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A trip to Glasgow – 20 December 2025

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Today we went for a trip in to Glasgow, for no reason. Sometimes that’s the best reason.

We took the bus in to Glasgow. We were half looking for a small, under-the-counter freezer to give more storage. We already have an old unused freezer that is really on its last legs, so a new one would be worthwhile getting. We saw two in John Lewis. Just two. One of which was an ‘integrated’ model. It wouldn’t have been our first choice, but it would work quite well in the space we have. It’s on our list now. Hoping it will reduce in price after Christmas.

We also looked for a new Dyson lightweight floor sweeper (careful not to call it a Hoover!) We saw a few and I think Scamp will make the decision on which would be best.

After our wander through what JL had in the utilities, we walked down to Nero for a coffee and to plan what to do with the day. We decided to get the underground to Byres Road in the West End of the city.

We walked down Buchanan Street and listened to a Salvation Army band playing Christmas Carols. Scamp gave them a few pounds and I took some photos. One of them became the PoD.

We crossed the road and walked through the Argyle Arcade with its myriad jewellery shops and expensive prices … but didn’t buy anything. Instead, Scamp wanted to look in a shop in St Enoch’s Square, a ladies shop with lots of dresses. She found one which she liked and I’m sure she’ll send you photos of it if you ask her nicely, Hazy.

Next stop was the underground just in time to catch the train to Byres Road, where we bought some veg and fish in Waitrose. Some of the purchases might end up in tomorrow’s dinner. Across Great Western Road is the Glasgow Botanic Gardens I’d hoped it might have been dressed up for Christmas, but it wasn’t. However I did see some Pitcher Plants. We had some in the garden a couple of years ago until a dry spell killed them off. I think I’ll get more in the spring, all being well.

Oran Mor is a pub/restaurant that’s just across the street, so we went there for a drink that turned into a lunch. Scamp had Fish ’n’ Chips with a glass of red and I had a lovely Feather Blade of Beef with mixed veg and potatoes washed down with a pint of beer.

We walked back and picked up four Pastéis de Nata on the way to the underground, only to find there was a problem with one train and about a million folk on the platform for the other one. We didn’t have a choice and managed to squeeze on to the next stop where we got off and walked down to Kelvin Hall where we caught a number 77 bus which took us right to the Buchanan Street bus station. (Alex had shown me that trick a couple of years ago). We just missed the bus home by seconds, but hadn’t long to wait for the next one.

Back home we watched the final of Strictly and were surprised at the person who won!

Tomorrow we may have a relaxing day … hopefully!

A long lie in – 19 December 2025

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Maybe too long a lie in this morning. 9am had come and gone before we woke up properly. Must be the time of the year.

Yes, getting up at 8.30am feels like the middle of the night, and by 3.30pm it feels like it’s evening. So, effectively we have less than six hours of daylight at this time of year and that is without adding in the light loss from cloudy skies and rain. I can’t wait for Sunday 21st December, the Winter Solstice, after which the days get lighter and longer. At least they do in Scotland, anyway.

Eventually we dragged ourselves out to do some shopping. Nothing elaborate, just a drive up the road to Tesco to buy a few essentials and a lot of non-essentials, but ones that we’re hoping will brighten our Christmas season.

Parking is becoming a problem in our estate. None of the houses have off road parking and today it took an hour or so to get parked near the house. One of the problems is a neighbour who has a big mobile home. Badly named, because it’s only mobile for about three weeks a year. The rest of the time it just rusts away, blocking off about three spaces instead of one. Others are even more careless, parking where they like and taking up three space instead of two. Some folk don’t think. Anyway, I did finally manage to get parked.

Right, that’s most of the moaning done. After shopping, the sun came out and I went for a walk in St Mo’s. Just a walk round the pond, then on to the path behind St Mo’s School, then back by a circuitous route back home. I managed to get a couple of photos that I liked. One was off Cleavers which we would call Sticky Willies. Little balls of seeds that have hooked claws that catch on to animals and humans and that’s what spreads the seeds. The winner, and PoD was an old piece of farming mechanism that was probably used to dig out potatoes, but which is now a collection of iron and steel for kids to play on.

We watched the Portrait Artist of the Year final, where the winner of all the heats gets to paint a famous person. The winner in question was Chloe Barns who after a few changes, finally produced a painting of Professor Hannah Fry. That won her a £10,000 prize. In the last couple of years the overall winners have not been stellar in my opinion, nor in others I have spoken to.

