Month: December 2018

Fit (fat?) as a butcher’s dog – 11 December 2018

Posted on by Zogman

Broke the bonds of sleep to switch off my alarm and fell asleep again this morning. Finally got up and brought the breakfast. Just finishing it and getting started again in my book when the sound of ladders hitting the wall announced the arrival of the window cleaners. Quickly (very quickly) got dressed and found enough money to pay them. After that we could relax and have a coffee before heading to the butcher’s to buy lots and lots of lovely meat, and fish too, because our butcher is not stuck to only red meat. Finally I got a chicken breast to make tonight’s chicken curry.

With a ton of meat in the boot of the Juke (honestly JIC, this butcher is almost as good as Chapman’s), we headed to Robroyston for coffee and to buy Asda. After coffee I had a walk round Homebase which closes in 4 days according to the hand printed notice on the door. I’ve never been in a shop that is being actively disassembled while I was in it. Got a few ‘bargains’, but as one old guy said, “It’s only a bargain if you’re going to use it.” Very true.

On to Asda where Scamp was very careful and didn’t spend as much as I thought she would, but she was working in a very targeted way buying only the essentials. Maybe to offset my extravagance in the butcher’s.

Drove home with the headlights on at about 2.30pm. That’s par for the course in Scotland at this time of the year.  Yesterday was the exception we always look forward to. Struggled for a picture today, so one of my ‘bankers’ was to photograph the little fairy bear know as Fairy Nuff. I got it totally wrong the other day when I named her ‘Fairy’. That name should have gone to the fairy on the top of the tree. The one with the battered silver wings, the paper underskirt and the gauze dress. She must be over 40 by now, but doesn’t look it, well not to me at least. No, this grumpy looking wee bear has been gracing our tree every year for about ten years or more and goes under the name of ‘Fairy Nuff’. It’s become a bit of a Christmas tradition to give her a chance to be POD, after all, she doesn’t get out much for the rest of the year.

Tomorrow is a dancing day. Hope my knee hold out against Michael’s stressful waltz.

The wanderer returns – 10 December 2018

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Scamp was on the road this morning on the return journey from Blackpool.

I was on the road even earlier, but I was walking. Just a gentle stroll around St Mo’s ponds then a walk through the trees. I’d been up earlier to check the traps and found I’d got one rodent. I thought at first it was a mouse, but later realised it was probably a small rat. Either way, it wasn’t going anywhere so I left it to go and get some photos in the hoar frost that lay over everything. Some beautiful lighting at that time in the morning. It was one of those shots that made PoD.

Finished my walk by going in to Condorrat to get bread and a couple of rolls. One of the latter would be eaten with butter and jam, washed down with a cup of my new blend 2 parts Cuban and 1 part Kenyan beans. Count the air miles and therefore the amount of CO2 that has been spread across the world all because of my desire to drink coffee. It’s worth it.
The other roll would hold a medium-rare square sausage. So called because it’s square and it’s made of sausage meat. Clever use of language there.

After my coffee and the roll ’n’ jam, I disposed of the rodent in the trap and nearly lost a finger resetting the trap. Checked the other traps, but they were empty. Next I set to work on cutting and laying the new carpet tiles in the downstairs toilet. As usual with these things, I started out very slowly and deliberately, and finished by cutting corners, literally. You’d never tell. Strangely only one of the six tiles had its nap running the wrong way. It looks good, so good that Scamp didn’t even notice that it had been done. Not surprising as the colour of the tiles is remarkably close to the original. It’s only when you walk on the new tiles you realise the quality is much better than the thin tiles that are now in the boot of the car, ready to be taken to the dump. I think I earned that medium-rare square sausage on a well-fired roll.

Scamp eventually returned about 4pm and after dinner we went out to Salsa where we learned or for us, re-learned an old move: Setenta Batman. One of the moves which look impossible until you actually try it. Jamie G described part of it as a “Matrix style turn”. I agree, but I can do it.

Tomorrow, a lazy day, maybe a bit less cold than today, but today was much less cold than a year ago. Go look here!

You got a fast car – 9 December 2018

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Today was a driving day for me and a passenger day for Scamp.

I’d intended going out early as I knew I’d be up about 8am because Scamp was getting picked up at 9.15 to go Falkirk to get the coach that was taking her and the other Witches to Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool for an overnight with dinner. Tina Turner and Neil Diamond would be there, but it was uncertain whether they would be played by the same person or by a couple. Who knows (or cares). It was when I saw Scamp off I noticed James’s car was still covered in ice and then, that mine too was frozen solid. On that basis, it might be a good idea to just have a cup of coffee before attempting to drive.

A well as the coffee, I thought this would be an opportunity to tidy out the top drawer in the ‘Painting Room (i.e. back bedroom) and that’s what I did. One old dead tablet went in the bag and one old dead Kobo e-reader joined it along with a host of boxes, odd scraps of cardboard and paper napkins for soaking up watercolour washes. Things that seem to find their way into that drawer.

