Month: August 2022

Baking – 21 August 2022

Posted on by Zogman

A loaf was requested by Scamp. Also, the topic for this week in Flickr Friday was Daily Bread. I imagine bread would fit both bills.

With the foregoing in mind, and after a nudge from Scamp, I got started on some bread themed work this morning. I used my ready reckoner to determine the amount of water, yeast, butter and salt I’d need for the 312g of bread flour I’d measured out. It’s always good to go with the old fashioned photogs “Time and Temperature” method. Of course we are allowed to adjust as we go adding more water or flour as determined by the ‘feel’ of the dough. With the dough feeling suitably smooth after roughly 10 minutes of manual manipulation, I set it to rest and double in size while I had my morning coffee.

Next on Scamp’s list was ‘shopping’ or to be more Scottish, ‘messages’. We drove up to Tesco in her wee red car and made a fair fist of trying to buy the shop. Unfortunately some articles were not available, so a complete buy-out wasn’t possible in the time available, but we did try. We even forgot to get rolls, but I bravely volunteered to go back and buy some while Scamp took the rest of the purchases to the car. We’re used to watching the ‘Penchies’ (pensioners) groping the plain sliced loaves to find the freshest feeling ones, but today I met a twenty-something doing the same thing with the rolls. The first one he tried was obviously well fired, but too crispy. The second one, medium fired was better and he nearly accepted it, but put it back in favour of a ‘not so well fired’ batch. The Goldilocks Rolls. Not too hard, not too soft, just right! Once he was finished with his inspection I finally got a change to grab a lightly fired bag of six that would suit my two butterflied sausages. It’s a challenge buying the perfectly baked morning rolls.

By the time I’d chosen and paid for my rolls, Scamp had unloaded her trolley and was waiting in the car. We drove home and unloaded the back seat, because I’ve not fixed the boot lock yet. Then we could start on lunch which was Black Pudding and Egg on a roll for Scamp and two butterflied sausages on two rolls for me.

Scamp spoke to June and found out that yesterday at Hamilton Racecourse had been a brilliant night. Pity we didn’t make it, but as we found out later, we did make the right decision, based on the information we had. Glad everyone, especially June and Ian had a great time. Glad the birthday surprise was indeed a SURPRISE for Crawford and Nancy.

In the afternoon I sorted the dough and on a whim I poked a two holes for eyes, one for the nose and a curve of more holes for a smile and left the dough to do its second prove.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s with a camera that never came out of the bag. I sat for a while on a seat in the park watching the world go by and then came home, empty handed. Not one photo. I photographed the rising dough and turned the oven on. After the mandatory fifteen minutes warming up time I pushed the bread into the oven and set the timer for 20mins. That gave me time to go and photograph Scamp’s miniature tomatoes in the garden. When the timer pinged I turned the bread over and baked the bottom for another 5mins. When it came out, I photographed the bread, the Happy Bread!

Time to start the Pea and Prawn Risotto. Hand made, like the bread. Peas from the garden with the pods chopped up and boiled to make the stock. The whole risotto turned by hand using the custom made risotto paddle. It tasted almost perfect although Scamp thought it lacked salt. She always says that. The bread was lovely, with no sign of a soggy bottom! PoD was a picture of the sliced up bread, with the smiling face just visible.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard all about his new job in a new company with new people. Good to hear that there’s at least another Scotsman in the management team!

Tomorrow we have no plans, because it looks like it might be wet.

 

There’s a light – 20 August 2022

Posted on by Zogman

It’s “… at the end of the tunnel”, I believe. Or, it might just be “… over at the Frankenstein Place …”

I held off until after midday before doing today’s Covid test. I was hoping for a line at ‘C’ but no line at ’T’. Well, it wasn’t quite like that, but the line at the ’T’ was the faintest I’ve seen. I deemed it enough of a success to show a step in the right direction, but just not enough to allow us to go to the big 70th party with a clear conscience. I certainly felt a lot better than I’ve been for at least a week. It would have been good to go to the party, but June and Ian were going in our place, so the family was represented at Hamilton Racecourse.

I managed to do my “8 active hours”, but didn’t quite reach the heady heights of 10,000 steps. I did go out in the afternoon to grab some photos over in St Mo’s. My favourite by far was the broken branch of a tree. I’ve seen it a few times but never photographed it. Today the lighting was good enough and I did take that photo which became PoD.

Earlier in the afternoon, Scamp and I went for a walk to the shops to get something for today’s lunch and also to get a chicken for tonight’s dinner. Both items were purchased. Cold meat for lunch, both for Scamp and for myself. The chicken was cooked to perfection by Scamp, because I’m not that skilled at roasting things in the oven successfully yet. Generally I overcook them and they end up a bit too dry.

