Tag: health
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A vision for King Street, Aberdeen
Earlier this year I applied for and received funding for the Aberdeen Cycle Forum to commission two visualisations of streets in Aberdeen with a bike path. One of them has just been released. It’s for King Street and extends the King Street Design Competition we held by taking the winning designs and turning them into…
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Mass bike ride in Aberdeen on Sunday 28th April
The Aberdeen Cycle Forum is organising a mass bike ride on Sunday 28th April at 11am, starting from Marischal College. This is part of Scotland’s Pedal on Parliament 2019 but this year is a little bit different because the usual Edinburgh ride which attracts thousands of people is not happening. Instead the focus is on…
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How to be a healthy vegan
Climate change is spawning a mass vegan movement in a way that concern for animal welfare never did. Animal Liberation was written in 1975 and until the last few years, veganism was a fringe movement with a bad reputation. Its impact has been small and slow. But this has changed with rising concern for the…
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Beetroots, beans and bikes
We went to the allotment today and the kids harvested a couple of beetroots. The allotment is giving us beetroots, tomatoes, broccoli, kale, and herbs right now. The other crops have either died away with the cooler weather or have been harvested already. We have an abundance of kale which should see us right through…
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The road to hell is paved with chocolate and cars
I can’t resist temptation. Buy me a block of chocolate and I’ll eat the whole thing in one day. Replace my bike with a car and I’ll drive everywhere becoming fat and lazy. This is why I don’t have chocolate in the house and don’t own a car. I have no willpower and I don’t…
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Recap of the Sustainability Festival in Aberdeen
I had a great day at the Sustainability Festival in Aberdeen yesterday. I was there with Hoss, my new e-cargo-trike, and lots of literature from Cycling UK. The very lovely Fiona from Cycling UK also came to lend a hand. I was amazed by how many people had not heard about the campaign for a…
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Worst invention ever
I’ve heard designers say the customer is not always right because if Henry Ford had asked his customers what they wanted they’d have replied with, “A faster horse.” I disagree. The car is the worst invention in the history of all humankind. Some 3,287 people die every day in road crashes and more than half…
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Cargo bike options for older kids and adults
We’ve had Busby our bakfiets for almost 5 years now. He has been a fantastic investment and I’ve got so much use out of him. However for the past couple of years I’ve struggled as the kids are bigger and heavier than they once were. The hills are much harder than they used to be…
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Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen
I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with Daniel. I never had to take insulin and it went away after his birth. Oddly, I didn’t have it during my pregnancy with Elizabeth and I say oddly because usually it gets worse as you get older. Most women who have the disease during one pregnancy…
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The helmet brigade strikes again
There’s an article in the Telegraph that has got me all riled up. I’m not going to link to it but the headline is something like, “Teenager seriously injured because he wasn’t wearing a bicycle helmet”. Why do people think it’s ok to shame cyclists for not wearing helmets? Do they do the same to…
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No pain, no gain
I caught a taxi home from the train yesterday. It was a very short trip and one we usually walk but I had Ben’s backpack (he walked straight from the train to the University) in addition to my own. Nevertheless I felt bad about sitting in a car when I could have easily walked. I…
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Porridge with peanut butter
Last Sunday we went to Bonobo for brunch and I tried their Bonoboats which is porridge made with peanut butter. I was a little skeptical at first but it exceeded my expectations so I decided to try making it at home. Here’s what I got at Bonobo: Here’s what I made today at home: Ok, so…
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A weekend of vomit
I cleaned up lots of vomit on the weekend. On Friday night I was woken by the sound of Elizabeth wailing from the bathroom. I found her sitting on the toilet surrounded by a pool of vomit. Why couldn’t she have vomited in the toilet rather than on the floor next to it? I suppose…
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Is there anything kale can’t do?
The author of the book, How not to die, has some terrific lectures online. He’s very entertaining to listen to and knows his stuff. This particular talk is about the best way to avoid death. It goes through the leading causes of death starting from heart disease and by analysing the latest research demonstrates how…
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WordCamp Edinburgh 2017
I’ve been in Edinburgh all weekend for the Edinburgh WordCamp, which was hands-down the best WordCamp all year so far. It rained all weekend but that didn’t make the city any less beautiful and nor did it dampen the spirits of all the attendees. The venue was right beneath the castle and it was inspiring…
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Sainsbury’s vegan mac and cheese
Sainsbury’s reported earlier this year that sales of their newly launched vegan cheese exceeded expectations by 300%. This is not bad at all considering the vegan market has always been viewed as small and somewhat niche. I decided to give their vegan macaroni cheese a try. It’s a ready-made meal for one which you heat for…
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What Traffic Fumes Do to Our Children
I copied the following factsheet from George Monbiot’s blog, Car Sick. He is encouraging people to share it: I've written a simple factsheet for schools and parents on what traffic pollution does to children. Please share: https://t.co/DFSDmUIQUX — George Monbiot (@GeorgeMonbiot) March 6, 2017 I shared it with our local primary school on Twitter in the…
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Turkey neck and gardening
I’m trying to reduce the amount of sugar I eat, partly for health reasons and partly for vanity. I’m starting to notice the wrinkles more and more and – dare I admit it, a turkey neck! – and sugar ages you. I’ll never be able to give up chocolate but sugar sneaks into things that don’t…
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Rain tent for a cargo bike and homeopathy
For a little while now I’ve been lusting after a new bicycle. I currently have my heart set on a Triobike. The main reason I want a new bike is because the kids are getting too tall to fit under the rain tent in Busby. However Bakfiets, makers of Busby, recently released a taller version…
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Fish antibiotics
Mum has been ill this week with a headache, sore throat, blocked sinuses, cough and just generally feeling miserable. She wanted to see a GP and after my experience trying to get an appointment for Dad when he was here I was not hopeful. It seems I was right to feel this way because every place…
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