Tag: Aberdeen
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Seal on the banks of the River Dee
On his walk yesterday Ben saw a seal on the banks of the River Dee and took these great photos and video. We sometimes see seals swimming in the Dee but this is the first time we’ve seen one sun-baking on the bank. This part of the river bank is quite busy with people walking…
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Snow in April
I planted sweet peas outside last month and whenever I plant out sweet peas in March it snows in April. Sure enough, the snow came on Monday and each morning we’ve woken to a winter wonderland. Here it is this morning. There’s more today than on Monday or Tuesday but it feels warm so I…
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A new crochet jumper
I made myself a jumper. The diagonal lines are deliberate; it wasn’t me stuffing up 🙂 I got the pattern on Etsy and it’s quite an easy one to follow and a relatively quick project. The daffodils are starting to flower here. Apparently Aberdeen has 11 million daffodils and I can believe it. They’re everywhere.…
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Moscow-on-Don
The Zoology building at the University of Aberdeen is being used as a film location for the film Tetris which is set in the cold-war era Soviet Union. They’ve been filming all weekend and closed off part of Tillydrone Avenue so we went to check it out. This is the Zoology building at the University…
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Ice-skating at Duthie Park
Yesterday was skiing on Deeside Way and today was ice-skating at Duthie Park. I feel like I’m living at an alpine sports village. It was -8C last night and the model boating pond at Duthie Park froze. Daniel, Scott, and I went down for a skate at lunch. A photographer from the Press & Journal…
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Cross-country skiing on Deeside Way
It snowed a bit more overnight last night and Aberdeen put on a brilliantly crisp and sunny day for us. Rather than going for my usual run around the park I decided to try some cross-country skiing on Deeside Way. A few years ago we all got some cross-country skiing gear from the second-hand sale…
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New tourist attraction at Duthie Park: carnivorous snowmen
It has been snowing all day today and there’s more to come tonight. I feel like I’m living in an alpine ski resort. Elizabeth and I went sledging again during a break today. It’s good having kids because that gives me an excuse to sledge. I don’t think I could go as an adult alone,…
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Wild and windy February day at Torry battery
Everywhere in Scotland has been getting massive amounts of snow except for Aberdeen. One family in Moray couldn’t even get out their front door there was so much snow. All Scottish ski fields have more snow than they’e had for years, probably decades, and yet they’re all shut because of covid and we can’t leave…
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A dream come true
Today was a good day. It has long been a dream of mine to ice skate outside in a natural environment and today I ticked that off my list. Aberdeen has had several days of sub-zero temperatures, freezing the water in lakes and ponds. We found what is really just a puddle of water on…
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Moonwalking on ice
One of the ponds at Duthie Park has frozen, partly defrosted, and then refrozen over the past few days to create a strange effect where it looks like there’s chunks of ice floating in the water but actually the entire surface is frozen solid. On our walk today we saw lots of children walking on…
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The snow gods delivered
The plague is raging through the British population faster than an anti-vaccination conspiracy theory on Facebook. I can’t see lockdown ending at all until a significant proportion of the population has been vaccinated. But it’s not all bad: today the snow gods brought snow to cheer spirits and get people outside into the fresh air.…
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Elrick Hill
Being confined to Aberdeen, or within 5 miles of the boundary of Aberdeen due to covid restrictions, has stymied our walks in the countryside quite a bit. But it has forced us to look for hidden gems close to home and Elrick Hill is one such place. I’d never been here before but it was…
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The Nightingale Hospitals and snow at Drum Castle
We are in tier 4 covid restrictions here as is most of the UK as the sick in hospital reach record numbers. At the start of the pandemic the government was following its pandemic playbook which had been written in the years/decades leading up to 2020 but specifically for a flu pandemic. The plan included…
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Lebkuchen for lunch
I dreamt last night that it snowed and in my dream I woke up and looked out the window to see Santa skiing down a nearby hill. I got up – still in my dream – and had breakfast but by the time I’d finished eating all the snow had melted. When I really did…
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Aberdeen Art Gallery and the BP Portrait Award
I took the opportunity to visit the Aberdeen Art Gallery today. I still haven’t been since it reopened to the public late last year after 4 years of redevelopment and £34.6 million. It will shut tomorrow afternoon for Christmas and then remain closed for as long as we remain in Tier 4, so I thought…
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Two countries and their Christmas strategies, the 5-mile boundary, and Manifesto
One of my coworkers lives in Italy and he told me they’re going into lockdown from December 24th – 27th and then again from December 31st – January 3rd. This is the opposite of what’s happening in the UK where everyone is in lockdown now but we’re free to meet other households from the 23rd…
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Abedeen in tier 3 for Christmas
For the second time this year we’ve had to cancel a holiday due to covid. We were due to go to the highlands on Monday for 6 days to self-catering holiday accommodation but they’re moving Aberdeen into tier 3 on Friday at 6pm which effectively puts a fence around the city for everyone living here.…
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What’s Rachel been up to lately?
I’ve had less time to write lately. I’ve been trying to do four jobs – my paid full-time job as a product manager for Creative Force, my role as campaigns secretary for the Aberdeen Cycle Forum, my work for Aberdeen Climate Action on their websites, and a new project I’ve taken on to help address…
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Street lego art
I was walking around central Aberdeen today and found this crumbly building that had been patched up with lego bricks. Those colored bits are lego. Here’s another photo, zoomed in. There are even some lego doors and windows there. It’s very clever. Just around the corner from the lego is the Aberdeen market and the…
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O Christmas tree
We put our Christmas tree up last weekend. It’s the same timber tree we use every year that we bought in the UK several years ago. Unfortunately the company appears to have gone out of business now but we love our tree. The lights are up in the city centre and they’re very pretty, especially…
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