With a bag full of junk of different types I drove to B&Q to look for rat traps. You see, the ‘rat man’ came last Tuesday and then again on Wednesday and declared us free of the little beasties, but we’re both sure they were just playing Hide ’n’ Seek with him. I’m not so easily put off and even better, I have a Plan. The first phase is to trap the beasts, except they only had cheap traps in B&Q and I had decided to get the better Rentokil ones. No problem, I’d drive to Bishopbriggs after I’d dumped the rubbish. Rubbish disposed of, off I went.

Now the Juke is a strange car. Two weeks ago and early last week before the Lurgi struck, it was running like an arthritic slug. Today it was raring to go. Pulling at the leash like a mad thing. I must give it a rest more often … and put some high fibre fuel in it too to keep its engine from getting clogged. Maybe it’s the sunshine that’s making it run better, because there was a wall to wall blue sky today. Got the traps and drove home to set them. I put two in the loft and then put a mousetrap in under the kitchen floor. Let’s see what they produce.

With hands carefully washed, I started to make my dinner which was Pork Osso Bucco, slow cooked and with a Mirepoix (!) which apparently is a sauce made from vegetables. I spoke to Scamp while I was making it.  Of course, she already knew what a Mirepoix was.  Her hotel is on the seafront at Blackpool but on the outskirts.  She even sent me a picture of her ‘sea view’.  Yes, you can see the sea, if you look very closely! My dinner tasted lovely. I restrained myself and left half for tomorrow. Best recipe I’ve found for that meat.

In the evening I watched the final ’Trust’ and most, well some, well very little was made clear, but the tale was well told and the acting from everyone apart from Paul’s mother was superb. Spoke to Jamie for a while and found out more about their Welsh excursion. Then watched Fast and Furious 6 trying to work out which parts had been filmed in Glasgow. I saw two definites and two maybes.

PoD was from the drive back from Bishopbriggs. I really liked the way the white house stood out from the sky.

Tomorrow? More tidying and checking the traps.

Feelin’ Good – 8 December 2018

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Thankfully, just after ‘Hump Day’ the middle day of the antibiotic course I’m feeling a lot more like myself, crabbit, sarcastic and generally a nuisance.

I didn’t venture out again today although it was a beautiful bright day, well, it was for a while. After that the clouds rolled in and the bright light disappeared. At least the wind had finally calmed down. Scamp was busy writing Christmas cards and I had a pile to sign. After that we had to run the gauntlet of mail merging the addresses database with the MS Word template that holds the place markers. It’s always a bit of a faff. It should be easy, but somehow Word never saves the settings, no matter how many different ways I change the settings. It really is a clever thing, the mail merge and once it’s set up it should be simplicity itself to run, but it isn’t. I shouldn’t complain. At least Word has a mail merge facility. There’s nothing like one in Pages, Apple’s little toy word processor. That might be because I’ve a really old version and haven’t updated it for years. Back at the PC we finally linked to the database and printed out the address labels. So I’ve got a big bundle of cards to stuff into a post box tomorrow.

Today’s PoD is of the wee man plant pot holder that sits in the downstairs toilet. He makes me smile and look at those luminous green eyes.

I meant to mention yesterday that the Christmas Tree is now up and Fairy Nuff is in her rightful place at the top. Her second in command Grumpy Bear is also sitting among the branches. The Christmas lights box was opened and the letter from last year was read. Heads were nodded at achievements and “Hmm”s were hummed at things not done, that should have been. If this means nothing to you, it’s just that you’re not ‘family’ and therefore not party to this annual event.

I said back there that I have to post some cards tomorrow. Since Scamp will probably be half way to Blackpool for her Witches Short Break, I will have to drive the car, my car, myself. This should be achievable as I’ve managed to sit at the computer for an hour or so at a time today without too much discomfort. That, therefore, is the target for tomorrow:

To Drive To Tesco And Post Some Christmas Cards.

A day of two halves

Posted on by Zogman

Still taking the tablets and in the morning they appeared to be working well, very well in fact. However as the day progressed, although there were still improvements, they weren’t as great as the morning’s.

Right, enough of the moaning. I did very little else today. I went as far as the back fence and took a photo of the rose “Remember Me”.  I wanted a shot of it before it got battered by today’s gale force winds and heavy rain.  Amazingly resilient flowers, roses.

I spent the rest of the day updating Flickr and the blog. Scamp drove to Tesco and bought what we’d need for the next few days. She made an excellent Chilli for dinner.

Tomorrow is tomorrow. We’ll see what transpires.

Today I hit my target – 6 December 2018

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I went for a walk.

Feeling a lot better today, managing to beat the 30min gap between toilet breaks. After lunch I decided that I’d easily have enough time to walk over to Condorrat. Well, I did it. That probably doesn’t seem such a great achievement. I’d have thought so too, but for the past couple of days I’ve been feeling knackered and also getting a bit of cabin fever.

Scamp is becoming the driver of the family. She drove up to Carrickstone to pick up Shona and then they went for coffee in the town centre. There they split up because Shona was going to Ben’s school and Scamp was going home.

Just to prove that I’ve actually been Thursday Prezzy hunting in Condorrat, today’s PoD is of two birds in a tree (not a Christmas Tree!).

