Mother’s Day – 10 March 2024

Mother’s Day in a warm place.

In the morning after breakfast, we went out for a walk along the promenade because the sun was shining and the breeze was light. The walkway was busy, probably because it was Sunday and the walkers were mostly families relaxing on the weekend. They go to the beach like we go to Drumpellier separated by about two thousand miles and about 15 degrees centigrade.

By the time we got back it was lunch time and Scamp had replied to her Mother’s Day messages. We cleared both the beds and started sorting out the clothes that would need to be packed in to the cases tonight in preparation for going home tomorrow. Just a rough arranging everything into bundles, nothing too serious at this time.

The sun was still shining after lunch, so Scamp went for a seat by the pool while I went for a last walk in the wilderness. I didn’t see anything very interesting, but I took my usual photograph of shells on a raised beach metres above the high tide mark. How they got there is a mystery. Presumably the land I was walking on had been under the ocean thousands of years ago and these little wee shells had survived the changes since then.

When I got back, Scamp was ready to get dressed for dinner and it was my time to relax on a saggy sunbed. We had been arguing about the exact placement of our balcony in the hotel and when my phone rang, it was Scamp to tell me that she was waving to me from the balcony. Brilliant idea. I took a few photos that solved the problem of where we had been living for a week! Later we did that final pack before we went for dinner.

After dinner we had a couple of drinks from the bar then adjourned to the balcony to finish off the last of the bottle of gin we’d bought at the start of the holiday. Sitting on the balcony without coats watching the stars and listening to the waves.

PoD was a photo of someone, a stranger, relaxing on the beach under a couple of coconut matting sunshades.

Tomorrow the tension will be high. Cases will be taken away and we’ll be waiting for the bus to the airport.

Dull and cold wind – 8 March 2024

Sat for a while out of the sun, but gave up after a while and went into the big round building where yesterday’s Gala Event had been. It was warmer there.

Eventually when the skies cleared a bit and the sun shone, we walked to the ‘Island’. It’s actually a man-made island built on boulders and the last time we were there we had to queue for a table. Today was similar, but we managed to get an inside table out of the wind. I had a burger and Scamp had two of the fattest Sea Bass fillets we’d ever seen. We both had Mojitos.

By the time we were going back, the weather was improving and I went for a walk again in the wilderness. Got a photo of a group of wild goats and also what looks like a locust. I remember seeing locusts in Lanzarote a few years ago and these were very similar.

Came back to the hotel and watched the qualifying for tomorrow’s F1 GP. Didn’t find out who was on pole, because somebody pulled a plug somewhere and we were left with a black screen and muddled sound. No explanation. No apologies. That’s the way it is here.

Entertainment in the evening was two acrobats. The bloke seemed to have trained as a ballet dancer and the girl’s speciality appeared to be the splits. There was a fair bit of faffing about and posing. Entertaining for a while, but I was glad when it was finished.

PoD was a stunning Bird of Paradise flower in the hotel garden. Beautiful colours.

Tomorrow is Saturday and the days are slipping away.

 

Wilderness – 6 March 2024

Today I walked in the wilderness. My name for the sandy desert just south of the hotel. Nothing much to see here unless you take the time to look hard.

I saw a Snowy Egret and a further on a Little Egret. I was hoping to see a Shrike because I’d seen one a few years ago in this place, and there it was. Away in the distance, a single Shrike sitting on the top of a thorny bush. I was kicking myself that I hadn’t brought the 210mm long zoom lens. The little 50mm is a great go-to lens, but it’s struggling with distant objects..

When I came back we sat in the sun for a while, just taking in some rays!

After dinner and the now mandatory coffee in the upstairs bar we had our second visit to the kids club. More families had arrived during the day so there were more kids in the club and more parents too. Pepe was just as entertaining as the first night.

There was no other entertainment for us tonight, so we took a G&T and a Rum ’n’ Coke up to the room and enjoyed the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.

PoD was a bunch of weeds growing at the side of the dusty track through the wilderness. They made me think of yellow jelly beans!

Hoping to go to Puerto del Rosario tomorrow.

A day to tidy things up – 3 March 2024

We didn’t do very much today. Didn’t go out although it was dry but cold. Just a day when we had to get things done. Mainly it was packing and unpacking cases and bags and rucksacks. Checking the weight of each of them and rechecking them, knowing all the time that we were well within the limits.

