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St Mo’s Twice – 21 November 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Once with company and one solo.

Lots of little things to do today, most of them completed.

Scamp and I went for a walk in St Mo’s in the morning. Just one circuit of the pond then back home. The light was poor, but I got a few photos. We walked home for lunch.

After lunch Scamp and I filled a planter with home made compost from the bin and Scamp planted nearly twenty mixed daffodil bulbs. We didn’t bother to water them in because we’re expecting that will be done by the rain clouds we are forecast to see tomorrow.

Later in the afternoon, when I expected it to get progressively darker, I was pleasantly surprised as the sun came out from behind the clouds. I didn’t need to be asked, I still had my boots on from the morning, so I trotted over to St Mo’s again and got more interesting photos than in the morning. Then I walked down to the shops to get some veg for tonight’s dinner.

Dinner tonight was Mince ’n’ Tatties with some cabbage. Scamp had Bubble and Squeak. It looked and smelled almost as good as my mince. Almost, but not quite!

We had a quick practise of the Quickstep, solved a problem with the Tango and had two runs through the Waltz Nioli. Hope I remember all the updates tomorrow.

When the living room was back looking normal again, we watched the semi-final of Bake Off. So now it’s down to three going in to the final next week.

PoD was a Rose Hip bush with vibrant orange leaves. Unfortunately you may have to wait until tomorrow to see it online as Flickr is having a hissy fit for the first time in months. Just when you think it’s safe to go back in the water …

Tomorrow I’m expecting to go out in the morning, meeting Alex and Scamp is intending to be out in the afternoon for lunch with the Witches.

 

The yellow brick road – 20 November 2023

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No Scarecrow. No Tin Man. No Cowardly Lion.

The yellow brick road is what we used to call IKEA when you had to follow the yellow arrows round the store. Now it’s arrows projected on the floor from above and not even yellow ones. Not nearly as much fun.

We were looking for a rug for the kitchen, a hanger for holding socks and pants on the whirly and maybe a replacement light for my room. What we came home with was:

  • Two boxes of sealable plastic bags, the ones IKEA do so well.
  • Half a dozen new dinner plates.
  • The hanger for the socks and pants.
  • A portable phone charger.
  • A toilet brush.
  • Three rolls of Christmas wrapping paper.
  • A bag of IKEA Swedish meatballs.
  • A box of alphabet biscuits.
  • The light for my room (but no bulb).

No rug because we couldn’t quite agree on which one we liked best. Quite a restrained set of purchases though, even if I say so myself.

Earlier in the morning we’d been to B&Q because their websites said they had two CO2 monitors in stock. They lied. Eventually got them in Screwfix for less than B&Q wanted for them, even if they had them.

Drove home via Costa in Robroyston for a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Then continued on to Muirhead where I got today’s PoD which is a view over to the Campsie Fells with a lovely bit of golden sunshine lighting up the edge of the hills. The most amazing thing about it is that bit of sunshine is real! Not faked in Photoshop or ON1, although I admit there was some post-processing done on other parts of the picture, but that slice of golden light was real!

Dinner tonight for the first time in ages was pasta. My speciality, What’s In The Fridge pasta. Just using up odds and ends I found in the fridge.

<Technospeak>
One thing that’s been bugging me and I couldn’t solve was to create and install an SPF script into my email system. SPF is nothing to do with sun cream! Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is used to authenticate the sender of an email. I’ve struggled to complete the complex script that need to go deep into the email system to verify that an email I’ve sent to someone’s Gmail address is genuine and comes from me. Today I found a way to get that script written for me by the email system itself!
For my Webmonkey:
The answer was there all the time in Cpanel, and it was all done in less than a minute. I can now send emails to half the world without it bouncing back to me! I realise that now I’ve said that, the first email I send tomorrow will, indeed bounce! That’s just the way computers trip you up, isn’t it!
</Technospeak>

No plans for tomorrow, but the temperature is due to drop to near zero tonight! Brrr.

