Month: August 2026

Out on the town – 12 August 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Out with my brother today. Walking the streets of Glasgow looking for something new.

We took a walk down to the Graffiti area on Clyde Street. It’s actually called Custom House Legal Wall because it’s one of the few places where you can legally paint on the walls. I hadn’t realise that, after all the times I’ve walked around there. Every day is a school day, indeed.
I grabbed a clever looking bit of art there and it became PoD. Probably not to everyones taste, but it takes all sorts …

From there we walked left along the Broomielaw and then under the M8 before walking up the hill looking for the professional artists pillars that Alex had seen a couple of weeks ago. We got a few photos there before we got the ‘Bums Rush’ from a couple of blokes who told us that the area was a building site and we had to keep clear. We did that, for the most part, but then I went further and skirted the Express Way. It’s really strange, I’ve driven along that bit of road, but had never really stopped to see what was around me.

After I’d disentangled myself from all the roads round about that area, I retraced my steps and met Alex again. We decided it was time for lunch and Paesano is the only place we go on our walks. We were almost at the door when the rain started. The streets were dry by the time we left Paesano and we went for a coffee before we caught our respective buses to go home.

Scamp was sitting in the garden when I got home and I joined her while we waited for the eclipse, but although I got a few distant shots of the sun, the photos weren’t good enough to see any detail. Also, the clouds had rolled in and obliterated any details that would have been there. Oh well, maybe next time … when the next total eclipse comes in about 70 years.

Looking for insects – 11 August 2026

Posted on by Zogman

It was another hot day. Not as hot as it was in the south of England, but certainly warm enough for us in Scotland.

The only thing we did today was to go for a walk to the shops. Well, to be honest, Scamp went for a walk to the shops, but I cut the walk short and went down to St Mo’s. Behind St Mo’s is what is usually a boggy area which is usually wet in all weathers. Of course, today it was almost bone dry. I was looking for the seed pods from the Flag Iris plants that grow there, but I realise now after some research that I have to wait until about November to get the distorted seed pods that grow down there! I’ll try to be patient.

On my walk back, I spotted a little Hover Fly sitting and probably feeding on a pink Knapweed flower. It took a few shots to get what I wanted from the wee fly, but in the end I had a PoD.

Back home it was my turn to cook and Scamp requested Pasta Puttanesca. That’s another recipe from a long while ago. I eventually found what I was looking for and Scamp said it tasted just right. I wasn’t too sure, but I’ll stand by her decision.

TV schedules were all over the place tonight which meant that the Sewing Bee hadn’t recorded on our dodgy Virgin device. It seems that every week we find another failure from this recorder. I thInk it may be time to move away from Virgin and get a more trustworthy recorder.

That was about it for today. Sat in the garden for a while soaking up the sun. Hoping to meet Alex tomorrow for a walk. I might even get back in time to watch the partial eclipse.

Off the leash – 10 August 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Today Scamp and Shona were off on a day trip, I was off the leash.

I dropped the girls off at the town centre to catch the Ember bus that would take them to Dundee for the day. I had the whole day to myself. That gave me time to read for an hour or so and to plant a new batch of potatoes that would hopefully be ready for around Christmas, all being well. It was strange to think that I was planting them on one of the warmest days in the year and expecting them to ripen in time for Christmas, in four month’s time.

The butterflies were working hard among the Buddleia bushes in a corner of the garden. No more sightings of Hummingbird Hawk Moths unfortunately, but I’d take the half dozen Peacock and Red Admirals as a decent substitute. These butterflies are suckers for the buddleia flowers.

Later in the afternoon, I went for a walk in St Mo’s hoping to see some more butterflies, but none were flying there today. However there were a couple of Dragonflies and the warmth of the boardwalk seemed to make them lazy and easier to capture in camera. I got quite close, but had the wrong lens for the job – it seems I always do!
A nice shot of a Common Darter with its tail up in the air got PoD. I happily walked back, wondering how the ladies were getting on.

Not long after that I got the message to say that the girls were on the bus on their way home. An hour or so later my phone pinged to say they were just leaving Stirling. Picked the travellers up later and took Shona home, then drove home.

After listening to what the girls had got up to in Dundee, I felt as if I’d done nothing back home, but I’d enjoyed my day ‘off the leash’ and had a lazy evening watching TV.

