Out on the town – 4 April 2024

Not me, this time, but Scamp. Off into Glasgow by herself!

I drove Scamp to the train station and then came home. I was going to have a photography day out, but before that, there was work to do. I started to tidy up the back bedroom to give us more space to decant the contents of the cupboards and bookcases from our bedroom in preparation for the decorating.

It was still a beautiful morning when I was finished, so I packed the camera bags and my boots into the car and drove over to Bothwell to take some photos of Bothwell Castle. Well, that was the plan. Just as I was passing the slip road to the eastbound M8 all the traffic slowed to a crawl. Two lanes of it. I knew I could take the outside lane and drive to the castle on the A road rather than the clogged motorway. I’d just made my move as many others now had when the overhead gantry demanded I return to the original road. Then what was a five lane motorway became a two lane motorway and that’s when I knew something serious was going on. Long story short, an articulated lorry had ended up on its side on the ‘alternative’ road I was hoping to take and all five lanes of traffic was being funnelled into the two lanes heading for Hamilton. I joined the queue and an hour and a half later did find Bothwell Castle.

I took some photos, but they weren’t inspiring. Too many barriers at the front and an incredibly complicated scaffolding creation was shoring up the back of the building. I only stayed for about half an hour and then headed for home. It took another hour to get back, partly due to my sat nav packing in on me and partly due to the increased traffic load. Eventually got back, not long after Scamp.

A couple of slices of toast and a cup of tea and I had a look at the photos and wasn’t impressed. Instead I took a camera over to St Mo’s to bolster the photos of the castle. Found an old bike that had been lobbed into the nettles and brambles by the side of the path to Condorrat. Took two photos of it and knew the second one was PoD. I was right. I took some more photos, but they weren’t very good. Just a bad day with one and eventually two good photos. I thought myself lucky, because there was a lorry driver somewhere who had a worse day than me. I checked tonight and he survived the crash and was taken to hospital. It didn’t even make the Scottish News!

We’d had a clear out of the freezer earlier in the week. Some food went in the bin. Too old or didn’t look right. Of the remainder, some went back in and some went into the fridge to defrost slowly. We had those for our dinner tonight. Chicken and Chips! What’s not to like?

Tomorrow Scamp is hoping to get back to FitSteps, then visit Isobel, and for the second day in a row, I have a free morning. Maybe lunch at Brodens for us afterwards? We’ll see.