Author: Zogman

We needed some rain for the garden – 8 May 2021

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Today we got it.

We went out for a walk in the morning when it was just a drizzle that was falling from the sky. If we’d gone out half an hour earlier we’d have had a dry walk, but then again, if we’d gone out half an hour later we’d have been soaked. We just got a little bit wet. Came home, had a coffee and sat and watched the rain. I hadn’t taken one photo on the morning walk. I just hoped it would dry up later and I’d get the chance to capture some photons.

Lunch was Tortellini fairly fresh stuff, soft and tasty. Not like the dried pasta variety which never really softens properly until you boil it for ages, then you lose all the stuffing. Like most things, it’s worth the extra to get good pasta. Struggled with Lightroom after lunch. I don’t know what the problem is. I blamed the virus killer I installed, but now I’m thinking it’s the update to Mojave (MacOS 10.14) that Lightroom doesn’t like. There are some folk writing on the InterWeb about it and I’m beginning to think it’s true, because the new laptop is running Catalina (MacOS 10.15) and it just refuses to allow Lightroom to install on it. Perhaps Mojave was the thin end of the wedge and it just causes problems for my long in the tooth, old Lightroom. Such a pity, because up until now it has been bombproof. Still, nothing lasts for ever.

Finally I gave in. The birds were singing, which is usually a sign of a dry spell. I put my boots on and grabbed the camera. Scamp was hard at work preparing a rhubarb pie and a small apple pie to go with tonight’s dinner which was Giant Fish Fingers, New potatoes and Marrowfat Peas. I did get some photos on the new Oly. My favourites were the Cowslip flowers with the raindrops still fresh on them and one of them got PoD. Actually the rain was still falling, but I didn’t mind it much. I stood watching the swallows dive and spin around St Mo’s pond catching insects on the wing and occasionally just skimming across the surface of the pond, presumably catching them as they hatched and lay defenceless on the surface film. Fascinating to watch, but pointless to try to catch. That’s not to say I didn’t try.

Dinner was as excellent as I hoped it would be and, even better, there’s more rhubarb pie for tomorrow. The two of us scoffed the apple pie between us. Some of Scamp’s best pastry skills on show today with a light, crisp pie that tasted as good as it looked.

A short dance practise tonight just to make sure we can indeed perform the Catherine Waltz to music. I’m sure that’s my problem. Dancing it without music doesn’t seem to be a problem, it’s when we try to keep to the soundtrack that things go wrong. Hopefully tomorrow’s class will show us to be faultless.

Today’s topic for EDiM was Eyes, Ears, Nose, Hand or Feet. I chose Hand and made a mess of it. I know I left it too late, but I finally got the grip of it by making a fist of it!

Tomorrow, hopefully there will be less rain and it won’t stay all day. A little dry time would be good, weather fairies. If you’re listening.

 

Out to lunch – 7 May 2021

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We managed to grab one of the last remaining slots for lunch today at The Cotton House in Longcroft.

Since we were late in booking this busy Cantonese restaurant we were given a one hour slot at 12noon. We’ve been there many times and we know that a one hour slot is quite sufficient for a starter, main course and a coffee or China tea (never any room for a pudding!). So it was today. Starter for Scamp was Prawn Cocktail and Chicken Satay for me. Then Chicken Chow Mein for two. We were finished by 12.45 and on our way back to Cumbersheugh.

I needed to replace the cutter on my electric razor and Scamp was looking for prezzies for two children. We got the prezzies, but no razor spares in Boots. Maybe we’ll be more successful at The Fort during the week. If not, then its Amazon to the rescue again.

Back home a parcel had arrived for me. It was a 6 stop Neutral Density filter which would allow me to slow down the shutter speed of the camera to give water that strange dreamlike look. I’ve had a hankering for one for quite a while and finally gave in to myself and bought one. That settled it, I was going out for a walk along the Luggie to test it out. I took the Benbo tripod with me. For this type of photography you really need a tripod and the Benbo is so good at getting into awkward positions. It’s also a lot lighter than my big Manfrotto tripod.

Once I got to my chosen site and set up, I took a few shots, but knew they weren’t going to make the cut. Wandered down the water and found a place I’d used before with the old railway bridge in the background and the shots from there were much better. There would have been more of them, but I hadn’t noticed the splashes of water on the filter. That didn’t damage the filter, but it did mean a few more than normal ended in the bin during the cull. Today’s PoD is one of the best.

