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Today Scamp retired. The title for today’s post came from one of her throw-away lines when she was speaking to Hazy. “Yes, this is The Retirement Home”. For someone without a sense of humour, that’s pretty good going. It was a stressful day. Up with the lark (if the lark got up about 8.00am that is) and out to get the tinsel, the helium balloon, the lights and the coloured balloons. It’s amazing what you can get for a fiver in the pound shop. Back to decorate the place. Where’s the stapler? Found it! It’s empty! Where are the staples? Found another stapler! Yippee it’s got some staples in it!! Just got it finished and Scamp phoned to say she was on the way home. Time for a cup of coffee.

The decorations seemed to pass muster. Then it was time to take Scamp to her retirement party. Dropped her there talking with one of the ‘Witches’ and went to take some photos. Cold and bright when I left, then the clouds rolled in, but I persevered and got some interesting shots in the intervals of sunlight during the hour or so I had. My favourite, but not the POD was the broken umbrella stuck in the tree. This path is far from any well trodden route so I imagine the umbrella must have blown quite a distance to reach its final destination.

We’re just back from our dinner at Vecchia Bologna in Bridge of Allan. It was lovely. I think it drew a line under a rather fraught, but essentially a very successful day.

Sitting in the Armadillo waiting for Jools Holland. We’ve just seen the intro act, Mark Flanagan playing guitar and singing – and very good he was too.
Amazed at the number of people who wander in late to these events. Maybe we’re out of touch, but it’s really annoying. Quite sad too that there are so many incontinents having to take toilet breaks every 15 minutes. Let’s hope the zimmers are now parked, the crutches stacked and the incontinence pads wrung out and that Jools can continue uninterrupted.

Jools and his orchestra were brilliant.  Just as I expected them to be.  I think Scamp is ready to sign up for tickets for next year’s show DV.  Special guests were KT Tunstall and Ruby Turner.  Both gave of their best and had us dancing in our seats.  Yes, really.  Amazing night.

Got the train back to Glasgow Central without a problem and then walked up Bucky Street, past the rubber men and the lady stilt walkers teetering on their incredibly high heels “How can they walk in those shoes?“.  Both groups struggling against (one last time, surely Storm Desmond)

The drive back along the M80 was interesting with gale force winds and heavy driving rain.  However, we’re home now.  Let’s see what tomorrow brings.  Hopefully this is bye bye Desmond.

Today was Scamp’s annual Christmas party when she cooks dinner and entertains her ‘Witches’.  The planning usually starts about a month before the party and so it was this year.  I try to make myself scarse on these days, but today the weather was continuing on its December theme and I stayed home to help with the preparations.  After I’d done all that I was asked to do, I went to the leisure centre for a swim.  Just like the last time, the water in the pool was lovely and warm, the sauna was hot and the steam room was steamy.  Just what you want on a cold, dull, miserable day.  I spent a pleasant hour in the heat, reminiscent of our recent holiday in Tenerife.

After heat of the pool, I took myself off to Fannyside to try for some long exposure shots of the trees blowing in the winds of Storm Desmond.  What on earth gave them the idea of giving our ‘storms’ names?  In global terms they are just a bit of wind, not a real storm like those in the tropics.  What my mum would have called ‘a good drying day for the washing’.  If you’re going to give them names, give them seriously dangerous names.  Not ‘ Desmond’.  With apologies to all the Desmonds out there, it’s not a scary sounding name is it?  Why give it a person’s name?  Give it an animal’s name.  Storm Tiger, Storm Orca or Storm Eagle sound better.  Storm Demond is about as scary as Storm Fluffy Bunny.

Anyway, the light was dropping away at a serious rate by the time I got to Fannyside and the wind was getting up.  Desmond was doing his best to show his bluster which was just what I wanted.  Tried a few shots using slow shutter speed and high aperture, then tried another few with the same camera settings, but took multiple images that I hoped to later combine in Photoshop.  The first shots were the best, the multiple images didn’t quite cut it as far as controlled exposure.  I need more practise in this stuff.

Just now I’m happily sitting in the ‘painting room’ listening to some music and avoiding the hilarity of the ‘witches’ downstairs.  It’s only one day a year after all.

What do my audience think of the ‘combo’ shots at the top of these epistles?  They’re easier to format than individual shots, but also give you the opportunity to link to the bigger versions on Flickr.  Answers on the comment form below please or I’ll pester you with a Surveymonkey form.

