Month: December 2015

A Delightful day – 21 December 2015

Posted on by Zogman

combo bWell, at times it was delightful.  It started well, with blue skies and early morning sun.  I had planned to go in to Glasgow to get my Christmas shopping finalised.  Well, sort of finalised.  Final is such a, well, final word that I very rarely use it.  Let’s say that “Today would see my Christmas shopping nearly finalised.”  That’s a better way to put it, it leaves a bit of wiggle-room.  “Wiggle-room” is a hyphenated word that will no doubt make it into the OED next year if it isn’t already there.  Scamp kindly offered me a lift to the station so I could travel in comfort rather than sit on a cold bus for 45mins.  The kind man at the station gave me £7 change with my tickets which was a bit of a surprise as I’d only given him a fiver!  I gave him the fiver back.  He smiled and looked relieved that I’d been honest.  After all, ’tis the season and all that crap.

By the time I got to Glasgow the rain was pelting down, so I cut to the chase edited out my window shopping and concentrated on the real stuff instead.  Got everything I wanted and headed home on the first available train.  I’d phoned Scamp and she was just driving in to the station as I was walking out.  Perfect timing.

After a swift lunch, we both went to the gym, separately.  She to have a ‘facial’ me to investigate the new whizzo machines in the gym and to have a swim.  Gym looks much better laid out now.  More stuff in it and it looks like there’s more space.  A sort of ‘Tardis’ conversion then.  I’m hoping to try out the machines later in the week.

Dropped in at Tesco to spend a Tesco voucher I got when I retired, that’s almost 18 months ago!  I bought myself a bottle of Glenrothes whisky with it (Whisky was what I was told to spend it on 18 months ago).  Glenrothes appears to have nothing to do with the New Town of that name.  I don’t think I’ve ever been to Glenrothes, but the name ‘New Town’ damns it anyway.  On the way to Tesco, the sky had cleared after dumping tons of rain on us from about 11.00am and it looked like being a great sunset and the statue of Arria was catching some great light, so I took the opportunity to combine the two and take some shots of it.  You get someone to build a gigantic statue of a Roman emperor’s mother (Why?).  You put it in a prominent place overlooking a busy motorway, but you don’t tell anyone how to get to it.  That’s Scotland for you.  Shoots itself in the foot every time.  Actually it’s quite easy to find if you know where, but isn’t that a universal truth.  You have to drive through Eastfield Cemetery, park at the end and find the overgrown path to the statue.   Simple!  Such a shame as it’s a stunning piece of work, but I’ve no idea why she has four arms.  There’s probably a good punchline waiting to be heard there.

So, for once it was a delightful day.  Started well, crap in the middle and finished well.  Sort of like a crap sandwich.  Now there’s a delightful thought to end with.

I saw the sun today – 20 December 2015

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combo bToday we woke to sunshine.  Real sunshine from a blue sky with little pink clouds.  After half an hour, the pink clouds had turned gold as the sun rose a bit higher in the sky.  Amazing.  It didn’t last of course.  An hour later the rain was torrential – but the sun was still shining!  It wasn’t a sun shower though, the rain went of for a full 15minutes without relenting and the sun still shone.  Then, just as the sun disappeared behind the grey clouds we’ve become accostomed to, the rain stopped.  Strange weather.  At least the rain stayed off for most of the day after that although the clouds stayed, always threatening more of the wet stuff.

Since Scamp had done most of the cooking yesterday for J&M, I though it was only fitting for me to ‘recycle the dishes’ as they used to say in the Fairy advert (other washing up liquids are available).  Most of the heavy lifting had been done last night by the dishwasher, it was just the garlic encrusted pans and trays and the bowl that had contained the marinade (garlic) that formed the bigger part of today’s work.  It didn’t take that long really and I felt better for doing it.

After lunch I made the decision to risk getting soaked in the hope of getting some photos over by St Mo’s.  I was just walking over to the pond when heard a loud croaking above me, and there was my old friend Mr Grey, flying in for his own lunch.  I stalked him for a few shots from the relative cover of the Scots Pine wood, but I really wanted to get some photos of him taking off and soon I got my chance.  I thought I’d got some decent shots, so set off to annoy the deer.  The deer must have heard me coming because they were all hiding.  I did find some deer hair on the ground.  I remember deer hair from using it to tie fishing flies – many moons ago.  No blood, so are the deer moulting, casting, whatever it’s called when they lose their winter coats in this strange warm, dull, damp climate we live in now.

Daylight was fading so it was time to head for home.  At the wee pond, there was Mr Grey again, so I got a few more shots of him flying off to the middle of the big pond where he knew he would be safe from my depredations.

Such a (Mr) Grey day.

