Author: Zogman

Coffee with Isobel and a light – 14 February 2025

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It’s a Friday and that means Scamp is off to FitSteps in the morning.

I usually have a free hour or so to do as I please. Today, instead, I was catching the bus to the Town Centre to listen to Isobel’s tales. Scamp was already installed there when I arrived and the serious blethering had been completed. We sat and drank coffee while we listened to her tales, mainly because there wasn’t an opportunity to get a word in edgewise. However, she kept us interested with stories about her family. The only problem I had was that for a coffee shop it was quite cold. It’s Costa, but that’s not an excuse. Even with automatically closing doors there was a chill breeze each time they opened. Both Isobel and I were sitting with an insulated coat or jacket on, while Scamp was wearing a light cardigan!

While I was on the bus to the Town Centre, I got a text from JL to say that the bedside lamp I’d ordered for Scamp had arrived. That would mean a trip into Glasgow was likely in the afternoon. And that’s exactly what happened. We drove into Buchanan Galleries and got a space immediately. An unusual occurrence on a Saturday afternoon, and Valentine’s day to boot!

We walked down to Paesano and squeezed into a seat at the back of the restaurant, near the wood fired ovens. After our experience at Costa, that was the sensible place to be. Scamp’s usual No 1 with no garlic. It comes with no cheese either, but that’s the way she likes it. I had a No3 anchovies and olives with cheese and capers. A glass of Prosecco for Scamp and a glass of San Pellegrino Aranciata (orange) for me because I was nominated driver. We were sitting across from a typical Italian family all enjoying their pizza lunch.

When we left I saw a bloke photographing the building we’d just left with his phone, and I realised the light was still good with plenty of sunshine through the clouds, so I grabbed the A6500 and took a few shots of my favourite building in Glasgow, the curved glass of 110 Queen Street. It looks as if it’s now getting a make over, replacing some of the many glass panels that have taken a tumble to the ground in the past few weeks. I wonder how much that will cost the owners!

Finally we worked our way back up Buchanan Street to allow Scamp to do some window shopping and some real shopping, I had the worst coffee I’ve ever had in a Nero. Gave them a 2 out of 5. We also got the lamp and a bulb that would fit it, then drove home.

It was a cold day and I seem to have carried the Cumbersheugh cold breeze home with us. The photo of No 110 got PoD as was inevitable.

I think we may be going dancing tomorrow, although it’s snowing at present!

I saw the sun – 13 February 2025

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Not for long, but it was there! A nice bit of sunshine in the morning.

The big deal of the day was we went for lunch. We drove over to The Smiddy near Blair Drummond Safari Park. No monkey business, we just walked in and got a window seat. Mac and Cheese with a portion of chips for Scamp and Venison and Mash for me. Mine was delicious, but Scamp’s was a bit dry and stodgy although the chips made it almost worth while.

I got a few photos of the scenery around the restaurant, but they were disappointing when I saw them at home. Instead, a low level view of a couple of snowdrops got PoD.

We dropped in at Dobbie’s on the way home and picked up a few things, seeds and live plants in plugs and in their next-door neighbour, Lakeland, a cake tin liner. We had a look at an air fryer, but left without one. Too clumsy, too big and no real need for one. Our thoughts might change, but not for a while.

I made some Butternut Squash soup yesterday and today I blitzed it and we had a couple of bowls full for dinner tonight. It was ok. Nothing special, but the slices of rhubarb pie we had as a dessert were lovely.

It was good to see some sunshine today, just a pity it couldn’t stay very long. Maybe we’ll get a couple of hours of brightness tomorrow, but that will be all, according to the weather forecast on my phone.

Scamp is intending to go to FitSteps tomorrow and I might meet her afterwards for coffee with Isobel.

Another cold day – 12 February 2025

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Another day when we didn’t venture far.

We did walk down to the shops to get some things for dinner, potatoes and bread and stuff. Oh yes, and a bag of jam doughnuts too! First ones I’ve had in ages.

We had spotted the wee yellow crocus just below the front window. Looking a bit bedraggled now, it had survived all the storms and came up smiling and yellow. Today Scamp noticed it had company. An even smaller crocus beside it. Both of them are of the species ‘Dorothy’. Bright yellow with a bronze stripe. Pity there hasn’t been very much sun to encourage them to open up properly.

