Month: March 2020

Sunny Coatbrig’ – 21 March 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Any place as grimly industrial as Coatbridge, that has an area called Sunnyside, obviously has a sense of dark humour.

Today we went to the leafier part of Coatbridge (It will always be Coatbrig’ to me because that’s what my dad called it). We drove out to Drumpellier which has a small loch and an imaginatively designed play park based around a Crannog. There are buoys in the loch that mark out the original ‘real’ crannog that was home to Iron Age families. Some Iron Age families still live in Coatbrig’ I think.

Today we weren’t interested in the history and pre-history of Coatbrig’, we were more interested in a walk round the loch in the fresh air. Contrary to our usual route, we took the anti-clockwise path, walking against the usual flow of prams, bikes and weans on those strange three wheeled scooter things that the weans move with a skiing motion. They always looked awkward to me and the weans seemed to be having a hard time getting them to go where they wanted. It didn’t take us long to get round the loch and there wasn’t all that much to see I’m afraid. The camera stayed quite happily in its bag for the whole circuit. The visitor centre and tea shop was firmly locked and bolted shut as per Boris’s instructions, so there was nothing for it but to drive back home again. Of course we could have turned around and unwound ourselves by walking round again by the clockwise route, but there would still have been very little to tempt the photographer in me and we’d still have to find a way past the skiing tricycle owners. Nah, we just went home for lunch.

Before we’d gone out we were talking to the couple in the pensioner’s house next to us and again they were offering to bring us back any messages we needed. I think they’re both younger than us, but it is strange to be “the old people”. I haven’t seen myself as old until this year. Yes I refer to Colin, Fred, Val and me as The Auld Guys, but that’s tongue in cheek. To think of myself as ‘old’ is uncomfortable. However, it was kind of them to think of us.

After that, I went for a walk in St Mo’s and found my old adversary Mr Grey, or at least one of his family stalking frogs, I think, in St Mo’s pond. While he stalked, I stalked him and got a few shots before he took off on those enormous wings and flew off. I was ready for him though. I’d set the camera to motor drive (Slow) and managed to grab a few images as he glided past on the tree line. My favourite, and therefore PoD was what you see here and only shows his head after I made a hash of panning. It’s always been difficult to pan and take multiple shots on an SLR. With a DSLR it’s no different. The only camera to allow you to see what you’re taking without interruption is a rangefinder. There are very few digital rangefinder cameras and the ones there are, are above my budget. So for me it’s press the button and hope for the best. I may try to pan with the shutter set to electronic some time. I believe that works. Next time I’ve got decent light and a suitably slow flying heron I’ll test out the theory.

Dinner tonight was paella and Scamp suggested that we reduce the quantity to reduce the waste. It should have been easy, but I don’t think I got the amount of stock right. Needs more testing. Everything needs testing, it seems.

Tomorrow we are hoping to go out walking in the fresh air again, probably in the afternoon. Weather looks much like today, that is cold and a bit dull, but we’ll hope for better.

Another beautiful Spring day – 20 March 2020

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Apparently today was the Spring Equinox, something about the sun crossing the equator.

I don’t know if the sun was actually crossing the equator today, but we definitely saw if for a lot of the afternoon. We’d decided to go for a walk again today. A much longer walk than yesterday, about 5 miles according to my Fitbit. We were walking along the Forth & Clyde Canal from Auchinstarry Quarry to Twechar and back. Before we left Auchinstarry I grabbed a shot of two roped up rock climbers having a wee discussion of the best way to climb the rock. One in the bag.We started out on our walk with the big Bergy coats on, Scarves, Wooly Hats and Scamp even had her gloves on. I was a rock cake and kept my gloves and my hands in my jacket pockets. Halfway along the canal, the jackets were zipped down, then the scarves, gloves and wooly bunnets were pocketed away and we began to feel the heat of the sun. We some folk who had gone further and were wearing shorts, but that’s just taking things too far. It might be that Spring is just around the corner, but that was a cold wind blowing from the east. One step at a time.

