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Another early rise – 13 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Just because we don’t need to.

Third time this week we rose early. Instead of having breakfast in bed we had it in the living room, fully dressed. Only one of those times was enforced, the other twice were voluntary. Can’t say it made the day any better, or more memorable, but it meant we saw more of it. It may continue and it may not, but for the moment it’s fine.

It was a lovely morning with sun streaming in the window. However we were waiting, or at least I was waiting for a parcel from Amazon. One of the great things about an Echo/Alexa is that it spins a green light if you have a notification, which is usually an Amazon delivery. What’s not so great is when the lady in the grey cylinder tells all and sundry what’s in the delivery, especially if it’s Scamp’s birthday present and Scamp is sitting right next to me on the couch! Well, at least she knows now that I remembered what she asked for. The delivery usually arrives within an hour of the notification. Today? Six hours.

Lunch was a giant fish finger and an egg each.  I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the eggy face in the frying pan.

The rest of the day was dull. Weather wise and also emotionally. Not a lot to do, rain looked as if it was just about to pelt down again. Scamp went out to the shops for milk. I stayed in to wait for the parcel that was no longer a surprise. The rain didn’t arrive.

Later I went for a walk to find a PoD. It turned out to be some moss seed stems. Proper name, fruiting bodies, technical term sporophytes. Otherwise known as Green Blobs (when immature) and Brown Trumpets (when fully mature). The ones you see here were found on a tree trunk and growing head-down which didn’t fit my idea of the picture, so they were rotated and tweaked in Lightroom. It had stayed dry for most of my walk, but the rain came on as I was heading home.

Dinner tonight was a starter of pizza bread with olive oil, rosemary and sea salt. It started off as a bit of left over pizza dough from yesterday, but it tasted quite good, if a bit thin. Main course was another of Charlie Bigham’s ready meals. This one was Veggy Lasagne. Honestly I didn’t notice that there was no meat in it. It was quite delicious. Pudding was another CB offering of Sticky Toffee Pudding. Not as good as Scamp’s, but still not bad. Main and a pudding for two for a tenner.

That was about it for a dull day with an unwanted surprise.

Tomorrow breakfast in bed has been ordered by Scamp.

 

Not going out – 12 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

My primary excuse was I was waiting for a DPD man to bring a parcel

Secondary excuse was it was pelting with rain for most of the day. Tertiary excuse was I simply couldn’t be bothered until the rain dried up, the sun shone and Scamp volunteered to stay and mind the fort. Then I went out.

I’d promised to make pizza for lunch. When we were on our clandestine visit to Waitrose on Wednesday, I’d added a poly bag of mozzarella to the trolley for exactly that purpose. So in the morning I rolled up my sleeves and kneaded the dough for the pizzas and set it to prove. By lunchtime the sudoku had been done and the dough had risen a fair bit, so I stretched and rolled the dough and baked two disappointing pizzas. Scamp was kind enough to say they were fine, but I felt they were a bit flat. Never mind, they didn’t taste too bad.

Yesterday I ordered sensor swabs to be delivered by the usually trustworthy DPD today. It’s amazing the price you pay for what is basically twelve little spade shaped pieces of plastic, similar to the little spoons they give you to eat ice cream from a cardboard tub, twelve folded pieces of paper and twelve tiny rubber bands. I won’t tell you how much I paid, but it was extortion. Then, the first company I checked with wanted to add on VAT plus postage. I found a more reputable provider and went with them. Their one-day delivery by DPD was cheaper than the first one for when-we-can-be-bothered by Royal Mail. Email from DPD said delivery would be between 3.30 and 4.30pm. All was good.

By mid afternoon we’d had sleet, hail and torrential rain and it didn’t look like drying up anytime soon. Scamp went upstairs to ‘sort out’ our two massive boxes of music CDs. After an hour or so, she proudly displayed the CDs arranged into alphabetical piles for my inspection. They all went in to the two massive boxes again in a much more organised way than they had been taken out.

