Category: A Walk

A wild, windy and wet day – 23 February 2021

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That’s quite enough alliteration for today thank you very much.

Despite the hammering rain and the wind, Scamp wanted to go for a walk down to the shops because we were running short on fruit. It wasn’t so bad when we were out, until we realised we had the wind at our back, but on the way home it was literally in our face. I’d thought I might take a detour through St Mo’s on the way back, but I decided that was not the thing to do in the rain, and besides we were carrying two bags of messages and my detour would have left Scamp with both, so we just went home.

I did go out a short while later when the rain stopped. The rain might have stopped, but the wind felt worse and unbelievably I was almost blown off my feet. Scamp keeps on telling me I’m getting thin and I just laugh, but maybe this once she’s right. I’ll have to stock up on steak pies and fish suppers to increase my BMI and lower my centre of gravity. I took a few photos, but nothing really stood out. Luckily I’d taken the opportunity of a grab shot on my way out. I’d seen this little dog’s collar with the red bow a few days ago and meant to get a photo. I did today and it became PoD. The rest of the shots were almost all out of focus. I was all for sending the lens back, but then relented because with the weather conditions we’re having, it’s hardly a fair test of the lens’ ability. I’ve got 30 days to make up my mind.

Spoke to Hazy later in the day and it seems that they are settling in to their ‘new’ place quite well. No activity from any river dwelling spirits yet though. If that means nothing to you, try reading the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch

Tonight Scamp got her jag. Same one as me, Astra Zeneca. So hopefully that will take some of the stress out of life for a while. Boris the Bungler made his Roadmap out of Lockdown public yesterday and Nic the Chick made her proclamation today. A couple of nice wee sarcastic jags of her own at the London Lad. Also a more sensible and cautious path out for Scotland. I don’t really mind how long it takes (within reason), just as long as it works.

Today’s prompt was “Miami” and I couldn’t think what to do for it. I finally settled on Miami Vice, the ’80s version of Crocket and Tubbs. Drew a machine vice and put a Miami logo on it. Don’t tell anyone, but if you look carefully you’ll see that I spelt Miami wrong! Twice! I could have altered it digitally in the photo but an eraser was quicker in the end!  The Palomino Blackwing pencils are really soft.  They must be about a 6B and it takes very little to smear them all over the page.  That’s why it looks so dirty.

Tomorrow seems like a re-run of today, if slightly calmer. We may go for a walk somewhere, or we may not. I’ve baking to do.

Sunshine again – 22 February 2021

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Beautiful morning, so up and out in the morning.

We drove down to Auchinstarry and walked along the towpath of the canal out to Twechar and back along the old railway. On the way out we saw two Goosanders with two ducklings. First time I’ve seen baby goosanders. Loads of cyclists out this morning making good use of the springlike weather. We found some snowdrops at the start of the railway path, a great swathe of them. Wonderful views of the hills too. It was good to be standing in the countryside, actually IN the countryside for a change.

The walk back along the railway was a bit of a disappointment. The works that have been ongoing since autumn and now proudly advertised with a big billboard are still only part complete. True, the path through Dumbreck Marshes had been upgraded and a couple of the big holes where the River Kelvin had worn away the side of the paths had been repaired. How long the repairs will last I wouldn’t like to say, but that was it. That’s a good few month’s ‘work’ with very little to show for it. Scamp seemed to just accept it and I ranted about what a waste of money it was. Then I shut up … for a while.

Drove back for lunch and did a bit of painting, catching up on yesterday’s sketches that I’d had a mental block with. Finally got yesterday’s and today’s drawings done. PoD was a gloomy looking landscape shot of sheep in a field near Auchinstarry.

All in all, it was a good day. Still experimenting with and testing the new lens. Trying different subjects. Today’s sheep picture was taken with it and although it’s classed as a short telephoto, it does produce really sharp landscape images. I’ve still not quite worked out how to best use it as the macro it’s supposed to be. To be honest, though, it’s not the best time of year to be photographing macros. In another two or three weeks there might be some more interesting things to photograph.

Tomorrow it is going to rain a lot, by the look of the weather map, so we will be stuck inside I presume because we’ve only one pair of wellies between us!

