Month: March 2017

A Posh Lunch – 11 March 2017

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp had booked us a posh lunch today at the Blythswood.  It was an Itison voucher lunch, but a posh one, none the less.  This was our second posh lunch this week.

As it happened, neither of us were over impressed with the Blythswood or the lunch.  Now don’t get me wrong, the food was good, just not great and the surroundings were nice, just not all that impressive.  Maybe we are being over critical or maybe places like this aren’t trying all that hard for the voucher brigade.  I don’t know what the answer is.  The food was Smoked Hake starter for Scamp and Chicken Liver Parfait for me, followed by Chicken Supreme for both of us.  Like I said, good but not great.

After lunch we got the subway out to Byres Road and walked through the Botanic Gardens which are celebrating their bicentenary this year.  Usually we just walk through the Kibble palace, but this time we took in both glasshouses.  Oh, it was almost like being back in Trinidad with the heat and the humidity.  However, alas and alack, when we came out it was just Glasgow humidity.  It was raining.  Not heavy rain, just a Scottish smir.

We thought we had nothing more to do than dodge across the street and go for a drink in Oran Mor.  Unfortunately, that was not to be.  The place was mobbed.  Not a seat to be had anywhere.  Most of the punters seemed to be engrossed in Scotland getting gubbed by the english again, at rugby this time.  Instead of a drink, we walked down Byres Road and got a piece of Tuna for tomorrow’s dinner, then got the subway back into town and walked up to get the bus home.

Just as the driver started the engine, I saw this wee wummin running across the road, arms outstretched like a scarecrow, carrying two bags in one hand and one in the other, trying frantically to catch the driver’s eye.  As he put the bus into reverse to exit the stance, I saw her visibly deflate as she realised that she had another 30 minute wait in front of her, because he wasn’t going to open the bus doors.  I don’t know what she said, but I’m sure it wasn’t “Oh dear”.

<Technospeak>
Back home, I think I’ve parted company with Dropbox.  It seems that my temporary term with 10GB of storage is rapidly coming to an end and the 2GB I’ll have in a week or so just won’t cover my requirements.  So I have to move my backup to Google Drive which generously gives me 15GB.  There is a ‘but’ and the ‘but’ in question is, ‘but it is the very devil to set up’.  I’d read up on it last night and didn’t understand a word.  Tonight I found a YouTube video explaining in words of one syllable how to do it, so I got started.  After an hour and a half of setting up a project, getting a ‘secret’, authorising it, failing, authorising it again, failing, resetting my ‘secret’ before authorising again and this time succeeding, it now seem that I have a new home for my WordPress backup.  I felt a bit like the wee wummin.  I had just thought I’d caught the Google Driver’s eye, but then he pulled out of the stance.  Never mind, it’s done now and I hope the wee wummin is home with her three bags full.
</Technospeak>

Today’s photos are from the Botanic Gardens and also a couple from Tobago.  You see Hazy, Shug and Tam did go on their holidays.

Celtic are at home to Rangers tomorrow.  We’re hoping to go for a walk down “The Green”.  Need to go early to avoid the battles.

A Day with the Kelpies – 10 March 2017

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Scamp wanted to get to Dunelm Mills in Falkirk today to get sheets.  I didn’t, but in the same retail park there was a Hobbycraft shop and that did me nicely for diversion while Scamp was choosing exactly the right set of sheets.

When we left there, she was the one who suggested lunch at the Kelpies in Helix Park.  It was a good choice.  We got a seat near the window where we could gaze out at the Kelpies.  You’ve always got to capitalise their names, because they are celebrities and deserve the honour.  After lunch (Potato Wedges for Scamp and Chilli for me) we went for a walk round these gigantic statues, just to say hello again.  It becomes more and more difficult to find a new angle on these giant horse heads, but I think I managed it again.  I tried to get a reflection of them, but the water, although still, was too murky to produce the effect I was looking for.

On the way home we stopped at Lidl in Kilsyth to get milk and beer.  We left after filling two bags and spending about £14.  We did buy more than our shopping list, but we did get milk and beer.

