Month: May 2016

Sunny Saturday – 21 May 2016

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21May bSo today is Saturday it’s a bit cloudy today with the threat of rain later.  We went into Baldock with Jamie to the butchers, where else? Got the usual suspects, viz:

  • A couple of dinosaur bones (AKA short ribs)
  • Four sausages
  • Four slices of black pudding
  • Two pork and apple burgers
  • Just for something new, Chicken and Chickpea curry

JIC was buying in for a siege (his expression) and for a barbecue in the garden tomorrow.  When we went back to the house, JIC took us for a walk through the wheat fields and up to the road.  One of his walks with Vixen.  While we were walking, Sim was riding Valioso.  Having a dog is quite tying we always feel, but having a horse must be so much more restricting.

After lunch we went to meet Vixen.  She was much more friendly than I had anticipated and her agility is something to be admired.  Who would have thought that a solid looking dog could jump so high.  We walked her round a dog walking field with JIC throwing tennis balls for her and Sim getting them back from her.  An hour passed really too quickly.  When it was time to leave, I felt really sorry for her.  It was almost like we were abandoning this beautifully coloured bundle of energy – Vixen that is 😉 .  Looking forward to seeing how she accepts us when we are in HER house, not kennels.  No matter how luxurious they are, they are still kennels.

For dinner, JIC drove us to a Thai restaurant in a gastro-pub called the Navigator.  Food was absolutely brilliant.  JIC and I had Duck Green Curry with sticky rice.  Hot, but not unbearably so.  Scamp had Sweet and Sour Chicken and Sim had the biggest seabass I’ve ever seen – a whole one complete with head!  We all had a sort of combo starter to share.  Quite the best meal I’ve had for a long time.  Sorry, Jimmy Spice’s, this was better.

Changeover Day – 20 May 2016

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EM100080- flickr--144--141Today was the day for leaving Hazy and N D’Ag and heading for JIC and Sim. To achieve this we had to walk to the station, get the overground train to Vauxhall (which must be my favourite architectural area of London) and then the underground to Kings Cross. From there we had to get tickets and travel to Baldock where JIC would pick us up after work. Work? Oh yes, I can vaguely remember that word! As it happened, we arrived far too early and had to wait in the pub. Such an inconvenience 😉 JIC arrived on time and off we went to Astwick.

Spent an hour or so wandering around his garden. His and Sim’s, but the veg plot is definitely JIC’s territory and not Sim’s. She takes care of the trees and flowers and that side of the garden is looking good too. The scenery around Astwick is a breath of fresh air. Not dramatic – no hills or mountains, but just lots of greenery and birds. Saw a woodpecker, but it was too fast for me.

Going to meet Vixen tomorrow because she is in kennels for our visit. I feel a bit bad about that, but I suppose it makes sense. A bit apprehensive about meeting her, but I’m sure it will go well.

Today’s PoD is from the verge of Hazy’s drive.

London – 19 May 2016

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London bTook the train in to London and wandered round the Southbank as usual. Had lunch from the Indian and Mexican stalls we usually go to. After that we walked down the river, or was it up? Can’t remember.

We went for a coffee in a Nero in the OXO building and Scamp noticed there was a photographic exhibition in the building at the rear and it was free! I quite enjoyed looking at other people’s photos, especially Emily Allchurch’s Sic Transit Gloria Mundi and Babel, but £11,000 was a bit steep. After that we crossed the river looking for a pub to have a drink. I thought I knew the whereabouts of such a place, but after walking away from the river for a while, had to give up and go to a Wetherspoons instead. Had a nice pint of Ghost Ship and Scamp had an expensive G&T. I had a taste and it did taste that wee bit different from our usual. Walked back down the road to head back for the station, and there was the pub I was looking for. For future reference it was the Black Friar!

Dinner was at Jimmy Spice’s and the food, especially the Indian food was great.

Birds of a Feather in Kingston – 18 May 2016

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birdsTook the bus into Kingston from Chessington railway station, it was almost taking time to rain. Absolutely pelting down. Still marvelling at a joined up travel system. Obviously designed with joined up thinking. Spoke to an old guy, like me in Marks. He was buying a hat to protect his new hearing aids from the torrential rain. Hope they did the trick. Coffee in Nero, then a walk round the shops. By the time we came out the rain had stopped so we wandered down to the river. There was a swan sitting on eggs and a heron fishing. We also saw a cormorant fishing and it looked like it had successfully captured a large eel, but was having a problem swallowing the catch. It struggled with the fish for a full ten minutes before it swam off gulping the fish tail down its throat. We watched this battle with an old man who showed us his photos of the swan’s eggs. He seemed quite interested in the birds on the river. For some reason I felt quite sorry for him. Is this me in the future?

