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Gardening – 28 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Today I was determined to get my next batch of potatoes planted.

Before I could really get started with planting them, I had to tackle the grass in the back garden. Scamp had been saying for weeks that she needed to start cutting the grass and since I had nothing to do and the sun was shining, I took it upon myself to cut the grass. It didn’t take too long, because there majority of the grass was fairly short, but in the middle of the garden there were great tufts of the stuff, so that was where I started. Chop down the big stuff and the rest will fall. That theory seemed to work. Next was the time consuming edges.

My method here was to lift all the pots from an edge and use the mower, rather than the strimmer to cut all the straggly bits in one fell swoop. I did two sides in that way, but the other two would need to be strimmed. That worked fairly well too, except I accidentally pressed the starter and instead of strimming, I found myself digging a short trench in the grass. Now all that was needed was the cleaning of the mower and the strimmer. As usual, that took even more time than the actual cutting. A squirt of WD40 to keep everything clean and they could all go back into their boxes for a week or two.

I’d tested my new potato bucket yesterday and although there were no green leaves poking out of the soil, the bucket allows you to see what’s going on underneath and there were a healthy number of white roots appearing.

Using the soil that is left in the old raised bed, I managed to half fill two potato bags and plant three seed potatoes in each one. With the tops rolled down to hopefully keep them open, they are now sitting under the old Rowan tree ready to produce lots of Charlotte potatoes for us.

I had just enough time to get some photos of flowers in the garden before I started making dinner which was Carrot & Lentil Curry. Not long after I’d taken the photos and had the curry bubbling away, I got a text from Scamp to say that they had missed the connection for Glasgow at Perth. The Witches weekend away was turning into a disaster. Broken down bus yesterday and a missed connection today. They eventually got a connecting bus after a half hour wait. And while they were doing that I was at home processing the photos.

Best shot and PoD was a group of Honesty plants that just seem to continuously self-seed. Our Magnolia Stellata came a close second.

Scamp eventually arrive about an hour late and I picked her up then we had dinner together comparing our experiences of the days ‘off the leash’.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet Val and Fred for coffee.

Off the leash again! – 27 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was off to Aviemore with the rest of the Witches this morning which left me with a lot of time on my hands.

After breakfast I read for a while before settling on The Crow Road as my target for today. Crow Road is a road in Glasgow. The Crow Road (all capitals) is a novel by Iain Banks about the twists and turns in a Scottish family. But what I’ve always known as The Crow Road is an equally twisty road that climbs from Lennoxtown to Fintry which sits in the ‘waist’ of Scotland, between the River Clyde and the River Forth. It’s a challenging road in a car and it must be terrifying on a bike. Motorcyclists love it for its twist and turns and changes of elevation. I’ve driven it in Reliant Robin three wheeler, but never on a bike or a motorbike, nor would I like to. Today I was driving sedately up to the Campsie Car Park to park and watch the nutters on their bikes, both motor and road variety.

That was one reason to go, but the other and equally interesting was to walk down the path to the foot of the waterfall, the Campsie Falls. Treacherous path down to the rocks and boulders, but not impossible if you take care. I’m too old and fragile now to risk a twisted or broken ankle just to get a photo of the waterfalls. Daft, but not stupid … most of the time. While I was there grabbing photos of the falls, folk were tramping around behind me, just folk out for a walk in the fresh air. I did notice one girl perched on a big boulder, reading, when I made my descent to the pool. The next time I saw her she was swimming in the pool. I was careful not to take any shots of her, just in case, but that water must have been cold. Brave girl.

After I’d been there for half an hour or more, I had all the photos I was going to get, besides folk were bringing their dogs down and the dogs were getting in my way, so I called it a day and started the climb back up to the car park. I’ve heard it said that the way down is easier than the way up, and I’ve experienced that myself, but for some reason, the way back up was easier than the path down. Easier, but not easy. I was out of breath by the time I got on to the zig zag path that some sensible person had made. It took longer but it was easier on the legs and the lungs.

A bottle of water revived me and I was on my way back down the hill and onto the main road fairly quickly.

PoD was a view from the car park looking west towards Loch Lomond. The nickname for the parking place is The Car Park in the Sky! That’s a good name for it.

Back home Scamp phoned to tell me of her adventures with a “Murderer” on the bus who was taken away by the polis. He was over 80, Scamp guessed, and slightly inebriated. He was led off still shouting that he was a “Murderer”. Then the bus broke down and they had to wait half an hour for the next bus to pick them up. Still, they appeared to be in good spirits and heading for dinner which may have been posher than mine, but I enjoyed mine.