I have had a sore back for a couple of days, so when we got home, I packed my swimming stuff and went for a relaxing swim and a soak in the steam room.  Wow!  The pool was empty.  Not a single soul in the water, but there were 9 ladies in the jacuzzi happily chattering away while it was on its cleaning cycle.  Now, I’ve looked in the jacuzzi while it’s cleaning and I wouldn’t sit in it.  I don’t know what chemicals surge round its whirlpool, but they are certainly not meant for contact with the skin.  Still, it’s their life, their skin, their health they are damaging and the warnings are there for the few of them who can read.  There were also about twenty other spray-tanned spa damsels spread around the deckchairs.

I Went to go in to the steam room but was warned that someone had had a nosebleed inside and it was being cleaned.  Sitting in the sauna, I watched four folk go in.  About ten minutes later the cleaner went in too and then came out to sluice away a bucket down a drain.  Presumably he had cleaned up the mess while the other four jokers were in there.  H&S?  Not a speciality of Westerwood these days.

Pizza for dinner.  Home made pizza.  Most enjoyable.

A well as the Kelpies, I’ve included a couple of pics from Madeleine and Jaime’s garden in Trinidad.  One of a beautiful red flower and another of a shield bug.

A day in the Toon tomorrow hopefully.  No driving, it’s a bus day.  Yesterday, Saturday looked a good day.  Today it’s not seeming so likely.  It won’t bother us, lunch is booked.

Another coffee with Fred – 9 March 2017

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Email from Fred today to say that Val can’t come for coffee.  Scamp went out in the morning to meet Isobel and I did a bit of painting, then went to meet Fred.  We talked for a while and drank some dire Costa coffee.  I wish there was somewhere else to go with decent coffee in Cumbersheugh.  After that, I drove home and got my gardening instructions from Isobel.  It looks like we will have to fork over the entire grassed area of the back garden, then spread sharp sand over it.  Final suggestion is to dig a trench along the back wall and fill it with rubble to help drain the grassed area.  That’s a lot of work to drain a swamp.  I’d much rather just get an alligator or two and some catfish.  Then it will be a real swamp.

With an hour or two of sunlight left, I took a walk to St Mo’s and got some photos of broom flowers and also some clay masks the school pupils stick to trees in the woods at this time of year.  To add some colour and sunshine, I’ve included some T&T photos to brighten your day.

Back in the old routine – 8 March 2017

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This morning we got ready and went for a swim. There were nine people in the pool. NINE!  It’s busy with five, it’s a health and safety risk with nine. Thankfully there was nobody in the steam room and it was steaming hot too. From there I went to the sauna and by that time the pool emptied a bit so I managed a few lengths before it got mobbed again. After that I alternated between steam room and pool. Not really a bad way to spend a cold morning.

After lunch I dragged myself round St Mo’s and got a couple of decent shots of some coots and a couple of awful shots of some fungus. No deer. No Mr Grey. Don’t blame them, it was miserable and cold and so was I.

Driving in to Salsa tonight was a dawdle with next to no traffic 18mins to the airport from the CITRAC at Moodiesburn.  This is partly due to us leaving later and partly due to there being no football on.  Still, 18mins is almost a record.  Tonight was an amalgamation of two advanced classes and there were only 3 men for half of the time until Roy arrived and made it 4.  Scamp and Irene had to dance as leaders.  In an advanced class, that’s difficult.  I take my hat off to them (if I wore a hat, that is).  The new folk seemed to get on well enough with everyone else and by the end of the night we were fine.  That’s how it works in salsa.  Everyone gets on with it and enjoys themselves.  Not at all like ballroom where you have to remain po faced all the time.

To keep my poor wee coot company, I added some Trinni photos for you.  Hope you enjoy them.

It looks like coffee for Scamp tomorrow morning and coffee for me with Fred in the afternoon.  Quite the caffeine-heads day out!

In Training – 7 March 2017

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It was Scamp’s idea.  We had booked lunch at Cafe Tabou in Perth.  How about, she said, How about getting the train instead of driving there?  It sounded like a good idea, a great idea.  I added to it.  Why don’t we get a taxi to the station?  You can never get parked on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.  Mondays and Fridays aren’t too bad.  So it was settled.  A day in Perth without driving and without the drudgery of travelling on the bus.

