Month: May 2020

Rained again last night – 21 May 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Woke up this morning to wet pavements and just the hint of rain in the air. Scamp was delighted. The garden needs the rain.

By the time we were up, Scamp got a text to say her prescription was ready to pick up from the chemist, so off she went to collect it. I stayed home and flew a plane from Glasgow to Prestwick and tried to remember how to land it using ILS (Instrument Landing System). All the different planes I’ve got in my virtual hanger use different autopilots and trying to keep track of them all is difficult to say the least. Pilots may get exorbitant wages, but they certainly work for their money. It wasn’t the glorious success I hoped it would be. I also messed around with some oranges trying to get a suitable setup for Lockdown Library No 39 today, again with very little success.

Scamp arrived home with another clinking bag, but I forgave her, because there was beer in it this time as well as a bottle or two of wine. She asked me to bring down the last bag, and could I please see if the car, which was up the top of the road, would fit into a space she wasn’t confident in driving in to. It would, and I did and in the boot as a thank-you there were two new folding garden chairs. We’ve only had one chair for ages and have been talking about getting another. She had managed to get two new ones for a knock down price. Delighted!

After lunch I walked down to the shops and came home with a lavender plant for Scamp, a bee hotel for, well, for bees – obviously! Also an assortment of sweets because … well, do I need an excuse? If I do, then it was because it was a beautiful sunny day and tomorrow is looking like it will not be beautiful or sunny. Lashing rain and strong winds forecast. I got changed into a pair of shorts a tee shirt and a shirt and went off in search of photos. I got today’s PoD which was a little tree growing up through the leaf litter in the woods of St Mo’s. Caught a fleeting glimpse of a deer, but too fast and too far away for me to catch.

Came home and enjoyed a beer in the garden, then we had dinner in the garden too. Scamp had Cauliflower Cheese with Jersey Royal Potatoes. I added some grilled bacon to mine. Very nice sitting on our new chairs in the sun having dinner. Very civilised.

When it got too cool we went inside. While I was drawing and painting today’s topic which was Fruits, we watched ‘Glow Up’ on iPlayer. If you haven’t watched it, it’s a must see. It must be one of the most cringeworthy programs on TV. It’s a well tried format:

  1. Take a team of “I Want To Be On A Show” people
  2. Give them three tasks an episode
  3. Dump the weakest
  4. Repeat.

The ‘contestants’ are wannabe make-up artists and each one is more outrageous than the last. The “Judges” equally so. It’s a hoot! I recommend it to you.

That was about it. The “Fruit” turned out to be chopped up pieces of orange and I was fairly happy with the result. Viewable on Instagram or FB.

Title of today’s blog is the first line of the Tom Paxton song “The Things I Notice Now”. What do you mean “Who’s Tom Paxton?”

Tomorrow, as I mentioned, it looks like rain and gale force winds.

Working with the gardener – 20 May 2020

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The day began at about 6am with a blackbird singing its story … loudly.

Maybe it’s something to do with these strange days, but for the first time I actually listened to the song of the blackbird. It seems to sing a story, almost as if it’s reading the news, a topic at a time. Listen to it the next time you get a chance. This isn’t a mating call, nor is it the “Dik! Did!” alarm call. This song doesn’t repeat like most birdsongs seem to. It’s a story. A story only other birds, or maybe even only other blackbirds can understand. Maybe this is all in my imagination, but I don’t think so.  I eventually had to close the window and thank the genius who invented double glazing.

I got an email from Hazy with a link to an incredible Sudoku solution for a grid with only two numbers in it. It wasn’t a normal Sudoku puzzle though. It was chess sudoku with additional rules based on the King’s move and the Knight’s move in chess. However the solution was fascinating to watch.

https://youtu.be/yKf9aUIxdb4

We walked down to the shops in the late morning to get some of the raw materials for tonight’s dinner and also something for lunch. Shops were incredibly quiet, even Aldi which is usually mobbed had no queue. For the first time this year, I think I went out without a jacket or hoodie of some description and the light bouncing off the new paving slabs at the shops was quite blinding. A warm day was on the cards.