A Busy Day – 19 December 2015

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IMG_2981- blog--353This morning I made choux pastry for profiteroles.  Under the careful tutelage of Chef Scamp.  Such a faff, I kept asking myself was it really worth it.  It was!
While I was doing that, Scamp was filling the kitchen with the smell of garlic, was it worth it.  It was!
After that, it was time to make the bread, and adjust the texture of the dough, was it worth it. Hmm, not really – possible the worst loaf I’ve made in a long time.  Oh well, you can’t win them all.

After all that prep, it was time to go visit Dorothy.  Spent an entertaining hour with her an Colin, then drove back to more Masterchef Mysteries.  This time I was in charge of beating the cream to make the filling for the profiteroles, then the additional faff of squirting it into the choux pastry blobs.  Fiddly.  Was it worth …
After that, my kitchen chores were over for the day all but over.  Just tidying up the living room and then I could sit down while Scamp refilled the kitchen with the scent of garlic.  Vampires beware, this kitchen is off limits.

The dinner made everything worthwhile.  Starter to Coffee, it all tasted great.  Busy day, but it was a successful one.

A Better Day – 18 December 2015

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combo wAh, this was a better day, relatively speaking.

Added another layer of acrylic to my painting while Scamp went shopping this morning.

After lunch, she went swimming and I went for a walk which almost turned out to be swimming as I waded through enough puddles to test my new boots to destruction, but thankfully they (and I) survived unscathed.  It rained all the way on my walk from Auchinstarry to Dumbreck and back along the canal.  There was very little to see today on either path, but I did catch an interesting conversation near Auchinstarry Marina that could easily have been misconstrued from the evidence of a single still photo!

When I got back and had dried out I added some more daubs to the now overloaded canvas, but I’m getting the feel for where I’m going with it now.  Impasto with acrylic paint is great fun to apply, but the very devil to remove.  I think I’d rather just chuck the canvas away rather than try to scrub it down.  It reminds me of colourful artex!

I’m hoping to have a go at the first draft of my 2016 calendar tonight.

I think it’s still raining.

A wasted day – 17 December 2015

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IMG_2978-Edit-Edit- blog--351Have you ever had one of those days where you have everything planned out – then one thing after another screws up? That was today.

It really started last night when my niece phoned up at 9.00pm to say that she had broken the door handle into her kitchen and would I go up and sort it out. Well, as you may remember, yesterday was an ‘Auld Guys’ day in the HorseShoe Bar, so I was in no fit state to drive, thankfully Scamp did the honours and guided us up to our niece’s house. Just like she had said, the handle was broken off at the shaft, so I took the whole lock assembly off and said I’d get her a new one today and fit it for her. As she was going out in the afternoon, she asked if I’d get it done in the morning. I’d already planned to go to the hospital to get my ankle x-rayed in the morning, meet Fred for coffee at noon and maybe, just maybe get some photos taken in the afternoon. Change of plan. Up and out for 9.30am and off to B&Q to get the replacement handle. Replacing the handle was no problem as all the hard work had been done when I fitted the original. That left me just enough time to get back home and dump my tool bag before going up to meet Fred.

We had our usual talk about painting, sketching and setting the world to rights over a cup or two of Java, or as near as you can get to Java in Costa. I was really impressed with some of his Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt copies. Nudes of course, what else!

After that it was over to Airdrie to search the hospital carpark for that elusive space that isn’t too tight, a disabled space, or taken up by some builders rubble. Found one. Right at the back of the carpark. Almost in Coatbridge! Found my way to X-Ray department, handed in my card, confirmed my details and went to wait. After 45minutes had gone by and there was no sign of anyone coming to take foties of my ankle, I went to check at reception. A different lady asked my name and DOB, then said they had no record of me. Had I checked in at reception? I told her I had and that I had handed in my doctor’s referral. Her reply was the noncommital reply most receptionists use when staring at a computer screen: “I don’t know what happened there.” Neither did I, but just after I returned to my seat, my name was called and the foties were took. I was told to wait while they ‘processed’ them. I think this is the terminology for the mysterious process of downloading the images to the computer. After waiting for about 15minutes for the ‘processing’, another nurse came through to say there was a slight technical hitch. What? Another one? This time the computer wouldn’t accept my details. Was it me, I began to wonder? Am I not really here? Maybe I should be at a completely different hospital in a parallel universe. Have I gone through a black hole? No, I hadn’t gone through Coatbridge, just parked near it. However, all was resolved in the end by the IT technician’s secret procedure of switching it off, counting to ten and switching it back on again, then typing the details in by hand. I was free to go, and even better, it looks like there are no bones broken or chipped in my ankle. Just ligament damage. Take paracetamol.

By the time I got out the light had gone and it was back to the twilight world we inhabit from November until February, except when it’s totally dark.

Now tomorrow I plan to …………..  Nah.  Best not go there yet.

