Category: A Walk

Dancin’ – 11 April 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Today we drove to Brookfield after I’d spent about £1,000 on half a tank of petrol!

Well, it certainly felt like £1,000 when I was half filling the tank. However, we were passing through the Straits of Glasgow where your speed is limited to 40mph for quite a few miles. We managed to avoid most of the potholes and all of the mines. The 40mph restriction kept the fuel usage fairly low, but I wouldn’t want to drive like that all the way every day.

Again, we weren’t the last folk to arrive at Brookfield, although we were among those who were given the evil eye by the Teachers.

The order of dance was:

House of Bamboo – A 1958 song by Andy Williams. Just a bit of fun.

Britannia Waltz – A waltz made up by the teachers that I haven’t mastered yet.

Tango Sereda – A tango, obviously, that we’ve both almost managed to get working for us.

Quickstep – A quickstep that I don’t think I’ll ever master. It seems to change every week!

Blue Angel Rumba – I’m getting there, but it requires pushes and shoves by Scamp to remind me of the steps.

Sally Ann Cha-Cha – A silly wee dance where the leaders get a chance to shout “O!” at the end of each sequence with the option to high-five anyone nearby.

An energetic morning for all concerned.

As usual there were new roadworks on the way home with neither workmen or vehicles to be seen. Talked a good game but no work being done. Time wasters, all.

I did take a walk in St Mo’s in the late afternoon after Wordle et al had been conquered.

Scamp made dinner tonight, a prawn risotto. Long time since I’ve had it and it was a nice surprise.

Something is still wrong with the SSL in Namecheap. I’ll need to find out what tomorrow. More time wasted.

Off to bed now. No real plans for tomorrow.

Off visiting – 9 April 2026

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This time we were visiting a solicitor.

Nothing underhand was happening, just a visit to a solicitor to get some advice. I was a bit concerned about it, I admit, but I was more worried about finding a place to park. Thankfully in this posh one-way street there were quite a few places where we could leave the Blue car for an hour or so at no cost.

On the way home we stopped at a local garden centre for lunch and a cup of coffee for me and a cup of peppermint tea for Scamp. I wanted a potato pot to get my next batch of potatoes planted. I’d used one of the two part pots before and they worked well. They have an inner pot and an outer. The inner pot has large holes cut in it, almost the height of the pot itself for drainage. The outer pot is slightly larger than the inner pot and has channels for the inner pot to fit into. Much easier to see than to describe. Just take my word for it, that the whole shebang does its job well. Scamp found herself a new pair of gardening gloves. Her old ones had lasted for ages and she found the exact same gloves. For once, we didn’t come home with more plants!

We drove through a couple of heavy rain showers, what Scamp calls the Cumbersheugh Cloud. There were plenty of clouds too, so I decided to work on the computer for a while until the weather improved. Meanwhile Scamp was doing a bit of cleaning. About an hour later the sky cleared and I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got a few shots. It wasn’t until I got home, I saw a better subject than I’d found on my walk. Just a Tiarella plant hanging over the edge of a pot in our garden. A few photos later I was happy with my results.

Dinner was a pizza with anchovies a fairly familiar light dinner for us. Then I stared in earnest to look through today’s photos. The Tiarella plant’s hanging leaf got PoD.

No plans for tomorrow yet.

Happy Birthday to me – 8 April 2026

Posted on by Zogman

I had a lovely day today, waited on hand and foot.

Breakfast in bed and lots of cards and prezzies to open, of course, it was my birthday.

Scamp said she was well enough to go in to Glasgow, to Mowgli, a restaurant we found because it looked interesting, almost three years ago. I’d asked for it as my birthday prezzy and Scamp had booked it.

We drove to Croy in the morning and took the train in to Glasgow, after leaving the car in the furthest place in the car park, because there were very few other spaces available. I’d wondered about having a coffee in Glasgow, but Scamp said we didn’t have enough time to search out a Nero and I agreed. Instead we went for one more walk to look at the old Union Street building. It’s still as scary as ever, just thinking about what it could have been like without the work of the fire fighters. It never ceases to amaze me that nobody was killed.

We walked round the boxes that make up the streets in that area of Glasgow and eventually went in to Mowgli. I can’t remember what I had, but I’m sure Scamp will have a note of it somewhere. Since it was my birthday, I asked for the swinging seats. Wooden seats without cushions suspended from the ceiling by ropes. Just a bit of fun. The food was good and I really enjoyed it all, but I ate too much, in fact I can still feel a bit stuffed, hours after we finished our meals. I liked the fact that I had an Old Fashioned (whisky) and a chocolate brownie with ice cream, free because it was my birthday. It was a great meal, just as good as the last time, I can recommend it to you, the next time you’re up our way.

