Category: A Walk

Dull! – 29 November 2024

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Scamp was out to the last FitSteps of the year. Stayed home and read more of The Black Loch.

When she returned from her exertions we filled a box with some of those plasticky things that look like white Cheesy Wotsits then put some bits of wood in and also some bolts and nuts to make the box look like it had something interesting inside before wrapping it up, taking it up to Tesco and posting it to someone as a little surprise. Probably not the surprise they were expecting. Just a little bit of fun!

In two weeks we’re hoping to last tea dance of the year and while we were in Tesco, Scamp tried to find me a Xmas jersey to wear at it. Most of them were awful, but I did find one I might pay money for. Only maybe though. I’ll see if the price will come down in the next few weeks.

With just enough light to see my way round St Mo’s, I took the A6500 and one lens for a walk. There wasn’t much of interest, except for a strange yellow glow in the sky from a very low sun. I clambered down a banking that led me down to the pond and got some shots from there of what looked like a bonfire being built in the pond. Surely not. After climbing back up, I was taking some photos of the reflections at the outfall from the pond when a gang of rowdy Mallards flew in and the shattered the peace. So I went home.

We watched another episode of Shetland and just when everything was looking a bit clearer, there was another twist in the story. I know we should have expected it, but there’s always a cliff hanger in these stories.

That was about it for today. Not a lot to report, really.

We might need an earlier rise tomorrow because the politburo at Brookfield need time to set up a Xmas Fayre.

 

No Time like the Present – 27 November 2024

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The clues are there, but only one will be revealed!

We drove in to Glasgow to buy some stuff. Most will be redacted, but one will not. While Scamp was off buying the redacted things, I was browsing the watches in JL. I fancied a new smart watch. My old one is ok, but since FItBit has been taken over by the Google monster, all the best bits have been gradually removed and updates have become few and far between. Besides, it’s nearly Xmas and there are bargains to be had, they say.

I was willing to afford a Vivoactive 5 which does almost all the things the FitBit did and a few more. The screen in particular was much clearer than the FitBit and the lack of a stair counter was offset by the Vivoactive not having Google’s sticky fingers all over it.

Coffee and a scone in JL’s cafe with a window seat looking out over the hordes of Xmas shoppers wandering aimlessly in and out of shops looking for something, anything to buy. Yes, and I am one of them.

Walking over the JL bridge to the car park I saw my favourite view of Glasgow laid out before me, but the windows were streaked with dirt and I couldn’t get a clean shot of the panorama of buildings. Then I saw the lone figure of a bloke waiting on the platform of Queen Street Station and I had my PoD.

Drove home and that’s when reality bit. The watch was fine. It looked like the one I’d been testing (playing with) in JL. It was the instructions that were lacking. I spent more time than I’d anticipated going between computer, phone and watch without getting anything done it seemed. The folk who make these devices really do need to explain things much more clearly to bears of little brain. Half of Wednesday afternoon and night was spent trying to make sense of the instructions. It almost went back into the box and back to Mr John Lewis, but that would be giving in and this was a challenge!

After a quickly made, but quite delicious Paella, we got ready and went out to Kirsty’s dance class where we attempted a Quickstep and a Waltz in the same night. It was a bit of a shambles in places, but we did do well at the quickstep. Not so good at the waltz.

Watched the last two episodes of the Moonflower Murders and thoroughly enjoyed them. Hopefully there will be season 3.

PoD was that man waiting for his train.

This has been a catch-up due to the problems the bear of little brain had with instructions.

Hoping to go dancing on Thursday.

At The Fort – 26 November 2024

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We drove to The Fort today. Our main aim can’t be divulged yet, but it was partly successful.

Scamp messaged Hazy in the morning to see how here mouth was. The reply was that she “slept ok. Her face was a bit swollen, but not too sore.” We were both glad to hear that.