An hour or so later, it started to dry up and the sun was coming out again. With Scamp volunteering to mind the fort for a while, I went out with one camera, two lenses and no phone. I hadn’t noticed the lack of a phone when I left the house and I was half way to St Mo’s before I discovered my error. It’s strange how ’naked’ I feel now without a phone in my pocket. I feel vulnerable for some reason. For the few times I phone anyone and for the few times anyone phones me (apart from the lady from Amazon who tells me that my Prime account has been frozen), the only reason I carry one is to listen to music, but it’s a security blanket. That’s how I see it anyway.

It was dry for all the time I was out, but the sky was interesting and I did get a few photos. PoD became the view from the reeds and rushes beside the boardwalk looking into that late afternoon sun, taken with the Samyang 18mm lens. Quite a wide, wide-angle.

Got home to find that the parcel hadn’t arrived. Went to the DPD website to find that the order would be later arriving, between 6 and 7pm. Not a big problem. We hadn’t had a chance to go out anywhere anyway because of the weather. It arrived just after 6pm with an apology from the driver that the previous incumbent had had a break down and he was the replacement driver. Poor bloke, I wonder how many more parcels he had to deliver before his shift ended.

Dinner tonight was Salmon en Croûte by Charlie Bigham bought from Waitrose. Really delicious and served with Scamp’s shallow fried chips. Even better than my potato wedges and that’s saying something.

Tomorrow I’m waiting for an Amazon order. Hope they perform better than today’s DPD men. Weather looks similar to today’s.

 

 

Pally Rig – 11 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

The sun was shining when we woke. It seemed a shame to waste it.

So, we didn’t. We got up and had breakfast downstairs. The day had begun. I’d said to Scamp the other day that I thought we might have a walk up at Palacerigg, known to everyone I know as Pally Rig. That became our destination for the day. As soon as we left the house the rain started and the sun disappeared, but we weren’t going to let that deter us. We drove up to the car park which serves as a place for golfers and walkers to leave their cars. Golfers on one side of the car park and walkers on the other.

The park itself looks quite neat and tidy now, but that’s because there are no animals there now. There used to be falcons, wildcats, pigs and goats. Also, unbelievably there were foxes, wolves and bison. Now there are only a few mallards in the pond and a couple of Muskovy Ducks. I felt quite sorry for them all swimming in a mucky pond. This is what happens when you let the witless council take over the running of a profitable country park.

We left the sad little ‘used to be’ animal zoo and walked through the golf course taking care to look left and right when we crossing the playing areas. There were a few golfers out today, but how they managed to play in a westerly gale I don’t know. It couldn’t have been a very comfortable game, but perhaps it was the challenge that spurred them on. We walk further into the wilder areas of the park, away from the manicured grass of the golf course. We’ve lived in Cumbersheugh for over thirty years and neither of us have ever walked these paths. We’ve bemoaned the lack of places to walk in North Lanarkshire, but as Scamp was saying today, it wasn’t until we were (hopefully) nearing the end of Lockdown that we are discovering places like Baron’s Haugh and Palacerigg.

The path had a decent surface to walk on and climbed and descended as it twisted its way through moss covered trees, so we got a fair bit of exercise. Every time we were out in the open the heavens would open. When we were in the shelter of the trees the rain would stop and occasionally there would be the hint of sunshine. We crossed a few bridges over raging torrents and saw a couple of waterfalls that would have looked even more spectacular if the sun had found a way through the trees at that point. However, they were noted for another day. After another mile or so I was convinced we were on the wrong path, but it wasn’t until we saw the main road below us that we realised just how far we’d gone in the wrong direction.

We turned back and I decided we should take a fork in the path that looked from the OS app as if it would take us back by another path. Another mucky path. The previous one had a fair bit of hardcore under our boots and signs of tyre tracks from a quad bike or something like it. The path we were on now was just a beaten track. Later we found another better path climbing back up in the direction we needed to go which was good, because we were now pretty near soaked. There is a Scottish word, ’Drookit’ which means soaked. This is what a drookit Scamp looks like. At the top of this hill, and in pelting rain, I managed to get four shots of the vista below us, looking over in the general direction of Loch Lomond with the Campsie Fells on the right and the Kilpatrick Hills on the left. Above them, and us, were the black clouds that were currently soaking us, helped by a driving west wind.