The sun was shining – 21 February 2021

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For a change, the sun was shining today.

It started in the morning. The sun was shining and for some reason, best known to the weather fairies, it continued to shine on and off all day. After a week of snow and half a week of persistent rain, a day of sun is something to be savoured. We went out for a walk in the morning. Just a fairly short walk over to St Mo’s. Nothing too adventurous, just a couple of circuits of the pond. Once anti-clockwise then once clockwise. Enough to get the sense that spring isn’t too far away now and that’s a good thing.

After lunch Scamp was in the mood for some gentle gardening. Nothing too strenuous, but a bit of planting to welcome the possibility of spring. She also did some of the inevitable pruning that needs to be done at this time of year. Last week at this time we were just breaking free of the ice and snow. Today we were looking forward.

Not being a very conscientious gardener, I grabbed my camera and a couple of lenses and went to investigate the possibility of some insect life stirring in the woods of St Mo’s. Luckily I had a bottle of insect repellant with me which has protected me for about a year from the depredations of stinging and biting insects, so I sprayed my boots and sox before I ventured into the wild woods. It wasn’t there I found the PoD. No, but I did find a little shield bug and a ladybird that had decided it wasn’t quite spring yet, and another week or so of hibernation wouldn’t do any ladybirds any harm. PoD was in fact spotted just beside the circuit path and was a bunch of hawthorn berries, maybe dating back to 2019 and certainly desiccated. It was the texture of them that caught my eye and they were captured perfectly by the new Sigma 105mm macro.

Dinner at home was basic stuff. ‘Rats’ for Scamp and steak mince for me. Both served with potatoes. Mince ’n’ tatties. What’s not to like. Ratatouille, also a good basic staple in this house.

Dance class tonight really centred on our new waltz routine and the Spin Turn in particular. I think we almost have it, but our teachers have promised a video for us to watch and practise with. By next week I’m sure Scamp will have taught it to me.

Tonight’s topic should have been “Eye”, but I just couldn’t produce something I was happy with, so tomorrow will be a catch up.

The weather tomorrow looks good, so we might manage a walk along the canal if the weather fairies have got it right.

 

It rained – 19 February 2021

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All day.

In the morning I started today’s sketch. My thoughts are that although it’s good being able to draw under the daylight bulb in the ‘drawing room’, it’s much better to work with natural daylight, even if it is a poor light at times. Also, if I get the drawing done early then hopefully I’ll get to bed at a reasonable hour.

It worked today. The topic was ‘Yoga’. Many moons ago I did go to a yoga class run by a police sergeant in the gym of a Larkhall school. I became quite addicted to it. When I retired I thought I might take it up again, but the classes were always booked solid and eventually I gave up trying. Maybe once we are out of lockdown I may try again.
As you can see, I couldn’t settle on a subject, so this is a page from my sketchbook and I think the two poses fit quite well. That was a tough prompt, but quite enjoyable.

The furthest we went today was down to the shops for milk. What exciting lives we lead. I didn’t even risk a walk in St Mo’s in case I got the new toy wet (although it is ‘weatherproof’ but probably not ‘Scottish weather proof’). Instead, I took today’s PoD in the warm and dry of the kitchen. It’s a tiny little Narcissus that came in a posy of flowers that Scamp had tastefully arranged in a vase. An old vase that belonged to my mum. It was a six second exposure on a tripod and I really liked it. Great detail in the petals.

Dinner came courtesy of The Chippy in Condorrat. I walked through the rain to get one small fish supper (Scamp’s) and one large fish supper (Mine). They tasted great but I knew I’d be getting the repeats of them all evening and I was right. Might need some Gaviscon tonight to fight the inevitable heartburn.

Found my first tick tonight. On my leg just below the knee, on the sock line. Looks like walks into the wild wood of St Mo’s, or anywhere else for that matter, will be off the cards until at least autumn.

Tomorrow looks like more rain, so we might go out if we can find a dry half hour.

Testing the new toy – 18 February 2021

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Before we got to that, there was the subject of some shearing to be done.