Scamp cut the front grass and then after lunch we sat at the front for a while, soaking up the rays. Scamp had her factor 50 on just to be sure. I have to apply it to her back and the back of her neck and that’s why my hands are always white. They don’t get the chance to get a tan!

After a while Scamp disappeared for a while. I eventually found her in the back garden, gardening. The usual things. Cutting some stuff, pruning others, weeding and transplanting things. In her element. I finally agreed to be roped in and cleaned out some of the old strawberry hanging basket. Together we repotted the Skimmia into what had been the Chrysanthemum pot. Then she went and split up the Eryngium that was growing quite happily in a pot at the front. Massive big tap root on both the plants. Eventually I gave up on this gardening lark and went inside to draw today’s sketch which was on the topic of Shoes. My slipper/clogs were the model and I was fairly happy with the result. Pencil sketch only this time. By that time the gardener was finished and it was time to make the dinner. Another tray of chicken with roasted veg. Tasted quite good, but needed more salt. We’re working our way through a cookery magazine, by the way. A strange cherry flavoured jelly for dessert. Interesting, but not something I’d actually go looking for again.

PoD was a lovely delicate blue Anemone Coronaria Royale.

Too warm for central heating tonight, but I think we might need it tomorrow. It’s going to get cooler, wetter and windier as we get closer to the weekend. Oh, yes, and happy birthday to Murdo in Skye!

Tomorrow we may need to collect Scamp’s prescription so someone will be driving.

Getting things done – 19 May 2020

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Some days it pays to have a plan and stick to it. Some days not.

Today was in the latter category, but still fulfilled the title of the blog. I lay a little longer than I should have, just to finish City With Windows. A good book that I’d recommend to you, especially if you like American crime novels. After I rose and had my shower I started on today’s drawing. Today’s topic was A Pillow and that was right in front of me, so I did a quick sketch to see how it looked. It worked, but the paper I was using wasn’t conducive to watercolour, so I redrew it on my standard 160gms Seawhite sketchbook. It looked fine, but would probably look even better with a watercolour wash. However, I’ve been caught before and this time I took a quick snap with my phone to make sure I had a copy of the pencil sketch incase I screwed up the watercolour. I didn’t screw up for once and the pillow looked better with the part watercolour, part pencil sketch. At least, that’s what I think.

By the time I was finished, Scamp had been on the phone to the doc to get her reflux medication changed to one that would actually work. After Ranitidine had been recalled she was on a couple of meds that didn’t work or weren’t as good as it. Since it doesn’t look as if it will return in the near future, having been found to be a probable human carcinogen, she needed to find a replacement. I hope she’s found it this time.

After lunch I wrote to Alex sharing photographic experiences and some photos. It’s been too long since I took the time to write to him. We used to converse with emails passing between us every fortnight, now it’s every month and sometimes longer. Must make the effort to close the gap.

Later in the afternoon, when the rain that had threatened all day finally arrived, I took some photos of the Rhododendron and Geum in the garden. With the warmth last week and the rain this week the garden is starting to take off. Of course the rain didn’t last and the sun broke through. When it shone on the rhododendron, the pieris and the American cowslip they really shone and I realised, not for the first time that all the work Scamp puts into the garden isn’t a waste of time. The sun didn’t last long, because the rain returned. One of the shots of the rhododendron got PoD.

I’m writing this at just after 9.30pm and once it’s posted I’ll have completed almost everything I’ve been intending to do for a long time.

Tomorrow we may have to visit the pharmacy to pick up Scamp’s meds. Other than that, no plans. But sometime you still get more things done when you don’t have a plan.

A walk in the morning – 18 May 2020

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After the rain the world looked a better place. A place we could walk in.