The journey was really good.  Taxi to the station, train to Stirling, quick connection to Perth.  Brilliant.  Visited my favourite second-hand bookshop and then a quick visit to Waterstones.  One of my favourite Scottish authors, James Oswald was there talking to a readers group.  I don’t do readers groups, neither do I read the ‘Questions to the author’ at the back of a good book.  If the author didn’t explain everything in his book, either he wanted it that way or else he wasn’t such a great writer after all.  Either way, questions aren’t going to provide the answers you want.  Went for coffee in Nero before we went for a walk through the park.  Then more coffee – beans this time in The Bean Shop.  Finally, it was lunch time.  Mine was Venison Stovies, then Saddle of Rabbit stuffed with Pork and Chorizo <Posh Word meaning Sausage> served with Roasted Root Vegetables and Sliced Potatoes washed down with a couple of glasses of Rose D’ Anjou.  Simply delicious.

After lunch I returned to Waterstones and used up my Christmas present from Scamp.  I turned out that James Oswald was promoting his new book so I decided to buy it, along with another two ‘real’ books.  Time to get used to books that don’t self illuminate or automatically remember your page or even provide a dictionary, but ‘real books’ are a great idea.  I think they’ll catch on.

The return journey was equally as good as the one this morning with nicely timed connections.  Even the wait for the taxi was minimal.  A great day out.

Today’s flower photos came from the park at Perth and the bottle pic?  It came from Cafe Nero’s window.  Like I said on my Flickr description, I wondered How?  I also wondered Who?  I finally wondered Why?

Tomorrow?  I think we might be getting in training properly as we return to the gym.

Heady Heights – 6 March 2017

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Today, while Scamp was enjoying the prodding, lazeringand manipulation that is physiotherapy, I was putting the finishing touches to a painting.  With that done, I started into the dishes that were left over from last night’s dinner.  I imagine all painters have this dichotomy in their lives.  After that, I faked yesterday’s blog – sorry.  Sometimes even pensioners don’t have enough time to complete their commitments.

After lunch and while Gems were congregating, I headed off to scale the heights of Cumbersheugh Town Centre, to seek out the mysteries of the Library.  I couldn’t tell you the last time I darkened its doors, but today I rolled away the stone blocking access and entered this eyrie on top of Cumbrsheugh’s monstrous TC.  It was much airier than I remember it and much friendlier.  I was looking for a book by Ann Blockley and, there it was on the shelf!  I’d thought of buying it, but decided that it would be much more sensible to rent it from the library instead.  Then it was back to the deadends and blocked passages of the TC.  I was just thinking that it would be an excellent place to film a zombie apocalypse horror.  You wouldn’t even need to employ any actors as the zombies who inhabit this building would be perfect for the roles.

With the book firmly in my hot little hand, I got back to the car safely without any problems from the zombies.  I thought I might get some big sky shots up near Fannyside Loch – a name that seems to create gales of laughter from anyone you talk to.  It was indeed a good sky and one of my shots of it are above.  The air must be really clean on this open moorland, because there are many patches of clean, fresh looking moss and lichen, both indicators of air quality and they make up the other shots from today.

We made great time getting in to Glasgow for Salsa classes tonight, with CITRAC reporting 19mins to the airport.  Typically on a Wednesday, it’s 29 or even 39minutes for the same journey.  Tonight the moves to torture us were El Nino and Cubaanse (a lengthy 11 bar monster).  Still good fun.

Perth tomorrow, hopefully – tea and coffee capital of Scotland.

Spring? – 5 March 2017

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There’s a smell in the air around the end of August, beginning of September.  It’s the unmistakable smell of autumn.  Possibly an amalgam of the smell of fallen leaves, beginning to decay and that sharp tang of the first frosts.  I notice it every year.  What I’ve never analysed is the smell of spring.  I recognised it yesterday.  It’s a warm, happy smell.  It may be the fragrance of the new growth and of the first flowers, daffodils and crocuses for the main part, but it is definitely there.  The promise that winter is on the way out.  It’ll be snowing tomorrow, just to prove me wrong.