We walked up to Sauchiehall Street when we were done and I got the book, Hazy. Ink& Sigil in Waterstones. I think I’m well stocked up with books now and I’ve still got a book token to spend when I’ve finished this lot.

Scamp drove us back to the house because she hadn’t been drinking anything alcoholic and I had a snooze on the couch! Too much of everything, but that’s what birthdays are for!

Thank you all for making my birthday great. I don’t deserve you lot, but I’m glad you’re there.

PoD was a grab shot of a branch of blossom I took when we got off the train in Croy.

Tomorrow we’re out in the morning and it’s back to “Auld Claes and Purrich”

A walk in the park – 7 April 2026

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Scamp was feeling a bit under the weather this morning.

She had a touch of cystitis and had been quite uncomfortable during the night and morning. She managed to get to speak to a nurse practitioner who gave her a prescription for some pills. I was meeting Alex for a photo walk at midday and said that I could easily cancel, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Once I was sure she was serious about it, I packed my bag and went out to get the bus to Glasgow.

Today I was carrying my new 24-105 lens on a Sony A7iii with a Sony A6500 in my rucksack. That’s just to remind me what I did on this day!

My bus arrived early in Glasgow and that allowed me some time to go for for a walk on my own in the sunshine, around Glasgow city centre. Did some candid photography with the shutter on the camera set to silent. The secret of candids is to wear dull clothing that doesn’t draw attention and also to not look at the person you’re photographing. I don’t really like the sneaky approach, but sometimes it is fun.

I met Alex and we went for a coffee and to discuss where we were going today. Neither of us had a firm plan in mind, so I suggested wandering around the business area across the Clyde and off we went. We were photographing some graffiti artists on the banks of the Clyde when I suggested we cross the river and walk upstream for a different view. Neither of us had been in that direction before, so that would make a change.

We both found a lot of possibilities and new paths that I knew were there, but hadn’t walked. When we reached the second of the two suspension bridges on the river we crossed over to Glasgow Green to see what was happening.

An Easter Fair was what was happening and it looked like it was going “Like a Fair”, literally. Unfortunately we’d need to pay up-front to get in and we weren’t desperate, so we just went for a walk over Glasgow Green. After that we wandered in the general direction of Paesano for lunch.

When we left Paesano we wandered round to see the burned out building in Gordon Street, because Alex had never seen the damage that had been done a month or so ago. Another cup of coffee in Nero and we were heading for the bus station and home. Except, Cathedral Street was closed for road works and there was a collision further along from there. Long story short, what should have been a 45min bus journey turned out to be a two hour slog through homeward bound traffic.

PoD was a candid shot of a man in a soft hat just like my dad used to wear. Taken in the Buchanan Bus station.

Tomorrow Scamp and I are probably going back to Glasgow again. Gluttons for punishment!!

 

A cold bright day – 6 April 2026

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In the morning, the sun was shining. Such a difference from yesterday!

We weren’t going anywhere and Scamp wanted to plant some more flower seeds. She did mention that it would be good to have a tool to press the seeds into the soil, and I took this as a request.

I dug out my old panel saw, a Sandvik that I’d bought when I was at college, more years ago than I care to remember. I measured up a piece of plywood and also measured the size of the tray I was going to need for the job. I was originally going to work outside, because the sun was warming the place up, but rather than keep going into the house for a plane and sandpaper then a pencil, it made more sense to just set up my old trusty Workmate in the back bedroom and work there. About an hour later I had the tool Scamp was asking for. Originally I was intending to screw a handle on to it, but realistically, some Araldite adhesive did a better and quicker job. Of course I had to tidy up the room afterwards, but the hoover made that easy. I hope it suits the purpose and I think it will.

After lunch I was going to check for updates on Flickr but I kept getting the same message that Firefox can’t connect to the server at flickr.com.
I remembered having the same message on my old iMac and fixing it by loading up an old Flickr photo from way back and that seemed to clear it. That same trick seemed to work again.

The foregoing is just a reminder to self if I need to fix this in the future

Later in the afternoon I went for a walk and saw a young deer on the path round St Mo’s. I hadn’t seen any deer in the woods for a couple of years and thought they must have moved on to somewhere less open, but there it was, walking along the path quite blithely. I got a few photos of it, but it was too well camouflaged and too far away by the time I caught a clear glimpse of it to get a decent photo. I’ll keep my eyes open for it returning in the next few days.

PoD is a bunch of bright yellow Goat Willow catkins that caught my eye.

Dinner tonight was Pasta with some Chicken and Mushroom. Usually Scamp makes it, but mine was a decent copy.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet up with Alex in Glasgow to see what he’s been up to in the past weeks.

