Month: April 2023

Rain – 30 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

It was hard to decide if it was just starting to rain, or just finishing a spell of raining when we woke. In actual fact it was just trying out the different textures of rain to see which it liked the best. That too was a difficult decision for the weather, and one it toyed with for a good few hours before finally choosing to stay dry and allow the sun to shine.

There were things to do today. There was milk to buy and a sensible plain loaf, a cake wouldn’t go amiss either, cakes never do. There were people to bump into. People I hadn’t spoken to for years. The people, or person in question was Mary Jane Hunter, ex of Cumby High. She and Scamp had a lot in common apart from height. They had both had cataracts removed and corrective lenses inserted that took away their shortsightedness and gave them a totally new view on life. It’s nice to meet folk you got on with years ago and who you still admire.

Back home Scamp had covered the draining board in the kitchen with an off cut from a waterproof table cover and was potting up her ten Cerinthe seedlings to separate them and to give them a chance to develop better roots. I liked the idea and planted out some Acer seeds my brother had given me last autumn. They had been in plastic bags in the little greenhouse to keep them dry while they ‘conditioned’. Apparently the exposure to sub zero temperatures is needed for them to germinate once they are planted out in soil.

Dinner tonight was Potatoes with Carrot and Onion Mash. Protein was Hoggit Shoulder Steak for me, bought at the farmers market in Embra yesterday and Salmon for Scamp. Unfortunately for her, the salmon just didn’t taste ‘right’. So it was a vegetarian dinner for her. My hoggit was excellent soft and delicious. (2mins 30seconds per side and 5mins resting time). I couldn’t eat it all, so I’ve about a third of it sitting in the fridge for tomorrow or Tuesday. Bananas fried in Rum was requested was requested for pudding. It was excellent too. Hot, sweet, sticky orange flavoured rum coating bananas sliced long ways. Sounds messy and it was, also sounds a bit sickly and it was, but we both enjoyed it. Can’t remember exactly where I first saw it being made, but I think it was on a cruise, years ago.

Because of the rain, I couldn’t be bothered wandering around St Mo’s, getting wet and not finding anything worth photographing, so today’s PoD came from the garden. It’s an Aquilegia playing host to a family of greenfly. I think I might have to evict them soon. As usual with macros, I didn’t see the greenfly until the images had been loaded into the computer.

Spoke to Jamie and Scamp was delighted to hear that he has taken her advice and cleaned all the glazing panels in his greenhouse. They have had a few days of good weather and have almost all the flowers planted now.

We have no plans for tomorrow, and it looks like more rain.

Off to Embra – 29 April 2023

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It was not a very nice day today, so we got the train to Edinburgh to see if it was any better there.

It wasn’t. It was just the same smirr falling from the same sky on different buildings. So we put our hoods up and walked Morrison Street then through the canyon at the Conference Centre and on to Lothian Road where we stopped for coffee at Nero. Thankfully the coffee was better than the watered stuff we seem to get in Glasgow nowadays. I must try the Black Sheep coffee shop in Glasgow to see if it’s an improvement. After coffee and a pastry each, we walked through the Farmers Market (which does seem to have its fair share of farmers and fishers) and I got myself a shoulder slice of hoggit which is a beast that’s older than a lamb and younger than a sheep. Murdo rears hoggits. I always try to get meat from Annanwater Farm in the farmers markets, because it is consistently good quality.

We walked on to the Grassmarket with its collection of stalls selling what is really just tourist tat. While we were there we had a look at the menu for Petit Paris, but decided it would be too busy on a weekend. Better to go on a weekday. The crowds were thickening now. Some of the individual in the crowds were very thick, standing in the middle of the road taking a photo of the castle on their phones, oblivious to the horns of cars blaring right at their backsides. They thought this was Scotland. Land of tartan and kilts and castles, but no cars!