Tomorrow, I may do some gentle gardening and maybe a jaunt into town.

A lazy end to the week – 26 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was going to FitSteps and I was left to write a blog and get organised.

I have been keeping a log of my blood pressure, once a week for the last month and a bit, so I got that sorted out first and recorded it in a spreadsheet. I also needed to write yesterday’s blog and by the time Scamp had returned, I had finished and posted it. Then I drove up to the Health Centre to book an appointment with the nurse who asked me to keep the log of my BP. After that I was free of most of my commitments.

We went over to Brodens for lunch. Unfortunately they had a group in from a funeral, so we were put in the upstairs lounge and the poor bloke who works there had to keep going up and down the stairs all the time we were in. By the way he spoke, it sounds like we weren’t the only folk who had been in the upstairs lounge. Poor guy. Food was just as good as usual and so was the pint of Guinness!

Later in the afternoon, Scamp started her packing for her two day visit to Aviemore. I packed my camera bag and went for a walk in St Mo’s in the sun. It was a lovely day and I really enjoyed the walk. So much so, that I quite lost track of time and was shocked when I was walking home just after 6pm.

Watched another silly episode of Glow Up and wondered at the amount of time these youngsters take to put on their, often theatrical, makeup.

PoD was a low viewpoint shot of a fallen blossom flower on the path to St Mo’s. I really liked the isolation of the flower from the trees behind.

I think Scamp is sorted now and has everything packed. I’m intending dropping her off at the Town Centre just before 9am, then I’m coming back to have breakfast before I decide what to do with the rest of the day and where I’m going. I’ve a couple of options so, as usual, it will depend on the weather.

 

Off to Larky – 25 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Driving up to Larky this morning to get my annual eye check.

It was the usual rigmarole, reading from the charts and assessing brightness differences between the green and red panels. The “Is it better with … or without? … With or without?”. Then the hated spot the white light test.The outcome was that I’m slightly more shortsighted than I was last time. I’ve to go back in a week to have some checks on my eye pressure done. It was a new optician who looked as if he’d just finished secondary school, but that’s probably just a sign that I’m getting older!

I’d managed to break my old sunglasses earlier in the week when we were in Sunny Dundee and Scamp encouraged me to “get a DECENT pair”, ie not a pair of Poundshop ones. I bought a pair from Boots and they worked well, They would have been perfect to cut out the glare from the drops the optician had put in my eyes today if I’d brought it with me! The glasses were in my raincoat which was in the house.

I’d driven us up to Larky, but Scamp was driving us out into the countryside because I couldn’t see to drive. We went to Chatelherault for a walk and a bite to eat afterwards. It was a lovely afternoon and warm when we were in the sun and out of the wind. We walked over the Duke’s Bridge to the Cadzow Oaks and sat under one of the ancient trees. Then we walked back to the cafe for a coffee and a scone each.

Scamp had to drive home because I still wasn’t safe to drive. I know she doesn’t like motorway driving, but there wasn’t really any other option today and she managed perfectly well.

Later in the afternoon I walked down to the shops via St Mo’s to get some chicken for tonight’s Paella. It was on the way to St Mo’s that I got today’s PoD which is, I think, some apple blossom from a low branch of a tree.

Back home and after dinner, I managed to work out how to get Lightroom to automatically apply lens correction when importing photos. I realise this will mean nothing to anyone reading this, but it has been bugging me for a couple of weeks now and I was one click away from fixing it last week. However, finally I’ve found the answer until Adobe ‘improve’ the procedure. I’m going to put a link at the bottom of today’s post to remind me!

Watched another two episodes of Death in Paradise – Series 1. One of the best nonsense programmes on BBC. Ok, the accent isn’t quite proper Caribbean and the acting is a bit wooden, but it’s easy, relaxing watching. So much better than the last series.

Tomorrow we’re back to normal again, hopefully. Scamp’s intending to go to FitSteps and I’m maybe going to have a quiet hour reading.

Link: Automatically apply lens correction when importing photos.

 

Connections Connecting – 24 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

There wasn’t much to say about today other than it all went smoothly … for once.

Breakfast in the hotel and then with our bags already packed we signed out and walked down the hill to catch a bus. And that’s where I saw The Beast. It’s a Ryker Trike with either a 600cc or 900cc engine and the meanest looking accessories you’re likely to see anywhere. I saw it first on Monday when we were climbing the hill to the hotel, but I wanted a few more shots of it today when I knew we had time in hand. Time in hand, yes. Money in hand for a 900cc trike? I think not. With prices starting at £10,000 plus delivery, it’s a bit out of my league, but it is a smart looking piece of kit. We walked on.

