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Panic Stations! – 9 May 2026

Posted on by Zogman

The car was the problem today. Two tyres looking scuffed and a bit sad.

Shona was ready to go back to her house. She had ordered a taxi which was useful because I didn’t trust one of my badly worn front tyres. I drove to Kwik Fit one of the few garages open today in the town and booked the car in for a repair. Thankfully I got a slot at 12.30pm. That meant I had to tell Scamp to cancel today’s dance class which I’m sure was a big disappointment to her, but I felt I needed to get the tyre problem solved. If it had been a fifteen minute drive to the class it was doable, but a forty five minute drive was a different prospect.

Drove back to the house and struggled with Wordle to take my mind off the vehicle problems. Time dragged, but I made use of that time by photographing a heart-shaped moth hanging upside down on our front window, that became PoD. I guessed that might be my only free slot today, and I was right. Just after midday I drove the Blue car down to the garage and waited there for a diagnose of the problem. The near-side tyre, I already knew was a goner. The off-side one was slightly better, but not by much, so I agreed with the mechanic’s estimate of two front tyres and an alignment check. After an hour and a half the car was on the road after it got two new tyres and a pass on the alignment after some adjustments. It felt better to drive right away, but that might just have been relief that I had a car again that I was confident wouldn’t fall apart on me.

Came home for a late lunch and relaxed a bit. Then Scamp wanted to get dressed for our invitation to Moira’s birthday party and of course I went too. She did look great in her new dress and I totally forgot to tell her. What an idiot I am at times. It was a great afternoon and I took my camera to record some of the carry on that was happening. Sat talking to Moira’s husband, comparing album covers and books we were reading and watching the ladies (The Witches) dancing in the Silent Disco. I listened to the ‘music’, but I’m not a dancer as anyone will tell you. Lots of stories told. Lots more were manufactured on the day. I was glad I was driving and didn’t have the temptation to drink. Once glass of 0.0 % cider and absolutely delicious strawberry tarts followed by slices of pizza with a lot of blethering was the order of the day.

We finally said our thanks and drove home. I think the party might still be going on now, but it doesn’t matter, because we enjoyed ourselves. Thank you Moira and Jim.

We have no plans for tomorrow, but I’d like another strawberry tart!

Walking in Chatelherault – 8 May 2026

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Today I met Alex for a walk in Chatelherault.

I sat and talked with Alex and Carol, going over what had been happening in the last two weeks. I answered as many questions as I could and managed to get the timelines straightened out … I think.

After that we drove to Chatelherault, parked and went for the traditional coffee in the wee cafe. We walked down to the Duke’s Bridge and over the Avon Water then through the Cadzow Oaks, our usual wander, then Alex suggested we walk on to the Green Bridge. As far as I could remember, it was a fairly long road with a lot of climbs and steep slides down down the other sides, but it was a lovely day and we were just wandering and blethering. Then when I tried to find where we were, the iPhone couldn’t find us, neither could the GPS in the camera and we decided we’d just walk back. I think both of us were wishing we’d left the big warm jackets in the car.

Back at the cafe we had another coffee break and a moan about the state of the world then we walked back to the car and home.

Dropped Alex off at his house and got an easy run home to ours. Scamp, meantime had talked Shona into staying at our house tonight, just to have some company at this busy time. Still lots going on.

It was a Golden Bowl for dinner. The two ladies seemed happy with their food, but I thought mine was a bit dull and the meat was tasteless. Maybe it was a new chef. We would give it another try.

We watched “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” after dinner. I think it must have been a Christmas film we had recorded. Scamp and I both knew most of the punchlines, but Shona, being of a different generation thought it was a great laugh.

PoD went to a Beech Nut I’d picked up on the Duke’s Bridge. I also managed to splash some paint on a watercolour page to keep me up to date in EDiM.

Hoping to drive to Brookfield tomorrow for the first dance class in ages.

In Larky for the day – 7 May 2026

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I was driving over to Larky today to get my eyes tested.

It’s an annual eye test and the results from it were fairly satisfactory. A little bit of change in my eyes, but nothing I needed to worry about. I’ve been going to Euan for years now and to his father before him. It’s a family business and that’s one of the reasons we keep going back.

After I came out into the sunlight, I wished I’d brought my sunglasses. It’s the one thing I always forget when I go for an eye test. Luckily Scamp was on hand to drive us up to Crawford and Nancy’s for coffee and cake. Imogen was there too, but was happier to go and watch cartoons on tv than to stay and listen to the adults droning on. We sat and discussed C&N’s recent cruise, and Yes, I envied them. They had intended to go to Cyprus and had almost finalised the cruise when Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu decided to mess things up. Luckily Crawford managed to get a change of destination … just in case!

