Blog

On the mend – 30 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp went off to FitSteps in the morning and left me to my own devices for an hour.

I started writing these blog posts and trying to put the right stories with the correct days. Not as easy as it sounds with a heid full of sawdust!

Early in the afternoon I went to collect my meds and got some shopping done in Tesco, just to make sure I could actually think straight again. I’d squirted more salty water up my nose and was definitely feeling a lot better.

I even went for a walk with the A7iii and the long Tamron lens to St Mo’s. Captured today’s PoD which was a couple of Meadow Cranesbills wild flowers. Also available is a shot of six newly hatched cygnets on the pond.

Dinner last night was Chicken Milanese with potatoes and cabbage. Delicious! Scamp made it, of course.

We may be going dancing tomorrow.

Loaded with cold – 29 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

A dull day, just got that little bit duller for me with a stuffed up nose and an annoying cough.

  • Scamp packed me back to bed and went off to do some shopping.
  • I did as I was told for once and had an extra hour of snoozing.
  • Felt better after a shower and a few squirts of the magic Sterimar decongestant.
  • I even managed a PoD which is a wee posey of flowers in their glass vase.
  • Early bed tonight after another shower and another dose of magic.
  • It works!
  • You won’t be surprised if I say I have no plans for tomorrow!

Going home – 28 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

It always comes to this, no matter how long a visit you have.

  • After we’d said our goodbyes, Neil ran us to the station we’d arrived at, what seemed a long while ago.
  • Overground train to Vauxhall. Underground train from Vauxhall to Kings Cross. LNER train to Edinburgh. Train to Croy. Taxi home.
  • Early(ish) bed tonight. I’m loaded with the cold now!
  • See what tomorrow brings.
  • PoD was a distorted photo of the canopy at Kings Cross Station.

Soaked – 27 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

It was a wet day, a very wet day. Spring was giving in to the rain.

  • Stayed in the house and watched the rain for a while
  • Eventually Scamp and I got fed up and we decided to go for a walk.
  • We went across the road and found a path I’d walked five years ago, a different one from the other day.
  • The further we walked, the heavier the rain became and the more lost we got, although not entirely lost because we occasionally glimpsed the golf course we were crossing through.
  • We were looking for a cafe we knew was there somewhere, but eventually gave up and walked back to the main road. That’s when we saw the clubhouse and presumably the cafe.
  • By then we just wanted to get out of the rain, and I was beginning to think the clubhouse was a mirage anyway.
  • Aren’t mirages meant to be found in hot, dry, arid places like deserts?
  • Eventually soaked, we dried off.
  • Neil brought filled rolls from a bakers and a newspaper we could stuff into my leaky trainers and leave to dry out on the radiator. Thank you Neil.
  • Dinner was in an Italian restaurant with Canute, Delia, Hazel, Neil and us. Good food and a comedian of a waiter. Lots of laughing and some planning too.
  • Evening was spent packing our bags for the train home tomorrow.
  • PoD was a dragonfly carving we passed on our trudge through Horton Country Park

Londinium – 26 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

A visit to the big city.

  • The options were a walk in the park or a walk round London. No contest.
  • Neil gave us a lift to xxx and we took a train from there to Waterloo.
  • We wandered round the streets near the Thames and saw some strange sights that I won’t reveal here, except to say that the people concerned were happy to reveal!!
  • Our biggest find was the Tate Modern. Neither of us had been there before and thought it might be too high brow for the likes of us.
  • It wasn’t. It was a gigantic space. Definitely worth the visit.
  • Hopefully we’ll investigate more the next time we’re here
  • Lunch was a beer and a packet of crisps for me.
  • Lunch was a glass of Malbec and a packet of crisps for Scamp.
  • We got train back from Waterloo to Chessington.

A better day today – 25 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Today was a better day. More sunshine and some broken cloud.

  • Jamie arrived right on time and he, Neil, Scamp and I went to a different garden centre for lunch
  • Hazy was resting at home and Simonne was looking after Vixen.
  • We had lunch and were careful not to overdo things because we were having dinner later.
  • Scamp was in her element wandering round the plants, mostly varieties of lavender.
  • I do believe, if we had the space, she would have brought half of the plants home with her.
  • After Neil drove us home we said goodbye to Jamie who had a two hour and more journey home.
  • Hopefully we’ll see him and Simonne in a month or so’s time when they break a journey to Arran, with us.
  • I got some photos of the sparrows and bluetits feeding on seeds in the garden.
  • Later Scamp and I went for a walk in Horton Country Park. A maze of paths through trees that we’d ventured through the last time we’d been here, five years ago.
  • On the way home we passed the strangest garden. The front garden of the house was a collection on toys and hand painted signs. Weird!

Hopefully we’ll visit London tomorrow while Neil and Canute go to football on the other side of the capital and Hazy has another day’s rest.

A dull day – 24 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

  • After a lazy morning, we intended to go to the Lavender fields, but after some investigation we found that they weren’t open for another two weeks.
  • Instead, Neil drove us to the Lavender fields cafe where we had lunch.
  • We spoke to one of the gardeners at the cafe who had once lived with a man from Glasgow, but left him because she couldn’t understand a word he said. Cheek!!
  • Neil made Turkey Pilaff for dinner.
  • PoD was a rose from Hazel’s front garden.

The Number 71 to Kingston – 23 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Another day of sunny skies with a few clouds.

  • We walked up the hill to catch the No 71 bus to Kingston.
  • After a fairly circuitous journey through Surbiton because of roadworks, we reached Kingston.
  • We walked around the town for a while trying to see where there were changes from the last time we’d been.
  • Food came from a stall in the square. Lightly spiced chicken on a sub roll.
  • Got the No 71 back to the usual stop and walked the rest of the way.
  • Neil’s mum and dad arrived in the early evening for dinner. That seems to be a tradition.
  • Dinner was a variety of fish with chips. Scamp had haddock and I had cod.
  • It was good to see Canute & Delia again.
  • Quite a busy day, but a well filled one

No plans for tomorrow.

Let the train take the strain – 22 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

It could almost be subtitled. “Busy doing noting”.

  • Taxi to Croy from the house
  • Train from Croy to Edinburgh.
  • We got access to the posh waiting room with it’s shower ( broken) and Wi Fi (broken).
  • Four hours on the train heading south being fed and watered (not bad!)
  • Scamp directed us through the labyrinth of the London Underground to Vauxhall.
  • She also took us up to catch the overground train.
  • Got out of this seemingly constant procession of trains to be met by Neil outside the station.
  • Neil also made tonight’s dinner, spiced chicken in wraps. Lovely.
  • An early bed tonight.

No plans for tomorrow yet.

Hot again today – 21 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

A day that started with 14ºc but which did have a few sprinkles of rain to cool us down.

It wasn’t a day for doing much or for going anywhere. Most of the work we were doing was in the house for a change, at least it was cool there. I couldn’t be bothered going over to St Mo’s for photos, so restricted myself to photos of the bees on the rhododendrons and a few from the aquilegia that are beginning to set seeds now, although there are plenty of flowers on them yet. Both the flowers and the seedheads are good subjects for photography.

In the afternoon, Scamp treated us to a glass of Pimms and dinner tonight was another variation on Neil’s Chicken Rice. This was the third meal we’ve had from the chicken we bought on Sunday!

The sprinkles of rain we got wasn’t as heavy, nor as long lasting as we’d hoped, but the weather fairies are adamant that there will be heavy and more prolonged rain next week. Let’s hope they have it right this time.

No real plans for tomorrow.