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The Lodge – 13 August 2016

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13 AugToday was to be dry, and so it dawned. Dry with a little sprinkling of sun – even better. The weather fairies had been telling the truth for once. That said, we took ourselves off to the wild highlands or at least the Trossachs which is a sort of tame wild highlands. We were pointing the car at David Marshall Lodge or DML for short. Instead of our usual route through Thornhill to Aberfoyle and up the Duke’s Pass to DML, we rebels took the alternative way through blue-rinse Callander and over the other side of the Duke’s Pass to DML. Callander is usually a bottleneck on this drive and so it was today, but the bottleneck was caused by two of the boys in blue (with yellow hi-vis jackets and a speed gun) checking the speed of anyone wishing to venture in to the town from the general direction of Stirling. Not that we had much chance of raising our speed above jogging pace because some numpty at the front had forgotten to bring the red flag with him to indicate that a motor vehicle was approaching. That’s the way it seemed anyway. We passed the polis quietly, sedately and well under the speed limit. The drive up the Duke’s Pass was uneventful and terminally boring. It’s strange that when driving some roads, the scenery is much better in one direction than in the other. I hadn’t noticed how little of interest passed the car as we travelled along this road until today. We arrived at DML only to find that, Shock! Horror! they’ve changed the name to “The Lodge”. Now to someone born and brought up in Larkhall, The Lodge is synonymous with either Lambeg drums, Orange sashes and flute bands or groups of men congregating in a hall with a builder’s square and a pair of dividers over the door. I’d never been involved in any way with either group but that is what The Lodge means to me. Orange or Masonic, these are the only Lodges I’ve known about and this was neither. No sashes of any hue, no aprons and no rolled up trouser legs – do they really do that? What happened to David Marshall? Was he ex-communicated? Did he retire? Was he sacked? Maybe they found out that he didn’t belong to either Lodge, and he had to go. We’ll never know, I guess. However, like the Clyde Arc will always be the Squinty Bridge and the Tradeston Bridge will always be called the Squiggly Bridge, so The Lodge at Aberfoyle will alway be DML to us.

We paid our £3 for a day’s parking and headed off to get some foties and to walk the paths. Set up my tripod below the waterfall and waited until the lighting was right. Took a couple of test shots to get the shutter speed and the exposure right before starting the long exposure shots to get the water looking fluid. Then some prick, sorry if you’re offended by the description, but that’s what he was, walks right in front of me just as I’m taking the first exposure. Photobombed by a moron. Really, they walk among us. I wasn’t for moving, despite the midgies which were clouding round me. He proceeded to clamber up and over some rocks. Maybe he thought he was a rock climber. Nah, you need to have a brain for that. I was waiting for him to fall in, that would have made a good shot. I took a few shots with him in different positions to make sure I could easily edit him out later. When I was happy with what I’d got I walked back to Scamp who was standing near his keeper (who was quite apologetic) and said to her, “Don’t worry, the monkey won’t be in the final shot.” Some folk shouldn’t be allowed out, even with their keeper.

After that, we had to cut our walk short as I was getting eaten alive by midgies. We had a quick lunch at the cafe. Scones are good and coffee is brown(ish) water. Don’t risk it if you like your coffee to taste of coffee. If you normally have your caffeine hit in Starbucks, you probably won’t notice any difference. After that we drove down the other side of the Duke’s Pass and on to the Loch Ard road which is a dead end road after about 20 miles or so. We didn’t venture that far. We stopped in a parking place and Scamp opted to stay in the car while I went looking for more photo opportunities without idiot photobombers. Met a group of mallard ducks that seemed quite happy to pose for me until it became obvious that I had nothing worth eating with me, then they went off in search of better feeders. Photographed some wee sailing dinghies on the loch, passed an outdoor wedding reception in full swing (hope they had lots of DEET spray) and drove back home. Bypassed Callandar just in case the polis hadn’t filled their quota of speed merchants.

Dinner was yesterday’s curries reheated and served with rice and home made flatbreads. I think they tasted even better than yesterday. Maybe it was just that we’d been out in the fresh air. Looking for similar weather tomorrow. That would be nice.