Tomorrow looks like another hot one.

 

More butterflies – 9 August 2026

Posted on by Zogman

I don’t think you can ever have enough photos of butterflies.

I don’t want to rub it in, but we had rain again this morning. Not a lot of rain, but enough to let us know that it’s still around, just waiting for a chance to drop on us.

The rain came and went for most of the morning and a bit of the afternoon, but didn’t bother us. Scamp and I did some pruning of the Buddleia bushes later in the afternoon and by then the butterflies were returning to the bushes. I think the rain in the morning dampened the flowers down and maybe that accounts for the limited amount of interest from the butterflies but the bees are much hardier. In the evening all the butterflies returned, circling the buddleia plants again. I got a few photos of a Red Admiral that became PoD.

Scamp and I emptied the last of the potato bags and collected quite a few potatoes. Almost all of them were in good condition, but a lot of the soil was dry, probably from being under the Rowan tree for too long. A few of them were the size of marbles and we used a tip we’d seen on Gardeners World. We replanted two of the potato shaws that still had smaller potatoes attached. Then we filled up the pot they had been in and watered them in well. Hopefully that will produce some more potatoes, but even if they fail, we won’t have lost anything.

Dinner tonight was Cauliflower in Cheese Sauce for Scamp and Stew and Kidney for me. Dessert for both of us was Rhubarb and Strawberries a strange mixture, but really good. We only tried it because our strawberries were starting to go over. We both agreed we’d do it again. Your rhubarb was mixed with our thinner rhubarb, but both worked together, Jamie.

Tomorrow Scamp and Shona are intending to go out for the day, somewhere nice! That’s all I know.

 

Another long lie in – 8 August 2026

Posted on by Zogman

This is becoming a habit.

Unfortunately today, when we should have been driving to Brookfield for another dance lesson, we were just breaking the surface. Personally I blame the cup of Hot Chocolate I had last night before I went to bed. It always makes me sleepy. The half a bottle of Piquito Jumito we’d enjoyed had nothing to do with it. No, nothing at all.

So, it being extremely unlikely that we were going to get to Brookfield in time, we had a leisurely breakfast and planned the rest of the day. Scamp suggested that, since I’d been talking about going to Dunfermline sometime soon, we should do just that and go. That sounded like a great idea.

So it was that we walked down to The Shops where we picked up the local bus that would take us to the Town Centre and from there we would get another bus to Dunfermline. Oh, if only it was that simple, but we just missed the bus at the Town Centre and Scamp found herself trying to avoid a conversation with an old guy who was sure I was gay because I was wearing an old pair of pink trousers. Thankfully the Dunfermline bus arrived on time and we got on while the old guy went on to talk to someone else. I did feel a bit sorry for him. As my pal, Colin says, “You don’t know what they go home to at night.” I always try to remember that.

The rest of the journey was going fine until we took a detour that added at least half an hour to our journey. Why is Scotland going through a renovation boom just now? And more importantly, where is all the money coming from? However, we did finally get to Dunfermline and had a coffee and a pastry to calm us down.

We walked down to Pittencrieff Park but found that the Greenhouse was closed because of problems with the glass roof. Instead we walked round the carefully laid out flower beds. It wasn’t until we arrived back home that we discovered that the fruits of those beds, they were related to Ricin! I still made the Castor Oil Plant PoD.

After we’d taken some photos of the plants, we adjourned to Wetherspoons for Fish ’n’ Chips with a glass of wine for Scamp and a pint of Tennants for me. Then we just missed the bus home.

We seemed to be having a “Just missed it” day today as we watched the X3 disappear from the Town Centre stance in Cumbersheugh.

Despite all that, we had a good day. I would go so far as to say that I had a great day. Just a relaxing day. Thank you Scamp.

A leisurely day – 7 August 2026

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We sort of had a long lie in today but managed to wake before 11am!

After breakfast we discussed what to do with the day. It was Scamp who suggested we drive to Hamilton for a curry in Bombay Cottage and that suited me too. So off we went to Hamilton. No problems with roadworks on the M74 down to Hamilton.

