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Taking out the Garbage….

This post is all about Recycling and Waste Management – Do you do it?

We had a wee note through the post a few days ago, with a big red splodge across the top and telling me, in no uncertain terms, that from now on, our waste management team in Aberdeen is wielding a baton in the name of recycling, and will only lift one household, one bin waste from now on.recycling

In the past, being a household of 6, with one elder who produces a fair bit of waste, we had 2 bins, and that was never a problem. We’ve had to renew that now, as all previous allocations have been wiped, and we have to apply once more.

The note gave us a fair bit of a telling off, saying they believe our household presented more than one bin, and as Aberdeen City Council will only collect one bin per household each fortnight, they will not collect excess waste.  On top of that, they announced that if we presented our second bin again, it will not be emptied, and is likely to be removed.  That suggests the bin will be emptied to be removed, but that’s splitting hairs…..

The long and short of it, is that we need to apply again, to be allowed to keep our second bin, as Aberdeen recycle around 38% of household waste, but they want to do more.  On top of that, our 240 litre general waste bin is also going to be replaced by a mixed recycling bin.  I’m not sure how that is going to work, and I can imagine it will end up stinking, but a new recycling bin will be welcome indeed.

Currently, we have little black bins and paper sacks, that end up getting blown across the streets if there’s even the slightest breeze, so proper bins, that can hold up to anything apart from a gale, will be a good move.

We also have a brown bin for garden waste and food peelings/scraps, which we use a lot.  We can never wait for the kerbside collections though, as our box and bag get filled up quickly.  They really are quite small.  We use Household Waste Recycling Centres and drop ours off.  I quite like that our local council also provide us with food waste caddys and compostable liners, which do come in handy.

We all owe it to the landfill situation to do some recycling though.  This is what we do, and what we’re allowed to recycle up here.

Waste and Recycling Aberdeen

We can apply for an extra bin if we have:

  • 5 or more people living at home.
  • 1 or more people with conditions that produce extra waste.
  • 2 or more kids in nappies, and under three years old.

We can apply for an additional black bin if we use kerbsie recycling and the food and garden waste recycling services.  We might stick here as we use the recycling services separately and don’t use the kerbside service.  We drop all ours off.  Time will tell if they approve our need to have a second bin lifted at times.

There will also be a telephone assessment of recycling by one of their recycling officers.

To buy a second bin, if we don’t already have one, costs £35, but there are some conditions where it might be free.

Go here to download the additional bin application form

What we can Recycle

Kerbside & Recycling Centres

Paper, magazines, newspapers, leaflets, envelopes (without windows), phone books, brochures, catalogues.  Remove staples.  Cardboard, cereal boxes, egg boxes, toilet roll tubes and cardboard packaging.  The advice is to tear up cardboard and put it into the recycling bags here.

Some recycling centres also take clothing and shoes.

Black Box

Glass bottles and jars, including cooking sauce jars, jam jars, baby food jars, juice bottles, wine bottles and beer bottles.

Plastic bottles including drinks bottles with their lides, milk bottles with their lids, sauce bottles, shampoo and handwash bottles, cleaning product bottles and plastic lids.

Metal, including alumimium drinks cans, food tins, empty aerosols, aluminium foil, foil trays, metal lids, biscuit tins.

What NOT to Recycle in Household Waste

Batteries, pizza boxes, envelope windows, wallpaper, broken glass, drinking glasses, lightbulbs, pyrex sheet glass, marg tubs, yog pots, plastic packaging and carrier bags, crisp packets and food pouches, containers and wrappers, and lastly, no cardboard food and drinks cartons, ie think orange juice, soup and milk cardboard packs.

What we can do?

If you don’t already recycle, it’s probably about time we thought about it.  Saving the planet and all that. Leaving our kids with the rubbish of the previous generations is pretty garbage, so we do our bit.

Starting them young, means they get into the habit of recycling as they grow up, and it becomes second nature to them is a really good thing to do.  We do recycle, and I hope many of you do too.

 

 

 

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Our Go Ape Experience

We all know exercise is good for us…..right…  It should also be um fun…..right??????   Bwahahahaha.  I couldn’t not share this quickly on the blog.  I’m so proud of what I’ve achieved in the last year so far.

As if some of you hadn’t thought I was nuts enough to start running at my age, I accepted a challenge from Simply Health, to try out a new Fitbit Flex, and use it for activities locally.  We all need more exercise, don’t we?

I worried a little about my hands as they’re weak, but I’m not going to let that stop me.  Little did I know what I’d let myself in for.  Numpy, yes me, that’s what I am, really and truly.  Next time someone asks me to do something like this, bop me on the head, then tell me what a great thing it is to do.  I’ll believe ya – honest.  It’s good for me too.