It was a bright sunny day after a rainy damp start.  When we got up, I started the slow cooking of the lamb shank I was having for dinner, while Scamp went for the messages.  When she got back, we started making the pudding which was to be Pineapple Snow.  I say WE were making the pudding, but I was just stirring the sauce while Scamp did the clever stuff.  We had decided to go to Will’s styling class at the Garage before the Sunday Social, so that defined the shape of the day.  However, as the afternoon wore on and we I got involved in the making of the pudding, it became obvious that we weren’t going to make that early class.  That left with the opportunity to walk through St Mo’s and hopefully get some springlike photos.  I took ‘Big Dog’ (the Nikon) with ‘Wee Dog’ (the Oly 5) in my pocket.  Best of both worlds.  No sign of any deer or of Mr Grey.  There were a couple of cormorants in the pond, probably visitors from Broadwood Loch where there are a strong contingent now.  What I did get were some photos of Sphagnum Moss fruiting bodies or the flowers to be precise sitting on some very bright green moss.

When I got back, we drove into Glasgow, watching a gigantic pall of smoke all the way in.  It turned out to be a fairly extensive fire at a scrapyard in Govan.  While I was glancing at it and not knowing at that stage what was causing it, I was thinking that by the colour of the smoke, it was some dirty and probably heavy duty stuff that was burning.  If that was so and all that muck was being lifted by the heat into the atmosphere, where would it eventually condense out and what damage would it do when it landed?  When we found out the cause of the smoke, I began to think about the toxic chemicals in that smoke drifting across the sky.  Makes you wonder what effects it has on wildlife when it eventually comes back down to earth.

After we parked and were walking down Sausage Roll Street, the light on The Beresford was beautiful and I grabbed a couple of iPhone shots.  Salsa was good, and at times relentless.  I was quite pleased when Scamp called a halt.

The slow cooked lamb shank was delicious, but the star of the show was definitely the Pineapple Snow.  Quite the most stunning dessert, mainly due to my expert stirring.  If there’s one thing I’m good at it’s stirring!

Happy Birthday Netta – 4 March 2017

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Today centred around Scamp and her ladies singing at a friend’s birthday party.  A special birthday party, the friend was 90 today.  She used to be a senior member of Gems and that’s why the ladies were singing at her party.  Me?  I was chauffeur and roadie again.  I didn’t really mind, because it gave me a couple of hours free to do as I pleased.

I first set out to do some beer shopping in Lidl and then went looking for a subject.  I settled on the Falkirk Wheel where I knew I could find some longboats tied up.  By the time I got there the best of the day’s light had gone and a cold easterly wind was getting up, but there were plenty of boats to photograph and with the canal as smooth as a millpond, the reflections were good.  They would have been even better if the water hadn’t been so dirty.  Not as dirty as the Falkirk Wheel.  According to the notice near the entrance, its annual maintenance takes place towards the end of December.  I don’t know if they didn’t do it this year or maybe they are still trying to source the cleaning materials, but the wheel is manky.  There’s no other word for it.  The site itself is cordoned off with loads of miles of security fencing and signs saying its a construction site.  That wouldn’t be so bad if there was any evidence of construction taking place, but there was none.  I got there at 4pm and the entire place was closed.  Again, giving the benefit of the doubt, maybe they are still working on the winter timetable.  Being more realistic, maybe Central Region just don’t care, or don’t have the funds to maintain this massive structure.  It certainly is a sad sight just now.

Beer bought, photos taken, I was heading back to the car when I got the call from Scamp to go pick her up.  The birthday girl was looking great and if I hadn’t know her age, I’d never have guessed.

Let’s hope tomorrow is a better day.

One last thing, I finally got round to adding a gallery of my 28 Drawings Later … sketches.  Do go and have a look when you have time.  They are accessed from Galleries (duh!) from the blue bar at the top of the page.  I don’t have a clue where you find them on a phone or a tablet.  Seek and ye shall find!
Remember when you’re viewing that it’s not the skill or the artifice you are admiring, it’s the dedication to put pen, pencil and brush to paper, one day after another for a month.

Just Get Up Ya Lazy Sod – 3 March 2017

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I usually list my alarms on the iPhone by where we were when they were created, however, today’s alarm which was sandwiched between ‘Last Day Cruise 2011’ and ‘Dubrovnik’ and was called ‘Just Get Up Ya Lazy Sod’.  It was for 6.15am!

