August 2015 – Page 2 – My Photo Blog

A little surprise for someone – 21 August 2015

Posted on August 21, 2015August 22, 2015 by Zogman

Just for a change I decided to go for a swim this morning. No gym, just a swim. Up and out early, just after 8.00. Got a few lengths in before the inevitible Waterbabies™ and their mummys (yummy or otherwise) and a token daddy or two arrived.
<oh, oh, I feel a rant coming on> After that the pool was cordoned off to allow the ‘little ones’ (how I hate that expression. We are Scottish. They are ‘weans’) to go through their swimming antics while we, the older and wiser ones have to put up with half the pool to actually swim in. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve not got a gripe with weans learning to swim. My concern is that the leisure complex is being paid by Waterbabies™ for the use of their pool to run these classes. The leisure company and Q Hotels lose nothing by it, but we, the paying customers are the ones that lose out. </oh, oh, I feel a rant coming on>

In the afternoon, I took the bike to Auchinstarry and did a round trip of Dumbreck Marshes, Queenzieburn (pronounced Queenieburn for some reason), Twechar, Smithston (pronounced Smeeston according to my dad), back to Dumbreck and then back to Auchinstarry. Got some lovely shots of a couple of dragonflies that were sitting on opposite sides of a bridge, just across from one another like a grumpy old couple who weren’t speaking. Next to them was a really nasty looking fly. To the casual observer it just looked like a black fly, but up close, the red eyes and that face looked quite evil. Evil or not, it got its photo took too. Previously I’d found the red flowers shown here. The Oly doesn’t handle reds very well. It seems to over saturate them and over expose them too, so some judicious downgrading had to be done in Lightroom.

When I got back to Auchinstarry, the old blokes were fishing again at the quarry. If you’ve been reading this, you’ll remember that I took some shots of them the last time I was there. I’d printed off one of the photos and recognised the angler in it, sitting on a bench watching one of the other old blokes casting. I walked over and asked him what they were fishing for. He gave a guarded reply that they “were only practising with different lines and techniques” I’m not sure I believed him. I asked him if he had been fishing there last week. He replied “No, not me, not last week.” “So this wouldn’t be you then?” I asked giving him the photo. “No, that’s no’ me.” Then “Fuck’s sake it is me. Fuck’s sake. Look at that, for fuck’s sake it IS me right enough. Who took that?” I told him that it was me and I hoped he didn’t mind. He certainly didn’t seem to and I left him to show off my work to his pals.

One small act of kindness.

Bread, Windoze10 and a short walk – 20 August 2015

Posted on August 20, 2015August 20, 2015 by Zogman

There you are, my day summed up in a short sentence, although some would argue that it isn’t a sentence as it doesn’t have a verb in it, but that’s just being pedantic.

I got up early, just after 7.00, made breakfast and, after reading my emails, decided to make some bread. Usually I make the stuff in the mixer, but this morning I decided to go back to the plain old hand method and it worked out quite nicely too. I don’t know why I decided to manhandle some flour, yeast, water, salt and butter. It couldn’t be because of ‘Bakeoff’ last night could it? Heaven forbid that’s why it came into my mind. Bakeoff would be a good programme if it wasn’t for those awful women ‘comedians’ or Mary Berry (Good Cop) or grumpy Paul Hollywood (Bad Cop). Most of the contestants could go too. “Ooh, this is the first time I’ve made this”. Get a life dear. If this is the first time you’ve made this when you knew it was coming up, you’re thicker than you look, and that would be difficult. NO! It was a conscious decision on my part (you are still with me, aren’t you?) to bake a loaf today. Mine and nobody else’s. Bread making is a long process with little bits of effort and a lot of waiting around for the yeast to do its stuff, so to fill in the time I started to install Windows 10 on my old netbook. According to Val it was easy to upgrade the slow, curmudgeonly old HP relic to run like greased lightning on the newest Mickysoft OS. He lied. It took over three hours to get the thing downloaded and installed. I was so tired of waiting for the installation to actually get to the final screen, I almost set it to ‘automatic’ install. That would have been a big mistake. Now I see why so many people are having problems with this spyware OS. I went for the detailed install. Did you know that there are three whole pages where you give Mickysoft the right to check every time you touch a key on the keyboard, every time you click the Start button. You give them permission to sell your email address to their commercial customers. You give them the right to look into your files too. Almost nothing is sacred. You even allow them to watch you when you go to the toilet. No, I made that bit up, but you do have to tell them you want to go, ask for permission, sign out and sign back in again. After all that was done, the new desktop was revealed. It’s much like the old Windows 7 desktop and in that, it is a great improvement over the Windows 8 style tiles, but it’s no longer Windows, it’s now truly Windoze. It’s as slow as treacle. The netbook was slow before, now a blackboard and chalk would be quicker. Luckily, I’ve got a month in which to play test the slug and then I can revert it to Windows 7 again. Possibly the best OS there has been for a PC, although Win XP is almost as good. Thank goodness for a Mac. The Windows computers are ok for taking with me on holiday as file repositories, but they aren’t for everyday use. The bread, by the way turned out fine.

