July 2015 – Page 2 – My Photo Blog

Cycling away from home – 20 July 2015

Posted on July 20, 2015July 20, 2015 by Zogman

Well, today was the big test day for the bike carrier and it passed with flying colours. More below. Not a long drive today, but enough to make sure the carrier carried! Drove to Auchinstarry and parked there and cycled along the Forth and Clyde canal to Kirkintilloch then back again via Dumbreck Marshes. On the way there, for the first time ever, I think, I saw the bascule bridge at Twechar working. It was raised to allow a longboat to pass through heading east. Three or four motorists were standing looking a bit bemused as I was. However, it was a good morning and a pleasant way to pass some time. The canal towpath was quite quiet this morning, with only a few dog walkers and the occasional cyclist to block my way. On the way back, I took the detour through Dumbreck Marshes and managed a shot of a soldier beetle. I know it’s not really sharp, but it’s the expression on it’s face I like. It’s like “Are you looking at me?”, but it’s hard to second guess a beetle as Christopher Robin will tell you.

Back to the carrier. It’s a Saris Solo and as you can imagine from the name, it’s for only one bike. Suits me fine as Scamp doesn’t cycle. The other novel feature of the Solo is that it’s made from plastic. Surprisingly, it’s really quite strong with lots of reinforcing fins inside the structure. Another innovation is that there are only four nylon bands that hold the rack on the car – two at the top and two at the bottom. They seem to hold it securely to the boot but it will need a little more testing to give it a longer test on a longer drive. So far, I’m impressed and willing to take it on that longer drive. I’ll keep you posted.

Burds – 19 July 2015

Posted on July 19, 2015July 19, 2015 by Zogman

Despite it being colder than normal last night, I was too hot and couldn’t sleep. So about 4.00am, I got up and had myself some cereal for a very early breakfast then went back to bed. Even at that early hour, the birds were singing.

Finally woke around 8.30am and made real breakfast (more cereal) for us both. While I was waiting for my tea to brew, I threw out a couple of stale slices of my lovely homemade bread, for the birds. This immediately attracted the corvidae population. These scavengers are really taking over this year with crows, ravens, jackdaws and the ubiquitous magpies which I detest. This is the first year I’ve seen so many of them. They seem to arrive in masses to roost on rooftops all around us and, of course, grab any food that’s going. I’m thinking of making a cage that will cover the bread scraps with a mesh big enough to allow the smaller birds through, but prevent these black rogues from stealing any. One of them sidled along the fence until it was within snatching distance, or so it thought. Thankfully, I only have to grab the door handle and they are off on a sortie around the houses before returning for another look. Actually, I don’t mind them as much as the pigeons. The crow family are at least wild. The pigeons live in a pigeon loft a couple of streets away and if left to it, can hoover up a whole loaf in no time. Big fat rats with wings. Not the brightest lights on the tree either. My brother used to shoot them with an air rifle and said it took two or three slugs before they noticed that they were dead!

After the pigeon and crow watch, I restarted my painting, this time with oils. I just painted on top of the acrylic (which was on top of a watercolour!) As far as I can remember, you can paint oil on top of acrylic, but not the other way round. If I get up tomorrow and find that the whole thing has slid down off the easel onto a pile on the floor, I’ll know I’ve got it wrong. Anyway, I think it looks better and it’s has a much more tactile painting with oils rather than painting with acrylic – it’s like painting with soft butter – a strange analogy, but that’s the way I see it.

Salsa in the Garage tonight and it was really good and very hot. We surely lost a kg or two at least. Lots of people from our class there as it is Fair Monday tomorrow and the STUC is closed. So no salsa classes this week unless we go to help with the beginners on Wednesday. We’ll see.

Hoping to try out the bike carrier tomorrow if the rain stays away.

The day after the day before – 18 July 2015

Posted on July 18, 2015July 18, 2015 by Zogman

Today, we had already planned would be different to Friday. We were going to relax today, and that is what we did.

Scamp had cut a rose “Remember Me” yesterday to prevent it being damaged with the heavy rain and high winds. Today it had opened out fully. Although there wasn’t much scent from the flower, the colour was exceptional.

We only drove as far as the railway station today and let the train take the strain for a change. We walked round Glasgow and had a light lunch in Patisserie Valerie. Food was excellent, but service left a lot to be desired. Why does it always happen to us, I thought? Then, when we went to pay, it turned out that everyone had the same complaint – slow, slow service. One man waiting to order his pastry had the perfect response when the girl asked him what he wanted. “Actually, I’ve forgot, I’ve been waiting so long to be served” was his reply. Nice to know we were not alone.

