Tag: Aberdeen
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Quiet spaces for reflection and gentle feathered friends in Aberdeen
We went in search of the brown pigeon with string foot again this weekend and although we spotted him twice he was far too wary to come close enough for a rescue attempt. So instead we went to St Nicholas Kirk to say hello to the very friendly flock there where several birds were only…
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A Tale of Two Rescues: Lucky Harry and Gentle Edith
I seem to be turning into an animal rescue as this week I have taken in two injured birds: first Harry the pigeon and then Edith the gull. A couple of nights ago a kind member of the public contacted me wanting help with a pigeon – Harry – that was being attacked by a…
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Fiddles, step dancing and borderline crazy moments in a Victorian toilet: volunteering highlights of NAFCo
It has been a privilege for me to be a part of the 25th anniversary of the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention (NAFCo) which finishes today in Aberdeen. Musicians, dancers and academics from all over the world have descended on our little city to celebrate, perform and discuss traditional fiddle music and dance. I signed up…
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Pigeon patrol
Ben and I went on another pigeon patrol to the Harriet Street flock today which has become a somewhat regular activity. A gull turned up and ate some of the sunflower seeds. He must have been hungry as I’ve never seen a gull show interest in sunflower seeds before. Admittedly there were a few calciworms…
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Victorian toilets and another pigeon destrung
Last Friday I was wandering around Aberdeen city centre checking out venues for the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention as I’m a volunteer lead organising the busking trails for the event. One of the venues we booked are the Victorian toilets beneath Union Street. They’re obviously no longer toilets and indeed smell a lot nicer than…
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The hidden Denburn
Beneath the centre of Aberdeen runs an ancient stream, the Denburn, which once provided water and food to mesolithic settlements. It runs through the Denburn valley which was carved out during the last ice age and starts from Kingswells, about 5 miles west of the city centre. In the city centre the stream is now…
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Beautiful silvery white Aberdeen
We thought the snow was on its way out yesterday as we’d had rain and it was melting at a great pace but then this morning we awoke to a fresh dumping of it. Today has been stunning with the landscape covered in a sparkly white coating beneath a clear blue sky. Here are some…
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A snowy Duthie Park and more sledging
There is a lot of snow here and it’s still coming with more expected tomorrow and the day after. I’m glad we don’t have to go anywhere. Duthie Park looks stunning. This is the Elizabeth Duthie statue standing proudly dressed in snow. Elizabeth Duthie gifted the land that became Duthie Park to Aberdeen City Council…
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Playing in the snow
We’re back in Aberdeen after driving back in extremely snowy conditions yesterday. Dad took this video from the car. Fortunately I have all-season tyres that are good in the snow so I felt safe on the drive. Before we left we did some more sledging. Here’s a collection of photos. They were clearing the ice…
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Cinderella
We went to the pantomime on Boxing Day this year, which is a break from tradition for us as we usually go on New Year’s Eve, but we wanted our visitors to experience it too. The pantomime in Aberdeen at His Majesty’s Theatre is always excellent but it was particularly good this year. We’re very…
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Snow, St Andrews, and foxes
We started our day today with a lovely train journey through snowy landscapes to visit Daniel in St Andrews. We’ve had snow in the north east of Scotland this week which has made everything very pretty. I took this next photo at Duthie Park yesterday. Here are a couple of photos from the train today.…
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A visit from Daniel, 11 years in Aberdeen, recipe for tomato soup
Daniel finally came home for the weekend this weekend, much to the delight of all of us. He said there were no events he particularly wanted to attend in St Andrews, so he came home instead. His halls of residence are very active socially, which has been wonderful for him as he’s made lots of…
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Tall Ships Aberdeen 2025
Elizabeth got to perform as part of SC&T (Scottish Culture & Traditions) in The Tall Ships Races 2025 in Aberdeen this morning. She gets lots of opportunities to perform with SC&T and they’re always excellent. Today was no exception. The sound and projection from the stage was particularly good. The only downside was it started…
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Fox family updates
We’ve been continuing to feed a family of foxes in Aberdeen along with some other volunteers after spotting the mother ill with mange a couple of months ago. The mother, Rita, is looking much better after receiving her treatment. We’re confident all her fur will grow back and by winter she’ll be a healthy fox…
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Bird spikes and netting
There’s a railway bridge not far from us that the city council recently decorated with anti-bird netting and spikes. In previous years we saw pigeons raising chicks there so it made me sad to see it all netted up with spikes everywhere. I wrote a letter of complaint and got a reply explaining that pigeon…
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Rita the fox
Earlier this week someone shared a photo of a poorly fox on an Aberdeen Facebook group. Her tail is missing all its fur and part of her back is also looking raw. She is suffering from mange which is easily treated with a tablet. We’re lucky in the UK to have the Fox Angels Foundation…
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Elizabeth on stage with Capercaillie at Aberdeen Music Hall
Elizabeth had the very great honour last night of playing the violin on stage with Capercaillie at Aberdeen Music Hall as part of the Scottish Culture & Traditions (SC&T) youth performance group. They played two songs with the renowned Scottish band: Callum’s Road and Lisnagun. Elizabeth is the 4th from the left counting from the…
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Soup, hamster, lights
Dinner tonight was soup with homemade sourdough. I made the soup using Hodmedod’s mix of British grown peas. You can buy it in 5kg bags to save money. The pea mix alone consists of 5 different varieties: red fox carlin peas, black badger carlin peas, marrowfat peas, blue peas, and yellow peas – all grown…
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Sledging at Duthie Park
I do love the snow. We had another snowy day today and Aberdeen is looking beautiful. We made the most of it and went sledging. There’s rain forecast for Sunday so it looks like it may disappear soon unfortunately. I got a video of a starling at the bird feeder this morning when it was…
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The season of Christmas markets has begun
It is the season of Christmas markets and we’ve been to two so far and counting. Last weekend was the Christmas market at Ardoe House, a Baronial 19th century mansion about 3 miles from Aberdeen that’s used as a hotel. It’s in a lovely picturesque spot beside the River Dee. The market was extremely crowded…
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