Category: Family

Out on the town – 12 August 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Out with my brother today. Walking the streets of Glasgow looking for something new.

We took a walk down to the Graffiti area on Clyde Street. It’s actually called Custom House Legal Wall because it’s one of the few places where you can legally paint on the walls. I hadn’t realise that, after all the times I’ve walked around there. Every day is a school day, indeed.
I grabbed a clever looking bit of art there and it became PoD. Probably not to everyones taste, but it takes all sorts …

From there we walked left along the Broomielaw and then under the M8 before walking up the hill looking for the professional artists pillars that Alex had seen a couple of weeks ago. We got a few photos there before we got the ‘Bums Rush’ from a couple of blokes who told us that the area was a building site and we had to keep clear. We did that, for the most part, but then I went further and skirted the Express Way. It’s really strange, I’ve driven along that bit of road, but had never really stopped to see what was around me.

After I’d disentangled myself from all the roads round about that area, I retraced my steps and met Alex again. We decided it was time for lunch and Paesano is the only place we go on our walks. We were almost at the door when the rain started. The streets were dry by the time we left Paesano and we went for a coffee before we caught our respective buses to go home.

Scamp was sitting in the garden when I got home and I joined her while we waited for the eclipse, but although I got a few distant shots of the sun, the photos weren’t good enough to see any detail. Also, the clouds had rolled in and obliterated any details that would have been there. Oh well, maybe next time … when the next total eclipse comes in about 70 years.

Off the leash – 10 August 2026

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Today Scamp and Shona were off on a day trip, I was off the leash.

I dropped the girls off at the town centre to catch the Ember bus that would take them to Dundee for the day. I had the whole day to myself. That gave me time to read for an hour or so and to plant a new batch of potatoes that would hopefully be ready for around Christmas, all being well. It was strange to think that I was planting them on one of the warmest days in the year and expecting them to ripen in time for Christmas, in four month’s time.

The butterflies were working hard among the Buddleia bushes in a corner of the garden. No more sightings of Hummingbird Hawk Moths unfortunately, but I’d take the half dozen Peacock and Red Admirals as a decent substitute. These butterflies are suckers for the buddleia flowers.

Later in the afternoon, I went for a walk in St Mo’s hoping to see some more butterflies, but none were flying there today. However there were a couple of Dragonflies and the warmth of the boardwalk seemed to make them lazy and easier to capture in camera. I got quite close, but had the wrong lens for the job – it seems I always do!
A nice shot of a Common Darter with its tail up in the air got PoD. I happily walked back, wondering how the ladies were getting on.

Not long after that I got the message to say that the girls were on the bus on their way home. An hour or so later my phone pinged to say they were just leaving Stirling. Picked the travellers up later and took Shona home, then drove home.

After listening to what the girls had got up to in Dundee, I felt as if I’d done nothing back home, but I’d enjoyed my day ‘off the leash’ and had a lazy evening watching TV.

Tomorrow looks like another hot one.

 

Back to normal – 27 July 2026

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After the faded glamour and glitz of The Blackpool Tower Ballroom and the fun of Glasgow Merchant City Festival, today it was back to reality with a bump. Monday is ‘Messages’ day. A trip to Tesco was as far as we got.

After we emptied the car and put all the ‘messages’ away, we had lunch. Then Scamp decided she was going out to make some changes to the back garden. I let her get on with it and settled down to write some of the blog and put the rest of it back into the places it should have been in yesterday. Then Scamp explained what she wanted to change in the garden and where things were going to go.

Thankfully, it was around that time that Hazy phoned to see if we were busy. We talked about Blackpool and dancing and and dentists. Also, how the hats got on people. If that makes no sense, don’t worry. Books, as usual, were topics for discussion too. Good to hear that Neil is enjoying his school holidays.

After we had said our goodbyes, it was back to the back garden for more of Scamp’s ideas for its alterations. Actually it looks as if it will work quite well, but it will need quite a lot of changes.

It was a cool afternoon with the threat of rain always just there in the wind and very little sign of blue skies. I didn’t really want to go out to take photos, but I did get some photos of the bees on the Buddleja bush in the garden. They were Bombus pascuorum (Carder Bees). One of the shots made PoD.

It looks like we are going to have more rain tomorrow. That will be good for the garden. We’ve had a few showers, but we still need more to keep the plants healthy.

No plans for tomorrow.

An invitation to dinner – 16 July 2026

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Another really hot day. I was glad that we had managed to get the front garden watered last night.

This morning, Wordle on the iPhone kept shutting down. I tried all the usual remedies without much success. Then I tried switching to the MBP and it worked ok, but still had the same problem on the iMac. I left it for a while and later in the morning I not only had the iPhone version working, but also managed to get the right letters in the right order … with a little bit of cheating! I’ll see how the system works tomorrow.

Scamp was pruning the bushes again and in the late afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s with the old 55-210mm Sony. The quality is reasonable, but really it’s the portability that I like it for. An APS-C camera is more than good enough to get decent photos. That’s the story I tell myself, but I still prefer the full frame camera/lens combo, even if it’s much heavier.

