December 2015 – My Photo Blog

Another year over – 31 December 2015

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Zogman

Just another one of the many grey days we’ve had recently. Didn’t want to stay in though, so we took the train to Glasgow. Not looking for anything in particular and everything in general. Ended up walking down Bucky Street, along Argyle Street, coffee in Nero at St Enoch’s and back up Bucky street for the train home. I tell a lie, we nipped in to Waterstones where I got the last ever Terry Pratchett book, a book of Soup recipes (I kid you not) and Scamp, because she was so taken with some of the recipes in the Nigel Slater book Hazy and ND’A gave me for Christmas, got herself another Nigel Slater book! More food books – you can never have enough cook books. By the way, Hazy, your calendar is printed and as we were passing a Ryman, I got the A4 envelopes to post it in. It will be despatched as soon as the post office recovers from New Year.

While we were at Nero’s, I took the opportunity to photograph the futuristic subway entrances there. I must say I really am impressed with the use of steel and glass in the construction. Also impressive is the way Glasgow Council had managed to bung up the drains in front of one of them to create a little shallow pond that reflects their shape perfectly. Artistic but not so practical. Well done again GC.

So, here we are again watching crap TV in the hopes that there will be something worthwhile to pass the time until “The Bells”. It’s unlikely, as it’s never been good before, but there’s a first time for everything.

Until next year, Good Night All.

Rain – 30 December 2015

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Zogman

Up at 6.00am to see Jic and Sim on their way back down south through the wind and rain that was with us all night last night. After they left, we went back to bed for another snooze for an hour or three before heading off to Falkirk to fight our way through the supermarket to get enough food to see us through the next two days.

On the drive home I stopped at Underwood Lock on the Forth and Clyde Canal to get some photos. Thankfully the rain had eased a bit and I got two of the shots I had planned. Then I saw a couple walking their dog and grabbed that shot too. I imagine there are a lot of possible shots in the old burned out restaurant, but as the roof has fallen in and the entire site is enclosed behind heavy duty fencing. The fencing doesn’t really bother me, but the thought of the roof falling in on me does, so I think I’ll take more shots, but from the outside only.

That was it for the day. The light had gone, and so had we. We went home.

A walk down the Green – 29 December 2015

Posted on December 29, 2015December 30, 2015 by Zogman

The day was bright and clear, but as Jic and Sim were meeting up with friends in the afternoon, we had to choose somewhere close at hand for a walk. Scamp picked Glasgow Green as our destination and off we went. Had a walk around our usual circuit of the Green, then extended it hoping to take in Richmond Park, only to find that they were reinforcing the bridge over the river. Don’t know who the mysterious “They” were, but I’m hoping it’s not Glasgow Cooncil or it may be closed for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, we turned back and headed for the People’s Palace, intending to have a low fat skinny Roll ‘n’ Sausage and a cup of coffee. First downer, due to lack of grocery deliveries, there were no rolls ‘n’ sausage, in fact there were no rolls ‘n’ anything because there were no rolls. Ok, change of plan. A healthier ham sandwich would do on this occasion. Second downer, due to lack of grocery deliveries, there was no milk for tea or coffee either. Ok, change of plan number two. Let’s leave and head for Costa at Robroyston. Hopefully they will have had their groceries delivered. They did and we got our lunch then headed home after initiating Sim into the joys of wandering around Watt Brothers.

After the youngsters had left to go in to Glasgow, I managed to get their calendar finished. Just got it printed when I noticed that January had two January 1st days, on a Thursday and a Friday. Luckily it was just the one copy printed. Got that sorted sharpish then combed it together and stuck it in a poly bag ready for them when they returned. This calendar has been on going since the start of November and I hadn’t seen the glaring error. Numpty!

It’s been a grand day weather wise, with blue skies but the usual accompanying cooler than usual temperatures, however the wind is beginning to get up now and heavy rain is predicted for tomorrow. Oh well, at least we all got out for a walk today.

Cramond – 28 December 2015

Posted on December 28, 2015December 28, 2015 by Zogman

Today we took JIC and Sim to Cramond. The weather was dry and we had a gentle walk along the the Almond to the waterfall. We agreed that beyond that, the path would get too muddy and slippery for those without boots, i.e. all of us. To waste some time we watched a red rubber ball trying unsuccessfully to escape the eddy below the waterfall. (You probably had to be there!) We walked back and had coffee and a scone at the quite excellent Falls Cafe before walking down to the estuary and deciding it was just too late to attempt the crossing to the island in the shadow of the ‘toblerones’. If you haven’t seen them, it will mean nothing to you. They were anti-submarine defences from WW2.

