Tag: winter

  • Skiing in Aberdeen

    Skiing in Aberdeen

    We had another glorious day in the snow today. My mum is visiting and here she is getting into the spirit of the day and throwing snowballs at the grandkids. We got out our skis and went into the park to practice. Even Granny had a go. It was snowing quite heavily. You can see…

  • Winter wonderland

    Winter wonderland

    We woke up to a glorious winter wonderland this morning which was followed by a lovely sunny day. I cycled to Newton Dee like I always do. It wasn’t slippery but it was hard work cycling on the snow. There was lots of resistance; a bit like cycling on the grass. I was grateful for…

  • Ice on the River Dee

    Ice on the River Dee

    There are big chunks of ice on the River Dee today. I took pics. It’s very pretty.  

  • Winter swimming

    Winter swimming

    We went to St Cyrus beach for a swim today. My sister-in-law is visiting and she has a penchant for icy showers and swims in freezing lakes in Switzerland. The photos make it look like a warm summer’s day but it’s actually winter here and the water temperature was 7°C. I’m preparing myself psychologically before…

  • Strong, fit, and healthy

    Strong, fit, and healthy

    I love Saturdays. I feel so strong and energetic right now and the weekend is my time to get outside for some physical activity. Today I have been particularly active having spent my morning hefting huge bags of grit salt up the hill to the church. Several months ago the city council invited people to…

  • It’s 4C and I’m hot

    It’s 4C and I’m hot

    I love our Saturday bike rides to Highland Dance for Elizabeth followed by lunch at Newton Dee. My bike told me it was 4C: But I got hot from the exercise. I feel so happy after a bike ride. We’re so lucky to live somewhere we can cycle all year round. I love feeling the…

  • More sledging bloopers

    More sledging bloopers

    These were taken last weekend. All the snow has gone now and we probably won’t see it again until next winter. It was fun while it lasted. No one was injured in the making of these videos. Me speeding down the hill …. or not. Daniel speeding down the hill and falling off. Daniel speeding…

  • The Beast from the East

    The Beast from the East

    We haven’t been as badly affected as other parts of the country by the extreme weather. We’re close to the sea which always helps to moderate the temperature but we also haven’t had the huge snow drifts they’ve had elsewhere. No one is panic buying food and it hasn’t been particularly cold. That said, we’ve…

  • First day of spring

    First day of spring

    I’ve never seen so much snow outside our front door before. Aberdeen is looking gorgeous this morning for the first day of spring. I flew back to Aberdeen from Nice yesterday afternoon and I’m very lucky to be here. All other airports in Scotland were closed and all BA and Flybe flights in and out…

  • A winter person

    A winter person

    I didn’t want to leave Ballater today. It started snowing heavily this morning and it was the kind of snow that settles for a few days; the best kind of snow. The flakes were huge and dry and it wasn’t windy or particularly cold. The snow followed us all the way back home, turning to…

  • An almost frozen pond at Duthie Park

    An almost frozen pond at Duthie Park

    After a very mild Christmas the temperature has suddenly plunged. There were a few flakes of snow today and the pond at Duthie park is starting to freeze over. It’s funny how enthralled the kids are by a bit of ice. It won’t be cold enough to freeze the River Dee. I took this photo…

  • Ice-skating at the Christmas markets

    Ice-skating at the Christmas markets

    Sometimes life feels like Groundhog Day. Has it really been a year since we went ice-skating at the Christmas markets? We went again today and it felt like we just did this yesterday but it has been a full year. I love ice-skating. What I like most is the physical activity without all the sweating.…

  • Winter wonderland

    Winter wonderland

    We’ve been so lucky with the snow so far this winter. It’s another winter wonderland outside this morning. Elizabeth told me that when she sees all the snow outside it makes her feel good. I know exactly what she means because I feel happy when I see it too. Here’s the bike path today: There…

  • Snow in Aberdeen!

    Snow in Aberdeen!

    Yesterday there was lots of snow in Aberdeen and the Martin household was jumping with joy! It’s very pretty when it snows. There was much excitement in the school playground with snowballs flying in all directions. Somehow I managed to avoid getting hit. Today was a different story. It rained on the snow yesterday afternoon…

  • Perthshire for Christmas

    Perthshire for Christmas

    We’ve taken off a bit early for the Christmas holidays; we’re spending it in the very lovely Perthshire. Here are a couple of pics from the drive today. We just managed to squish everything into the Co-Wheels car, including Creeper. There was a dusting of snow today which made the landscape look beautiful. Perthshire is…

  • Frozen

    Frozen

    We had our first frost last week and there’s another heavy frost this morning. I went outside to take some photographs. It’s very pretty. I used to miss frosty mornings like this when we lived in Auckland. Here are my cyclamen surrounded by frozen leaves. Can you see the pink flowers? Despite the frost in…

  • How to keep your feet warm in winter

    How to keep your feet warm in winter

    I get cold feet. I’ve tried lots of things like wearing thick socks and sometimes two layers of socks. I have lots of good winter boots but still I get cold feet. This afternoon I had cold feet and decided to crochet myself a pair of leg warmers. I haven’t owned leg warmers since the…

  • More snow in Aberdeen

    Most of the snow melted yesterday but then it snowed again overnight so there are beautiful scenes outside again today. I wish we had more days like this each winter but I guess Aberdeen is too close to the sea and the mercury mostly hovers above 0°C over the winter. Still, I really love the…

  • Snow in Aberdeen!

    Last night I decided we were going to book a car today and drive in search of some snow. But when I woke up and looked out our bedroom window this is what I saw: Finally the snow has come to Aberdeen. Yay! The summer house in our backyard: I think the gnome in our…

  • Snowdrops in my garden and the Christchurch earthquake

    The days are getting noticeably longer again. It seems to change very quickly from light to dark as winter sets in and then from dark to light again as winter draws to a close. Last November, the days grew shorter surprisingly quickly. You could see the difference from one day to the next. Now, in…