Month: July 2026

Up and out early – 20 July 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Well, fairly early, let’s not get too excited.

Scamp and I drove over to Larky in the morning where I picked up my new distance vision glasses. These ones are going to stay in the case until I lose the last pairs. It’s not a case of “If” I lose a pair, more a case of “When”. Scamp is threatening to make me a pair that I can dangle round my neck! I don’t think so. I may be getting on in years, but I’m not quite over the hill yet.

With the new glasses in my pocket we drove over to Chatelherault for coffee and a cake each. It’s ages since I’ve been there, and even longer since Scamp has been. It was such a beautiful morning with a blue sky and a few fluffy white clouds. I hadn’t bothered to bring a camera, partly because I tend to go into Photographer mode when I bring a camera and spoil the day by whipping the camera out at every opportunity, and partly because I’ve seen Chatelherault in almost every weather condition.
Anyway we did go to the cafe and had a cafe and cake. Then we had a leisurely walk around the park, admiring the panorama of the central belt in all its glory. After our walk we drove home. It was a bit strange to go for a short walk instead of a ramble through the trees. Quite refreshing for a change.

Back home and after lunch we noted that a load of wood was covering the garden next door. It looked like the construction of the fence had begun in earnest.

Scamp chose to sit in the front garden away from the saws, hammers and digging that was going on and I went for a walk in St Mo’s. I had thought it was supposed to cool down today, but if anything, it felt warmer. I’d forgotten to bring water with me so I curtailed my walk, but I did get some photos of butterflies over by the football park. PoD and my favourite was a Meadow Brown. It was a bit battered and bruised, but was still flying.

Scamp suggested Pasta Carbonara for dinner. It’s ages since I’d made it and it took me a while to get the recipe right, but Val must have been watching me over my shoulder and making sure I was getting it done properly.

Spoke to Jamie tonight, a bit out of sync because they had been late getting home from a barbecue. It seems that they are still having problems with water. Hopefully once we get our predicted rain, it will fall on their garden too.

The wood that had been lying in the garden next door is now looking like a real fence. They are making good progress with it. I’m impressed with what is really just one day’s work.

We may need to get some ‘messages’ in tomorrow.

A busy day for a ‘tog – 19 July 2026

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Sheila’s cousin, Isabel’s actual birthday is tomorrow, but she had decided it would be easier for all concerned if she had her birthday today, the 19th of July 2026. You don’t need to know how old she’ll be on her birthday. All I’ll say is that it’s a big number.

We arrived at the party place almost exactly on time and found a table for all four of us, Shona, Ian, Scamp and me to sit. I was the one with the camera and I think I almost got away with taking lots of photos of folk without getting any taken of me. Surprisingly, I knew a few of the people who were there, and stopped to talk to the ones I recognised. A lot of the names were familiar to me from Scamp telling me about members of the choir and now I could happily put faces to the names.

Lunch was a very full board of sandwiches and rolled up things probably they would be called ‘wraps’ or ‘petit fours’, but rolled up things, although a bit clumsy, describes them better as far as I’m concerned.

There were no speeches at the party. Scamp reckons that was one of the rules Isabel had laid down and good on you for sticking to your wishes Isabel. The hall had been booked for two hours and as the time approached, most of those attending were making their way home and we were among that group. It had been a lovely afternoon and I think we all enjoyed it. We dropped Ian off first then Shona and finally Scamp and I.

I do hope Isabel enjoys her birthday tomorrow and gets to relax with the rest of her family.

PoD was a bit of a cheat. It was a photo of a bunch of cut flowers Scamp liked and it was taken in our garden, yesterday.

Tomorrow I may drive to Larky to collect my new driving glasses and hopefully I won’t lose these ones, especially if I re-find them after I’ve paid for a new pair. One pair for the car, one pair for the house and one pair to be put in a safe place for when I lose the other two pairs.

Dancin’ – 18 July 2026

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It’s Saturday and that means we were dancing in Brookfield. It was another warm day, but with a lot of clouds hiding the sun.

Quite a full dance floor. We started with the Electric Slide. Just a repetitive piece of nonsense. Next was the American Smooth Waltz. It’s beginning to fit into place, but not as fast as Scamp would like. That took up about a third of today’s lesson.
For a break we danced the Sally Ann Cha-Cha. Also a bit of fun, but much more interesting that the electric slide.
Jane’s favourite, Rona’s Rumba was next. It was to commemorate a dancer called Rona who passed away a couple of years ago. It’s probably a lovely dance, but I’ve now heard a few of the old hands saying it has too many turns and it doesn’t flow well. They could be right. I just find it hard to dance. That was another third or more of the lessons gone.
Two more sequence dances, The Mayfair Quickstep and the Melody Foxtrot finished the class.