After that we drove home because Sim and JIC were meeting Scott for a liquid lunch and a catch up after twenty odd years.

While I made dinner, Scamp injected profiteroles with cream (more successfully than I did last week). Later JIC and Sim returned with the aforementioned (I like that word, did you guess?) Scott with his wife and wee girl. Scott hadn’t changed a bit. It was almost as if he had left out house the day before, rather than twenty odd years before. They stayed, reminiscing about exotic dancing and other escapades from the past and then it was time for dinner.

I’d already booked The Legend of Barney Thompson to watch after dinner. Oh dear, I wish now I hadn’t. It was the most dire film I’ve seen this year, or probably in any year. Whatever you do, don’t watch it. Absolute Crap! The book, well the first book anyway, was funny. The rest had nothing at all to recommend them. The book was just a ‘British Film’. Rubbish.

Don’t know what tomorrow will bring, we’ll let the fates decide.

An Uplifting Day – 27 December 2015

Posted on December 27, 2015December 30, 2015 by Zogman

We woke to sunshine. Real, unabated sunshine with drying streets too. Scamp needed to go shopping, so we had to risk driving out to Tesco with no hope of getting a parking space when we got back. When we got back after an altercation with a total prick in the carpark. – As an aside, I’d like to say that one of the great benefits of having your own little slice of webspace it that you can say what you really feel without fear of having it redacted by some pinhead admin. I am the admin so I’ll say what I like. – Anyway, the prick took umbrage at me bumping a car’s wing mirror (not even his car) with my trolley. After emptying my trolley, I just gave him a smile as I walked as slowly as I could in front of his car. One of the great benefits of being old is that you can do things like that. If the aforementioned prick wants to scream and shout at you, all you do is grab your chest and stagger around a bit and watch the colour drain from his face. Then you smile again, stick your tongue out and walk away. It’s a brilliant windup. Yes, I know ‘boy’, ‘crying’, ‘wolf’ etc. Until then it’s still great fun and to be recommended for dealing with angry pricks.

Got back to find that there was a wedding stretch limo reversing tentatively up the hill near our house. To accommodate it, I had to park miles from the house and carry the bags down the hill. Is that what they call ‘Karma’?

After a cup of coffee I went for a walk to St Mo’s armed with the Nikon and 70-300 and also the old E-PL1 with 9mm. Got a few shots, but for once the 9mm failed to perform. Don’t know the reason why. It might have been too slow a shutter speed because there was a considerable blur in the images, but this is the first time I’ve used that camera/lens combination. Maybe I’ve gotten so used to the remarkable E-PL5 that I’d forgotten how limiting the ‘1’ is. Must do some more tests before I can make a reasoned judgement.

After that we were waiting for JIC and Sim to arrive from ‘darn sarf’. They made really good time and were great company tonight. Let’s hope the weather holds out for tomorrow, because it’s been a great day today, weatherwise and a very entertaining one too.

It rained today – 26 December 2015

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Zogman

Well, this is going to be a short entry. It was raining when I got up this morning, just before 9.00am and at 7.43pm it’s still raining. It has not stopped raining in all the intervening ten and three quarter hours. That about sums up today. I did a bit of watercolour painting this afternoon. I also did a bit of reorganising of the painting room. Didn’t do any boxing despite this being Boxing Day. Feel sorry for all those folks in the north of England who have been flooded and flooded again. It must feel like groundhog day to them.

Hoping for some dry weather tomorrow.

Happy Christlefridge – 25 December 2015

Posted on December 25, 2015December 25, 2015 by Zogman

Christlefridge, as far as I can remember was a give away game at Christmas for the Sinclair Spectrum, round about 1980 something. I remember it was a good fun game, but can find no reference to it on the internet. Maybe my memory is playing tricks again. “So”, as John Lennon said, “this is Christmas, and what have you done?” I usually ask this question at New Year, but Christmas is as good a time as any. So what have you done? What good? What not so good? Possibly more important, what are you going to do about the latter? Think about it.

Why does everyone say “Merry Christmas”? It must be the only day in the year when we use the ‘Merry’ word. Merry usually means drunk, so are we wishing (hoping) that everyone is drunk at Christmas? The SNP won’t like that. Wee Mooth, AKA Nick the Chick, AKA Nicola Sturgeon won’t like that. It goes completely against their Calvanist policies. You’ll all go to Hell, you know and Nick the Chick will be standing there with the pitchfork.