The European Championships trundles on. Today was the men’s single diving championship and it was amazingly boring. At least the mountain biking circuit showed grit and determination from the contestants, but watching punters jumping off diving boards into a swimming pool isn’t breathtaking as far as I’m concerned. However, the UK showed its mettle by achieving a silver for its controlled splashes.

We watched another episode of Shetland tonight wondering who they will get to replace “Perez” and why. It’s a convoluted story with people dropping in and out from various different soap operas. It gives the viewers the chance to ask “What was he/she in?”

I’m not doing a test tomorrow. I’ll assume that the faint line will be almost invisible by then and I’ll be able to go shopping in Tesco without a mask.

Feeling a bit flat – 19 August 2022

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Well actually it was Scamp’s red car that was a bit flat, the battery was at least.

Scamp had been intending going out to her FitSteps class in the morning, but one turn of the key in the red car put and end to that plan. Just a clunk and a rattle said it wasn’t going anywhere today, and neither was Scamp. She saw it as a sign that maybe she was overstitching herself and would leave the FitSteps until her own steps were a bit fitter.

For me it was an opportunity to get an old newspaper laid down in the back bedroom and after finding the socket set and the elusive 10mm socket that would release the nut holding the battery terminals in place, it was an easy job to undo the battery locking plate and lift the heavy black box out of the engine compartment. Placed the battery on the newspaper and connected it to the charger which then hummed away happily putting some energy into the battery. Meanwhile, lunch was tea and toast. No appetite for anything more adventurous.

In the afternoon I risked a walk in St Mo’s with the constant threat of rain. The threat never materialised, but if I hadn’t prepared for it, it would surely have come. A fair few insects were on the wing today, dragonflies and butterflies mainly. It was one of the peacock butterflies that made PoD.

By late afternoon the battery charger had done its work and was now just ticking over. As the Haynes Manual says, “Replacement is the reversal of removal.” The battery went back in and the the wee red car coughed into life at a turn of the key. Success.

I waited until 6pm for no particular reason to do my up the nose test today. It made little difference, because the outcome was the same. Still positive. Maybe the line was a little lighter today, but realistically it meant the same thing. Still in quarantine.

We might need to go shopping tomorrow, but it depends on how we’re feeling.

An improving picture – 18 August 2022

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Scamp tested negative this morning. Me, I’m at the coo’s tail as usual, still positive.

Scamp was careful not to look at the pink column as it rose in the recording window of the test kit. Then after about twelve of the required fifteen minutes she gave a yelp. It was a negative result. Not even the slightest ghost of a ’T’ trace. At last, one of us had broken free. Mine was slower than usual to confirm a positive, but it was there for all to see by the fifteenth minute. I didn’t expect it to be any better, but it would have been a nice surprise …

I took a walk down to the shops to get some bread and a bunch of flowers to brighten the house. Also got some cherries and the stuff to make a stir fry for dinner. Later in the afternoon we both went for a walk in St Mo’s. Just once round the pond, but that was enough for me to snag a few shots of dragonflies resting on the boardwalk. I reckon it’s the daily rain showers,  another of which we had in the late afternoon, that are increasing the water level in the ponds and that’s encouraging the hatch of dragons. Mostly Common Darters, both male and female, but a few Black Darters occasionally added to the mix. One of the low down views of a dragonfly made PoD.

Stir fry was ok, but I inadvertently picked up a carton of Vegan broth mix instead of Chicken. I’ll be more careful in future. I much prefer the milder chicken flavour.

It was a bit dull today. Couldn’t really get myself interested in anything. I’m just finishing my first Stuart McBride book in years and am not all that impressed with it. Too predictable, I think. However, I bought the Audible version with the Kindle book and it helped the flight home pass much more quickly than reading.

We may go out somewhere tomorrow, just to get out of the house.

Another day, another test – 17 August 2022

Posted on by Zogman

This morning Scamp did another test, but it was just positive and no more.

The general rule seems to be that you have to stay at home for five days from the first positive test. I assume that after that time you aren’t definitely clear, but are unlikely to pass on the infection. Everything is so vague now that hospitalisations are so much fewer than they were last year.

Anyway, Scamp declared herself still positive although she was feeling better than yesterday. I declared myself happy that today I was up to date with blog posts and also with Flickr posts, but was intending going for a walk in the afternoon to get more photos to post and stories to tell.

While Scamp was busy in the garden I went for a walk in St Mo’s. There were lots of lovely dragonflies fluttering around the boardwalk at St Mo’s pond. Mostly common darter males but also a few black darters circling the ponds. Butterflies too were in plentiful supply almost all of them were Peacocks. Had a chat with Fred while I was out and before my signal broke up. I really do need to look into the possibility of changing my phone. One of the common darter males (head on) got PoD.