The challenge they set, was to do the local Go Ape course at Crathes Castle, which is something I’ve never tried before, although I’ve watched my boys try out something smaller.  They had a blast, and it looked like fun.  I could do this……right?  Ya bet I could.  Maybe….

On what looked to be a really rubbish and drizzly, yucky day, we rocked up to start our safety briefing, in our recommended clothes, ready to get mucky and wet.  With gloves on, my hair tied back, and sensible shoes on, I was ready to go with a couple of my boys.  Thankfully the sun came out and it ended up as a pretty good day.

The experience of Go Ape, promises a tree top adventure, flying down zip wires, jumping off tarzan swings and high rope crossings in breathtaking woodland.  It’s a lot to live up to.  It also sounds painful for someone who wasn’t even a couple of flights of stairs fit not that long ago, but hey, even at my age, new things are worth trying.  If I can do it, then almost anyone can.  But….and you’ll have to read on……for where I needed a boost up…

Some others in the group in front of us were taking pictures of each other, very artfully, as they only had to hook themselves on and go, but as I’d two kids to supervise, and make sure they were hooked and unhooked on each time, I didn’t get time to take any shots at all, and had to make do with the ones from my other half’s phone.  We went last, as I’d two kids to keep an eye on, and it was just as well, as we seemed to take ages.

At the top of this slide, I looked down, checked sideways, saw some people watching and pretended to be not scared at all.  Not a jot.  Who me?  You’re kidding right!

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I got stuck at one bit.  I took one look at the Tarzan Swing, across to a cargo net and even my eldest said he was “shi****g” himself…  That didn’t make me feel any better, honestly…  Especially after hearing someone screaming when they did it ten minutes before us……  Having weak hands meant that I struggled to pull myself up on the cargo net after the Tarzan Swing.  My hands had almost had it, and pulling myself up to the platform was impossible, so one of the instructors had to give me a bit of a help up, which was fine.  I still had to do it myself, but with a little help from a pulley to take the pain away from my hands.  I am so glad I had gloves with leather palms on, or at this bit, I’d have struggled even more.  There was the option for a slightly easier route, but with boys being boys, they wanted to go the hard way, and mum being mum, and supervising, had no option but to go the same way… Duhhh…

The zip slides were incredibly more fun than I expected, even though I bashed my head on the second one by lying too far back as I dug my heels in to stop.  Just as well they have that soft bark on the bottom, or I’d have been spending the night in A&E.  As it was, my head sort of bounced and it was fine, but taught me to keep my head up on the next two…  Lesson learned….  Pretty quick…

The Go Ape experience, according to the internet, burns approximately 500 calories for a woman, so it’s a not too shabby way of getting some good exercise in there while also having some fun.  My shoulders ached just a little afterwards, but nothing major, although my hands might take a day to recover, but if you don’t have a touch of arthritis or anything in your hands, you’ll be fine.  I’m not sure that many other women my age would go swinging about like tarzan, but hey, we’re only as old as the things we do.  I’m nowhere near ready for the pipe and slippers…  Maybe when I’m 90!

Right, the Fitbit Flex.  Thanks Simply Health, for the lovely gift.

Fitbit Flex 1

This was easy to pair with my phone, and wearing it was quite simple, although it felt a bit strange being a little loose for the first couple of hours.  I used it to do a 5K on my treadmill to try it out, and felt oddly gratified that it showed 6.5K, on a par with my Apple Watch, when my treadmill hit the 5K, at around the same time as it takes me to do outdoors.    Bonus….I’m slow, but proving not to be as tortoise like as I thought I was on the treadmill.  Still plodding slow though.  I’m not kidding myself at all, uh uh…

This was my starting and end point today.  2062 steps before starting, and 5926 steps after it was finished, and I had food.  I was starving afterwards.  I could have eaten dry sawdust, I was that hungry.  I was going to say I could have eaten a scabby horse, but wondered if someone might actually take me seriously.  I wouldn’t eat horse, let alone a scabby one, and a scabby one, I’d be more likely to feed me to, as I’d feel so sorry for it.

Anyway..

The calories on this throws me a bit, as it states calories up to that point in the day, rather than for the whole day upfront.   I ate 991 calores by 5.15 and it said I was 429 calories over for the day, which is deceiving at first.   I quite like that it monitors sleep.  I’ll need to get my youngest night own to wear it and see the quality of his sleep.   He’s a dreadful night owl.

