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Another cold windy day – 28 November 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Not a day for going far.

However, Scamp was out early to meet Isobel and Shona for coffee. I was glad to sit at home and struggled with Virgin Media who must be one of the worst companies to get help from. I got so frustrated with their so-called Media Support. I eventually got so fed up with going round in circles, I gave up and went to make a pot of soup instead.

Needless to say when Scamp came home she just typed in the answers to the questions the bot asked and within minutes was speaking to a human, Asif, who, fifteen minutes later had checked our V6 box, diagnosed the fault and arranged a repair for next week. I was in a huff! Ok, ok, I admit I have no patience, especially with Bots, but Virgin are hopelessly bad at giving out help. Asif excepted, of course.

Later in the afternoon I took a parcel to the post office in Condorrat and posted it to an address just outside London. Hopefully it will arrive soon and be magicked away almost instantly.

I’d hoped to get a photo on my walk to Condorrat, but the lashing rain and the high winds made me glad to get back home instead of wandering around the paths or the ponds today. Back home warm and dry was a good enough result for me.

The soup I made, Butternut Squash, wasn’t the best. Both Scamp and I agreed that it wasn’t the best. I’ve made it loads of times and every time it’s been just like the last. The only thing I didn’t add today was chilli flakes and I don’t add very much, so I doubt if they could have made the difference.

A late PoD was a vase of Freesia I quite liked. A tabletop lifesaver at the end of a dreary day.

Hopefully tomorrow will be calmer both weather wise and also for my temper, and we may go to the dance class too.

A disturbed night for Scamp – 27 November 2025

Posted on by Zogman

When Scamp woke this morning she told me about the wild night she had last night. It seemed to be caused by strange dreams, presumably brought on by the new meds the consultant gave her. Once she woke completely, she was fine, but it was a strange morning. But all was not lost, because I managed to sell some of the meds outside the ‘Masonic’ in Condorrat Main Street for a few quid each and we have just less than a hundred of the little pills! Just joking!!
Scamp phoned the consultant’s office to be told that she was on holiday this week, but the secretary she spoke to said she would pass the message on when the consultant returned next week.

We were up fairly early in the morning with quite a few things needing done:

  1. Drove to Boots for more (normal) meds.
  2. Tesco for milk, and wrapping paper I can’t divulge why we needed wrapping paper.
  3. Drove over to the Town Centre and wandered down the ramps that took us down into the bowels of what used to be Phase 4. It’s now just Argos and not much more. We were buying a replacement one-cup water boiler. The one we have has now developed Alzheimer’s, poor thing and can’t remember if it’s switched the hot water off or not and fills a second cup just in case.
  4. Drove from the Town Centre to M&S for lunch stuff and jam doughnuts for me.
  5. Finally we drove home and decanted all the stuff we’d bought.

After lunch I walked over to St Mo’s. It was dark and gloomy there by 3pm. It was wet and windy. Strong winds and heavy showers. A typical dreich Scottish day. I came home with a view across St Mo’s pond that ended up heavily processed, but reasonable looking PoD.

The final annoyance was discovering that the Virgin Media box wasn’t working. It’s not the modem it’s definitely the box. I’ve spent the last couple of hours ‘talking’ to the bots that are rapidly becoming the worst invention this century. You can’t even swear at them!

Tomorrow Scamp is intending meeting Isobel for coffee and a blether. I’m hoping to get this Virgin debacle sorted out and then make some soup.

Rain, Rain go away – 26 November 2025

Posted on by Zogman

… come again another day.

It was a really wet daytime. To begin with it was just a drizzle, but then the clouds got heavier and so did the rain.

Scamp was out at midday for a lunch with the rest of the ‘Witches’ at Borden’s in Condorrat and then the rain was fairly light. I intended to walk over to Condorrat later to get some meat at the local butcher, but one look out the front door told me it would be more sensible to stay at home for a while because the rain was a lot heavier.

I retired to the back bedroom and investigated the possibility of retrieving the Day One data I lost when the old computer had a massive crash nearly a year ago. After a lengthy search I did find parts of the lost data. Hopefully, now I’ll be able to get about a quarter to a half of the data back, including text and images.

By the time I was finished the search, the sun had all but disappeared and I still had nothing for my dinner, so I dressed for the weather and walked over to Condorrat, (passing the restaurant that Scamp and the witches were in on the way!) I bought mince, sausages and beef olives in the butcher’s and plodded on home. Used the vacuum bags to seal most of the meat while keeping half the mince for tonight and possibly tomorrow’s lunch.

On the way back from the butcher’s I got today’s PoD which was the row of exercise machines on the path from Condorrat. It looked like the weather was preventing the fitness fanatics from using using them today.