It’s days like this that are the worst. You know you can’t actually go until tomorrow, and there is nothing you can do to make tomorrow come quicker. Time just doesn’t work that way.

Almost time to go to bed, not to sleep, because we know we won’t. Well, maybe we will, but that will be just before the alarm wakes us.

PoD was a photo of the Rhododendrons in the garden.

Tomorrow we fly south.

The 29th day of February – 29 February 2024

It only happens once in every four years and today was it.

Scamp was out to lunch (again) with Isobel and I was out taking photos with Alex. She drove to the Village and I took the bus in to Glasgow. Maybe we were celebrating ‘family’ because of this special day. Or may be we were just out having lunch.

Alex and I met at the bus station and went for a coffee while we discussed our outline plan for the day. I suggested taking the subway to Kelvinbridge, taking some photos, having a Paesano pizza for lunch and taking in some architecture and graffiti. I was fairly sure this would suit Alex as well as me, and I was right.

There were a few places around Kelvinbridge that met both our requirements. I always find the way the Kelvin rushes over the rapids and down under the bridge a bit strange and unnerving. I can’t explain that, I just find it a bit nightmarish and it always draws me in to watch it again. It’s something to do with a bridge above me with the water of the River Kelvin running under me.

We left the Kelvin to do it’s stuff and walk up the hill to Paesano (West End). Fed and watered we walked down the steps that took us to the walkway above the Kelvin and over it to photograph both Mrs McChicken and also the Caledonian Mansions a restored sandstone building above us on the corner of Gt Western Road. Alex loves architecture and so do I to a certain extent. From there we returned to Gt Western Road and walked west to Byres Road.

While I was buying two books with a book token I got from Scamp at Christmas, Alex was off photographing a wee lane near the Spanish restaurant Scamp and I had visited on Monday. We met up again outside the book shop and headed towards the subway to go back to the city centre. It was there we found some lovely light on Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church and spent another twenty minutes or more photographing it from all angles. Alex demonstrating his ability to photograph the reflections of it on car bonnets and roofs. He is one of the most inventive photogs I know.

Finally we walked into the subway and as the train came in, Alex was asked by a lady who seemed three sheets to the wind whether that train went to Glasgow. It’s a strange question, because the trains follow two concentric routes round the city. All trains go to Glasgow! He tried to explain that to them and they got on anyway. It was all part of a big adventure to them. Unfortunately we were in the same carriage as them and were caught up in their conversations which revolved around Fascinators and Hats. I sense a wedding was in the offing. When they got off at Buchanan Street I distinctly heard one ask if the train went any further. To which the answer was probably YES and NO. It’s all to do with the concentricity.

We went on to St Enoch and found some more subjects to photograph. Centered around the Metropolitan Church of St Andrew and the reflection of it on the mirror glass of its next door neighbour.

Another coffee to prepare us for the bus home and we went our separate ways. I had 105 photos with three of them rejected. Alex had a lot more. It was a really good day. Good conversation and interesting photos. I look forward to sharing them soon.

Today’s PoD was the Caledonian Mansions building.
Today’s prompt was for Gold. I’m not a seeker of wealth, so generally don’t have much gold about my person. Neither do I have any fish, although I did used to have a few Goldfish and a lovely Shubunkan until the cat found it, but I digress. I chose a goldfish as my final sketch for EDiF 2024. Such a placid fish it only needed some air bubbled through the water in its tank and the occasional flake food. This was an official 15 minute sketch with about half an hour of paint splashing later.

Scamp seemed to have a good day with Isobel who is considering whether to have another knee op. Strangely, so is Alex’s wife thinking the same thing. She has an appointment with the doc tomorrow to discuss the likelihood of it getting done. Who knows, they may end up in the same ward!

No plans for tomorrow, but I’m hoping I won’t be doing any sketching for a wee while.

 

A dull day – 28 February 2024

One of those days when it started raining and forgot to stop.

Scamp was out at midday to go to a Witches Lunch in Moira’s house so I was left to my own devices. I decided I’d spend my time gathering together bits and pieces in the back bedroom. I got about halfway down my list and decided to have lunch. I was hoping the rain would take a lunch break too, but that didn’t happen. Like me it was busy and didn’t have time for frivolous things like stopping for an hour or so. It just changed from heavy rain to light rain and then back again.