It didn’t get any better – 12 August 2016

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DSC_6090- flickr--225Got up. Had coffee. Went to the physio to be ‘manipulated’, pummelled, stretched and have pins stuck in my shoulder. All the while listening to the Zumba instructor next door exhorting her class to “Don’t give up now!!” (It beats me why people go to these classes to listen to ‘thump-thump’ music while sweating half their body fluids away and being castigated by a skinny sadistic instructor. It must be the masochistic streak in the human race. You wouldn’t catch me being tortured for an hour and paying for it.) Rested for half an hour and then had more pummelling, stretching and ‘manipulation’ before being set free. Until next week. Came home. Had mince with an egg cooked in it served on a piece of bread for lunch (Quite a West of Scotland delicacy). Dinner was provided by Bombay Dreams and as usual their portions were enormous. Half today and half tomorrow, we decided. No point in stuffing ourselves. Not for breakfast, though à la N. D’Ag. No, reheated for tomorrow’s dinner.

It rained all day.

Tomorrow will be better say the weather fairies. Sunday will be sunny and warm they say. We can only live in hope. If not, construction of the Ark will begin tomorrow.

Another Dull Day – 11 August 2016

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMet Fred for coffee in the middle of the day.  Came home.  Went for a walk.  Photographed a two headed swan at St Mo’s.  Came home.  Had mince and tatties with carrots and ‘roop for dinner. That was the highlight of the day by a million miles!  It rained all day.  Heavens, it can only get better now, surely.  Can’t stand the possibility of watching another night of boring olympics badly filmed and with commentary by over excited numpties who would give morons a bad name.  I think I may go and watch paint dry.

Perf (in the rain) – 10 August 2016

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10 aug bWe intended going to Perf on the bus, but after a slight misunderstanding about bus times, we discovered that we’d just missed the connecting bus, so I drove us instead.

We had just arrived in Perf when the rain came on.  It had been threatening all the way up the road, but now the threat became a reality.  I’d only really come to Perf to get my coffee and tea supplies.  After I’d got those necessities, Perf (in the rain) was our oyster.  I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Perf (in the rain), but it’s not exactly the entertainment centre of the universe.  Once you’ve been round the shops and the St John’s centre, there’s not much more to do.  That was it today.  If we’d gone on the bus, we’d probably have had to wait an hour (in the rain) at the Perf bus station which makes the rest of Perf look like Las Vegas.  Now we could drive home whenever we were ready.  Maybe it was a good idea to drive after all.

The rain didn’t really stop all the way home and so it continued after we got back to Cumbersheugh.  Today’s shots were just grab shots.  One taken in the front garden braced against the window sill and the other taken from the back window in the living room.  Sometimes it’s the grab shots that are the best ones.

Looks like more rain again tomorrow, even for Perf.

Blinded by the light – 9 August 2016

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9 Aug bOff to Larky today to visit the optician. I had to have the inevitable drops in my eyes. I don’t think they serve any purpose other than to make my eyes supersensitive to light and also prevent me from focusing properly. After making me look (even more) like a psycho serial killer wearing those scary looking optician’s glasses, he decided that I didn’t need new glasses. That was before he saw the ones I was wearing. Both lenses scratched and scraped. £30 for two new lenses. A bargain at twice the price. Now I’ll be able to see again. Well, after Thursday I’ll be able to see again. Until then I’ll have to wear my groovy green ‘spare pair’ that I bought for £4 in Tiger in Glasgow. A complete bargain. Admired by all who see them!

After a cup of coffee and a scone in The Coalyard in Larky, I could see almost perfectly and drove home. It was nice to be back in Larky for a while, but although much of it is the same, a lot of it has changed a great deal. On the road down to the motorway one of the farmer’s fields was being perforated with about seven or eight machines taking test bores and a sign announced the imminent arrival of yet more new houses. I remember walking with my mum and dad along the right-of-way beside the railway past what my mum called “Daisy Cottage”. I don’t think I ever saw the cottage itself, but there were always a lot of Marguerites beside the path which I presume gave the cottage its name. I really should take my bike over to Larky some day and cycle again those paths before they are dug up and lost forever.

I went out to the Luggie path today to get some photos. The weather tried to keep me in, but I wasn’t having any of it. I keep a nylon rain jacket in the car for such an eventuality. I’m glad I did, because when the rain stopped, the sun came out for a few minutes and I grabbed some shots. The silhouette shot is a composite of an enormous green leaf, quite like a rhubarb leaf, sandwiched with an almost monochrome low viewpoint shot of cowparsley. The other one is genuine.

May go to Perth tomorrow. It depends on the weather.

A New Start – 8 August 2016

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8 augToday we returned to the gym after a couple of months lay off.  Hopefully it will be a return to fitness for us with our stated intention of having two days a week at the gym and pool.  Well, the weans will be back at school next week, so there should be fewer of them in the pool.  It was good to get back to a bit of exercise.

