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A drive along Clydeside – 27 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAlthough it was raining very heavily when we woke up, the weather improved all through the morning, so we decided to go for a drive in the sunlight, rather than go to the pool today. I fancied going to Culross (sorry Hazy) and Scamp wanted to go the Clydeside. We settled on Clydeside.

Rather than go straight down the motorway and waste hours going through the miles of roadworks from the M8 flyover to Hamilton I went through Airdrie, Newmains and Waterloo. Don’t worry if you haven’t got the foggiest idea of where I am, it’s not motorway, that’s all you need to know. Weather hadn’t been brilliant, but when we got to Waterloo we had a view across the Clyde Valley to Stonehouse and Strathaven bathed in bright sunshine making the grass glow! So that’s what sunshine is like.

Drove along Clydeside to Dobbies, or Sandyholm as we used to know it and got the above photo there, looking across to the sunny side of the river. Had a pleasant enough lunch, but inside of the garden centre was a shambles as they were getting rid of the Christmas tat and preparing for Easter which as we all know is when garden centres make the most money. “Buy your plants at Easter to plant them in your garden. Buy the plants that will actually grow in May.” I was told that by a gardener years ago and it’s very true.

On the way home we stopped at Mauldslie to try to get some photos, but the sun had gone for the day and we were back to ISO 10000 again. Time to go home. Still, I walked in the sunshine today again. Things may be looking up.

Oh yes, and it took just over 10 minutes to get through the roadworks on the motorway. But if I’d gone that way to start with I wouldn’t have seen Stonehouse bathed in sunshine.

A grey day, lemonade scones and a still life – 26 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnother uninteresting day with nothing much to recommend it.  Windy and wet with occasional chances for the sun to burst through for a few minutes.  Driving rain from the south for a change.  It washes the windows if nothing else.  Every time the I decided to take a walk and get some photos in the bright spells, the rain would start again.  Scamp and I went to the gym instead and did a bit of exercising, but as she had a lunch appointment, we didn’t get a chance for a swim.

Did a bit of painting, but left it unfinished again.  Made some lemonade scones.  Simple recipe:

  • 2 cups self-raising flour
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 150 ml double cream
  • 150 ml lemonade

Makes roughly 12 scones and they are as light as a feather.  Even Scamp agrees, it must be so.

Today’s photo is physalis 1 .  It was produced using a combination of different technologies.  The camera was mounted on a tripod, an old Bilora that I bought second hand for a couple of quid in a house clearing about forty years ago.  The other technology was the brand new Pixel remote trigger.  Old and new technologies managed to produce a good image when used together.  Hoping for good weather tomorrow, but more snow forecast.  We’ll see.

 

  1. Just keep repeating “Physalis, Physalis, Physalis”.  Then when someone asks you what they are, you don’t blurt out “SYPHILIS!” as someone I was sitting next to at a restaurant did.  A conversation stopper. ↩

Those who can, do … 26 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bAnd those who can’t, teach.  And those who can’t teach?  Well, we met one tonight.  He thinks he’s a great dancer and now he thinks he’s a great teacher.  Oh dear, wrong on two counts.  We’d enjoyed our own salsa class and then I’d given in and said I’d go to a Bachata class afterwards.  Bit mistake.  The fat bloke wasn’t there tonight, instead we had to put up with the other Fat Bloke who appears to have been dancing for a year now and “thinks he’s god’s gift.”  Not my words, but those of one Scamp’s friends and someone who’s opinion I hold in the highest regard, as well as being a great dancer.  Anyway, I survived the hour although my tongue was really sore at the end from me biting it.  If FB2 is taking the class, I’ll be giving it a miss.  It looks as if AdS is on a downward slope.

That was this evening.  The day wasn’t much to write home about.  I went for a walk in the afternoon to avoid Scamp’s Gems group practise and it rained and the light was terrible as is the norm in January.

Previous to that I was to be found rolling around in the boot of Scamp’s car trying with part success to repair a broken boot lock.  Hopefully I’ll get a switch tomorrow and perform the open heart surgery on it to get it locking (and more importantly unlocking) to order again.

Overall, not the best Monday ever, but it will be better tomorrow – heavy rain forecast.

