Category: A Toy off the Rack

A lazy day – 30 July 2022

Posted on by Zogman

A lazy morning, more like.

We just seemed to lounge about and complain about the rain, although it had been forecast for about a week with progressively more accurate details of when and where. The ‘where’ wasn’t really all that important. We knew it was going to be in the central belt of Scotland. The ‘when’ however, was important. Scamp was sure it was going to be in the morning and that it would clear up by midday. I, as usual was more down in the dumps and though it wouldn’t rain until late afternoon. Scamp’s weather forecasters got it right.

We’d half intended going to the Merchant City Festival in Glasgow if the weather had stayed fine, but as it was, that seemed unlikely and maybe would be postponed until tomorrow. Maybe we should go out to lunch, just to get out of the house. That sounded like a good choice. Scamp suggested Cotton House, or ‘The’ Cotton House, to give it its full name. I didn’t think we’d get a table, but as usual, Scamp had done her due diligence and could tell me that it was open all day at the weekends, so we could go after the usual lunchtime rush. That’s what we did.

We got a table without any problem. Scamp had her usual Thai Spring Rolls to start, followed by Chicken Chow Mein. I had Crispy Pancake Rolls and Ginger & Spring Onion Chicken with Noodles. Both excellent, both finished in double quick time.

What to do now? I’d offered a drive up to Fannyside and a walk along the path there, but then thought a walk along the Forth & Clyde towpath might be even better. We drove down to the towpath from Haggs and walked as far as the ruin of Underwood Lockhouse. An historic part of the Forth & Clyde canal that’s been ‘accidentally’ burned down twice now and remains an empty shell, hidden behind hoardings, but easily accessible if you’re of the Urban Ex frame of mind. I wasn’t, but got a shot of a half bottle of Buckfast on a line of steps that now go nowhere.

Lots of cyclists on this section of the F&C, but not many walkers. Such a beautiful day with cloudscapes that just made you want to keep taking photos. One of those views along the canal made PoD.  We walked back to the car and drove home where Scamp decided it would be a perfect afternoon for a seat in the garden, to enjoy the fruits (and flowers) of her labours.  I agreed and sat for a while reading my latest Kindle book.  After a while it began to cool down and we had to adjourn to the house.  Watched a ‘thrilling'(?) Hungarian F1 Qualifying.  I do believe that one day that commentator will simply burst with excitement at George Russell achieving something.  Anything.  Today he was getting pole position.

Tomorrow we may make that postponed trip to Glasgow.

 

 

Wee men – 28 July 2022

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They don’t come out as often as they used to, but they enjoy being in the limelight.

Before we got to that, there was a new lens to test. And before that there was messages to go for. We needed some messages and we drove up to Tesco. Just some veg really, but it got us out the house on a dull day. On the way home we stopped for a stir fry kit from M&S. Chicken strips, veg mix, noodles and a carton of chicken stock to make a Ramen just as good as Wagamama and a whole lot cheaper.

Back home there was more pruning to do and also I potted up a Ammi Majus I’ve been growing from seed. Scamp bought me the seeds when we were down at Jamie and Simonne’s in the spring and the plants have been very slow growing. I sowed a row of them in the raised bed and another row in the ground. The ones in the ground have never developed. Most of the ones in the raised bed had disappeared too, but three plants remain and I was potting up the largest one. They look a bit like bushy carrots, but should grow into a plant resembling the Cow Parsley that I love to photograph. I’m hoping the slow growth is because the plant is biennial and will survive the winter to flower next year.

<Technospeak>
After lunch I took two cameras out with two different lenses for the big test. It wasn’t a great day for a test because it was dull and uninspiring. I did get a few photos taken with the new ultra wide zoom lens. It’s actually designed to be used with a smaller camera like the A6000, but it copes quite well with the much bigger sensor of the A7iii. At its shortest setting, 10mm there is a lot of empty space on the photo. It’s a bit like looking down the wrong end of a telescope. At 13mm the empty space is gone and the distorted image is very sharp indeed. It can go as far as 18mm and is then almost in the realm of wide angle. Ultra wide is much more interesting to me. It passed today’s test with flying colours. It’s a keeper.
</Technospeak>

An even bigger surprise was that the A6000 coped with the 105mm macro lens and produced some good images. Worth trying again, if for no other reason than it weighs a lot less than the A7iii.

