Category: A Walk

Snow – 28 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Today we woke to snow, just as the forecasters predicted … for once.

Yes, a layer of the white stuff coated the paths and the grass this morning. The temperature was 1.1ºc. Above zero, but only just. I was thinking that I might go out and get some snowy scene photos, but then again, there was no real need to rush. The snow would probably be there in an hour or so too. Time to finish the chapter in my book.

I eventually pulled on my boots, got my heavy Bergy jacket and my furry hat. Then, armed with both Sony cameras I went off to the snowy wastes of St Mo’s. I did get PoD with the A7, but most of the photos were macros taken with the A6000. Surprisingly, when I got them processed, I had far more ‘keepers’ than I thought I’d have.

Back home, my next task was to decant some of yesterday’s leaves into the compost bin. The easiest way, and much to Scamp’s dismay, was to bring the garden waste wheelie bin through the house to the back garden. Then shovel the leaves into the bin. The contents of the bin were in far better nick than I’d have expected. There was a lot of good looking, well rotted compost in there and also a fair number of worms eating their way through what was left of some vegetable matter. The already chopped up leaves will give them something new in their diet.

Our own diet today was Tomato and Red Pepper soup followed by Pan Fried Chicken Breast with potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower. It sounds fancy, but I was cooking, so some corners were cut and some license has been taken with the description. The chicken was half the breast from the chicken I cooked yesterday. The broccoli and cauliflower were from an M&S packet and the potatoes were mingin’. Too old and mouldy looking. Still, pudding was an M&S Cherry Steamed Pudding. I could never have made that, but I could bake it in the microwave for 1min 30sec.

Spoke to Jamie and found out the full story of Simonne’s injured hand and the extent of the injuries. She’s back to the hospital tomorrow to get the dressing changed and check that healing is properly in progress. Neither dog seems to have any serious injuries.
Things seem to be moving on the house front too with some work already completed and others in the pipeline.

Today’s PoD is a view along the path to Condorrat with a tweak or two in Lightroom. Doesn’t it make it look cold!

Tomorrow we are intending to take Isobel to the tea dance in Falkirk. It’s a test too, to see if Scamp can manage to dance with the new glasses on. If it works we may attempt a class on Saturday. Temperature now is -1ºc. Below zero, but only just.

Arwen Arrives – 26 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

A wild lady is Arwen.

Named after the Lady of Rivendell, Arwen is a storm that started battering the east of the UK this afternoon. I’d gone out in the early afternoon before she could swoop over us and it was bitter cold just about 4ºc which with windchill reduced to approximately -267ºc or thereabouts. At least that’s how it felt. However, I did get some photos and my favourite was the one you see above. It’s the pond at St Mo’s with Deone’s butterfly seat in the distance.

One circuit of the pond was enough for me today. The wind was beginning to rise as I was coming home and I was glad I’d my Bergy jacket with its fleece lining to keep out the worst of the weather.

Earlier, in the morning I’d washed the downstairs windows, but that only gave Scamp the opportunity to change the curtains. I did the taking down of the curtains, Scamp did the changeover and then I put the new ones up. Yes, she was right, they did need changing.

Earlier still, we spoke to Hazy and found what was happening down Epsom way. Lots of interesting things going on down there and we now have a singing school teacher in the family!

All that and a phone call from Margie to tell Scamp about her trips to hospital and the swearing from some Larky folk who were in the ward with her. I’d could have told her, that’s not swearing, it’s just the way they talk. The sweary words are just used as punctuation!

Storm Arwen has been making a nuisance of itself for some time now, since about 3pm, and is still roaming around the houses here.  It’s been gathering all the leaves from around the estate and dumping them on our front garden, then clattering them off our front window.  The storm doesn’t seem to be lessening  and it will be here for most of the night and some of tomorrow it seems. I don’t know how much sleep we’ll get, but it will soon be time to find out.

Tomorrow I’m intending cooking a roast chicken for dinner. I’m sure I’ll need some assistance from Scamp, but maybe not too much. I don’t think we’ll be going far until Arwen heads off south.

Glasgow Green – 25 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

A bright day, but a cold one. You can’t have everything.