Just a normal Sunday – 19 November 2023

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A dull day with not a lot to recommend it weatherwise.

I spent most of the morning flicking through Flickr and for once enjoyed just looking through other folk’s pictures. I’m sure Scamp was doing Wordle and Spelling Bee, but I’d fallen out with both after Wordle had claimed that I hadn’t completed my 146th puzzle and sent me back to 1 again. I’ll not have that from these dastardly americans. I’ll just stop playing their stupid game and then they’ll be sorry.
I’ll start fresh tomorrow!

Lunch for me was bacon, egg, mushrooms, tomatoes and scorched Padron peppers. The only place I know I can get the peppers is Waitrose, so every time I go there I get a packet of them. Some of them are a bit hot, and there’s no way to tell if you’re going to get a hot one or a normal one. That makes them more interesting. Scamp had the more sedate egg, black pudding, mushrooms and tomatoes.

We watched what turned out to be a really interesting Las Vegas F1 GP. Lots of thrills and a few spills with the lead changing hands a few times before the inevitable happened and the world champion bullied his way to the front. As always it was the battle for 2nd and 3rd places that held the most interest and probably skill.

It was the first time the race had been held in Las Vegas and the lead up to it took more time than was really necessary, but I’m guessing it’s the American way to overload the race with the glitz and glamour. Because the race took so long to get started, it was late in finishing too and the light was beginning to fade when I finally walked over to St Mo’s for what I thought would be today’s PoD. As it happened, I got one landscape shot that was worth uploading, but PoD went to a grab shot I’d taken in the morning of a Rudbeckia flower in the garden. The plant has been flowering for about two months now and it’s survived high winds and torrential rain and is flowering still. While I was out in St Mo’s, Scamp was gardening, planting out some bulbs that will hopefully provide some much needed colour next spring.

I’d my apron on today to make my dinner. I’d bought a couple of short ribs at Waitrose and the recipe I was using said to brown them in a casserole for ten minutes. I knew I’d need a bit of protection from the spatter that would come from the fatty meat and I was glad of the protection the apron gave me. Then the meat had to rest while I made the slurry that would provide the base for it in the pot. Too many things to list here, but half a can of stout went into it too. Finally the meat went on top, the lid went on and it was set to cook for about 3 hours in the oven.

Scamp had chopped up onions, carrots and turnip and that made the veg part of the meal which we had with potatoes. I was too slow getting the meat roasted and the slurry made, consequently I had to cut the cooking time to two and a bit hours, but the meat was fine, and the veg went well with it. Scamp had a veggie version of the dinner and her’s seemed to be good too.

Spoke to Jamie later in the evening and heard about poor Vixen being upset having been in different kennels twice in a month. Poor thing wouldn’t know if she was coming or going. I’m sure she’ll settle down soon. Jamie and Simonne were meant to be doing a run today, but the weather was against it and Simonne wasn’t feeling well into the bargain, so they’d cancelled.

No real plans for tomorrow, although we need to get the CO2 monitor replaced before we get the boiler maintenance done. Also, I believe a visit to IKEA is on the cards for this week.

Rain, Rain, go away – 18 November 2023

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Come again another day (but not tomorrow).

As you will have gathered, it was a wet day.  Thankfully we didn’t need to drive out to Brookfield for the Saturday morning class because Stewart had cancelled it last night because there were only four of us were showing an interest.  Instead, we drove to Stirling in the horrible drizzly rain and filled a trolley in Waitrose.  We had hoped that the rain was localized and the rain clouds would lift when we left Cumbersheugh and we could walk into Stirling town for a coffee, but it was not to be.  The clouds followed us all the way to Stirling and then all the way back.  The rain got lighter later in the day, but only for a short time.  It’s raining heavily now.