After dinner I started building the set for “Kiss”, Flicker Friday’s competition. No prizes, just an exercise in covering the prompt. My solution to the prompt made PoD. A “Troopies” wedding! Just a bit of fun.

The dinner, by the way, turned out fine, except … the veg mix had green beans in it and I’m sure two of my readers know that Scamp will not eat them. I was going to pick them out of the dry veg, but Scamp said I should just keep them in and she’d spit them out! That’s what she did, but delicately leaving them at the side of her plate, rather than inelegantly spitting them out. Other than that and the fact that the chicken stock was a bit spicy, it was a good meal.

I have a morning to myself tomorrow as Scamp is out all morning! What will I get up to, unsupervised?

 

A toy off the rack – 27 July 2022

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It was coming today, but not until evening. Who would want to be a DPD driver.

It was an early rise for us lazy folk. The lady with the long cotton bud and the questions was coming between 9.30 and10.30am.

She arrived right between those times, and this was to be her last visit to us because from now on we’ll get a sampling kit sent to us and once it’s been used we’ll post it away for checking. The questioning will be done online. All those folk who’ve stood in the rain with masks on, dispensing the sampling kits and asking the questions finish work at the end of the month. I felt quite sorry for her because she seemed to enjoy the work and the meeting people. However, the cotton bud down the throat and up the nose still had to be done today and the questions had to be answered and logged for one last time. I think we’ll keep it on for a while anyway, if just for the free test.

Scamp went off after that to get some essentials from Tesco and I started working out how I’m going to get tomorrow’s picture for Flickr Friday. The topic is ‘Kiss’. My plan involves two ‘Troopies’, male and female kissing. Not as easy as you might think. While I was working on it I got a text from DPD to say that the lens would be delivered between 7.09 and 8.09pm tonight. I had hoped it would be here earlier, but it was not to be.

When she returned, Scamp had bought bread and some bananas. That was lunch sorted for both of us. After lunch, Scamp wanted to cut the front grass because it was a lovely warm day and there’s just the chance t might rain tomorrow and you can’t cut wet grass. While she was doing that, I thought I’d better be gainfully employed, and used the new radiator brush to clean out the inside of the back radiator. It’s amazing how much gunge gets stuck in the vanes of those heaters.

With that done, I offered to cut the remaining grass. I hadn’t realised how technical, cutting a couple of square metres of grass is, but with plenty of instruction from Scamp I got it finished. Or almost finished because she was pointing to a bit I’d missed. Then I was unloading the clippings the wrong way too. I gave up and went for a walk in St Mo’s.

I didn’t get much today, because there wasn’t a lot of insect life about. A couple of Ringlet butterflies was all I found. I was just heading for home when I got a message from Scamp asking me to get a lettuce from the shops. I phoned her to say I’d no money, but if she wanted I’d meet her and we could walk to the shops together. On the way to meet her I found today’s PoD. It’s the seed heads of a Sweet Cicely plant. I’ve photographed them before, but didn’t know their name. Mr Google did. When we got back there was just enough time for a relaxing G ’n’ T in the garden.

Dinner was a salad with lettuce, potato salad (last of our ‘earlys’) beetroot and prawns for me. I’m not really keen on big prawns served cold. I’d wished we’d got some small fresh prawns at the shops. Never mind, it was food. Plus there was strawberry jelly and ice cream for dessert.

Just after 7.30pm the driver delivered the box from MPB. Inside was a red box. This is important. It appears that there is a group on YouTube who have proved that lenses that come in red/orange boxes are better than those that come in white boxes. It’s probably utter tosh, but this was a red box, so I knew we were good!

It’s a neat little lens. Solid feeling and it does indeed produce a distorted wide angle view. Unfortunately it was starting to get dark before I could get any decent images, so tomorrow is testing day.

Tomorrow we have no plans. I thought we were going to a tea dance, but Scamp decided to err on the side of safety. Probably quite right.

 

Not satisfied with one hot day – 19 July 2022

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Today we had another one. This one was hotter but more humid.

Two hot days in a row. Does that make it a heat wave? You’d think so by the way the media are harping on about it. Yes, it was hot today, but uncomfortably so. As the day wore on the heat became more oppressive and humid. I think we got up to 29ºc at the height, but by afternoon it began to look as if it was all falling apart. It nearly did in the late afternoon when heavy looking blue-grey storm clouds rolled in. There was a clap of thunder and a shower of rain, then it all cleared away and for a short time, the sun shone.