Scamp and I walked along the riverside walk, inspecting the unusual boats that were moored along the towpath. Most had ‘notice to quit’ letters attached to them. It seemed a shame, but I suppose it’s necessary to free up moorings.

Lunch for me was a chicken wrap from a Dominican Republic stall in the market and for Scamp it was a chicken wrap. Birds of a feather!

Went to Canute and Deliah’s for dinner and for the boys to watch football while we oldies sat talking. It was also the first time for Scamp and I to see Marcie. Scamp even got a chance to hold her.

Heading in to Lundinium tomorrow.

Heading South – 17 May 2016

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combo bAfter an early (well, early for us now) rise and a taxi ride, we were on the train to Embra and thence on the train to London.

The carriage was a bit old and clunky but still very comfortable.  For once, we seemed to pass from light to dull as we travelled south.  It never actually rained, but at times it seemed like it wanted to.  There were lots of photographers out taking photos of us on our journey, or so it seemed until we realised that they were actually waiting to get a shot of the Flying Scotsman which allegedly we had passed just outside Newcastle.  What a disappointment.  I hope they got their shots and, if they got one or two of me peering out of the train window, that they got my ‘good side’.

Further down the line we had to brake to a stop because of a ‘trespass incident’.  I’m guessing that some photogs were getting a bit too enthusiastic in their attempts to get a nice good close-up of the steam engine.  As a result, we were 10 minutes late getting to London, and missed our connection at Vauxhall by 5 minutes.  I used the time to grab the couple of shots you see here.  Vauxhall seems to constantly re-invent itself.  Every time we stand on the platform of Vauxhall station, more new buildings are rising around us.

When we got to Chessington, N D’Ag had just arrived to give us a lift in the car.  Now if some braindead photog hadn’t trespassed at Thirsk, we wouldn’t have  been 10 minutes late into London and we wouldn’t have missed our connection at Vauxhall and we would have had a fairly long walk to the house.  Some things just work out.

Maybe the food on the train wasn’t as good as we thought.  Scamp was feeling sick tonight.  Hopefully she’ll be right as rain tomorrow, but we don’t want the actual rain, thank you very much.

Moves Like Jagger – 16 May 2016

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combo bWent to give my blood donation for testing for diabetes and lots of other things. Came home and enjoyed a plate of porridge by which time the cloudy skies were breaking up and blue sky was shining through again. Later, after lunch I went to the gym, the first time in weeks, and it felt like it. I really must get into a more realistic regime to utilise this fitness resource. I don’t think once a month is going to be good enough. While I was on the torture bike, the video for ‘Moves like Jagger’ was on the screen. I don’t usually watch or listen to the music videos that play in the gym, but I did in this case.

After returning from the gym and without a photo, I grabbed a few shots of flowers in the garden. Scamp had just given them a drink with the hose and the water beads made them a bit more interesting. White pasta for dinner AKA Spaghetti Carbonara. We ate it watching Pointless, a must watch in out house. One of the questions was about ‘Moves like Jagger’. Now there’s a coincidence.

For a wee bit extra exercise tonight, I drove in to Glasgow on a lovely balmy evening for an hour of salsa and an hour of bachata afterwards. During the bachata we were practising a move called Elvis Presley and the teacher said “I don’t have any Elvis tracks, but I’ve got the next best thing. You guessed it, ‘Moves like Jagger’. I think it’s following me.

Slugs and Snails – 15 May 2016

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combo bYet another fine day, almost as good as yesterday.  I’d said I would fix the fence between us and Scott to hopefully prevent his dog from bringing it down completely.  Of course, he’s said he’s going to get a new fence, but while we’re waiting for this momentous construction to occur, a little DIY was needed.  Got it sorted out in my head last night and today I put it into practise and, surprise, surprise it worked.  I didn’t write  it down with:

Problem
Specification
Investigation
Etc

I didn’t even do a drawing, I just cut up some wood, drilled it with approximately the correct drill and screwed the thing onto the existing fence.  It seems to work because the dog hasn’t pulled it down yet.  It won’t last forever, but I expect we’ll have our own fence / windbreak in place before the end of the summer DV.

After my Craft (without design) project, I cut the front grass and strimmed the back all as per Scamp’s instructions.  Then after dropping my lunch off the table (don’t ask – the plate was too hot to handle) we sat down to watch the ‘Live’ Spanish GP.  It was a very dull race after the gruesome twosome of Hamilton and Rosberg took each other out of the race.  You can tell how dull a race has been by the number of times the commentators tell you what an exciting race it has been.  “Er, we were watching it too mate.  It was boring.”  Well, as boring as it can be to watch twenty million pound cars travelling around a track at 200mph.  Relatively boring then, yes, relatively boring.  The ultimate disappointment was watching that gormless Max Verstappen winning.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so devoid of gorm in my life.  If you’re reading this Max, you drove a very exciting race!