We passed the model airfield on the right and went left onto what started off as a real road, wide enough for a car or van, but then it degenerated into a series of puddles joined by muddy stretches. It was here we saw two deer that ran ahead of us for a few yards, thought about about jumping the fence into the next field before running on again. Just round the next corner we found a path that took us along to the path to the car park and a chance to get our wet jackets off and sit down for a while in the dry. Back home for lunch four and a half miles of up hill and down dale and all around the trees. Good fun though.

After lunch I took a walk to the shops to get bread and also some flowers for Scamp, because it’s Thursday. The view over Cumbersheugh became the PoD after some work in Lightroom and also in ON1. It’s a bit gloomy, but it is Scotland.

Don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow but more rain is forecast.

Rebels without a clue – 10 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

We broke the law today! I hope you’re reading this Queen Nic!

Just to be clear, we were driving to Stirling, which is outwith our region of North Lanarkshire, but the horn had stopped working on my car. For some reason, the garage wouldn’t come to me, so I had to drive there. Still, technically we were breaking the rules. We were being rebels. ‘Rebels without a clue’ as Tom Petty sang.

The car was only in the garage for about 45minutes in which time they fixed the horn (loose connection) gave it a full checkup, counted the wheels, then washed it and sanitised it too. I think I may loosen another wire in a few weeks time, nothing too serious or dangerous and take it in again to get it fixed and hope it will be washed again. There’s a Scottish expression, “Why have a dug and bark yersel’ ?” In other words, If someone is willing to do the work for you, why should you do it?

Since we felt we had good reason to be in Stirling and since we’d be passing Waitrose on our way home, it would have been foolish not to take the opportunity to visit, just for a few minutes. So, a ‘few minutes’ later and a fair few quid lighter we drove home with three very full bags of ‘essentials’. We were just discussing our visit on the way home and we reckon it might be about six months since we’ve been to Stirling! Hopefully we’ll get back soon.

After lunch I cooked some stew that had been in the freezer for far too long, added a three pork sausages and two chopped onions to the mix and poured in half a bottle of Newcastle Brown. Brought the whole thing to the boil then set it to simmer gently for as long as it takes. Scamp was staying home being sensible because it was getting a bit wet outside, but I took the Sony with the long Tamron zoom and went over to St Mo’s to bother the frogs, probably for one last time. It was actually a chance to test out the lens in manual focus mode and it worked quite well. That’s why there’s another frog photo in this blog. This time it’s the PoD.

That was about all we did today. Stew was ok, but the meat was a bit stringy and tough in places. Scamp says it was just the cut of beef that was at fault, not my cooking. I’m happy to take her word for it.

By the way, Hazy.  Fred was quite dismissive about the actual Beverly Brook.  Here’s his reply “Donald it looks a bit shallow, if you look at the banks it could put a couple of feet on it.”  Some people have no sense of the magic of a place!

The wind is returning again and driving more rain into the front window. It’s supposed to get worse in the early hours of Thursday before it calm down a bit during the day. We might just manage a dry spell when we can go out for a walk.

Sunshine in small doses – 9 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Sunshine in more ways than one.  Then wind and rain later. Typical Scottish weather.

The day was calm for most of the time, but this evening there’s a wind howling around the house. But there was a little sunshine in the afternoon, when Her Majesty the Nicola made her proclamation that groups of four people two households may meet in the open from Friday. Why do we have to wait until Friday? Because Nicola says so, of course!

We didn’t have much to do today and although it was fairly dry there was just the hint that drizzly rain would catch you if you went out. I went out in the afternoon to go for a circuit or two of St Mo’s and then extend the walk in the direction of the shops to get some veg for tonight’s dinner.

I had read some suggestions for the Tamron long zoom’s problems. It appears the drive motor in the camera may be failing, which would account for the squeal that comes from it when I switch on. I’m not sure if that’s the reason or not. I’m thinking it might be more a fault in the adapter. It was a real cheapo one and not very well quoted. However, another old lens I have, a Sigma works quite happily with the adapter. Also, and probably the most telling, is the number of repair tutorials on YouTube for that lens. My plan now is to visit Val and get him to try it on the old Nikon D70 he has. If the lens works on that, it’s the adapter that’s at fault and I can happily sell it. If it doesn’t work on the D70 it’s probably the lens that’s at fault and I might as well bin it. It’s costing me nothing just now, so I’ll leave it be for a while.