As we climbed up the curving hill of Victoria Street the crowds and the queues got thicker. Thick enough to stand in a queue, in the rain, to walk round a Harry Potter shop. Needless to say, there weren’t many Scottish voices in that queue. We walked on. Eventually we got to JL Edinburgh. This was what JL looked like in Glasgow before it became a clearing house for all the second hand stuff that folk found they could live without. Scamp found stuff there that were on her shopping list for today. I walked round the “Toyshop” on the 5th floor and just looked at stuff that I couldn’t, or wouldn’t afford.

When we left JL we went looking for somewhere to eat, eventually settling on Wagamama. We had to wait for a table, but in out of the rain, thankfully as the rain was getting heavier as the day wore on. We were served by a Japanese lady who was careful to point out that my Grilled Chicken Ramen would be a bit ‘bland’ and when I asked for her suggestion she chose Shirodashi Pork Belly Ramen and she was right! Scamp had Chicken Raisukaree curry which looked very pretty and apparently tasted great apart from the ‘squeaky’ sugar snap peas!

Suitably fed we walked to the station just as the train was pulling in. We were entertained by two Edinburgh intelligentsia. The lady was the ‘numbers’ person and the gentleman was the investor, preparing to make his first million just as soon as he was old enough to buy a scratch card. It was an education, especially because they were both deadly serious.

Well, the rain hadn’t stopped all day, but by the time we got home it had dried up and at about 6pm a watery sun shone for a while.

PoD turned out to be two workers on the top of a multi storey block. I’m guessing they’d a current Working At Height certificate.

No plans for tomorrow.

Stuck in the toilet – 28 April 2023

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Scamp was out in the morning to her FitSteps class and out again in the afternoon for coffee with Isobel. I was stuck in the toilet.

Actually it’s not as bad as it seems. Yes, I was in the toilet, but I was replacing the carpet tiles in there. There are only six tiles to lay, but every one has to have cut-outs to accommodate pipes or the curved base of the toilet bowl or door frames.

This was probably the third or fourth time I’ve had to relay the tiles. The good thing about it is that the outgoing tiles act as templates for marking out the new ones. It’s the cutting that’s the most difficult stage. It’s been quite a while since I last had to do this job, but after a couple of tiles, it all came flooding back. The secret is to mark the back of each tile out using the old tile as a template and a white wax sewing pencil. Then with a sharp Stanley knife you cut halfway through the stiff backing. That should allow you to crack the new tile along that line. The most awkward part is hacking through the carpet fabric. It’s not easy working in such a confined space, but once you get into a rhythm it all goes fairly smoothly, but I don’t fancy having to do it for a living! By the time Scamp got back from FitSteps I was working on the last tile. Six new tiles laid in just over an hour.

After a spot of lunch I drove Scamp up to Costa in the town centre to meet Isobel, June and Ian. I didn’t wait, I had other fish to fry or in this case sausages to fry. Stopped at the butcher’s in Condorrat for mince, stew rolls and flat sausages. Some call them Lorne sausages, some call them square sliced (pronounced Skwer Sliced). To me they have always been flat sausages. That was my section of the freezer filled again with mince and stew. One of the sausages was for lunch, as was one of the rolls.

When Scamp got home I took the A7 out for a walk in St Mo’s later to get some photos. I couldn’t really see anything that appealed to me, but the two trees with the upwardly mobile branch made me smile. It became PoD.

When I got back, Scamp was working in the garden. That reminded me that I hadn’t planted my anniversary present, a packet of Sunflower seeds, so I set to and planted almost all 20 of the seeds. I had some left and offered them to Scamp to plant. Not that it’s a competition or anything like that. Just a friendly neighbourly gesture. We’ll see who’s pops out of the soil first – of course it’s a competition.

There is just an outside chance that we may go to Edinburgh on the train tomorrow. Weather permitting, of course.

Off looking for more culture – 27 April 2023

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Today I was getting the bus in to Glasgow to meet Alex and then find our way to the Burrell Collection in Pollock Park. Scamp was staying home and ‘tidying up’.