We drove home via Tesco to get some veg for dinner and a carton of milk. Such an exciting day. Then it was home for lunch. First I was reminded that we need the boiler serviced, so I phoned the local heating engineers and got an appointment for the middle of December. Another thing  to tick off the ToDo list.

After lunch Scamp was intending to phone Jackie, so I put my boots on and went over to St Mo’s on a cold but sunny day to get some photos with the 16-35mm lens on the A7iii. One of them became PoD. I liked the colour of the light and the low viewpoint that had me crawling along the boardwalk. I thought the council plan to cut channels into the reedbeds and the marshy areas was going to be a disaster, but after a couple of years they have become a haven for ducks and the occasional swan. Also they are sheltered from the wind and create great reflections. For once I say “well done” to the council.

By the time I got back, the telephone conversation had finished and it was time to chop up the veg to make Butternut Squash Soup which would be the main course of tonight’s dinner. Scamp made custard that went so well with the apple tart of a couple of days ago.

We watched the final of The Great British Bakeoff. I got the winner totally wrong, but I think Scamp backed the right horse.

A quick practise of the new Quickstep that we’re hoping to unveil on Thursday at a tea dance. Still a few rough edges to remove, but effectively it’s there.

We may go shopping tomorrow and hopefully there will be enough for a quorum at the British Legion for the last waltz of the year!

No Snow – 24 November 2024

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When I woke around 6am yesterday’s snow had disappeared. All of it, just gone!

The rain during the night must have been torrential because there was no sign of the snow that was still lying when I went to bed last night. The temperature had risen during the night, but not significantly, so it must have been the rain. It’s a strange climate we live in these days. I blame Global Warming … and Kier Starmer.

It was a usual Sunday. Solved Wordle in four and found the Pangram. Struggled a bit with Angry Birds, but completed the day’s test. What Now? Well, there was the Las Vegas F1 GP to watch and we did watch Verstappen collect his fourth championship in a row.

Scamp decided that there was too much sitting around going on and we needed to get out and go for a walk. If that walk also mean shopping, then so much the better. So that’s what we did. We walked down to The Shops. Not a soul had moved their cars, but I shouldn’t complain, because we hadn’t moved ours either.
We picked some veg and fruit and a bag of Jam Donuts, then we headed back up the hill. Scamp offered to take the message bag home if I wanted to go for a walk in St Mo’s. I took up her offer.

Almost immediately I found my PoD. It’s just a man-made hill that creates the start for the BMX track. I used a low angle and a wide angle lens to make it look even higher. I knew you’d like to know that!
Not a lot of interest to see today and the wind from Storm Bert was beginning to ramp up. Plus there were jam donuts waiting for me!

Back home it was lunch time and today dumpling was the star. Scamp had Egg and Dumpling, I did too, but I added a slice of bacon to it. It’s the saltiness of the bacon with the sweetness of the dumpling I like. The jam donut was lovely too with a cup of coffee.

Both Scamp and I were baking today. She was making an Apple Tart and I was making Bread. It’s a long time since I’ve made bread and it showed with the strange football shaped loaf that came out of the oven. Too much butter and a dough that was too wet. Scamp’s apple tart was delicious with the crisp shortcrust pastry.

We spoke to Jamie later had heard that he is safety officer for his office at work and they are being inspected this week. I know how you feel, Jamie. I’ve been there and done that and came out of it alive. You will too.

Storm Bert is blundering around outside the window and will be doing so until about midday tomorrow, all being well. I don’t like wild wind, so I think I’ll just go to bed and read for a while before I go to sleep.

Another fairly early rise – 21 November 2024

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Well, it was before midday. That’s early for us.

Scamp had managed to get an appointment to see the doctor about the tremor in her right hand. After examining her and checking her arm movement he told her to make an appointment to get some blood tests done, to rule out the possibility that it was her meds that were causing the tremor. Luckily we managed to get an appointment in the afternoon to get the blood letting done.