For a change, the day started with dry weather, but was forecast to become a lot less dry later.

I started a new painting using the heavy body acrylic paints I got yesterday. It does look good with lots of impasto. On the subject of impasto, I was amazed the other day when I asked one of the sales assistants in the Art Store in Glasgow if heavy body acrylics would hold an impasto and he asked me what an impasto was! The Art Store used to be THE place for art students to get a part time job as sales assistants. It doesn’t look as if that it the case now. I think they’ve had things too much their own way of late, with the only competition being the rather antiquated Millers (now owned by some equally old-fashioned Embra mob). However, now that the more modern and pro-active CassArt has arrived just down the street, it’s time they sharpened up their attitude.

Met Fred for coffee and a catch-up later, when we came out of the town centre it was raining and seven hours later, it still is 🙁

By two o’ clock the car’s automatic headlights switched on. No good light for photography today, so it had to be a still life for the POD. Just one step up from flooers.

Yet another day that began with that wet stuff falling from the sky, a grey sky.  Scamp wanted to do some shopping in Glasgow and I can always find something to look at or to buy there.  Driving in was as busy as yesterday and I used the same ‘shortcut’.  I also used the same parking ‘secret’.

We agreed to split up and shop separately.  While Scamp was in a shop, I was wading through a torrent from the sky to get to a sweet shop in Argyle Street.  When I got there, the shop was shut.  I said ‘bad words’, but got what I wanted in a nearby ‘American Candy Store’.  Walked back and when I was going up Queen Street I saw a photo I had intended taking yesterday and grabbed it because it was still raining.  I was determined to get at least one in the bag.  After meeting Scamp we went for a coffee in my new favourite place.  If you don’t know, see Monday’s blog.  It passed Scamp’s approval.  On the drive home the sky cleared and the sun shone again.  This is beginning to be a habit from the weather.

In the afternoon after speaking to Hazy on her birthday, I went out for a walk along the Railway Walk.  Weather was beautiful with a sky graded from blue to a sunset orange. Just enough high white clouds to give a bit of texture.  A day of two halves to be sure.  Got a few shots of the trees at the side of the Kelvin Burn with the sun just starting to dip below Bar Hill.

Last night I’d ordered a bottle of Licor 43 from Asda and was informed that it would be ready to collect between 4.00 and 5.00pm today.  Customer serviced didn’t know about it and the man in a van in the middle of the carpark where you collect your click and collect didn’t know about it.  I came home empty handed to find that I hadn’t finalised my order.  How do you do that when you’ve logged in, made your order, chosen your timeslot and found no continue button, no checkout button, no finalise button.  Asda Click & Collect is a shambles.  I don’t think I’ll use it again.  I may never use Asda again.  I’ll just buy the Licor 43 in a shop next time.

Woke expecting snow, but it was rain again.  Rivers of the stuff running down the road.  I drove Jackie in to Glasgow as I was going in anyway to get some paint.  Traffic was ridiculous going along M80.  Never seen it so busy in the morning.  However, because Scamp insisted on going a ‘better’ way one night, I knew a shortcut, well, actually a long road for a shortcut along past the fruit market.  Longer in miles, but way, way shorter in time.  Got parked without a problem in my ‘secret‘ parking area of the Concert Hall.    Left Jackie to her own devices and shopping then went through John Lewis (another shortcut).  I was walking past the staff (Oops, ‘partners’ !?) entrance when I saw a group of mannequins inside waiting to ambush anyone who came through the door.  The sign above their heads read “Welcome to John Lewis Glasgow”  That gave me the title too: “The Welcoming Committee”.  Managed to avoid one ‘Partner’ who was going in and get the shot before I was caught either by another ‘Partner’ or a mannequin.  Dived down to CassArt only to find that the paint I was looking for was only available on-line.  Bummer.

Walked back up the road and got a shot of a couple of pigeons looking really drookit.  Almost as drookit as I felt.  Plodded back up Bucky Street to the carpark and got to the ticket machine with only four minutes to spare, meaning I only had to pay £2 instead of double that if I’d been 5 minutes later.  I was going to say it put a brightener on the day, but that would be taking things too far.  It would need more than £2 to put a smile on my face today.

When I got home I discovered that I’d left the heating on, so the house was lovely and welcoming.  Much more welcoming than the Committee.