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My turn to cook – 17 June 2025

Posted on by Zogman

It was my turn to cook today and I thought I’d made a mess of it, but surprisingly it all worked out well.

It was a dull, grey day. I don’t think either of us really wanted to do much of anything. I had finished my book and started another. I don’t know where it came from on the Kindle, but it didn’t last long there. It’s now in the Kindle Bin. An hour or so’s research and a couple of quid brought me another book, much more interesting, at least that’s what I’m hoping it will be. By the way Hazy, did you know that Stone and Sky, the new Rivers of London book, set in SCOTLAND! comes out in a couple of weeks? You probably knew that and you probably told me and I probably forgot about it. Too many wee ‘nories’ in my head, that’s what my mum would have said.

Scamp was in a redesigning mood today. Plants in their pots were needing moved and I could see where she was going with this rebuild. Too many pots containing greenery and not enough with some brighter colours. Admittedly she has some beautiful roses growing in the front garden, in pots, of course, but she needs some spots of colour too. Today was a test to see what she could create from what she already had in the garden. I was the pot lifter for the day and I agreed with her changes.

However, I did want to get a bit of photography done and once I was sure she wouldn’t strain her back humphing the pots around, I took the chance of a walk over to St Mo’s where I found a Common Blue Damselfly that was willing to be a model for me. Also a pretty pink wildflower growing beside the boardwalk. It took me a bit of research to find out that it was Valerian. I remembered the name from last year. Last, but not least was was a side view of a white wild rose, fully open and welcoming any passing bees. All are to be seen on Flickr, but the PoD was the Valerian.

Like I said at the start, it was my turn to cook today. It was Mushroom Risotto and I still think I got some of my quantities wrong, but the result worked well. It’s 20 minutes of standing by the cooker feeding the mushroom, onion, garlic, butter and rice mixture with ladles full of rehydrated mushroom flavoured liquid, meanwhile stirring almost constantly for those 20 minutes. Scamp had poached a chicken breast earlier and I added it to the mixture. I’m glad it all worked. I would have hated to have gone to all that effort for it to be a failure.

Tomorrow Scamp is hoping to meet the Witches for a blether and I may go looking for dragonflies, out in the country.

Just a Monday – 16 June 2025

Posted on by Zogman

A day to refill the fridge and the freezer and also the cupboards. Nothing fancy here, just replenishing, yes, that’s it. Replenishing!

But first we had the Canadian GP to watch. It was a bit of a procession until Lando Norris rammed Piastri in the dying minutes of the race and turned everything on its head. Too many hot heads in this GP world.

Apart from the GP, was a dull old day again. Nothing much to see, nowhere interesting to go, unless you consider Tesco to be interesting. It’s more a necessity to us. If M&S doesn’t have it, then surely Tesco will. A trolley was half filled from the list Scamp gave me and then it was added to when she returned from another shop and used her memory cells to recall the little bits and pieces she’d forgotten to tell me to find.

Back home we were unpacking the car and finding places to put all the things we’d bought. I do hope I’ve put them all in the right places or I’ll be getting my knuckles rapped for not paying attention to my wife!

In the afternoon Scamp did some planning of the garden, moving things around to create more space or to mix the colours of the flowers better. I can see what she was attempting to achieve, and it’s working. The colour combinations definitely brighten the borders.

For me, I took a camera over to St Mo’s to see what I could find. What I found was a newly hatched group of Shield Bugs. All of them wandering around the boardwalk and it was one of those bugs that got the PoD when it appears to wander into the jungle. I won’t go in to that in any detail. It’s nothing like what I was intending, but it worked, and that’s the important thing.

We went dancing in Kirsty’s class in the late afternoon / early evening. It was a reprise of the Waltz Nioli we’d started last week. Eventually we got it working properly, or as near as I could make it. Now we have three weeks off her class and another week or two off Stewart & Jane’s. I’m sure I’ll forget everything I’ve learned and I’m also sure I won’t be the only one.

Watched the final two episodes of GOLD and we’re still puzzling about what actually happened in it. It might be based on a true story, but it was confusing as I suppose all true stories are.