Almost every day this week I’ve been blog writing almost to midnight. The sensible thing to do today would be to start with the sketch in the early afternoon and that would let me concentrate on the posting and writing earlier in the evening. I struggled to find something that would fit with today’s prompt “Navy”. My first though was a naval ratings hat. I sketched that, but it didn’t really look like it was intended to. I didn’t want a hat that Lord Nelson might wear, then I found an advert for a child’s duck shaped toy made to look like a sailor. That would do fine. I got the sketch done quite quickly, but the painting took ages. It wasn’t possible to use my ’Splashy’ technique. It had to be painted neatly and cleanly. I did manage to finish it and that ticked a box.

That made it coffee time and it looked like the rain had stopped. Of course as soon as I took a camera out it started again. I wasn’t going far, just into the garden. Five minutes of photography and I had enough for today. The subject was a tray of purple crocuses and with the right lens and a wide aperture I could almost blur out the roughcast in the background. Dunked into a couple of processing apps and it looks good.  That was PoD catered for.

Scamp got a lift home which saved me driving over to Moira’s to pick her up. Her day seemed to go well. Dinner tonight for us was a pizza from the freezer.

Still got a bit of work to do in the back bedroom, but I’m hoping to get most of it done by the weekend.

I’m intending going in to Glasgow to meet Alex tomorrow. Scamp may go and visit Isobel.

Watch for the tumbleweed – 27 February 2024

This morning we were out to visit Our Man In Falkirk.

Andrew was looking very relaxed today. No fancy shirt, but he was just as sharp as usual. He talked us through the last half year and made his predictions for the next year. He explained that the new software they are using was designed in New Zealand of all places and that it was made in the same place as the hobbits live. You have to listen carefully to his stories because he is quite adept at slipping in the occasional joke like that just to see if you are listening. We were. Apparently our previous company were using version 1 of the software, but we have the most up to date version. We both like the way he speaks. He doesn’t water things down, nor does he talk down to you. A very clever man who inspires confidence. Just watch for the jokes. He’s even a photographer who used to do his own developing and printing!

Scamp and I went for a walk when the interview was over, after being warned by him that there were a lot of good opportunities for Street Photography near Asda. That said with a nod and a wink. As we were walking up to what used to be the main street. I noticed a few worthies who fell into the category he was describing, but I did’t take any photos, just in case.

Scamp went to Bonmarche looking for bargains in the clothes. I went to Waterstones to get a couple of books. We both came away empty handed. Maybe I’ll get the books on Thursday when I’m hoping to meet Alex.

Scamp and I were amazed how far Falkirk had slid down the slippery slope. What was a busy Main Street, was now a ghost town. It’s incredible the difference in about five years. I think M&S was the first to go and from there it’s been closure after closure. I’m guessing Waterstones won’t be long before it pulls the plug on Falkirk too.

We drove home via Torwood, but there was almost no room in the carpark and we assumed the cafe would be the same. We drove home and stopped for supplies in Tesco instead.

I went for a walk after lunch and drove to Fannyside which is a great place for skies and cloudscapes. It didn’t let me down today. Two lovely landscapes with impressive cloudscapes, one mono and one in colour. Mono won PoD.

Dinner was Baked Potato and Beans. Not amazing, but yesterday’s lunch was so good, it would be difficult to beat it.

Today’s prompt was Peach
I probably should have tried painting this soft fruit in pastels, but Old Dogs and New Tricks led me back to watercolour. So here is my interpretation of Peach. I must practise more with those expensive chalky sticks. I’ll dig them out some day and make a different kind of mess.

Tomorrow Scamp is going for lunch at Moira’s house. I’ve things to do at home.

Going Spanish – 26 February 2024

Today we took the bus in to Glasgow. We were going for a late lunch.

“Late” because it should have been last week we went for lunch in Café Andaluz in the West End, but I really wasn’t at my best last week and thankfully Scamp got the date changed to today. The lunch was a Christmas gift from Scamp. Christmas seems such a long time ago now. We had a lovely lunch of five plates of tapas. Spanish black pudding, Chicken pieces on skewers, Patatas Bravas, Lamb tagine and Prawns in garlic oil, with sides of olives and bread and a glass of Sangria. Dessert was Churros for two! Just brilliant on such a lovely almost warm and very spring like day.