At first, I took one look at the active minutes, and went huhhhh……  Only 9 tiny minutes, heartsink…after three hours swinging about like Jane hanging from the rafters!  Then I realised it only records spells where you’re active for more than 10 minutes at a time, and with spells in-between activities, it seems to have cut out for each one.  Gutted…but makes sense.

I’m a gadget girl, so I was always going to like this anyway.  I’m a sucker for electronics and I DO like the steps it counted for the treadmill.  Not that I’ve already told you that of course.

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So, the short story is, that getting more exercise can be fun.  Give it a go, you won’t regret it.  Even my eldest actually enjoyed it, and getting any 15 year old to enjoy a family activity isn’t as easy as making a custard pie…… Result all round..

Thanks to Simply Health for the Go Ape Experience and our Fitblit Flex

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Child’s Book Review: Max Goes To School

A new book has been published that provides a lasting tribute to a fantastically courageous schoolboy who lived in Aberdeen.

Sadly, Max lost his life at the very young age of 11, which is the same age as my middle special needs child.  I didn’t know Max, but I can understand that it would be so difficult to think of something that would provide a future memory, so I applaud Max’s family for finding a special and personal way to share his life in a fun and happy way.

Max had a serious heart infection that led to a aneurysm after being diagnosed with DiGeorge syndrome as a child.

Despite surgery within a few weeks of birth, Max Lechner lived a full and happy life.  He attended Cults Primary School where he was a popular pupil and friend.

The book is called “Max Goes To School.”

Max Goes To School

When it arrived, my youngest child immediately picked it up, read it and chuckled all the way through.  The book was written by Max’s aunt Nicky Bakonyi and the pictures were created by Michael Mucci.

Darcy Bussel CBE, said “You will fall in love with Max, a child who will, without fail, make you smile, and a personality you will never forget.

The book was launched on the 28th August by family and friends of Max and is a very light hearted story of a typical day with Max playing the leading role.

It is a children’s book and is a really good read and is very appropriate for all children as it is really a lovely, funny and heartwarming tale all the way through, from Max chasing his pet mouse Bertie to wolfing down a huge stack of pancakes.   I wonder who Mr Smithereens is, and if he is happy with his cartoon character !!

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The book is funny, it’s clever and it’s a great story that will appeal to all children.

The proceeds from the book will be divided among four good causes.

  • Max Appeal – giving support to those with DiGeorge syndrome.
  • Ronald McDonald Home – accommodation at Yorkhill and other children’s hospitals in the UK and around the world.
  • Yorkhill Children’s Charity – supporting Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow where Max received specialist tratement.
  • Humpty Dumpty Foundation in Sydney.

With all our support and buying a book that would be a great Christmas stocking filler, the book will support children in the chosen charities.

The book is available at Waterstones and John Lewis in Aberdeen and can be easily sourced in the North East and Glasgow.

To buy online, the book is available from e-bay for £5.99, or find out more information about Max at www.maxgoestoschool.com

It’s really really good and hopefully it is the start of a whole series for our kids to enjoy.

Disclaimer:  We were provided with a copy of Max Goes To School but were under no obligation to write about it.  I’d like to thank the PR for the book as it is actually very lovely and it is well appreciated by us.

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Featured Post: Going online for the first time is scary for over 50’s.

The confident woman standing in front of me posed first to the right and then to the left.  I stood with my camera in hand and giggled while I took her pictures and smiled at her ability to laugh once more.

My friend found herself alone in her early fifties with three young children when she thought her life was mapped out in front of her.

Lorna was devastated when her husband upped and left just before Christmas a couple of years ago and she just got on with things.

Although she stayed in Aberdeen, she moved home and slowly began to rebuild her life.  I’ve long admired her for her ability to get through the tough times and she’s emerging brighter, better and more confident than I have ever seen her before.  There are times that I look at her and I have no idea how she does it all.

Lorna recently decided that she doesn’t want to be alone for the rest of her life and that’s a revelation for her.  I never thought I’d hear her saying that she was ready to move on, but where on earth do you start when you are over 50 and up in the North East of Scotland – which is really more like a little village than a big city to the locals?

She’d started going out now and then in the town, but found that she was being propositioned by what she thought were married men just out to see what they could find for the evening.  She wasn’t ready for a relationship and was just out once a month to get out of the house.  She found herself putting back on her wedding rings so that the men who approached her would think she was a married woman out with her friends for an evening.  I’ve not been in town in the evening for well over a decade, and I’ve been married for nearly two, so I’m well out of touch with how the town or dating scene works these days.  To be honest, the thought of dating scares me silly nowadays and I’ve enjoyed just sitting back, relaxing and listening to her adventures from a safe place.