I also spoke to one of the receptionists about the results of the ECG I had done last month and found out it was normal, which is good. It must be the first time I’ve been described as ‘normal’. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or a slur! You’ll be happy, Neil. You were the one who convinced Scamp to set a date to get some awkward things done we both used “Neil’s Rule” today

Back home it was coffee time and also time for a slice of dumpling. A dumpling Scamp had made yesterday. Partly cooked in the slow cooker and partly nuked in the microwave. The smell yesterday was a powerful reminder of ‘clootie’ dumplings my mum used to make by tying the mixture up in a cotton tea towel and then boiling the dumpling in the pressure cooker, the biggest pot she had. I never liked the thick skin on the dumplings, but I do now. Isn’t it funny how your tastes change as you get older.

Scamp had a piece ’n’ egg for lunch and I had a smoked fillet of mackerel. It was lovely at the time, but it does repeat quite a lot and comes back on you, tasting more and more oily every time. I’ll maybe give it a miss the next time I’m looking for something ‘different’ for lunch.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s but couldn’t find anything interesting to photograph, then as I was about to walk home I saw today’s PoD through the trees. Someone managed to push a shopping trolley about half way across St Mo’s pond. The ice on the pond isn’t really very thick, but the water underneath is at least waist deep and very cold. Maybe the contents of the empty bottle gave them Dutch courage to try this dangerous game.
Don’t try this at home kiddies!

No snow yet here, but we are getting worrying weather warnings for Friday and Saturday. Maybe someone should tell the weather fairies that it’s still Autumn and not Winter for more than a week.

No FitSteps this week because the teacher has a bad cold. I think Scamp may be intending to meet Isobel for coffee at Costa.

 

 

Foggy – 12 November 2024

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A grey morning with mist and fog

I was off through the fog to the dentist in the morning. Just for a check-up, but I knew that I needed a filling and some work done on one of my front teeth. Too much to do in check-up time I have to go back … in January. That’s next year! At least the work was going to be done under NHS otherwise I’d be moaning about the cost as well as the wait. Thankfully the loose filling isn’t giving me any pain (touch wood) and it’s been loose since about January 2024, so no need for hurry! Drove home and the fog seemed to be lifting a bit.

We drove to M&S to get the makings of tonight’s dinner which was to be stir-fry. Then we went to Tesco for bread and milk and all the other stuff we couldn’t get in M&S.

After lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s in the fog that was now descending again. PoD went to a photo of a bank of rushes with a tree almost fading into the background. I quite liked it. Lots of shots of desiccated cow parsley heads, bejewelled with strings of spiderwebs holding little raindrops. Very pretty and pretty cold too. Thank goodness for a down jacket.

Dinner tonight was Prawn Stir-Fry and even if I say so myself, it turned out really well.

We watched Bake Off and mourned the loss of another good baker and a great contestant. And now there were four! Next week is semi-finals week.

Tomorrow is to be foggy again and I’m sure I heard the weather man say it might be snowy next week. I’m not surprised!

Sunshine and flowers – 11 November 2024

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For once it wasn’t sunshine and Showers.

Spoke to Hazy in the morning. I think she liked the rhinoceros shoes that are destined for Grian. I did have a quick look, but no adult size shoes with attached sox could I find. The Van Gogh exhibition sounded amazing, Hazy.

As we were talking I was watching the light playing across the Alstrumeria cut flowers on a table in the living room. Once we’d finished our call with Hazy, I just had to take a couple of shots of them. Literally two shots was all I took, but the effect of that sunlight and shadows meant I didn’t need any more. Photo one got PoD.

I took the Down jacket out for another spin later. Just a walk down to the shops to get bread. It should have been bread and some cold sliced chicken for Scamp, but I completely forgot the chicken. It was one of those days when things went a bit wrong. Never mind Scamp I’ll bring some home tomorrow if I remember.