Went for a walk later in the day to St Mo’s and got a few foties. Nothing startling, but they look ok.

Being a culture vulture – 19 August 2015

Posted on August 19, 2015August 19, 2015 by Zogman

Last year at this time of year, we went to the Embra Festival. Note for new readers: It’s not Edinburgh or even worse Edinboro 😡 It’s Embra. It’s always been Embra. It will always be Embra. Ask any Glaswegian and they will verify this. So, today being Scamp’s day ff and well into the Festival, we decided to go to Embra on the train.

Walked up the Grassmarket which is a strange name for a street. Although we have walked up it many times and there is almost always a market there, I have never seen any grass (of any kind) being sold there. Very strange, but then, you expect strange things in Embra. At the top of the Grassmarket, we walked to the Royal Mile where most of the ~~maddies~~ performers were. All human life is there during the festival, and sometimes other forms of life too. We saw Japanese drummers, Korean dancers, ~~maddies~~ actors dressed as frogs, badgers and a bear. At least, I think it was a bear, but Scamp thought it was a dog. Just goes to show how detailed the costume was. One of the best performances was Yukinko Akira, a dancing, DJ artist. Very energetic and really quite entertaining. After a while we got tired of batting away people dressed as pirates, samauri and bewigged dandies all wanting to give you a flier for their ‘fantastic’, ‘five star’, ‘successful’ show. We did see one man dressed as a lawyer in black gown carrying his wig, but Scamp thinks he really was a lawyer as we were just outside the high court! Anyway, we walked along Princes Street gardens and had lunch at Hendersons at St John’s church in the west end. It’s probably the best vegetarian restaurant I’ve been to. Great food, in interesting surroundings. There was even a piano player showing off his considerable talent. Scamp was impressed. Walked back and visited John Lewis (of course) before getting the train home. The weather? Oh, the weather was excellent in Embra, it was only as the train drew into Croy that the large drops of rain started hitting the windows, and I don’t think it has stopped since. So, the magic weather pixies are back in business. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.

A full day – 18 August 2015

Posted on August 18, 2015August 18, 2015 by Zogman

It was up early as the weans were going to school and the teachers realised that the phony war was over and it was now the real start of term. I was determined to make the most of this auspicious day. 😉

After breakfast, the day started with the Gym & Swim thing. Gym was fine, but there were toddlers and their mums in the pool along with a really annoying teacher singing to the weans. Not the way I wanted my day to start, but I’ll know better for future. Avoid the baby swim time.

Went straight from there in to Glasgow. I did think that I should do a drive past of the school, but decided that was a step too far.
<Rant>Took a ticket at Cowcaddens and went to find a parking place. There were none. Why does the machine give out tickets when there are no spaces. Isn’t it simple to issue the number of tickets equal to the number of spaces? Is there a problem with this algorithm? It would appear that Glasgow Council just issue tickets to everyone who asks and if you can’t find a space, tough luck, that’s just the way it is.</Rant>
Anyway, sat ‘poaching’ and waiting for someone to leave and got a space 5 minutes later. Just went for a daunder round ‘the toon’. Got myself a mudguard for my bike and two posh cakes for pudding tonight from Patisserie Valerie. It was a good choice, judging by Scamp’s face when I got home. While I was there, I saw a healthy food stand in Buchanan Street, selling coconuts and advertising free WiFi. Healthy? Coconuts? FREE!!! WiFi? In Glasgow? What’s the world coming to? Where are the deep fried Mars Bars and the pints of heavy? I despair!

When I got home, the sun was still shining so after fitting the mudguard, I took the bike out for a run to try to find some puddles – not usually a problem in Scotland. I could not find one puddle to splash in because the magic weather fairies were still in charge. Apparently the magic weather pixies plane home had been delayed due to an air traffic controllers strike in Eastern Zogland. They are expected tomorrow.