One of the things we got at the shops was a Butternut Squash. I’d meant to get one a day or two ago and completely forgot. It’s been cooked now and is waiting to be blitzed into soup, probably tomorrow. The main dinner tonight was Fish ’n’ Chips and they were delicious.

In addition, she also made a Rhubarb Pie. Lovely crumbly pastry with sharp, but not sour rhubarb. One quarter disappeared almost immediately, but there’s plenty more for tomorrow, all being well!

That was about all there was to say about today. No walk today. Too dull and cold. No point in putting yourself through that when you have a couple of pretty crocuses in the garden to photograph and make PoD.

No plan for tomorrow as yet.

Dull and Cold – 11 February 2025

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That sums up this year so far.

Another lazy morning, playing games on our phones and tablets, but finally got our act together and agreed we should go to Waitrose in Stirling for some ‘messages’.

As usual, we spent more than we’d intended and overloaded the poor wee Blue car on the way home. I had intended stopping at Haggs, near Cumbersheugh, to get some photos looking down the Forth & Clyde canal, but the light was so poor, we just continued on our way.

After lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s, carrying the A7 with it’s usual 24 – 105mm lens, but with the addition of an old 10-20mm Sigma lens I’ve had for years. It only connects to the A7 with an adapter, and the autofocus doesn’t work any more. It’s what photogs call ‘Old Glass’. The actual lens is still immaculate and I don’t mind having to manually focus it. I’d hoped to get a chance to use it today, but the light was too poor to do it justice.

I’d bumped into an old friend out walking her dog. We walked round the pond and discussed our ailments and folk we knew. I often think I’ve got the woes of the world on my shoulders, then I meet someone who has much bigger problems than me. It makes you stop and reassess your life.

When we had completed our circuit she said she was off to exercise her dog and I went for a walk in the woods, still hoping to find those elusive sixteen spot ladybirds that may still be sleeping in the moss at the bottom of the tree. Then I noticed a crack in the bark of a tree with a strange “Thank You” message carved into it. I’d seen the tree and message often in walks in the woods, but the split was new. I’m hoping it’s just the bark that’s split and not something more serious. I’ve often wondered what the message meant. That was my PoD for today.

Don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow. I may have to phone the optician in Larky to get my eyes checked now that the Mr Sharma’s drops seem to have repaired my eye.

 

Cold morning with rain later – 10 February 2025

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Not a good day for outdoor photography.

I did very little in the morning apart from fail at Wordle. Too many different options for The Word, and I chose the wrong one. Scamp then followed me to failure. I didn’t feel quite so bad after that.

It was a bit too cold to do any serious photography, but scrounging around I found a tub of shop-bought basil plants that looked interesting enough to make a decent photo with the rain splashed kitchen window behind. When the sun made one of its occasional visits, it showed off the texture of the basil leaves and made some nice bokeh splashes on the window. PoD captured.

We went to Kirsty’s dance class in the evening and worked our way round the floor with a few tracks of the waltz we’ve been learning. Next was the Foxtrot which is a much more interesting kettle of fish. It was quite a big class and a busy floor as a result. If the entire class had been there it would have been even tighter for space, but two couples were missing. We were more or less left to our own devices as Kirsty and Nicola were doing their best to help the less able. Wet drive home and grabbed one of only two parking spaces.

Dinner is becoming a late evening thing now that we’re going to Kirsty’s class at 6pm. Tonight it was based on Potatoes and Cabbage with a very neatly poached egg for Scamp and the remains of yesterday’s stew for me.

No plans as yet for tomorrow, but something tells me there might be shopping to be done.

Dull and damp – 9 February 2025

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Not a great day to take photos.

I can usually find something to take photos of, but today I was stumped … until I remembered seeing the green shoots of Scamp’s Cerinthe plants just breaking through the soil this morning. They had only been planted a week or so ago. Some plants are amazingly resilient. A PoD in the bag.

The rest of the day was pretty disappointing. Although I finally got a piece of technology to work for me. It’s fairly complicated to explain, but basically some clever person has devised a way to allow a Mac to talk to and exchange information with a Microsoft PC. I like it when someone makes it easy to do stuff like that, when it seems that everyone else in the world is doing their utmost to do the opposite. So far it’s working, but for how long, I don’t know.

We went for a walk down to the shops and I bought a chunk of rump steak in Aldi for almost half the price of a similar chunk in M&S. Granted the M&S meat was diced, but how long does it take to chop up a pound of meat?

