Category: A Walk

Dropping in on the Kelpies – 6 November 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Not a lot to do today, so a visit to the big horses was a good idea.

It all started when Scamp broke two clasps on two separate necklaces, one ancient one over fifty years old. The other one had been repaired at least once before, but not very well. She trusts a jeweller in Falkirk and that’s why we were going there today.

Once we’d dropped off the jewellery we drove down to Helix park to see the Kelpies. There was a thin mist forming in the valley and I was hoping I would get some atmospheric photos of the great beast rising above the mist, but it wasn’t to be. The nearer we came to them, the clearer the mist was, but we went for a walk anyway, but first we had lunch in the cafe. We had a window seat which was just luck, because the cafe was really busy. Nobody wanted to sit outside today on such a chilly afternoon. The food was cheap and mainly warming, although Scamp’s Mac ’n’ Cheese was a bit cooler than she’d have liked. My lentil soup was hot! But the slice of pizza I had was tepid. Foodies expect the best all the time.

We walked around the Kelpies. You can’t really call them structures or statues, they are so much more than that. I took a lot of photos, but my favourite and PoD was taken from inside the cafe looking out and it was of a tray with two cups and a jug of milk with everything else being just slightly out of focus … intentionally this time and in monochrome.

We drove home and I spent nearly an hour on the phone talking to Val. He seemed in much better spirits today. The last time we spoke he sounded a bit down. It was good to hear him almost back to his usual self. We’ve arranged to have coffee some time soon. Either at his house or at Costa.

It appears, from what Scamp can glean from Kirsty, that we may be moving the Wednesday dance class from the British Legion to a council run centre on a Tuesday. Most folk seem to be perfectly happy with the arrangement. It would make a great difference to be able to dance on a real floor, much bigger than the postage stamp we have at present.
Tonight’s class was a bit of a disaster. I still haven’t got the hang of the Paso La Paz. Too many changes of direction and too fast. I’ll be glad when we leave it behind.

I’m intending to meet Alex tomorrow. I’d suggested we revisit Paisley, but he wants to try for some photos of the trees and cloisters of Glasgow Uni. That might work quite well, because we will lose those leaves soon, and we can do Paisley another time.

An improving prospect – 5 November 2024

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A much nicer day than we’ve had of late. I think the sunshine helped greatly.

After a lazy morning, again, we went out for a walk in Drumpellier woods. We had to drive there first, of course, but it’s not far and if you ignore the obvious walk round the loch, the woods are lovely.

The sun had been bright in the morning, but by the time we got to the park it was dulling down a lot. It didn’t stop us, because we were out for a walk. Just five minutes into the walk I got PoD which was a wide shot of a swan hustling for food near the seated area where lots of folk feed them. I apologised to the swan because I’d nothing it would want to eat, but I took a couple of photos of it anyway. I was shooting into the sun, but although out of the camera the photo was a bit rough, some gentle persuasion brought out the colours in the water and the distant trees. We walked on.

I was hoping to see some deer, but it’s a long time since I’ve seen any in the park and I was disappointed today.. Drumpellier’s woodlands are a marvellous place to walk through. So many different paths to try out. We didn’t actually choose any of them, but have earmarked one at least for a day with more time on our hands. Instead, we walked round behind the biggest woodland and the sun returned to light our way. Eventually we came to one of the tarmacked roads and as we walked round the loch and back to the car the sun started to sink towards the trees. The days are feeling a lot shorter since the clocks went back.

Back home I joined battle with MacOS Ventura again. There was a large chunk of storage space just sitting there with no reason for its existence, so I tried to remove it, but it was outside my knowledge, so I formatted the entire SSD and started again. After about three hours and umpteen password insertions later the system was working again and had plenty empty storage space again. Hopefully it will run sweeter for a few months now.

Working my way through the intricacies of Ventura was difficult today with all the Woooshes and Bangs from Guy Fawkes Night. I must be getting old, because I have no time for these noise makers anymore. The rapid bangs of the explosions sound like machine gun fire. Folk with PTSD must have a terrible time during November.

Dinner was a pair of old favourites.Scamp had Bubble & Squeak and I had Cabbage, Bacon and Potatoes. Very nice.

Watched Bake Off and were not surprised by the person who left.

I’m intending to phone Val tomorrow to arrange a coffee day. Scamp has the dreaded Dentist!

Back tae Auld Claes … 4 November 2024

Posted on by Zogman

… and Purrich.

It means Back to Normal, and that’s what today was. We went for the messages. That means essentials. Just potatoes, milk, and bread, with a very few treats. Life returning to normal again after the days of rushing here and there and hours of dancing. It was good to get back to normal whatever that is.

