Month: July 2018

All roads lead to Black Rum – 21 July 2018

Posted on by Zogman

The trouble with being retired is you don’t get a weekend.

We got the bus in to Glasgow today because by the time we got up after reading in bed for an hour or so, it was too late to go to Perth or Embra. We could have gone to Stirling, but Glasgow was better because we could get the bus there and have a drink with our lunch.

Lunch was at Romans in Candleriggs, a new pizza place along the same lines as Paesano. A great barn of a place that was totally empty when we went in. That’s not a good sign. To make up for the bus journey we had a glass of wine each and two of the best pizzas we’ve had outside of Italy. The base was exceptional, thin and crispy as it should be. That’s the big failing of Paesano pizzas, according to Scamp, it’s floppy bottom! We both agreed that the tomato sauce in Paesano was better, but overall, it was very good. We’ll be back. I think the only problem is the lack of footfall. When we left, no other customers had appeared. It could be the dull exterior or the location, but other places on the street were thriving, so that’s unlikely. Only time will tell.

Bought myself a new pillow because the old one has suddenly lost all its shape and I’m getting a pain in my neck (not to be confused with BEING a pain in the neck) and I’m blaming it on lack of support when I’m sleeping. Again, only time will tell.

Back home I tried unsuccessfully to order AppleCare for the iMac. The Apple website is so difficult to navigate if you’re buying anything ‘insignificant’ like the £160 AppleCare insurance. It’s almost like they don’t want you to buy it. I wonder why. I lost count of the times I got to a page where an Access Denied. Worst of all, there is no way to complain or explain the problems I’m having. Well, there is a page that allows you to write down your problem, but the small print tells you that although they ask for your email, they will not contact you. Why ask for your email then? I may try again, possibly over the phone, but really, Apple you need to look into this. Even the best companies make mistakes, but the biggest mistake is believing you are faultless.

Today’s PoD was a grab shot in the garden of a new batch of violas to replace the ones burned to a frazzle by the hot June sun.

Soaked away my AppleStress with a glass or two of Kraken black rum, we both did. Black rum and Coke. Watched Chas & Dave on Jools Holland and they were really good! Then we watched Pretty Woman (1990!) on TV. Couldn’t believe I’d never seen it before. Went to bed, that means Saturday’s blog was written on Sober Sunday, because two (large) black rum & cokes is not conducive to good spelling or grammar!

Turning the Tables – 20 July 2018

Posted on by Zogman

Found some woodwork to do for a change.

Scamp was off visiting one of her old friends out near Denny which left me with nothing to do and all morning to do it. It was raining for a change, so cycling was out. I could have gone to the gym, but that didn’t hold any fascination for me, so I started to tackle a bit of homework that’s been on my to-do list for a long time. My dad had an old folding card table, beech framed and covered with a green baize top. I’ve used it as a computer table and a painting table for years now, but the baize was torn and peeling off and the top was sagging in the middle. It really needs a new top and a new piece of green baize. Today I stripped the green felt off then carefully removed the hardboard top. That left the rebate in the top filled with the glued on felt. It took me over an hour, working with a couple of chisels to cut, pare and scrape the felt off. Then I had to decide what to do about the top. I’m still not sure. It really should be replaced, but I’m thinking it might be an idea to use plywood in place of hardboard because it is more stable. Went to price 3 or 4mm plywood in B&Q. I need a piece 503mm square, but the biggest offcut they had was only 450mm wide. The only other option was a 2m x 0.6m sheet at an exorbitant price. I’ll have a look around. Maybe I’ll be able to find an off-cut down the Barras. Anyway, the hard work is done now, just the reassembly to do.

Did think of going over to St Mo’s to see if anything wanted its photo taken, but the day was unispiring with little directional light, so it was a last minute garden safari instead. It secured me PoD which is a flower from one of my Ambassador pea plants.

No plans for tomorrow. It’s forecast to be a better day than today, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Two wheels good – 19 July 2018

Posted on by Zogman

This morning I was going to do my quads exercise on two wheels.