In the afternoon I went for a walk along the railway and got some good shots of a couple of Red Admiral butterflies as well as some abstract looking photos of translucent seed pods on the gorse bushes.  It was a lovely day when I was out, but half an hour earlier it had been heavy rain.  I wasn’t complaining, because the sun shone all the time I was out.

To complete our ‘new start’, Scamp started back at salsa class tonight and her shoulder held up with very little pain or awkwardness.  Tomorrow will be a better test to see how successful it was.

Off to Larkhall tomorrow for eye checks for us both.

Pins & Needles – 7 August 2016

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7 aug2We had already been warned by the BBC that today we would have abnormally, unseasonably high winds. They arrived during the night and stayed most of the day. Apparently we are to have more of the same tomorrow. This was not going to be a cycling day. The high point for me today was going to the physio.

I arrived early and got the paperwork done while he was attending to another patient. Then it was time for my assessment. After he’d poked and prodded and moved my arms in all the different directions they could and couldn’t go, he told me that I’d injured the muscles surrounding my shoulder joint and that it was not as serious as I’d thought. All it needed was a bit of gentle pushing in the right direction. He also suggested that he could use acupuncture to stimulate some regeneration in the muscle tissue. He certainly did a fair bit of manipulation and I could feel the effects of it. Then he took three needles and poked them in. I felt the muscle spasm after the first one, but nothing from the next two. Once he was satisfied with the position of the needles he left me to relax for about half an hour. I had had acupuncture before and knew that it worked. This time it took away a lot of the ache he had put into the muscles and I felt quite relaxed when he came back. After he removed the needles he did some more manipulation and then showed me a few exercises to do between now and my next appointment on Friday. Overall, I felt quite a bit of benefit from the work he had done and will have a go at trying the exercises before Friday.

Scamp was also feeling fitter from her shoulder injury (two old crocks!) and was keen to go to the Sunday Social in Glasgow. It had been a long time since we’d tried to dance on a Sunday and this was to be a test to see how much we could do. Some of the moves were more successful for me and some were more successful for Scamp. Between us we covered most of our repertoire of favourite and not so favourite moves. Enough to say that we could quite happily dance as well as most of them.

Driving home was a bit hairy at times with very strong winds and heavy rain.  As usual, the new section of the M80 did a less than exemplary job of draining away the surface water.  Why don’t the road designers take these things into account when designing motorways in a country where heavy rain is a fact of life, not an occasional hazard.

Two quick shots today taken with the macro lens on the Nikon. I’d seen the water beads on the Gazania when we came home and of course, you can always rely on one of the pink roses to look good in the rain. Hoping for some dry weather tomorrow and a bit less wind. Hoping, too, to get to the gym to begin the process of getting in shape again with some treadmill, some bike work and a swim.  We’re both banned from the weight machines for now. Holiday is over, there’s work needing done.

Serendipity – 6 August 2016

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6 AugLast night was a late night. It was Saturday morning about 1am when I finally dragged myself to bed. As a result, we woke late this morning, or should I say ‘later’ this morning. We had intended to go to Edinburgh, hereinafter referred to by its proper name of Embra. It was touch and go whether we would go or not, but finally we decided that we should just go, as there was nowhere else that interested us.

In Embra we walked through the Conference Square canyon.  I hadn’t realised just how ugly the Conference Centre was.  What a waste of concrete.   From there, up the Grassmarket through the crowds and on to the Royal Mile. That’s where the real ‘Maddies’ were. For a fair few blocks, the Royal Mile is pedestrianised at festival time and so it was today. Scamp was interested in a couple of groups of a cappella singers and I was just interested in taking photos of the nutters.

The fringe is interesting, but after a while you get fed up listening to the hype from these self centred eejits and have to get back to reality. That is what we did. We walked down The Bridges and on to the St James Centre. What a disaster that is now. All that’s left in the entire centre is John Lewis. Everything else is closed. It appears that the whole site is being rebuilt while the JL shop remains open. It is a really depressing site (and sight) and will remain that way for FOUR years. The new centre isn’t due to open until 2020. There are loads of ‘artists impressions’ or AutoCad renders of the proposed new retail opportunity. It looks very smart, but it is very difficult to work out what you are looking at as there are no landmarks on the beautifully rendered artwork, and let’s face it, it’s Embra. It has a few landmarks!