I got the X3 in to Glasgow. It was late and it looked as if I was going to be late to meet Alex too, but the driver managed to make us some time on the way there and we both arrived at the same time. After a bit of confusion about which street the number 57 bus for Pollock Park left at, we found with the help of a bus driver, that it left from Renfield Street. It was a ramshackle bus as most of them are in Glasgow these days but it took us to the park and we walked in to the grand new Burrell Collection building.

A very impressive building from the outside, much as I remember it before its refit, but inside it’s all changed and for once, it’s change for the better. It’s a much airier place than it used to be with space to walk around some of the exhibits. And so many exhibits. It’s hard to believe that one man and his wife could collect so many and varied antiquities in their lifetime. Harder still to know that they gifted all the collection to the city of Glasgow.

We spent an hour or so just walking round the exhibits, then the smell of food was wafting towards us from the cafe so we had a bite to eat and discussed what we’d seen so far and where we wanted to go next. It’s an amazing place, Much bigger than the Hunterian Museum, but not as enormous, nor as crowded as Kelvingrove Art Galleries. After another two or three hours we decided we’d head back into town. Another coffee and Alex suggested we should make up a list of ‘Dry’ places and ‘Wet’ places to go during the year. I think that’s a good idea.

We were both heading for the bus station again, but on opposite sides of the ‘U’ shaped concourse. I just managed to catch the X3 with no time to spare. Back home, dinner was Carrot & Lentil Curry. A staple that usually feeds us for at least two days. Followed by home made Rhubarb Pie which is lovely hot with cream, but in my opinion, even better served cold, just as it is. It’s a bit late for a slice tonight, but I’m looking forward to a piece tomorrow.

PoD was a wee man sitting in a low leather chair reading his phone. It’s entitled “A man and his phone are rarely parted.”

Tomorrow Scamp is intending going to FitSteps and then coffee with Isobel. I think I might devote tomorrow to laying the carpet tiles in the toilet, all being well. Oh what fun.

More driving, fewer photos – 26 April 2023

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Scamp was off today for lunch with the Witches. I was messing about with computers again.

She got picked up by Jeanette just before midday. That left me with a few hours to myself. Never a good thing. Usually I fritter those hours away doing ‘something on the computer’.

I have a 2TB (1TB=1000GB) external drive that was intended to hold just photos, but over the years, I’ve dumped other stuff in it too. I’ve a few 1TB external drives that could be cleared out to make room for the ’non-photos’ on the bigger drive. That would give me enough space to allow me to expand the photos on the 2TB to the most up to date version of Lightroom. It’s a lot of work, but it will be worth it in the long run. Today was the dummy run to see just how much ‘non-photo’ data was clogging the drive. I struggled with it for a while, but eventually decided I was wasting a good photography day, plus I’d another plan in my head.

Originally I’d thought I might go for a run to Milarrochy Bay on Loch Lomond, to photograph the famous tree that stands in the water, but the weather wasn’t looking great for that. Instead, I thought I’d go looking for Busy Lizzies to replace the ones that the frost got to a couple of nights ago and I drove over to Dobbies in Milngavie, but there were no Busy Lizzies, to be found, not even Lazy Lizzies. So I drove back almost to find somewhere photogenic.

My best guess for a decent spot was at The Stables which is a pub/restaurant on the banks of the Forth & Clyde canal. Parked at the restaurant and went for a walk west along the towpath and grabbed a few photos and watched the double decker Airbus A380 flying serenely overhead before banking into final to Glasgow Airport. I didn’t take any photos of it. Sometimes it’s better just to watch.
I wasn’t totally satisfied with the shots I had and walked east to see if there was any more interesting views. Bumped into a couple about our age on what looked like brand new Raleigh eBikes. The bloke was at pains to say that they weren’t total electric powered bikes, you had to pedal too, but the battery kicks in then and helps you. I could see how that would be a great benefit if you were climbing hills, but they were cycling on a flat tow path. Not much of a challenge. However, I wished them well on their travels and they did offer to pose for a photo, but I passed on that.

