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Sitting in the sun – 10 July 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was up early to go to the hairdressers. I didn’t need my hair dressed, so I stayed at home.

Scamp returned home looking wonderful and without a hair out of place not long after I started today’s Wordle et al puzzles. She had about an hour free before her next appointment, this time with Isobel.

When she had left to meet Isobel, I took one of our folding seats out to the front and read another chapter of “Stone and Sky”, the latest Ben Aaronovitch book. It’s probably the most confusing Rivers of London book I’ve read so far. I keep thinking I’ve read it before, but I haven’t. Sometimes it reads like a Young Adult book, sometimes it’s Police Procedural. Sometimes it’s about fairies and unicorns. Always it’s worth reading and now at book ten in the series, it’s getting complicated, but I know it will mostly all turn out fine in the end.

It was hot today. Not just warm, but hot. I think the maximum temperature that was reached was just over 25ºc which is hot for Scotland. Tonight the weather fairies were warning us that it’s going to be even hotter tomorrow. I don’t think I can take much more of this heatwave nonsense!

After Scamp returned with all the gossip from her meeting with Isobel, we had lunch and Scamp went in to Gardener mode and I just kept out of the way. Eventually I decided to take a walk to St Mo’s and get some photos. There didn’t seem to be too much insect or animal activity, so I headed down past the back of St Mo’s school and found today’s PoD waiting for me. As far as I can see the mating insects are Five Spot Burnet Moths, but what is the creature below them, breaking free of its cocoon? Another Burnet Moth perhaps? It doesn’t look like one. Maybe some clever person will be able to ID it.

Dinner tonight was a salad with baby potatoes, beetroot, feta cheese, prawns and lettuce. I’ve probably missed something out, but you get the idea. We washed it down with a half bottle of Bijou white wine. Highly recommended!

And that was about it for today. A hot day due to get even hotter tomorrow. Speaking about tomorrow, we’re hoping to go out for dinner with our pals in Larky.

 

 

Things to do – 9 July 2025

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It’s not often I have a list of things to do in the morning, but today I had.

I was up and showered early(ish) this morning and drove to the health centre to book an appointment for my annual check-up along with the inevitable blood letting. Just for a change I got a pleasant receptionist who actually helped me without any of their usual harrumphing. It won’t last, I told myself. The next time I come in, it will be Gort the Alien. Anyway, I got the appointment for the blood letting and for the dreaded meeting with one of the sisters. I don’t know if there are any doctors in the health centre now. It seems to be run by the receptionists and the sisters or the nurses.

Relieved that one of my tasks had been completed, I drove on to Tesco, Big Tesco as it’s known in the town. Every time I shop there, I feel that things have been moved and even the direction arrows have been rearranged to make it more easily accessible. At least that’s what we’re told, but I think they just do it to ensure that you walk the longest distance, searching, always searching for that lightly seeded brown loaf or the pot of flat leaved parsley that used to be in the same section as the leeks, but which has now disappeared completely. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve seen others like me wandering the aisles with the same blank look as me. However, today I did find almost all the items that were on my mental list (I’d left the physical list at home). Feeling fairly please that I’d managed to get most things on my list and therefore ticked the second box, I drove home.

Back home, Scamp was repotting some of yesterday’s plants and pruning others. I decided I’d tidy up the Rhododendron by removing the old flower stems. It’s a fairly easy task and I’d already cleared half of it a week or so ago. The bush looks so much better now it’s done.

Later I took my A7ii fitted with a 50mm f2.8 macro lens and proceeded to photograph a few flowers in the back garden. My favourite, and PoD turned out to be a close up of a wild orchid. I used manual focus with Peak set to medium and Red. That was a note to self, as I’m sure you guessed. Just in case I look back at the photo some day and ask myself how I took it! Simple.

Dinner was a mixture of pastas with mushrooms, tomatoes and onions, with a squirt of tomato paste and half a tin of chopped tomatoes. A typical “what have we got in the fridge?” dinner.

Tomorrow, Scamp is booked to go to the hairdresser in the morning and I’m intending to read in bed.

Out for a spin – 8 July 2025

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Just a run round old haunts.

We spoke to Hazel on a bright sunny morning. We had a good blether about people we knew and books we’d been reading. Caught up with what the foxes were doing, which was appropriate, because foxes were playing a big part in my book today.