Today we went for our usual Christmas walk around, not St Mo’s for a change, but Broadwood Loch. Not a real loch, but manmade about twenty odd years ago. Not a very interesting walk, but one we always indulge in at this time of year. Saw some gulls, some cormorants, some geese and hunners of swans. That was about it. No herons and definitely no deer. Dull, dull, dull.

After the walk, we had lunch and then settled down to watch tv for an hour or so before we started to make dinner. Ate and drank too much as usual and are now resting while watching the Titchfield Thunderbold (c1953, although it could just as well be 1593). Totally innocent fun, but in colour. Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

Today is Fred P’s birthday. His reply to my birthday wish text was:
“Many thanks, Fred (or as others have said ‘Oh Christ it’s him’)”

Hope my readers have had a happy Christmas, or even a merry one if you’ve been living dangerously.

Don’t cross your legs – 24 December 2015

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Zogman

Scamp thought I wanted to go in to Glasgow today and I thought she wanted to go in. It wasn’t until we were walking down Bucky Street that the crossed wires became untangled. We had travelled in on the bus and had just been to John Lewis where I showed Scamp the toy I’d like in my Christmas stocking, an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II. Apparently Santa may not have any left as a lot of boys and girls have asked for that self same thing. Oh well, never mind, I’ll just have to wait until it turns up on MBP, second hand.

Went and had coffee in Cafe Nero at St Enoch’s, then headed back up to Sauchiehall Street. Blacks were having a closing down sale and I managed to snag myself a new Berghaus jacket. Maybe not as good as an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II, but a lot more practical.

Just missed the bus home, but that’s about par for the course at the bus station and got talking to a wee visually impaired man who told me you should never sit with your legs crossed because it restricts your circulation. You won’t feel it at the time, he said, but it will get you later. I don’t know where he got that information from, but he was quite adamant about it.

Weather was mixed. Beautiful bright sun one minute, torrential rain and hail the next. Scamp says we have to blame Storm Eva for that. When I got home I slapped some paint on a canvas while I waited out the hail storm that was battering the window and then went out for a walk around St Mo’s. It didn’t rain, but the sun didn’t shine either. Managed one shot of a confused wee green shoot that thinks it’s spring. I think there are more cold winds, hail showers and possibly sunny intervals between now and then. Keep your fingers crossed ….. but not your legs!

Christmas Eve Eve – 23 December 2015

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Zogman

Today we went to try out the new gym. We were both impressed with the new setup. Lots of new machines, some of them a bit more video game than serious training devices. All very shiny and nice to see screens that could display a tv picture without it looking as if it was being viewed through a snow storm. Time will tell how well they last. Swimming was out because the pool was slightly oversubscribed, but the sauna, the steam room and the jacuzzi were very welcome.

Went for lunch at Milano. By the look of the carpark, I thought we wouldn’t have a hope of getting a table, but we did. Maybe because we only needed a table for two. It was quite busy with lots of Christmas parties.

After we left, we went to Muirhead hoping to get a steak for my Christmas dinner, but the queue outside the butcher’s meant it would be a long wait just to get inside and then another queue inside the shop. No, there are limits to what I’ll put up with for my dinner. I’d rather have a veggie Christmas dinner than wait in a chilly queue for some meat. As it was, we went to Tesco and I have a nice bit of steak for my Christmas dinner. It may not be as good as the butcher’s steaks, but then again I didn’t have to queue either.

I wrote a couple of cards for Ivan and for Peter H when we came home and walked over to Condorrat and just managed to catch the post. Got a few photos of cars on the M80 some time exposures and some with as fast a shutter speed as I could manage with the light level available. Blended them in Potatoshop and that will have to do as POD for today.

The Shortest Day – 22 December 2015

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Zogman

“Maybe we spend too much time looking at glowing screens.” I heard this while I was listening to a podcast coming back from another walk to Dumbreck Marshes. I couldn’t agree more. We all spend far too much time in this virtual reality we live so much of our lives in.

Before my Damascene revelation today, we went to Stirling, to shop and stock up for Christmas at Waitrose. It was just in case the snow comes in great drifts in the next few days and we can’t struggle our way across the tundra to Condorrat to buy the last loaf of bread in the bakers. Yes, I know the temperature is almost in double figures today, but you never know, do you?

On the way back we stopped at Halfords to get the headlight bulb replaced in my car. I could have done it myself, but I couldn’t remember the sequence for removing the clips and bolts, well, that’s my excuse.

After we got back, I went out to have my religious conversion and Scamp went to do more shopping, this time in Glasgow. When I got back, I stared at these ‘glowing screens’ again to get the photos downloaded and processed and then get this blog written. We need the glowing screens, but I dare say we could use them a little less.