So, off I went to visit the frogs again today armed with the new Sigma macro which worked quite well yesterday, but as backup I carried my old Oly M1 with a 200mm lens. I got a few shots of the cavorting frogs with both cameras. In the end it was a picture of some Cladonia lichen that got PoD, but because you are such patient and devoted readers, here’s my favourite frog pic of the day. I called it “The Voyeurs.”

Dinner tonight was a stir fry and I enjoyed it, but it had egg noodles in it and Scamp doesn’t like noodles, preferring rice. My fault. I bought the noodles.

We watched another excruciating episode of Drawers Off tonight. I may have to give up on this week’s episodes. None of the participants have the faintest idea how structure a painting. I realise it’s ‘edutainment’, but it should have at least one foot in reality.

Tomorrow we have an early(ish) rise because we’re off, illegally crossing county boundaries so I can hopefully get the horn on my car fixed at the Nissan garage, with the possibility of a little drop-in at Waitrose on the way home, because we’re almost there anyway.

Frogs – 8 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Hundreds of them. All of them, it seemed, busy making more frogs.

The day started wet, but we watched the weather monitor (the birdbath) carefully and eventually when the ripples from the raindrops disappeared, we knew we had a window of dry weather.

Without waiting for second bidding, we were out and walking down to the shops. It’s not a very exciting task, a walk to the shops, but it’s a measure of the boredom we all feel that this everyday occurrence becomes the highlight of the day. The visit was successfully completed and lunch was served.

I went out for a walk after lunch and that’s where I saw the frogs. The pond was bulging with them, all with one thing on their minds, making babies. Well, eventually there will probably little froglets, but the frogspawn was being laid down thickly today. The frogs were too far away for a decent image with the kit lens I had, so I went back to get the long zoom. However, either it or the adapter, or more likely both were having a hissy fit and the lens just wouldn’t autofocus. I gave up in disgust and went back with the macro which is longer than the kit lens, but considerably shorter than the zoom. The result of which is the lack of any good frog photos for PoD. Instead I have promoted the arty photo of some catkins to that spot. Tomorrow, if I get a dry spell, I’m hoping to take the recalcitrant combo of lens and adapter and use them in manual focus mode to grab the shot of the frogs for tomorrow’s PoD. No promises, just a possible work around. One last thought on Frogs before I leave the subject for today: If you’re reading this on computer, you can click on a link on the right hand side for “A Year Ago Today”.  If you navigate from there to the 8th March 2020, you will find how predictable frogs can be.

We had ‘white pasta’ (Fusilli a la Carbonara) for dinner, but on Val’s recommendation, I used Pecorino cheese instead of Parmesan. Scamp said it tasted different but neither better nor worse. I didn’t like it so much as the usual parmesan. Pecorino is much milder and creamier than parmesan. Maybe next time I’ll use a mixture.

Fred phoned me tonight and we talked for an hour or so about various topics including politics and the new comedy series “Drawers Off” where five amateur ‘artists’ take turns at being a partially nude model for the others to paint or draw. Last week was quite interesting, but not quite the quality of art I expected. Tonight’s was just cringe worthy, both Fred and I agreed on that. If you want to see what I mean take a look. It’s only a half hour slot and being at 5.30pm on C4 there’s nothing to scare the horses, except perhaps the final ‘art works’.

Tomorrow looks like wind and rain which might be fine for the frogs, but not so good for the photography. We’ll just have to take it as it comes. Oh yes, and we might hear an announcement from Her Majesty the Nicola about a slight loosening of the rules governing group meeting outdoors.

A minimalist day – 7 March 2021

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Not a lot done, but there was definitely the feeling of spring in the air.

We did some work in the garden in the morning, although I must admit that most of my ‘work’ was photographic. Scamp did the heavy lifting. Repotting the chives that came from my mum, easily thirty years ago and probably a lot more. Every couple of years they outgrow their pot and need split up and repotted. I swear that if one single tuber was planted in a 300mm (12”) pot, within two years its roots would be using all the available space. Still the taste of new potatoes with butter and chives is a delight and makes it worth keeping these plants in a garden. Between us we chopped up two plants and replanted them. I hope they are happy in their new home and don’t go crazy right away.