We watched an exciting and occasionally terrifying São Paulo GP. I’ve driven in torrential rain in the past, but never at 200mph in an open cockpit V6 powered racing car, but these folk were doing just that and most of them stayed on the track. How they managed to keep their cars on the black stuff is a mystery, but, not only did they do that, Verstappen even managed to cut through the pack from starting in 17th place and finish the race in first place. I don’t like him, but there is no denying his talent.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s in the afternoon and picked up today’s PoD which I think is a birch leaf trapped in some branches in St Mo’s.

Dinner tonight was Giovanni Rana Tortellini with a tomato sauce. First time I’ve tried it and although it wasn’t perfect, I’d attempt it again.

Watched Sunday’s results from Strictly and agreed with the judges decision.

Tomorrow we may go out somewhere for a walk if the weather stays fine.

The Last Dance – 3 November 2024

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Saying goodbye to The Salutation and Perth for a while.

Breakfast in the morning and then the inevitable final hour of dancing with about half of yesterday’s contingent. It was like a Tea Dance without the Tea. Fairly gentle workout after yesterday’s marathon. I remember watching a film, years ago, called They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?. The plot revolved round a marathon dance competition in Depression era America. In retrospect, that’s what yesterday felt like after a while. Today’s hour passed quite quickly and was a combination of all the dances we learned over the weekend.

We drove home, managing to avoid most of the roadworks this time and I was feeling just a little bit down, a bit flat after leaving all those other dancers. I’m sure a lot of them felt exactly the same. Arrived back home to drizzly rain. What a welcome!

The bags were emptied and dinner was discussed. At least, our dessert of rhubarb and custard wouldn’t taste of onions.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got today’s PoD which looked from a distance to be yellow flowers beside St Mo’s pond, but which was actually bright yellow leaves.

Spoke to Jamie in the evening and learned that their week had been uneventful and totally different from ours.

An early bed.

Hoping to sort out a computer update tomorrow.

 

 

All Day Dancing – 2 November 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Up fairly early for breakfast with the other dancers.

A leisurely breakfast then it was time to go down to the torture chamber again and bolt on the dance shoes for an hour long Quickstep tutorial. Actually it was quite interesting and although the steps did indeed come quick and fast, we both agreed it was danceable, after a fashion. The big problem was the number of couples, all wanting to be on the dance floor at the same time. Probably upwards of 70 folk.

We worked our way through most of the routine and once the hour was up, we agreed that, with a bit of practise at home, we could master this dance. It was called the Hoabie Quickstep if you want to look it up.

We went for a walk round Perth afterwards. I bought coffee and tea in The Bean Shop. We stopped to watch the River Tay for a while and I got PoD which was a bloke looking at his phone with the autumn trees in the background. We’d forgotten that the ‘glasses’ in the room would be plastic tumblers, so we splashed out and bought four glass tumblers. Then it was back to class for an extra, hour long, Salsa lesson by Gillian and Peter, who we’ve been dancing with for a few years now. They were concentrating on a set of moves called Exhibela which translates as “Show Her Off”. I found it a bit awkward and we were about halfway through the class when we realised they were dancing a different style from us. We dance Cuban salsa and I think they were dancing LA style. After that, we just amended the moves to fit our style of Cuban. It was a good workout for the hour.

We had a longer break for lunch which was a panini in Nero, then we read in the room for an hour or so before we had to get dressed in style for the evening ball. Dinner was great until the chefs appeared to run out of Pavlova for the dessert! When it eventually arrived the meringue was hard and the fruit tasted strongly of onions! Scamp reckons they were either using the knives that had been used to chop the onions for the main course or they had used the cutting board for the onions, to chop the fruit on. Either way, it was a bit of a let down. Wish I’d ordered the ice cream.

However, we were her to dance and we danced our little feet off for another three hour stint. Afterwards, we crawled upstairs to bed with the music still ringing in our ears.

Five hours of dancing and another hour to look forward to tomorrow!

A working day – 30 October 2024

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I was making a bow tie today and Scamp was gardening.

In the morning, Scamp decided to go shopping by herself. I started planning out the making of the bowtie.

I was using what some Quilters and Crafters call “Fat Quarters” and the fabric was cotton with a repeating Star Wars stormtroopers patter n because I thought it would fit in well with an upcoming “Black & White” evening dance.

But first, Scamp had returned and it was time for lunch. Banana sandwich for Scamp, Sunday’s stew reheated for me. Then it was back to the bow tie.

After carefully measuring a previously successful bow tie, and checking it twice as all good craftspeople do, I cut out the four patterns needed for the tie. It was then I realised that maybe I should have been more careful with the orientation of the ‘Stormies’, but it was too late now.

I ironed on the interfacing which stiffens the tie on one side only of a matching pair of parts. From then on it was just a case of joining pairs of parts together (right sides together), stitching all round the perimeter apart from a pinkie length of gap on one side and easing the entire bow tie right through the gap and shaking it out. Ironed it next then sewed up the gap. Then it was time to see if it fitted, and if the storms would be sitting right side up. First attempt was a bit of a disaster when the tie unknotted itself. Second attempt was a success. I’d even managed to get the Stormies sitting the right way up!!! Delighted.
Although, if it had been Sewing Bee, the participants would have sewn a full outfit in the time it took me to make a bow tie!