I stayed inside for most of the day because it was cooler there. Scamp did some sun bathing (with sun cream on) and then went to Condorrat to post a birthday card. She also digging out the weed between the bricks at the edge of the front garden with the little tool Hazy bought her. Really Hazel that’s the best toy tool you’ve ever given her! I was content with sweeping up the weeds she’d dug out and then fixing the sweeping brush.

The furthest I got today was a walk over to St Mo’s looking for interesting insects. My favourite and PoD was the Burnet Moth. Fairly large day-flying moth, its black wings covered in red spots. It became PoD. I also managed a photo of a grasshopper hiding in the undergrowth watching me intently and wondering, I suppose what the big black thing was I was shoving in its face. It was a Sony A7iii with a 50mm Macro lens!

The poor couple next door had just settled down to a barbecue dinner when that rain started. I think they took the food inside, then when they realised it was just a shower, they brought it out again. That seems to be the thing about barbecues, they always bring the rain with them. Be warned, Jamie!

Our dinner tonight was a “what’s in the fridge and freezer” paella. It actually turned our really well and both of us enjoyed it. Watched the semifinal of Bakeoff the Professionals. Didn’t agree with the judges decision, but what difference will that make. Just as much difference it will make which of the Hooray Henrys and Henriettas get the PM’s job. Life will go on as usual for everyone else.

Tomorrow we may go in to Glasgow. Me, to get my hair cut and Scamp to get a comfortable pair of walking shoes. I might look at shoes too. It looks cooler tomorrow, thankfully.

 

Out for lunch, a drink and some history – 20 June 2022

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We took the bus today, but not into Glasgow.

We got the bus up to the Town Centre and then another one out to Dunfermline. Scamp’s suggestion and a very good one too. Walked through the town that’s now become a city, having been granted city status by Mrs McQueen at her Platignum Jubbly. We walked on into Pittencrief Park and down to the Peacock cafe in the park. There we made a mistake and had a coffee and a scone in the outside terrace. Please, someone, remind me never to have coffee and a scone in that cafe again! Especially if I know I’m intending having fish ’n’ chips and a pint in Wetherspoon’s later. What should have been a flat white became a latte. The excuse was that the dishwasher in the cafe was broken and they had to resort to disposable cups. That was fine, but why did they put one shot in the mug sized cup then fill it to the brim with milk? Worse still, why did I drink it?

We walked out feeling full and walked round the park. I forgot to mention that it was an absolutely stunning day. Wall to wall sunshine. After we’d done a circuit of the park we went to inspect the flower gardens. The one thing I will say about the park is that the gardeners do an excellent job. The place is immaculate.
The glasshouse in the park is rarely open, but today it was and we really enjoyed the varied and specialised plants growing there. My favourite was the Bougainvillea hanging above the fish pond. Beautiful big orange flowers, glowing in the sunshine.

We eventually left, because the heat was becoming difficult to bear and I fancied a walk to the Abbey which isn’t far from the glasshouse as the crow flies, but the problem was we weren’t crows and we weren’t flying. So, we’d to walk down an the old worn stone steps into Pittencrief Glen and then follow the river upstream until we found a bridge to cross the river. Then, of course we had to climb the same amount of stairs we’d just descended to get up to the abbey.

It was worth the climb. We couldn’t get in to the ground floor area of the abbey because the stone flagged floor was being steam cleaned, but we might go back another day. Scamp wanted to look inside the abbey church which is really two churches joined together. Very impressive stonework inside and beautiful architecture. My favourite part of it was the flying buttresses outside and the perspective looking through them. Scamp was more interested in the stained glass windows, some of which looked really old.

Outside we found we were only a five minute walk back to the town/city. I always thing of places like Glasgow, Edinburgh or London when I hear a place being called a city. Dunfermline is really more like a small town, but someone thought it would be a good idea to give it a bit of a boost by nominating it to be a city and Mrs McQueen or one of her advisors agreed. Money probably changed hands too. Anyway, after some dithering and a seat in the park, we decided we would go for lunch in Wetherspoons, so we had a small fish ’n’ chips each with mushy peas. Scamp had a glass of wine and I had a pint of lager and all for the princely sum of fifteen quid.

After that we made our way back to the bus station and caught the bus home. For the first time on my new smart watch, I achieved my 10,000 steps. Let’s hope there are plenty more.