In the late afternoon we headed over to Shona’s house. We’d been invited over to have dinner with her. Her suggestion.

We had Melon for starter, followed by Chicken with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes and a Parsley Sauce. A lovely summer afternoon meal. Dessert was Strawberry Cream Sponge. We even had a bottle of Nosecco to go with it. Shona can make dinner for us anytime!

We sat and talked for a couple of hours, watching the clouds gather above us, then dissipate again later. Drove home and got parked in the same space we’d come out of.

Watched Mastermind to finish of this week’s first trilogy and then watched the first Sewing Bee. Too hard to say who the front runners are going to be this year.

PoD was a couple of wild raspberries I saw on today’s walk around St Mo’s.

 

Lunch – 10 June 2026

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Our visitors were off the mark quite early this morning. Thankfully they didn’t interrupt our beauty sleep!

A lazy start to a day that didn’t quite know what to do with itself. One minute it was pelting down with rain and the next the sun was splitting the trees.

Scamp drove over to Shona’s house and brought her over to ours. We were booked for lunch in the afternoon. At a new restaurant, at least, it was new to us. The food was OK, just ok, as far as I was concerned. The starter was Rosemary Focaccia allegedly with side plates of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil), nor Balsamic. However the Pesto, Nduja and Sugo Dips saved the day. Neither of us could find any EVOO, just dry bread.
The mains were much better. Risotto with king prawns, cherry tomatoes and roasted red peppers was great, according to Scamp and Shona quickly cleared a large plate of Spaghetti alla Carbonara. My Penne all ‘Amatriciana wasn’t just spicy, it was on fire!
Scamp and I had three flavours of ice cream and Shona had Sicilian Bombolini which looked interesting. Like an upmarket Italian churros.
All in all it wasn’t at all bad. Food service was slow and some of the drinks were a bit overpriced. Alcoholic drinks vastly overpriced. Would I go back. Probably, but in a few weeks, when they iron out some of the problems.

When we got back home, Scamp and Shona had great fun watching the videos Jamie had created earlier in the week.

I went out to leave them to it and walked over St Mo’s in the rain. I discovered that a ‘bunnet’ is a great thing for keeping the rain off you. PoD went to a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee on a Marsh Cinquefoil.

No plans for tomorrow because the walkers will be on Arran. We may go looking for trainers for me.

Tipping – 31 May 2026

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Not the tip you hope to get for work well done, more the tip that you put the old, broken and useless stuff in.

I drove over to the council tip an waited in the queue of cars for my turn to drop off our old Dyson carpet sweeper, drove round to the other side of the tip and loaded everything else into the waiting maws of the compactor, then drove home.

After lunch and after watching Laura Kuenssberg finding holes in Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that “She knew noting” about her husband’s alleged crimes, I pulled my boots on and went out for a walk, only to find Jackie walking up to the step. She was staying with us for the next few days.

I walked over to St Mo’s and found some Red Campion flowers that were growing by the side of the path. They provided a PoD and a last photo for May 2026. I wandered on past the yellow Irises that I’d photographed yesterday and bought some milk in M&S and some Jelly Babies in Iceland. On the way I found the new path that had been made to connect the retail park to the path to the football park. It’s taken the council at least two years to create that new path, but I shouldn’t complain, at least we got the path.

Dinner tonight was Roasted Chicken and Peas. A staple in this house and one that seemed to go down well with Jackie too. Her and Scamp had a chance to peruse the thirty odd photos we’d put together from old and very old photos we’d found in Paul’s house. Interesting stuff there.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard about their plans for coming up to Scotland soon. Looking forward to that.

Tomorrow looks wet, but I’m hoping to get the car through the car wash then drive a full car load over to say goodbye to Paul.

Meeting Isobel – 14 April 2026

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Scamp and I met Isobel for coffee in the morning and it was a lovely morning.

Blue skies and fluffy white clouds. What’s not to like. I had a cup of coffee with the ladies and listened to the stories Isobel was telling. I’d forgotten that she is well travelled in South America and further afield before she and her husband settled down in Scotland. She must have been a bit of an adventurer when she was younger.

Eventually she had teased enough information from us both and was ready to go back home, so we bundled her walker into the back seat of the wee Blue car and squeezed Scamp in beside it. Then we drove over to The Village and left her to make her own way up to her house. She wouldn’t hear of either of us helping her, she is so adamant that she can manage for herself, and I actually believe she can.

We drove home via M&S to get something for our lunch and we challenged ourselves in Wordle. I thought it was a goner when I realised there wasn’t a vowel in the grid! I suppose that’s not really true because there was a ‘Y’ in it and that sometimes takes the place of a vowel. Still, it was a strange grid that eventually formed although it was a common enough word that appeared.

After Wordle and its extras, and after lunch I was toying with the idea of going for a walk in St Mo’s, but then Scamp told me it was raining. I didn’t want to get the 24-105mm lens wet so I gave in eventually and took a few shots from the open back door. I also took the inside shot you can see here. It’s a couple of dried cut flowers in an old vase I like from the cupboard. That was the PoD sorted.