When I walked back to get the car, I saw my PoD. The Gipsy Princess was docked on the far side of the canal and it made my photo of the day. As I was taking the shot, I thought “GIPSY Princess? Is that PC?” Maybe not, but I’m not exactly PC either.

On the way home I stopped at Calders garden centre. It used to have a host of plants, but today it was looking a bit tired, even if the shop and the teashop were doing a roaring trade. No Busy Lizzies here either. I drove home.

It was a venison burger with potatoes and broccoli for dinner. Although she had already had lunch in the middle of the day, Scamp helped me to scoff the remainder of the veg.

One thing that annoys me about the Blue car is the overspeed warning beeps it screams when it feels justified in complaining that you are going too fast, even when the road signs don’t warrant it. In the two and a half years I’ve had the car, it’s been one of the biggest annoyances in it. Today I found out how to silence it. It’s not easy to find, but it is there, hidden under two layers of menu in the Settings part of the display. Silence is golden!

Tomorrow I’m intending to meet up with Alex to visit the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. Rain is predicted.

Strawberries and a drive – 25 April 2023

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Yesterday I said we might go out for a run today, or else we’d stay home and pot up the strawberries. We actually achieved both!

There was quite a cold snap last night, or early this morning. I’d put the strawberries into the greenhouse to hopefully protect them from the worst of the cold. The Busy Lizzies were already in the greenhouse. The strawberries didn’t seem to have noticed the cold, but the poor wee Lizzies were looking a bit sorry for themselves. Scamp took them out and sat them in the sun for a while, hoping aginst hope that they’d recover. It might have worked, but we’ll find out for sure tomorrow.

It was cold in the morning, but the sun was warm, so we made the decision to pot up the strawberries in their tower pot. It’s a terracotta pot with eight hole for the plants and is the same material as an old fashioned flowerpot. That means it needs to be soaked in water before planting or else it will draw the moisture from the compost, so it has been sitting in a bucket of water for about a week. We made up some compost using two different strengths and then added some gravel to assist with drainage. We only had six wee strawberries in their pots all different varieties. Bad calculation on my part. I’m the Maths Man, apparently. It’s just coontin’ I can’t do. It didn’t take us long, working together for once and not arguing … very much and the pot is now sitting in the place Scamp prepared for it.

After lunch, the sky was still clear, apart from a few fluffy white clouds and I suggested we drive up to the Carron Reservoir to get some landscape photos. It was a fair climb for the wee blue car, up the Tak Ma Doon road with its hairpin bends and 2nd gear hills. Then it was feathering the brakes for the run down the other side. Instead of heading across the road at the end, we turned left for a mile or so and found an almost empty carpark where the parking machine was ‘Out of Order’. Even better.

I put my boots on and we walked through the woods and up past the dam. As we got there a small child, we couldn’t determine what variety it was, was running along beside the dam wall with its parents, holding a ‘6’ balloon. Almost at the middle of the dam, and after a gigantic party popper had fired confetti into the air, it let go of the balloon, just a few seconds before a low flying Easyjet plane appeared over the hill. A bit foolhardy, considering the plane was almost certainly on final to Glasgow Airport. However all was well and the screaming trio ran down the grassy slopes and into the woods.

I took some more shots of the reservoir and the scenery behind. Perfect day for landscapes and the surrounding hills just finished off the view. We sat for a while just watching the world go by and the balloon disappearing into the clouds. Then we walked back and drove the scenic route back, along the banks of the reservoir and down the Crow Road then homeward.

Stir fry for dinner tonight then watched another semi-final of University Challenge were the ‘goodies’ won and the ‘baddies’ were vanquished! Later another episode of Magpie Murders teased us with more information but inevitably complicated more than it explained.

PoD didn’t turn out to include the reservoir or the clouds, but was of the woods and a carpet of pine cones.

You’ll hardly believe this, but Hazy has a Split Rock plant Ruby Flush (Pleiospilos Nelii) called Phileas almost the same as my unnamed Lithops! Some people can’t see green cheese … ! 😉

Tomorrow Scamp is booked for coffee or it may be lunch with the Witches. I have other plans which I won’t reveal yet.