We drove home through very light traffic and were home in no time at all. Unfortunately I didn’t time it this time.

I didn’t want to go walking in St Mo’s again after yesterday’s disappointing walk. Instead I helped Danny, the bloke next door, to rip out the old wire fence that separates our two gardens. He’s determined to get a fence up to allow his grandkids to play in the garden. It was a tough job, but I got the remains of the old Blackcurrant bush removed and a lot of weeds and invasive flowers removed. It’s half past nine just now and he’s still working away at it. Not me. I’ve had enough for one day.

We’re hoping to go to Isobel’s 90th birthday party tomorrow. I’m intending taking my camera to record the event, although I’m sure Isobel will complain bitterly!

PoD went to a Calendula flower from the garden.

Yet another hot day – 17 July 2026

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The highlight of my day was driving to Kenilworth to get the results of my blood test. It was that kind of day! I’m glad to say that I passed the test and was so excited, I booked an appointment for my annual checkup.

After lunch Scamp suggested we should strim the grass, front and back. Between us we hauled out the strimmer and while we were there, we brought out the grass cutter too. I didn’t do any of the cutting myself, I left the technical stuff to Scamp. I just moved the pots of flowers out on to the path to allow Scamp to mow everything more quickly. She seemed to be on a mission today, because even the daisies were having a short back and sides and the recalcitrant ones were beheaded on the spot.

When the rough cutting was finished Scamp suggested we move some of the flowerpots about. I did the rough positioning and Scamp made the fine adjustments. With everything back in the correct place I went for a walk in St Mo’s. Scamp relaxed in the garden.

There was little to see today in St Mo’s today. No dragonflies, a few damselflies and no sign of any other creatures. In the distance I could hear some fanatics playing basketball in the school grounds. Other than that, I hardly met a soul.

Back home we watered the garden. Thankfully there are no water restrictions in Scotland, at least not for the foreseeable future, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come.

PoD went to a Greenbottle, not a Bluebottle sitting on a Cowparsley flowerhead. Apparently, according to Google bluebottles and greenbottles are different species. It’s amazing what you find out.

I think we may be going to dance class tomorrow. Hope Brookfield have their air-con working. Ha ha, fat chance of that!

An invitation to dinner – 16 July 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Another really hot day. I was glad that we had managed to get the front garden watered last night.

This morning, Wordle on the iPhone kept shutting down. I tried all the usual remedies without much success. Then I tried switching to the MBP and it worked ok, but still had the same problem on the iMac. I left it for a while and later in the morning I not only had the iPhone version working, but also managed to get the right letters in the right order … with a little bit of cheating! I’ll see how the system works tomorrow.

Scamp was pruning the bushes again and in the late afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s with the old 55-210mm Sony. The quality is reasonable, but really it’s the portability that I like it for. An APS-C camera is more than good enough to get decent photos. That’s the story I tell myself, but I still prefer the full frame camera/lens combo, even if it’s much heavier.

In the late afternoon we headed over to Shona’s house. We’d been invited over to have dinner with her. Her suggestion.

We had Melon for starter, followed by Chicken with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes and a Parsley Sauce. A lovely summer afternoon meal. Dessert was Strawberry Cream Sponge. We even had a bottle of Nosecco to go with it. Shona can make dinner for us anytime!

We sat and talked for a couple of hours, watching the clouds gather above us, then dissipate again later. Drove home and got parked in the same space we’d come out of.

Watched Mastermind to finish of this week’s first trilogy and then watched the first Sewing Bee. Too hard to say who the front runners are going to be this year.

PoD was a couple of wild raspberries I saw on today’s walk around St Mo’s.

 

Sun Catchers – 15 July 2026

Posted on by Zogman

I think it was the angle I used that made it look like the wild geranium flowers were all pointed at the same spot.

We drove out to Larky today because Scamp needed to have a checkup at the optician. It also gave me the opportunity to get a new pair of glasses to replace the one’s that had disappeared when we came back from Skye. Different glasses from the last ones, just for fun. And because I was replacing a pair I’d lost recently, I got the new ones for half price.