We have no plans for tomorrow.

Happy Father’s Day – 15 June 2025

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It’s nice to wake up in the morning to two lots of cards and breakfast in bed courtesy of Scamp. My turn to reciprocate tomorrow.

Spoke to Hazel in the morning and caught up with what was happening down south. Glad to hear that Ivan is no worse and pleased that he might be getting home soon. Also happy that the rockery is settling into its own shape and planting. Thanks for the cup and phone holder. It sits comfortably on the arm of the couch. You are such a clever girl!

Other than that, it was a bit of a dull day. Occasional drizzle, but no real rain on the windows, so that’s a bonus. We watched the F1 qualifying and watched an F1 car lose its carbon fibre covering and have to drive back to the paddock almost ‘naked’. I bet a lot of paparazzi’s cameras would almost be reading melt down trying to find what’s underneath the skin!

After much discussion, we settled on Carrot & Lentil Curry for dinner. An old favourite, tried and tested over the years.

Later in the afternoon I got a taxi over to to Central Health Centre for my Covid vaccination. A Covid jag on a Sunday and on Father’s Day too? What are these folk thinking about? The lady at the health centre almost managed to get me a Shingles jag too until I told her I’d already had one and she agreed. Another sore arm avoided! I’d got a taxi, because our street is double parked to max when it’s Fathers’ Day and the prospect of trying to find an empty space was not in the least appealing. Being driven there and back was worth the tenner and a bit.

Spoke to Jamie later in the afternoon and got the amended details of their plans for Arran. Nice card Jamie. As you know I’m always losing my glasses!!

PoD was a photo of some crystalline ice with the remainder of some blackcurrant juice looking decidedly like blood.  Believe me, it’s fruit juice! Would I lie to you?

That was about it for the day. A lovely day with great folk. Even the lady who gave me the jag had a good sense of humour.

No real plans for tomorrow, although there are rumours that shopping may be necessary!

Thunder, and torrential rain – 14 June 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Of course it was! It was summer in Scotland! What else did you expect?

We had been well warned by the Met Office and they got it right. During last night we got heavy, thumping rain, but thankfully no thunder or lightning. The rain tapered off during the day, but we weren’t going out, we’ve been caught like the before and got a soaking. Instead we stayed at home and read for a while, just because we could. No dancing class today, because the teachers were off on a Mediterranean cruise. They call it working, but we know better.

The day just sort of dragged its feet all afternoon and then late in the afternoon we heard the first rumbles of thunder in the distance. The rumbles got closer accompanied by a couple of louder bangs, then only rain to remind us that it wasn’t quite finished with us yet.

Dinner tonight was divided between two eateries. Scamp wanted a small fish supper with pickled onions. I chose chicken chop suey with fried rice. Each were produced from two different shops and both were deemed delicious. On the walk home I did catch a few heavy drops of rain, but it didn’t come to much.

The PoD came from a short dry spell in the garden and is a Polemonium Scamp recently purchased. I like the shape of the flowers which remind me of Aquilegia flowers, and the little yellow stamens catch the eye of passing insects.

Watched another episode of ‘GOLD’ on iPlayer. Quite an intriguing story although, how true to life it is, I wouldn’t like to say.

Hoping for a drier day tomorrow, or at least a less wet one.

A warm, clammy, overcast day – 13 June 2025

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Scamp was out early as usual to go to FitSteps. I read for a while.

It was one of those days when the weather can’t decide what it’s going to do. Will it rain? Will the clouds break and give us sunshine? Will it be a mixture of the two? In the end it was a combination of all those things, but nothing stayed for any length of time. I read a few more chapters of my book.

Scamp arrived home early because a woman in the class fainted and of course the rest of class was cancelled until someone came to take her home.