On Buchanan Street, I waited for ages (well, about 2 minutes) to take a photo of Mitchell Lane with its colourful lights, but stupid people just kept getting in the way. I don’t know what the secret is to getting them to move along. I think the best thing is to pretend that you’re taking photos of them. I think that might work. I’ll try it soon. This one started as a colour pic of course. After the usual levels and adjustments, I painted a desaturation over the whole pic, then simply erased the desaturation in the selected areas. So simple with only Lightroom tools.

Went to Halfords on the way home to uplift my new bike rack. Couldn’t believe how light it is. It hardly looks as if it is up to the job, but I’ll try it out tomorrow or Monday and give a review here.

A relaxing day after yesterday’s stress.

Another busy day – 17 July 2015

Posted on July 17, 2015July 18, 2015 by Zogman

Visitors from Larky today, so up and get started. I’d made the risotto for the arancini last night, so up and get started on the rest. Put the mixer on and made some bread dough. Froze half and set the rest to prove. Had breakfast than started to clear my junk from the living room before I was told to do it. After that it was time for the messy job of hand moulding the arancini from the cold stodgy risotto rice. It’s not nice stuff at this stage. Next you have to form a hole in the ball of rice and push some mozzarella cheese into it before plugging up the hole with more rice mixture. The next stage is to coat the balls in flour then egg, then breadcrumbs before putting them into the fridge to chill until it was time to deep fry them.

By now it was past lunchtime, so we stopped for lunch and I chose to take an hour out to start a painting. It wasn’t very successful. I may try again with oils. While I was struggling with the acrylics, Scamp was making the pudding (I was on starter and main). By the time I was finished with my artwork, she was finished in the kitchen and as the oven was still hot, it was time to bake the bread, then prep the veg – Sweet Potato with Chilli, Coriander and Mango Chutney. Next, deep fry the arancini so they could go into the oven to dry out and keep warm after the bread was done. The veg joined them a little later. Good planning and use of resources, eh? Scamp’s planning of course, not mine 🙁

There was a little hiatus at this point, so I managed to slip the leash for an hour and fled to the relative quiet of St Mo’s. There was very little of interest but in one or two of the sunny spells, I managed to get some pics of the wild flower and those tree climbing snails. No other wildlife to be seen apart from mini froglets that were too quick for the 70-300 I had with me today. I’m still not convinced about the Tamron. It just doesn’t seem as sharp and certainly not as quick to focus as it was. The sharpness might be due to a misalignment in the focus system. I’ll have a go at re-calibrating it soon.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Scamp had the table set and we were good to go. Visitors arrived a little later and it was showtime. The arancini went down a storm. Got the sea bass cooked and the veg was fine. Scamp’s choux pastry, profiteroles were as light as a feather. After dinner, much drink was taken (too much perhaps), many stories were told and jokes were laughed at.

A busy day, but great fun.

Beer, the solution … 16 July 2015

Posted on July 16, 2015July 16, 2015 by Zogman

It’s been a busy day, a very busy day. Up at 7.30am. Quick breakfast of tea and toast then out to the gym. Gym was hard work, but the pool was at a lovely temperature. Not too hot and not too cold. Goldilocks temperature in fact. After that I had a quick visit to Halfords to see if they had a cycle rack that would fit my car. They did, a Thule rack that cost £95. Not what I was looking for. I asked one of the passing salesmen if they had anything else. He pointed to a Halfords model (surprisingly) and said “That one will fit it and it’s a lot cheaper. I’m 110% certain it will fit”. I went home and checked online. It didn’t fit. However I did find an even cheaper one and ordered it online. It will be in the Cumbernauld branch by Saturday afternoon. If I’d wanted it delivered to the Falkirk branch, it would take until Tuesday?! Falkirk is about 20minutes away!

After a quick lunch, it was off to Linlithgow to get some good fresh fish, mince and … a bottle of whisky. In Tesco at Linlithgow, apparently they keep their whisky bottles in the back store and only display their boxes on the shelves. It’s a good way of stopping shoplifters, if a bit old fashioned these days. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work, at least not at Tesco Linlithgow. When we got to the checkout, it took 15 minutes – the time it takes for three customers to pass through for someone to notice that we were waiting, take the box and go pick up the whisky. She admitted that she didn’t know where they kept the whisky. Thankfully she did find it and we returned shaking our heads. One of the customers who had been served while we waited said that it was probably a bit “too expensive for them”. It wasn’t that expensive. it wasn’t even a single malt! Maybe I should have bought some Buckfast instead.

