Tag: photos
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Pigeon photos
I was forced to upgrade my phone recently as my old one no longer supported security updates, which meant I couldn’t use it for work. On the plus side, the new phone has a superior camera so I’ve been having fun photographing the pigeons as you can see. Here’s another selection from this morning.
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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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Freedom for Agnes the string foot pigeon
We released Agnes this morning back at the same place we found her. Her wounds were healing nicely and it was clear she wanted to leave as she has been trying to squeeze through the bars in the dog crate we have her in. I don’t think she enjoyed our hospitality very much. She must…
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Return to the hills
School is finished. Daniel is home. All Elizabeth’s termly activities have come to an end and I’m basking in the peace and slowness that have returned after such an eventful June. We took advantage of nothing happening this weekend to walk up Scolty Hill, something we haven’t done for too long now. On the way…
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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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First year of university done
Daniel has finished his first year of University. We drove to St Andrews today to help him pack up his things and cart them all back home. We had a full car load! I believe overseas students have to pay to put their belongings in storage over the summer. Daniel took us on a lovely…
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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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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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New Year’s Eve 2025 and Elizabeth’s 16th birthday
Happy New Year and welcome to 2026. I hope the new year brings peace to places of conflict and health and happiness to those of us lucky enough to live in peaceful places. We had a new year to remember. It was Elizabeth’s 16th birthday on New Year’s Eve so it was a double celebration…
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Balmoral Castle in winter
It was a stunningly beautiful day at Balmoral Castle today with clear skies above a crisp, frozen landscape filled with the colours of nature. The temperature may have got up to 0C. I’ll let the photos tell the story.
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Honka Hut in the Ballochbuie Forest
We went for a lovely walk in the Ballochbuie Forest on the Balmoral estate today. We love these forest walks as they have a nice mix of forest, waterfalls, scenic views and beautiful old bridges. Today we added a new destination with a visit to the Honka Hut which was a gift from Finland to…
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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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Day 2 in London
Our second day in London started with more walking. Elizabeth and I wandered around before her school trio officially started at Somerset House for ice-skating. First we walked through a little park next to the Thames called Victoria Embankment Gardens. It was a lovely oasis in the middle of lots of tall buildings and bustling…
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An adventure to London on the sleeper train
Elizabeth and I are back in Aberdeen after a little adventure in London. She had a school Christmas trip there yesterday so we decided to go for a couple of days to have a look around. To add to the adventure we went down on the Caledonian sleeper train and it was pure luxury going…
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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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Daniel goes to St Andrews
We installed Daniel into his living quarters at the halls of residence in St Andrews today and spent the day gathering the necessities including the traditional red gown, worn by students at the university since the 1600s. He looks very smart in it. The gown – we’re calling it a Wizard’s cloak – is not…
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A family walk at Finzean and a visit to the farm shop
We went for a lovely walk in Finzean yesterday with a visit to the Finzean Farm Shop. Finzean is pronounced “Fing-an”. The z replaces an old letter than no longer exists and has an ng sound. Finzean is such a pretty spot to walk as it has a good mix of forest as well as…
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