insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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The University of Aberdeen
I love universities. I went to kindergarten at a university. When I started school I spent many afternoons at a university since there wasn’t always someone at home to look after us after school so my sister and I went to the university where my father worked – and still does – instead. We would draw pictures on the…
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I shave my armpits and the ice is still melting
I’m finding the school trip with Busby and two kids easier and easier. It’s almost too short a journey for me now. Certain “Skeptics” (you know who you are) might mock me and my bicycle and all I have to say in response is that I have a damn fine set of legs now thanks to cycling everyday. So…
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How to crochet a jumper without a pattern
I don’t really like reading manuals or following recipes. I prefer to stick my hands in the mud and get dirty without having to follow a cookbook. One of the nice things about crochet is you can make a jumper in rounds and measure it on the body as you go. I recently completed a jumper for…
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Thin Ice kickstarter campaign
Thin Ice is a brilliant documentary made by geologist and amateur cameraman, Simon Lamb. I’ve seen it a couple of times and it’s my favourite climate science film. It’s informative, clear, and it doesn’t have the Hollywood drama of some of the other climate documentaries which is a good thing in my view. I think…
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Dunnottar Castle, Scotland
We had the bestest day ever today. We went to Dunnottar Castle, a Mediaeval ruin on a dramatic and rugged outcrop near the village of Stonehaven. We caught the train to Stonehaven which was wonderful. I love trains and have sorely missed this mode of transport in New Zealand. It was only about 15 minutes…
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Plants that are longer than they are wide
In the interests of promoting gender equality in blogs, I thought I’d dedicate a blog post to plants that are longer than they are wide. I took these photos last weekend at the Duthie Park Winter Gardens:
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Science is not a pick and mix
Potholer54 has a another brilliant YouTube video called How to Argue with Assholes. It’s entertaining and clever and provides some good advice when faced with arguments that, in his words, make you want to chew off your own leg. Some of the main points are: * Don’t treat your adversary like an asshole * Don’t…
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A momentous week
It’s a momentous week for me. Both my babies are at school. I no longer have a child at home. Elizabeth started school for the first time on Monday and although I’m very happy about this, and so is she, I have felt a bit teary waving her off everyday since then. School has been…
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The River Dee
I don’t really like shopping, especially supermarket shopping. One of the great things about the UK is you can get everything online and it’s usually delivered super fast. We ordered our mattress and bed frame online for instance. The downside of this is that the stuff comes in cardboard packaging and you then have to…
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Sexism, carnivorous plants, and cycling
I sometimes have problems spotting the more subtle forms of sexism. I’m not sure if this is because I’m a woman and I just don’t notice, or if it’s for some other reason. Fortunately I’m married to a feminist so I’m unlikely to be taken advantage of for being so naive about this. What constitutes…
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I’ve got Busby back!!
Busby finally arrived today. He’s been at the hospital (= bike shop) in York having some work done. We took him out for a spin. I felt very wobbly at first as the longer frame takes some getting used to and I haven’t ridden him for 10 months now. But after about 15 minutes or so I…
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Gentle lighting
A couple of people pointed out the gloomy colours in the Northern Scottish sky on my previous post. The sunlight is more subdued here and more gentle than the bright sunlight you get in Australia and New Zealand. I prefer this gentle lighting. I must have been a vampire in a previous life because I’ve never…
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Photos from Aberdeen
I like to look at the types of houses people live in when I go to different cities. Here are a few from the residential streets of Aberdeen plus a couple of our backyard. Aberdeen is a beautiful city. It’s quite leafy for a British city – which I really like – and many of…
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And the diagnosis is …
An ocular migraine. This is just as I thought but a nice relief nonetheless. And the cure is ……. menopause 🙂 Apparently an ancestor of mine had a baby at the age of 50 and in a time before fertility treatment was available so I’ll probably just have to be patient with this. I went…
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I’m still alive!
Thanks for all the lovely comments on my post yesterday and the emails, tweets, and text messages. I’m completely fine today. I was just over-reacting which is not so unusual for me. I’m pretty sure the vision loss was migraine-related. I was just confused because it was unlike any kind of vision impairment I’ve had before…
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Welcome to the NHS and banking in Britain
A strange thing happened to me this morning: very suddenly a grey cloud descended halfway into my vision on one eye. I could still see below this grey cloud but from about halfway across my vision and up, I couldn’t see anything. After about a minute, it vanished as quickly as it appeared. There was…
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Butt plugs, deadly nightshade, and hookers
Apparently a large, green, blow-up Christmas tree in the centre of Paris is outrageous and humiliating if you’re of a right-wing political persuasion. The sculpture, which was part of an exhibition of modern art, was vandalised by right-wing protestors. Why? Because it looks like a butt plug. I have to confess that I didn’t even know what a butt plug…
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The Fly
My children were fighting over dead flies yesterday. They came charging into my office arguing over why Elizabeth should have three dead flies and Daniel only one. I looked at them in disbelief and with more than a little exasperation said, “Children, you’re fighting over dead flies!!!”. Daniel immediately realised the absurdity of the situation and…
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Hard or soft?
We’ve got a new home: a rental but a really, really nice one. We got the keys yesterday but there are no beds here so I ordered some mattresses for the kids from an online store with the name MattressNextDay. Apparently mattress next day = mattress three days later. I also ordered a luxurious latex mattress…
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My new home: Aberdeen
Aberdeen is endearing itself to me. It’s the little things that make a difference. Like this front gate I walked past yesterday with a tin of biscuits for the guard dog. Just in case you want to rob the place and a fierce dog is standing in your way, the owners have helpfully provided the dog biscuits…
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