It was a beautiful morning again and warm too, so cycling shorts and a cycling top were the fashion of the day. Pumped up the tyres and set off in pursuit of some photos and some exercise. The physio had suggested ten minutes of cycling at a steady pace of 90rpm. I don’t have a cadence meter on my bike computer, so I just pedalled at my usual rate which is probably nearer 80rpm and kept going for about 20 minutes. Went off road on to a track for a mile or so and stopped when the track ended. Took a few photos of a hover fly and one of the Two Amigos, the two beech trees that used to be Three before the storm earlier in the year. About turned and cycled back on my circuit. Stopped beside Broadwood Loch to grab the shot that would become PoD, someone’s lost dummy! Back on to the bike and home. About an hour all in. Not all cycling, probably about 40mins. Leg felt ok, in fact he cycling seemed to ease the nagging ache that had arrived in the night.

It was lunch time when I got back and after that Scamp stated her intention to go to Asda, and as the road to the town centre is closed for a few days, it was actually easier to go to Robroyston. The fact that Robroyston also has a Watt Brothers store, one of Scamp’s favourite shops, had nothing to do with her decision to visit that Asda. After shopping (and a visit to Watt Bros) we went for a coffee then came home. It wasn’t long after we got back that we noticed a lot of police activity at a house across the road. It became a bit more serious when a couple of folk in white Tyvek suits appeared. We’re still not sure exactly what happened, but it’s not looking good. Police have now gone, but I’m sure they’ll be back tomorrow and the rumour mill will have answers, at least one of which will have an element of truth.

After dinner Scamp decided there was just enough warmth in the sun to give her just cause to sit in the garden for an hour. I wasn’t so sure, in fact, the cool wind that was blowing from the west was all the encouragement I needed to finish my reading indoors.

Rain is forecast for tomorrow, heavy rain, so we’ve got buckets ready in the garden to catch every drop we can. Rain is so much better for plant than tap water, they say. It’s certainly cheaper!

Needles and Spins and Lasers – 18 July 2018

Posted on by Zogman

Combinations and permutations, that’s what it’s all about.

Out to the physio this morning and after probing the knee and watching my reaction, he pronounced that he felt it was on the mend. I hope so because it’s been nagging away all week. Not painful as such, just a nagging ache. He thought a bit of Laser would be good to start with and promptly pressed the goggles on me and gave me 5 minutes of Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. I have no idea what that means, except it’s painless. After that, he stuck some needles in me and left me to rest for ten minutes. When he returned, but he didn’t remove the needles, no, he had a better idea. Another 5 minutes of Laser. (You now know what it means now. Feel free to throw this acronym into conversation with all your friends.) Except, this time working in and around those terrifyingly sharp and thin needles. Finished with another ten minutes of relaxation when I was encouraged to move and bend my knee. I don’t know what part of it did the magic, or if it was a combined effect, but the ache was gone and it remained gone for almost the rest of the day. Another exercise to add to the the two I’ve already got. This one to strengthen the ‘quad’ muscle in my thigh. Felt so much better walking out of the gym. Oh yes, and either I cycle or I go to the gym a couple of days a week to strengthen my leg muscles too. I’m going to be a busy boy this week.

Home for lunch and then in to Glasgow for the first two dance classes of the day. Hoping I wouldn’t undo all the good work the physio had done, I cautiously attempted the first five spins. The solemnity with which they are described hints that they should be called:

The First Five Spins

Anyway, we covered them quite well and as there were only two couples, it was really intensive tuition. Michael wasn’t there, so it was Anne Marie who was taking the classes today. When it came down to the waltz, my nemisis, I felt sure the knee would crumble under the pressure, but despite having to spin on my left (weak) foot, there were no twinges. Brilliant. The dancing wasn’t brilliant, but now it was really personal tuition as we were effectively the only couple being taught. I think I finally cracked that awkward ‘natural turn’.

Today’s PoD was a grab shot in George Square. Poor Jimmy Watt from inventor of the Watt Steam Engine to Toilet for Shitehawks. No wonder his hair is turning grey!