Once all of that was organised and Scamp was having her eyes checked I drove up through Larky and found a petrol station that I’d forgotten was there. Put some fuel into the tank before the beepy noise told me I was running low. I drove further up the road and remembered that there was a Lidl at the top of the hill and Lidl sell a lovely, cheap bottle of gin. Two birds, one stone!

As I was driving out of Lidl with my bottle, I got a message from Scamp to tell me she was sorted and ready to be driven to Brookside cafe and garden centre. It’s an old fashioned cafe that’s been there for years, but one that sells Rolls ’n’ Flat Sausage and also Rolls ’n’ Scrambled Eggs with cups of real coffee. None of your fancy ground beans, but real coffee, out of a jar I think. While we were there Scamp found a perfect present for one of her friends, so we bought it on the spot and then drove home before she could find anything else to purchase.

Back home I changed into Shorts and Tee Shirt and while Scamp sunbathed with lots of sun cream in the garden, I walked over to St Mo’s to get some photos. There wasn’t much to shoot today. The swans were hiding in the bushes from the sun and there was only one dragonfly in the whole of the pond that I could see. The PoD I chose was a bunch of wild geraniums, they looked like scanners pointed in the sky searching for signs of rain that didn’t come.

Annette came for dinner. I was chef for the day and Scamp had chosen Fish Risotto. Easy to make and the oven does most of the work. Good conversation with a good friend.

Later in the evening, Scamp found the ‘lost’ glasses. Oh well, another pair of driving glasses won’t go amiss!

Hoping to dine with Shona tomorrow.

Off to feed the Vampires – 14 July 2026

Posted on by Zogman

I decided I’d better go and feed the vampires before they came for me.

It was almost a full house in the health centre this morning and I thought I’d be waiting for ages to get my bloods taken, but then remembered they are a multi-functional health centre now catering for all sorts of injuries and problems. Mine was fairly simple and took almost no time at all. Back home the weather was beginning to improve from the dull heavy clouds we get used to in Scotland. There was still a cool east wind blowing until the sun made an appearance.

Scamp and I drove to Tesco and filled a trolley full with essentials for a weekly shop. Nothing new, just the basics with little to add. By the time we got back home the sun was shining fully and the whole place felt warm again. Just a comfortable warmth.

The breakdown cover on the blue car was about to run out, so I spent an hour or so in the afternoon working out who was the best choice for the cheapest price. It’s always a conundrum finding who you can trust for the least amount. At the last gasp, I finally settled on the one I had last year for a decent price. Now I just hope I never have to use it. Isn’t it strange that we pay good money for something you hope you will never use? That’s what keeps us going I suppose.

Dinner tonight was home made Paella. As usual I made far too much, but Scamp suggested we freeze, or at least chill the remainder to use, perhaps tomorrow.

We watched University Challenge in the evening. It’s usually an autumn program, but this year all three, University Challenge, Mastermind and Only Connect have started already. I think it makes the year appear to shrink. They are the only game shows we watch.

Today’s PoD turned out to be a photo of a Blue Eryngium from the garden. It’s quite a startling flower. I took it with a lens that I don’t use very often. It gets terrible reviews, but does produce some great images. Best of all, it’s cheap … if you can find a good one! I did and I’m sticking to it. See if you can spot the spider!

Tomorrow we’re hoping to drive to Larky for Scamp to get her eyes checked. The last time the went the optician thought her eye pressure was a bit high. Hope it’s settled now.

Annette is intending to come over tomorrow for dinner. It will give Scamp someone other than me to talk to. I’m hoping to go out for a walk with the camera and leave the ladies to their chat.

Out looking for plants – 13 July 2026

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Scamp had a few spaces in her front garden that ‘really’ needed some colour to brighten the day, so we headed off to Klondyke to see what they had to sell us.

It was a lovely day. In the morning the sun was having a late lie in, but by the time we were on the road, it had dragged itself out of bed and started to shine. Klondyke was busy. Lots of plants, but we had to be careful as a lot of the offerings were a bit long in the tooth and we wanted flowers with a fairly long life ahead of them. We did find some. Most with unpronounceable names. Some even sticking to their latin names, probably to make them sound more glamorous.