When we turned at Twechar and headed face forward into that eastern breeze, the bunnets were back on and the jackets were zipped up again. Got today’s PoD just outside Twechar as an eight shot panorama created in Lightroom, then cleaned up in ON1 2019. Quite pleased with it, it showed what the light was like today. We passed a few hardy folk out walking and cycling, and even a few jogging. All of them keeping the approved 2m distance from us, just to be sure.

On the way back to the car we discussed food options for the next few days and decided another visit to the butchers was in order. With that in mind we drove to Muirhead and then split up. Scamp to check out the Co-op and me to get some meat and fish it there was any fish. There was a queue outside the butchers, and I groaned. It was Friday and it’s usually busy on Fridays, but actually this was a H&S queue, all to do with Covid 19. People were asked to wait outside and were called into the shop to reduce the risk of cross contamination. Once in I had to sanitise my hands with an alcohol gel. Perfectly sensible really in these strange days. I was looking for some more Thai Chicken Stir-Fry, but there were no chickens from any geographical location in a stir-fry sauce. Got some beef stir-fry instead. Also got some fish for Scamp and best of all, two bags of pasta. No pasta in Tesco, nor as it turned out in the Co-op, but there was some in the butchers! Strange days indeed. When we got back home, the girl next door, Angela’s daughter Lucy, came out to say that she was giving her mum a lift to her work in Asda in the mornings and if we needed anything, just to give her a list. I thought that was very kind of her and told her so. I also said that although we were fine at the moment, I’d keep her offer in mind.

With that, our exercise for the day was done. Lunch was (Just) soup and a late supper was a pizza.

The big Covid 19 announcement of the day, apart from having to queue outside the butchers and then use hand sanitiser, was that all clubs, pubs and restaurants would be closed from tonight until the foreseeable future. That also made sense to me and was entirely predictable.

Tomorrow we may go for a walk again in a different place and a different direction, no doubt. Where is not yet decided, but we will be taking a flask and ’pieces’.

A lovely Spring day – 19 March 2020

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Sunshine from early and we both decided to make the best of it.

Scamp wanted to get some pansies to fill up her flower tubs and I volunteered to go look for some. Found some at B&Q. The place was quite busy considering the present circumstances. Took the long way home via Tesco to see what was for sale. Hoping for some pasta, but the only thing available on that aisle was Tagliatelle and I know that Scamp doesn’t like that. It wasn’t actually on the shelf, it was still in its box with the top ripped off, sitting in one of the rolling cages the shelf stackers push along (according to Scamp the cages are called “Yorkies”). So someone just tore of the top and helped themselves. The next step will be raiding the warehouse and if they can’t find what they want there, ambushing the artic wagons when they try to unload. I kid you not!

When I got back there was an email waiting for me to tell me that my coffee would be delivered around 3pm. That gave us the opportunity to go for a walk. We walked around St Mo’s pond and then went to Condorrat with the possibility of getting a cake in the Spar shop. However we went in vain because there were no cakes that interested Scamp. She did, however get some potatoes then announced she had no money! Luckily I had. While we were in St Mo’s I got PoD which I think is a flowering currant, Ribes sanguineum.

We walked home and had lunch, then Scamp thought she’d go out and edge the grass in the front garden and maybe tidy up the pots. I thought about helping out, but only thought about it. Postman brought a big box addressed to Scamp in Hazy’s writing style, then the DPD man brought my coffee and tea. With nothing else to do but play games on my phone I put on my big jacket because the sun was getting lower and the wind was cold now and went back to St Mo’s to do a solo circuit of the pond, but got no photos. Eventually I settled for some low shots of the crocuses in the front garden. Another of Scamp’s brilliant ideas a couple of years ago was to plant crocus bulbs in the grass of the front garden. They certainly do brighten up the grass, and after the flowers disappear, it will be time to cut the grass anyway and allow the plants to die back until next year, hopefully.

So, not only have they closed all the UK schools from Friday, but they have also cancelled all exams because of the virus. John Swinney the Scottish Education minister sought to explain how certification would work and managed to fit in his two buzz words “Robust” and “Rigorous” four or five times in his statement. He has yet to explain what they mean in this context. Pupils will be graded on coursework, teacher assessment and prior grades and of course it will be Robust and Rigorous. I feel sorry for those pupils who will not get the opportunity to sit their exams.  It is the first time the exams have been cancelled since the system was put in place in 1888.

