounded as to why three teenage girls would voluntarily fly to Syria to join the Islamic State. What could they possibly be thinking? According to the…
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Snowdrops in my garden and the Christchurch earthquake
The days are getting noticeably longer again. It seems to change very quickly from light to dark as winter sets in and then from dark to light again as winter draws to a close. Last November, the days grew shorter surprisingly quickly. You could see the difference from one day to the next. Now, in…
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What is freedom of speech?
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the idea of freedom of speech and freedom of expression this week and what it means exactly. It’s not something I’ve thought a great deal about in the past because I’ve always felt I had the freedom to express my thoughts, which I quite frequently do, and I’m…
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How English should be written
Elizabeth’s teacher must have suggested to the class that they make a card for their mothers for “Valemtine’s” (as Elizabeth pronounces it) Day because she worked very hard yesterday afternoon and this morning creating a card for me. Here’s the result: It says: “Deyr Mum we luv yoo we are gowing to get a flowa…
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Potholer54 on genetically modified foods
Potholer54 has released another entertaining video. This one is about GM foods and is definitely worth watching. He makes a particularly good point at the end.
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Jane Austen and Gretna Green
I hate my wedding photos. More specifically, I hate me in the photos. Everyone else looks terrific and the photos themselves are wonderful. It’s just me. I was 7 months pregnant when Ben and I got married and I was fat. I put on 17kg during my pregnancy with Daniel which is rather a lot. I also…
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Pocket money and pedal power
Elizabeth wants to earn some pocket money so I told her that if she did some jobs around the house we’d give her some money. I suggested that she make her bed and tidy the bedroom so she disappeared for a little while and then came back and said: Elizabeth: Mum, I made my bed, I…
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The Life You Can Save
Whenever I find myself debating right and wrong, I wonder what Peter Singer would say. He’s the most rational thinker on the planet, in my opinion, and so I will sometimes say to myself, “What would Peter Singer do in this situation?”. For those who’ve never heard of him, he’s an Australian philosopher, the Ira W.…
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Fabricating data
No, this post is not about climate scientists fabricating data to make it look like the earth is warming because they’re not and the earth really is warming. This post is about Daniel’s science homework. He had to perform an experiment which involved observing the difference between evaporation in a sunny spot and evaporation in…
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