Tomorrow we may have a wander round Glasgow as today’s walk was a washout. Hoping for better weather tomorrow.

Dancin’ – 18 December 2025

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The Last Dance.

The final dance class of the year no matter what dance class you are in. How will we survive for three weeks without a Chassis or a Spin Turn? Maybe we’ll just have to talk to each other.

I was out fairly early this morning going for petrol to make sure we’d have enough to get us to Glenburn and back again. Thankfully almost all of the petrol machines were working which is a change for Tesco. I had a wander round the Tesco shop too, but didn’t find anything interesting, so I just came home again.

I struggled through Wordle and Strands, then flung a few, almost random suggestions into Connections and lo and behold, I got all four groups correct. Even the Mini crossword was solved in double quick time with a little help from Scamp on a musical question. Not bad though for a bear with a sore head, because I wasn’t at my best today for no reason.

Soon it was time to get dressed for the last Tea Dance of the year. We drove over to Glenburn and danced almost all of the ballroom and sequence dances that were on Stewart’s list. I actually enjoyed the whole afternoon and we stayed just a little bit longer than usual and danced to the end of the class.

We usually leave the class about half an hour before the hall closes, and now I know why. Long lines of cars where there are usually three or four on a bad day. Today we were crawling up to the nightmare roundabout that just seems to hold everyone back. We finally arrived home after about an hour. Much later than we usually are. I think it was partly due to the rain and driving in the darkness, but maybe some folk were leaving work early, it being nearly Christmas. Whatever, that extra half hour made all the difference between a fairly easy drive and a drudge.

Dinner tonight was Bacon, Potatoes and Cabbage. Actually it was Cavolo Nero rather than cabbage. I think I prefer cabbage. Still, Scamp had fried the streaky bacon until it was crisp and lovely. Probably not good for you, but very crunchy!

PoD was the third indoor photo for December and was the Fairy on the Tree. We think the fairy is about fifty years old. It’s quite amazing to look back at how the world was then. We didn’t have a car. No Internet. No colour TV, but we did have our own house. It was a different world then, but just the same too.

Tomorrow, Scamp wants a walk around Glasgow. Not looking for anything special, just stravaiging.

Wet, wet, wet – 17 December 2025

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Not the group, just the weather forecast. It rained all the day I think. What a change from yesterday.

In the morning, Hazy phoned to ask if we were free for a chat, and we were. It gave us a chance to pause in our attempts to put parcels into a box that was never made for them. We seemed to be getting nowhere, and a wee blether with Hazy helped clear our heads. We heard about Neil changing has church, I don’t think he’d been happy with the other one for a long time. It must be strange to be a parishioner for a change. I hope he enjoys his time in the new church. Hazy has given me a couple of new books to have a look at. I’ll have a look at them this week, H. Scamp and Hazy discussed the online meeting she is booked for in the new year with the group in Dundee.
In general, it was a very good catch-up today.

We went back to our parcel packing refreshed, and I volunteered to drive up to Tesco to get a sensibly sized sealable plastic bag that would hold the parcels, but one that wouldn’t need miles and miles of Sellotape to secure it. Tesco didn’t have any, but thankfully Home Bargains came to the rescue with an A4 sized bag. The Goldilocks solution: Not too big. Not too small. Just Right! Drove home through more torrential rain. While I was in Tesco I managed to dive into Boots and explain that I was running low on eye drops and was told they will be in with my January meds. That was all I wanted to know.

Then after lunch I walked over to St Mo’s through the quagmire the builders have made of what was a fairly tidy path over to Condorrat. Now the green grass is a brown/grey slippery mudhole. They are supposed to be putting up new lighting standards to replace the old ones. With the amount of slurry that’s been dug up, scraped up and spread everywhere, it will be a miracle if the lights don’t fuse the first time they’re switched on. Got the parcel sorted and posted and was heading home when the rain came on again, heavier this time, if that was possible. Now I have three jackets drip drying in the boiler cupboard. At least they should dry quite quickly there.

Scamp was putting marzipan on the Christmas cakes, plural, in the afternoon, because we will hopefully start on the first one on Christmas Day, but keep the other one, because Scamp says they will keep for some time. Not if I get my hands on them first!!