Today, Scamp was to go to the hospital to be assessed by the plastic surgeon for a further operation on the site of the mole.  Unfortunately, the hospital was in Greenock, just over 40 miles away and on the other side of Glasgow.  Google estimated the time to get there for 9am was from 1 hour to  1 hour 40 minutes.  At the worst estimate, that’s an average speed of 24mph,  which is quite slow for, in fact illegal for, a motorway, but realistic for the M80/M8 at any peak time.  So that explains the 6.15am alarm.  I’d intended leaving at 7am and as the temperature last night was forecast to be below zero for most of the night, I knew I’d have to get out early to get the car warmed up and the windscreen scraped.  Not like the lucky folk with their heated front screens 😉

As usual when I know I’ve an alarm set, I seem to sleep for two hours at a time before waking, then as the allotted time approaches I enter deep sleep, only to get a rude awakening with some awful chime from the phone.  That’s what it was like today.

After prepping the car, we had a quick breakfast and were off, just after 7am.  Cutting a long story short, we entered the quagmire of traffic of the M80 / M8 intersection.  From there to the Kingston Bridge it was nose to tail and constantly changing to the lane that was moving fastest.  Luckily all those Monday and Wednesday nights stood me in good stead and I found the fastest lane through.  After the Kingston, it was good going for a while, until we reached Greenock, in fact. The scenery was beautiful all the way down the estuary, with pockets of fog and mist creating perfect photo opportunities.  Unfortunately, you can’t use ‘Photo Opportunity’ as a reason for stopping on the hard shoulder of a motorway.  Personally, I can’t understand why.

Almost at the hospital, we hit the ‘Road Closed – Follow Diversion’ sign.  For once, I followed the diversion with Scamp acting as a navigator who was becoming more and more concerned that we seemed to be going in the wrong direction, then seeing where it was leading us and confirming that we were, indeed, heading in the right direction.  Parked at the hospital with 10minutes to spare from the Google worst estimate.  Impressive, Mr G!

In and out of the consultant’s office within about 30 minutes, then it was the simpler route back to Glasgow, but the good light and the good photo opportunities were gone by now, of course.  Parked up on what will always be St James St. in Glasgow and went for a coffee in JL with Scamp before leaving her to meet up with ’The Witches’.  After doing some window shopping, I drove back home to a cold, dreich, Cumbersheugh.  I had thought I’d manage to get my bike out, but it was the cold east wind that put an end to that idea, so I did a bit of painting instead.  I also made some bread dough and retained enough to make a pizza.

Went for a late afternoon walk around St Mo’s, but there was nothing of interest to photograph.

Scamp arrived back about 7.30pm after having had a ‘Day in the Toon’.  It’s almost 11pm now and it’s been a long day, so I’m heading for the Land of Nod.

Good Night!

Testing Time – 2 March 2017

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Out just before 8am to take the car to the garage for its MOT.  It was looking good after its wash and brush up yesterday.  One of the good things about having a wax wash was that I didn’t really have to scrape the ice from the windscreen, all I had to do was wipe it off.  It’s probably worth the extra 50p for the wax.

After we got home from the garage and had breakfast, I got my selection of photos for Fred and Val ready, then Scamp gave me a lift to the town centre.  Usual coffee and setting the world to rights was put on hold because Costa’s coffee machine was out of order.  After an hour or so the repair was completed and it was business as normal.  Having achieved a quorum of the UBI club, we arranged a prospective date for a meeting, so at least something was done.

I got the phone call to come and collect the car, because once again it had passed as fit for the road with a couple of advisories.  We had completed the UBI business and finished our coffee, so I phoned Scamp and picked up the car.

Went for a walk to St Mo’s and got the two swift shots of Mr Grey before turning for home, because it was a really cold wind.   Scamp made Prawn & Pea Risotto for dinner and we tried the coconut ice cream, but declared it wanting, so it will go down the pan when its all melted.  We think it would taste better made from cream rather than yoghurt.

I’m beginning to miss the sketch-a-day I’ve been doing for the last month, and really need to get back putting pen to paper.  I may get the chance tomorrow, but we’ll have to see how the day pans out first.