 

The highlight of the day was …

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… going to Tesco. It was that sort of day.

That was in the morning and we needed the usual, bread and milk and came home with a lot more, as usual.

I think that was the furthest I walked today. From the car to Tesco and from the shop back to the car. Oh yes, and a detour for petrol for the blue car.

We had planned to pot up the strawberry plants we’d bought a few days ago, but although the sun was shining brightly, it was cold outside and we put off the garden work for another day. Also, as sub-zero temperatures were predicted for tonight, it didn’t seem fair to subject the strawberry plants to that shock. Let them stay another night in the relative warmth of the greenhouse.

I did get called upon to help Scamp shift a pot of Leucanthemums from the back garden to the front. I suppose I could count that as an active five minutes. Later in the afternoon I set about finding a PoD and today it was a pot of Lithops which have the common name ‘Living Stones’ and I’m sure you can see why. They are quite tiny, the two green ones measure about 1cm on their long axis. They are stemless succulent plants that resemble stones to avoid being grazed by animals in their native habitat which is South Africa. They would never survive in our Scottish climate, so must remain house plants, although they might get a chance to feel the sun on their back for a few days later in the year.

An uninspiring day, really. Last night, apparently the Northern Lights should have been visible here, but there was almost 100% cloud cover when I went to bed around midnight. Tonight the predictions aren’t so good for solar wind activity, but we do have a clear sky!

Tomorrow we might go out somewhere for a run, just to say we’ve been out. Failing that we might just stay at home and pot up the strawberries.

Some said how alarming – 23 April 2023

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… and some said how funny. An alarm call at 3pm. Just testing, they said.

There wasn’t much to say about today. It was a usual Sunday. We walked down to the shops and got the makings of lunch, milk and a bag of donuts. Donuts because it was Sunday if you need a reason.

After lunch I was doodling on the computer trying out a new toy Adobe had added to Lightroom and not told anyone. It was very clever. I’m sure you’re not at all interested, so I won’t waste your time. However, at 2.59 precisely according to my computer the most awful racket started. Of course, it was our early warning that the world is going to end or the SNP have spent half a million pounds on a waste paper basket, or something equally unlikely. The testing of the system. Thank goodness it only lasted for ten seconds. Total waste of money and time.

Later I went out looking for a pedestal to box in the pipes behind the wash hand basin in the downstairs toilet. I thought I might get one in B&Q, but couldn’t see any. I asked the assistant at the bathroom section and she searched the B&Q website, but there were none available online. I could have got one in Screwfix, but they close at 4pm on a Sunday and what time was it on my phone when I looked? That’s right, 4pm! I might try them tomorrow.

I left the search until tomorrow and headed out for some peace and quiet up at Fannyside. Beautiful light on the road across the moor and I managed to grab a few photos of the new line of windmills on a ridge one by Airdrie. PoD went to favourite view of mine between two stands of Scots Pines, looking over to the Campsies in the distance with a beautiful cloudscape overhead. It’s nice to just see it rather than fake it.

Dinner tonight was Jersey Royal potatoes and Broccoli with a Tuna steak for Scamp and Lamb burgers for me. Pudding was Meringue with Whipped Cream, Raspberries and Blueberries. Looked good and tasted even better.

Spoke to Jamie later and it seems that they have had a gardening week just like us. Nothing to report on both ends of the conversation, which is good.

Watched another two episodes of Magpie Murders. Confusing and enthralling at the same time. Thank you Alex for that.

I don’t think we have any plans for tomorrow at this time.

 

The Messages – 22 April 2023

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According to the weather fairies, it was going to rain today. They were right, but only just.