We drove down to Glasgow Green today, Scamp’s suggestion. It had been quite a while since we’d been there. These days you have to be very calculating or very lucky to get to walk an unmolested Glasgow Green. It seems that every weekend there is preparation for, or demolition of an ‘Event’. We must just have been lucky, because we didn’t do any research for today’s walk, and the ’green’ part of Glasgow Green was just as it should be, empty of scaffolding or wire fences. Wonderful. The old boathouse was being renovated, but that’s ok, because it’s on the edge of the green and didn’t inconvenience anyone.

We walked a fair bit of the periphery of the park as did quite a few others, but the feeling of space today was cheering. It was a shot from The Green that I got today’s PoD which was the reflection of the chimney and the smoke from the Strathclyde Distillery reflected in the Clyde. Another day with that strange yellowy sky. I’m guessing it’s because the sun isn’t rising very high in the sky and is therefore shining through a thicker layer of dust and smoke than in the summer.

We walked almost as far as the bridge over the Clyde to Richmond Park, but we were both feeling the cold by then and decided a warm car would be a better choice and left Richmond Park for another day. We stopped on the way home to have a coffee in Costa at Robroyston and then stocked up of essentials (which didn’t include a bottle of gin, this time) at Lidl before driving home.

After we’d unloaded the car I changed keys and drove Scamp’s Wee Red Car to Boots at Craigmarloch to get Scamp’s prescription and also to give the wee car a run. I made sure the heat was flowing before I made my way back and got home before the St Mo’s weans came out of school.

I was half way through making Fish Curry for dinner when a strange message appeared on the TV. Something about the program being suspended, then Scamp noticed that the modem was off. I checked the electricity hadn’t tripped, but it hadn’t. Then the modem’s lights came on, but stayed at a flashing green. That’s not a good sign. I couldn’t get through to Virgin on my phone and I feared the worst. Eventually, after an hour, I got the message that there was a problem in our area, both Broadband and TV. Nothing to do but wait. Now I know what cold turkey feels like, even if I was eating hot fish curry. Then everything started up again. The electricity had gone off yesterday, for the whole street. Today it looked like the broadband had been the victim. Now, there is a group of council workies digging holes and doing some ‘repair’ work in the next street. Now call me suspicious, but … !

Tomorrow looks stormy. We look as if we’re on the edge of the ‘amber warning’, but that’s by no means certain. We’ll hang onto our hats and hope for the best.

 

Listening to my own advice – 24 November 2021

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Always a good recommendation, but rarely operated on.

Today Scamp was entertaining Annette to tea at our house in the morning. I waited until she arrived then I went out for a walk in the morning sunshine, just like I’d told myself to do. I took the Sony A7 and drove up to Fannyside Moor where I parked beside the Scots Pines that sound so good with the wind whistling through them. It was a lovely morning and the sun was shining, but the west wind was cold. I knew the wind would be colder and stronger later in the week when it swung to the north. They do say that “The North Wind doth blow and we shall have snow”. It appears that may be true before the weekend, but I get ahead of myself.

Today I was looking for some decent landscapes and Fannyside is great with its view to the south and east. I started out walking in that direction with a bit of shelter from that west wind because of the trees on my right. I couldn’t find very much to photograph until I reached a stand of trees silhouetted against a wild looking sky. That might be PoD, I thought. As I turned to head back up the hill I could hear a motorbike engine behind me. It turned out to be a quad bike. The farmer out to feed his sheep. Soon the sound of the engine was drowned out by the barking of two sheepdogs trying to run me down. A couple of shouts from the farmer brought them to heel and I continued on unharmed.

I didn’t get much else there and drove to Greenfaulds station car park where I left the car and walked along the Luggie Water for a bit. Although it is only November, the snowdrops are pushing their green shoots up under the trees. Some good lighting encouraged me to shoot some more frames and one of those shots almost made PoD. Also saw some good graffiti under the road bridge. Hardly met anyone along the path.

Back home, Annette was just leaving and after saying goodbye, we made instant pizza our lunch. The weather was still bright, so Scamp and I went for a walk over to St Mo’s. Just one circuit of the pond today because it was getting colder than in the middle of the day. Scamp got a surprise delivery of neoprene elasticated specs holders from Mr Amazon today. She says they work well, but seem to put extra stress on the already flimsy legs of the glasses. They survived the trip to St Mo’s.