I think she found it hard going as having young children and being a single mum is really not something you want to publicise in case it attracts the wrong kind of person, but neither does she want to lie.  Some ads in the paper saying things like “single mum of two under fives” are not what she would be comfortable doing, and we think that is just like waving a honey pot at a bee.  The hotspots for singles over a certain age are looked at more as a place to go for a laugh than actually find a new partner so that is out of the question.

There have been lots of conversations around what she would do if she finds someone she wants to meet, and she slips the odd sentence in here and there when she is talking to the kids.  It’s only something simple like “now if I’m going to meet a new partner, I’m going to have to get my hair, my nails and my face lifted.”  They all laugh and are very relaxed about it.   I’ve no doubt her kids will find it tough if she does find a new partner, but they’ve accepted her ex-husbands new partner with ease.  It’s a big worry for her and she’s trying to slowly get them round to the idea that at some point in their lives, they may meet a new male role model.

The world is different now to when we were younger and single.  The Internet that dominates most of my daily life seems to have taken the place of socialising, even up here in Scotland.  For me, that would be easy enough, but Lorna is different and as technologically challenged as you can get.  Just looking at a computer is enough to set off a hyperventilating attack, but for the sake of her kids’ futures, we’ve been spending some time getting her used to using a computer and not to be scared of one.  I also hoped that she would become interested in online dating, as a few of my other friends had mentioned using the site eHarmony.co.uk to find themselves a partner.

We started slowly by just getting e-mail, then moved on to some searches on Google.  She’s not there yet, but she is slowly becoming more proficient with her computer and looking for more ways to get her enmeshed in the online world. She’s still frightened of the Internet as she inches forward into the anonymous and challenging world online.  She realises that using computers will become a regular part of her daily life as she helps her kids to grow.

She’s begun talking about mixing online with dating which is a new angle for her and one that I am sure she will come too soon.  The social media aspect of the Internet is one that I am comfortable with, but she is not.  She resists Facebook and Twitter and no amount of persuading her that timelines and chats will be dictated by her has made her comfortable with it.  I can see that I am never going to be able to share my blogging or twitter addictions with her, but she’s realised that the online world can open up a world that she would never reach as a single mum bringing up her kids alone. Not only will online dating give her the time she needs to build her confidence, she can tailor her search to meet like-minded people who are also looking for dating in Scotland.

I wish her the best of luck, as she’s doing a fabulous job.

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This is a featured post and payment was provided, but the content is real.

 

 

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Nurse Suspended for Protecting Boy in Aberdeen

I read the news this morning, and I really couldn’t believe what I was reading.

The Scottish Daily Express reported that a community nurse was suspended for taking a boy aged between 3 and 5 and keeping him safe.

She had spotted him jumping in and out of a car but with no adult around.    She had an appointment, so left a note on the car to say where they were and went round the corner, taking him with her.  A few minutes later, the boys dad showed up to pick him up.  He was grateful to her for looking after his boy, as he had been away from his car longer than he anticipated.

Now apart from the dad being one massive idiot, it’s not an uncommon thing for parents to leave their little kids in cars to pop to shops.  It might be silly, or reckless, or any number of things, but parents still keep on doing it.  This boy had got himself out of the car and was jumping around near a busy road.

According to the report the nurse had “displayed serious failings in child protection.”

The article says that she stayed with the boy for a while, but being late for an appointment round the corner, she felt she had to go.  Rather than abandoning the wee boy, she took him with her for a couple of minutes.

It also said that she told her bosses what had happened, and then the police were involved and she was signed off work and not allowed back.    She was handed a 6 month ban and will have conditions imposed when she gets back to work for 18 months, until “she is deemed to no longer be a risk to the public.”

Yes, I know there are societal rules to follow when we deal with the public, and no, perhaps she shouldn’t have taken the wee boy to her next appointment and should have phoned employer and police instead, but her sense of justice in not being late for a client is the same sense of decency that she displayed by not wanting to leave the boy alone, or have her client think she hadn’t turned up.

I also know that there are ways that the medical profession are probably told to deal with protection issues, but for heaven’s sake, in an emergency, surely there should be a little leeway and sense to allow a good Samaritan for taking care of a wee one that could have put himself in danger.

It was a bit silly to take the boy away from the car, and yes, she should have called the police, but in the heat of the moment, sometimes we just have to trust in other people.  Common sense has to prevail somewhere in this.  I can’t see how any of it makes her a potential risk to the public.   Possibly a disciplinary matter for removing from scene and taking to a client, but danger to the public is a bit strong.

No wonder so many people just walk on by and leave ill people or lost kids to their fates.