We watched a film Scamp had recorded about the dangers of allowing AI to control what’s happening in hospitals. Although it was based on situations in the US, it could possibly get a toe hold here too. Very thought provoking.

Tomorrow I may get my hair cut. It’s not quite a ‘Pure Affro’ yet, but it’s heading in that direction. While my locks are being shorn, Scamp ma be looking for a new pair of sandals. Then, if there’s enough time, she might buy herself a pair of dance shoes.

Visiting Isobel – 12 March 2026

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It was a very windy and very wet day.

Scamp had intended meeting Isobel at Costa as usual, but a call from Isobel saying that she didn’t want to go out today because of the wind meant we’d go for tea and biscuits in Isobel’s house. It didn’t look as if I was going to get many photos today, so a blether with Isobel would be fine. Scamp had lots of photos to show her of the visit she and Shona had to Edinburgh. I hardly got a word in edgeways as Scamp and Isobel hogged the conversation. Nevermind, the coffee and biscuits made it worthwhile.

Drove home and picked up some apples and a cake for Scamp and a bag of scones for us both to share. By the time we got home, the weather had calmed down a fair bit, but squally rain showers made the chance of photo unlikely. However, after lunch the sky started clearing and I thought I’d risk a half hour walk round the pond to see if there was anything interesting to photograph.

Once round the pond and just as I was thinking that the cloud scapes were looking interesting, the first spots of rain fell. I got a few shots of the clouds before the heavens opened up and I got soaked. I did think of sheltering under the big pine trees, but by the time I reached them the rain had done its worst and I decided to walk home.

I dumped the photos in the computer after I’d changed my clothes and made a foolish mistake when I was uploading the photos. Thankfully I must have pressed the “Fixit” button and it seems as if it’s all but repaired. I’ll know for sure tomorrow.

Scamp made a really interesting Sweet ’n’ Sour dinner tonight. We must check the recipe and try it again some time soon.

The cloudscape made PoD and it looks as if it got through its problem.

I think Scamp is going to FitSteps tomorrow. Other than that, we have nothing planned.

Flowers – 3 February 2026

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Just a day to recover.

This Tuesday was another one with little to recommend it. I’d intended going out for a walk with Alex, but we agreed that wasn’t going to happen. The furthest I got was a quick set of grab shots in the garden when the rain and wind had calmed down enough to get some usable photos.

Scamp had a meet up organised with Isobel, but I chose to stay at home. Later and after lunch, Scamp and I drove to the town centre and spoke to a nice lady who offered us a week in the sun if we paid her some money. We said we’d think about it and after a long discussion at home, a decision was made.

Other than that, it was just another cold wet winter day with a few garden flowers ( Primulas) to brighten the gloom. They became the PoD.

 

Out shopping – 25 January 2026

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Not Tesco shopping, shopping for new tech!

We’d been talking about getting a carpet cleaner. Scamp had searched the usual online places and it seemed on paper that everyone of them was happy to sell us one in two days time. We knew that Currys in Coatbridge had them on display, and we found the one we were looking for, but when we said we’d like that particular model, the assistant said they had none in stock … but they did have that model in the Hamilton and Uddingston stores. If we were interested, we could pay for it in Coatbridge and she would sign off the paperwork, then we could pick it up from either of the two stores.

It seemed too good to be true, but, for once it worked almost seamlessly. Unfortunately when we drove to Uddingston, the slip road that would take us to the store was closed, so we had to drive a long circuitous route round a roundabout and down under a flyover that eventually took us to the Curry’s store in Uddingston. There we picked up the big box and drove back home via the M73, a route I’m quite familiar with, except we were approaching it from the opposite direction!

Meanwhile, Scamp had been in text conversation with Shona who was out for a walk and asked if we were busy. Scamp explained that we were on our way home and would meet her at our house in about 20mins, and we did just that. She stayed for a couple of hours and we heard about all her worries about Ben and Paul. Neither of them really involved us, but gave us more of an insight into how the councils work, and how convoluted everything is. We’re both glad we don’t have to go through all those hoops. It must be tough to be young in these times.

Shona didn’t want to stay for dinner, but got a taxi home. We don’t think she likes Haggis, Neeps and Tatties! That was dinner for tonight, it being Burns Night. After dinner we watched a supposed Burns Night celebration. It was truly awful. One Scottish bloke told a couple of jokes that were really, REALLY funny. Something you could laugh at without feeling talked down. Nor did you feel awkward because they were crude or rude. No, they were just good humour.

With one exception, the remainder of the ‘celebration’ was cringeworthy. Scottish singers singing Burns ballads in English, not with a Scottish voice. Burns spoke and wrote in Scots, not the anglicised version that was foisted on us tonight. Even worse, it was a recorded version that was played, not a live show. Bah!

Spoke to Jamie later had heard that Simonne is happy in her new job and hopefully Jaime’s house may have a new part-time owner. That’s a weight off both their minds.

Today’s PoD was taken on the kitchen worktop before all these shenanigans were taking place.

Tomorrow we may build the big carpet cleaner. It’s a hefty piece of kit, judging by its weight.