Once we were all up to date with each other, Scamp and I struggled and complained about Wordle and all its hangers on. We seem to do nothing but moan about the links the setters find for the morning puzzles, but we still do them religiously, every day.

We both agreed that the weather was too good to waste sitting in the house and we went for a drive over to Gouldings Garden Centre in Rosebank partly to have a spot of lunch and partly so Scamp could ogle the plants on display. Scamp had Mac ’n’ Cheese for lunch and I had what was advertised as Chilli con Carne. I’m not so sure there was a great deal of Carne in the Chilli. There did seem to be a little bit of sugar in it though, which was strange. Scamp said her Mac ’n’ Cheese was a bit sweet too. Hmm were Gouldings kitchen trying to mask something in their lunch menu? Maybe.
When we were leaving with a handful of plants each, I bumped into an ex-teacher, with his wife. It’s been ages since I’ve met him, but he hasn’t changed … thankfully.

We drove along Clydeside for a while and then turned off, heading for Kirkmuirhill and found ourselves behind a slow moving tractor on what was in effect a single lane road. It was a slow crawl through Auchinheath to Kirkmuirhill where eventually the tractor turned off and we had the road to ourselves. Eventually reaching Lidl in Larkhall where we got a flowerpot for one of the new plants and a bottle of Hortus gin for me. I think Scamp enjoyed the run in the country and so did I. We’ve now gathered a few more plants for filling up borders and replacing older ones.

I took a camera and a 50mm f2.8 macro lens out for a walk when we got back. Got a couple of decent shots among the many I took. PoD went to a Cucumber Spider wrapping up its prey. The spider is easily recognised. It’s bright green with a red spot on its bum.

Tomorrow I should book my annual bloodletting at the doc’s, since they asked so nicely, and there may be plants that need a new home.

 

Sunshine! – 7 July 2025

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At last we had a day of sunshine with no rain. Hopefully it will stay around for a few days before we start begging for rain again.

Fred phoned me this morning just as Scamp and I were heading out to get the messages and Scamp insisted I take the call. We had a long blether about friends and the stupids who run the health centre. Thankfully Fred didn’t get a chance to sidle into his favourite subject, Politics. Just a blether.

When Scamp returned and I brought in the bags from the car and we had lunch. After that, Scamp started planning changes to the back and front garden. Some plants aren’t doing very well and need to be moved to cooler positions, while others that need more sun are being sent to the front garden. It’s a constant cycle in a garden.

Just exactly on time, a box arrived from Parcel Force. Most unlike them to be on time. Inside was a new battery for the small Dyson cleaner. They really know how to make things easy for you. I took out three screws, removed the old battery and replaced it with the new one. Done and dusted in less than five minutes. Why can’t everything be as easy as that?

Later in the afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s, mainly to test out an old lens I’ve had for years and hardly used. It’s a 16-35mm f4 Sony and although it produces decent images, I don’t use it enough, so it needs, like the plants in the garden, to be moved somewhere else. I’m not sure yet if it’s going to go, but it’s a possibility.

It was quite warm, but windy today which meant it was difficult to get the picture of the day to sit still long enough for me to get the photo I wanted. Eventually after about a dozen shots, I got what I wanted. The photo is of a Soldier Beetle sitting by itself on the head of a Cow Parsley plant. I liked the ‘bokeh’, the out of focus blobs in the background.

Scamp made dinner tonight it was a simple meal of trout fillet with Cornish potatoes dressed with a salad of lettuce, apple, shallot, pepper and tomatoes. All very like what Simonne made for us last year, down in Dent.

Well, the sun is still shining and the skies are blue. I think you could say we got our wish today. Tomorrow we’re intending going looking for Parsley plants for the planter in the garden.

Repetition – 6 July 2025

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Different day, but same rain.

The rain wasn’t torrential today, and it wasn’t even continuous, but it did seem as if it was raining every minute of the day. Actually there were times when the sun shone brightly, but behind every cloud there is RAIN. My son and his wife are almost praying for rain down in the south, and we are trying to get rid of ours for a few days.