It was so dismal that I didn’t even want to go over to St Mo’s to get some photos, so today’s PoD came from a table top setup in the back bedroom.  In fact it was more than a table that was holding up the subject.  The table had a drawing board with a paint pot on top, but that wasn’t tall enough, so I added a couple of thick books.  Still not high enough. Maybe one more book would do the trick, and it did … just. Sitting on top was an upsided down empty plant pot and the contents of the pot were balanced on top of this Tower of Babel.  I really should take a photo of my constructions for table top photos.  They are a bit like icebergs in that the bit you see is only around a tenth of the final structcture.  The photo is a collection of basil seedlings that never really managed to get beyond the seedling stage. I’ve changed the compost and watered them with plant food, but I now believe there just isn’t enough light these dull days in November.  They need to be grown in summer.

While I was on this gardening theme I gave my two chilli plants a fairly severe pruning. Last year I cut them down by about 25%.  This year it was more that 50%. I hope that might encourage some growth and bring us some more chillies next year, all being well.

Scamp has been in a long term battle with British Gas who don’t seem to be able to send us a bill. She eventually took the matter to the Energy Ombudsman and uploaded our case details and interactions with BG to the Ombudsman. On Thursday we received the reply from BG through the Ombudsman’s office.  Some truths and a lot of half truths from them. Surprisingly, on Thursday we also received our first bill from BG for a year! Now isn’t that a coincidence, however that bill only covers the outstanding amount up until June. They have admitted there is a fault in ‘The Flow‘ which we assume is the flow of information from our smart meter to their headquarters. They also admit that they now know where the flow stops, but don’t seem to have any idea of how to fix the problem.  Today we sent our reply to the Ombudsman pointing out the half truths in their story.  We await the outcome with bated breath!

Dinner tonight was a veggie lasagne from Waitrose.  I could almost agree to being vegetarian if the food was all as tasty as that.

No plans for tomorrow, except maybe to get a CO2 alarm somewhere, probably a real B&Q.

Friday lunch – 17 November 2023

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Today we were booked for lunch with June and Ian.

First, Scamp was off to FitSteps class and because the sun was shinning after a cloudy, dull, dodgy looking start, I went over to St Mo’s to get some photos.  There were some nice beech trees glowing away in the sunshine and they are always worth a few shots. With a couple in the bag  after my first circuit of the pond, I turned and went back the same way.  It’s amazing how different scenery looks from the other direction and so it was today.  The trees I saw going were so much better with the sun coming from a slightly different angle. Also some cow parsley seedheads were catching the sun and I hadn’t noticed them on the outward walk.  Best of all was a little vetch plant that had managed to trap a waterdrop in one of its tendrils.  That was going to be PoD.

As I was walking back, I realised that time was getting on and checking my watch I found that it was just after midday.  Scamp would be home soon and I needed to make tracks.  I was going to send her a message when I realised I didn’t have my phone.  I was pretty sure it was in the house, pretty sure but not definitely.  So I upped the pace and found the offending article where I’d left it next to the computer.  Not lost, not stolen, just strayed.

When Scamp came in we headed over to Condorrat to have lunch and a blether with June and Ian. Friday lunches had become a monthly occurance for us four last year. Usually the Red Deer was our go-to place, but today we were trying out Brodens again. We had been there two weeks ago and it passed muster. I’d was sure it would be the same today, and I was right.  Lots of folk in the restaurant, well, lots more than there was last time, but the food was just as good, as was the Guinness! I think the other two were quite happy with their food today and I’m sure we’ll be back again. Steak Pie for June and Ian, Fish ‘n’ Chips for Scamp and Gammon Steak for me.  What’s not to like?! We were there for a couple of hours and then Ian booked a taxi for June and him while we walked home.

The water drop got PoD, but another two kept it company in Flickr.

I actually watched and enjoyed a Masterchef tonight. That’s not something I say very often.

Only two couples wanted to go to dance class tomorrow (Saturday), Millie & Ronnie and us.  Scamp got the message about 9.30 tonight to say that the class was cancelled due to lack of numbers. I was quite happy with that.  If there had been a class, there would have been nowhere for me to hide!  Scamp was disappointed and I feel sorry for her.  We are regulars at the class and although I accept Stewart’s reason, I don’t think it would have hurt them to have run an hour long class for the four of us.