Dinner tonight was Giant Fish Fingers and Spaghetti (the tinned variety). It’s quick to make and it tastes good. Plus it fulfils the rule of Fish on a Wednesday. That’s been a tradition in our family for years.

Watched the final episode of Shetland tonight. It did answer all the questions, but then started a new story that won’t resolve itself until the new series, NEXT YEAR! What will we watch until then??

In the end, neither of my initial shots made PoD, it was a landscape from Fannyside that won, looking down the road the disappears into the distance. No sign of sheepdogs or quad bikes!

Tomorrow looks cold and windy with the chance of Wintry Showers. Turn the heating up, I say.

Baking – 23 November 2021

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Get Set … Bake!

Tonight was the final of the Great British Bake Off and to celebrate I was making Multigrain Rolls.

I had a few of the Bakedin boxes that I hadn’t had time to start, so today was the day. For what were basically rolls with porridge oats on top it was a complicated recipe. Grated Linseed, Wholemeal flour, Oat bran, Milk and Eggs were some of the ingredients. It really was the stickiest dough I’ve kneaded in a long time, but they did come out looking and tasting like Multigrain Rolls, which made all that faffing about with baking trays and ”Shaping a claw with your hand and rolling a 90g piece of dough in a circular motion” worthwhile. They tasted good too, although I’d have added a bit more salt.  I might apply for next year’s Bakeoff! Aye Right!!

That was the overarching work of the day, but in between the proving and forming and kneading I made some ‘Just Soup’ which looked like it was going to end up being a vegetable stew, but with help from Scamp it turned out ok, just ok. That was dinner today along with Rice ’n’ prunes for dinner, made by Scamp.

Something happened to the NAS drive yesterday and it seems to have blocked itself. I can’t quite figure it out yet, but I do know it’s something to do with the installation of a new version of Lightroom. I’ve tried looking for help from the Synology website, but it’s the most user unfriendly ‘help’ site I’ve ever used. There are almost no simple instructions there for a newbie user like me. Everything seems to be aimed at those with a degree in Computer Science. Maybe I need to look for the Topsy and Tim version of Synology.

I also managed to squeeze in a drive down to Auchinstarry with just enough time to scramble up the steep path to Croy to record a lovely stripe of golden light on the lower slopes of the Campsie Fells. That made PoD which was lucky, because I hadn’t taken any more photos today. To be honest, I couldn’t be bothered taking photos today, there are just too many things going on just now and not enough daylight time to fit things in. I must take my own advice again and get some photos taken earlier in the day.

We made our first foray into private health care and are in the process of getting a referral from our optician for a consultation at The Nuffield. Let’s hope they are more help than the NHS at Hairmyres were.

I think Scamp has booked Annette for tea and a natter tomorrow morning, so that might give me a chance to go and get some photos if the weather is behaving itself.

Frosty – 22 November 2021

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Our first sub-zero morning this winter. Yes, winter, because it feels like autumn has silently slid into that colder season.

The temperature this morning was -0.4ºc. There were no birds bathing this morning because the birdbath was frozen over. When I went out to break the ice I had to use a half brick to get through the top layer of ice. Still there were no takers for a quick splash. Can’t say I blame them.

It might be cold, but it was bright. Really too bright to take photos. I’d intended making some bread, but instead I made one last backup of Mojave on the iMac and then plunged headlong into installing Catalina. I’d rather have stayed with Mojave, but fewer and fewer apps would now run on that older version of the Mac OS. The consolation is that both the MBP and the iMac will now be running the same OS and should play nice with each other. They should, but like two siblings separated by a few years, I’m sure they will fight and throw the occasional hissy fit. The update didn’t take all that long and most things worked as before. My real regret was the loss of Excel. My version runs in 32bit mode and Catalina only supports 64bit, so I am now stuck with the vastly inferior Apple Numbers.

After lunch and when I was getting itchy feet, I took the Sony for a walk in St Mo’s. There wasn’t much to see although I did spook a deer in the woods. I got a photo of what looked like a family group of fungi all cambering over each other to get their foties took. That’s available for perusal on Flickr, but PoD went to a yellow leaf tangled in a tree. I used an updated version of Lightroom to pull it out of the gloaming gloom. Lightroom is becoming more and more sophisticated with each update. More and more useful too.