Bummer

Another day in the sun – 17 August 2015

Posted on August 17, 2015August 17, 2015 by Zogman

Another glorious day but it may be the last for a while if the magic weather pixies are to be believed. The magic weather pixies control most of the bad weather we have suffered this year and they have been on holiday for the last week or so, but it looks like they’ve returned to usher in the rain again, starting tomorrow or so the weather folk say. Oh well, it was good while it lasted. I even sat outside for a time this morning just enjoying the warmth. Caught sight of a bluetit feeding at the peanuts. I’d have thought the sight of a human so close would have scared him off, but not so. After all, whose garden is it? We’ve got papers now to prove that it’s ours, but do the animals and birds have their own feus? They certainly have their own territories, and from their point of view, we may be trespassing on their land. It’s all a matter of perspective.

I had intended to get the bike out and do some cycling, but the front derailleur needs some adjustment and I’m loath to start it as I just know I’m going to make it worse and then the swearing will start. So, I decided to put it to the side for a day or two and attempt it on the first rainy day (see above). Instead, I cleared a space in the back room and set up a photo that’s been in my head for a week or so now. I’d more or less sorted it out and it was time to put it into practice. I’m quite happy with the result. I could go on tweaking it a bit more, but I’m not sure it would improve it greatly ( a bit like the derailleur 😉 ).

That was about it. Reheated yesterday’s curry and improved it with more chicken and more curry paste. Went to Salsa class and couldn’t do a thing right. One of those nights when nothing seemed to work.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Maybe the magic weather pixies will still be unpacking their cases!

Forty years ago today – 16 August 2015

Posted on August 16, 2015August 16, 2015 by Zogman

Forty years ago today our son was born. It hardly seems possible that that amount of time has passed. I remember the day quite well, but remember the previous day, the Friday even better. Where have all the years gone? Is it only us old folk who say things like that?

Today, after the obligatory phone calls and singing of “Happy Birthday”, we settled down to enjoy yet another day in the sun. I was cooking dinner tonight and it was to be chicken curry. It involved a fair degree of preparation as there was a curry paste to make from onions, garlic, tomato puree and half the herbs and spices in the house. Tried blitzing the paste in the little hand chopper thingy. That was too small. Tried the Magimix (other food processors are available). It was too big. Thought I’d found Goldilocks with the liquidiser, but it was too big too and I gave myself a scare watching myself put my hand in to push the mix down while it was plugged in. Swiftly withdrew my hand and counted all my fingers twice just to be sure. The liquidiser wasn’t actually running, I hasten to add, but it was still a scary moment. Finally went back to the little hand chopper thingy, which doesn’t actually chop hands, thankfully. Eventually was satisfied with the texture of the paste and it smelled like it should which was a big bonus. Tried to bake some bread and dropped the loaf just as it was going in to the oven. Baked it anyway into a shrivelled loaf. Said “OK, I’ve had enough” and went outside to take some flowers pictures. Liked the Gladiolus stem which looked like the Gladius, the Roman sword it’s named after. Gave in to the pleas of the Violas and took their picture too.

Dancing at the Garage in the late afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it. Worked out with Steven and Jess (!) how to do the move ‘Lunes‘ from last week. That’s not its real name of course, it will change this week I’m sure.

Came home and cooked the curry. The agreement is that there is too much coconut milk in it, it’s too watery with too little chicken, but otherwise it’s fine. Oh yes, and the curry paste is a keeper!

A thousand misty gliders flying – 15 August 2015

Posted on August 15, 2015August 16, 2015 by Zogman

Today, as planned, we travelled to Loch Leven in Kinross. Although we were stuck behind a horsebox which seemed incapable of anything over 40mph – downhill – with a tailwind, we had a pleasant run up through the Perthshire countryside and the weather was beautiful. Parked at one of the RSPB sites at the side of the loch and walked anticlockwise around the loch. Pleasant enough walk with cornfields on our right, but not much of the loch visible as the path is mostly through trees. Saw quite a few gliders being towed up to considerable heights by their tow planes then releasing and slope soaring on the side of the hills. Walked back and drove to Loch Leven’s Larder for lunch which for me was a burger – a real one, not like Wednesday’s. Scamp had egg mayo sandwich, but complained there wasn’t much on the menu for a veggie. If you ever go there, don’t have the potato wedges. Heavy overcooked old potatoes. If you ignore this advice, you’ll suffer for it later. I think we both had far too much to eat. It’s easily done when the food is so good – except for the potato wedges. We’ve both decided to go back and try to get the boat to the island where Leven Castle stands. Just left the cafe place and before we met the terrible traffic calming in Scotlandswell, the rain came on. It was a shower which didn’t last long, but then there was another, and another shower. I think we had the best of the day.

Coffee and a scone – 14 August 2015

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Zogman

I was up early(ish) this morning and managed to get a few photos of the dunnock searching the garden for food. There was plenty of birdfood there, but the dunnock is shy and won’t feed when there are other birds around. I looked it up on the RSPB site and it confirms my observations.