We just got up about 9.30 and went out for a walk. We started off by doing the circuit of St Mo’s pond a couple of times and fed the ducks, but also the crows which sometimes get forgotten. Then following on from the success of Saturday’s extended expedition, we just walked on for a bit, then another bit and finally walked through the ‘new’ housing estate opposite St Mo’s school. It’s not really new, it’s been there for around five or six years I’d say, but still relatively new. From the estate we found our way down to the underpass and turned there for home. Scamp was eager to show me a large rhododendron bush she’d found on her walk last week. It wasn’t so much a bush as a fair sized tree. We did have a look to see if there were any cuttings we could liberate, but couldn’t find any. Pity. It was a really enjoyable walk with everything looking that bit greener after the rain.

Back home and I sorted out some photos for Alex and made some notes for my monthly email. Well two-monthly email. It seems we each take about a month to reply to the emails and we always apologise to each other for taking so long to reply. Anyway, notes made and short leet of photos selected, it was lunch time. After lunch I wrote a letter to Peter H. I don’t know if he doesn’t do email, but I sent him an email a couple of weeks ago and got no reply so perhaps it was an old address that’s still live in name only. He writes letters and I enjoy communication. Signed and sealed I walked over to Condorrat to post it and managed a detour round St Mo’s on the way back. Got today’s PoD on the boardwalk. Just a wee nettle plant rejoicing in its freedom.

Scamp suggested I make a Spaghetti a la Puttanesca (Spaghetti in a tomato, capers, black olive and anchovy sauce). She doesn’t like black olives, so I could have them and she would substitute some tuna. I’d forgotten just how good it tasted. A wee glass of merlot to wash it down.

Today’s topic for a sketch was My Breakfast. That’s mine you see here. I have three different breakfasts to choose from. Muesli, Wheetabix or Porridge. Today was porridge and that’s what I drew. I was fairly happy with it, but not over the moon. Spoon handle wasn’t right, but I did a practise one later just to see what had gone wrong. I think I’ve worked it out now.

Got a great photo from Hazy and Neil-D showing off their custom Coronavirus masks. As they were well warned in the accompanying letter, they are guaranteed not to be any preventative at all, but they do look good. First Class post only took a week to go to England!

Perhaps there is an end in sight for our lockdown. If the stars align correctly we may get stage one of the release on 28th May, so the nice Nick the Chick said today. But only if we’re good!

Got a painless Click ’n’ Collect from Tesco today. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. I think we’ll do that again.

No plans for tomorrow. Maybe not such an early walk tomorrow. Must try to finish City of Windows.

The day that it rained – 17 May 2020

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We’ve been waiting for this day for what seems like months, probably only weeks, but today it came dripping out of the grey sky. Rain.

The gardens need it. The grass needs it and the plants definitely need it. The rain is welcome, and like all welcome visitors, it’s important that it knows when to leave. Let’s hope it does.

I didn’t go far because of the rain. I grabbed today’s PoD in the garden and apart from the background, I was happy with it. Couldn’t do much about that background, but it is a bit of a distraction, even with the lens wide open in an attempt to blur it out.

I also potted up a couple of my chilli plants. I’d already potted up the two largest plants yesterday and today I turned my attention to the two weakest members of the chilli family. Both were in terracotta pots and the always end up looking limp after a few days, presumably, because the clay pot soaks up the water and then breathes it out to the atmosphere. When I tapped them out of their pots they were bone dry. Because it was raining outside I did the repotting in the painting room on a piece of old newspaper. The date was around Christmas 2013. Nearly seven years ago! We don’t throw anything out in this house. Gave them a good soak and put them back on the window sill so they could watch the rain.

Today’s topic for Lockdown Library No 35 was A Teabag or Coffee Beans. I’ve tried coffee beans for EDiM last year and it was a pain drawing them all and painting them, so this year I chose a teabag instead. I really enjoyed the the drawing (and the tea, which was English Breakfast). Much better prompt than yesterday. Tomorrow is an EDiM favourite “Your Breakfast”. Dull, Dull, Dull.

Spoke to JIC tonight and envied their ability to travel more freely than us. Their total lockdown has been eased, but Scotland and Wales have retained theirs. It’s becoming a bit boring now. I imagine Nick the Chick is waiting to see if Boris’s lockdown release is going to blow up in his face. If it doesn’t she’ll tentatively release ours. Let’s hope she opens the garden centres soon or Scamp will go crazy.

