Tag: Scotland
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Omicron land
We’re living in Omicron land here with the new variant taking over as the most dominant in Scotland as of today. Things change so rapidly. Last month the UK was in the best position in Europe to manage the virus over the winter. Then Omicron arrived. I’m not so worried about getting sick although I’d…
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Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries
We’ve come to Dunblane for the weekend, a picturesque Scottish village in Perthshire, about 110 miles southwest of Aberdeen. The village is beautiful with lots of quirky shops and an attractive river running through the middle called Allan Water. There’s also a cathedral that dates from the 12th century. There’s a fake Banksy outside one…
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Knitting trail in Braemar
It has been a while since we last went out to the countryside and I was starting to feel the pull of forests and hills today so we drove out to Braemar for lunch and a hill walk. Braemar was looking beautiful dressed in autumn colours. We were also lucky to see a space-themed knitting…
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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…
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Cambus O’May Suspension Bridge
The kids and I went to the Cambus O’May suspension bridge today. Ben is snowed under with work and couldn’t join us unfortunately. The bridge reopened in April this year following major repair works after Storm Frank nearly washed it away back in 2015. It’s a beautiful Edwardian suspension bridge built in 1905 across the…
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Sunday walk at Crathes Castle
We haven’t been for walk in the country for a while. Saturdays are busy again with Highland Dance and Sundays is allotment day. Late this afternoon we decided to head to Crathes Castle for a walk. How many people who live in cities can decide late on a Sunday afternoon for country walk and then…
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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…
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Exclusively Highlands
Last Sunday we went to the Exclusively Highlands art, craft, and food fair at Kincardine Castle. This market travels around Scotland and sells exclusively locally made goods which is why I like it so much. There’s stuff there you can’t buy anywhere else and I always like looking at things people have made themselves. Kincardine…
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Levelling-up the animals
Growing up in Australia has given me a healthy respect for dangerous wildlife. Sometimes it feels like every animal is trying to eat or poison you which is unsurprising given the country has more animals with deadly venom than anywhere else. I find it funny how the same animal in Scotland is relatively harmless. It’s…
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Braemar Castle
Today we went on a tour of Braemar Castle, an L-plan tower house built in 1628 by John Erskine. It has a colourful history having been a hunting lodge, an important garrison after the Jacobite rising, it was attacked and burned by John Farquharson in 1689 and then a century later bought by another John…
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Ballochbuie forest and the Falls of Garbh Allt
The Ballochbuie Forest is a fine remnant of the ancient Caldeonian forest which once covered much of Scotland. It was saved from being felled by Queen Victoria in 1878 and is the first example of woodland conservation in Scotland. Since then subsequent generations of the royal family have protected it. It’s not hard to see…
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Swimming in the Clunie River
Yesterday was another warm day and we swam in the Clunie River in Braemar. It was refreshing, crystal clear, and home to lots of juvenile trout. The trout ranged in size from tiny to an adult that was at least half a metre long. They can live for 10 to 20 years apparently and are…
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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…
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Ripping the bandaid off
I had my second Pfizer jab last night. Aside from a sore arm and feeling slightly tired I haven’t had any other side-effects. I felt a bit tired after the first jab too and several days later developed a swollen lymph node under my arm on the side I was vaccinated. This went away after…
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Swimming at Potarch Bridge
We went for a swim at Potarch Bridge today. It was smashing and I realised that it’s the first time I’ve been wild swimming in summer in Scotland. Usually I just do the idiotic thing and submerge myself mid-winter for bragging rights. After all, what’s the point of doing something if you can’t brag about…
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Tomintoul
We went to the village of Tomintoul today. Many times we’ve driven through it and I’ve always thought it looked cute and wanted to linger but usually we’re en route somewhere and haven’t had time to stop. Today we made a special visit just to see Tomintoul. Tomintoul is about 60 miles west of Aberdeen…
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An adventure in Strathdon
There are two mighty rivers in Aberdeen: the Dee and the Don. Both start some 80-90 miles west in the Grampian Mountains and flow into the sea at Aberdeen. The Dee is quite well known thanks to Queen Victoria and Balmoral Castle which is in the Dee Valley. The whole area is known as Royal…
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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…
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The tropics of Scotland
I woke up at 2-something last night to go to the toilet, I looked out the window and it was still light! There’s just no dark at the moment which is ridiculous. It’s light when I go to bed, it’s light if I wake up in the middle of the night, and it’s light when…
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Picnic at Craigievar Castle
It was a very warm bank holiday in the UK today and since both the kids and I had the day off we went for a picnic and a walk. I’m not a fan of hot sunny days like this. Give me dull, muted lighting any day so I wanted a forest walk where we’d…