PoD was a shot I took just after we arrived and it shows the turrets of the City Chambers of Dunfermline towering like a Disney palace above the city’s rooftops.

That was a good day. Scamp suggests that we should have one day a week where neither of us drives. I think that’s a good idea. Tomorrow looks a lot cooler and duller than today, so maybe some gardening and just maybe a trip to the dump.

A more relaxed day – 18 June 2022

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After yesterday’s busy day, a more relaxed attitude was required.

Up fairly early and showered, then when I was getting dressed, Scamp said there was no rush. I said “I know” because I was well organised this morning, dressed and ready well before our 10am start for the drive to dance class. Then she said that not enough people were available and the class had been cancelled late last night but she hadn’t noticed the message coming in. That put a whole new complexion on things. Actually I was in two minds about it. Pleased, because I hate driving through the road works on the M8, but sad because, despite my protestations, we are beginning to move better on the dance floor and we’ve missed a lot of classes recently. It would not surprise me if the teachers called a halt to the Saturday morning class in the summer, simply because there are fewer and fewer people available at this time of the year. Oh well, it would be a more relaxing day than we had planned.

So after changing back into shorts and tee shirt, I sat around for a while and didn’t do anything useful, while Scamp read. I’m pleased that I chose the Fitbit after all. It’s got a ‘get up and move’ feature that buzzes you if you’ve been sitting too long and tells you to get up and get at least 250 steps completed within a time limit of 15 minutes. That seems a long time to complete the 250 steps, but believe me it is so easy to say “Oh I’ll just sit for five minutes and then complete the steps” then find 16 minutes later that you’ve not done it. So I did do it when I was told to. At least once today!

After a grand lunch of tea and toast with beans, because I for one had eaten far too much yesterday, we planned the rest of the day. I wanted to get a sketch book from Hobbycraft at The Fort and Scamp had vouchers to use in Boots.

Neither of us could believe the crowds at The Fort. There are three gigantic car parks and each one seemed full. We were lucky and got a space right away, but there was a constant stream of cars prowling around looking for an empty slot. I got my sketch book and Scamp got her perfume. Neither of us were all that keen to say, so we gave up our parking slot, which disappeared before we’d driven round the corner, and drove home.

When we got home the rain started. We could see it coming across the hills when we were nearly home and Scamp managed to get the clothes in off the whirly just in time before the rain appeared.  Thankfully the blustery wind today had dried them well.  I took a few shots of flowers in the garden in the drizzly rain and the PoD by a nose was the new Hydrangea panticulata whose flowers actually do change hue as the seasons change, but the Shooting Star seedpods were a close second.

Dinner tonight was a reheated yesterday’s Chicken Cacciatore with some Jersey Royals added for good measure. Even better today, I thought, because the sauce had thickened even more.

Tomorrow we may go dancing at a Salsa picnic on Glasgow Green if the weather is kind to us.

A toy off the rack – 16 June 2022

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In my defense, it’s a long time since I had one.

Scamp was out in the morning having lunch with Mags. While she was out I compared and contrasted the two ‘smart’ watches which would replace the Huawei (not so) smart watch I have just now. To be honest, it’s been a great watch, doing most of the things I needed, then in February came an upgrade and since then the ‘smart’ has gone out of it. It doesn’t record heart rate, it doesn’t record sleep patterns, it doesn’t even have a timer any more. I’ve tried restarting it, factory resetting it and to no avail. Huawei being so secretive, they don’t publish the earlier versions of the OS, and nobody on the net advertises one. Its time has come if you excuse the pun.

By the time Scamp had returned I had decided on a Fitbit Versa3 which was almost the same price as its competitor, the Garmin Venu Sq which is a horrible name for anything. I could get either one in Argos today, so after hearing about the improved food in Wetherspoons in Cumbersheugh, I set off to navigate the labyrinth under the shopping centre of The Toonie. I went with an open mind, knowing that whatever I picked, it would be the wrong one, but the screen was bigger and better quality in the Fitbit, also I’d already had one, two in fact, and knew it would last well for two years, then suddenly die.

I hated it after I got it. The strap has an unusual locking mechanism and is awkward to fasten. The square face is a bit stupid, because all the watch faces for it are round. It was going back. However I had to play-test it and I’d sleep on it, literally.