Tomorrow we are booked to do a “Click ’n’ Collect” at Tesco. This time I think it will be Scamp’s car that will get a chance to get its wheels turning.

Today was Saturday.

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Saturday used to be The Weekend. These days the week has no beginning and therefore no end. The only thing that makes the weekend different from the rest of the days is that the individual weekend days start with an ’S’.

We went for a walk today. That’s where the PoD came from. Down to Broadwood, avoiding the loch, because everyone was out there walking their dogs or cycling in a wobbly way along the footpaths in a very un-social distancing manner. Instead we walked down past a soakaway ‘water feature’ and back up underneath the Craiglinn Roundabout and on to St Mo’s by way of the now well worn path behind St Mo’s school to the actual St Mo’s. A cursory inspection of the ‘pollothywogs’ (tadpoles – ‘Some Fishy Nonsense’ poem by Laura E. Richards). We walked home. It was cold for most of the walk because of the wind, but when we were sheltered from that wind it was quite warm.

Met the window cleaner when we got back home, just in time to pay him with the last fiver we had! Spent a long time reminiscing about times at CHS in ‘the olden days’.

I wanted to pot up a couple of the chilli plants that have been growing on the kitchen window sill since October last year, in a different world. They look a lot happier now with room to flex their roots. Scamp was busy too cutting and pruning. On the way home we ‘found’ a few cuttings of Berberis and she planted them too. I remember my mum pausing by a wall when we were out walking in the summer and ‘finding’ some cuttings of something she fancied. It must be a family failing or just a family ‘finding’.

Dinner tonight was Chicken Thighs on a bed of peas and leeks, with Jersey Royal potatoes. Very nice and even better because it’s a tray bake, so very little prep and a one-pot meal.

A little dance practise tonight.  I chose ballroom, so we did Waltz1, Waltz2, Quickstep and Foxtrot.  Then Scamp wanted to practise a new sequence dance, the Melody Foxtrot.  It looked very complicated, but she assured me it wasn’t.  I’d tend to disagree with that, but we did manage to get it right a couple of times.  Maybe part of it will be in muscle memory by the next practise session.

PoD was a field of Coltsfoot Daisies setting seeds with a nettle in the middle. No reason for it, I just liked it. Today’s sketch was a metal whisk. What a dull thing to draw, but it made Lockdown Library No 34.

Tomorrow we have no plans and it’s weekend day number 2 which would make it Sunday!

Just another day in Lockdown – 15 May 2020

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Today was Friday and we were having Paella for dinner. That much was clear. The rest was up for grabs.

I’d two sudoku puzzles to complete before I even got on to today’s. By about 12noon I’d done that and was on to the phone to Wheelcraft to find if they’d crafted my wheel yet. They hadn’t. But then it’s a three man business and they did seem to have a fair backlog waiting to be filled, so I didn’t really expect them to have rebuilt my wheel in a week. Big Al was very apologetic and said he’d get on to it right away and make some phone calls. I reckon I’m fairly small beer for him and to be honest, I’m not really in that much of a hurry to get it back. I can wait a few more days.

We needed some chicken thighs for tomorrow’s dinner and some paninis for lunch, so we walked down to the shops with our masks in our pockets. No point in having them if we don’t use them. The best bet today was The Food Factory (AKA Iceland). There are rarely queues and the prices are decent. Also, they have the duck eggs that Scamp likes. On the way some eejit from Condorrat was cycling down the the pavement and rang his bell to tell us to get out of his road. I took exception to this and told him to go on the road. He mumbled something and I told him again “Go. On. The. Road”. Single syllables for those with single brain cells. He mumbled a grunted “Fuck off” so I said “You too”. Apparently he’d said he didn’t have a helmet. So what was he wanting me to do about it? Buy him one?  Dobber!

We wandered round The Food Factory getting strange looks from the other shoppers who had never seen anyone wearing a mask before. Probably they’d never heard of Coronavirus “Didn’t know you could catch a disease from ginger.” This will mean nothing to those of an English persuasion. We got our messages and walked home without being accosted by any more helmetless cyclists with. Scamp was delighted because she’d managed to bag herself some Caster Sugar!