So, no dancing tomorrow, but Scamp wants to do some shopping and I’m looking for somewhere that sells single CO2 detectors.

A rather full day – 16 November 2023

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Lots of things to do and a tea dance in the middle.

Out in the morning. Dropped Scamp at Tesco then carried on to B&Q hoping to get a replacement for the CO2 alarm that packed in yesterday. Unfortunately, the only CO2 alarms they had were in double packets and I only needed one. They did have a single packet of CO2 alarms, but they were the same price as the double packet. Well, I didn’t expect anything better from B&Q. Drove back to Tesco and picked up Scamp and drove her home.

It was a bright autumn day and I was determined to get some decent shots with the new lens on the first decent day. I knew I only had an hour at the most to grab some images before driving to Glenburn for yet more dancing, so I couldn’t go far. So it was over to St Mo’s again to see if the colours would jump off the page for me, and thankfully they did.

The new lens didn’t let me down. Focus is quick and accurate. I’d little need today to resort to manual focus, but I’m getting used to the oddly placed focus ring and the A6500 did seem to lock on quite quickly. I still wasn’t sure about the edge sharpness or the corner detail, but a quick look when I got home was enough to assure me that Sigma had everything sorted. Time to put the dance shoes on.

It was a packed room today, but strangely, the floor wasn’t all that busy. We started with a Waltz Nioli and after a few mistakes I found my feet and rhythm and we had it beat. That might serve us well next week when Kirsty has promised a quick couple of tracks of that waltz to keep it in our heads and in our muscle memory. Next was Cha-Cha and we danced our version with very few errors. We were promised two Foxtrots next and I suggested we wait and dance the second one. But the second one turned into a Social Foxtrot, so disappointed, we danced that instead. That was almost the end of the ballroom dances and Stewart decided there weren’t enough folk dancing ballroom on the floor and announced that it would be sequence dances for the second half of the afternoon. A strange and poor decision in our eyes.

We danced a few of the sequence dances after the tea break, but I’d much prefer to attempt the ballroom dances. One of the reasons we come to tea dances is to practise what we’ve learned over the last week or two and although it’s not the real reason for the fortnightly dances, it’s a major part of them and just walking round in a circle to music isn’t going to entice folk to come back. Practising and learning from others you see dancing will make folk want to improve. Sequence dances have their place, but variety is the key.

We left a little later than our usual 3pm, but still managed to miss most of the traffic and get back fairly quickly. Simonne was on a sales visit to a few of the universities and pharmaceutical establishments in Scotland and was coming to us for dinner. After discussing whether we’d eat at home or book a table somewhere, Scamp chose to cook dinner. She arrived around 6pm and we had Chicken Thighs, Cauliflower Florets and Green Lentils. It was a tray bake and it worked really well. Dessert was Lemon Meringue Pie, also lovely. Afterwards we sat and talked about replacing the roof of their house and the problems that brought as well as catching up with what else they had been doing in their lives. A good night.

PoD turned out to be a path through the trees in St Mo’s.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending going to FitSteps in the morning. Then we’re hoping to have lunch with June and Ian.

A toy off the rack – 15 November 2023

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It was a dull morning, but it brightened up for a while.

Hazy phoned in the morning and that brightened up the day for a while. We talked about places to go in Yorkshire and Cumbria and how both she and Simonne were deep in consultation about it, but no decisions had been made at this time. We also discussed hats and Christmas prezzies, and of course the wedding that’s just come on to our destinations list for next year with the obvious necessity for Scamp to get a new hat and/or a dress and/or shoes. I might wear my kilt.
I’m glad to hear that Neil is starting to reduce his workload. It’s so easy to agree to taking on everything you get asked to do. Sometimes NO is the correct answer. Taking charge of that right answer is the difficult part of the discussion.