Tomorrow it looks like a cold start but a bright day. We’ll take that. We may go for another walk, while we are still allowed out.

 

Not just one tin – 18 March 2020

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Scamp went foraging in Tesco today and came back with EIGHT tins of tomatoes! Success!!

Who would have thought six months ago that two cardboard containers of tomatoes could elicit such joy? It must be how the original hunter gatherers felt coming back to the cave with their arms full of food. It seemed that Tesco were being sensible for once and limiting shoppers to two boxes each of tinned tomatoes. Now they need to do the same with toilet rolls. That will come, I’m certain, but not without a lot of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

For the rest of the day, I went for a walk in the afternoon, just over to St Mo’s. Managed to grab a couple of photos of leaves in a bit of warm sun, then everything went a bit dark as a hail shower blew in. I sheltered in the trees until it passed and then came back out to grab another set of shots of the same leaf, but wet this time. Waited another few minutes and the sun came out again and took my final shots against the light, trying to get some detail in the veins and in the dried fleshy part of the leaf this time warmed up in the transmitted sunlight. Despite all my efforts and the great colour contrasts of the third lot of shots, it was the wet leaf shots that looked best and that’s what became PoD.

Scamp made some soup “Just Soup” as it’s come to be known and we had that for dinner. The tins of tomatoes have been squirrelled away upstairs out of temptation’s way. We may get some more, but we won’t be greedy. We did well today.

On the virus front, it was announced in the afternoon that Scottish and Welsh schools will close on Friday. What this means to exams is anybody’s guess. Some say the SQA may use prelim exams as a marker for grades, but not all subjects have prelims (“mocks” in England). Some say continuous assessment could be used and some say that the exams should be rescheduled until later in the year. None of these alternatives are really going to change the fact that the results this year will be unrepresentative of pupils’ work. Who would be the Education Secretary? To compound matters, it’s just been announced that English Schools will close on Friday too. Reminds me of the Alice Cooper / Michael Bruce song – “School’s out for Summer, School’s out forever”

Tomorrow I’m hoping to have some coffee delivered. Get the essentials sorted out, then we can think about the luxuries!

The new reality – 17 March 2020

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We’ve decided that we just have to get used to this new chapter in our lives. It’s not of our making, and there’s nothing we can do to fix it. We can, however make the most of it. As Scamp says, at least we’ve got a garden we can work in while we’re not allowed to travel or to go dancing. The occasional walk will also help keep us moving and motivated. Today, though, it was preparation for the gardening.

Went out in the morning to get some compost and some seeds, veg seeds. Just peas, kale and rocket and two bags of compost. I know that a lot of that compost will find its way into flower pots and flower beds, but some of it will also help bolster the worn out compost in the raised bed. I’m seriously thinking of lifting the remaining leeks and using them for soup. Both the black kale and the curly variety are just about finished now. I’ll maybe use them up in the soup too. If there’s any left, I’ll bag it and freeze it. That way nothing is wasted and I can work at replenishing the compost in the bed. That’s the plan. However, rain put paid to any sensible work today and the compost is stacked in the back garden covered with a tarpaulin to keep the rain off and also allow it to dry out a bit.

After lunch Scamp encouraged me to go out for a walk while she watched some of her pre-recorded programs. It was dry when she suggested it, but by the time I had my boots on, there were raindrops on the window again. It didn’t really matter, I wanted an hour to myself, just as she deserved an hour to her self. I walked to St Mo’s but there were no deer and no frogs to commune with. I found an interesting bud just bursting on a stubby tree. It reminded me of a lucky rabbit’s foot I used to have on a keyring when I was a teenager. Then someone told me it hadn’t been all that lucky for the rabbit and I decided it wasn’t a very sensible thing to have in my pocket and put it in the bin. The furry bud became PoD and the rain didn’t go off, in fact it became straight down soaking rain an my jacket was dripping wet by the time I got home

Dinner tonight was the Thai Chicken Stir-Fry I bought yesterday. I bought 500g of it and that was too much for the two of us, but when we halved it, that wasn’t quite enough. I realise now I should just have cooked the lot and then we could have eaten what we wanted and chucked out the rest, but in these straitened times it seems such so wasteful to throw stuff out. Maybe we’ll use it for lunch tomorrow instead. That might work. Anyway, I thought it tasted fine although Scamp said she felt it was too spicy. I got the idea from a meal at JIC’s where he had bought and cooked a similar stir-fry with beef as the protein. I’m guessing you have to trust your butcher when you’re buying pre-assembled food like stir-fry and we both trust our individual butchers.