Genesis summed it up in the song Mad Man Moon (1976)

“… Within the valley of shadowless death
They pray for thunderclouds and rain
But to the multitude who stand in the rain
Heaven is where the sun shines …”

After lunch, Scamp and I sat and watched an absolutely crazy British F1 GP and, as I followed those twenty odd folk driving through the blinding rain of a thunderstorm, I thought again of those lyrics. Was it worth it I wondered? I lost count of the number of cars reduced to scrap in a couple of hours. However, I must say I was glad to see Piastri being taken down a peg. That was satisfying.

Dinner was a new Scamp version of Mac ’n’ Cheese. Slightly different layers and with a very nice topping of Panko Breadcrumbs.

PoD was a photo of a yellow Aquilegia that arrived late to the party, but looked quite startling against the dark green foliage in the background.

Basically that was it for today. Rain, Rain, Lunch, F1 GP then Rain to finish the day.

No plans for tomorrow.

More Rain – 5 July 2025

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I’m going to use my mum’s chant on the weather:
“Rain, Rain, Go away. Come again another day.”

I’m getting really fed up with the constant drizzle. It just drags you down, and although a month or so ago we were praying for rain, we’ve had enough now, thank you very much.

We did get past the door today, though. Scamp and I went for a walk down to the shops and came back with two big shopping bags full of food for today and probably tomorrow as well. The parking situation is so bad on our street, nobody wants to move out of their space for fear of not getting back into their parking place when they come back. We need the council to take the bull by the horns and mark the parking spaces properly instead of allowing any Tom, Dick and Harry from just parking their car anywhere. It wouldn’t cost very much to white line the street and then we’d be able to see who the unthoughtful parkers are. Annoyingly, some of the streets in our area have already been white lined, but that was about three years ago, and there has been no further action on the matter.
There, now my blood pressure is back to normal again.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s in the late afternoon and found a baby’s dummy (or pacifier if you’re posh) lying on the path. That gave me an idea for today’s PoD. One of the dozen photos I’d taken was good enough to pass the test and did become PoD.

Dinner was a Smoked Haddock Fillet with Cheese Sauce for Scamp. I had a Lamb Biryani. Both from M&S. Where would we be without you!

That was the end of a rather boring day. We’re hoping against hope that tomorrow will be just a wee bit drier and a wee bit sunnier.

Rain – 4 July 2025

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Light rain, heavy rain, torrential rain and rain driven on the wind. All types of rain welcome here today.

Maybe ‘welcome’ isn’t the correct word. It started off as a dull day and ended up as a really depressingly wet day. If we hadn’t needed some chicken breasts for dinner I wouldn’t have moved past the door.

PoD was another posey posted through the letter box. Such a nice surprise. Thanks again, Hazy.

The highlight of the day was the Paella I made for dinner. It tasted great, although there probably was too much chicken in it.

I think we’ve had enough rain now so could you please turn the tap off? Hope the message gets through to those who can control these things.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

Dancin’ – 3 July 2025

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For the first time in what seemed like ages, we went to a Tea Dance today.

It was one of those terrible days with pelting rain one minute and sunshine the next. Mostly it was rain today, though. We drove to Glenburn in the afternoon along with about a dozen other couples. Not a great turnout, but enough for a quorum. Also, with the schools in Scotland being on holiday, probably a lot of grans and papas would be on child minding duty. Most of them wishing they were dancing instead.

Stewart and Jane did their level best to draw us out on to the floor with a Lace Agate Swing. A little bit of everything in this sequence dance, covering spins, chassis and even a couple of fishtails. I filmed it and watched the recording on my phone later in the session, but wouldn’t say I remembered all the steps, or the sequence of them. It was fairly fast too.

Just as a bit of an experiment I wore my Dance Sneakers rather than my usual Black & White leather dance shoes with the suede soles. I’m glad to say that the dance sneakers were just as comfortable as the traditional dance shoes, if not more so.

We danced Waltz, something that might have been a Rumba and a Cha-Cha with a lot of sequence dances in between to pad things out. We left, feeling we’d really enjoyed today, then Stewart dropped his bombshell. There would be no dance class on Saturday because Brookfield hall was being used for a summer feté. The dance teachers are off on holiday (teaching) for the next three weeks, so the next dance class won’t be until August. A long time to wait.