Paella for dinner then Scamp offered to drive in to the STUC building for salsa. Thanks for that Scamp. I enjoyed being a passenger tonight. I have to admit that I did feel some twinges after two hours of salsa, but that was after a total of three hours of dancing today, so it’s pretty good. Tonight I put my feet up for a while and watched TV. I’ve still to do another session of my Quad Building which I will do after I’ve posted this.

Tomorrow we may go to Perth.

Getting Cooler – 17 July 2018

Posted on by Zogman

It was cooler today, but we didn’t notice.

The weather machine and the forecasts were saying that it was cooler today, but we were working inside all morning. Lots to be done before August. Maybe it was JIC’s phone call last night that brought everything into sharper focus, but we both realised that time is marching on and we’ve two rooms to make liveable. Scamp was doing sterling work in the front room, even managing to get the bed down to air it. I was doing some restoration work to an old painting of mine that I gave to my dad. The painting was attached to the mat (frame) with masking tape and over the years the tape had vulcanised and allowed the picture to slip out of place. I’ve been meaning to fix it for ages, so today was the day. It’s now back hanging on the wall with the painting fixed with old fashioned gummed tape and the frame re-assembled. I’ve also got a big bag of rubbish to go to the tip this week. Progress!

While I was in a painting mood, I took today’s PoD which uses a tiny wee canvas and easel I got from Jackie in Skye. It took ages to do as I couldn’t find either of my two tripods. Eventually I settled for the big Manfrotto which I knew was in the car. It’s a bit clumsy for the little E-PL5, but it does the job and is very stable. I liked the result.

After lunch, things took a down turn and not a lot of work was done. I read a couple more chapters of The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale. Quite a strange story Hazy. One you might enjoy. No good for you JIC.

Dinner was simply tortelloni from the Giovanni Rana range served with parmesan and olive oil. Tortelloni, by the way, is just like tortellini but larger.

Busy day tomorrow with a visit to the physio in the morning, ballroom dancing in the afternoon and salsa at night. The latter two on the premise that the physio gives them his blessing.

A day out in the Clacks – 16 July 2018

Posted on by Zogman

Nothing to do with communication systems in the Diskworld

A Monday without Gems and also without Salsa is a strange thing, but so it was today. We were going out to explore. I thought, as it was a fairly bright sunny day we should go for a walk and suggested Gartmorn Dam near Alloa.

It’s well signposted almost from the Clacks (Clackmannanshire) bridge but when you turn off through a housing scheme, not an estate, a scheme – it’s different. When you turn off you have to run the gauntlet of the slalom through the cars and vans parked both sides of the road, with the added interest of the speed bumps. It would appear that the locals are no fans of the speed bumps either as many of them have been removed by some clever folk who have access to the special spanners used to fix them. I can see why. Speed bumps are a deterrent when they aren’t on your own territory, then they are just a nuisance, so it they are demountable, demount them. Once you get there, it’s actually a really pretty looking pond. It appears that nobody knows exactly when the dam was built, but the estimate is some time around the start of the 17th century. It’s a decent size with a good path round the 3mile perimeter. We didn’t actually walk all the way round today, although we walked about half way round the last time we were here, about two years ago and almost the same again on the other side of the reservoir today, so that’s us been all the way round by my reckoning. Today’s PoD shows the view across the reservoir to the Ochil Hills.

On our way round we found a dilapidated sunken garden that was in real need of some TLC. Hmm the ‘cooncil’ can afford to put in speed bumps that nobody wants, but they can’t afford to look after a garden. We watched a young couple paddling an inflatable dinghy on the reservoir. A cleg found me and sucked a bit of my blood, the last meal it had before being flattened. We watched two wee boys jumping off a filter in the reservoir with increasingly innovative dives, egged on by no less a person than Scamp. We drank some coffee, although to give mine the name coffee was a misnomer (it was a Babyccino with something brown added for colour.) We had a couple of lovely fruit scones and Scamp managed to tear a hole in her tee shirt on a rose bush. Most of all, we had a great day out, except for the cleg bite and the torn tee shirt.

Came home and the sun was still shining. I intended taking my bike out for a run while Scamp pruned the rose at the front door, but I lay down and had a snooze on the couch instead, waking up just in time for dinner.