I took it, and the Sony out for a walk to see if the GPS would work (it did), and while I was out got some photos of Wolf Spiders, the ones that don’t build webs, but ambush their prey instead. Vicious little spiders! Met a lady walking her dog who, the lady that is, was interested to discover that I was photographing spiders, not just lying comatose on the boardwalk! Wolfie made PoD.

Got an email last night from Alex to say that he was laid up. He’d been emptying an old shed that had boxes of weedkiller in it and thinks he may have ingested some! Since you’ll realise that this is a catch-up, I can tell you that he’s feeling a lot better on Friday morning.

I also got a couple of messages from Jamie and Simonne to say that the really love my watercolour picture of their house, which was good to know.

That was about it for Thursday on a lovely warm, sunny day. The Fitbit works for me because I have the records of my old Fitbits to remind me of past walks. From April 2017 until June 2021:

I took 12,814,083 steps
I climbed 32,030 floors
I walked 5,772.65 miles
I burned 4,632,748 calories

That’s not bad, I think.

Tomorrow we’re getting ready for Crawford and Nancy who are coming to dinner. Oh no, more hoovering!!

Gardening – 8 May 2022

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Scamp wanted to get the grass cut before the rains came. I wanted to plant some seeds.

Before that, Scamp started off de-icing the freezer. It’s a thankless task, so we split the job between us. Scamp started with a scraper tool and bowls of hot water to start the thaw and I took over with an assortment of kitchen tools plus knives and scrapers from my art supplies. Between us we got the job done fairly quickly.

Lunch was next and after that we started on the gardening. After a lot of huffing and puffing, we did manage to get both of these tasks completed, although I must admit that Scamp’s was by far the more energy sapping of the two. She cut the front grass, strimmed the edges and used her mighty blower to get rid of the loose cuttings. I attempted to dig into the skim of soil that covers a pile of rubble at the end of the garden and planted a row of Ammi majus, the cow parsley look-alike next to the old buddleia just to see if it would grow in such poor soil. Then I planted some Ambassador peas in a tray in the greenhouse and also a line of four of the same peas in the raised bed.

As I was working round the raised bed I saw a little daisy flower sitting in the shade with its flower head in the sun. That seemed like a good subject for the new Lensbaby Sweet 35 optic. It turned out so good, it made PoD.

While Scamp rested her back, I walked mine over to St Mo’s and got a few more with the Sweet 35. It seems a bit more extreme than the Sweet 50. The distortion is much more pronounced, which was the reason I bought it in the first place.

I was having the Lamb Flank Parcel I’d bought yesterday, for my dinner and Scamp was having a chicken pastie. Both with potatoes and carrots. Her’s seemed fine, but my lamb was fatty and probably undercooked. An hour and a half roasting in the oven at Gas 5 is nowhere nearly enough. Just a note to self for when I get round to cooking the other one that’s now in the much cleaner freezer. The other note to self is not to buy Salt & Chilli Wings from Tesco. Took far longer than the stated time and didn’t look anything like wings. Not a good impulse buy. Scamp had made a fruit salad for dessert with apples, oranges and pineapple, plus a tablespoon of Cointreau. Again, not nearly enough Cointreau, but a refreshing end to the meal.

Spoke to Jamie for a while over a very dodgy WiFi connection. Good to see them getting a bit of ‘me time’, or is that ‘us time’? Doing a bit of walking in the Lake District. Heard about plans for the future.

That was about it, except about fifteen minutes ago a tiny little tick appeared on my wrist, just crawling out from under my watch strap. It was quickly despatched before it could get stuck into my heavily medicated blood. First one I’ve seen for ages. On the subject of ‘first one I’ve seen for ages’, yesterday I saw my first swallow this year. They do say that one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but I saw three. Does that make a summer then?

Maybe going looking for a pair of good sturdy brogues tomorrow as an alternative to kilt shoes. Dark brown for preference, although my fashion guru says that won’t go with the rest of the outfit.

Out on the town – 6 May 2022

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Meeting my brother for a walk around Glasgow.

This time we were heading for Glasgow Cathedral to see what difference there was between it and Paisley Abbey. Both of them are really big, grand buildings. I’d imagine that the cathedral is bigger than the abbey and I thought it would be grander, but the stonework was quite dark by comparison with Paisley. Balancing that was the total amount of rooms and the different areas, including the basement rooms. Of the two, I preferred the Paisley Abbey. However, a shot of the Cathedral made PoD.

