February 2023

It has been a busy month. I’ve been dealing with rounding off a few work projects, and taken a couple of trips.

Early in the month I headed down to Kirkcudbright for the weekend. My parents are back from their trip to New Zealand, so it was nice to have them spend some time with Jack. He has changed so much in the last month, reaching, looking and scanning the room, and making lots of babbling noises. Every day is a treat.

Gordon was in the area and marathon training, so I joined him for 5km of his half marathon route.

I took a walk to Barhill woods with the family and we saw some red squirrels. The local community has built a hide and pond there. There were lots of birds too.

I hosted another EdinburghJS meetup, this time at CodeClan. It was a great evening, and nice to be in a sociable venue. Thanks to Diego and Allan for their talks, and Natalia for helping out with the admin. Next month we are back at CodeClan for talks on WebGL and text/Machine Learning. Please do RSVP on Meetup. Developers of all skill levels are welcome.

We took a fun trip to Glasgow - Harriet and Jack spent the evening with Amy, whilst I headed to see Hundred Reasons + Hell is for Heroes with Gordon and Aileen. I haven’t been at the Barrowland for a long time - it was nice to be back! The gig was excellent, and it was nice to run into some familiar faces. I’m looking forwards to the next HR/HiFH gig in another five years.

This month I read The Rise and Decline of Nations, Mancur Olson, and finished Terry Pratchett’s Thud.

I have also been working my way through An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler. The book is about food, cooking, using leftovers and joy. We’ve made a real effort not to waste food this month, so I’ve switched to occasional last-nights-broccoli toast for lunch. A wee bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and a dash of lemon. Perfect. I have not finished the book yet, but I’d already happily recommend it to anyone with an interest in the joy of cooking.

Harriet’s parents came to visit late in the month, which allowed us to pop round the corner to the Steel Coulson Southside. A lovely little pub. Worth a visit if you are looking for something low-key and traditional.

The final bit of news for the month is that Harriet and I are planning a trip to Aus/NZ in April/May. We’ll be in Sydney for a couple of days mid-April, Wellington, travelling through South Island, then Melbourne for a week before heading back to see in June and enjoy summer in Edinburgh.

See you next month for another update!