The weather fairies are predicting a fair amount of rain for us on Sunday and Scamp was out in the afternoon preparing for it by spiking the grass in the front garden. I was photographing the bluebells, the bees on the apple blossom and the rhododendrons which are just starting their display.

Indeed, as planned, it was paella for dinner tonight. It’s ages since we’ve had it, probably about a month and tonight’s was really good, even if I say so myself. With a wee glass of rhubarb ’n’ ginger gin as an aperitif and a glass of red wine to wash the paella down, we had a fairly jolly Friday.

PoD turned out to be the Bluebells. Sketch today was The View From Your Window. I chose the back window and was fairly pleased with the result. Viewable on Instagram and FB for those who are interested.

By the way, the masks work. They may not keep all the little coronavirus things at bay, but you can breathe in them and they give folk a laugh! We need a laugh these days.

Tomorrow’s dinner will probably be a chicken and pea tray bake if the stars align properly. Other than that, we have no plans.

Stay at home – 14 May 2020

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Sometimes I obey the rules, sometimes I don’t. Today I did.

Scamp asked me to make her a custom facemark, like mine but from different fabric. She chose dark blue gardening print for her mask, with a light blue reverse. Surprisingly it only took me an hour and a bit to make it. When I made mine it took me about two hours and it was much uglier than hers. The first one I made is very clumsy by comparison and took about four hours all in. Just to make this one different from mine, I added a barrier between the two cloth layers. I’ve read that you can use coffee filter paper as the barrier, but I didn’t have any, so I used a double thickness of thin interfacing instead. It is a bit restrictive, but not too bad. She seemed pleased with it and we agreed that we should wear them when we’re in shops. It will feel strange at first and it may not be all that effective, but it will be better than nothing. At least folk will get a laugh out of my Mickey Mouse Mask!

I didn’t have a photo today and I didn’t really want to go for a walk in St Mo’s, so I grabbed some photos of flowers in the garden. My favourite was the Aquilegia which doesn’t have a name but is quite a delicate looking flower and it got PoD. It was a close run thing with Scamp’s Azalea, Koningsstein. I posted both on Flickr, but the aquilegia still won.

It was cold today, despite the forecast south wind. The sun was here and gone all day and there were heavy clouds threatening rain all day, but not came. It looks now as if we will get a few heavy showers at the weekend. We’ll wait and see.

Not a lot else of note today but Scamp made an excellent Fish ’n’ Chips for dinner with a beautiful piece of Haddock. Really enjoyed that.

No plans for tomorrow, but I may phone Wheelcraft to enquire after my front wheel.

Deer and a lone walker – 13 May 2020

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Blue skies all around at 8.30 and the day ended that way too. Cloudy between those limits and cold too. Though some don’t feel it!

Scamp went out for a walk after lunch. I don’t know what I did to find myself left at home, but she decided she didn’t want a grumpy photographer who stops every ten minutes or so to take a photo or to look at an ‘interesting’ insect to accompany her. Maybe it was something I said. She walked round Broadwood Loch and said that it was busy in clumps, but not all that congested. She also said it wasn’t that cold, but that doesn’t mean anything, because Scamp doesn’t feel the cold. It could be snowing outside and she’d tell you it wasn’t all that cold.

While she was out, I was rebuilding the little 9mm lens. If you’ve ever had to do work on a car or any mechanical item, you’ll know that sinking feeling when you’ve just put it back together and find you’ve a handful of washers or bolts, usually tiny ones, when you’ve finished. That’s how it was for me yesterday. I had it rebuilt, then found I’d three tiny washers left and the lens wouldn’t work. Today I’d worked out where the washers came from and thankfully it wasn’t a complete strip down to replace them. I soon had them in place and everything joined up, but still the lens wouldn’t focus. Checked the workbench and found a spring that should have gone back in and hadn’t. Another strip back and replace. This time the lens worked … sort of. It now focuses at infinity, but a bit like Buzz Lightyear, it also goes beyond infinity. Something is still not right, but at least it is now useable.