From the disaster that was the St James Centre, we walked through St Andrew’s Square (there are a lot of saints in Embra!) and on to George Street. Like the Royal Mile, part of George Street was pedestrianised for the festival with lots of drinks venues pitched on the roadway. We stopped at one for a beer (an expensive beer at £2.50 for a half pint!) and that’s where the ‘Serendipity’ came in. We were sitting at a table across from an older woman. As usual, Scamp got into conversation with her, but I must admit that for once she didn’t instigate it. It turned out that she was on a bus tour to see the Tattoo and she had come from Cambridge. She knew Baldock and also Little Downham. However, she had lived in South Wales before she got married and knew where Scamp’s aunt lived in Maesteg. Thirdly, she had been to Inverness last year and had gone on another bus tour to Skye and stayed in the Pink House in Portree! It was almost as if she had read our minds and plotted three places where we had synchronicity.

When we left her and George St then turned onto Princes Street, we could feel that the weather had turned.  It was cooler and there were spits and spots of rain in the wind, so we headed for the train and home. No lunch out today, but dinner was provided by Golden Bowl and was delicious. Rain and high winds forecast for tomorrow and I’ve got an appointment with the physio to see what’s wrong with my shoulder. Maybe he’ll just give it a rub with the magic sponge and it will be as good as new. Maybe!

Fish Again – 5 August 2016

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E8051190-Edit- flickr--218Out fairly early to pick up our fish and crab meat from Oyster Oyster in Linlithgow. While we were walking into the town from the carpark, I saw this view of St Michael’s church spire pointing upwards behind the trees. Everyone thinks this is part of Linlithgow Palace and it looks as if it should be, but no. It dates from 1964 and is made mainly of aluminium.

When we got back it was time for a technology injection with a coffee or two with Val. It was good to exchange problems and solutions with someone who understands why that borked Nexus is a “wee shalenge”[sic]. As I expected, he suggested yet another way to solve the Nexus problem, or maybe just a chance to create a new problem.

When I got back it was time to prepare the main course. To speed up the preparation of the sauce, I decided to slice the ginger with the mandolin. Yes, JIC, I managed to slice my finger once again. The good news is that it was ginger I was slicing, not orange, so no acidic juice got in the cut. However, I had to continue the prep with two plasters on the cut and my hand in a plastic glove. Thanks to Nurse Scamp, it wasn’t any worse. Fish is now prepped and bread is baked without any more dramas. Just waiting for our guests to arrive.

An Afternoon with the Beastie Boys (and Girls) – 4 August 2016

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4 augNow that was a much better day, wasn’t it. The answer here was a resounding Yes! Spent the afternoon finishing off my latest read, Cloud Atlas. Not the best book I’ve ever read. Five or six disparate stories that were tenuously linked. I’d previously read The Bone Clocks and enjoyed it tremendously, but apart from the cloned server, I didn’t like any of the subjects. Maybe I wasn’t concentrating enough, but I just couldn’t see the point of the whole thing. I’d made the mistake of buying the book – physical book, from a bookshop – without even flicking through it. It was a fairly substantial paperback, but when I opened it, my heart sank. Such a small font. It made it really difficult to read, even with my best reading glasses on. That and the silly phonetic spelling made we want to give up before I’d begun. However, Kindle to the rescue, I downloaded an e-book version and at least I was able to change the font size, if not the irritating attempt at an 18th century dialogue. It’s finished. I gave it only one star on Amazon and will do the same in Goodreads. I’m glad I didn’t read it before Bone Clocks because I would have missed out on an interesting and thought provoking novel. Sorry Hazy.

Today! Scamp was out in the morning having coffee with family. After finishing CA, I set to, to hoover, or to be more exact, Dyson the downstairs. That done and Facebook checked out, I attempted today’s Hard sudoku. It was certainly hard. Just after 10pm tonight I finished it using more than a few ‘hints’ from Enjoy Sudoku on my phone.  Anyway, it too is done. As you can imagine, I called a halt to the number crunching earlier, in time for lunch. Afterwards, the weather was still holding up so I went out on my bike, looking for beasties. Hoped to find some dragonflies in far flung places, but none were to be found. Instead, I found a couple of hover flies, a hungry damselfly, a crane fly AKA Jenny Longlegs and a Burnet Moth. I’ve not seen any Burnet Moths for the last couple of years and it was a pleasure to find a couple of photogenic ones today. It was a pleasant day for cycling. Not much wind, warm without being hot and with just a few rain showers to cool a lazy cyclist down without getting too wet.

Tomorrow will be a busy day, so I’m glad I got some relaxation time today.