The food was good and the Naan Bread was really hot. Just out of the tandoor. I had Chicken Rogan Josh and Scamp had Vegetable Shimla Bhaji. Ice cream helped take the sting out of my Rogan Josh. We were both amazed that the same person who has always served us was still there doing the same job. He told us he’s been there for sixteen years, but is retiring this year. I don’t know if he will retire. I think he’s in with the bricks.

We discussed whether to go somewhere else or just go home afterwards, and settled for going home. Again, we were on the right road to just drive our normal route home without any roadworks, but many people seemed surprised that the road ahead was closed.

In the afternoon we went for a walk around the front garden. One of Scamp’s favourite rose bushes isn’t doing very well, We’re not sure what the root problem is, but a lot of the leaves are covered in big holes and others are discoloured. I think she might write to one of the companies that have supplied the bushes in the past and find out what we should do with it. For today, we cut the plant back by about a third in the hopes that it will give it a jolt. Also it is nearly time to give the roses a second feed. That may help too. If all else fails we’ll do a more drastic cut in the end of spring.

Today’s PoD really came from yesterday’s shots. It’s from an old broken wall across from the house with leaves hanging over the cracked brickwork.

Hope Jamie and Sim enjoy their friend’s wedding.

Tomorrow should be dance day. Hopefully it will be better than last week.

A much cooler day – 6 August 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Today we were on our way to The Fort, well, it was actuallyMorrisons which is close to the fort itself.

We were going looking for Potatoes, because our last lot had far too many eyes (all the better to see you with). I think Scamp thought we could maybe have stopped at the fort to a coffee, but one look at the length of the queue to get a parking place put an end to that idea. So it was back home after Morrisons.

Back home, Scamp was determined to get the front grass cut. I didn’t think it was badly needing cut, but what do I know. I was the labourer, moving the pots around when needed and not a lot else. We both thought it was going to rain, all the signs were there, but for some reason the big black clouds passed us by.

Later in the afternoon I put my boots on and went over to the Shops looking for a bargain or two and came home with a few things. It was strange to see the crowds of folk all desperate to get a parking place at the fort, but back home there were hardly any queues. Scamp suggested it was because the kids would soon be going back to school and there would be a demand for new shoes, blazers and jerseys and our nearby shops didn’t sell much in that line.

Dinner tonight was yesterday’s Fish Risotto for Scamp with Mince ’n’ Tatties for me. Both food groups were being finished off to make room for fresh food and veg.

I did a bit of experimenting with a month’s lot of photos last night and found that I could get the screensaver to work properly again. Someone who had posted online suggested that maybe the screensavers were being hidden, ready to be removed in the next version of Adobe. This might indeed be true, because the software that controls the screensavers is buried deep in the bowels of Castle Adobe. That would be a sin. A bit more work today made it work the way it was supposed to, thankfully.

PoD today was a much worked photo of Geranium Rozanne after it had been dunked in various buckets of messy stuff. I quite liked the finished result.

No plans for tomorrow, but maybe lunch somewhere?

Overslept – 5 August 2026

Posted on by Zogman

I had decided to go to bed early last night. But that didn’t happen. We didn’t wake until well past 9am, and then we had a late breakfast, we didn’t really want to go anywhere. A cold wind was blowing along the back of the house and it wasn’t really making me want to go for a walk.

Instead of going for a walk, I had one last attempt at speaking to a human about my painful right foot. I was amazed when a lady answered my story, asked a few questions and said she had referred me to our local health centre to take it further. Hopefully I won’t have to wait long to have it looked at.

Although we hadn’t had much for lunch, I suggested could we have a Fish and Cabbage Risotto for dinner except we didn’t have any cabbages, so I grabbed a camera and my waterproof jacket, just in case and walked down to the shops. With the roads still being dug up, it was almost as quick to walk to the shops as to drive. Besides, I might have missed some beautiful butterflies, even on a blustery day. I didn’t, but I got the cabbage and some frozen spinach which we are beginning to enjoy and got a photo of a Cow Parsley seed head that became PoD.

Let me explain last night. Scamp had been watching a program about Geoff Hamilton who was a garden expert on TV about 30 years ago. I watched it for a while then went off to write the blog and the photos. I’d just finished when Scamp was talking about what was worth listening to on the BBC Proms. She said two things, ‘Respighi’ and ‘Pines of Rome’. I don’t know where I heard it first, but many years ago I was doing something in the house and half listening to the story of the Pines on the radio. Then when I heard it played by a full orchestra, I was hooked. The story is about the centurions returning, exhausted from a battle and arriving as heroes to Rome. It’s very etherial, almost ghostly music that builds and builds as you get dragged into it. That’s why we didn’t get to bed last night until about half past eleven. Fantastic music. I think Scamp thought I was taking the Mickey to begin with, but realised I did really like this music.