When we were all talked out, we said “Cheerio” to Hazy and drove in to Glasgow. I was going to look for a new ‘standard’ lens for the A6500. The standard lens that came with its predecessor is good, up to a point, but I felt the newer camera deserve better glass. I’d discussed it with Scamp and we’d come to an agreement. So today I was going in to Glasgow to get my hands on a Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 DC DN. I found it in WEX, took two shots with it and bought it on the spot.

While I was off getting a new “Toy off the rack”, Scamp was wandering round the shops in Buchanan Galleries. We met up back at Nero and had a quick lunch of a toasted panini and a coffee. The day hadn’t brightened up again, so we drove home.

I took the new lens out to see St Mo’s and it seemed to like the leaves and a spider in the woods. The spider got PoD. The lens behaved well except that to zoom in to subjects you have to turn the ring the “wrong” way, ie. the opposite way from most other lenses. Also the manual focus ring is a bit awkward to find, especially if you’re wearing gloves. I’m sure I’ll get used to these things. It just takes a little time.

Dancing tonight with Kirsty was mainly the Quickstep and a more gentle run through the middle and end of the dance. I think Scamp was getting annoyed with my continuous mistakes, just as I was getting ratty with her not wanting to turn at the corners. However, I’d have been stuck without her instructions on what foot to move next and what foot had no weight (technical term!). We finished up with a few runs through the Tango and we were done for tonight. I feel a lot more confident about the Quickstep now. Whether we’ll dance it at tomorrow’s tea dance is not a foregone conclusion yet.

So, tomorrow we’re hoping to go dancing at Glenburn community centre and in the evening Simonne may come over from Motherwell for dinner, since she’s up in Scotland for business. Looking forward to that too.

Coffee for three – 14 November 2023

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We met Shona for coffee and lots of blethering today.

We drove up to the fairly new Costa drive-through, but didn’t drive through. Instead, we parked in the area near Wetherspoons where it looks as if they just dumped a lorry load of old asphalt and left it to set. Council couldn’t afford to rent a roller, because it’s just Cumbersheugh and nobody cares.
(Rant over).

The coffee was the usual tasteless Costa brown liquid, but we weren’t there for that, we were there to hear how Shona was and also to hear what she and Ben had been up to recently. Apparently it had been a busy few weeks for her with a trip to Blackpool, a home visit in the middle of the night by some ‘hunky firemen’ (her words, not mine!) and Ben’s attempt at flooding a caravan. Too much to go into here, but it made great entertainment for us. After an hour or so of exchanging stories we left to get the makings of dinner and Shona went to get some messages. Costa’s coffee might be dire, but the Christmas Cake Slice is lovely.

We drove home via M&S and picked up some veg, prawns a sauce and a box of noodles that would turn into a very nice stir-fry later. It had been raining all morning, but by the time we got home the sky was clearing and it was looking a lot better.

After lunch Scamp started making this year’s Christmas Cake. Not being satisfied with one and having enough rum soaked fruit anyway, she managed to make three cakes. One to eat reasonably soon. One to become the Christmas cake and one to be left for later in the year, or maybe even until next year. The smell in the kitchen was a delight.

I’d been messing around with my SSD collection, chopping bits out and moving other bits around to generate some useful space. It all became such a guddle, I eventually shut the computer down and went for a walk. Just as I left the house, the first raindrops returned. Two circuits of St Mo’s pond left me with about fourteen images and a sodden jacket, but because it was a Berghaus, it was only the outer skin that got wet. I didn’t. The rain hadn’t stopped since I left the house. It had got heavier and lessened, but it hadn’t gone away. Still, a walk in the rain is always good for the soul, as long as you have a good jacket!

The photos weren’t all that great, but my favourite was one of an old hawthorn bush covered in lichen and moss and with a few bunches of red hawthorn berries hanging from it. Most of them with raindrops clinging. That made PoD.

After a lovely stir-fry for dinner, I set to and did some more pruning of the SSDs I think I have a much neater collection now and there is room for all the backups I need.

We may go in to Glasgow tomorrow if it’s not too wet and dreich.

 

 

 

Auld Claes and Purrich – 13 November 2023

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Back to normality whatever that is.

