insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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Winter sports are the best
We went to Newcastle for the afternoon. It started off badly: there was rain, the children wanted to go home and we had nothing planned other than to walk around in the rain for a couple of hours before going back to York. But then things changed. First we ran into someone famous: Then I…
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A whinge
I’ve just come back from picking Elizabeth up from nursery on my bicycle and now I want to have a whinge about the rain and wind. So here goes: I’m wet, exhausted (anyone who has cycled in the wind will understand why but add a factor of ten to this given that I’m cycling a…
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Clifford’s Tower
Finally, after almost all of November on my own, I have my husband back and I’m very happy about that. I have a lot of respect for single parents and for parents where one of the couple spends much of their time travelling. I will only be on my own for about a week this…
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Crocheted angry bird on drugs
Daniel, who is 6 years old, has become obsessed with angry birds. He has started asking me for angry bird toys so I did what any self-respecting mother would do, I made him one. 🙂 Unfortunately the bird’s pupils are disproportionately large, hence the title for my post. This bird is high on cocaine.
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Climate change: the state of the science
I’ve just seen this great video about the science of climate change and what we can expect for the next hundred or so years. I think it’s better than the recently released IPCC video which I also posted on my blog. This one is only four minutes and very good. It is produced by a Canadian…
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State schooling in the UK
I thought I would write about my experiences with the UK state schooling system now that Daniel has been at school here for a good three months. Note that my experience relates to just one school in the UK which may or may not be representative of others but I think it’s still worth talking…
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On eating plants
I thought I’d explain in this post a bit about what my tagline “eats plants” actually means. I have been reluctant to write about this here before because I don’t want to come across as judgemental of what other people eat. We each make the best decisions we can and so here I want to…
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Bakfiets spotted in Brisbane
My father has just sent me this photo he took of a bakfiets on the streets of Brisbane. This is so nice for me to see. I grew up in Brisbane and never cycled much in that time. The city is not really conducive to cycling with hot and humid weather, lots of hills, urban…
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Myles Allen’s proposal to bury the carbon problem
Wottsupwiththatblog has very kindly let me write a guest post on his blog. I am reblogging it here in case any of my readers are interested. Myles Allen's proposal to bury the carbon problem. A guest post by Rachel ———————————— Because Wotts is very busy at the moment and because I’m quite keen for a…
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The Terminator
He’s known in the school playground as the Terminator and here he is in my bakfiets. Be afraid, be very afraid.
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Climate change 2013: the physical science basis
The IPCC have produced a good video about the recently released report of IPCC Working Group I. It explains the physical science basis of climate change in a very simple manner. Think of it as climate science for dummies in 9 minutes. I have to thank Victor for bringing this to my attention. Victor is…
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When is it ok to kill cyclists?
Earlier this month The New York Times published an opinion piece about cycling, “Is it O.K. to Kill Cyclists?“. It prompted a huge number of articles and blog posts which, insofar as discussion about cycling safety helps to improve cycling safety, is probably a good thing. Even the Economist has waded in with, “The American…
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Quality of life in York
People in York are shocked when I tell them how much I love living here. Why is that? There’s an assumption that life is better in New Zealand and Australia so I’m going to challenge that assumption with this blog post. Quality of life is partly subjective and so the things I love about York…
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Cycling the Solar System part 2
Daniel was home sick from school today and so what better thing to do with a sick child than take him on a bicycle ride through the York Solar System. I visited the Solar System back in early September, just after taking possession of Busby the bakfiets, but I only made it as far as…
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It’s not easy being PM
Tony Abbott is having a tough time. The Indonesians are not doing what they are told, the people smugglers are not doing what they are told and the weather is not doing what it is told. The president of Indonesia, has been tweeting his disappointment with Tony Abbott. I also regret the statement of Australian…
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Busby the Bakfiets
Our lovely niece, Frances, came to visit us for the weekend. She is studying in Winchester and she arrived in York by train on Friday evening. I did what any proud bakfiets owner would do: I picked her up on my bicycle and she rode in the box with her luggage all the way home.…
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Memories of World War II: an interview with my grandfather
Last week I asked my father about my grandfather’s wartime experience since it was Remembrance Day and I had been thinking about it. He sent me an interview which my cousin, Lyle Shelton, had conducted with Pa in the years before he died. It’s fascinating reading and so I’m going to put it on my…
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Science Fair Nightmare
This is a funny youtube video about a climate change contrarian Dad at the school science fair. It’s well worth watching especially if you’ve got some contrarians in your family 😉 Thanks to the blogger at I’m not yet dead who brought it to my attention and who has an excellent post today called I…
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Global warming underestimated
Three posts in one day! I must be procrastinating. But I just have to share this youtube video which explains some research conducted by someone from the University of York – a very fine institution in a very fine city – as well as someone from the University of Newfoundland. According to their newly published…
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