In between bouts of ’helping’ with the repotting, I was taking photos, mainly of the crocuses. The blue/purple ones are my favourites, I think. That’s how today’s PoD came about. It’s just a low level view of one of Scamp’s long narrow pots, a rectangular one that sits on the kitchen step for a couple of weeks in the spring before it goes back into its shady position near the fence. It seems to thrive in that cool damp place but looks spectacular sitting on the step in the evening sun. It’s another plant that really should be split every few years, but I don’t have the heart to do it and I don’t think Scamp has either.

After lunch and after listening to a spirited baiting of Gavin Williamson the Secretary of State for Education by Andrew Marr, we went out for a walk in St Mo’s. No photos taken although I did take the Sony with the kit lens (light camera bag today). Not a lot of humans out, but a tribe of teenagers trying to start a fire in the woods. Also letting off bangers, either because Rangers had won some cup or other or maybe because they’d discovered matches. Who knows. Anyway we walked round the pond a couple of times and declared that we had achieved our stated purpose of getting some fresh air.

Dinner tonight was yesterday’s curry reheated, which sounds a bit sordid, but actually it was delicious, but apparently the paneer was still squeaky. My Chicken Rogan Josh was even hotter than yesterday.

Dance lesson tonight was a re-run of last week’s with a few pointers about presentation and general tidying up of the rough edges. Next week we move from rumba and waltz on to Tango. Ooh, must remember the rose between the teeth!

It stayed dry nearly all day, but it’s been raining tonight and we’re due for more of the wet stuff tomorrow. No real plans.

A walk in the woods – 6 March 2021

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Different woods.

It being a beautiful morning, Scamp was raring to go out … somewhere … anywhere. By the time we did get out the sun had disappeared and the clouds were sliding in. Those same milky white clouds that have dogged us all week. We walked down to Broadwood Loch and followed the path clockwise, which like yesterday was against the natural flow of people on the Broadwood Travelator. Again we took the first available exit and walked through the woods where we found a single deer, a hind, grazing beside Orchardton Pond. It stood for a few minutes inspecting us before it returned to its grazing. It was not in the least fazed by these humans pointing things at it. I suppose it must get used to the people walking along this path. I’m sure it wouldn’t be so happy being next to the Broadwood Travelator.

We left the deer to its breakfast and walked deeper into the woods following a winding path between the trees which eventually brought us back to the main path where we continued to walk against the flow until we were back on familiar ground along the ‘exercise machines’ path and from there back up the hills to home. My back was aching carrying one small and one big camera. I really have to be more sensible about these things. One camera is enough with a couple of lenses, but not the great weight of the 105mm macro or the old 70-300mm tele. A walk is no fun when you’re carrying a heavy load. Anyway, I’d pointed a piece of glass at a deer and got a few shots, one of which I was certain would make a decent PoD. As it was, there were quite a few decent shots, but I settled on this shot of the deer hind as my PoD.

Exercise over for the day, I settled down to finish yesterday’s Sudoku and then to select eight photos to send with my bi-monthly (that is every second month, not twice a month) email to my brother. Actually I was running a bit late this time as ‘Every Day in February’ had stolen away so much time. That took most of the remaining afternoon and is in fact, just posted!

Dinner tonight was courtesy of Bombay Dreams which is soldiering on as a delivery service. Quite the best Indian food in Cumbersheugh by a long way and enormous portions. Also the hottest Rogan Josh I’ve had anywhere and the squeakiest Paneer that Scamp has eaten. Half of it was consumed tonight and the remainder we’ll keep until tomorrow, possibly for dinner tomorrow night.

A gentle dance practise tonight just to make sure we (for ’we’ read ’I’) remember it for tomorrow’s lesson. I got both the rumba and the waltz correct … second time around. That was quite good for me. We were both happy with it.

Tomorrow looks like rain. I doubt if a walk will be on the cards, but you never know.

Round a different pond – 5 March 2021

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… and into the woods as well.