Did I find out what caused all this “reduce to component parts and rebuild”? Well actually I did. It was a mark on the outside of the front element. Not a scrape, just a dirty mark. The white dot I saw on the back element was actually the reflection of the window on the extremely curved glass. Numpty!

It was only after I rebuilt it the umpteenth time I realise this, but the problem with “Infinity and beyond” had happened before, now I think about it. Two days ago a few of my shots with that lens were fuzzy and out of focus. It is simply wear on the little plastic focus lever on the lens which now moves further than it should. I need to remember not to do the Buzz Lightyear thing, and stop at ∞!

With that problem, not exactly solved, but an explanation found, I went for a walk to St Mo’s and got today’s PoD. I was sure I had heard something crashing through the trees and then a deer ran across the path in front of me. It was followed a few seconds later by another deer, this one was definitely a buck. It stopped on the path, about 100m ahead of me and stared at me. I didn’t move. I’d been walking, cradling the camera in the crook of my left arm. I slid my right hand over and flicked the ‘on’ switch then grabbed four or five shots while pointing the camera in roughly the direction of the deer. It took a few paces towards me and I must have moved slightly before it headed off away down the path. I’m guessing it’s mating season just now and I may have interrupted something! I’ll take a long lens with me tomorrow if I manage to get back out there at the right time.

Today’s prompt was “Toilet Rolls”. Interesting topic that in any other year would have brought questioning looks, but this time in this year, it just brings a smile … and a sketch of toilet rolls!

Tomorrow we have no plans. Maybe a walk together.

Not so crazy busy today – 12 May 2020

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I had time to sit down and solve today’s sudoku for a start, then it was the catching-up.

Two drawings needed, but lots of time to get them sorted. The first one I actually planned for once. I roughed it out to make sure everything would fit into a square grid before I got started on the real thing. That’s quite a luxury for me and it helped considerably with the design. Maybe because the prompt was Illustrate a recipe. That meant there needed to be guide lines and such. Anyway, with that done, we went over to Condorrat to get the makings of today’s dinner. It was a second attempt at the Souk Soup and we needed a chicken breast to provide the protein. Cold wind both going and coming back.

After that I started chopping up the veg and bunged everything into the slow cooker and set it for two hours worth of cooking. Then I grabbed my Oly and camera bag and went to investigate the opportunities that St Mo’s would offer a camera man. Walking across the waste ground, I noticed a group of teenage boys heading in the same direction. One had a big bag that was clinking in a bottle-like way. They looked about as apprehensive as I felt, but I told them I wasn’t intending joining them and we all laughed. I was hoping to get some shots of hoverflies on the wing, but the wind was too strong and I had to ditch the idea and come back another day. On the way back I chanced into the group again, this time they had liberated the bottles from the bag and were sitting down with a speaker providing some music. I told them I guessed they were all from the same household and a couple of them twigged and said “Oh aye we are”. “Because”, I said “if you’re not I’ll have to inform Nicola.” Again we all laughed. I wonder what they thought I was doing with a wee brown bag over my shoulder, walking into the woods.

Scamp and I agreed that the Souk Soup was better when it was made in a pot. For some reason it was too watery made in the slow cooker. The Ras el Hanout spice I used was interesting and fairly hot, but I think I prefer my own Moroccan spice mix. We’ll have the rest tomorrow and see if we change our mind.

Two pieces drawn and painted after dinner. First was fairly good and the second was just a place marker. Both posted on Instagram and FB now.

PoD went to a wide landscape taken with the wee 9mm lens cap lens for the Oly. Something went wrong with the lens because a white dot appeared in the sealed unit of the lenses. It’s sitting inside the rear element and I can’t seem to shift it. It shows on the Flickr photo, but only if you know it’s there. I’ve got another, better, lens, but the 9mm was so neat for carrying around. I’ll miss it if I can’t fix it.

We had a sprinkling of rain tonight, but not a lot.  Hoping for more tomorrow.  Other than that, nothing planned.