Dinner was a variation on Tuna Pasta. Again it came from ’Home at 7 Dinner at 8’. Some strange combinations in that book. I’d never have thought of cooking the pasta with Balsamic Vinegar and definitely not with added sugar! But it worked. I wonder what we’ll make next.

PoD was another Christmas tradition. This time it was ‘Fairy Nuff’ the slightly aloof bear that sits on the front of the tree. As you can see, she takes her position very seriously.

If you’re reading this Jamie, hope and Simonne are enjoying the weather!!

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go to the last Tea Dance of the year in Glenburn, just outside Paisley. I hope it’s a lot dryer than it was today.

 

A surprise meeting – 16 December 2025

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Instead of getting the bus today, I chose to take the car because I’d a few errands to run.

It was a cold morning with temperature around 5ºc for most of the day. Fog on the drive in to Glasgow and because everyone was shopping, the roads were a bit busier than normal. Also, the first available parking spaces I could find were up on level 7 in Buchanan Galleries. That meant I was going to be late for my meeting with Alex.

I met him in the bus station as usual and was only about ten minutes late. As usual we went for a coffee and caught up with all the gossip before heading down Buchanan Street. The fog wasn’t lifting much but the sun did a bit of back lighting that brightened the day.

We walked through St Enoch’s square, looking for anything interesting to photograph, but found little. Our next stop was the Clyde Walkway where we got a few shots of a guy up a ladder doing a bit of stylish graffiti. I found a lovely bit of light under the footbridge that made the most of the sunlight and the shadows. I may post it tomorrow if I can’t get anything more interesting. Lovely little spiderwebs jewelled with tiny raindrops which probably came from the fog. By then, I think Alex’s stomach was rumbling because he propose lunch and I agreed.

We were walking along Argyle Street, heading for Paesano when we were stopped by traffic crossing our corner when a man asked me if I was Donald and when I told him I was I realised he was Charles. We have been commenting on each other’s photos for over ten years but had never met until now. We shook hands and compared styles of photos and cameras. He had recognised me from my avatar on Flickr. We were heading in roughly the same direction, so we walked and talked, but he was heading in a different direction from us so we said our goodbyes and he headed on along Argyle Street while Alex and I went round into Paesano. A chance meeting!

After lunch, we walked back to the Clyde Walkway looking for some more good light, but the sky was clearing and the fog was lifting, so we put the cameras away. Alex was looking for a book in Waterstones and we found it, then we went back up Buchanan Street again, before Alex decided he wanted a photo of the Christmas decorations in Frasers store. We take these photos every year and rarely do they entice me to keep them in the big cull at the end of the year, but we still take them!

Another coffee in Nero and I gave Alex a run home. I’d a couple of parcels for him and the book I’d just read. Dropped him off at his house and drove him to find there was one parking slot available in our street. Brilliant.

Scamp and Shona seemed to have a lunch date and Shona seems to be well. Scamp might invite her over for lunch some day soon, if she’s not too busy.

PoD was a photo of a lady on the down ramp at Queen Street Station, waiting for a train or a lift home, I don’t know which.

Wrapping up a parcel tomorrow, but that’s about all we have planned.

Shopping and doing things

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We needed milk and came home with a trolley full of other stuff. However, we did get the milk!

I’d been meaning to get more coffee from Henry’s Coffee Company for about a month, but it wasn’t until I pulled the last bag out of the freezer that I realised I NEEDED more coffee. So I sat down in the morning and wrote out the order then emailed it to Henry.

With that done, we drove over to Tesco and, like I said, we bought a fair amount of stuff, but most of it was needed anyway and it was stored away when we got home. Another box ticked.

I’d been meaning to wash my Rab jacket. I was wearing it the day I caught the tick and hated the idea of the wee beasties living in my jacket. Also, the once bright, shiny jacket was now looking a bit dowdy and dull, so I took the bull by the horns and scrubbed out the washing machine detergent tray and rinsed it out then rebuilt the washing machine. How can a machine made to clean clothes get so manky?
I emptied the pocket and Scamp emptied her jacket then both went into the washing machine with a cup full of the fancy washing liquid that would wash both jackets and reproof them at the same time.

Thirty minutes later the wash was complete. Scamp hung hers up in the bathroom and I put my dripping jacket into the washing machine with two spiky white balls that are meant to massage the feathers in the jacket and help to break up any lumps of down in it. The recommended overall time was 5 – 6 hours. I did about five and every hour or so I took the jacket out and worked on the feather balls that had appeared. After about five hours, most of the lumps had broken up and the jacket was puffed up. I’m not saying it’s totally dry yet, but it feel about right. Time will tell.