The Far East – 4 April 2026

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Today we travelled to the Far East, Edinburgh to see how the other half live.

The weather was kind to us to begin with, but the weather fairies had said we should bring a brolly. We ignored them, but perhaps we shouldn’t have. We walked our usual path from Haymarket, up Morrison Street then through the canyon of Ladyfield before crossing to the Nero on Lothian Road. Best coffee I’ve had in weeks in there, then the walk over to Castle Terrace and the farmer’s market there. I was looking for a couple of pieces of Hogget. Hogget is the word used to describe a lamb in its second spring or summer. The meat is richer than lamb, but not as strong as mutton. I find it hard to get in butcher’s, but am usually able to get some in the Edinburgh farmer’s market. So it was today. In the fridge I’ve now got a couple of chunks of Hogget chump chops and a Cannon of Hogget in the fridge. Apparently you can cook a hogget cannon like you would cook steak. One lot will hopefully provide dinner for me tomorrow and the other will go in the freezer for me to find later in the year.

By the time we were clear of the farmer’s market, the rain was getting heavy, so after a wander round the outdoor markets of the Grassmarket, Scamp decided we should have lunch in Petit Paris. A real French restaurant. We both went for the same menu: Soup of the day, (loaded with veg) and Fish of the Day which was Coley with Mash. I didn’t think I was hungry until I’d finished both plates and would have licked the plate if I thought I’d get away with it. A half a glass of red to wash it down because I was driving when we got home.

By the time we left the rain was heavy. We walked up West Bow and shook our heads at the Harry Potter nutters standing in the rain before they spent a fortune on magic wands and top hats and other things that only foreigners buy. Ourselves excluded, of course.

Next we made our way back down the steep Mound to listen to a gospel choir and then on to Princes Street gardens to watch the annual Passion Play. We only stayed a while, but by then we were soaked through, so we headed for the station and with minutes to spare, caught the train home.

Tonight we watched an excellent adults cartoon and then, The Greatest Story Ever Told. An Easter story that started life in the mid 1960s. I’ll admit I had never seen it before.

Wish we’d stayed longer at the Passion Play, maybe next time.

PoD went to cranes reflected in a new glass-fronted building in the city.

Wind is getting a bit stronger tonight. Hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow. No plans for Sunday.

Dancin’ and School Ties – 2 April 2026

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Strange mixture.

Today started with a bit of shopping. Quite a large bit of shopping too, but it was all basic foodstuffs … boring. We had a cup of coffee when we got home and realised we had about 15min to get ready for our afternoon out in Glenburn for today’s Tea Dance.

After a frantic scrabble, we headed off to this Paisley offshoot and arrived just in time. It was the usual format of mainly ballroom dances in the first half and sequence dances in the second half. We usually leave about half an hour early to avoid the schools coming out and clogging up the roads with little darlings who are picked up by doting aunts, uncles, grans etc, because the poor things can’t walk long distances. It was different in my day. We had to walk to school and back again. It toughened you up etc, etc …
Anyway, the weans would be out and enjoying themselves when we left at the end of the dances.

The drive home was much swifter than it usually is. I’ve a plan for the fastest way to get to Glenburn and a different route for returning. It might seem daft, but it does work, for me at least.

I took a camera and lens out for a walk in St Mo’s when we got home and got a photo of a school tie hanging from a lamp post. I don’t know what the scribbles on the tie were, but just to be safe, I removed some of the writing.

We’re hoping to go to have coffee with Isobel and Shona tomorrow and maybe a quick lunch afterwards. If everything works out, of course. Storm ‘Dave’ looks as if it’s going to show up at the weekend. Let’s hope it’s not as violent as the weather fairies are predicting.

Spending money – 31 March 2026

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At least it was money I was spending this time.

I’d had two lenses break down on me recently. One lens I’d been using almost solely and another older lens that had a limited range, but which produced lovely clear photos.Two within a week. I couldn’t believe it. I think I read every article that existed, trying to find a solution but couldn’t find anyone who would admit to having the same problem as me. I thought I could just run them until they completely failed, but then realise that would be damaging the cameras too, so I stopped using them and fell back on another pair of older, but solidly performing lenses for a while. But they weren’t the same as the two broken down lenses. The final straw that broke my camel’s back was when I took one of the lenses to a reputable repair company in Glasgow and was told how much it would cost to repair it.

Today I paid for one new lens. It’s exactly the same make and model as the one that failed me but this time I have a 2 year warranty and a guarantee from John Lewis that covers me for accidental damage. I hope I never have to use it.

