Eats plants
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… Continue reading New Year’s Day 2022
A friend of mine started cycling around Aberdeen with her young children during lockdown when the roads were quiet and they've continued even now the roads are busy again. She inspired me to try the same with Daniel and Elizabeth because although I have cycled with them many times around Aberdeen, they always sit in… Continue reading Cycling to Aberdeen beach … with children
It's Friday already. I don't know where the week has gone. We're getting so many strawberries just from our backyard right now. They almost spread like weeds here. This is what I picked when I went out this morning. Aberdeen is going through some very exciting changes. On an almost weekly basis now the council… Continue reading Strawberries galore, in the paper, and changes afoot
I cycled to the beach today and It was nice to see vast empty scenes along the waterfront after the crowded images that emerged from Bournemouth last week. I would like to say it's because Aberdonians are very sensible people and that is certainly true but I think the difference is really more to do… Continue reading Aberdeen beach
We dragged the children out of the house against their will and walked to Torry Battery today, an artillery battery that was used as a defensible barracks for Aberdeen from 1860. It is now a ruin but a nice place to spot birds and dolphins in Aberdeen harbour. I think the kids are enjoying quarantine… Continue reading A walk around Aberdeen harbour to Torry battery
Daniel was invited to a birthday party today and much to my disappointment it was at a trampoline place by the beach. I dislike going to the beach in Aberdeen for two reason - 1) It's a bugger to get to by bike. There's no good route and I'm always stressed and worried about large… Continue reading Aberdeen’s beach and veganism is mainstream
Elizabeth was invited to a birthday party today at Laser Tag which is by the beach. We don't go to the beach very often because it's a bugger to get to by bike but we survived the traffic to make it there in one piece. To be fair, all the motorists were very good and… Continue reading Sunday at the beach
We spent the weekend in Findhorn which is a small, coastal village about a couple of hours north-west of Aberdeen. Findhorn is an interesting place because since 1957 it has been home to the Findhorn Foundation which is a spiritual, eco-community of several hundred people. Visitors from all over the world come to Findhorn to… Continue reading Findhorn, Scotland
Yesterday we checked out Knockhall Castle, the doer-upper which is currently for sale at £130,000. I think it's over-priced because there's very little land with it. The surrounding fields are all owned by someone else and not for sale - although I have heard the owner is open to the possibility of selling them. However… Continue reading Castles, seals, and Spiderman
It's tough when your kids don't have any friends at school. That has been the case for Daniel until this year. He was put into the wrong year when we first arrived and was the youngest in his class both in age and maturity. The children were all nice to him but they didn't view him… Continue reading Making friends at school and cycling in the rain
A couple of years ago I swam at Balmedie Beach. It was March and so I just missed out on being able to say I swam in the North Sea in winter. We're currently staying at a secluded spot up on the Fraserburgh coast an hour or so north of Aberdeen and so I decided to… Continue reading I swam in the North Sea in winter
About 16 miles north of Aberdeen is a little village called Newburgh. We went there for lunch today, to the Newburgh Inn. The food was terrific. I highly recommend it. They put on a typical Sunday roast pub lunch but there were a couple of options for vegetarians. I had a chick pea and sweet potato… Continue reading Newburgh seal colony, Scotland
We went to the beach today and I took some photos. Can you see all the ships on the horizon? The next photo is a building at Castlegate in Aberdeen. It's quite striking and is, I think, what is called an example of Scottish baronial architecture. It looks very Aberdonian to me and contains nothing exciting at all… Continue reading The beach in Aberdeen
I find it quite extraordinary that French police are demanding women remove clothing when lying on the beach. Have they gone completely mad? It seems like half the world wants women to cover their flesh and the other half wants them to expose it. Can we just let women wear whatever they want? As an Australian… Continue reading The Burkini ban
Another Saturday and another children's birthday party at Codona's by the beach in Aberdeen. Last Saturday we also went to a children's birthday party at Codona's and I found the bike ride there incredibly stressful. This Saturday I took a different route and it was just as hard. I even cycled the wrong way down a… Continue reading Blue poppies
More rain today and so more cycling in the rain. This time to the beach. I was tempted to go in for a dip but I didn't have my bathers with me. Ben's thinking, "What on earth are those giant cotton reels behind me?" I have a new rain coat which got drenched. I saw this… Continue reading More cycling in the rain
On Sunday afternoon we cycled from Duthie Park to Torry Battery. The city side of the River Dee was almost entirely off-road cycle paths which is fantastic. After crossing the river at the Wellington Suspension Bridge - which is exclusively for pedestrians and cyclists - it's all on-road unfortunately. The first part is also particularly… Continue reading Cycle ride to Torry Battery
We had a superb day today. We booked one of the Co-wheels cars to try out and went to Balmedie Beach where I went for a swim in the North Sea. We drove one of the electric cars parked very close to our home. We have a swipe card which unlocks the car from 5 minutes before… Continue reading Balmedie Beach
I had to take my Thunderbolt monitor to the Apple store this morning because the camera is blurry and I can't fix it. It's still under warranty so they're going to replace the camera for me which is great. But are you wondering how I got a huge and heavy Thunderbolt to the Apple store… Continue reading The beach, Aberdeen
Remember how I said in my intro video that I'm no longer the crazy traumatised earthquake woman? How I'd moved on from that and no longer felt anxious about earthquakes? Well, I lied. I'm currently staying in a high-rise hotel in Hawaii that has a bit of a CTV-building look to it. At least, it… Continue reading Honolulu, earthquakes, and films
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