Nowhere to go tomorrow, but the weather looks kinder than today, so we may go for a walk. Ordered coffee from Perth and was told it should be delivered tomorrow, so may need to work around that.

Lockdown – 16 March 2020

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It was a day of narrowing opportunities.

Planned for coffee with the auld guys. First Val called off, with a bad cough (Not Coronavirus he said). Then Colin said he was “Socially integrating with greenhouses, garden and garage”. In other words, too busy. Fred, the final invitee, asked if the coffee shop would even be open. I hadn’t thought of that possibility. That’s when I decided to cancel the whole daft idea.

Gems met and decided that they weren’t taking the risk of catching the virus by singing at Abronhill church. With that being so, Scamp made the decision to cancel practises for the foreseeable future. I know it was a hard decision to take, but when Scamp decides on something, it stays decided. She says she’ll phone the person in charge of the church group tomorrow and explain her decision.

I went to the butchers while Gems were in session. Just for some stew and sausages. I got some Thai Chicken Stir-fry too, that’s for tomorrow’s dinner. Saw nothing worth photographing while I was out. I went up to my parking place at the back of Fannyside and watched the rain float in from the west and gradually swallow up the landscape. Saw a hill catching the sun away to the east and still haven’t quite decided what it is. I thought it might be Berwick Law, but that seems unlikely now. Must take my laptop with me the next time and try to pinpoint it. Just for something to do.

Went dancing at night in Kirsty’s class. Tidied up the original waltz routine and almost go the new waltz routine working, but not quite. To Scamp’s delight we did the Sally Ann Cha-Cha to “Fireball!” I think that might be our last class for a while.

Boris’s doom-laden statement at 5.30pm today was him setting out what life is going to be like for the next 12 weeks and it’s not good. It is, however slightly more flexible than that announced on Sunday with all persons over 70 confined to the four walls of their house for 16 weeks. At least, now, we are allowed out for a walk, as long as we stay a good distance from anyone else. We may take them up on that.

Today’s PoD was captured in the rain as we left the dance class. It’s entitled “Cumbernauld. Where the streets are paved with gold.”

Tomorrow, we may go for a walk.

House arrest for the auld yins – 15 March 2020

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So Mr Hancock wants to keep the auld yins at home. He used to be funny too, in Hancock’s Half Hour. Not so funny now.

Woke to the news that the over 70s are to be isolated at home for a long time. We may be old and doddery Mr Hancock, but we can still understand numbers. How long is ’a long time?’ About as long as a piece of string I’d imagine. Left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

Anyway, on to today, proper:
Scamp drove us to Tesco to get the messages. Just the usual essentials. A bottle of Gin, a box of Tonic, a bottle of Wine and two bottles of Beer. Oh, and some of the usual extravagances like a loaf, some veg and a tin of beans. No tins of tomatoes – none on the shelf. No pasta – none on the shelf. Ditto toilet rolls and kitchen towels (who eats these?) Drove back home and disgorged the three bags of clinking essentials plus the fripperies. Lunch was a duck egg for Scamp and a omelette for me.

The sun was coming and going all day, but thankfully without any of the nasty wet stuff falling from the sky. Scamp was making an apple pie to go with the dinner and another pear pie too. Me? I was going out to take photos and, as Scamp said, to talk to the deer and the frogs. She knows me so well. I did actually see a deer, just as I was entering the tree line at St Mo’s. Unfortunately it heard my heavy footsteps crunching through the leaf litter and it was off like the wind. I loosed off one shot at it with my trusty Oly E-M1 and 200mm lens, but all I got for my trouble was a blurred shot of a deer’s white tail as it danced daintily around the trees and away.