After the low point of the day, I went out to take some foties of snails of all things.  I did startle a fox, but there was no way I was quick enough to get a photo of it.  Snails are much more accommodating and these were not just ordinary snails, but the famous St Mo’s Tree Climbing Snails.  One photo above shows just how high these snails will climb.  I reckon the highest one was over 20 feet above ground, that’s around 6.5m in new money.  I don’t know why they climb trees and neither does anyone I’ve spoken to.  The Internet has lots of possible reasons, but none that make sense.
“They climb to get away from the high temperatures at the forest floor.”
It’s Scotland.  We don’t get high temperatures … anywhere!
Whatever.  It happens every year and if anyone has an opinion (even you Max, exciting race, by the way) reply using the box at the bottom and I’ll lambast you for it.

Other than that, it’s blood test day tomorrow – fasting test.  I hate it.  It’s not as if I really go mad at night and stuff my face with a pizza and a cream bun.  It’s just the thought that once the big hand’s at twelve and the little hand’s at ten, I can’t have anything else to eat for twelve whole hours (at least eight of which I’ll be asleep).

Looking forward to food tomorrow.  No, don’t think about it.  It’s making me hungry already …… !

Party Time – 14 May 2016

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combo bWe were going to Moira’s party today, but Scamp suggested we go to Vecchia Bologna for lunch first.  After that, we still had some time to kill so we went to the David Stirling monument just outside Doune because there is such a good view of the Perthshire hills from there and I expected it to look good in the sun.  David Stirling was the founder of the SAS.  I took a few photos.  Usually with landscape the wide-angle lens is the best option, but for a change I used the zoom to frame the shot with some of the mid-ground trees and make more of that snow dusted peak in the background.  After comparing the two shots, I think the longer lens was the better shot of the two.  I did a bit of adjustment brush work to remove the blue cast from the hills, but left it on the distant peak to give a better impression of distance.

From there we drove to Ardgay to see if I could get a few shots of the Red Kites.  Unfortunately, we were just to late to see them feeding.  Next time we’ll go earlier and make sure we get the best view.  I did get a couple of shots, but the Panasonic lens isn’t quite up to this kind of photography.  Next time I’ll pack the Nikon and the Tamron.  For all its faults, it focuses faster and locks the VR solidly before you trip the shutter.  Next time!

Then it was off to Moira’s garden party.  It was indeed a garden party with all the trimmings.  Entertainment, food, drink.  Just good clean fun.  I hadn’t been looking forward to it, because I still don’t do parties – never have been a people person, but I did have a good time.  I was so pleased that the weather held up for her and Jim.

What a difference a day makes – 13 May 2016

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EPL30109- flickr--134Ooh!  The weather turned right cold overnight.  Cold wind and cloudy skies today.  We ventured in to “The Toon” for an hour or so in the afternoon.  While we were there, I spotted the six muses above the entrance of the Corinthian Club.  I’d never noticed them before.  Then, when I looked closer, I discovered that one of them was checking out her Facebook status on her iPhone.  Isn’t that amazing?

Skies cleared around 5pm, but there’s still a chill in the air compared with yesterday.

Scamp’s out tonight at the choir concert.  I’m sure I’ll hear a blow by blow critique of it when she gets home.

Perf

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comboToday, unaccompanied, I rode with the grey hairs on the bus to Perf. It took longer than I would have taken in the car, but I didn’t mind, because for the second day in a row, I wasn’t driving. I had freedom to do what I wanted, get sloshed if I felt like it (I didn’t, feel like it, or get sloshed) and spend my time however I pleased just as long as I got back to the bus station for 2.10pm for the bus back. It was a pleasant enough journey both ways except for one two old dears on the way back who complained about the cold draft from the air conditioning. It was a bit cool, but today was an exceptionally hot day, so I didn’t mind, and if I don’t complain about cold, it wasn’t cold – ask Scamp!

I went for coffee and tea at my favourite coffee bean shop. The tea is better in my favourite tea shop in Embra, but maybe that’s a middle class problem 😉 Since I was on my Jack Jones, I could wander unhindered into shops that demand a bit of time. For instance, there’s a decent Oxfam bookshop in Perf where all sort of bargains are to be had if you have the time to winkle them out. I winkled for a while and came away with a bargain.

After loading up on coffee and tea (tea, just in case I don’t get a chance to go to Embra any time soon), I went for a walk in the park. Lots of fancy dresses flouncing about a real fashion parade of girls AND boys. Apparently it was Perf races today. The great and the good were certainly making a day of it, and what a day it was, twenty something degrees centigrade. Isn’t it great not to be working! One of the gainfully unemployed.

Back to Scottish weather tomorrow with temperatures in the ‘teens, the low ‘teens. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.