It didn’t take all that long to reduce my overgrown locks to a mess pile on the painting room floor.  I managed most of it myself, but had to rely on Scamp to do the tidying up at the back.  I remember one of my colleagues at work saying that his grandfather stood in front of a mirror with scissors in one hand and a small mirror in the other and cut his own hair.  His acceptance of this skill always bemused me.  He said, “Of course he was a blacksmith, so he was used to it.”  Used to what, I always asked myself.  Are all hairdressers failed blacksmiths or are all blacksmiths failed hairdressers?  Answers, as usual, on a postcard.  Anyway after the hair had been cut to my and Scamp’s satisfaction and the hair hoovered up, I started today’s Sudoku feeling much lighter.

It was a bit of a dull day.  Not really encouraging us to go out for our daily walk.  In fact it wasn’t until late in the afternoon that I took the new macro lens for a walk in St Mo’s.  I found yesterday’s orange ladybird hiding in a crevice in a tree and that made PoD.  Walked to the shops and bought some stuff for tonight’s dinner which was a rehash of Tuesday’s chilli.  Tonight’s was better, but not as hot as a chilli should be, despite the addition of more chilli paste.

Today’s prompt was “carrots”.  Being a generous person, I gave them three carrots.  Subjects for painting should always be in odd numbered batches.  Don’t know why, but odd numbers of items are always more interesting than even numbered ones.  I eventually moved away from the sketch book and painted on cheap Flying Tiger 300gsm watercolour block.  I was happy with the 3 carrots.

Tomorrow is Friday and we’ve no plans.  Hopefully not as dull a day as today.

Sunshine for our anniversary – 17 February 2021

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Forty eight years ago we tied the knot and the knot is still tight forty eight years later.

I actually got a message from Parcel Force to give me a one hour time slot for the delivery of my new lens. It wasn’t an anniversary present. Nothing to do with anniversary. Pure coincidence this time. The time slot was for 11.45 – 12.45. Right in the middle of what looked like a good day, but of course they got the time wrong. About 10.15 there was a knock at the door and there was a parcel on the doorstep with a Parcel Force man retreating.

After opening up the big box and extracting quite a heavy piece of metal and glass, taking a few photos, just to make sure it worked, we planned the rest of the day. We had dinner to buy at Tesco and meds to collect at the next door chemist, then we might go for a spin out in a world that had colour, not simply white.

It was when we left Tesco I thought we might go to Motherwell, the Capital city of North Lanarkshire and find Baron’s Haugh which is a nature reserve and parkland where my brother was taken loads of great photos.
So … we were heading for a nature reserve with plenty of opportunities for nature and macro photography and I remembered, just as we were driving down the slip road to the motorway, that I’d left my brand new macro lens at home, because when we left we’d intended to tootle round Cumbersheugh for half an hour and there would be limited photo opportunities there that I hadn’t already made use of. Numpty.

The reason for Baron’s Haugh in particular was because of a FB post from one of the salsa beginners from last year, berating me for being less than complimentary about Motherwell in general. She waxed lyrical about Baron’s Haugh and we though we should give it a try sometime. We got there after only one wrong turn (sat nav hadn’t a clue for once) and had a half hour walk past one of the bird watching areas in the sunshine although the wind was cold. We were standing on a crossroads of paths and I was checking exactly where we were with the OS map on my phone when a deer ran past, then another and another. In total, four deer ran past, less than 50m away. Motherwell is certainly a lot more rural than I remember it. We walked back to the car, but didn’t see any more wild animals and drove home, agreeing to go back again, better prepared for the conditions. Isn’t it strange that it took a Polish girl about the same age as our daughter to tell us about this parkland, almost on our doorstep.  Thank you Mirka!

Dinner tonight was individual fish pies from Tesco. Sounds a bit downmarket for an anniversary dinner, but they were rather posh fish pies in little thin wooden baskets and were baked in the oven. Washed down with a very nice bottle of white and followed by Eve’s Pudding from M&S. The only thing we made (Scamp made) was bruschetta as a starter and it too was intensely tasty.

We listened to Album II by Loudon Wainwright III (Me and my friend the Cat!) and reminisced for the second time recently. A great day.

PoD was a fence post covered in ivy from our Motherwell walk.