While I was out, Scamp had been on a cleaning spree, mainly the bathroom, but also anything that didn’t move was fair game I think. I’m glad I was out or I might just have fallen foul of the scrubbing brush too.

We swithered about having a seat in the garden and were almost ready to get the chairs out when a very big black cloud made its way between us and the sun and that scuppered our chances of an afternoon alfresco glass of wine. Later we shared an pizza and it seemed a shame to open the bottle of wine and not sample it, so that’s what we did. It was Friday after all.

Today’s prompt was Weeds. I chose a Dandelion. The scourge of all gardeners, it seems. Actually I like them. From a photographer’s point of view they are a source of interest in the summer when the butterflies are about. In the late summer and early autumn they produce those photogenic ‘dandelion clocks’. What’s not to like? As my mum used to say, “A weed is just a plant in the wrong place.” So, it was a painting of a dandelion that made today’s EDiM offering.

Tomorrow looks miserable from a weather perspective. I really don’t see us doing very much, although there might be a dry hour in the morning when we might get out for a walk.

 

Off to Stirling legally – 6 May 2021

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The last time we went shopping in Stirling we were bending the Covid rules slightly.

Today it was legal. We are in the same level as Stirling, in fact all of Scotland is in the same level at present, although Sturgeon still points out that if we’re not good little mice, we WILL be put on the naughty step. Her battle cry of “I will treat you like adults” seems to have been forgotten at times.

Before we went, we exercised our legal right and voted. There wasn’t a great queue at the polling station, in fact there was only one other person in our lane. We had brought our own pencils with us although there were pencils available. Strangely, there was a box for “Used Pencils”. I wondered what they were going to do with them. Would they wash them tonight after the polls closed and keep them for the next election, or heaven forbid, for a referendum? Would they lock them up in a cupboard for 48 hours to make sure they were virus free for the next use? Would they ship them off to some third world country to be used in schools and give other children a chance to catch the virus? Who knows. One Use Pencils. What a waste of money. I wonder if anyone nicked their pencil or were they afraid of being called back and forced to put the offending article in the Used Pencils box.

After the arduous task of voting, we drove through the rain to Stirling. All we wanted was to wander round a different supermarket and see what they were offering that Tesco and M&S weren’t. We did get some stuff. Mainly food. Scamp bought some fish and I bought some meat. We did find some things that we couldn’t get back at the shops or Tesco, but it was really the feeling that we’d been away for the morning. That’s what mattered.

Back home and after lunch I did a quick sketch of a wood screw to practise today’s prompt A Screw. As usual, the quick sketch became the finished article with just a touch of Paynes Grey to add a bit of form to the screw.

After that, and between showers, I planted up two wee Basil cuttings I’d taken a few weeks ago. Scamp had read somewhere that if you cut a fairly long stem from a basil plant and put it in some water on the window ledge it will grow roots. Both of the cuttings we’d made have now got fairly substantial roots. Now they are planted in some compost and sitting on the window ledge upstairs where they’ll get a fair bit of sun.

Finally the rain abated and I went for a walk in St Mo’s. PoD turned out to be a Cladonia lichen looking almost translucent in the sun that had appeared from somewhere. As I headed home the rain came on again. The sun doesn’t stay long here. Take your chance when it comes, that’s the rule.

Chicken Thighs and Peas for dinner tonight. Easy to do and great tasting.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to get to The Cotton House for lunch. Nothing else planned.

Painting from a list – 5 May 2021

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Scamp was off having coffee with June this morning and I was painting.

I eventually gave up on the alphabetic list of fruits and veg. Yesterday was bad enough with Dewberries, but if today had gone ahead, Elderberries would have been the only fruit or veg that started with the letter ‘E’. No, I gave up and used the official EDiM listing which was published on Flickr. It’s got a few strange ones, but strange prompts make you think that little bit more and that’s part of the game. Take today’s for example: A Pen Sharpener. Do people still use quill pens that need sharpened. After all, that’s what a penknife was invented for, but who in their right mind is going to carry a swan’s quill, a bottle of ink and a lethal weapon just so they can jot down a quick note to self? Certainly not me, but I played along part of the way and sketched my old penknife which I confess I’ve never used for sharpening pens. It’s an old knife now, probably more than 30 years old, possibly a lot older. I enjoyed painting today. I think it’s not being in total control of the prompt that I enjoy. Roll on tomorrow when the subject is A Screw! I wonder what I’ll draw.