A Brush With Art – 24 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFred and I went to Cass Art today for a mixed media workshop.  For once, this was a workshop which would have benefited from the wearing of industrial protective clothing like a boiler suit.  However to contradict the title of today’s blog, no brushes were used in this art class.  We did use pipettes, painting knives, sandpaper and kitchen towel, but no brushes were harmed in any way.  It seemed to be an attempt at selling the Pebeo abstract paint products we were encouraged to use by a poorly prepared and inexperienced ‘tutor’ who admitted half way through the class that she hadn’t actually used these products very much.  Hmm, as an ex teacher, I’d have to say that there were times when I ‘winged it’ through a class, but I was so much better than this – most of the time!  I got the impression that the ‘sell’ was not very successful either, as very few of our peers bought any of the Pebeo products after the class.  This is by far the poorest presentation I’ve been to at Cass Art.  As far as the product goes, it seemed that there was very little creative artistry possible with it.  Strange effects, but not a lot of control available.  The paint looked like a thinned down version of Hammerite at a vastly inflated price.  Maybe I just don’t understand this abstract nonsense art.

Once we got back and I’d had my lunch I spent the afternoon searching out the tracks from the ’70s album ‘Rockbuster’ on YouTube.  It’s amazing the amount of music that’s available there.

Today’s photo solves two problems:

  1. I had no opportunity to take any pictures today.

  2. I’d recently bought a wireless remote for the E-PL5 and hadn’t managed to try it properly.

Problem solved. Picture taken and the remote works perfectly. In case you’re interested, it’s a Pixel RW-221/UC1 Wireless Shutter Remote.  Such a pity that Oly didn’t think to produce their own remote for this excellent camera, like Nikon did.

The Wild West – 23 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bAccording to the weather reports and the weather apps, today was to be a good weather day.  They lied.

We drove down to Troon to get some fresh air, a walk along the beach and lunch.  The thermometer in the car read 5ºc when we arrived, but it lied too.  That didn’t take into account the windchill from a cold south wind blowing across the beach.  The kite surfers didn’t seem to mind, in fact they were revelling in the windy conditions.  We stood and watched them for quite a while after walking along a very untidy beach.  Loads of debris from the recent storms, Frank being the most likely suspect.  Apparently there were whole trees washed up on the south beach.

After walking back to the town we wandered round the vast selection of shops Troon has to offer.  It’s like so many of Scotland’s, in fact Britain’s towns these days and seems that the charity shops outnumber the full price shops.  Lunch was in the Lido which was very busy, most of the background noise being contributed by the girls at a ten year old’s birthday party.  Food was good, although my burger was thicker but with a smaller diameter than previously.  Scamp had Churrasco barbacued chicken skewers which looked delicious, but she said they were “Ok”.  She’s a tough critic, I know from experience.

After stopping on the way for provisions in Waitrose, we drove home.  After we stopped near the house, Scamp found a wallet on the road next to the car.  I suggested we hand it over to the police and let them deal with it, so we turned tail and drove up to the police station.  Felt better for doing that.  It was our good Samaritan deed of the day.  Hope the poor bloke got his wallet.

Picture on the right is not as it was taken.  The kite the bloke, I’m guessing it was a bloke, was using was a dark blue and grey and it was not quite in the frame, so I clipped a nice orange one from a diffent shot and replaced the dull one with it.  There, that looks much better!

Rain predicted for tomorrow.  What a surprise.

A Different Sort of Day – 22 January 2016

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combo bAfter a downer of a week, weatherwise and otherwise, we woke today to … rain. Woke up at around 6.00am to rain battering against the window. Turned over and went back to sleep. Next thing I knew it was 9.00am and it was still raining. Oh well, I’d decided to go in to Glasgow for a wander and the weather app on my phone said it would be sunny by midday – fat chance says I. By the time I’d got myself organised and finished just one more chapter of Strange Loyalties by the late William McIlvanney, a very introspective novel with wonderful use of language, by the time I finally put it down, it was getting on for 11.30. Scamp had declined my offer of a run into town, so I went myself on the train. Got parked easily for a change at the station.

When I was walking up to the station, the rain had stopped and wonder of wonders, there was blue sky up there. At 12.10, sitting in the Glasgow train, the clouds parted and the sun shone. It stayed that way for the rest of the day. The weather app was right, well, ten minutes late, but we can forgive it that. In Glasgow I went up to JL, but they had no bargains – well, they hardly ever do. Had a play around with one of the Oly 4/3 DSLRs I’ve been watching coming down in price. Second hand of course. Unfortunately I handled the posh V2 version first, so the viewfinder wasn’t as clear in the second, more affordable, one. That said, it has come EVFs have come a long way since the Sony F707, or even the removable EVF of the Oly E-PL5. Sorry for all that technospeak, Jic, it’s over now, you can open your eyes again.

Lots of lovely light in Bucky Street and interesting people too. I have to thank the community policeman who noticed I’d dropped the viewfinder from the E-PL5 in my rush to get a shot. Thank you very much whoever you are, I never really got a chance to thank you properly. I know it’s unlikely you will ever read this, but I feel better now. I walked all the way down past St Enoch’s to the Clyde walkway and found even more photo opportunities.