Tomorrow looks windy and I’m losing so much weight with this enforced dieting, I’m a bit worried I’d blow away if I went for another walk! Hoping for another improvement.

The Duel – 5 December 2018

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Another Place Marker

Feeling better than yesterday, but still not ready to go out in the world.

The tablets are working. They must be really good because they taste terrible and take ages to go down. Another restless night, just not as bad as the two previous ones.

The “Rat Man” returned today, checked the trap and the bait.  As neither had been touched he declared us free of rodents.

Scamp drove in to Glasgow herself and did some shopping. I did some snoozing. However, when I got up I felt much better and a hot shower definitely helped.

So, I’m on the mend and the rodent problem seems to be over, at least for the present.

Tomorrow’s target it to get out for a walk.

A place marker – 4 December 2018

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This is a very short post.

After a very rough night last night, at 8am I phoned the surgery to try to get an appointment with a doc. After asking what specifically was wrong (difficulty passing water) I got an appointment for 10.40am. Doc examined me, asked for a sample which I gave her. This apparently indicated a urine infection so she prescribed a course of antibiotics. Started them right away and they’re working.

The “Rat Man” came in the afternoon and confirmed that there were rat and squirrel droppings in the loft. He didn’t think they were new droppings but he set a squirrel trap and rat poison.

He’ll be back tomorrow to check.

PoD is of one of my new pharmaceutical best friends.

Not intending to go far tomorrow because now that the tablets are working I’m going to the toilet every half hour at least. Finding it awkward sitting on chairs so can’t sit at the computer to process photos.

Avoiding the Christmas party – 3 December 2018

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Today, being Scamp’s Gems Christmas party, I had already made plans to avoid it.

The day began around 8.30 when worries started demolishing next door’s bathroom. By the noise, I thought there was a whole squad of them with sledgehammers and maybe a small JCB, but there were only two and they must have been working on piecework by the look of things. Toilet, wash hand basin and loads of pipe work littered the garden. I’d say it was the noise that got us up, but we too had work to do. The preparations for the party wouldn’t fix themselves.

Most of the work was down to Scamp, but I did help with the tidying up, even to the extent of Dysonning the living room and the downstairs hall. Between us we increased the size of the table by inserting an additional leaf. I carried the iMac upstairs and cleared away more of the clutter. Finally, when Scamp went to collect Margie, I made myself scarce and drove in to Glasgow.

My first stop was Tiso to see what they had in the way of waterproof boots. My two or three year old Clarks Goretex boots simply aren’t doing the job any more. Last week I returned home with two wet feet after a less than demanding walk across some boggy fields. I think I need to put the old boots out to pasture and buy a new pair of good walking boots. In Tiso I spoke to a really helpful Latvian sales girl (I couldn’t place her accent, so I had to ask her) who explained the difference between fabric boots and leather ones. Yes, I know it’s obvious, but she explained the science part. That the water in boggy areas is acid and it rots the fabric, but more importantly the thread that holds the boots together. Leather boots have less parts, so less thread. It may be nonsense, but it sounded logical. Once I’ve looked around and seen what’s on offer elsewhere I’ll start trying some on.

Next I wandered round Glasgow’s Winter Wonderland. Well, it was Winter and I was Wondering where all these people were going. The town was mobbed and it was a Monday and just at the start of December too. Gave up eventually and drove home, but not before I got today’s PoD which is almost a panorama of the Glasgow skyline.

Salsa tonight was interesting, but the 7.30 class is getting smaller, much smaller. I fear for its survival. We danced one new one without a name and one called Pan Cortado which sounds like a mixture of a dessert and a coffee drink. Not sure if he’s got it quite right.

Tomorrow we are waiting for the ‘Rat Man’ to come, although with all the banging and drilling with next door’s new bathroom, I think the rodent will have packed its bags and gone somewhere quiet.

A lopsided day and a 40 year old – 2 December 2018

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Went for a walk, took lots of photos and made a loaf, all in the morning.

Up and our just after 10am to go and see the annual Santa Dash at Broadwood Stadium. Found our way through the new estate of chicken boxes built on what once was the BMX track. It cut a big chunk off the walk to the stadium. Lovely wee houses with the emphasis on wee!

Over 300 runners, most of them dressed as Santa and one dressed as a cow for some reason. Around fifty volunteer helpers, First aiders and NLC staff in attendance and probably nearly ten spectators, because it was raining. What a shame. We did our bit, cheering and applauding the runners and taking photos. We watched the runners for about half an hour or more and then made our wet way back home.

Scamp’s Christmas party for Gems is on tomorrow, and she’d asked me to bake a loaf. I’d half intended making a plait of rye bread, white bread and seeded bread dough, but finally settled for a mix of rye, white and seeded flours instead. The loaf looks good, but we’ll wait until tomorrow to test it.

We Skyped the 40 year old, Hazy after dinner. She seemed to be having a relaxed birthday and we talked for a while about this and that, but Hazy is Forty! How did the happen? Where did the time go?

That was the end of our busy day where almost everything happened in the morning, hence the lopsidedness.

Tomorrow, after we get the living room ‘Dysonned’, the table set and all the goodies prepared, I’ll make a hasty exit … anywhere!