Scamp had been strimming the edging of the front grass and was tidying the pots and together we put them back in their places.

There was just enough light left by then to have a walk in St Mo’s. Today’s PoD came from there and is Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericia)

Today’s sketch prompt was “Violin”. Not much leeway there, but luckily I’d drawn one before, although this is a poor comparison when viewed with the original. Still, it’s finished and just about to be posted.

Lovely piece of haddock for dinner tonight. Great fat chunky pieces of fish with some chips. That’s a good midweek dinner.

We were dancing Paso La Paz tonight. Lots of stamping of feet and posturing. The jury is still out on whether it was taught correctly or not. I’m not going to be drawn into that argument.

We may go dancing tomorrow or we may not. We’ll wait and see.

Out to lunch – 29 October 2024

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I’d said we might go out somewhere today and we did.

It wasn’t quite the place I was thinking about. Instead of driving, we got the bus to the town centre and from there another bus to Dunfermline. After a coffee in Nero, we had a walk around Pittencrief Park and spent a good half hour or more in the glasshouses. Actually it’s one big glasshouse that’s divided into three spaces. Despite the time of year and the cold outside, the plants were mostly all growing well and the carp in the pond were getting even bigger than the last time we had been there.

I took 48 photos, 46 of them in the glasshouses and two outside. There were quite a few exotic specimens inside. A purple/blue Brazilian Spider Flower which does actually look like a spider. A Japanese Lantern Plant, and PoD, a pair of tiny little parachutes like the feathery dandelion clock seeds, but with a spiral tail. Have a look and you’ll see what I mean.

Eventually we went for a walk around the formal gardens. All the rose bushes are untouched still, I expected to see them cut down to the ground. But very few flowers to be seen. Just one or two around the paths.

From there we walked up through the town and had lunch in Wetherspoons. Not the best we’ve ever had, but it filled a space. I ordered Roasted Cauliflower and Spinach for Scamp and Chicken Jalfrezi for me. What came was Chicken, presumably Jalfrezi, for Scamp and probably Beef Madras for me. We should have sent them back, but had started them before we noticed. I must say that is the first time I’ve had a poor meal in Wetherspoons. Scamp has complained about it when she has been in the Cumbersheugh Wetherspoons with her pal Mags, but my food has always been fine. Must be more careful and critical in future.

We walked back to the bus station via M&S and arrived at the stance about two minutes late. Didn’t even see the bus leaving. That meant a half hour wait for the next bus. Lovely scenery going back. Beautiful light on the hills and I was in a bus, so couldn’t stop to take photos. Never mind, I was sure I had loads on my card, and I was right.

Watched Bake Off tonight and didn’t get the result we were hoping for. I suppose that’s life.

While we were out, I got a call from Val. I don’t think he’s keeping very well. I might go and see him this week or next.

Today’s prompt was Navigator. I sketched a Silva Compass, just like the broken one I’ve got in a drawer in my room. The design hasn’t changed much in the fifty odd years since I bought it … the price has!

No big plans for tomorrow. I might make a bow tie for Saturday.

Everything is upside down – 27 October 2024

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It’s changeover day from BST to GMT. It’s happened since 1916! It must have been a greater pain back then!

Once we’d changed all the manual clocks, apart from one which I realise I forgot to turn back, we could settle down for a while, well, Scamp could settle down. I was heading up to the health centre for my annual booster jags. One arm for Flu and one arm for Covid, then I could go home to relax after I’d done some shopping.

Then we could relax for a while because Scamp was going to an exhibition by a local dance troupe hoping to fund a visit to take part in the Easter Day march through New York. All the witches were going and I was picking two of them up when they were ready to come home.

I spent a lot of the afternoon working out the best way to upgrade the old SSD that runs macOS Monterey to macOS Ventura. I’m still not entirely sure it is possible, although I’ve done a similar update a couple of years ago. I think I’m ready for the challenge which may start tomorrow. The other thing I did was make the stew for my dinner tonight. It looked a bit bland after it had been cooking gently for an hour and a half, When Scamp returned later in the afternoon, she took one look and said three words Too Much Water. Now I’ll know for the future. The third thing was to walk to the shops to get replacement CR 2025 for my loupe magnifier. The shop had plenty CR 2032 batteries, but no 2025s. Maybe tomorrow.

On the way to the shops I noticed a child’s wooden train wagon lying in some leaves. It looked as if it had been run over a few times, but it was still recognisable for what it was. A couple of shots secured its image for posterity. That toy made PoD.