Gym and a swim later in the morning and a painting done – a very quick one. A monochrome sketch totally done in paint with no pencil sketch. A time limit too of 30 mins. Like most of these ‘works’, it had it’s good points and its bad. Also as usual, to my eye, the bad outweighed the good. Strictly not for publication, but a useful practise piece.

Couldn’t find anywhere to go for lunch, so we had a swift sandwich, then went out later for a coffee at the ice cream shop in Muirhead. Real old fashioned cafe. Old fashioned coffee too. Bought some ice cream to have with our dinner.

All in all, not a bad day. There’s been worse.

One year ago – 13 August 2015

Posted on August 13, 2015August 13, 2016 by Zogman

A year ago today this was published. The first post in my embryonic blog, and I have my daughter to thank for that. Without her help and knowledge it wouldn’t have happened. The 13th of August may seem a strange date to begin a blog. Surely better on your birthday or on New Year’s Day. August 13th 2014 was the date I should have been going back to work if I hadn’t retired on the previous June. So you see, this blog has been a record of my first year as a free man! Hopefully I’ll manage to keep blogging my tales for a few more years, still as a free man.

Today dawned bright and sunny with a blue sky and white fluffy clouds. I couldn’t believe at first that the weather fairies had got it right again, but it was true. Blue skies and sun. Temperature only just making it into double figures though, but set to rise we were told and they were right again. Spent the morning clearing up my extremely untidy painting room and stretching some old, but excellent paper for painting.

After lunch Scamp and I went shopping and I bumped into my cousin who I had been meaning to phone for ages. The chance meeting replaced the phone call, but made both of us later than we should have been. When we go home, Scamp wanted to do some gardening and I wanted to cycle. Since Scamp doesn’t cycle and I don’t garden, we had reached an agreeable compromise. Again, I used the quite excellent one bike carrier to take my Kona to Auchinstarry where I parked and set off for a run to Twechar by the old railway then back along the canal past Auchinstarry to Dullatur and then turn back along the path to the car. Managed a few shots of old guys fishing in the quarry before I set off. Don’t know what they are fishing for – must ask the next time I’m there. Got some flower and insect shots along the way. On the way back, I passed a group of weans with the usual Bucky bottles under the road bridge.

Him “How ye doin’ mate?’
Me “I’m alright how are you?”
Him “Aye, we’re no bad mate. Jist huvin’ a wee spliff know?”
Me “Yeah, you look all set up there.” – He’s got a home made bong made from a lemonade bottle.
Him “Ye want a go at the bucket?” <laughs at his excellent joke> (BTW Bucket = Bong)
Me “Not me. I’m a bit old for that”
Him”Ye sure ye don’t want a go on the bucket? <laughs again and repeats ad nauseum>
You will lose the humour in this conversation if don’t hear it delivered in the Ned patois which is a nasal monotone.

What made the conversation even funnier was the fact that there they were with their hash, hiding under a bridge, when across the canal, the Dullatur elite were drinking their vastly overpriced craft beers at the Auchinstarry Marina. Who are the real dafties? Anyway, passed the happy crowd on both sides of the canal and finished the run. Got home and made a rather unsuccessful Chicken Jambalaya for dinner.

The magic weather fairies say it will rain tomorrow. 🙁

One of those days – 12 August 2015

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Zogman

It may be the Glorious Twelfth to some, but for me the day started OK but gradually and inexorably slid into crap. That’s the way it is sometimes, but it doesn’t help me when it happens. Drove to Falkirk to have lunch in COW coffee bar. Coffee was OK, but Scamp’s was not hot and she does like hot coffee. Mine was fine. Lunch was a burger for me and macaroni cheese for S. Burger was a bit thin and cooked medium rare, which I don’t mind in a steak, but am not so sure about in a burger. Scamp’s Mac was not advertised as containing bacon and as a veggie, she was a bit put out by that. Worse still, the macaroni was overdone and textureless. So, some work needs to be done on the lunches COW. The folk that were in there were all having coffee and cake, so perhaps that’s a safer way to go. Other coffee shops abound in Falkirk, so we may be giving them a try rather than taking the COW route in future.

The rest of the day was vanilla. Just the usual Wednesday. Went dancing at night and again faced the nightmare that is the M8 westbound. It really is becoming a pain driving in to Glasgow at night. Personally I’m getting fed up with trying to find new and less congested routes every week. Maybe it’s just me today. Today’s pic was taken at the STUC in Glasgow and although the face and the background is good in this painting, the hands and the tartan, oh that tartan, are awful. How could someone do that?

Surely tomorrow will be a better day.