Dinner tonight was pasta all’Amatriciana. Pasta with tomato, onions, bacon and chilli flakes. I added some tomato concentrate to strengthen it and it worked very well. The simplest dishes are often the most difficult to make properly.

That was about it for the day. That bright sunlight in the morning sort of faded away in the afternoon and left us with the usual clouds.

Last week Scamp was at the dentist. Tomorrow it’s my turn. I know I need at least one filling. I’ll have to wait to find out what else she discovers!

 

It’s not every day … 10 November 2024

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It’s not every day you see a gorilla strutting his stuff to Danza Kuduro in Buchanan Street, but we saw one today. Definitely worth a couple of quid for the entertainment value alone. Of course it wasn’t a real gorilla, it was just a bloke in a monkey suit. Real gorillas dance Salsa. I know, because I’ve seen them in The Garage on Sausageroll Street.

We were in Glasgow today to look for a what I would have called a “puffer jacket”, but Jamie corrected me and told me it was a “Down jacket”. Presumably because it’s filled with duck down. You live and learn. Scamp has one and was keen to extoll its virtues for keeping warm, too warm she said. I’d seen some advertised online in Blacks and thought I’d try some out.

First I looked in Tiso as it was almost on our road to Glasgow, Scamp preferred to stay in the car, but the prices were a lot higher than those in Blacks. Tiso in Glasgow city centre was the next stopping point. They had very little as usual in their tiny wee shop.
Then we tried Blacks, but I couldn’t see anything I’d want to pay money for and that just muddied the water. Eventually I gave up, disappointed, and on Scamp’s suggestion we went for a coffee at Nero in St Enoch’s square.

When we came out I went looking for a photo in House of Fraser in Buchanan Street. Their Christmas light display is wonderful to behold. Part of that wonder is asking myself how much it adds to their electricity bill? They didn’t disappoint this year! The House of Fraser display was PoD.

One of Scamp’s reasons for coming to Glasgow was to get some clothes and toys for the new baby in Skye. That and a few other things too.

On the way home I had another look in the original Tiso shop again, the big one with the best selection. This time I took my fashion expert, Scamp, to keep me on the right track. I showed her the first one I’d tried on earlier in the day and she agreed it fitted the bill (and me) almost perfectly. I took her at her word and bought it. It was more expensive than the ones in Blacks, but it fitted me and had everything I wanted in a jacket. Sometimes you just have to pay the price.

Back home and after I’d removed the labels carefully incase I felt the need to return it. (I suffer from “Buyers Remorse”) Then I left the house without a jersey, just a shirt and jeans and a bright red (Scamp says Orange) Rab jacket. Walked round St Mo’s collecting photos on the way and didn’t feel the cold. I think it’s a keeper. Even better, Scamp presented me with a new Buff, a blue one because I’ve misplaced my yellow one.

Dinner tonight was an M&S Chicken and Ham Pie with potatoes. Dessert was the family favourite, Eve’s Pudding.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard about the “Killer Cat” and how it has not only terrorised the neighbourhood, but also caused its owner to be ostracised by the neighbours. I suggested that a visit from Vixen would settle its hash!

No plans for tomorrow apart from going out with my new Down Jacket. Did I mention that I had a new jacket?

Looong Day – 8 November 2024

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Scamp was out in the morning to FitSteps and after that, coffee with June. I was rebuilding MacOS Ventura for the third time … or is it fourth?

I spent most of the morning destroying the Crucial SSD that used to run the iMac, and with it, all the operating system and the data. Then I started again from a completely clean disk and reinistalled Ventura, the operating system. When that was done, I plugged in a second SSD and used the built-in Migration Assistant from Ventura to copy the data from the second SSD to the Ventura SSD. I knew this would take a good three hours, because, not only does it copy the data, it also updates it to Ventura at the same time. Rather than sit watching numbers and letters flying across the screen, I went out for a walk in a cold St Mo’s. Spotted two Canada Geese probably overwintering or maybe just dropping in for a rest before travelling further south for the winter. PoD went to a bunch of Flag Lily seedheads I found behind St Mo’s school. They looked like alien creatures or deformed insects, but had lovely deep brown colours.