That was the last deer I saw today. It obviously didn’t want to talk to me. The frogs, on the other hand were much more receptive to my thoughts on Covid 19 and its implications for the over 70s. They listened with rapt attention while I laid out the reasons why the government’s position on the latest proposals was untenable. I took some shots of them while we were discussing it, but as I stood up, they all disappeared into the murky St Mo’s pond without even a ripple of applause. That’s why none of their photos are appended here. They just didn’t deserve that publicity. Instead, PoD went to a photo of a green shoot against some of last year’s moss fruiting bodies. Some jiggery pokery was done on the shot in ON1 and I think it worked quite well.

On the way home I heard an unfamiliar aircraft sound and searched Flightradar24 on my phone for it, but it wasn’t listed.  The only plane near me was a high flying jet.  On looking for more information I found it was a Cirrus Aviation  Vision SF 50.  I’d never seen one in the real world, but it’s my favourite plane in X-Plane 11, and there it was directly above me.  A tiny wee white dot in the sky.  I even managed to get a few shots of it and at maximum zoom, you can just make out the ‘V’ shaped tail.  It made my day!

Dinner for me was gammon steak with cauliflower cheese and potatoes. Scamp had the same minus the gammon steak. Her apple & cinnamon pie served with cream was the pudding, followed by Sunday coffee (coffee with amaretto.)

Spoke to JIC tonight and he poured oil on troubled waters again and put our minds at rest with his Sensible Science. Glad to hear that Sim is feeling a bit better now too.

Tomorrow may (or may not) be the last Gems meeting for some time. Scamp is going to ask them how they feel about suspending it for a few weeks. I’m doing the same with coffee for the Auld Guys. We may go to dance class later if we’re allowed 😉

Smiddy for lunch – 14 March 2020

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We just wanted to get out today and the Smiddy at Blair Drummond fitted the bill

Drove out there through occasional drizzle, but with the chance of some brightness too. I realised we’d made the right choice when I saw the specials menu. Baked potato with Veg Chilli, Jalapeños and Sour Cream. Haven’t had that in ages. They also had Erdinger no-alcohol beer on the drinks menu, so I had that too. For Scamp it was Mac ’n’ Cheese with the Smiddy hand cut Chips (Skin on), washed down with a glass of red. If I’m going to be picky, and I do have my foodie credentials to uphold, the potato felt as if it had been under the heat lights for a while and the chilli tasted like a re-heat, rather than fresh. Like I say, being picky. Scamp bought some fresh veg from the deli. She always prefers fresh veg, not packed in cling film. Things you can lift and check the condition. Ok, you maybe pay more that at Tesco, but you get to choose what you’re buying.

While she was making her selection, I took the opportunity to grab some photos of the Gargunnock Hills which were managing to find some sunshine from somewhere. The sky was broken and there was light up there, but not a lot. Today’s PoD shows the resulting panoramic image, built from five frames. It looks like I saw it.

Then, as the rain was starting, we headed back home. As we were driving past Stirling, the road was very wet but the sun was shining brightly. A typical Scottish day. It seemed as if we’d just missed a heavy rain shower, although we were about five miles north and we had only had spits and spots of the wet stuff.

I thought there was going to be enough light to go for a walk in St Mo’s when we got home, but although it didn’t actually rain, it was just too dull. You know my saying by now. “It’s all about the light”. I took one record shot of a pine tree “Pineapple” and that was out of focus, so glad I got the pano from the Smiddy.

While I was out, Scamp started in the back garden. Mainly cleaning up and freshening the soil round the plants, but also a bit of pruning. The rose between us and our next door neighbour was getting bit unruly and spreading into the poor woman’s garden. A few clips with the secateurs soon brought it into line with where it should be. Some of the plants are beginning to show new growth, so I expect she’ll be wanting to get started on the rest of the garden soon, all being well. I’ll try not to get roped in too much.

Watched half of a recorded program about figure drawing. Not something I’d like to have a go at. Portraiture maybe, with a teacher who could actually demonstrate the techniques, not like the one I went to at Cumbersheugh College a year or so ago. However, the hour of the program I watched was interesting enough to go back to another time and see the second half.