I used coloured pencils for today’s prompt of “Violin”. Not quite what I was intending it to look like. A bit clumsy but a change from paints and graphite or ink sketches. It’s OK, that’s all I’ll say.

The other day I almost cut my hair. “… It was getting kind of long. Could have said it was in my way, but I didn’t and I wonder why …” Tomorrow I may do that thing.

As you will have guessed this is another catch up. Hopefully the last for a while.

Talking to Andrew – 16 February 2021

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Meeting this morning with the man who talks in $ and £ and € and …

Despite the fact that I understand very little of what he’s talking about, I thoroughly enjoy these meetings. Although he probably knows that don’t understand how these things work, he never talks down to me and explains it all so clearly at the same time. That’s a skill. The bottom line is that we’ll be able to eat for another week.

After the Zoom meeting Scamp went off in the wee red car to do some shopping in Tesco and I started to refill my paintbox which was running low on a few colours. I really should use the new paintbox I got after the first lockdown, but I like the old one and am using up some of my tube paints refilling the half pans in it. I had just finished refilling a half pan of Paynes Grey which is usually a bluish grey, when I discovered the tube was burst and I’d a neutral grey over my fingers. Not only was I covered in paint, but it was the wrong type of paint. I had to wash it out of the pan and hope there will be enough of the original blue-grey paint left. I was just finishing cleaning the sink when Scamp returned, but without some of the things I’d asked for. That’s the trouble with Tesco these days, or at least our Tesco, their stocks of certain things seem to disappear and take a long while to be replenished.

After lunch I went for a walk down to the shops to see if they had the sun dried tomatoes Tesco didn’t have. Thankfully they did have and I got some sour cream to go with the veg chilli I was making for dinner. Walked round St Mo’s on the way back and got today’s PoD there. It’s an orange ladybird, scientific name: Halyzia sedecimguttata. If it’s trying to get to the top of that ash tree it has a fair bit of climbing to do.

Chilli turned out a bit mild.  Even Scamp commented on its lack of spiciness.  I didn’t want to tell her it had half a chilli in it!  That’s usually enough.  Maybe next time I’ll put the seeds in too.

I have to admit I struggled with today’s prompt “Pancakes. I could find no way to make a decent fist of the drawing of a pancake. Then I looked at my plate which was a lot stickier and buttery than this, and there was the answer staring me in the face!  Painted with Derwent watercolours. First time I’ve used them seriously, but not impressed. Colours seem muddier, less transparent than W&N.

Happy Anniversary to Hazy & Neil D. Hope you had a great day.

Tomorrow we don’t have any plans at present.

 

 

Almost gone and a snow chicken – 15 February 2021

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The snow is almost gone and a snow chicken has appeared.

We went for a walk to the shops today for milk, fruit and veg. Scamp went to M&S and I went to Iceland. Between us we got the milk and most of the fruit and veg. Of course I bought much more than Scamp. That’s my big failing, but I can also, occasionally come up trumps with some strange purchase that turn out to be useful. Today, that wasn’t the case, but the now partly empty, box of Neapolitan ice cream is in the freezer.

After lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s. The snow there was taking longer to disappear probably because it had been compressed by hundreds of feet. I had a fair few shots of coots and moorhens on the part frozen St Mo’s pond, but they fell into a support role when I saw the Snow Chicken. Snow chickens are very rare, only seen after a heavy snow fall is rapidly thawing. They are rumoured to migrate to colder climates under cover of night. Two women seemed amused at this man staggering around a block of snow beside the BMX track at St Mo’s, occasionally crouching almost on all fours. As I walked away, they smiled at me and I smiled back. How can you explain a thing like a Snow Chicken. It will be gone tomorrow, winging its way over the mountains to return to its native Norway.

I had a quick chat with Hazy later but she had to cut the call short to sort out a cat fight! Never a dull moment in Hazy’s house 🙂

The Snow Chicken got PoD and today’s EDiF prompt was Cycle. My drawing for that was an ink sketch of my Kona Dewdrop. I finally posted yesterday’s post for the prompt Venice below.

Tomorrow we have a webinar booked with our friend in Falkirk in the morning. After that our day is our own.