Found the place the Ember buses call home and waited for our bus to arrive. It didn’t take long and after the driver had done his visual check to make sure there were no fivers stuck in the seats, he allowed us on. Now we knew the routine. Scamp went first and scanned her phone then her card. I just needed to scan my card and a few minutes later we were on our way. Another comfortable journey and were dropped at Cumbersheugh bus stance where an X3 filled the space the Ember 3 had just vacated. That got us home and the sun was still shining.

Scamp walked down to the shops to get dinner which was a strange concoction of Hasselback Potatoes with rosemary, Masala spiced chicken breast and Peas, Courgettes and Leeks. All cooked in the oven except the greens which were done in the microwave. I don’t think I liked the veg, but I can’t say why. Scamp said it was ‘alright’ but her chicken was tough. Maybe we’ll get back to auld claes and purrich tomorrow and we’ll feel better for it.

We did go dancing tonight in Kirsty’s class, but it was all a bit of a shambles. Too many folk who hadn’t practised since last week’s class (and I include myself in that group), trying to dance on a floor that was far too small. It was a disaster waiting to happen that turned, instead, into a shambles. I must try to put this Tango together before next week and that will mean practising.

PoD was The Beast. Just a dream for me, but for some lucky individual, a bike to turn heads!

That was it for the end of the belated birthday present. A really good three days away in a place we haven’t been to in a long while.

Tomorrow I’m out in the morning to go to Larky to get my eyes tested.

A walk around the town – 23 April 2024

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Just a gentle stroll along the promenade.

We walked down through the town and made sure that Braithwaite’s was open, it was. Then we walked down to the V&A again and I concentrated on taking photos of folk going through underneath the strange concrete structure while Scamp waited patiently. She was watching toddlers in wet gear walking through the shallow fountains in the play park. I also took some photos of the giant metal sculpture of a whale that stands above the play park and has a sort of maze of stainless steel bars with speakers playing what I assume to be ‘Whale Music’. Although some of it sounded like a toilet being flushed continuously. What do I know, I’m just a photog! Got some photos of the ship Discovery and couldn’t imagine people actually sailing it into pack ice in the Antarctic. Further on, we watched the airies doing circuits and bumps, (ie. Practising Takeoffs and Landings). We didn’t actually get as far as the airport, but the planes were flying low overhead with their landing gear down and we assumed they were practising. Onward past a gigantic Tesco store, we reached a boring straight stretch that seemed to go on for miles, so we made the decision to cross the road and walk up the hill beside Magdelen Green. That would take us up to the Perth Road where there were supposed to be lots of restaurants.

Lots of wee shops and lots of students buying lunch from one shop in particular. Didn’t get the name, but obviously a very popular take-away. Not so much the Vegan restaurant which we passed twice and both times it was empty. Scamp was looking for a place for a drink as she was thirsty, preferably somewhere with a beer garden. There was one which fitted the specification, but she thought there were too many students there, right across the road from the Uni. However, eventually I convinced her it would be ok and we had a Margarita pizza to share with a G ’n’ T for Scamp and a pint of house Pilsner for me, part of a deal. It was a bad decision and I should have known better. The pizza was underbaked and doughy and the beer was all gas and no taste. Should have listened to Scamp. Paid and left. We didn’t see very many restaurants, but lots of pubs (without beer gardens).

Then I remembered that there was a Lemmings statue I wanted to photograph. ‘Lemmings’ as in the old computer game so we followed Mr Google’s directions and there they were at a little park we’d been to yesterday. Scamp wasn’t amused by the trio of Lemmings’ antics. We went down a set of steps that took us down the hill from the Lemmings to the railway and from there we found where we’d get the bus home to Glasgow. We needed that assurance that we would get home!

We walked on into town and bought some coffee and tea in Braithwaite’s. We wandered round the town centre looking for a suitable place for dinner tonight. We’d thought of going to the place the bloke in the hotel had recommended, but it was quite a distance from where we were staying, so settled on a Brewdog pub we’d chanced upon as we’d had a really good lunch in a Brewdog in St Andrews a few years ago. From there it was an easy 10min walk to the hotel.