I think the highest temperature we reached today was about 5ºc. Not great, but above zero at least. We spoke to Jamie in the evening and found that even down south it had been cold today. House preparation seems to be going ahead apace. The electrician has been and said that the wiring is up to scratch but the sockets need to be replaced. Vixen has approved the house in general, but isn’t sure about those stairs.The carpets have been bought a will be laid soon. The removals company has been booked too. Lots of stuff is being sorted as you’d expect with two new, young house owners!

Tomorrow we may go out for a short walk if Scamp is fit enough and I have to pick someone’s brains about cataract surgery outside the NHS. Other than that, no plans.

 

A day at the gee gees – 21 November 2021

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It was a beautiful morning. Too good to sit in the house.

I enticed Scamp out, telling her we’d go for a walk. Well, were going for a walk, but we’d to drive to the Kelpies first. I felt sure they’d bring a smile to her face and they did. Helix Park, where the Kelpies live was busy and with half the car park cordoned off for resurfacing I wondered if we’d get parked, but we were there early enough for that not to be a problem. Paid our £2 for our right to park there all day if we wanted, then we went for that walk I’d promised.

One of the first things we saw apart from the gigantic horses heads was a bloke on a paddle board posing on the water and being photographed. He even did a headstand on the board. Poor bloke was wearing a wetsuit top, a life jacket and a pair of shorts. No leggings and no trainers. The temperature was around 7ºc, he must have been freezing. Luckily he didn’t fall in.

We walked round the massive statues and found new angles to view them from. Lots of other folk were doing the same. Some with their hands out pretending to feed the beasts, others just getting family groups set up to record the visit. We even saw a wedding photog taking the opportunity for an interesting backdrop for an Indian couple. The groom in a dark suit and the bride in the most glorious ivory coloured wedding dress I’ve ever seen. So much heavy brocade, it must have weighed a ton! They had a great day for it.

It was cold, but Scamp wanted to have a coffee outside where the view was better than in the cafe. Yes the view was good and the ‘millionaire’s shortbread’ was good too, but cappuccino really should have coffee in it, somewhere. I think I got hot milk. After a while we headed home. It really was getting a bit cool as the sun disappeared behind a big cloud, but we’d had a walk in the sun and visited the Kelpies again.

Back home and after lunch I declared the photos good enough to exempt me from a walk in the cold wintry air, so I started a backup of the iMac before I upgrade it to Catalina tomorrow, hopefully.

Dinner was Cauliflower Cheese with potatoes for Scamp and Mince ’n’ Tatties for me with a bit of the cauliflower cheese added in. Scamp had made a Bruschetta for a starter and it was very nice indeed. We had our first Tesco delivery of the autumn/winter season. The first since the late spring. It made sense with all that’s going on in the house to get someone to pick it and someone else to deliver it.

We watched the Quatar F1 GP and saw more of the politics rearing its ugly head in the sport. Too many egos in F1 now. But I’m just going over old ground the same old ground I ploughed through yesterday.

I had a great day today and I hope Scamp had a good time too, apart from the coffee. PoD was a backlit Kelpie throwing shapes on the walkway.

No plans for tomorrow. Weather looks not as good as today.

An improving picture – 20 November 2021

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A very dull start to the day, but the weather improved as the day went on.

Not the most interesting of days. A bit dull to start with, but that was before the rain came and dampened our spirits even more. I messed around with the new external SSD drive (which is bad English, because the ‘D’ in SSD actually stand for Drive, so what I’ve written in Solid State Drive drive which is nonsense and a wasteful use of the word ‘drive’. The pedant’s pedant, that’s me). I copied X-Plane to it and then ran it from there rather than from the computer’s hard disk. The difference in speed was appreciable. Loading took about a quarter the time. Clever little bit of kit, the SSD.

In the afternoon, once the sun had found a way to shine out through the cloud layer, I took the Sony out for a walk in St Mo’s. I found a little Garden Cross spider that now has a place on Flickr, but PoD was really the sky. As I came out of the woods on to the boardwalk, and I saw the sky, I knew that would be PoD. It took me quite a while to find the right spot, angle and lens for the photo. Even then I dithered for a while choosing from two different trees. I finally chose the fragile looking birch to be the focus. Hardly any post processing for once.