Scamp trotted home about an hour later after getting a lift from Moira. I got the sign of approval from Scamp for managing to cook the mince properly. She suggested I use up two potatoes that had been cooked a couple of days ago by mashing them then heating them in the microwave before adding some diced butter and a splash of milk. All in all it was an almost perfect dinner. Sadly I forgot to add some sliced beetroot to the mix. I know you are such a fan of the red finger-staining vegetables that you too would be sad to hear that!!!

We watched another episode of Shetland and the plot thickens even more. Unfortunately it was marred by some really poor acting. Most unlike their usual standard.

Tomorrow we may go out to get a new One-Cup water boiler. The one we have is getting a bit forgetful and causing the cups to overflow if we don’t watch it.

Shopping – 25 November 2025

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Despite last week’s shopping bonanza, there were still some things we needed ( for Needed, read Wanted ).

We drove to Morrison’s at The Fort and bought a few bottles, mainly wine, but I admit I did collect a couple of beer bottles too, just to be up sides with Scamp. Morrison’s is so much more down to earth than Waitrose. Now, don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with Waitrose, it’s just that I tend to be more restrained in Morrison’s than in Waitrose with all its enticing and intriguing offers than you get in Morrison’s or Tesco. Still, we spent enough to take us from “just tap your card” to “your PIN number is required”. I think the problem was I couldn’t find a ‘normal’ sized trolly and settled for the big deep one. I should have thought it through and searched further afield for a ‘normal’ one. My fault.

Instead of driving straight home, Scamp suggested we stop at Drumpellier Park and go for a walk round the loch. It’s not a big loch, but it’s big enough to give us a chance to stretch our legs. Underfoot the paths were a bit icy and to get better purchase we could walk on the grass. It gave better traction, but then you risk crunching through the thin skin of ice and sinking into the mud beneath. A ‘no win’ situation. We took the hybrid route. Walk on the path if it doesn’t look icy and if it does, keep your fingers crossed and walk on the grass.

I’d brought my A7c with me and with frosty patterns on the ice and a beautiful sky that graduated from blue to creamy yellow over the pond, I did take a few photos. The “Whale’s Tail” made and interesting subject, but it wasn’t until I caught sight of two swans cruising past on the loch that I got PoD. One definite in the bag.

It had been a cold day with the temperature not rising much above 2º and I was glad to get parked and settled. Dinner was Fish Risotto. One of the easiest risottos you can make. The oven does all the hard work.

Scamp seems to be a lot more comfortable now that she’s had a couple of doses of her meds. Good to see that.

Neither of us were interested in going out again today, because you could feel the cold returning. As I write this, the outside temperature is – 0.7ºc and I’m off to bed.

Scamp is intending to meet the other witches for lunch at Borden’s in Condorrat tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll find something to do.

Out of sorts – 24 November 2025

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It was Scamp who was a bit out of sorts today.

She phoned the doc’s and after a bit of a wait, got a prescription which I went to collect for her. That seems to have put her mind at rest for a while. Scamp is rarely ill, I’m usually the one with the aches and pains in this house.

We spoke to Hazy in the morning and she and I discussed a problem I was having with Spotify. It’s still not entirely fixed, but since  I hardly use Spotify on the iMac, I’m not all that bothered. Hazy and I discussed books and for once I got to recommend a book to her! Most of the talk was between the ladies, but we heard about a visit to India by the extended family.

After lunch I read a bit more from The Fathers and as the light was beginning to fade, I took the A7c out for a walk in St Mo’s. There wasn’t much doing today, although while I was walking in the woods, I spooked a Woodcock in the trees. Unusual because it’s largely a wading bird. Maybe I mixed up my species.

PoD went to a few Yellow Rattle seedheads that survived the high winds from a month or so ago and the ice from a couple of days ago. The dried, seed heads of the yellow-rattle plant (Rhinanthus minor).
When the seeds are dry and mature, they rattle inside the inflated, papery calyx, which gives the plant its common name. By feeding off the coarse grasses, it eventually allows more delicate, traditional species to push their way through.

I was glad to get back to the house after my walk, because my feet were cold and I do believe they were a wee bit wet too. A cup of coffee warmed me up and then it was time to start the dinner. Pasta with tomatoes, some thinly sliced bacon and a couple of frozen spinach cubes. It seemed to go down well with a miniature ice cream lolly to finish it off.

The forecast is for warmer, wetter weather for the next few days. It’s a pity we can’t split it and only use the warmer part. Then we could store up the wet weather for when we need it for the gardens.

I don’t believe we have anything planned for tomorrow.

A dull, wet day – 23 November 2025

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The weather started out wet and just continued in that vein for most of the day.