Overall not a bad day. In fact it was a much better day than some poor people on a Jet 2 holiday were having when their plane did a ‘U turn’ on the way to Tenerife and flew back to the UK, because the company decided that was the safest option. What a disappointment that would be!

No Sunday Social tomorrow. AdS have cancelled all socials and all classes for at least a fortnight and more likely a month due to Covid 19. It’s all becoming a bit claustrophobic now. We may go for a walk somewhere tomorrow if it’s dry.

A bit of sunshine – 13 March 2020

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That’s what we all need sometimes, a bit of sunshine.

There was the odd sprinkle of rain too, but that’s ok. Spoke to Hazy in the morning to explain yesterday’s blog post in more detail. After the explanation and checking that all was well down her way, we got ready and drove out to Rouken Glen in the south of Glasgow. We’d been there a few months ago and said we’d come back. It was Scamp’s suggestion of a destination today and it was a good one. The last time we were there we were looking for the waterfall, but failed to find it. Today we seemed to be surrounded by waterfalls. High drops, low splashing waterfalls and one that seemed determined to soak us with spray. I’d taken the tripod in the car, but of course I didn’t take it with me because I didn’t think we’d see any of the waterfalls. Numpty!  One of the waterfall pics got PoD.

The other thing I saw was what I think was the nymphal shuck of a damselfly or maybe a sedge. Can’t be sure that’s what it was, but almost certain. It looks like something designed by H.R. Giger. It was paper thin and must have survived the gales and the torrential rain since last summer.

Lunch was in the Boathouse Cafe next to the boating pond. Roll ’n’ Pork Sausage for me and Scrambled Egg on Toast for Scamp. Coffee was better than the usual cafe coffee. Almost as good as my new Blue Box coffee, Hazy. Much lighter than my usual Perth blend, but nice for a change. Walked back through the park and drove home just before the start of the rush hour.

Paella for dinner tonight and it was a good one. Almost, but not quite, too dry. I probably won’t be able to make one like it for ages now.

I think we’ve both come to terms with the P&O situation now. Another email arrived this afternoon to the effect that we can cancel the cruise and have our deposit refunded. We are both in agreement that it would be the best course of action in the circumstances. My thoughts are that with so many places almost in lockdown, it would not be much of a holiday anyway, even if Boris hadn’t made his declaration. Also, if we had been allowed to go, we’d have been in a bus travelling south with 40 or so others wondering if that old lady’s irritating cough is actually Covid 19 or just a cold. Imagine getting all the way to Southampton and being told you can’t board because you are showing signs of a virus you didn’t have when you left the house. Maybe for once Boris has done us a favour.

We have no plans for tomorrow. It looks like rain in the morning, clear for an hour or so and then more rain at night. Never mind, we had a good day today. We can’t be greedy.

A bit of a downer – 12 March 2020

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Usually I write this blog chronologically. Today, because of an email we got from P&O, I’m cutting to the chase. Since the PM’s statement that those over 70 or with underlying health problems are advised against cruise ship travel at this time our travel insurance would be null and void. The email we received today from P&O more or less confirmed this and told us that they will contact us shortly. I imagine, since we have to pay the outstanding balance of the cruise by the end of the month, they may offer us a refund of the deposit. Princess Cruises, who are owned by Carnival Corporation have cancelled all sailings for 60 days. When we hear more, we’ll let you know the next steps.

The rest of the day:

It had snowed during the night and this morning there was some snow on the hills and a little in the garden, but it disappeared before we were heading out for the Tea Dance at Gorbals sports centre. Lovely big hall and easy parking. Dancers weren’t as friendly as some we’ve met, but we did meet and talk to a few folk. Danced a reasonable Waltz a pathetic Quickstep and lots of sequence dances. Overall, it was a pleasant afternoon.

Chicken Tikka for dinner and it was HOT! Worth trying again, but only if I tone down the chilli. However, I did use some of the ingredients to compose a still life and that became the PoD. Not very interesting, but I wasn’t in a very good place when I was taking it.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.