It was dry in the morning, but cold. Scamp’s wee red car needed a run to warm it up, charge the battery and get the wheels moving, so she got to choose the destination. She chose Drumpellier. It being a Friday, lots of folk were off work and lots of folk had chosen Drumpellier as a place to walk with their pals or push a pram, some even joined the two together and went for a walk with their pal while pushing a pram. Multitasking. Even worse, half the car park was cordoned off to allow the Council workies to get their machines out and lay new footpaths. Spaces in the car park were at a premium, but Scamp found one and just drove into it and we were there.

We walk counterclockwise round the loch. It’s really too big to be a pond. Counterclockwise was not the correct way. Almost everyone else was walking clockwise. Almost everyone else was walking round the loch too on the main path. Scamp doesn’t do that. She likes to leave the main path and take the roads less travelled. That isn’t a metaphor for anything, she just likes the less busy paths. With all that in mind, we took the first available turning away from the main path and discovered the woods. Oak and beech woodlands in Coatbridge isn’t what I was expecting, nor were the deer we saw in bit of bogland between the wooded paths. We only took two paths and easy ones at that, but we both agreed that we’d go back again some time, all being well. We’d also take the path less walked and avoid the conveyer belt everyone else was travelling on. At the end of the path we walked through the Peace Garden and bumped into two guys, one in a wheelchair and one walking. Both retired, the one in the wheelchair hadn’t been out of the house since November. I’m glad he and his pal, both photogs, got a dry day, even if it was cold.

In the afternoon, after lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s on my way to the shops, but nothing I saw replaced the PoD I’d taken at Drumpellier. It was a wee child’s toy sitting on a stubby branch of a tree . Hopefully whoever lost it will find it again some day soon.

Don’t have any plans for tomorrow. It may involve another walk and then again it might not. It all adds to the mystery of life.

Cold damp and dull – 4 March 2021

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That about sums up today.

Sometimes it’s hard to get up much interest, especially when the sun isn’t interested in doing much work. I assume it is up there, above the clouds, but it’s shirking on it’s job as far as I’m concerned. Nothing but milky white skies and the occasional rain. I’m looking for Spring and not finding it.

Scamp wanted to go for seed compost today and the only place we could be sure of getting any was B&Q. We could have driven to Falkirk, to the garden centre there, but until the Littlest Witch decides we’ve been good enough to allow us to go to garden centres, we’d have to go through the rigmarole of ordering online and then using click and collect. Plus it’s not the same as being free to wander round the plants and look at things. At least B&Q for all its faults, and there are a fair few, has an outdoor section with plants and a selection of compost types and bag sizes. Scamp eventually settled on two bags of seed compost. One for immediate use and another as a backup for later use. We agreed that it’s still a bit early for planting seeds, better to wait until later in the month or possibly even until April. Scotland is always a bit behind the rest of the uk in gardening terms.

Before we went driving through Cumbersheugh to B&Q I thought it might be a good idea to put some petrol in Blue. It’s been so long since I filled the tank, some time last year I believe, that I couldn’t remember which side the filler cap was on. Yes, I know there is a sign on the dash to tell you, but that’s not much use when you’ve just switched the engine off. Besides, it’s something I really should know without a prompt. It was passenger’s side.

Back home and after lunch, which was ‘Gluey Soup’ (Scamp’s description) I went for a walk in St Mo’s with the stated purpose of re-photographing yesterday’s PoD using the macro lens. Perhaps it was that statement of intent that made Scamp decide that a day inside would be better than watching me grovelling around moss covered stones. I did find the source of yesterday’s PoD and as you can see, well hopefully you can see, you get a much more “up close and personal” view with a macro lens. When I was looking at the photos on the computer, later, I was amazed at the detail the new lens resolves. I really am impressed.

The light wasn’t good today, but I was finding some good subjects when I got talking to a bloke who just walks round and round St Mo’s pond. I’d just intended to pass the time of day with him, but instead we stood there for about half an hour talking, or me listening and him talking. Eventually when he left to continue his circuits, what light there had been had gone and I’d missed my chance of more macros. Hopefully the light will be better tomorrow.

Phoned the garage today about the horn problem and the car is booked in for next Wednesday. That will mean a drive to Stirling, breaking the rules set by the Littlest Witch and the rest of her lying cohort, at least that’s the way they are portrayed by the media. While Alex Salmond is held up as a shining light of truth. Aye Right!

Tomorrow, hopefully, we might get out for a walk … together.