We didn’t do all that much. The weather wasn’t going to improve and Scamp wasn’t feeling well ( I blame it on yesterday’s Samba lesson ), so we stayed in and read for most of the morning. Scamp had a spot of lunch, but I didn’t even bother with that, which is strange for a Sunday.

In the afternoon I took a camera out for a walk in St Mo’s. It actually stayed dry for most of the time I was out, but on my way home from one circuit of the pond, the rain did come on, but it was a half hearted attempt at a shower. PoD was the remains of a cow parsley plant, now almost bare with only a few seeds and a wet leaf to break the monotony. Yesterday’s Buckfast bottles had disappeared from the ice, as had the M&S trolley.

Dinner tonight was a roast chicken which definitely lifted my spirits a bit. We watched a cobbled together episode of Strictly, but there was nothing there worth watching

In what might have been an attempt at forcing some interest from the Las Vegas F1 GP, both McLarens were disqualified because of car structure infringements. It just sounded fishy, the two front runners for the championship, both getting disqualified. Maybe I’m just too suspicious, but was that an attempt at livening things up?

Spoke to Jamie in the evening and heard of banana trees being swathed in layers of wadding to protect them from the winter weather until spring.

No plans for tomorrow. Hope Scamp is be feeling better.

Dancin’ – 22 November 2025

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Heading to Paisley for a dance class at 9:45am.

We drove through the thick Cumbersheugh fog, heading to Brookfield, but before we reached Glasgow the sky had cleared and the sun shone from a bright, blue sky. Welcome to Scotland.

It was a fairly easy run to Brookfield. No dramas today and no great holdups. Everything just running to plan. We reached the dance class with time to spare.

First dance was my much hated House of Bamboo, written by a Bampot, I think. When we’d disposed of that piece of excrement, we went on to the Foxtrot we’d been learning for weeks and I struggled to get all the bits in the right places.

At this time of year, the Christmas Waltz is a standard. After Christmas it changes its name to the Spring Waltz, then later it becomes the Summer Waltz and so on. Today we were in Christmas Waltz territory.

Then we started a run through of the Mayfair Quickstep set to new words that were quite funny, but I think they would begin to grate after a few weeks.

The next offering was a Samba. I thought we’d seen the back of this ‘dance’ a year or so ago, but it had returned with some new steps in it. I just couldn’t get the hang of it. Kirsty tried to teach it a couple of years ago, but thankfully it was dropped from the curriculum before it caused an injury!

I was on the point of walking out when the tempo changed to a Cha-Cha and I could manage that.

Finally we did one track of the Queen of Hearts Rumba, and after that we were allowed to go home.

The roads towards town were very busy, probably to do with the Christmas rush that’s just beginning, but I tried one of the back roads I’d used in the past that took us under the Clyde and out through the town in a lot better time than any other route. I reckon we were just lucky.

I took my A7iii out for a walk in St Mo’s and PoD was a Buckfast bottle lying on the sheet ice that’s covered the pond for these last few days. Thankfully the ice is melting now, but it’s still a lot thicker than it looks.

No plans for tomorrow yet, but I’m sure something will fill the space.

Another early rise – 21 November 2025

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I was meeting Alex in Glasgow for a wander and a pizza later.

I was earlier than usual getting in to town. It was a cold morning. About -2ºc when I was leaving the house. I’d brought my Shokz headphones with me and I needed them. Some eejit was sitting behind me playing his hit-list of the worst jokes in the world with his phone turned up to max. The phone wasn’t a match for the Shokz.

I was nearly at the bus station when I looked out the window and a little voice in my head said “Get out and walk. Walk down to Rottenrow. You’ve plenty of time.” So that’s what I did.

Rottenrow is the old name for Royal Maternity Hospital. An old hospital that was founded in 1834 and finally demolished in 2001. It wasn’t completely demolished. The site was redeveloped by the University of Strathclyde into a public park known as Rottenrow Gardens. The park features elements of the old hospital, such as the original facade and a sculpture few sculptures. I’m almost sure I’ve been there before, but can’t quite remember when. Today I finally got some decent light to capture the giant Nappy Pin that dominates the site. Definitely worth a walk after hearing that voice in my head!

After I walked back to the bus station I’d only just sat down when he appeared. He’d been up at the other end of the town trying to capture his favourite piece of architecture, the Pavilion Theatre. Luckily for me I’d caught the Nappy Pin in good light but he had just missed the light on the Pavilion. A usual, a coffee in Nero gave us time for a catch-up, but neither of us had a definite destination in mind for the rest of the day. I suggested the Art Galleries, but we didn’t really have enough time for that, so we settled on a walk down to St Enoch’s Square where the ‘Shows’ were just beginning to start up for the day.