No plans for tomorrow. Not yet, anyway.

Best laid plans – 4 August 2026

Posted on by Zogman

I had three things to do today:

  1. Drop off a sample at for the docs to poke and probe into.
  2. Book the MOT for the Blue car.
  3. Send a message to the Podiatrist.

I managed two of them, which is quite good for me. The first one was easy until I realised I’d left the sample pouch at home. Now, bear in mind that about half of the roads in Cumbersheugh just now are blocked for two weeks. I lied earlier in the week about it being three weeks. Well, what’s a week between friends? So now I had to drive through the a whole load of speed bumps to get back to the house to pick up a plastic bag. Then I had to drive round again and overt the bumps to deliver it to the sample box in Medical Centre. Task 1 completed.

Drove on to the very end of Cumbersheugh and booked the car in for MOT and promised it a scrub and polish if it behaved itself at the MOT place. That was easy!

Tried twice without success to describe a problem I’ve got on my left foot. It feels like I’m walking on broken glass, just like Annie Lennox if you remember her. I couldn’t just phone the podiatrist, because for this whole week they open at 9am and close at 1pm. There is only one podiatrist and there were already 7 people ahead of me in the queue. By the time I filled in the page explaining my problem it would be well into three figures. No, I decided to go the slow way, and type up my problem, except you only get one line to do the explanation. What am I going to say? “I HAVE A SORE FOOT THAT CRUNCHES WHEN I WAL” There is no room to finish the sentence! North Lanarkshire at its clumsy best!
I gave up. I may try again tomorrow. I might get lucky. Two out of three isn’t bad.

Really heavy rain shower in the afternoon, just as I was considering a walk in St Mo’s. It must have lasted about 20 minutes, then it tapered off and after a while, the sun shone. I did get out for a walk and grabbed today’s PoD which was a Valarian plant with a tiny little green spider dangling from it. I liked that one.

Scamp made Saag Paneer Kedgeree. Delicious, if a little bit hot. Needs some tweaking, but worth trying I can photocopy the instructions if anyone wants it. It’s got a sliced, boiled egg, Hazy, but that’s not a game changer. You could just miss it out, or Neil could.

No plans for tomorrow.

 

More Butterflies – 3 August 2026

Posted on by Zogman

This time it was a Painted Lady. The butterfly that starts in Africa and can end up in Alaska. Not all in one flight and in some cases it’s a different butterfly that takes over from the first one … it’s complicated. If you’re interested, search the internet for it.

Today we were going shopping at Waitrose in Stirling. It was a “Long and winding road”. The street we live on was having a makeover. That meant, although we wanted to go right at the end of the street, instead we had to drive through the car park of the football stadium, round the stadium itself then back on to the main road again. After that the devious road menders had closed off the road that would normally have taken us to the motorway … but not today. Instead we had to go a circuit of Cumbersheugh to get back to the motorway. I suppose it made sense to the folk who designed it, but for us it was a pain in the backside.

We did get to Stirling quite easily after the initial problem. Scamp was thirsty so we had a coffee and shared a pastry, then filled a shopping trolley with goodies. I got a nice bottle of gin that was reduced by a fair bit. Scamp got a bottle opener she fancied and a couple of bottles of wine. One because she’d had it before and liked it. The other because it had an interesting label. Why not!

We drove home and found yet another way that would take us back to the house without going anywhere near the football stadium. We had been places today that we had never seen in years. It was a learning experience – Every day’s a school day!

It was a dull day. No butterflies to photograph and nothing that even remotely made we want to go out. What we had done was to pick up a Charlie Bigham’s Butter Chicken for Two. A lovely dinner in about 30 minutes. Yes, we know it’s not good for us, but it tasted like it was!

We watched an episode of University Challenge in the evening. Then Scamp wanted to watch a special edition of Gardener’s World and I started typing this.

Hopefully tomorrow won’t be as complicated as today was. I hope you understood at least half of it!!