We walked home and began to feel the first spits and spots of rain on our faces.

Dinner tonight was Potatoes and Cauliflower with a Cheese Sauce for Scamp and all the above with stew and sausages for me. Pudding was Rice & Prunes and that was lovely too. Sunday at the dinner table is becoming a time to discuss the coming week and that’s what we did tonight. What did we have to do, and what did we want to do? Two questions that rarely have the same answer.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard about the problems working with people, both those above and below you in the pecking order. I sympathised with him, having been in both those places in the past and not enjoying either.

Tomorrow we may go shopping. Real full on trolley shopping. Either that or visiting family.

Just another Saturday – 8 February 2025

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Out in the morning to drive to Brookfield for another dance class.

Today’s class started by going straight into the October Waltz. Not my favourite of the waltz genre, but I didn’t write the script. Until this year we had always started with a sequence dance to ease us into the work that was to come. It appears now that has changed and we go straight into the class proper. This waltz seems a bit disjointed and doesn’t flow as well as some others. That’s my excuse for making a mess of it. Some others were also struggling and I’m sure they have their own excuses too.

Next was the Jive which was a bit awkward to start with, but it started to flow a bit better after a few practise sessions. I’m still feeling that bits of aren’t quite right, and I think I need to look more closely at the videos we’ve taken in class and see where I’m going wrong. That’s one of the benefits of filming short sequences of the dances. I can look back over the steps and find out where I’m ‘wrong footed’ and where I’m just plain wrong. When we get up to do a jive routine, we always start with the Seven Spins which is Glasgow Jive. Maybe we should put that on the back burner for a change and attempt the Ballroom Jive that S&J teach. After all, we come to class to learn the steps, not to cause confusion dancing our own steps.

Third set was a Rumba and although it was familiar to us, Jane had added a few changes to the steps and we did manage to get through them, although when I was watching the more experienced couples I could see how clumsy my attempts were. We live and learn.

We finished the hour and a half with the Melody Foxtrot and then my least favourite, the exhausting Midnight Jive. After that we were free to go. Despite my complaints, I really enjoyed today’s class.

Drove home via the Kingston Bridge which wasn’t as bad as it sometimes is on a Saturday. Maybe neither of the Glasgow teams were at home today, or maybe I just picked the right lane to be in.

We needed some extra bits and pieces for today’s dinner, so we walked over to the shops later to buy some. The meal in question was Spiced Coconut Chicken Traybake. For once it looked just like the photo in the magazine Scamp was making it from. We both would have made small changes, but we were both in agreement that it was worth attempting again.

I took a walk over to St Mo’s in the afternoon and today’s PoD is a low level shot of the wildfowl on St Mo’s pond.

No plans for tomorrow as yet.

 

Note to self:
I think I’ve found where I was making mistakes with the Lightroom catalog I’ve been using since the start of January 2025. I may use the old 2022 catalog (from the Grey SSD) to create a new catalog just to see if it runs properly. It need a bit of planning first to make sure I don’t corrupt anything that’s running just now.

When the gorse is in bloom – 7 February 2025

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Actually we call it Whin in Scotland, but the flowers are the same and the thorns are just as sharp, no matter where you are. That was PoD.

Scamp was out to FitSteps in the morning and I had a free hour or so. I used it up writing a letter. Two or three of my regular readers know that letter and where it can usually be found. This must be the latest it’s been written. Almost a month late. Shocking.

I’d just finished when Scamp arrived home complaining about the cold. Not something she does very often. I’m usually the one who feels the cold most. Even more this year with so many chilly nights. However, this was only afternoon and it was that east wind again that was responsible for the cooling effect.

After lunch, Scamp wanted to do some clearing out. It’s not spring, so it can’t be Spring Cleaning, but something was going on and cupboards were emptied and their contents unceremoniously dumped in the bin if they didn’t Spark Joy as Ms Kondo describes it. I admit, I did the same, although not as rigorously as Scamp, but I did put some unwanted odds and ends in the bin.

When I was tired of that game, I put my boots on and walked over St Mo’s, then down behind the school and over to the shops. It was to be pizza for dinner. I had misread the label on the pizza box and it wasn’t until I was home, I realised I’d bought, a Quattro Formagio and not the Quattro Stagioni I’d intended to. Not to worry, I was sure it would be fine.