Back home we decided on Fish ’n’ Chips for dinner. I walked over to Condorrat about half past four and by the time I was coming back it was almost totally dark. I noticed the moon rising over the town centre and it looked like a full moon, but apparently that was last night. Still, it was glowing well over the Thunder Dome as John used to call it.

We watched the qualifying for the Quatar GP, but I’m growing tired with the politics and general bad feeling between the leaders. I’ll still watch it to see who wins, but Verstappen’s constant flouting of the rules and Hamilton’s aggression is putting me off. It’s come down to a two horse race and I wouldn’t back either of them.

Tomorrow looks better than today, so maybe we will get out for a walk. If not, a wee dance practise wouldn’t do any harm.

Not enough milk bottles – 18 November 2021

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We were waiting for the call to tell us that Scamp’s glasses were ready. It never came, and neither did they.

Scamp had been told that the glasses would be at the opticians today by around 1.30pm. When no phone call came, she left it a while, then phoned them. She was told that the glasses hadn’t been delivered, but she’d contact the supplier and find out what had gone wrong. Then she would phone us back. An hour later and still no phone call, she phoned the optician again and was told that they were being tracked. Who was doing the tracking, and where the glasses were, she wasn’t saying. We’re guessing that their top sleuths are on the case with specialised glasses sniffing dogs and a police helicopter is standing by in case it is needed. Then again, it might just be a case of not enough milk bottles. We’ll see what happens tomorrow and hopefully Scamp will see too!

With the excitement over and a disappointed Scamp, I gave her some space and went for the messages. It had been suggested that paella might be a good dinner tonight, so I was heading off to get some chicken. Of course I took a camera although the sun was setting and I went via St Mo’s, just in case. As I turned a corner and came out of some overhanging trees, I spooked a group of mallards in the pond. They started squawking their warning cry and I knew they were going to do their vertical take-off trick. I had the wrong lens on the camera and the wrong settings too, but I had no choice. I got three shots before they disappeared. One of those three got PoD.

We did a tiny little bit of dancing today. Just a quick run through of the New Vogue Waltz. Just to refresh my memory. If we have enough time tomorrow I’ll get Scamp to take me through it in more detail.

Autumn days are so short, especially on dull days. If you don’t go out early or when there is the slightest break in the clouds, you’re fighting to get enough light to get a decent photo. Must take my own advice and do that tomorrow.

Otherwise, I hope we are going to Larkhall, although my faith in Simpson Opticians is becoming very tarnished.

Coffee with Val – 17 November 2021

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Out with Val to hear his news and pick his brains.

First time for ages I’ve met Val for a coffee and a chat. Drinking Costa’s version of coffee and trying not to compare it with real coffee. We spent a good hour and a half comparing each other’s technology and being amazed at the advances in computing that have become par for the course these days. He showed me a photo of his latest microcomputer the size of a postage stamp and I discussed with him the challenges of upgrading an iMac with more memory and a 1TB SSD.  Did manage to get Val to give me his opinion on the SSD as a replacement for the HDD in the iMac.  That previous sentence wouldn’t have meant a thing to most people, because, like almost everything we said today, it was in the form of numbers or letters with only a smattering of words to leaven it. So you see, Jamie, you are not alone in being a technophobe.

Back home for lunch and then later in the afternoon I went for a walk in the woods of St Mo’s looking for Stag’s Horn fungi. Managed to find one I’d been unsuccessful in photographing on Monday. Today’s shot was better, but still not great. PoD is a Sycamore seed with a wing that looks almost like windsurfer sail. The seed is caught in the the fork of a tree, maybe a sycamore itself!

Dinner was disappointing ravioli from Waitrose. Quite tasteless. It didn’t help that dinner was interrupted when the kitchen tap started running and wouldn’t stop. After struggling with it for about fifteen minutes, it stopped by itself. I still don’t know what caused it or what made it stop. Maybe it just felt it wanted a bit more attention than I was giving it.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to pick up Scamp’s new glasses which should be ready in the afternoon. If they’re not ready, Scamp will be reading the riot act!