When Scamp returned and we’d had lunch, we went for a quick walk round St Mo’s where we got caught in a hail storm. Just a short one, but it just shows how cold it is this spring. From the circuit of the pond we continued down to the shops. Scamp went to get foodstuffs from M&S and I went to Home Bargains for wrapping paper for a pretty going to Wales. On the way back I took a detour back round St Mo’s. That’s where I got today’s PoD which is a fern ‘crozier’ opening up. I liked the details in the fronds and the tiny spores that will form fully and disperse when they’re ripe.

I’d agreed to make dinner tonight which was to be haddock and cabbage baked risotto. Possibly the easiest of risottos to make, it sounds disgusting, but he cabbage really works with the rice and the smoked fish. All the hard work is done by the oven, so no spending half an hour ladling stock into a pot with rice and constantly stirring it. Fry the onions, add the rice, cook for a short while, bung in the cabbage and stock and put the whole thing in the oven with a lid. After 20 minutes, it’s done. Stir in the fish and cook for another 5mins to cook the fish. Serve.

We’re really getting excited for the voting in the Scottish elections tomorrow. That was sarcasm. I don’t care who wins, I just want to see how they are going to achieve all the fictitious targets they’ve set themselves. A hung parliament is my prediction. Unfortunately, I don’t think you are allowed to hang them these days!

Tomorrow, apart from casting our vote (bring your own pencil), we have no plans.

 

Canal, Herons and Ducklings – 4 May 2021

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Today started wet, but with the promise of better things to come shortly.

For once the weather fairies got it right. By about 10.30, the weather was improving and the rain had stopped. We drove down to Auchinstarry and got parked right away. We walked along the Forth & Clyde canal to Twechar. Along the way we saw Mrs Mallard out for a swim with the chicks and further along we found a grey heron stalking its prey on the far side of the canal. Mrs Mallard and the young yins got PoD for obvious cuteness reasons. The heron almost made it to PoD but then it plunged its beak into the shallows and came up empty. You could almost hear it say “Damn and Blast” or something of that order! If it had caught a minnow or a little perch I might have made the capture PoD, but it didn’t, so PoD went to the Cute Family.

Walked back along the old railway and found that the ongoing works to improve the burn and the paths had forced the closure of one of the main paths. It had been open the last time we walked along there, but not now. Work was supposed to be complete by January 2021, but perhaps rain stopped work or Covid 19 reduced the workforce or … (Fill in a suitable, but not necessarily believable third reason). There wasn’t much to see on the way back and the rain we’d been avoiding was being blown in from the west, so I didn’t waste too much time. Light on the hills was not as good as it could have been because of the clouds advancing with the rain.

Home via Croy and then on to Tesco. I did wonder how sensible it was driving a blue car through Croy, but it was uneventful today. Loaded up with mainly bread, milk and fruit at Tesco and then home for lunch.

In the afternoon I completed today’s painting which was Dewberries. No, I hadn’t heard of them either, but they fitted with day four of EDiM and it was either that or a Star Wars themed sketch for “May the Fourth be with you” day. Both the Dewberries and yesterday’s Carrots are now on Flickr.

Tied up my peas to encourage them to climb up the netting of the frame for the raised bed. Also swathed the rosemary bush because sub zero temperatures are forecast for tonight. My Dodecatheon or Shooting Star plant was also needing staking because of the cold east wind that had appeared in the afternoon. Replaced one of the pea plants which had got broken, probably by wind damage, but tying them back to the netting should prevent any more accidents.

That was about it for today. Tomorrow Scamp is out for coffee with June in the morning and I’m hoping to get some painting done for letter E.

Driving through the rain – 3 May 2021

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Taking Scamp for her second Jag.

It has been a horrible day as far as the weather is concerned. It’s been raining since about 11am. It was actually raining before that, but only a light drizzle, but by 11 o’clock it was getting into its stride and it was being chased along by a gusty wind. I was working at the computer for most of the morning, checking out what had happened to the blog last night. It seemed from the email I got from WordPress that there was a glitch in the theme I use on the blog, either that or in one of the presets. I updated all the presets but the problem persisted. After I updated the theme, the problem disappeared. I’d visions of me having to call in the Web Monkey this morning, but all seemed well. I also took the time to post the first two sketches for EDiM in Flickr. I usually post them in EDiM in Facebook, but I think I’m personna non grata there after having an argument with the admins last year. Not to worry, Flickr it is this year and possibly Instagram too if I get the time.