Back home I made myself a cup of coffee (Decaf) and finished Bookshops & Bonedust. Another interesting fantasy book, not my usual read at all, but just as good if not better than the sequel, Legends and Lattes. Now I’ll have to dig through my book shelf to find something else to read, something totally different. Thanks again, Hazy.

We watched another episode of of a different fantasy, The Apprentice. This one was almost as bad as last week’s effort. I was sure this would be a double sacking, but I was disappointed.

Tomorrow I think we might be dancing in Brookfield.

Dancin’ – 6 February 2025

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Not a class, just a Tea Dance. Much more fun!

We drove over to Glenburn for this week’s tea dance. The first decent run the Blue car has had since its operation and it passed with flying colours. A much smoother ride than recent, although I was careful to avoid as many potholes as possible. Scamp was my ‘eye on the road’, warning me of any avoidable holes.

The class was about half full and we danced quite a lot of the ballroom and latin dances as well as the sequence dances. Lots of catching up with different folk we hadn’t met for a few weeks, some we hadn’t seen since before Christmas!
The tea dances give us a chance to practise what we’ve learned in Stewart & Jane’s classes and also the simpler routines we’ve worked our way through in Kirsty’s class. Today’s waltz was one we learned a couple of weeks ago in The Link. Really enjoyed today’s dance. Maybe because I felt comfortable with the dances we took part in.

We left early again, and for once we made good time, clearing the Kingston Bridge without stopping once. An amazing feat!

We came home via Tesco to allow me to post Jamie’s calendar which will be over a month late by the time he receives it. Maybe one more to go and that will be me finished for this year.

Dinner tonight was Bacon and Borlotti Beans. One we picked up from Jamie and Simonne, and still a firm favourite.

PoD was a photo of an orchid I treated myself to a couple of weeks ago. It was going cheap in Tesco and I thought it would look good on the kitchen window sill. It seems to enjoy its place there.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to go to FitSteps and I’m hoping to get a letter written.

 

We went to Perth – 5 February 2025

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Just a day trip on the bus. Or to be more pedantic, three buses and a taxi.

We took the X3 to the Town Centre and waited for what seemed like hours for the M8 bus to Perth. We could have stayed on to Dundee, but we were late getting started, or to be honest, I was too tired to get out of bed and we missed a bus. Anyway, we walked into the centre of Perth and had a coffee and a pastry each. It was a lovely day if cold, but we were well wrapped up against it.

We walked over to the ‘Ship’ which is a viewing gallery that extends over the River Tay. The flood gates were in operation today. Two years ago the council was criticised for not closing the flood gates at North Inch, leading to properties in the area being damaged. Not so today. The gates were closed.

We continued our walk beside the North Inch Park for a mile or so, then faced the cold breeze that was blowing in our faces on the way back. I got some coffee in the Bean Shop and some Decaf tea too.

By then it was time for lunch, but we were just too late to get a table at The George which would have been our favoured restaurant and ended up in The Capital Asset a JD Wetherspoon. Not the best pub in the world, nor in Scotland, for that matter, nor even in Perth, but it’s cheap and there is always a wide variety of beers and wines. I don’t think they stretch to cocktails! Scamp had a Chilli Non Carne bowl and I had Fish ’n’ Chips. As Scamp would say, “It filled a wee space.”

There weren’t many folk around the town, probably because a lot of the smaller shops seemed to close on a Wednesday and the whole place had a haunted look about it. This was accentuated when we reached the bus station. It’s an old dilapidated building with a couple of tiny waiting areas. No shops. Not even a newsagents. Nothing. We walked to the train station where there was a Costa, but nothing else.

Our bus was a few minutes late, but there wasn’t a big queue for it so we got a seat easily. Lovely warm bus, but the driver went walkabout, leaving the engine running and the door wide open to a cold wind, when we got to Broxden park and ride. The throbbing hub of Perth’s transport system. Eventually he returned and off we went on our journey through the night. I was just thankful to be able to feel my feet again!

Inevitably the bus was late reaching Cumbersheugh Town Centre and we missed the connecting X3 by seconds. Scamp gave in and we got a taxi about two minutes after ordering it.

All in all, it was a great day. Good to walk in the sunshine, even if it was cold.

PoD went to Kinnoul Parish Church on the far bank of the Tay, positively glowing in the afternoon light.

I think we may be dancing tomorrow.