After catching up we drove back to Cumbersheugh for what turned out to be dinner. The first Paella I’ve made for a long time. Maybe the first one this year! It actually tasted a whole lot better than I thought it would and there were no left-overs once we were finished

PoD was a grab shot of a collection of Pansies that had self-seeded from last year’s flowers. A lot of them had been chewed by something small and with sharp teeth, probably a hungry insect.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet Alex for a blether and maybe a spot of lunch.

A busy day – 6May 2026

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A sad day too

Scamp was out at the dentist in the morning for her six month checkup then after a quick lunch we drove over to Falkirk for the funeral of a friend and workmate who had passed away recently. She met a couple of work colleagues after the service, but didn’t stay for the tea afterwards. Instead we drove home and dropped another of her colleagues off near her home. When we got home, there was a box of flowers on our doorstep from my brother. What a thoughtful thing to do on a day like today.

The sun had been shining all day and it didn’t let us down in the late afternoon. I went for a walk with a couple of lenses in my new bag. Just a walk over to St Mo’s, not expecting much. Then I spotted a wee fly sitting on top of a wild iris spike, and after three or four shots I had a potential PoD.

I walked over the hill and through the trees on a path that would take me to the new(ish) retail park. Brought back a few things including an enormous slab pizza. I had my doubts about it at a knock-down price, but it was actually a lovely soft dinner. I’d buy one again.

Back home I sketched a fairly representative single decker bus, the prompt being “A means of public transportation.” A nice easy sketch, especially if there is no paint involved. That is planned for next week!

Tomorrow I’m off to see the optician for my annual checkup. Well, if Scamp can survive the dentist’s probing, surely I can manage to find time for the optician.

Covid Jag – 5 May 2026

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Drove over to Muirhead to get my Covid booster.

I wasn’t looking forward to it, but in the end it was quite painless.

While I was in Muirhead I thought I might drop in to Collins the butcher in the town and came home with a big bag of meat, fish and a bag of potato scones, plus a Cornish Pastie which halved would make a decent lunch with enough left over to cover tomorrow, hopefully.

After lunch, Scamp started to cut the back grass. It was getting a bit like a jungle and you never knew what might be lurking in the long grass, so all the grass got a short back and sides. While Scamp was religiously cleaning the mower, I plugged the strimmer into the power box and began cutting carefully around the crocuses that hadn’t flowered this year. That should give them time to wilt away naturally and improve the quality of the bulbs underground. A few folk scratched their heads and wondered what I was doing, but I think it will work. We will wait and see.

After the strimmer and the mower were deemed clean enough to be put away, I went for a walk over St Mo’s. I was toting a 70-180mm Tamron lens with a backup of my 24-105mm Sony lens. Both were used. Not a lot to see, but PoD was a bunch of Marsh Marigolds pushing their heads through a field of Water Horsetails.

I’ve started working on my sketches of EDiM (Every Day in May) and actually enjoying it. I may strip down the old computer and start painting for a change. It’s a long time since I did any painting.

Dinner tonight was Cabbage with Potatoes and Bacon. The veg was fine, but the bacon was a bit strange tasting. I’m not sure I like it.

Tomorrow we’re intending going to the funeral of one of Scamp’s old friends from work.

May the Fourth be with you – 4 May 2026

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We went shopping.

We needed a fair bit of shopping, because, like Old Mother Hubbard, our cupboard was looking rather bare. A quick visit to Tesco and a few quid changing hands soon put a stop to the potential starvation.

It was a pleasantly warm day, with plenty of sunshine so I took the opportunity to go out for a walk in St Mo’s and grab some photos. I’d been using my trusty Sony A7iii for a while, but today I gave it a rest and took the A7c with me instead.

It looked at first sight as if there was very little to photograph, then a few wee Wolf Spiders popped out of the breaks in the boardwalk and I thought I’d get a few shots of these arachnids. I’d forgotten just how quick these hunting spiders were, except when the females are carrying their egg sacks on their backs. The egg sacks slow them down enough to grab a few shots, but the ones I saw today were mainly males which don’t carry the eggs. However, I did manage to get a few shots. I wondered what any passers by would make of me crawling on all fours taking photos!

With a few shots in the bag I walked back home for a quick lunch and a chance to check my photos. As usual, there were more shots going into the bin than were kept.

Scamp and I drove over to Shona’s house to see how the task of emptying Paul’s house was going. Margaret and Caroline had begun to work on the downstairs rooms but had time to sort through the hundreds of photos dating back to June’s marriage to Tommy. I took some phone photos and hopefully I’ll manage to clean them up and enlarge some of the better ones. Just over an hour later we were heading home for a light dinner and a chance to watch Gardeners’ World.

Tomorrow I’ve an appointment at the clinic in Muirhead to get my summer Covid jag. Oh what fun.