We tried to find somewhere near the cathedral to get a cup of coffee, but the clumsily named St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art was closed as was a cafe on the other side of the nearby Glasgow Royal Infirmary, so we walked back to Glasgow City, in the rain.

We finally settled on a roll each and a bottle of juice from Greggs and ate our lunch in George Square, surrounded by pigeons keen to remove any crumbs. They also scoffed bits of chicken that Alex dropped. I tried to explain to them that was cannibalism, but my protestations fell on deaf pigeon ears. I must admit it was good to sit and eat our lunch in the open air and in the sunshine, even with the pigeons.

We took a walk down Queen Street to get some photos at the GOMA. Then we walked down to Cafe Nero in St Enoch’s and finally had that coffee. I had a flapjack, but I think my brother maybe later regretted his Raspberry and White Chocolate Chouxnut. I do hope you were ready for your dinner Alex.

We walked around St Enoch’s taking a few shots in the late afternoon light before heading for the bus station and home. A good day. It was the first test for the ‘new toy’, the Tenba camera bag. It performed well with a fairly full set of camera gear. Heavy, but not uncomfortably so. Still to test the new Lensbaby Sweet 35 optic. Maybe tomorrow. Also I got a shot of Alex’s new 85mm f1.8 lens. It may go on the shopping list.

Tomorrow we’ll probably be doing a bit of dancing in Bridge of Weir, but the rest of the day is our own.

A busy day – 5 May 2022

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Things getting delivered, things to be collected, people to see and hair to be cut, but not in that order.

A message in the morning to say that my camera bag was at WEX in Glasgow and ready to collect. That’s exactly when it should have been ready. One of the good things about dealing with WEX is that you can have your items delivered from Norwich to their Glasgow shop in a couple of days, free and usually on time. I had a little Lensbaby lens on order too, but it was to come to the house by the despicable Parcel Force. Due to be delivered tomorrow, but realistically by Monday. That’s why I was surprised when I checked their delivery page to find it too was to arrive today. Unfortunately it was to arrive between 2.30 and 3.30 when I should have been visiting Margie with Scamp. The last thing on today’s list was a haircut ready for a couple of weddings that are in the offing. Would I manage to fit them all into my day? Read on and find out!

Drove in to Glasgow in the morning, before I’d even had my coffee. Parked at Buchanan Galleries, right in the middle of town and walked to the barbers and was out of there half an hour later. Fifteen minutes for the bloke in front of me and fifteen minutes for me. Only one barber in today. Much tidier cut than I can manage, even with some help from Scamp. Walked up Bath Street to find the new WEX shop. I started at about number 10 and the shop was at number 240! So it was going to take a bit of time. Finally climbed the hill and down the other side was the WEX sign on a shiny new shopfront. Picked up the bag and told the blokes behind the till the story of the last bag with its extra item for the ‘Babe’. It gave them a laugh and they immediately guessed the unnamed retailer was Amazon.

Walked back up the hill and down the other side, stopping to take a shot looking down Bucky Street from the Concert Hall to St Enoch’s at the bottom. PoD was in the bag.

Drove out of the car park listening to Alan Cumming reading Baggage. I pressed the phone button on the steering wheel to tell Scamp I was on the way home. Selected Scamp from the list and the screen went blank. Remember I was still driving. Tried to play Alan again, but nothing happened, although the screen had returned to normal. Tried the phone again. This time it rang before the same thing happened again. Gave up and listened to Jazz FM.

I got in just in time to say “Hello” and “Cheerio” as Scamp left to visit Margie. About an hour later, a knock at the door signalled the delivery of my LensBaby lens. Unpacked it from its battered box and made sure it was the right one, then left to visit Margie.

Margie was on good form. Telling us about the problems of riding a Stannah Stairlift and getting it to stop in the correct place.  We discussed sketching and painting and “fishtails”.  Margie danced a lot when she was younger and understood lots of the techniques she and Scamp were discussing.

Soon it was time for us to go, but there were lots of stories to listen to.  Best one was about the family searching for an electrician who she was sure was called Shakespeare, only to find he was called Macbeth.  Close, but no cigar.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to get an old Huawei phone to work.  In the end I gave up and might have to consider replacing my ailing Samsung.

A quick waltz and quickstep practise tonight brought some of it back, but not a lot.

Tomorrow, Alex and I are hoping to go and visit Glasgow Cathedral.