After lunch we browsed a food magazine for some suggestions for food for dinner. Eventually Scamp pulled a host of recipe cards from one of the kitchen shelves and we made a shortlist of possibles. We eventually settled on Tomatoey Baked Eggs with Feta. It sounds a bit naff, but actually it turned out well. We added half a focaccia that we’d picked up at a grocery stall at Klondyke. The bread was a bit dried out, but after we’d pierced a few holes in the top and fed some good olive oil into it, then gently warmed it in the oven it was fine and great for dunking in the tomato sauce. That’s another keeper for the kitchen shelf.

I went out later to St Mo’s and after catching a few gentle showers, found a photo in a bunch of Speedwell wildflowers, growing through the grass.

Warnings of heavy rain and thunderstorms for tomorrow.

Dancin’ – 12 June 2025

Posted on by Zogman

A lazy day that started well, but ended with rain.

After a quick lunch we were off to Glenburn for a Tea Dance. Only a few of the usual dancers at the dance, but we did take to the floor and danced a couple of Waltz Nioli (badly in my case) and a load of sequence dances too. Carol (one of the dancers) was walking with a stick after damaging her Meniscus, so Scamp offered to dance with David, so he wasn’t sitting around doing nothing, which I think is his preferred place! After reading about what and where the meniscus was, I sympathise with Carol.

We were late leaving the tea dance and that meant we were caught up in the homeward bound traffic. I chose the M74/M73 route as although it’s a bit longer, it’s definitely quicker, especially if the Kingston Bridge has become a carpark as it turned out it was today.

I walked down to the shops later on a very close, clammy afternoon. On the way back I got some photos of a common Dog Rose and that became PoD.

Watched the semi-final of Glow Up. Just a bunch of posers, posing.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to go to FitSteps, although torrential rain is prodicted. We’ll have to wait and see if it comes.

Another hot day – 11 June 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Hardly any wind today to ruffle the leaves on the trees, but plenty of sun. Making the most of it, because it looks like it will be all change by the weekend.

Scamp was out in the morning tweaking this and pruning that in the garden. She was just making sure that all the flowers she’d planted yesterday were sitting up straight and looking happy.

We sat and solved our usual puzzles and then had lunch. It wasn’t a day to go our anywhere in a hurry, so we walked down to the shops to get the ingredients to make a stir-fry and then sat in the garden reading until I decided I’d go ‘beastie’ hunting. Scamp’s description of insects, arachnids and things that crawl and sometimes bite.

I managed to get a decent photo of a Four Spotted Chaser dragonfly at St Mo’s pond. Didn’t quite capture a Common Blue damselfly, there have been very few of them in and around the ponds this year. Further on I got a shot of a Yellow Iris with one flower beginning to go over and another just about to unfurl. That was about all the exercise I got today.

Back home we both read for a while in the back garden with a Pimms at hand. Later, Scamp turned the mixed veg we’d bought earlier into a well filled stir-fry for dinner.

That was about all the excitement we could take for one day.

We may go dancing tomorrow.

It’s been a long time – 10 June 2025

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Today we had agreed to visit the Kelpies. It’s been a long time since we last went to see the big horses.

Today we woke to sunshine and blue skies. That made a nice change from the grey skies and rain we’ve been looking at for the last few weeks. Scamp was looking for more flowers for the garden too, so that gave us two places to visit.

We went to find some flowers first and our destination was Klondyke garden centre near Grangemouth. They always have a good selection of plants, possibly too many, because there is limited space in the boot of the Blue car. I can’t really complain, though, because I got a couple of flowers too. Scamp found one of the grasses she’d been looking for. Its proper name is Stipa tenuissima or Pony Tails grass. It’s to be a memorial to June. A nice idea to remember her. She says that June will be able to wave to her in the morning.

After we’d paid for the plants, we headed to Helix Park, home of the Kelpies – The Big Horses. The Kelpies were looking magnificent today, shining brightly in the sunshine. Such a pity they built the Helix Park beside a sewage works. The stink today was awful. It’s the first time I’ve noticed it, but you could hardly ignore it.

We had a coffee in the restaurant. I was supposed to get scones to go with the coffee, but I decided to share a sandwich instead. Scamp was not amused. To make it up to her, I bought us both a ’99’ ice cream cone. That seemed to do the trick.