George Square is the usual venue for the Christmas Carnival, but allegedly the square is having an upgrade and won’t be in business for at least two years. I think you can call that Twenty Two years if the council’s usual slower than slow progress is anything to go by. Today we walked through the stalls and found nothing that encouraged us to stay, so we walked on to the Clyde Walkway, and even there the graffiti was poor. Not very much artistry or humour in the paintings. I did take a few shots of people walking across the suspension bridge and one got into Flickr, once it had been worked over.

We walked back to Paesano for a very nice pizza, then we walked up to the bus station, said our goodbye’s until next time and each of us got a bus home. I found a suitable set of tracks to take me home on the bus.

PoD turned out to be a woman in a red coat watching her grand-kids on the fairground rides in St Enoch’s Square.

Scamp had made some soup when I got home, which was gratefully accepted. Now I think it’s raining. Hopefully that will make for a warmer drive to Brookfield tomorrow after our sharp frost.

 

Another cold blast – 20 November 2025

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Another sub-zero morning.

I was out in the morning to get my meds and some messages from Boots and Tesco in that order. I was meant to get sone veg, milk and a chicken, except I completely forgot about the chicken. It wasn’t until I got home that I realised my error. Scamp said it was ok and we could survive without the chicken and I took her at her word. I also realised that Boots had short-changed me on my meds. Two lots of them just weren’t there. I did get a message from them two days ago to say that my prescription was partially ready, but yesterday’s message said that it was ready to collect. Crossed lines somewhere, Boots. This is the first time I’ve had a message like that. I’ll maybe have a word with them next week if I have the time.

Back home it was time to get ready to drive to Glenburn for a Tea Dance. I thought we were going to be late because of what looked like a collision between two large lorries, but the Polis managed to sort it all out and we arrived just in time, before the doors closed.

I thought it was a bit of a washed out tea dance. Just not a lot of life in it. Maybe that was because most of the attendees had recently been at Perth for the autumn dance weekend. For whatever reason, there was just not the same ‘life’ to the day. We left later than normal and got caught up in the homeward bound masses. Just as we neared M&S in Cumbersheugh, we saw the line of waiting traffic and gave up on any idea of having a chicken for dinner. Instead we had a very nice pizza I’d stashed in the freezer earlier in the week.

Watched another episode of Portrait Artist. Some good work, but some equally poor stuff. I won’t say I could do better, but I was veering that way.

PoD was a setup shot of a Lindt chocolate bear. That’s what happens when you spend an hour going for the messages and then your day disappears and you don’t get an outside photo.

Hoping to meet Alex tomorrow for a blether and some photos.

Freezing – 19 November 2025

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Yesterday was wet. Today it was freezing with temperatures around -1ºc in the morning.

However, we were safely tucked up in bed by then. When I did eventually get up to make the breakfast for us, the temperature had risen to -0.4ºc. Positively tropical. Not tropical for us to get out of bed, though. When I took a proper look out the back bedroom, there was a covering of snow on the Meikle Bin and also a scraping of snow on the Campsie Fells too, but the sky was blue with just a few clouds.

We didn’t venture far in the morning, although I did take out a pair of secateurs and gave the Alec’s Red rose a gentle trim, just to remove the old flower buds. That will probably be the last cut for this year.

I went for a walk in the afternoon, well wrapped up, of course. Alex is still holding on to my Sony A7iii and the 25-105mm lens, so just for a laugh I took the A7c and a very old 28-70mm kit lens I got with the Sony A7ii a long number of years ago. I must have a look through the records to see just how old it would be. At the time I thought it was the bees knees, but now I see all its faults beginning to show. It’s not the best lens in the world, but it is better than nothing at all. PoD was a photo of a dozen Canada Geese walking from their feeding ground in St Mo’s park to the relative safety of St Mo’s pond where fewer predators threaten them. I’m guessing they were overwintering from their summer habitat in Alaska to our milder winters in the uk.

By the time I was walking home, my ears was getting chilled, but by adjusting my trusty St Andrews ‘Buff’ I kept them from getting frostbite.

While I was out, Scamp was making a rhubarb pie with some of the rhubarb Jamie’s had brought up with then the last time they were up in Scotland for a wedding. The rhubarb was really quite sharp and although it had some stem ginger in its mix, I felt it could have done with some more sugar. Pastry was up to Scamp’s usual excellence. Home made fish ’n’ chips for dinner, followed by rhubarb pie with home grown rhubarb. Excellent.

We watched another episode of Shetland and the plot thickens even more. Can’t wait for the next instalment.

Hoping to get to Glenburn tomorrow for a Tea Dance. However, it depends on the weather. Ice and snow forecast. Temperature just now at 11.15pm is – 0.9ºc.