When I returned, so had Scamp. We had lunch and discussed the morning’s events. I think the ‘tronics stuff went completely over Scamp’s head, much like her dance instructions fly over mine, but it’s still good to discuss these things! The computer seems to have settled down and everything works this time, touch wood.

Then out of the blue I got a message from Ray. I don’t think I’ve had a conversation with him since last Christmas. It seems he has medical problems and is in an old peoples home in Douglas waiting for an op. I was shocked. He asked me for Val’s email address and after confirming with Val that he was happy to give it, I sent it to Ray.

We went to Crawford & Nancy’s for dinner at night. Lots of news exchanged by all of us. Crawford is waiting for a cataract op and has his pre-op next week. He was a lot quieter than his usual which has probably got something to do with the operation. I know I was a bit jittery about my first cataract op, but I did enjoy the month off work it gave me!
Good meal and lots to talk about. We left just before midnight and it was almost straight to bed.

Tomorrow we’ll probably be dancing!

 

Coffee and Glasgow – 7 November 2024

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On a beautifully clear autumn morning.

Today started with an email from Henry’s Coffee to say that my order of coffee beans was ready to collect. A quick calculation told me I could manage to drive to Falkirk, pick up the coffee and get back home before I caught the bus to Glasgow to meet Alex. Driving through Falkirk just before 10am was a delight. Very little traffic and a beautiful blue sky overhead. Picked up the coffee, but had to turn down the offer of a cup of the espresso blend with the owner as I was on a tight schedule. Got back home and then I was off to catch the bus to Glasgow.

Over a cup of coffee in Nero we made our plans for the day which was to get the bus to Kelvingrove and then walk up to Glasgow University where we were intending getting some photos in the Cloisters. I know, technically they are not cloisters, but I never did understand the difference. With that agreed I wanted a look at the new iMacs that can be ordered from tomorrow, but it was only the M3 models that were on display. Even they had eye watering prices attached. As and example, the Mac Pro starts at a quid short of £8,000 and that’s without a display! We looked, but were very careful not to touch!

Once the dream popped and we returned to reality, we caught the bus to Kelvinside and did walk up to the Uni. It was mobbed with secondary school kids who were working in groups. Some were measuring things, some were photographing things and some were analysing mosses and lichens on the buildings. None of them were causing mayhem, so they must all have come from posh schools. That lovely weather from the morning and the warmth it had brought with it had dissipated rapidly as we climbed the hill to the Uni. Now there was a cold wind blowing and it was woolly bunnet time. After we’d photographed our fill, we headed back to Kelvingrove Art Gallery for a quick lunch. Mine was a sandwich of Chicken and Pesto on Brown Bread with a glass of fresh orange. Alex had his usual of Ayrshire Ham with Pickles, also on the Brown Bread.

The light had almost gone by the time we left Kelvingrove so we caught the bus back to the city centre and had another coffee before heading our separate ways. Alex to the bus station and me to get a Yankee Candle for Scamp in Buchanan Galleries, then the X3 to The Shops for a couple of bunches of Alstroemeria flowers, also for Scamp.

It was Leek and Potato soup for dinner tonight and it was delicious. We watched and episode of Portrait Artist and for once, almost all the artists were spectacularly good. Scamp picked the winner.

PoD turned out to be a student striding past the Cloisters, although I was spoiled for choice with the photos I’d taken, all from Glasgow Uni.

Tomorrow, Scamp is intending going to FitSteps in the morning and then hopefully meeting her big sister. I am hoping to have a free morning that will probably be filled with a third attempt at installing Ventura into what’s probably a tired little SSD. It must be fed up with me by now.