After lunch we got ready and braved the weather to get to the car then we were off to East Kilbride. The rain was non-stop and sometimes it almost overpowered the wipers in their superfast mode.  The satnav chose a strange route to the vaccination centre and then dumped us at a T junction with a message to the effect that ‘you have reached your destination’. I chose to go right and right was right for once, the sports centre that had been commandeered was just over the hill. Dropped Scamp off and went looking for a space in the tinycar park. Not one to be found. Drove into a housing estate across the road and found a space there almost right away. Less than ten minutes later I got the call from Scamp to come and collect her. Almost thirty minutes to get there and it was all over in ten! At least it’s done now and we’re almost covered. Drove back through the same heavy rain which is still falling as I write this.  More worryingly, driving through East Kilbride, the rain turned to sleet.  Thankfully we only have rain here tonight.

Back home I struggled to get three carrots painted in watercolour. Working with tube paint is totally different from using pans. The liquid, or semi-liquid paint is much stronger than the pans, it doesn’t need scrubbed to break through the tough skin that forms on pans, but it does tend to be a lot more messy on the palette. I’ll try to persevere with it for at least the first week. Carrots will be posted tomorrow hopefully.

There was no opportunity to get an outside shot today. I tried photographing one of Scamp’s Grape Hyacinths on the back step. I was sitting inside, of course. I’m not that daft! This was about 7pm and the light had gone, despite the fact that sunset wasn’t for another hour and a half. I gave up on that with grainy images. Finally, I chose to photograph one of Scamp’s carnations, a cut flower bunch that sits on the window ledge in the kitchen. This was a 10sec exposure on a tripod at ISO 125. That was just an ‘aide memoire’ for me for next time. The resulting photo was the 5,000th I’ve taken with the Sony, since I got it last year!

Right, it’s been a terrible day and I’m going to bed to wake refreshed tomorrow because tomorrow is Star Wars Day! No plans other than getting pictures done and photos taken. That will be enough, but a walk in the dry would be good too!

Chicken and Closed Telemark Turns – 2 May 2021

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We went out for food this morning.

We had so stuffed ourselves at Peter’s birthday bash yesterday that we didn’t feel like having any dinner when we got home. Today we felt the need for a bit of sustenance. I suggested roast chicken and volunteered to make it. That meant a walk to the shops and a heavy bag on the way home because we bought a lot more than a chicken. Scamp offered to take the bag home and allow me the freedom to go for a walk in St Mo’s. I said I’d rather carry it home, partly because is was so heavy and partly because I wanted to put my boots on to go into the boggy areas.

That’s what I did and it was in the boggy area around St Mo’s pond that I got today’s PoD. I was using a really ancient 40-150mm Oly lens with a plastic lens mount that I’ve glued a few times to keep it working. For those who don’t know about such things, most lens mounts are made of brass or sometimes stainless steel. The mount gets rubbed a lot when lenses are connected to the camera and a plastic mount will inevitably wear down with use. It’s a sign of a cheap lens. I foolishly bought it, second hand some years ago and it’s languished in a drawer until now. Although it’s been repaired a few times, it still takes a decent photo and is the only long lens in my arsenal. The subject was Mr Grey, or more likely one of his descendants. He was hunting away out in the horsetails and I had to wade through the marshy area at the edge of the pond to get close enough for a decent shot. I was happy with the result. I wandered into the woods after that and found a Larch Pineapple, still looking fresh although all the pollen distributers looked as if they had shut up shop a long time ago. It was starting to rain, so I packed it in for today and came home for lunch.

Later in the afternoon Scamp and I had a fairly intensive practise of the Catherine Waltz and I was confident that tonight’s lesson with the teachers would be a lot better than the last one. However, it was an even bigger disaster. Despite all my work, and Scamp’s teaching I just couldn’t produce the goods on the day. Even worse, after the lesson, we tried the moves again and every one worked out almost perfectly. It must be the pressure of ‘performing’ for the teachers that makes me nervous. Well, that’s my story.

The other thing to do today was get the sketches up to date. Day one was Apples. Today it was two Bananas. If you haven’t guessed, this week is based on fruit and veg. A rather easy start to EDiM.

The chicken was good, despite me trying to cook a bit of the absorbent paper that the chicken rests on in the bag! I might not get in to Masterchef after all!