We settled on

A Berberis bush
A Monardo (don’t know what that is)
A Cosmos Plant
6 Antirrhinums (Map-Maps was what my mum called them)
A Doormat (not me!)
A Bag of Perlite.
A Bag of seed potatoes to grow for Christmas (all being well)

We bundled all of that into the wee blue car and then went back into Klondyke for a coffee and a scone. Then we headed back home, where we unloaded all the above into the back garden. Then, for the rest of the day, Scamp was silent. Just too busy planting all the new plants, apart from the seed potatoes.

I took a camera out for a walk in St Mo’s later in the afternoon when the light was better, and got today’s PoD which is a bunch of Wild Geraniums. I really like them, they just seem to keep flowering with no maintenance at all.

The bloodthirsty vampires liked my blood so much last week, they have asked me to give them some more. I couldn’t really refuse them, so tomorrow I may go to the health centre and donate some more blood so they can test it again. At least that’s the story they tell me. I’m not sure I believe them.

Another glorious warm day – 12 July 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Today started with some corrections to be made to my data.

It was just a couple of tweaks, but fairly important ones. With a great deal of help from Scamp I managed to get it done quite quickly in the morning. That left the remainder of the day for less serious stuff.

As usual on a Sunday morning, Scamp watched Laura Kuenssberg tearing into a couple of politicians. I often wonder if she is quite as aggressive at home, or if she’s really a ‘pussy cat’ when she’s at home. I don’t think I really want to know the answer. Sorry Laura if you’ve been reading this!

The main task today was to tidy up the garden. Scamp is always moving things around and occasionally chopping things too. I understand what she’s doing half the time, but sometimes I just don’t see the logic or the need in some of her plans. As long as she has it planned in her head, I’m happy to go along with it … most days. I’d noticed there was a long, empty trough had been emptied and replenished with fresh (ish) compost. Something was afoot. The plan was to refill the trough with some colourful annuals. How many, what type and when were not revealed, but I’m sure they will be soon.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s in the afternoon and got a few photos of insects doing their business. They were mostly Soldier Beetles happily producing more Soldier Beetles. Some of them were sitting on white tufted thistles. Google thought they might be Creeping Thistles. I’d never heard of them, but I was willing to believe Mr G. Soldier beetles were PoD today.

I had a Rump Steak for dinner with half a dozen Padron Peppers and some of our home grown potatoes, the second batch we’ve grown this year. Scamp had Sea Bass with fried onions and mushrooms. Dessert was ice cream and blackcurrant jelly. Very fitting for a summer’s day.

Spoke to Jamie in the evening, halfway through watering the garden and heard that they now have a hose pipe ban. Oh dear, and here was us saying that we were watering the garden! However, they are still allowed to use watering cans, although that would take a while with a big garden.

Tomorrow we may go shopping.

Dancin’ – 11 July 2026

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The first ‘real’ dancing day this morning.

Lots of folk out today hoping to improve their dancing technique. I wasn’t one of them. I was just happy to not make a mess when I was treading water!

The dance class started with the Electric Smooth. I’d never danced it before and a few folk were in the same boat. It was similar to The House of Bamboo which I started off hating, but ended up accepting it as just another set of dance steps. The E.S. is similar and will have the same effect on me I think.

The first ‘actual dance’ was the American Smooth Waltz which we’d done before in one of the Perth classes. Bits of it fitted together like a badly made jigsaw puzzle, but by the end of the class it was filtering in to my head.

Rumba was next and we started off just copying an old rumba we kind of knew, but then decided we’d better stick to the teachers’ plan and dance it properly. There were similarities between ‘our’ version and the teacher’s version.

Tango Serida was and it took me a while to work out what was happening and when it was happening, but we managed to struggle round the floor. With a bit of help from Jane, I managed to sort out the routine.

Balmoral Blues was the last real sequence dance. I didn’t like it and struggled to make sense of it, but Scamp had it sorted right away. She has this innate ability to walk through a dance once or twice and immediately afterwards, know how to dance it. Me? I struggle and let’s leave it at that.

Just for a bit of fun and to get back to simple stuff, we finished with the Midnight Jive. A sequence dance designed to get your heart pounding.

We drove home through a very quiet Glasgow and made it home only slightly longer that the drive to Brookfield in the morning.

Scamp was busy in the afternoon digging out plants, sieving out the lumps of soil and splitting larger plants to make at least two smaller ones. I went for a walk over to St Mo’s and got today’s PoD which was a Saw Fly. Scary looking beast, but apparently harmless.

No plans for tomorrow so far, but that may change.