Hard Travelling – 15 December 2015

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combo bOut to the doc’s just after 9.00 this morning, then off to Larky to get my glasses fixed after they broke last week. It was no fun driving through about 10 miles of motorway roadworks. I’d hate to have to drive this twice a day, five days a week. It’s never ending too. I think it’s been going on for about a year now and it looks like it will go on for at least another year.

Larky hadn’t changed much, but I did see a strange sight. There was a flock of birds circling round the railway station. At first I thought they were rooks or crows, but then I noticed gulls, starlings and pigeons in the flock too. So strange to see such a mixture of different raucous birds.

Drove back through the same roadworks (there’s almost no way to avoid them) on the way home. I did take one diversion to pick up some icecream from Souave’s in Muirhead, and Edinburgh Rock too, of course.

There was just enough light left when I got home to get out with my new boots and get them dirty, or at least wet – and maybe get some photos. I walked along the railway walk and got what I thought were some good shots of an old twisted tree. When I got back, I realised that it just didn’t work. That’s how it goes sometimes. The boots survived the trip. I managed to get them wet and dirty, but my feet stayed dry. Success!

The morning after … – 14 December 2015

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAGot in late last night (well, this morning actually) and didn’t get to bed until about 1.30am. As a consequence, we didn’t rise until after 9.00am. There was no need to rush because it was dull and rainy outside.

Later when Scamp had her Gems Christmas party, I vamoosed to the gym for a swim. That’s one of the great luxuries of being retired, being able to go the gym when it’s quiet.

Tonight was the last salsa class of the year and as usual it was great fun. Just a mix of dancing and games – daft games. Jamie G had provided us with far too many goodies and it would have been churlish to not have partaken of some of them.

Today’s POD, in fact the only photo I took today was starlings sitting in the tree outside the house indulging in their tuneless singing that they always produce on dull days. Maybe they’re fed up with the rain too.

Cold and Frosty – 13 December 2015

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combo bOut just after 10.00 this morning to make the most of the bright light, blue sky and ground frost.  Just a quick trip to St Mo’s to see if there were any deer around (there were) and if there were any photo opportunities to be had (there were).

I had hoped that Mr Grey would be out near the shore fishing for food, but as I was walking across the road, he was flying above me in the opposite direction.  I did get a shot of two one-footed coots on the icy pond.  I guess it doesn’t hurt so much if you only stand on one foot, because only one foot freezes at a time.  I walked down through the deciduous woods without a sign of any deer, then when I was almost at the small pond, two of them ran across my path about 100metres away.  I walked on a bit and startled another group of five or six younger animals who sped away fast.  I didn’t attempt to photograph them, it was just good to see them run.

Walked on over the hill at the road and got a few more shots of frozen leaves and dried thistles.  The stuff most photogs like me take.  My kind of photos, Scamp calls them.  I liked the light on the pine trees beside the path from the boardwalk and got some good directional light on them.  After that, it was back home for tea and toast.

Didn’t do much else other than make some bread and cook the venison I got yesterday for my dinner.

At night it was the Salsa Christmas Ball.  I think we both had a ball, despite the floor being sticky with something unmentionable and there being very little room to dance when it seemed that everyone was on the floor at the same time.  Because neither of us had work in the morning, we could stay as long as we liked.  We liked midnight as a time to stay until.  By then I’d danced with seven girls which must be a record for me.  Still to see the Photo Booth photos, but I’m sure they will be hilarious.  Great time with great people.

The Far East – 12 December 2015

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combo bActually it wasn’t Japan, it was Embra and it rained.  Went to get some emergency supplies of tea at my favourite Embra establishment.  Just a wee tea shop where the proprietor doesn’t deal in metric measurements, only pounds and ounces.  A great sense of humour and a total disregard for any Politically Correctness.  A breath of fresh air in this world.  Long may he continue to run his shop his way.

After coffee in Nero, we walked through the farmers’ market to get some venison for tomorrow’s dinner.  Then it was along Princes Street to the Christmas Market.  It was as busy as it ever is, but I was listening to a podcast this week and have to agree with the presenter.  He was complaining that German Christmas Markets in this country are now run by Polish people selling goods made in China, and that seems to be as true here as anywhere else in the UK.  Maybe it’s different in mainland Europe.

For a change we went in to one building of the National Gallery and I enjoyed looking at the painting by the Old Masters.  After that we went in to the other building.  What a difference.  It was supposed to be award winners in some national competition.My one abiding memory is of a triptych of three ‘portraits’, like primary school pupils would have painted.  What is the point of that?  I’ve heard one critic try to explain how “Your child couldn’t have painted that”.  In my opinion, her assertions simply proved that they could have.  The Emperor’s New Clothes indeed.

After our cultural adventure we had lunch and went home.  Wet and a bit disappointed.  Sorry Embra, you just didn’t cut it today.