Tomorrow we are heading to East Kilbride in the rain to get Scamp her second jag. Nothing else planned.

PS.  Problems with the blog tonight.  It appears that the template I use for the blog became corrupted and had to be updated.  Hope it works with all of you out there now.

Irvine No More – 1 May 2021

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Driving down to Irvine, but not to the seaside, well not right away.

In the morning Scamp was off to the hairdresser. I was just messing about, checking the fennel seeds I’d planted last week and they were shooting up! Then I gave the rosemary in the garden a feed of Miracle Grow. I’d to make up a gallon and I finished off the can by feeding the kale and peas in the raised bed, then sprinkled the rest on random flower pots in the garden.

By the time Scamp returned with her hair carefully coiffed it was time to get ready for Peter’s party. The party was in Irvine and it would take us the best part of an hour to get there. Of course, that would only happen if I stuck to the route the sat nav gave me and didn’t find myself on a slip road leading to a traffic jam caused by road repairs on a bank holiday weekend. After a lengthy delay and failing to avoid potholes, we finally got back on the right road and arrived at Peter and Gillian’s earlier than the other couple who were also in our slot.

The party was a relaxed affair with copious amounts of food, some of which we took home with us as did the other couple. She was fine. She (can’t remember her name) was a cancer nurse who explained what the real truths are about numbers of patients during the pandemic. The number of patients seeking and getting treatment had increased which is in direct contrast to the story the BBC are putting about. But as always with news, good news doesn’t sell newspapers. Or increase ratings, it would seem. He was a bit of a pain. An architect, which set my teeth on edge right away. Architects are always known to the draughtsmen as “… that fuc*ing architect …”. Apparently he was a comic too with lots of really funny stories, well, he thought they were funny anyway. Oh yes and they were always accompanied with funny noises. Oh what fun he was.

Actually the time passed quite quickly and although there was a cold wind blowing, it wasn’t really too bad sitting in the garden under a gazebo. Peter’s story of their night of Prosecco at a hotel on the Royal Mile WAS funny. A hotel with a Prosecco button you could press and a waiter appeared with two glasses of fizz! Now that sounds like fun. Fred gave me a Beer Button for my birthday once, but it didn’t work as well as Peter’s!

I could see Scamp wanting to go for a walk in their garden which was, shall we say, extensive. Gillian didn’t quite explain how far it extended, but they have a sit-on Husqvarna lawnmower to cut the grass. That should give you an idea of the size we’re talking about.

When we left, Stewart and Jane were arriving for the second session of the day. More food, more cakes and more Prosecco would be brought for them too.

When we left, we drove to Irvine harbour for a walk. It was cold and we could see the rain clouds blowing in from the direction of Arran. It was a short walk and Scamp wasn’t shod for the rough paths, so after a few photos, we headed home following directions this time. PoD went to a picture of the harbour with a bloke hurrying home ahead of the coming rain.

I do have a painting done for EDiM it’s two apples. I’ll post it tomorrow. Too late tonight to do that.

Tomorrow we may go for a walk. Day two’s painting will hopefully be Bananas. Do you see a pattern forming? ‘E’ is the hard one!

 

Haircut a new laptop and a fish supper – 30 April 2021

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The day started with an hour or so’s shopping at Tesco and ended with me just about swearing at Catalina.

Scamp wanted to get some stuff for tomorrow when we are hoping to go to a belated birthday Party. It’s Peter Wilson’s birthday. We’ve known him for a while because he and his wife are enthusiastic salsa dancers, and ballroom dancers and tango dancers. In fact they’re just enthusiastic dancers in any and every form it takes. I don’t know if they’ve done Soca yet, but I’m sure they’d excel at that too. We’ve been invited to a very special afternoon tea at their house. Because of Covid you can’t have a party in the house, so Gillian has divided the day up into three, two hour slots with two couples invited to each slot. That way there are only six people at any one time at the party, but it means he gets to see a dozen friends over the two days. Ingenious. We were shopping today because we needed a present for Peter, but also for Gillian because she had done all the organising.