We went for a spin – 12 February 2021

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Yesterday we dug the car out and today we were taking it for a quick run to find the way into the Vaccination Centre.

The place was called The Muirfield Centre and before that it was Muirfield Primary school. Confusingly it’s still called The Muirfield Centre, but it’s a completely new building in a slightly different position. The access road we used to know no longer leads to it. However the new road (are you still with me) was easy to locate as there were signs pointing out the way. Found it. Car park was mobbed of course, but we weren’t waiting, we were just driving back home again today.

Parking back at the house was a bit dodgy and after a bit of wheel spin we dug the car a track through the ice to allow it to reverse into our space. All well.

After lunch we went for a walk round Broadwood Loch. We wore the YakTrax and were glad we did. Bits of the path were covered in a couple of centimetres of solid ice. Most of the water of the loch was thawed although there was a skin of ice in places. For once, all the geese, ducks and swans had moved en masse away from the car park and the free food, to the other side of the loch to gossip, paddle in the water and slide on the ice. It made an interesting photo, but PoD turned out to be a couple of folk waking under the trees across the loch from us.

After dinner, Scamp wasn’t feeling too well and ended up being sick. We think it might have been the mayonnaise in her tuna and baked potato that caused it. She went to bed early with Nurse Zog making sure she was comfortable every fifteen minutes or so.

I did, however manage to slap some paint on one of my sketch books to produce a reply to the prompt of “Meadow”. We don’t really have meadows in Scotland. We have fields, but not meadows.

We have been promised more snow tomorrow with the prospect of rain on Sunday. Thank goodness. When did we last wish for rain?

As you will have gathered, this is a catch up blog post and I can assure my readers that Scamp is fit and well and happily tidying things up today.

 

Snow management – 11 February 2021

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Another day removing the snow from the paths and from the cars.

Scamp started the effort by brushing the snow from the roof of her car. Then while I got rid of the rest of the snow on mine and ran the engine for a while to get rid of the condensation that gathers on all the glass surfaces, Scamp started to get rid of the snow that had accumulated on the path in to our house and the next door neighbour’s. Most of it was wind blown snow, but a small amount was fresh snow. When she was finished and the car was dry inside, I used up almost all of our remaining white salt to make sure the path stayed clear of snow and hopefully of ice.

After lunch we went for a walk down to the shops, more for the exercise than for any great shopping expedition. I think we bought more food for the birds than for ourselves. The plan was for Scamp to walk back with the bags and I would go for a walk in St Mo’s. I changed it slightly to walk up the path behind St Mo’s school and along a path that I’ve walked many times, but today I was wearing wellies and I could just wade through the areas that I usually have to avoid because they’re too deep for my leaky boots. It was like a whole new landscape with hardly any landmarks because everything was covered in a white duvet of snow.

Went for a walk in St Mo’s and followed some deer tracks for a while, but never saw the maker of the tracks. The tracks looked fresh, but either they were hiding somewhere or were just over the next hill, or the next one again. PoD was a whin bush covered in a shiny ice crown. Shot into the sun it really sparkled. Everything else I took was just a cliché snow picture.

By the time I was coming home it was chilling down again and the temperature when I got to the house was -0.5ºc and it felt about a degree below that. We had bought some fat balls for the birds, so I put three of them on a tray in the back garden. An hour later they were all gone. I suspect it may have been a big black crow or a magpie that was the culprit. Even a flock of starlings wouldn’t devour three fat balls that quickly.

Yesterday’s sketch, posted today was the beach at Pigeon Point in Tobago. If you’re going to draw and paint a beach, make it a peach of a beach. Pigeon Point fits the bill.

Today’s sketch is a strange one. The prompt was ‘Draw’. What I drew was my right hand holding a graphite stick. If my right hand was the model, then my left hand was the one that drew the sketch. It’s harder than you think drawing with your left hand. Even knowing exactly where you want the lines to go, doesn’t mean that your muscle control will ensure it goes where you intended. A worthwhile exercise.

Tomorrow I might manage to get my car out for a drive. Today I got it to move, but not far. Scamp may have to wait until the mountain that’s in front of her’s has melted away a bit before she is mobile again. Other than that, it’s wait and see what the weather brings us.