Tonight, I spent the best part of an hour making a mushroom risotto to make arancini tomorrow. It’s been a full day, so now it’s time for a cheap french beer. All The Best!

Beer, the solution, now, what's the problem. This algorithm applies to a single beer. If more than two or three are required, then ... Beer is the problem. Now what's the solution. — Beer, the solution, now, what’s the problem. This algorithm applies to a single beer. If more than two or three are required, then …
Beer is the problem. Now what’s the solution.

Hamilton – 15 July 2015

Posted on July 15, 2015July 15, 2015 by Zogman

We had a few options on destinations today. I’d thought about Ayr and then Culross (sorry Hazy), maybe even Kirkcaldy. Eventually we went to none of these, but turned up in Hamilton – Capital city of South Lanarkshire. We parked in the retail park and walked along to the mausoleum. Isn’t it a pity that this monument to a man’s belief in his immortality is falling into disrepair. Yes, I know it is the Lanarkshire tower of Pisa and is subsiding due to mine workings. I can also understand that it would take the council a lot of money to repair the damage from wind and weather, not to mention the damage from vandalism. However, If this were a private building, that same council would be quick to take the owner to task for allowing a grade A listed building to get into this state without taking any precautions. It doesn’t look as if the council have done anything other than to put up four spotlights and a chain link fence. Is this the best that the Capital City of South Lanarkshire can do to protect the Duke of Hamilton’s heritage.

After walking around the mausoleum we wandered down the path under the M74 through to Strathclyde park where we were investigated by some geese that thought we had food for them. Unfortunately they were wrong, but maybe that’s what made us hungry ourselves, so we headed back to Hamilton City Centre for a coffee and panini. On our way back through the

M74 underpass, I grabbed a quick shot of a girl walking ahead of us just as she broke into the sunshine. I tried quite a few different versions of the shot, but finally settled on a high contrast version with deep blacks and bright whites and very little in the way of mid-range greys.

Back home we still managed an hour or so in on and off sunshine before it was time for me to make dinner. Best laugh of the day was a text from Hazy to say that she had finally got the card we sent from Venice. It was posted on the 17th of June and this is the 15th of July. Almost a month.

Sitting in the sun (without a raincoat) – 14 July 2015

Posted on July 14, 2015July 14, 2015 by Zogman

The day started like any other Scottish summer day with drizzle then heavier rain. It didn’t matter to me because I was waiting in for Yodel to deliver a parcel for Scamp. I used the time wisely by starting another sketch from the Italy cruise. One day I will be confident enough to sketch or paint from life rather than from photos, but not today. Watercolour in the rain? I don’t think so. I wasn’t very confident about Yodel, having had a parcel just before Christmas, simply disappear and have to her replaced. However, the parcel did arrive just after midday.

Since the rain had stopped and the sun had come out, Scamp decided to cut the grass. After that she wanted the gladioli to be tied up to prevent them being blown down and broken. This was my task. While doing it and getting cut to pieces on the roses that border the gladioli, I found a stray damselfly on the grass. I don’t think Scamp had mowed it with the grass, but the beastie wasn’t looking at its best. I carefully lifted it up and put it on a rosebud, hoping that it would find some aphids for lunch, but all the aphids on the roses were dead. The damselfly clung on to the rosebud and as far as I know, it’s still there.

After the gardening, we got out the lounger (for Scamp) and the camp chair (for me) and we both decided it was Pimms O’ Clock, and had a little refreshment reading and sitting in the sun. I sat for a very pleasant hour or so before I got itchy feet and went for a safari in St Mo’s. I got a few shots of Mr Grey, my favourite is here. I also was lucky enough to get some shots of a dragonfly in the classic dragonfly pose with wings out. There were a few damselflies out, but not as many as in the past few weeks. As July wears on, it’s usual to have a decrease in the numbers of damsels and an increase in the population of dragons. I don’t know if it will be the same this year with our cold summer. We can only hope that today is the start of some warmer weather.