Last task for the day was to put up a long string of lights on the tall fence in the back garden. Another of Scamp’s good ideas are these lights that turn on for six hours and off for eighteen hours.They do look good. I’m glad we got them.

PoD was a shot looking from the boardwalk in St Mo’s back towards the setting sun. I missed the best of the light, but I liked the effect of the clouds.

Tomorrow, Scamp is intending going for lunch with Shona and I’m hoping to meet Alex in Glasgow for a walk.

A late start – 14 December 2025

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After yesterday’s late home, a late start today wasn’t all that unusual.

We watched a recording of Laura Kuenssberg ripping another politician apart. These politicos don’t ever tell you anything, they just recite the same party line day after day, week after week and year after year. Occasionally someone will accidentally let slip something worthwhile, but even then you wonder if it IS accidental or if it’s just another teaser.

Afternoon was spent writing up yesterday’s blog, and with it posted, we could turn our thoughts to tonight’s dinner. It ended up being Rosie’s Vegan Curry from Sophie Wright’s recipe book, “Home at 7 Dinner at 8”. It’s been a go-to book with us for ages. Probably out of print now, but still worth searching out, second hand.
We needed a few things from the listings in the book, so I took the Sony A7c for a walk down to the shops, via the long path through the trees. There wasn’t much decent light, but I did get a photo of two little daisies flowering beside the path. With a bit of jiggery pokery, that became the PoD. By the time I got back to the house at about 3pm it felt like we’d skipped evening and gone straight to midnight.

The one hour slot promised by Ms Wright wasn’t quite accurate, or maybe because it was my first time cooking this one pot wonder I was being too careful. However, it was approved by Scamp and although there was a little bit more chilli than we’d expected, it was accepted, mainly because I’d made flat breads to go with it, I suspect.

We watched yesterday’s and today’s Strictly and Scamp correctly guessed the loser tonight.

Later we spoke to Jamie and heard about Simonne’s possible new job opportunity and the simplicity of packing a suitcase for a few days in a warm place. Not a holiday, but a task that needed completed sooner rather than later.

I’m hoping to get this posted earlier than normal. Hoping for an earlier rise tomorrow.

Unlucky 13th – 13 December 2025

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A dull day that never really got off the ground.

It was a will we? Won’t we? Kind of day. We did think about going in to Glasgow, but it would be mobbed as the Xmas mobs start to congregate everywhere there is a shop open. The sky was looking like the weather fairies were on the ball with their warnings of heavy rain. We decided that the best plan of action was inaction and stayed at home.

I set up a still life later, a shot of a Christmas cactus against an out of focus window spattered with raindrops. It’s become a tradition, to photograph some tabletop shots around Christmas, and this was one of them. Scamp has been feeding the cactus with coffee grounds, a tip she saw online and it seems to be working because this plant is much healthier looking than its companion in the next room. Maybe I’ll start feeding that one too. Anyway, that was PoD sorted.

You may remember I was out in the woods yesterday and found a sixteen spot ladybird. What I didn’t know then, was that a little tick had found me. Didn’t find it until this morning. Luckily I have a tick remover tool on my keyring, Scamp gave me it about a year ago, and I managed to get the tick out. A tiny wee thing. It’s now been squashed. Put some TCP on the spot where it was and took Piriton. I would have thought all the wee beasties would be tucked up in bed at this time of year. Just shows you, you have to be careful.

In the evening we got dressed for dancing and headed off through the rain to Brookfield for the last social dance of the year, a Christmas Social. I wasn’t greatly looking forward to it, I rarely am, but as usual, mixing with folk I like, I did manage to have a good time. I didn’t dance as much as I usually do, but enough to get round without making too many mistakes. We left just before the last dance and drove home through a busier than usual motorway, all the way home almost without stopping. It’s a great luxury driving through an empty Glasgow at night.

We arrived back home just before midnight to find that some kind person had left us a parking space. Whoever you were, I thank you! A wee snifter of sherry for Scamp and a slightly larger glass of brandy for me, then off to bed. Of course, you know by this time that this is written the next day!

No plans for tomorrow (today)!

Hunting Beasties – 12 December 2025

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We went as far as the shops today. Only a 15minute walk. Better than nothing.