The Brewdog was a bit of a let down. Very limited menu and Scamp was hoping for a Chicken Burger, but it appeared they no longer did chicken burgers. Oh well, just across the road was the only Wetherspoons in Dundee. We went there instead and after some arguing, discovered they did Chicken Burgers, so Scamp was sorted. I had Chicken Tikka Masala and it was very good, as was Scamp’s burger. A glass of Shiraz for Scamp and a pint of Brewdog IPA just to confuse the issue.

Walked back to our hotel and had a couple of G ’n’ Ts to toast the three day/two night’s of a belated birthday present. Lots to remember, lots to forget. Dundee’s not the city it was. Not the one we remembered going to all those years ago, but places change and Dundee is changing. Not sure yet if it’s for the better. The city break, though, that’s a winner. We’d do it again, all being well.

PoD turned out to be another view through that triangular tunnel in the V&A, but from the other side. I now realise I like the look of the building more from the outside than from the inside. Too much empty, wasted space in it, or maybe we just didn’t explore enough, maybe there’s more to it.

Tomorrow we pack our bags and look for a black Ember bus to take us home.

 

Making Connections – 22 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

We were up early, packing our bags ready to catch the X3 that would take us up to the town centre.

It arrived on time and dropped us at the bus stance in Cumbersheugh. That’s where we caught the the Ember E3 bus, the electric bus. The driver scanned the QR code on Scamp’s phone and then we both scanned our ‘pensioner pass’ and we were on the bus. It wasn’t exactly silent running, but you can blame NLC or any council these days for not doing the proper maintenance on the roads. The system is really clever. The driver reads the display in front of him which tells him where his next pickup point is and when he has to get there. This wasn’t the X3, this was a real express, only stopping where there was a person waiting. It took us less than half the time it would take a normal service bus and were dropped off at the train station in Dundee in no time.

We were way too early to book in, so we went for a coffee and a bite to eat in Nero, then found Braithwaite’s Coffee shop which was closed, as were many of the shops in Dundee on a Monday. We wandered around the shops that were open and were surprised with the state of them. The big mall we remembered was now like a giant Barras Market. It used to look so grand with its three tiers of shops. Now it was just mainly junk shops and charity shops. We came away disillusioned.

We decided we’d better find the hotel we were staying at and after crossing and re-crossing busy roads we were there. Booked in and a very chatty receptionist told us the best places to eat in the town. We thanked him and found our room on the 1st floor. No view from the window unless you count Papa John’s and a casino as interesting.

We walked down to the promenade that runs beside the River Tay and visited the V&A which was one of my reasons for wanting to go to Dundee. Impressive from the outside, and almost as impressive  on the inside. A good few photos were taken, most really arty. It’s that sort of place.

Next on the schedule was food. We couldn’t find the restaurant the bloke at reception recommended, but we did find a Tapas place called Black Mamba and decided that would suit us. It was fairly good food, but maybe too much oil in mine. I think it was down to the Padron Peppers in a light batter. I enjoyed then, but they’ve kept returning all evening.

We walked back to the hotel and bought a bottle of Hortus gin and half a dozen cans of tonic on the way. The rest is a blur!

PoD is a view through the V&A to the Tay Road Bridge and further on to Tayport.  The V&A is a great place to find silhouettes!

Intending to have another visit to the V&A tomorrow and my stated intention since this visit was mooted is to get some coffee beans in Braithwaite’s, the oldest shop in Dundee.

A lazy Sunday – 21 April 2024

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Weather wise, it was a dull day with just a hint of rain.

Spoke to Hazy in the morning and heard about their holiday. It seemed to be a lovely peaceful place, but the house and especially the bedroom weren’t really anything to write home about.

We watched a Chinese F1 GP that was fairly eventful at times, but in the end it was the usual suspects who stood on the podium.

I went out for a walk in the afternoon once the rain had petered out. There wasn’t much sunshine, but I did find some interesting moss fruiting bodies with bright red stems where they are usually green. One of them got PoD.

Spoke to Jamie later and he sent us some photos of the house revealed after its scaffolding and plastic sheeting had been removed. It looked very good, sitting proudly in the sunshine with a roof line that wasn’t wonky any more! Beautiful house.

That was about it for this lazy Sunday. Hoping for more good weather tomorrow.

On the bus – 20 April 2024

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Just as I promised yesterday, today we went somewhere interesting on the bus.