We had taken the X3 in to Glasgow and then while I went to get my hair cut, Scamp went browsing for sandals without success. Then we got he subway out to Kelvinbridge and I grabbed a few photos of the River Kelvin rushing over the rapids. From there we walked through the park and up the steps that led to Great Western Road. We walked past all the posh and weird shops that it’s been famous for, since I can remember. When we got to Byres Road we went looking for the restaurant which is well hidden in plain sight along a narrow lane.

We were far too early, so we went for a walk in the Botanic Gardens. We didn’t go to the Kibble Palace circular greenhouse today. Instead we walked up to the garden area which was covered with black polythene sheeting to heat up the soil ready for planting. It was when we were walking back I saw PoD which is a line of magenta coloured crocuses. They were shining so brightly in the sunlight, they just had to be the PoD.

We just had time for a gentle walk back to Café Andaluz and lunch.

When we were finished there, we walked down Byres Road checking out the shops that had changed and the ones that have been in the same place for years. I saw a couple of books I fancied, but I’d left my book token at home, so I hope I remember their names. I’m sure I will.

We had an afternoon drink in Oran Mor G&T for Scamp and an Innis & Gunn IPA for me. Quite fruity and almost floral. Worth paying extra for.

And that was us almost done. Subway back to Glasgow and a crowded X3 home. A lovely day.

I’d a bit of catching up to do. Two sketches to do. One for yesterday and one for today. Thankfully the blog for yesterday was done and posted on time

Yesterday’s first:

Yesterday’s prompt was Salmon.
This one took me a bit of time. First I had to get myself a new rod and reel and also some fly fishing line. Then I had to catch the fish. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, mainly because I went fishing at night. Not so many nosy folk out on the river asking if you have a license and things.
After an hour I had half a dozen decent sized salmon. I chose one the right size and got the sketch done and then splashed on the paint. Job done. Anyone want a salmon? Just don’t ask where it came from.

And today’s prompt was Rust.
I chose a rusty nail. Not the most exciting sketch ever, but it fulfilled the prompt. That’s the one on the right, by the way.
The other one is also a Rusty Nail. For those who have never heard of it, it’s a mixture of Whisky and Drambuie. Very nice!
The difference between the two is subtle. The first one is hit with a hammer. The second one, if you make it in a big enough glass, make you feel like you’ve been hit with a hammer!

Tomorrow we’re hoping to see the only man brave enough to wear a loud shirt in a built up area. Andrew.

Another lovely, but busy day – 25 February 2024

It was Sunday and a sunny day. Usually a day of relaxation, with little work being done.

We both did a bit of work. Scamp wanted to rehouse an old photograph of Hazel, Jamie, Neil and Simonne from ‘quite a few years ago’ in a new frame. She had already earmarked a suitable frame from my odds and ends collection. Unfortunately, the picture didn’t fit the mat properly, so I was tasked with making a new mat from a suitable piece of mat card from my collection. It wasn’t a hard job, in fact it was quite enjoyable. Making the aperture fit the picture is all to do with subtraction and long division which I can just about manage without a calculator. The hard bit is remembering how to cut the angled mat to fit the picture. If you do this day in, day out, it’s not a problem, but when you do picture framing once in a blue moon the old maxim “Measure twice, cut once” is a useful guideline. I had a lunch break before I started the cutting.

There was some mince left over from hmm, must have been Thursday. Scamp suggested Mince with a Poached Egg. Definitely a Scottish meal, especially if served on a slice of buttered bread. If you haven’t tried it, don’t scoff. You are missing one of life’s delights, unless you’re Hazy or Scamp. It was delightful. Slightly overdone egg, but that was my fault, otherwise it was delicious.

Back in the workshop, the glass was cleaned the mat was cut and the photo was an exact fit. It’s now assembled and hanging in pride of place in the living room. Both families together in a photo that’s probably eight years old at least. Baldock is what we think. I’ll try to get a photo of the photo tomorrow.

With that done, there was some easy gardening to be done. Scamp was taking cuttings of some of her geraniums and I was pruning the Budleia bush in the back garden and also cutting down the seed head of the sunflowers from back in the summer. I think I’d like to plant some more this coming year. I like those big yellow heads.

Around 3pm the light was getting interesting. A bit warmer colour than earlier in the day, but bright enough that it wasn’t going to cause gritty digital noise. I got a few, but the best one, and PoD was one of the first I took today. It’s a view of the pine trees in St Mo’s reflecting in one of the new ponds. There were a few other contenders, but this one stood out for me.