A sleep in your own bed is a wonderful thing, as is not lacing up the dance shoes every day. Some of the glitz and glamour had gone, though, and even I missed that, but it’s good to get back to the grind too … for a while.

My first appointment today was with writing up the blog posts for the past three days before the small details vanish from my head. I know I won’t remember everything with complete clarity, but if I get most of the things down on digital paper, hopefully some time in the future I’ll read a blog written today and say “Oh, yes! I remember that.” And then the Tony Buzan hooks will connect with other memories of that day in the past and another light will come on. It works for me, every time I read last year’s blog.

I had Friday finished and Saturday well on its way when I had to stop to go for my blood-letting appointment. Blood samples for my annual medical review. Or “CHRONIC disease review” as our Medical Centre calls it. I hate the stigma of chronic disease and especially the screaming all caps. Is that really necessary? It feels so dirty, and I do believe they do it to frighten the unwary. Not the nicest medical centre and certainly not the most caring.

I’d been asked to bring back a loaf on the way home and I also got some blueberries, but that was almost all the fruit that was available at Tesco. It was blueberries and that was it. I drove back home in an improving weather picture. The clouds were breaking and the torrential rain we had in the morning had stopped, thankfully.

After lunch which was a piece ’n’ bacon and a piece ’n’ jam (so main course and dessert!) I settled down to finish off Saturday.

By 2.30pm the light from earlier was fading and I thought that if I was going to get any PoDs today I’d have to get my boots on and go soon. So that’s what I did. The PoD was one of the last shots of the day. Half a dozen Canada geese were joined by a Coot in a new extension of the pond at St Mo’s. This new quiet section seems to be attracting a lot of attention in the latter part of the year. That’s good to see.

Tomorrow, Scamp is booked for coffee with Shona. I’m not sure what I’m doing, but I do have a bit computer reorganising to do.

Heading home – 12 November 2023

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But before we were released, we had one more hour of dancing.

We went for a walk again in the morning after breakfast and watched the pipers leading the armed forces and junior sections to church for the Armistice ceremony. At the rear were a group of men, I think it was all men, no women, but I could be wrong. All were dressed in black and wearing top hats, carrying ceremonial batons. They had insignia on their right lapel and some displayed medals on the other. I grabbed three photos, two of which were blurred but the sharp shot showed I’d been spotted and given a steely stare from one man. Later, after a bit of research I discovered they were all members of the Society of High Constables. That one sharp photo became PoD.

Another walk round the town that seemed to be a lot busier than it had been on the previous days, then it was time to go back and face the music, so to speak.

More sequence dances and with a much quieter dance floor, a chance to attempt a foxtrot plus a final Ria Bachata before it gets put back in its box. We had already put most of the heavy bags into the boot of the car, so it was the shoe bags and my camera that we carried back after saying a thank you to Stewart and Jane, because they did a lot of work in arranging the weekend and keeping it running smoothly throughout the mornings, afternoon sessions and evenings.

We drove back home via M&S in Dunblane where we picked up food for tonight, because neither of us really wanted to cook. So tonight’s dinner was King Prawn Curry and rice x 2 followed by Eve’s Pudding. It looked like the fog we’d left on the road to Stirling had stayed in Cumbersheugh all weekend. I’m glad it did, because we had some glorious weather.

We watched Strictly and were disappointed that this week’s loser wouldn’t make it to Blackpool next week (or whenever it’s filmed). We’re in agreement that there are too many actors and singers in Strictly. It seem unfair because they have almost all had some dance training, meaning they have less to learn that those who are meeting this for the first time.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard how the new roof is progressing and also about some of the more challenging tasks he’ll have on his plate this coming week at work.

One last word of thanks to Scamp for the help she’s given me this weekend and continues to give, translating the sometime archaic dance terminology into understandable english and also into the movements I need to make. This dance stuff is great when it works, but can be a nightmare to understand at times. I really do appreciate it, even although it might not seem like it sometimes.

Tomorrow, some blood-letting is required.