Scamp was driving today and we were also dropping off two big bags of duvet covers and sheets into the Salvation Army collection bin. With the parcels delivered and sufficient bottles of alcoholic beverages for the couple we drove home. Last night we had had a long talk about a replacement laptop for my ageing MacBook Pro. I had thought about getting a PC, because they’re cheaper, but I like the Apple system and although they are expensive they last longer than a PC. I’d chosen the one that best fitted my needs (wants) and we’d agreed that it was probably worth paying the extra to get the Mac version rather than the PC. Long story short, I drove in to Glasgow when we got back to get the Mac if it was in stock at JL. Apple only seemed to have the widely criticised M1 chip. I wanted the tried and tested Intel i5 chipset. Drove to JL and sealed the deal, then went to get my hair cut. Best tenner I’ve spent in a long while. It only took the bloke about ten minutes top and it’s a lot neater than I can do.

When I came out, I noticed a ‘ghost sign’ across Bath Street. It was for William Brechin & Son. I grabbed the shot and it became PoD. I liked the idea that the flat above William Brechin’s shop, which had sold ‘spirits’ (quite apt for a ghost sign) was being used as a beautician’s and advertised Electrolysis and Nails. I wondered what he and his son would have made of that when they set up shop in 1903!

On the way back from the barbers, I picked up a plain brown box that concealed the normal white box holding the new MBP. When I phoned Scamp to tell her I was on the way home, she suggested we get a fish supper tonight for dinner. That suited me perfectly. I knew I’d suffer for it later, but it would taste like a Friday night when I was eating it.

It took a lot longer than I anticipated to get the MBP set up with all the extra security that’s onboard these days. Almost everything you do needs a confirmation six digit code sent to an iPhone I don’t have any more. Heavens, it even asked me to confirm my login pass to my old iPhone. Security gone mad. Finally I was finished and although it wasn’t quite as fast as the iMac, the flexibility Apple devices have with sharing files is impressive. Also all the apps I’d bought on the App Store were still available to download. Only one downside so far, Lightroom doesn’t work on Catalina. It’s not a deal breaker because I was intending leaving it behind anyway. Capture One can do most of what Lightroom can do and is a better photo processor.

Enough, you don’t want to know any more about my Apple Fanboy experience, I realise that. I’m happy with today’s purchase and that’s the end of it.

Tomorrow Scamp is getting her hair cut in the morning, but not a No 3 on the sides and a No 4 on top like I got. She has to look her best for the party tomorrow.

Chasing Butterflies – 29 April 2021

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The butterflies almost won.

Scamp was off having coffee with Annette and I had intended to start a watercolour practise piece in preparation for Every Day in May, but then I though it would be a good idea to give some of the plants their freedom and planted out half a dozen peas and the same amount of kale. The peas were grown from last years peas, but the kale was bought as plug plants. With that done and a cup of coffee I started yesterday’s Sudoku. I was just getting to the sticking place with it when my Fitbit reminded me that I needed to get off my backside.

It was dry and the sun was shining, but I knew from my gardening that it wasn’t all that warm out there, and of course there was the risk of a wee April shower, so I dressed appropriately for a walk in St Mo’s.

A lot of the fruit trees in the park were beginning to show off their blossom and I took a few shots of them, then I went looking for damselflies to photograph, but there were none. It must be almost time for them to crawl up the reeds, shake off their shuck and fly away. However there were none today. Further into the woods there were a host of butterflies. This time of year, late April and early May is the time to catch the Orange Tip butterflies. That’s what I started chasing. However, every time I got near to one it would fly off, leaving me empty handed. Finally one landed on a dandelion flower and I did get the chance to shoot a few frames of it. It was one of them that made PoD. Lunch was beckoning and I headed home.

I hadn’t been in the house five minutes when the rain started battering on the window. That was lucky. I’m not usually as lucky. I’m usually just thinking about coming home as the first drops start falling. The first drops of a downpour.

Scamp arrived just after I’d finished lunch and I went off to go shopping in Tesco. I saw a good deal on true headphones and treated myself. It took me ages to get them paired to my phone. They paired right away to the tablet and to Scamp’s phone, but point blank refused to connect to mine. Then, suddenly they were working and at full volume. I think I’ve manage to get the better of them now and they are behaving quite well. Time will tell if they are as useful as I think they’ll be.

I’m still thinking about getting another MacBook Pro, because although I got the old MBP to run Mojave after a little tweak, it won’t run the new editing software, I’m guessing its because the processor in the MBP isn’t quite up to the task. I’ve seen what I’d like now and Scamp agrees with me, but I’m still not sure. I’ll sleep on it, at least for tonight.

With that in mind, I’m off to bed. No real plans for tomorrow, other than buying a bottle of something for a man who has everything. No JIC, it’s not you, although you do almost qualify!