Dinner was SeaBass with crushed potatoes and spring onions served with marrowfat peas. Quite, quite delicious.

Spoke to Jamie in the evening and it seems he is quite happy with the way the reconstruction of the roof and the dormers, more importantly, so is the structural engineer. Those are both good signs. Not so much flooding this week, but a fair bit of mud on the road that needs to we washed away before it becomes a problem. Poor Vixen can’t get out for a walk until her paw if healed. I hope it doesn’t take too long. Simonne seems to be having a good start to her holiday with her sister and their dad. Nice photos.

Watched another school play masquerading as a detective mystery in Death In Paradise. I think the cast need a re-shuffle.

Didn’t quite get around to sketching today’s prompt which was Salmon. Maybe fish tomorrow, but not fish today.

Read Monday’s for Sunday’s story and sketch!

Tomorrow we are hoping to have a lunch in a Spanish restaurant in Glasgow, rescheduled from last week.

Ah! That’s more like it – 24 February 2024

Feeling almost normal again. I’m keeping it at that. I’m not ready yet to say I feel human again!

A lazy morning today sitting in the sunshine in the living room. It had been freezing during the night and was still quite cool outside. We talked about what we wanted to do and where to go. Scamp suggested that Glasgow wasn’t really a good idea at weekends and I agreed. Her second suggestion was Chatelherault for a ‘gentle’ walk. That fitted the bill for me, so we gathered together all the things we needed for a walk and drove over to a rather busy carpark near the “Big House”. The house was the hunting lodge of the Duke of Hamilton, but is now a busy and expensive (so I’m told) wedding venue. Since a ‘gentle’ walk was to be the order of the day I suggested walking down past the steel cut out figures of William Wallace, Robert Owen and David Livingstone. Usually a good photo opportunity, if the sun is playing nice, but it wasn’t today.

The path splits after them. One route takes you to the Old Avon Bridge and is quite scenic, but you have a long slog back up the hill again. The other route takes you through the woods, high above the Avon Water and back to the car park again with the option of stopping at the cafe. We chose the second option.

There were a family in front of us who were with a man in a motorised wheelchair. He seemed to be making heavy weather of the first climb up through a muddy path. By the time we caught up with them he was stuck fast between two exposed tree roots. Couldn’t go forward and couldn’t go back. We offered to help them, but the woman who I reckon was the his daughter said thanks but they’d manage. They seemed to thing that if they got past the tree roots everything would be fine from there. The wheelchair looked really new, but if he kept trying forward and reverse he was going to flatten his battery. Eventually the woman said “NO! WE’RE GOING BACK!” I thought at that point the boss had spoken. In retrospect, it was the correct decision.

We said Good Luck and walked on. It was heavy going for a while climbing up through puddles, burns and mud, then the path firmed up and dried up too. We carried on and a couple coming from the opposite direction told us it was pretty muddy the way we were going. We thanked them, and noticed that they were wearing ordinary town shoes. Just near the end of the path we discovered what they were talking about. The path dropped away in a steep slope that was almost pure mud. The centre 400mm or so was fairly dry and navigable. How the bloke would have kept control of the wheelchair in that I hate to think. Anyway, the worst was behind us.

We got to the cafe and Scamp grabbed a table while I stood in a queue for 20 mins or more but got two scones with jam and clotted cream and two coffees. The last two scones at that. Paid for them and for a pot of marmalade I’d picked up we enjoyed our lunch.
Note to self: The coffee in the Cafe is excellent. This is not Costa coffee!! It’s safe to drink.

Drove home and parked, then walked down to the shops to get a couple of small pizzas for dinner.

PoD was a view looking up the hill at The Big House as Alex calls it with a heavy sky behind it. Partly processed in Lightroom, partly in ON1. I’ve decided it has its uses.

Today’s prompt was Ruby.
I thought a Ruby ring was the easiest and simplest thing to draw. Simplest, yes. Easiest? Nothing to do with reflections and refractions is ever going to be easy, but this is my answer anyway.

Felt so much better after that walk in the woods. They say that walking in pine woods is good for the respiration. Perhaps it is. Perhaps I was just happy to be outside in the air again.

No plans for tomorrow, but maybe Sea Bass for dinner!