Got the X3 up to the Town Centre, then got the bus to Dunfermline our destination and “somewhere interesting”. Quite a comfortable journey and it was good not having to drive. We started off as usual with a cup of coffee in Nero and then walked round to the Abbey which is in ruins, but still interesting ruins. Clambered down a very narrow spiral staircase, which if we’re being pedantic isn’t really a spiral, but a helix. Wandered round most of the abbey and then crossed over to the Abbey Church which is a functioning church, not a ruin. Scamp wandered off to speak to the organist who was rehearsing his music for tomorrow’s choir piece which was written by John Rutter, one of Scamp’s heroes. While they were talking I took some photos of the inside of the church and also found a beautiful modern lectern made from layers of oak and ebony laminated and curved into shape.

From the church we walked down into the park and found the hot house was open, and warm, trapping the sun but excluding the cool wind. I got a few photos of exotic plants growing in the glasshouse. It seemed that the formal gardens were still in limbo. Not quite warm enough to burst into full bloom, much the same as Scamp’s own garden.

By then it was lunch time and we headed back into town and got a table in Wetherspoons where we had our usual Fish ’n’ Chips with a G ’n’ T for Scamp and a pint of Birds & Bees for me. First time I’ve tasted it in draft.

From there we walked up the street. Scamp heading for M&S and me heading for Waterstones, but there was little in either shop to interest us. We walked down to the bus station which, while not the most interesting place, was at least 100% more attractive than Cumbersheugh’s Gulag. The bus arrived on time and we were soon in that Gulag waiting for an X3.

PoD was the Abutilon Pictum Thompsonii or Chinese Lanterns plant we saw in the hot house at Pittencrief Park.

No plans for tomorrow so far.

Quandry – 19 April 2024

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Quandary: “a state of not being able to decide what to do about a situation in which you are involved”

We were in a quandary today. Should we go out for lunch or go for a walk. Eventually we came up with the elegant solution to do both, but not at the same time. But first Scamp went out to her Fitsteps class and I set about excising some useless parts of my 512GB SSD. It wasn’t a surgical gloves and a scalpel type of excision, just a heart in the mouth, digital one.

One of the nice things about third party software is that it allows you to search the hidden parts of a Mac that Apple don’t like you poking your nose into. The software I was using was Daisy Disk. A clever little program that shows you where all your junk is stored in your computer. It was only recently I discovered that you can search deeper in to the all the Ones and Zeros that hold Apple’s secrets. To do that you have to make a request to Apple, through Daisy Disk. Then you are given a code that will open up restricted areas on the drive. This isn’t the Dark Web, just a little bit of poking around where we shouldn’t be. The problem was that my 512GB SSD was almost full, because it had 150GB of Apple backups stuffed away in a corner, but with a bit of careful digging around, I could get rid of it and free up an additional 30% of space. That space was being used to produce a backup of the operating system that I didn’t know about until recently and didn’t need, as I do my own backups ever week. Apple, like Mickysoft are devious.

When Scamp came home, I had performed the surgery and the drive was looking healthy again. I’d suggested we go to Hamilton for a curry, but neither of us could be bothered driving there, so instead, at Scamp’s suggestion we went to Mango in Haggs. It’s an Indian and Italian restaurant where you can mix and match your starters and main courses between the two culinary areas. As it was, we both stuck to Indian today:

Vegetable Pakora and Vegetable Boona with Rice for Scamp
Chicken Pakora and Chicken Rogan Josh with Rice for me.
We had a plain Naan to share.

Most of the food was fine, but Scamp reckoned that her pakora was made with plain flour, not Garam Flour. And we both agreed that the naan bread tasted more like a flatbread. Foodies!

Instead of driving home, we took a wee single track road that led us down to the Forth & Clyde canal. Where we walked west towards Auchinstarry, but turned when we were at the first lock on the canal and walked back to the car. Lots to see today. A big bunch of yellow Celandine growing in the crotch of a tree and more on the ground. Some white Wood Anemone close by. I also saw and photographed a Dark-Edged Bee-Fly which I’ve never seen before in Scotland. Another sign of Global Warming perhaps? None of these got PoD. That went to a bunch of dandelions growing from the cobbles at the canal lock.

We drove home on a beautiful spring day with sunshine and blue skies, but with a cold wind from the east. I just knew that Scamp would be desperate to get back to get her grass cut. The first cut of the year. My job was to lift the heavy plant pots out of the way so she could strim behind them and then to replace the strimmer cord when it broke, before replacing the pots again.

Not a bad day. I really enjoyed the walk, but I think I’d go back to Hamilton rather than Mango next time, if only for the naan bread!

Tomorrow we may take the bus somewhere interesting.