Now that was a good day out.

Tomorrow we have no plans.

The day that the rains came – 15 July 2018

Posted on by Zogman

It rained today, on St Swithin’s Day.

It hasn’t rained here for almost a month, then, today it rained. It was St Swithin’s day. If it rains on St Swithin’s, it’s supposed to rain for forty days. I suppose my shorts can go into the washing basket now along with the tee shirts and the short sleeved shirts. Might as well get the Bergy jackets looked out and the wellies. I should really start to sandbag the doors front and back to hold back the torrents. However, on looking on the bright side, I can put away the garden hose almost until September! If you believe the superstition, that is. What if you don’t? Does that mean it won’t rain on you? Will you have a little invisible umbrella shielding you from the downpour that’s soaking all the ‘believers’ ? I’ll go with that view. I’ll be an unbeliever, even if it means I have to keep watering the garden.

It was good to see the rain today, even if it wasn’t all that heavy. It was good to see the streets looking black again. Good to see the soil soaking up the moisture. I even put on my ‘rainy coat’ and went for a walk across to St Mo’s just to say I’d been out in it. The ground had that lovely smell of rain on dry earth that only comes after a long, hot, dry spell and the rain wasn’t cold. I even wore my shorts to better feel the warm rain. I managed to get some shots of a damp Soldier Beetle sitting on a Cow Parsley head and remembered that my mum used to call Cow Parsley, Dug’s Flourish. I never did find out why, but when I Googled the english version ‘Dogs Flourish’, back came confirmation from a few places on the Central Belt of Scotland, each with different possible reasons for the name. What’s in a name?

Under Scamp’s tutelage I cooked some stew using a combination of her mum’s and my mum’s methods. It worked, of course. With that lineage, how could it fail. That was dinner tonight. Something simple and homely. For me, Potatoes, Stewed Steak and Calabrese which is a variety of sprouting broccoli. Scamp substituted Ratatouille (or Rats) for the Stewed Steak. Both seemed to go down well, resulting in clean plates.

The rain persisted almost all day but is fading away now as darkness falls.

Don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow. No dancing because it’s Glasgow Fair Monday and although nobody bothers with ‘The Fair’, the STUC building is closed because it’s a local holiday. Old habits die hard.

What a Gay day – 14 July 2018

Posted on by Zogman

Today we were going to Glasgow on the bus to watch the Glasgow Pride procession.

We decided to be extra lazy today and get the X3 in. That mean the least amount of walking for me. Had the traditional coffee in Nero with a shared apricot croissant to give us the extra burst of energy to fortify us for our walk around the streets. When we left Buchanan Galleries I spotted a neat bit of graffiti on the billboard for Victoria’s Secret. Well, the secret is now out Victoria. You just want us to “Buy ‘Hings” which translates to Buy Things for those of you living outside Glasgow.

With a photo in the bag, I could relax a bit and we walked down to Argyle Street – me to go to Millers Art Shop and Scamp to go to Next. Neither of us parted with our hard earned money and we met up again. As well as going to Millers, I’d also enquired of some multicoloured rainbow people where exactly the parade would be starting from and was a bit concerned when they told me they didn’t know. Hmm, this didn’t sound good. However, we needn’t have worried, the police van with blue lights flashing and the balloon truck behind at the far end of Argyle Street was a dead give-away.

The parade was a lot bigger this year, with an estimated 12,000 walkers, paraders, weirdos and general hangers-on. Right at the front was Nick the Chick (AKA Sturgeon). Scamp said Nick smiled at her. If she’d smiled at me I wouldn’t have been broadcasting that snippet of news. We watched it all from start to finish. Just about 45 minutes of lunacy, but good humoured and colourful lunacy. Contrast that with the Orange Walk last week which is also lunacy and colourful lunacy, but hardly good humoured. As well as the PoD there are some photos on Flickr of the procession and some of the characters, therein.  In total I took 361 shots today.  Most of them were taken in ‘motordrive mode’, where you just keep the shutter button pressed and hope for the best.  It works most of the time.  I’ve whittled those 361 down to 60 usable shots of which 5 made it to Flickr today.  Maybe I’ll post some more in the coming week, all being well.