The morning was lovely, well, again it was lovely to look out at it. However, it was still cold outside. We had agreed last night that we’d go shopping today. Not Tesco or Lidl, we’d been there during the week. Instead, we were going to Stirling – to Waitrose. Waitrose just sucks you in and makes you spend more than you’d intended to. Whereas, in Tesco and to a certain extent, Lidl you know where everything is and you can buy the things you need, rather than what you want.

When we got home there was a cardboard box that had dropped through our letterbox. Inside were six little plant plug plants, Busy Lizzies. Tiny little plants that are now in the greenhouse until they get strong enough to be planted out in the garden. Strange to think that delicate little plug plants are delivered by post.

Scamp found a suitable hanger to hold a fuchsia and it’s now hanging on a hook in the back garden. While she was gardening, I took the Sony A7 out with a couple of lenses for a walk in St Mo’s. PoD turned out to be a close up of some larch needles positively glowing in the afternoon sunshine.

By the time I got home the clouds were beginning to mass and as I’m writing this, the first rain in a week or so has been falling.

Dinner tonight was a Veg Lasagne by Charlie Bigham. This is the third one we’ve had (not tonight, we’re not that greedy!) and they have all been exceptionally good.

Tomorrow we are expecting more rain and cold winds from the north. Brrr!

Another bright but cold morning – 21 April 2023

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We had hoped to go out somewhere this Friday morning, but I’d ordered a bottle of rum that was arriving some time today, but before 10pm. Amazon can be so exact with its timings these days!

To accommodate Mr Bezos, and because it was still quite cool outside, We waited until about 11.30 when thankfully Mr B sent an email to say that the delivery would be between 3.45 and 6.45pm. That is a lot more helpful than ‘before 10pm’. So, we’d about four hours to make the most of. We settled on a walk along the canal to Twechar and back. Then maybe a visit to Lidl in Kilsyth. Done!

Off we went. It had been a dry week with hardly a hint of rain, so no boots needed, walking shoes or trainers would suffice. We parked at Auchinstarry quarry where the ambitious ones were intent on scaling the heights of the practise face of the old quarry. The more confident, or just less cautious, climbers attempt the heights of the more difficult (so I’m told) face of the arc of the main quarry where a wrong footing will catapult you into the cold deep waters of the quarry itself. Untold wrecks are allegedly submerged there and many are the tales told about what they contain.

We weren’t going climbing. Too old and sensible for that, besides the clanging of the carabiners would drive us crazy. We were walking anti-clockwise from Auchinstarry, around the old mineral railway line to Twechar then back along the canal footpath back to Auchinstarry. A distance of about 3.25 miles, mainly on the flat, but with a couple of hills. I think we only met a couple of folk on the way to Twechar along the old railway. On the way back on the footpath beside the canal we did have to give way to a few bikes. It was on the way back we realised that the cool east wind that had been on our backs on the outward leg was now in our faces. Also, there is very little to shelter us from the wind on the canal path, while the lower mineral line still has a lot of bushes that act as wind breaks. The upshot is that we should have gone clockwise today. Never mind, we saw a heron steely eyed stalking along the far bank of the canal and further on, Mrs Mallard out with the chicks. PoD was a photo of a house that sits on the far bank of the canal and provides some lovely reflections in the canal itself. It was taken with the new toy, the Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS.
It took us an hour and a half to complete today’s walk and that included time ‘wasted’ taking photos and a wee rest spot on the way back from Twechar. Thankfully the cough I’ve had for the past week or so seems to have gone (fingers crossed and touch wood) and I felt fine, during and after our walk.

We drove down to Lidl for something for lunch and a few odds and ends. After lunch Scamp went out to plant some Antirrhinums and I found that the basil I’d planted earlier in the week had started sprouting. Dinner tonight was a tub of Chilli that Scamp found in the freezer. While not the strongest tasting meal we’ve had, it filled a space.

My Dark Matter rum did indeed come as promised, just after 5pm and because it was alcohol, I had to give the guy my year of birth! Maybe it’s because I look so young. There you are, I finished this blog with a funny!

I believe there are plans to go shopping tomorrow. That will be fine, because the sunny days have apparently gone for a week or so.