We were looking for batteries for a couple of garden lights. Plenty of the wrong type of batteries, but none of the ones we wanted. I suppose we could have driven up to the town centre, but to be honest, neither of us could be bothered. I may go in to Glasgow today or tomorrow on a battery hunt, but it depends on the weather.

Actually, today was quite a clear day. Plenty of blue skies and light clouds, but cold. I went out later to see if there was anything worth photographing. I don’t know why I went for a walk in the woods, clambering over fallen trees everywhere. Halfway through my walk I found an old friend. It’s an Orange Sixteen Spot Ladybird (Halyzia sedecimguttata) to give it its posh Sunday name. Just about the length of the nail on my ring finger and tucked into a crevice in a tree. Apparently they don’t feed on aphids like most ladybirds, but on mildew on trees like oak, sycamore and ash. It’s amazing what you find out when you go walking through the woods. That was my PoD.

While I was out, I bumped into a man walking his dog. I’ve spoken to him in passing many times, just saying ‘Hello’, or a comment on the weather. Today he stopped and said he was intrigued by me walking round St Mo’s pond with a camera. I told him about my plan to take a photo every day and just laughed. He is a bit older than me, but strangely enough, he and his family had moved into Cumbersheugh not long before we did. Like us, he complained about the way the estate has gone down hill these days. I think I’ve bumped into him most weeks for about ten years and this is the first time we’ve said more than ‘Hello’ to each other. It’s good to talk, sometimes.

Scamp and I did go over to the shops which were crowded with loads of folk, all doing their best to get stuff, any stuff from the shelves, because the shops wouldn’t be open on Christmas Day! What will we do if the shops are shut? We’ll all starve!! We did get some cheap tinned anchovies in Lidl, though, so the walk was not in vain.

Scamp’s now got Jamie’s wee tree draped in coloured lights. In the afternoon they look quite good, but at night the shine really brightly. A few other bits and pieces are adorning the inside of the house too. It is beginning to look like Christmas.

No great plans for tomorrow. The Dyson has been put on the back burner for now, so we’ll see what the sales bring, if anything worthwhile. We may go to the last evening dance of the year later tomorrow.

Out in the country – 11 December 2025

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Today we drove out to The Smiddy near Blair Drummond. Expensive, but good food.

It was a surprise trip for Isobel, just to get her out of the house after a week of dull, cold, windy days. We all need a wee break now and again. It was a fairly easy drive, out towards Stirling, turn left and just keep going until you reach the smiddy. For any non-Scots, a Smiddy is a blacksmith’s workshop. There is no smiddy there anymore, but the restaurant has a rustic feel to it.

Isobel had soup, Scamp had Mac ’n’ Cheese and I had a Minute Steak Baguette. All of it seemed to go down well and nobody complained. Before I could stop her, Isobel was up at the till paying for the lunch. It was supposed to be a treat for HER, not for us! Anyway, the ladies went for a wander round the shop, I bought myself four fat sausages and went for a walk to get some landscape shots. Except, when I took the camera out of the bag, the card door was open and my face fell. There was no SD card in the camera and I didn’t have one in my bag or in the car. Oh well, I’d just have to find another wonderful shot somewhere else.

After we drove back and dropped Isobel at her house, I went for a walk in our garden and found a Christmas Rose flowering brightly under the Buddleia bush. That was one in the bag. On the way back we had stopped off at M&S in Cumbersheugh to get some things for later. One of them was a packet of Gingerbread Mug Hangers. They looked so good I couldn’t resist doing a tabletop shot of one of them. His name is Duncan, because he’s really good for Dunkin’ in your tea or coffee! He became PoD.

We watched another episode of Portrait Artist and although I couldn’t say the best artist won, I would say it was really well done.

I went up in the loft, later in the afternoon and with help from Scamp we managed to bring down the Christmas Tree, three boxes of decorations, two bags of different decorations and the Snowman table cover. Scamp did almost all of the tree decorations as usual while Joni Mitchell sang the entire ‘Blue’ album without a mistake. The Snowman table cover has been allowed to warm up and unroll and is now on the table. Numerous battery powered lights have been checked and new batteries fitted, although we’ll need more over the weekend. Of course the Fairy is in her place at the top of the tree and Fairy Nuff is in her place on the tree. The letter has been read and all seems to be well in the world.

We have no definite plans for tomorrow, but we’re looking for a new Dyson Cordless Vacuum and prices seem to be quite good at the moment.