Back up to the station, back home and a piece ‘n’ cheese for a late lunch before Scamp came home from a “Witches” meeting.

What a difference a bit of sun makes.

Flooers – 21 January 2016

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You can tell when it’s been a really bad day photographically when the POD is flowers, especially cut flowers.  These ones are really quite pretty, but they still tell a tale.  It was a dismal day for taking photos.  Hardly any light from mid morning until night.  It rained all day and it was cold.  Not much to get up for really, but I did.  I made the superhuman effort and got up and went out.

I went to meet Fred who has even more to moan about than me.  He’s had to endure the pain of a failed tooth extraction and then the added misery of oral surgery to remove the root.  I don’t even think he got his tooth back so he could get a shiny new fifty pence piece from the tooth fairy.  He wasn’t complaining too much though as we exchanged comments on each others art works completed or part completed over Christmas.  That and the coffee eased the pain of his gums and my lack of decent light.

I got myself the latest Stuart MacBride book to cheer myself up.  Why is it that this book which has to be printed, bound, have a cover fitted and be carried from the printers to Tesco cost nearly two quid less than its digital equivalent from Amazon?  Amazon say it’s because VAT is added to the purchase price as the government have decided that an ebook is software.  That is a feeble excuse.  It doesn’t take a genius to work out that it isn’t software which is according to Merriam-Webster as “The programs that run on a computer and perform certain functions“.  An ebook has to be read, it does not perform any function and it does not run on a computer.  It’s time the government owned up to this, frankly, ridiculous surcharge.  Anyway, this is the second book I’ve bought this year.  Is it a sign of the times?  We will wait and see with breath suitably bated.

A grey day – 20 January 2016

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Grey start to the day with mist and the inevitible rain. We had hoped to go out somewhere scenic today as we did last week, but it wasn’t looking like a scenic kind of day. Finally settled on going to the Forge Market in Glasgow. Not very scenic, but it does have a Clarks shoe shop and there are few of them in the countryside. After trying this and that, leather and suede, black and brown, boots and shoes – you get the message, I settled on a pair of brown leather shoes and almost as my debit card was cooling in my wallet changed my mind. That’s about par for the course for me. I’ve got 28 days to cool my heels, or my feet to be more precise, before I have to accept or reject the shoes.

When we came out we tried to get a table at Cotton House, but were too late. They closed at 2.00 and it was just about 1.00 at the time. We were in Glasgow and they were in Bonnybridge – a bridge too far.

After getting lost a couple of times trying to get back on the motorway, Scamp suggested we go to The Fort in Easterhouse. I always did think they needed a fort in Easterhouse, but not one with high fashion shops, just a portcullis and a drawbridge. Had lunch at Wagamama. I had my usual of Ramen, Pork Ramen to be precise and Scamp had Teriyaki Chicken which was quite nice.

Walked along to Hobby Craft after lunch and got myself a daylight light bulb. Fred gave me one a month or so ago and although it was quite good, it was a bit weak and not as blue as daylight should be. The one I got today is much better. It’s a long life spiral bulb 20W which equates to 95W and has a mired value of 6500k which sounds like a perfect daylight level. I’ll give it a try over the next few days. Maybe it would disperse the grey light we are living with at the moment.

Sore Legs – 19 January 2016

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combo bIt was cold today, not as cold as it has been, and most of the snow has gone now, but it was not particularly comfortable. We went to the gym and had a swim afterwards. This was the most exercise I’ve done in a long time and I’m beginning to feel the effects in my legs tonight. The pool was lovely and warm, maybe too warm. I did a few lengths, but spent most of my time in the jacuzzi and the sauna.

After lunch I went for a walk round St Mo’s and grabbed a few shots with the Oly. I seem to get better results with this new E-PL5 than I do with the Nikon. Sometimes you need the instant response of the Nikon and the quality is better with it, but for day to day shooting and for pocketability (if that’s a word), the Oly wins hands down.

Not a lot done, but a much better day than yesterday. I even got today’s Medium sudoku finished (hopefully correctly!). So things must be getting better.

A dismal day – 18 January 2016

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combo bA day that started with drizzle and a milky sky.  It never really got better, but did wash away some of the snow.  About 4 o’clock Scamp unlocked the front door for the first time today.  It wasn’t a day for venturing out and we couldn’t even be bothered to go to the gym.  Scamp cancelled Gems because of the state of the front path.  Maybe tomorrow will be better.  That’s it folks, well almost.  Heard on the radio tonight on the way to salsa:

“So, about the balls, you just roll them do you?”  Apparently, allegedly, they were talking about making snowmen.