We left early as usual to avoid the traffic, then I drove straight into that traffic. It was a long slog down to and over the Kingston Bridge and it was all done in torrential rain. The big heavy clouds we had hoped to leave behind us, just followed us home.

Dinner tonight was Bacon and Borlotti beans, one of Jamie and Simonne’s recipes that we use quite often.

PoD turned out to be Willowherb a much maligned wildflower that brightens up rough ground everywhere.

I don’t believe we have any plans for tomorrow.

Going Home – 2 July 2025

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Not us this time, but our son and our daughter-in-law, heading for home after a week in Scotland. Hoping to see them again soon.

They were leaving early, so it was an early rise for us too. Then the house seemed so empty after the hustle and bustle, but good to hear a few hours later that they had arrived back home safe and sound with Vixen.

I was raining when they left us. I had been intending to meet my brother for a photowalk somewhere interesting, later in the day, but a WhatsApp message from him an hour after the climbers had left made me thing it wasn’t going to happen today. He said the rain was really heavy in his neck of the woods and to be honest, it had been raining constantly all morning with us. I decided the best thing to do was to cancel today’s walk and try for another day next week when, hopefully there would be at least one dry day. Not too much to ask, surely.

That left us with a whole day to fill, then Scamp reminded me that she was going out to lunch with Shona which left ME with a whole afternoon to fill. I had two posts to upload and two blog posts to write up, so it wasn’t really true to say that I had a ”whole afternoon to fill”. It was already filled.

A cup of coffee first and I got the photos uploaded. The blogs took longer, as blogs usually do. I was half way through the first one when I realised the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. I took that opportunity to grab some photos of flowers in the garden. One of them got PoD. That one was the low viewpoint shot of an orange Dahlia. Scamp’s first attempt at growing miniature Dahlias. Safe in the knowledge that I had at last one photo in the bag, I finished off both the blogs and posted them. The rain returned for another quick splash and then the sun shone again for most of the evening.

Dinner for me was beef olives with onions, potatoes and carrots. Since Scamp had already had lunch, she managed to scrounge a few of my potatoes.

A fairly busy day for both of us.

We’re hoping to go dancing tomorrow if the weather plays nice.

The first day of July – 1 July 2025

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After what was a Flaming June, July looks like it will continue the hot weather.

Jamie and Simonne were driving to Cumbersheugh on the first part of their return journey from Arran via a stopover in the Cairngorms. Today they were having a short overnight stop in Cumbersheugh. As usual they arrive almost exactly on time.

I had been out earlier with a shopping list of items that we’d need for the visitors. Red Top milk, smoked salmon, orange juice and lots of other things for lunch.

I think we spent half of the morning admiring Simonne’s photos of the Isle of Arran’s scenery. It never ceases to impress me that people can produce professional looking images from a phone camera. We spent the other half on a guided tour of the back and front gardens of our house, with Scamp giving a running commentary of all the flowers, complete with their names.

After lunch I went over to St Mo’s to get some photos. There wasn’t a lot to capture, but I did get some photos of a hoverfly or a drone fly, I’m not sure which, feeding on some Valerian wild flowers.

It was just one circuit of the pond, then back home because we were going to Cotton House for dinner in the late afternoon and we needed to get ready.

Scamp had booked a taxi to take us to over to Longcroft, but although we’d had a message that the taxi was on its way, we had to wait another ten minutes before it arrived. Almost at the restaurant and we got stuck in a great long queue through roadworks which made us even later at Cotton House, not helped by the driver who was in ’Tootle along’ mode. Maybe he had just had a really tiring day.

Food was as good as it usually is in the restaurant and I envied Jamie and Simonne’s Sweet & Sour Chicken Cantonese, although my own Salt & Chilli Chicken was nice, it wasn’t a patch on the sweet & sour. Scamp stuck to her favourite Chicken Chow Mein.

The lady driving our taxi back to Cumbersheugh wasn’t wasting any time. She was driving a rocket powered taxi and she wasn’t taking any prisoners. A woman on a mission.

PoD was a shot of a hoverfly on a Valerian flower.

In the evening, we watched ‘Mrs Harris Goes To Paris’ and really enjoyed it except for Jamie who got bored with it. I thought it was cleverly written and acted until the last ten minutes or so when it became too rushed.

Tomorrow we expect our two visitors will be heading for home. I may meet up with Alex.