-
Aberdeen’s critical mass
Last night I participated in Aberdeen’s second ever critical mass bike ride. Technically I believe it’s not quite accurate to say it was the second as I’ve heard from members of the cycling community that it was previously done in the late 1990s. This was therefore the second in a recent resurrection after more than […]
-
I am a British citizen
Today I took my affirmation of allegiance to King Charles III at Aberdeen’s Marischal College and in return I received my certificate of British citizenship. They didn’t reject me for my convict ancestry or my endless campaigning for cycle paths and so I’m very proud to say that I’m now a fully fledged British citizen. […]
-
The book of Deer at Aberdeen Art Gallery
We went to Aberdeen Art Gallery today to see the Book of Deer which is a 10th century manuscript thought to be of Scottish origin and which references the monastery of Deer in Aberdeenshire. It’s currently on loan from the University of Cambridge where it has lived since 1715. The book is written in Latin […]
-
Henry, Humphrey and Hubert
We released three more hedgehogs into our backyard yesterday. We had four homes, all vacant, and Horace and Hortensia have integrated into the wider neighbourhood so we adopted Henry, Humphrey, and Hubert. These boys are a bit smaller and younger so they didn’t roam as much and hung round our backyard more than the original […]
-
The Umbrella Project
Elizabeth got to dance in town today and yesterday for the launch of the Umbrella Project in Aberdeen which is a nationwide campaign to celebrate neurodiversity or different ways of thinking. One in five of us have a condition like ADHD, Autism, Tourette’s Syndrome, Dyspraxia, and Dyscalculia and the umbrella project seeks to raise awareness […]
-
Fantastic Mr Fox
We were all very excited to see a fox in our backyard today. We sometimes see foxes in the neighbourhood but this is the first time we’ve seen one in our yard. He was eating the peanuts from a bird feeder that had fallen to the ground. At first I thought it was a dog […]
-
Aberdeen to Glasgow in an electric Renault Zoe
On Wednesday I had to go to Glasgow for an appointment. Usually I would take the train but this time I decided to try taking the electric car mostly because it was miles cheaper. It shouldn’t be cheaper to drive but it is. The train was going to cost over £140 return for two of […]
-
Bunny roundabout
There’s a roundabout in Garthdee in Aberdeen that’s home to a colony of rabbits. It’s a very busy junction in a fairly industrial area with large shopping centres and building supply stores. Someone feeds the rabbits. There’s always a selection of carrots and green leaves and bunnies can usually be seen munching away when you […]
-
More dramas in the night
We had another eventful night last night but nothing life-threatening this time. First I was woken at around 1am by the sound of Elizabeth’s bedroom door. I went in to find her getting dressed. I told her it’s 1am and she laughed and went back to bed. This morning she told me she thought she […]
-
New Year’s Day 2022
We all got wet suits for Christmas so we decided to christen them at the beach in Aberdeen today. That’s Daniel and Elizabeth in the centre of this next photo venturing in together. I’ve never swum in a wet suit before but I have done some winter swimming and I can tell you the wet […]
-
Provost Skene’s House and the Christmas markets
We walked into town to check out the Christmas markets today. It’s nice to see them up and running again after the very quiet Christmas we had last year. Marischal College (the building in this next photo) was as stunning as always in the afternoon sun. The ice-skating rink is there again but we didn’t […]
-
Snow and storm Arwen
The first snow of the season arrived last Friday. We didn’t get a huge amount in Aberdeen but enough for me to get excited and for it to look Christmassy. I went for a bike ride on Sunday and this was the scene. On Friday night we got hit by Storm Arwen which was fierce […]
-
COP 26 climate rally Aberdeen 2021
We went to a COP 26 climate rally outside Marischal College today as part of the Aberdeen Cycle Forum contingent. Gavin Clark who is chair of the forum gave a very good talk about the importance of active travel in solving the crises and the depressing lack of infrastructure in Aberdeen. Will politicians act or […]
-
Banned from the photo for my views on helmets
Yesterday we were invited to Duthie Park for a COP26 photoshoot. My contact with Aberdeen Climate Action invited me along as a representative of Aberdeen Cycle Forum so I took my cargo bike because it always looks good in photos. When we got there the photographer took exception to the fact that I wasn’t wearing […]
-
Starstruck
We did something a little bit different today. We went to the ballet. The Scottish Ballet is performing Starstruck and they’re visiting Aberdeen this weekend. It’s the first time we’ve been to the theatre since the pandemic began and it was so nice to go out again. It’s also nice to support the arts which […]
-
Refillosophy
Refilleries are popping up everywhere in Aberdeen; soon we’ll need two hands to count them all. A refillery is a type of grocery store that allows you to refill containers with food and cleaning products as a way to reduce single-use plastics. It’s heartening to see there’s increasingly more choice for consumers because it means […]
-
Helen Bur art in Aberdeen #nuart
I was very excited to see this art by Helen Bur on the side of a building in Aberdeen. It’s terrific. The couple in the scene are friends of hers who have recently had a baby. You can watch a timelapse of her creating it here – Time-lapse of artist Helen Bur creating the last […]
-
Cooling off in the Dee
The temperature has reached a top of 26C today. I think this is the hottest temperature I’ve ever felt in Aberdeen. We had no choice but to cool off in the river. We cycled up Deeside Way a short way and walked down to the River Dee near Allan Park. There are some nice swimming […]
-
Gull dinner party
I baked another dud sourdough loaf which I threw onto the back lawn. A colony of gulls swooped in and demolished it all in less than a minute. Before the gulls arrived some local birds had a go. I got this one brave bird feasting right in front of Victoria our cat. I’m not sure […]
-
Bon Accord Baths
I visited the Bon Accord Baths today: a previously council-run indoor swimming pool in central Aberdeen, constructed in the 1930s in Art Deco style. The council closed the pool in 2008 and since then the building has become derelict. The council tried to sell it in 2015 and amid a public outcry at potentially losing […]
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
rachel.blog 