Ants – 13 July 2015

Posted on July 13, 2015July 13, 2015 by Zogman

I was putting some old fruit in the compost bin today. When I opened the lid I was shocked to see a load of white eggs and hundreds of ants. I fed the fruit to the composter and put the lid back on then went in search of Mr Google to see if he had any thoughts on the problem of ants in the compost, and possibly a solution to get rid of the beasties. I was surprised to find site after site extolling the virtues of ants in the compost. Apparently they help with the decomposition of the vegetable matter. They also help aerate the compost and save gardeners the trouble of turning over the compost as they do that themselves. WIth that information, I returned to the composter with my Nikon and a Sigma 105mm macro lens and took the Shot of the Day, then put the lid back on. Welcome ants, friends not foes.

I got a watercolour sketch done today. Not entirely satisfied with it, but that’s the point of a sketch. I’ll try it again tomorrow. I’m not sure now if I will proceed on to a full size watercolour. I may change it to an acrylic using a technique I’ve read about in a book. If I try this technique and it works, I’ll write more about it later in the blog.

Lunch today was the pulled remainder of the meat from yesterday’s dinner. I’ll share a secret with you. It wasn’t really a dinosaur bone, it was an Aberdeen Angus Rib steak. It was delicious again today on a roll with brown sauce. I tried it with mustard too, but it wasn’t as good. Thanks JIC for introducing me to this.

Walking the Canal – 12 July 2015

Posted on July 12, 2015July 12, 2015 by Zogman

After a late start today we went for a walk along the railway from Auchinstarry to Twechar and then back along the canal. Weather was mainly dry with a couple of rain showers, nothing serious. The E-PL5 kept going on to video mode without me realising it. It wasn’t until I got back home and looked at the pics, I found four short video clips. I’ve now switched off the instant video button on the camera to stop me pressing it by accident. What I did find that was interesting and useful was that when you are playing or scrubbing through a video in Lightroom 5, you can right-click anywhere and get a screen grab from that point. That’s how I got the bumble bee hoverfly shot.

Had lunch when we got home and then read a lot more of The End of the World Running Club that Hazy recommended to me. It’s been a bit of a marathon (no pun intended) read and has taken me the best part of a month to slog my way through it, but I’m getting there now. I’m not intending to write a review of it here. I’ll keep that for Goodreads. Suffice to say that it may have been a long read, but it has kept me interested enough to finish it.

Dinner was the gigantic dinosaur bone that I got from JIC’s butcher. I’ve been holding on to it for ages until I felt I was ready to face this behemoth of the carnivore’s larder. I deemed that today was that day and while it defrosted ready for the oven, I went for a walk over to St Mo’s, armed with the Nikon, the Tamron lens and a Sigma 105mm macro. From the outset, it was plain that the Tamron would stay in the bag. This was a macro day where the weapon of choice would be the Sigma. There were insects everywhere. Some familiar, some not so. I’ve collected a set of them here for your perusal. Apart from the one on the left, the Scorpion Fly, I have no idea what they are. They are currently posted on Flickr and hopefully some kind person will ID them for me. That’s about it for the weekend. The dino bone was delicious by the way and I’m hoping to have the leftover bits for my lunch tomorrow.

Following the Yellow Brick Road – 11 July 2015

Posted on July 11, 2015July 11, 2015 by Zogman

We had decided to go to IKEA today. I hate IKEA, especially the fact that you have to follow the yellow brick road with little arrows under your feet to tell you how to traverse this enormous warehouse. However, loaded with a host of things we hadn’t planned on buying, but agreed we couldn’t do without, we left with a bag of Swedish Meatballs. All was not lost!

From there we went to Decathlon. From the sublimely organized to the ridiculous. I simply cannot understand how this place continues to draw in customers and revenue. When we went in, a father was explaining to his son why the warning bells were ringing. He told his son it was to warn the security that someone was trying to steal something. Why on earth would anyone want to steal anything from here. The place is full of cheap looking own-brand sports goods with the occasional recognisable brand. Every time I leave feeling disappointed and disillusioned.

We stopped in Glasgow city centre for a cup of coffee and to buy some art stuff. We also picked up tickets for the Randy Newman concert in October. Tickets were a wee bit more expensive than we’d expected, but I expect Mr Newman needs to supplement his pension somehow. I managed to get a few shots from the steps of the Concert Hall, so that kind of made up for it. Before we went home, I also managed to pick up one other little extra. When we got back to the car, it was to find that some kind bastard had scratched the front wing with their bad attempt at parking. This Megane must be the unluckiest car I’ve ever had.

Dinner tonight was a carry-out courtesy of Bombay Dreams. It’s been too long since we’ve had such a good curry. We’ve even got some for lunch tomorrow. How’s that for abstinence?