After I bought a couple of watercolour paints, we went to Zizzi for lunch and were both disappointed with the quality of the food, but the two glasses of wine we had were lovely, although each of us preferred our own different choice of wine. Maybe it’s because it was white wine we were drinking instead of our traditional red, but we both agreed they were refreshing. Contrast that with two insipid pasta dishes. Oh well, a lesson learned. Should have gone to Sarti’s much better to go to a small restaurant than a chain.

Just managed get seated on the X3 going home when the bus left the stance. Good timing for once. Sat in the garden when we got back. Scamp finished off the remainder of a bottle of red we’d opened the other night and I had a bottle of cider. It was comfortably warm with a nice welcome breeze. Looks like there will be a fair amount of rain tomorrow. At last.

Don’t expect we’ll be going far tomorrow, but we’ll wait and see.

Pizza, roses and new specs – 13 July 2018

Posted on by Zogman

Out at midday to catch up with Val.

Coffee in the usual place and an hour or two of chat, then back to pick up Scamp for a visit to Simpson in Larkhall to pick up new lenses for Scamp and new specs for me. Couldn’t decide on dinner and finally opted for pizza, home made of course.

After making the dough, I knew I had at least an hour to wait for it to prove before I could start, so that was as good an excuse as possible for a seat in the garden under a partly cloudy sky to read and drink a glass of wine. We even got a chance to use our Garden Scotland glass holders. Took some photos of flowers and things in the garden and the Ruby Wedding rose got PoD.

Pizzas were made and consumed and basically that was it for a warm Friday with just the hint of dampness in the air. I did detect a couple of tiny spots of rain on my Kindle, but it didn’t come to anything.

Tomorrow I think we’re going to Glasgow to see the Gay Pride march. It’s been quite an ‘interesting’ show for the last two years. Hopefully the rain will stay away for another day.

Only half a day – 12 July 2018

Posted on by Zogman

I woke about 5.30 this morning and just couldn’t get back to sleep.

After I finally entered dreamland, it took me ages to find the exit. I felt really rough. My throat was dry and itchy and my head felt thicker than normal. It was Scamp’s turn to get breakfast, which was just as well. I ate my muesli, drank my tea, turned over and went back to sleep. Scamp woke me at 11 with another cup of tea and some toast. That gave me enough strength to go, get showered, get dressed and do my exercises (see JIC, even when I’m feeling ill, I do as the physio tells me). Feeling a lot better, I re-entered the land of the living around midday. Wandered round the garden and decided it was time for lunch.

After two boiled eggs Scamp drove us to Asda for the messages. We usually go to Tesco, but we went to Asda for a change. I used to avoid it because that’s where all the school kids went to shoplift shop. Now, after four years of freedom, I hardly recognise any of them and none of them seem to recognise me, thank goodness. Possibly they see me smiling and think “Nah. Couldn’t be him”. Laden down with goodies and not so goodies, we made our way back home.

The back garden, especially looked a bit in need of watering, so I unrolled the hose and gave everything a good blast. I didn’t have anything as a photo, so I took a walk to St Mo’s. It still strikes me as strange to go over there wearing a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. Unnatural. Found myself a PoD in the picture of a hover fly apparently egg laying. I was quite impressed with the quality of image from the Nikon and the Sigma 105mm. I also got a shot of a flower head set out in a pentagon. Most unusual. I didn’t notice what the plant looked like, but I’ll go back tomorrow with my plant book and try to find it.

When I came home I sat in the garden for a while before we had dinner, Stir Fry. After dinner we soaked up the last of today’s sun before we went in.

Had intended going to Embra at the weekend, but apparently there are to be rallies there complaining about Donald Trump being allowed to visit Scotland or to breathe air or something. Anyway, it won’t make any difference to DT and it would probably spoil our day, so we’re going to choose a different, non-DT destination.

Tomorrow the plan is to get up at a normal time, meet Val for coffee and then go to Larky to pic up our optical devices,