Eats plants
We released three more hedgehogs into our backyard yesterday. We had four homes, all vacant, and Horace and Hortensia have integrated into the wider neighbourhood so we adopted Henry, Humphrey, and Hubert. These boys are a bit smaller and younger so they didn't roam as much and hung round our backyard more than the original… Continue reading Henry, Humphrey and Hubert
The UK is expecting a scorcher today with a possible high of 42C. This will be unprecedented if it gets this hot. Many people have asked how we're coping in Aberdeen but Aberdeen rarely gets hot and we've been hovering around 20C or just below the past few days. Today the forecast is for 25C… Continue reading Cool in Aberdeen
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… Continue reading Omicron land
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… Continue reading Levelling-up the animals
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… Continue reading Ripping the bandaid off
Ben got his vaccination letter today! It's for the end of next week. The appointment day and time is sent out to each person and you don't have to do anything other than attend on the day. It's very organised and methodical. They've been going from oldest to youngest and Ben's group is the 50… Continue reading Ben got his vaccine appointment letter
People aged 40-49 are to be prioritised for the vaccine in the next phase which means I could be offered my jab anytime from mid-April onwards. This is great news and much earlier than I was expecting. The UK has now given 27% of the population at least one dose. Source: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations The UK has… Continue reading I’m next for the jab, AstraZeneca vaccine cuts hospitalisation risk by 94%, and the South African variant
The UK has made so many mistakes during the pandemic. We started by following the flu pandemic playbook which meant our goal initially was to slow the spread but not eliminate the virus. Something which is too late to do now and perhaps unfeasible anyway. I also realise that no one expected vaccines to become… Continue reading A year of blunders
We got some very exciting news today. The home office emailed us to say: I'm sorry, Britain, but this means you're now stuck with us! I love living in the UK. I always have. As a 20-year-old I came here on a young person's working holiday visa and I knew then that I wanted to… Continue reading There’s no getting rid of me now
Oh dear. The world really is conspiring against me. I woke this morning to the news that Boris Johnson has hired Tony Abbott as a Brexit trade advisor. This is grim news indeed. The only good thing to come out of the last Australian election was the news that Tony Abbott lost his seat in… Continue reading The end is near!
The virologist and director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Peter Piot, gives a good interview in this podcast about his experience of catching COVID-19. He first began feeling unwell in mid-March but couldn't get a test. For reasons unknown to all of us the government was rationing testing at the early… Continue reading Who is responsible for the UK’s testing strategy?
I'm sorry if everyone is getting sick of reading about the pandemic but a paper was published in Science yesterday which is worth sharing. It's called Projecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the postpandemic period. This is important because there's been a lot of short-term thinking with sudden closures of schools and businesses but… Continue reading What happens next?
I've got aches and pains all over and am hobbling around like a wounded animal. No, it's not coronavirus. It's because I've been doing Joe's PE lesson at 9am with the kids each day. He live-streams a 30-minute workout for all the kids stuck at home and I decided to join in with Daniel and… Continue reading Lockdown updates
We are now in lockdown. I had hoped it wouldn't get to this but it seems people have not been obeying the 2m distance rule and so the government yesterday banned anyone from leaving their homes unless it's to go to work, get essential supplies (food or medicine) or go out for exercise. It is… Continue reading Lockdown with exercise #COVID2019
There was a good press briefing today with Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance in which they explain the reasons for the decisions the UK has made since the start of this outbreak. It starts at around 5 minutes. Chris Whitty explains the strategy, "The idea that we're going to put this virus back to… Continue reading Science press briefing #COVID2019
Ben is working from home starting today. After the Christchurch earthquakes, he was unable to access his office at the university for several months. This time he has had advanced warning and so yesterday he didn't leave the office until after midnight because he was packing everything he needs to work from home. The earthquakes… Continue reading University staff now working from home #COVID2019
I don't understand the panic buying. Do people not realise you can order groceries online and have them delivered? Anyone facing quarantine can still order groceries and have them delivered to their home. There's no need to buy stuff to last the duration of the quarantine. Also, you can't buy several weeks' worth of fresh… Continue reading Panic buying and the UK response to coronavirus
It was announced today that Scotland is going to be the first part of the UK to outlaw smacking. This is great news. New Zealand banned smacking in 2009 as has most of the rest of the EU. Australia, as usual, is years behind everyone else; you can still hit children there. I told the… Continue reading Smacking to be banned in Scotland
I'll likely be voting for Labour or SNP on Thursday. I haven't yet decided which party but I'm leaning towards Labour because I really like Jeremy Corbyn and I want him to be Prime Minister. He rides a bike, he's vegetarian, and he wears his mother's knitted jumpers. What more could you want from a… Continue reading Liar, Liar!
It may not be mayhem in the UK, not yet anyway, but I'm becoming increasingly alarmed by Theresa May. She started off with grand statements about equality and working for everyone but I've seen nothing encouraging since then and more cause for concern than anything else. One example was Amanda Rudd's recent statement about having British firms declare… Continue reading Theresa Mayhem
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