Alex was the first person I’d heard talk about Buyers Remorse. The feeling, just as you leave the shop or when you remove your credit card from the machine, that you’ve made a mistake. We’ve all felt it at one time or another, but for some reason the feeling wasn’t there this morning. Scamp had run me to the train station. I was intending to go to JL to see if they had the lens and even if they did have it, I’d have a try with it. Even if I liked what I saw, I’d still walk up the hill to WEX to compare it with the one I knew they had. But I didn’t do that either. I just checked there were no scratches on the metal mount, no fingerprints on the lens glass and bought it there and then. It was mine. Even more was what the tech guy in the repair shop had said. “Don’t buy second hand. It’s false economy.” He was right.

The PoD was one of the first shots I took with the lens today. Looking through the front blossoms to focus out the flowers and then to have the blurred image of the flowers behind. It worked exactly like I planned it.

Tomorrow I may get Buyer’s Remorse tomorrow, more than likely I will, but it will disappear.

Scamp is intending to go to a ‘Witches’ lunch tomorrow and I may go and take some photos.

A dull, windy day – 30 March 2026

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I had great plans for today, but none of them came to fruition.

Neither of us could settle last night. Scamp seemed to have the ‘Rumbling Tums’ and I was wide awake and just couldn’t get to sleep. I think it was the changing of the clocks in the middle of the early Sunday morning that caused it.

I’d half thought of going in to Glasgow to look for a new lens that would work on all three cameras. Then I looked at how to Reissue the SSL and Reinstall it on my Namecheap account. That’s when I realised I hadn’t a clue what any of that actually meant, so I left it and had a cup of coffee instead.

It was another blustery day to begin with, but as the day trundled on, the windspeed gently dropped away. In the afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got good use of my little rechargeable hand warmers. Lots of Canada Geese again, more than yesterday, so I’m guessing they are getting ready to fly north again although the temperature isn’t as high as I’d expect now that we’re on the edge of reaching April. Not a lot of buds on the trees here, so I’m thinking there might be another spell of cold weather to come yet.

Despite the increase in the waterfowl groups, PoD was Colt’s Foot Daisies. One of my dad’s favourite wildflowers. Every spring when I see them, it reminds me of him, showing me how the stems looked like horses shoes.

Dinner tonight was Mince and Tatties again with a few slice of beetroot. Scamp had a Fried Egg wit her Tatties. Later in the evening I had a home made Tattie Scone made with yesterday’s leftover potatoes. Scamp has left her’s and if she doesn’t grab it by midday tomorrow I may be tempted to snaffle her’s too!

No dancing tonight, because Kirsty is having a fortnight off. It was good not to have to drive over to the town centre for an hour’s dancing. I do enjoy it, but she sometimes repeats and repeats the steps. We could do with a bit of variation in the classes.

Tomorrow we may make that trip to Glasgow. Both the lenses I have are now useless. I’ll just have to bite the bullet and spend some money on one new one, at least.

Another wild old day – 29 March 2026

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The clocks went forward an hour in the middle of the night, but we were deep in sleep then, so we must take other folk’s word for it.

It may have been the start of British Summer Time, but it certainly didn’t feel like it this morning. A howling wind and lashing rain doesn’t really fit very well with the concept of Summer in any country. Not that it mattered much because neither of us were going very far today.

Sunday lunch is usually Black Pudding, Bacon and maybe a fried egg for me. Today we both had Poached Egg on Toast. Me, because my stomach was a bit upset and I wanted to have a lighter lunch than normal. Scamp, because she wanted to be up sides with me. It must be about a year since I’ve had a poached egg and today’s was just excellent, because Scamp cooked it!

The furthest I got today was a walk around St Mo’s pond with my Tamron 70-180mm, watching the swans chasing the Canada Geese away from the area where they were nest building. Although the swans seemed to be winning, I felt that the geese were just giving them the run-around. Eventually the swans returned to the nesting area, but not before one swan puffed itself up and became quite threatening to me. I took Jamie’s hint and left sharpish, but only because my portable hand warmer had run out of charge … honest!
That swan made PoD.

When I got home, Scamp was just finishing off a sponge cake and allowing it to cool. Today’s main for me was Mince and Tatties with the usual addition of sliced Beetroot. Scamp had a slice of Salmon with mashed potatoes. Dessert was the Sponge with custard. Delightfully light sponge. Again, Scamp’s work, not mine – as if I could make something like that!!

Spoke to Jamie and heard that he was planting out his seeds in the greenhouse. Although it was cold down there too, I think it wasn’t quite as cold as we’ve had for the past couple of weeks. A planned power outage from his council was going to mean that he had to work from home later in the week.

Tomorrow we may go out somewhere. Kirsty’s class is cancelled for the next two weeks for Easter holidays.