Hoping for another sunny day tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Jamie – 16 August 2022

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Second day in his new job and it’s his birthday too!

We did another test this morning, just to get an idea of progress, or not. Mine was immediately obviously positive, but Scamp’s test wasn’t quite so conclusive with a light red line that grew a bit darker as the fifteen minutes passed, but we both agreed it was still positive.

Not a lot to do today. It rained on and off all day. Lighter rain this time and with occasional dry spells. I nipped out for the chance to take a few photos in between showers.

Had a word with Jamie in the evening and he sounded happy enough with his new position. He seems to know what is required of him and is up for it. We never doubted that he would be.

Nothing more to say about things other than almost up to date with Flickr posts and also with blog posts.

Cabin Fever – 15 August 2022

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Cabin Fever was setting in. I can’t stay cooped up for long.

It had been a wild night, with more thunder and lightning during the night. Also a lot more rain. Torrential rain that came along with the thunderstorm, but also just sheets of straight-down rain that soaked the gardens and grass. That was the kind of rain we needed. The torrential rain just runs off the hard baked ground, but it’s the gentler rain that soaks down into the roots of the plants and trees and that’s what the roots will soak up.

In the afternoon I decided it was calm enough to risk a short walk round St Mo’s. A chance to see what difference the change in the weather had made. There were slugs and snails everywhere. It looked like they were having a party. I suppose slugs especially dehydrate in the heat and so need to get out into the wet to absorb the water into their bodies. Snails can survive for longer by retreating into their shells. I’d taken a camera of course and my PoD was a little Scabious flower with pink among the blue petals. Also, as it was still raining, there were some water drops to add some fine detail. Everything seemed to shine in the sunshine through the rain. I felt better for that short walk.

Still feeling tired and the cough is still there, but Scamp is a looking and feeling a lot better. We’ve agreed to do another test tomorrow.

A day in the sunshine – 14 August 2022

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This looked like it would be the last day of fine weather before the rains would come.

It’s no fun being confined to the house with the coughs and sneezes that seem to go along with the general fatigue that comes with Covid. Heaven knows what it would have felt like to those poor folk who caught it two years ago, before the vaccine became available. Although we’re feeling miserable now, it must have been a hundred times worse for them. We should be thankful for small mercies.

Well, we may not be able to go out into the wider world, but at least we could enjoy the sunshine in our garden. Scamp was busy deadheading the roses and most of the other garden flowers. Just keeping herself busy. I was happy to read in the sun with a bottle of beer to keep me company.

PoD went to a little industrious spider who was building its web in the apple tree. It was a tiny little thing working methodically round and round the web before it settled in the centre and waited for visitors. I guess these tiny arachnids must have the instructions for web building hard wired into their brains, because there are no teachers to show them how to do it.

Later in the day the clouds rolled in and the predicted thunderstorms arrived bringing the heavy rain in their wake. I felt sorry for the spider. All its work building that web had been washed away in the deluge. We had buckets out all over the garden collecting as much rainwater as we could. We’d also left the tomato plant and the chillies out too to benefit from rainwater.

The heat will be gone tomorrow, but there will be a fresher feel to the place. I might, just might go for a short walk tomorrow if I feel up to it.

 

Look what I got on holiday – 13 August 2022

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This is what happens when you sit in a metal tube with a couple of hundred others breathing recycled air for three hours. At least it happened on the way home, not a week earlier. Lucky 13th!

At least now Scamp and I are twins. She’s a couple of days ahead of me in the Covid race. Sore throat, runny nose and that awful annoying cough. I usually feel a bit deflated after we come back from holiday, but this just puts the tin lid on things.

The highlight of the day was a grocery delivery from Tesco.  Scamp had managed to grab a slot yesterday and with me now under house arrest too, at least we’d have something for dinner.  It wasn’t a big order, but it broke up the day.

Hopefully we’ll begin to feel better soon.

Back to life – 12 August 2022

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Back to reality. Back to the here and now.

This was the day for unpacking and for bundling clothes into the washing machine and then hanging them out to dry. Admittedly, I wasn’t doing much of that. Scamp did most of it.

After lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s to get some ‘ordinary’ photos. PoD was a close-up of a Yellow Rattle plant. It’s a parasite, feeding on the nutrients in the roots of any nearby grasses. And yes, it really does rattle when you brush past it! It’s the dried seeds in the desiccated pods that make the noise. I also got a shot of a grasshopper hiding deep in the grass, but no Hummingbird Hawk Moths I’m afraid. Too cold for them up here in the frozen north.

It wasn’t really that cold, in fact it was pleasantly warm sitting in the garden. Thunder and lightning predicted for the next few days. We really should make the most of this warm weather before it all comes to a crashing end.

We’re not going anywhere any time soon.