Round the ponds – 3 May 2026

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A dull start to a dull day.

One of those days that never really got started. The furthest I got was a walk around St Mo’s pond. I did get a host of photos, but the best by far was a clutch of Mallard ducklings out for a swim with their mum. That made PoD.

Scamp did a lot of tidying up and later we watched the qualifying F1 race in Miami which was a little bit short of scintillating. The commentators tried hard to make it exciting, but it didn’t work.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Hopefully we’ll get some sunshine too!

Rainy Day – 2 May 2026

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Off the leash today.

Scamp was off with the rest of the ‘Witches’, exploring the sights of Liverpool. She was due back home in the early evening, so I had a chance to get some photos and maybe even read for a while.

I finally got the first of my EDiM sketches completed to my satisfaction and after a bit of jiggery pokery, found out how I’d put them online two years ago. It wasn’t nearly as complicated as I thought it would be, mainly because the Facebook app I was using did all the hard work for me. One done and another to go.

It was one of those days when the weather didn’t seem to know what to do with itself. Rain one minute and beautiful sunshine the next. I did get a few photos in the garden, but they were quite poor.

Later in the day, I got the message to say that Scamp and the rest of the girls were on their way home. They were intending to travel up to Glasgow, but given that the city is an absolute mess now with different roadworks every week, we eventually settled on changing the destination to Hamilton for ease of parking.

A bit of frantic tidying up of my room was needed and I also managed to grab a bite to eat when I had time. Then the sun chose that time to shine again, so I took the chance to improve my earlier photos with a group of dandelion seed heads grabbed in St Mo’s with just enough time left over to drive down the M8 to Hamilton Bus Station, pay for parking and wait for the ladies.

They were all quite organised and we drove back to Cumbersheugh with partly told tales from all the ‘Witches’. How many of them were true, I wouldn’t know.

After the ladies had been returned to their doting husbands Scamp and I shared a Large Fish Supper and a wee glass of gin or whisky.

We have no real plans for tomorrow.

The first day of May – 1 May 2026

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According to my mum, I should have been out washing my face in the May morning dew. Instead I was taking photos.

I dropped Scamp off at her friend’s house and drove home to have breakfast, but I’d already put a camera in the boot of the car and it was such a beautiful day …

It would have been a great shame to go home for breakfast and then find the beautiful morning light had turned to a damp, dreary drizzle. It was never in doubt. The photography had to come first. I’d a few shots in the bag when I noticed the fisherman on the other side of the pond. Finding the best approach, down the slippery banking to the pond is downright dangerous and I was toting a new lens that I didn’t want to drop in the pond, but half a dozen and a little more photos later I’d not only not fallen in, I’d also managed to climb back up and on to the path without any slips or slides. I took a few more photos, but I knew the best of the day in the camera bag. I took the long way home and had breakfast.

The rest of the morning was collecting meds and shopping. I even took the wee Blue car to the car wash, half expecting the operator to say that famous phrase “Hopeless cases not accepted”. Instead he put me through the car wash, possibly because nobody else was using it today.

I dropped in at an old friend and stayed blethering and catching up with him for about an hour. Then I made lunch and found a note from Scamp saying her meds were due today too, so not having anything else to do I drove over to the medical centre and it was RAINING!

I’ve started my first EDiM (Every Day in May) sketch, but now I can’t remember how to post them on Facebook. I’ll need to check with my old versions of EDiF. I also planted a final batch of Maris Piper potatoes.

That’s about it. Normality will probably reign tomorrow.

A better day – 30 April 2026

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Shona was going home for a few hours. and we were going for lunch.

Shona was meeting with one of her best friends for a blether and for tea. She’s really been a powerhouse these last three days. Thankfully, the pressure on her is gradually releasing now, and she, herself, is relaxing a bit. Today she made some decisions about Paul, and that must have been hard. We, too were destressing.

We drove to Torwood for lunch. Just a couple of Toasties and a chance to talk about gardens and other simple things. Scamp got a couple of plants and they are now growing in tubs in the back garden. I’m sure there a lot more waiting to be found in Torwood!

Came home via M&S and we loaded up, on veg and things for tonight’s dinner. After that I put my boots on and went for a walk in St Mo’s where I got some photos of Larch Needles. Larch being one of the few conifers to drop their needles in the winter. One of them was guaranteed a place as PoD.

By the time I got back home, carrying more requests from Scamp, Shona had returned and we had Fish Risotto for dinner. Then we took Shona back home to prepare for more relations coming to visit and hopefully help.

I had bought a new camera bag from Amazon a couple of days ago, but it was just a little bit too small, so I bought another, larger one today. One will go back to Mr Bezos’s house and one will stay. If neither of them suit me, both will go back.

Scamp is off with the ‘Witches’ tomorrow, so it will be an early rise for both of us.