We drove home after admiring the Kelpies and getting a few new views of them. PoD went to two ladies discussing what was going on inside the great beasts.

Scamp set to and got most of the flowers and plants into their place later in the afternoon, but I’m sure there might still be time to shuffle them around later in the week.

We have no plans for tomorrow, but we do need to take some stuff to the tip. Not very interesting, but it needs to be done.

Another damp, dismal, day – 9 June 2025

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More or less what we expected after reading the weather report and checking online. It’s a Monday. Mondays are often dull. We had to cancel the visit to the Kelpies. I don’t think they’d be coming out anyway today.

With a lot of help from Scamp, I parcelled up my unwanted, too narrow and too short, dance sneakers, then drove over to UPS and gave the box and the proof of posting to the lady there and she said everything was in order. It’s up to UPS and Amazon now to do the rest of the business.

Next was a trip to Tesco for the usual lunch requirements. I did think about going for a walk in St Mo’s, but the constant showers didn’t encourage me to go walking in the rain. Instead I read a few more pages in my latest book, Murder Mindfully. It’s described as a the darkly comic bestselling thriller. I don’t know about the best seller, but it’s certainly very dark and at times funny. About a third through it now and I’m still not sure what’s going on or where it’s going!

I took some photos of the next batch of partly dried flowers that landed on the mat a couple of days ago. Then it was time to get ready to go to Kirsty’s class. Tonight we were reprising Waltz Nioli. I’d forgotten just how much I had forgotten. This was the dance class wearing my new dance sneakers and I must say they were very comfortable. I’d been told by a lot of folk that they make you think you have nothing on your feet and now I see exactly what they mean. Lovely, light trainers.

Drove home through more rain and around 7pm we had our dinner which was Giovanni Rana Tortelloni pasta and yesterday’s refried baby potatoes. Very nice and filling too.

After dinner I took some more photos of the flowers, but it was one of the earlier ones that got PoD.

Tomorrow we may have another chance to see the big horses, if they’re not too rusty.

It’s raining again – 8 June 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Us humans are never truly happy. Last month we were complaining about the heat and the likelihood of their being a drought. This week we’re complaining because it’s raining.

Today I was waiting for another pair of dance trainers. I ordered a pair just over a week ago and they arrived last week, but were the wrong size when they arrived. Yesterday I found a pair online that were the recommended size (one half size larger than normal) and promptly ordered them, expecting to wait another week before they would be delivered, but no, they would be delivered today! Hooray!

It was one of those days when the sun shines in the morning, but before afternoon there is a gradual darkening of the sky and then the rain comes thumping down, only for the sun to come out later and the cycle to begin again.

Scamp took advantage of a dry spell to cut the grass in the back garden, or to be more exact, to strim the grass in the back garden. Strimming the grass is quite a lot quicker than using the lawn mower, and, as Scamp will tell you, cleaning a strimmer is much quicker than cleaning a mower. Once she was finished, we went for a walk round the front garden and Scamp laid out her plans for removing the plants that have passed flowering and also for what will replace them. Just as we were finishing, the Amazon man handed me a big brown paper box, quite like a shoe box actually!

In trepidation, I tried the trainers and although they might be a little bit big, they will work perfectly well. Light as a feather and worth every penny. I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to wear them tomorrow to Monday dance class.

I went for a walk around St Mo’s and almost got it dry all the way. Just a ten minute shelter under some trees when the rain came on, but otherwise ok. A little branch with some Hawthorn leaves and berries looking like a miniature Bonsai got PoD.

After a lot of disagreements, we settled on Sea Bass and potatoes for Scamp’s dinner and Lamb Burgers and potatoes for mine. Dessert was meringue nests with strawberries, raspberries and cream. Lovely.

Spoke to Jamie and told him all about Scamp’s scan. Then we heard all about their 80 visitors to the Open Garden project. They also took part in a Bake Off game where they had to bake a cake and also amongst other things, a batch of macarons. I wonder what Jamie’s gran would have thought of that!

Tomorrow I think we may be going to look at a couple of horses.