 

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Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. Best of British Show in aid of The ARCHIE Foundation – 25th May 2012

I’m happy to host this guest post from the fashion management students at my old Uni, The Robert Gordon University, who are raising money for The ARCHIE Foundation for children.

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Since it began in 2008 the annual charity fashion show at Robert Gordon University has raised tens of thousands of pounds for deserving charity foundations.

Now into its fifth year third-year fashion management students are hoping they can raise more money than ever before.

On the night of May 25th the Aberdeen Business School will be transformed on to accommodate 400 guests for what is hoped to be a marvelous and memorable evening of fashion, shopping and entertainment, with The ARCHIE Foundation being the sole beneficiary of the show.

This year’s show takes on the theme ‘Best of British’; rather fitting in the year of 2012 which sees both the Royal Jubilee and the London Olympic Games and plenty of patriotic celebrations along with them!

Catwalk themes including the British seaside, countryside, music, sport, people, designers, royals and the traditional tea party will showcase the very best of British style, and what’s more guests will be invited to enjoy a whole host of other entertainment on the night too.

Alongside the fashion catwalk there will be some fantastic on-stage performances and the opportunity to indulge in some of Britain’s finest foods and not to mention lashings of cocktails too!

Guests will have the chance to browse and buy within a unique shopping area dedicated to hosting a variety of local retailers; from fine wine to fashion there is something for everyone.  To add to the mix there will be a both a silent auction and a prize raffle on the night too.

With everything from cocktail mixology sessions to designer handbags, restaurant vouchers to fitness memberships, there are some fabulous prizes up for grabs and plenty of chances to win. With all proceeds going to The ARCHIE Foundation the students are determined to raise enough money to make a considerable contribution to the charity and its work.

As the official charity of the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, the Children’s Wards in Inverness and Elgin and Community based Child Health throughout Grampian, Highland, Orkney and Shetland, the ARCHIE Foundation is dedicated to making a difference to the lives of sick children through providing state of the art medical equipment, specialist staff, funding into research and of course lots of toys too!

The ARCHIE Foundation is so incredibly deserving of financial donations.  Its work really is invaluable to sick children and their families.

With the aim of surpassing last year’s total of £11,000 the third-year Fashion Management students have been up to all sorts in order to raise money in the lead up to the show. We’ve had our measuring scales and mixers out to host bake sales on campus, and we’ve put our creativity to the test too with kids’ crafts and face painting at the Bon Accord.

We’ll be proving our knowledge with a special Best Of British pub quiz, be doing supermarket bag packing and we’ve been out and about in the pubs and bars of Aberdeen promoting the show and collecting donations too all whilst planning what is sure to be the biggest night in Aberdeen’s fashion calendar.

The Best of British Fashion Show will be held on May 25th 2012 in Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, and Garthdee Road, Aberdeen.

Tickets for the show are priced at £15 each, or for VIP ticket priced at £25 guests will receive special goody bag, front row seats and access to the exclusive VIP room, and are available by contacting:

fashionshowrgu@gmail.com

We announce all of our exciting news and fundraising updates on Facebook and Twitter too:

Facebook

Twitter

We also have a Just Giving page where online donations to The ARCHIE Foundation can be made:

Donate to The ARCHIE Foundation

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Aberdeen Beach

We tried to find a way to amuse the kiddos on Tuesday, which saw us visit Transition Extreme. It is a skatepark for BMX’ers, skateboarders and climbers

My boys need to do the training before they are allowed to enter the park, so it was disappointment all round as I booked them in for next week as there were no slots left for this week.

Leaving TA with dejected faces, I took them to Codonas. It has long been the little carnival that is resident in our little home City.

I’m sharing some of the pictures of the only sunny day we’ve been privy to for three weeks now.

Beware.. When you buy a Codonas wrist band for the day, you get a ticket entitling you to a free kids meal for every adult meal purchased. When you try to order it, you are pointed to a large board with a corrected statement that says you only get a kids main course.

They refuse to honour the ticket.

Apart from that, it was a lovely afternoon for the boys.

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Saving Education Services in Aberdeen – Cuts for ASN affect ALL Children

I’ve become aware of a campaign running to save services for ASN in Aberdeen.  What I have read so far is almost unbelievable.    Being a parent of ASN, this is something that affects me daily, and is an issue that affects all children in every class when PSA’s are taken away.

I am not yet sure of the full extent of the cuts, but I will be planning to find out by tomorrow.  In the meantime, I am aware that even such a small thing as putting a link up to the petition being run, might in some small way, help with this campaign.

Here it is:

Save ASN Services Petition

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/41203.html