Then came the message from Scamp to say they were ready to come home. By now it was around 6pm, dark and raining. It took me more than the half hour I’d allowed to find the restaurant the exhibition was in, and only then after I’d phoned Scamp to say I was lost. As it turned out I was right next to the restaurant and must have looked a proper fool!

The stew was a lot better than it looked and I’ve got the other half of it to make lunch for me tomorrow. Too much water and too much flour on the meat. Those were my take-aways from today’s cookery class.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard about his week. Which was a difficult one, reading the eulogy for a person he worked with. I didn’t envy him that task and was glad that I never had to do that when I was working.

Today’s prompt was “Road”. Quite open ended and I enjoyed drawing cars running round a figure of eight track. Nothing amazing, but it covered the prompt.

As far as I know we have no plans for tomorrow.

Off to the Far East – 24 October 2024

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It was a fairly early rise for me, well, for us. I was meeting Alex at 11am in Glasgow to catch a bus to Edinburgh. £16 return to take the train and £0 to take the bus. A no brainer … or so we thought.

We did meet up in the bus station and got seats in the bus without any problem. I thought the bus would only stop at the bus station in Edinburgh, but as it turned out you could press the button to request a stop anywhere. We got off at Haymarket and walked up to Ladyfield and walked through the ‘canyon’, where Alex got his first taste of the architecture that had appeared in the last twenty odd years. We spent a fair amount of time investigation photographic opportunities.

After I managed to drag him away, we went and had coffee in the wee Nero that Scamp and I use regularly. Next was a walk up to the Grassmarket where a lot of green and white flags were waving. There was also a lot of singing and banging of drums signifying a football crowd. As it turned out, it wasn’t Celtic, but a team of football supporters from Cyprus, Omonia Nicosia who were making all the noise. A good natured crowd.

We walked up the steep West Bow and marvelled at the amount of people happy to wait in a queue on the street to gain entry to the Harry Potter Museum. We weren’t all that interested in Harry, but we took a few photos of the crowds. It was there that I got today’s PoD. I spotted two girls on a high walkway above West Bow taking photos of the crowd. That was an easy PoD.

We continued on up to the Royal Mile and St Giles which Alex wanted to see. I had never been in St Giles and it was a well lit building, but surprisingly, noting great to photograph. We left there and waked down the long Playfair steps and finally got somewhere to eat in the National Gallery of Scotland’s restaurant. Maybe I’m getting more critical of eating places, but I wasn’t that impressed with it and maybe a bit overpriced. Foodies!

We decided we’d done a fair bit of Edinburgh, so we found the bus station and got on a bus to take us to Glasgow. The journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh took about an hour. The journey back to Glasgow took just over two hours. I think there might have been problems on the motorway because the road was jammed solid with traffic just crawling. When we did eventually get to Glasgow it was another 40 minutes to get home.

In retrospect, maybe it would have been better to pay the price of the train tickets, rather than sit in a bus that was crawling along the motorway. That would have been £16 well spent.

Prompt for the day was Expedition and it turned into a childish sketch of an expedition of aliens preparing to take off to Earth from a distant planet. A poor prompt deserves a poor sketch.

We have no plans for tomorrow, other than not going to Edinburgh on the bus.

Silence – 21 October 2024

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When I woke this morning it was to silence.

The wind that had been driving the rain and battering the windows was gone. Off to Scandinavia the weather fairies say. I don’t care where it went, I’m just glad to get a bit of peace and quiet in the morning when I wake.

We watched the US GP after we rose. A fairly exciting one this time and a fast track too. I wonder what it’s like sitting at the start line staring up at that great hill in front of you. Verstappen showed his skill by keeping Norris in his place. I think the road is clear for him now.

We didn’t have much else to do in the morning, just the usual Wordle and Spelling Bee with a cup of coffee, watching the clock because Scamp was off to get her Covid and Flu jags in the afternoon. I drove her to her appointed place, Muirhead and dropped her off at the clinic then parked the car at the Co-op as agreed. Then I went shopping at the butchers in the village. I was looking for mince and stew, but it’s such a temptation in that shop, I knew I’d buy some other stuff too. I got the mince and stew, then added beef olives, a nice meaty spare rib, a salmon fillet for Scamp and a bag of Tattie Scones. Expensive, yes, but it’s good fish and meat, that’s why I go back.

By the time I got back to the car, Scamp had returned and we drove home by the back road, hoping for some photos of the Campsies, but the parking place was occupied by one of the folk who keep their horses there, and it was feeding time, so I didn’t stop.

Back home I got dressed for the weather (Still wet and windy) and walked round St Mo’s. Got a couple of decent shots in the low afternoon sun. PoD went to the low level shot of leaves in the woods.

I had a bit of a sore stomach when I got back and my dinner as a result was tea and toast. Better to keep it simple and not aggravate anything. Scamp had a mash-up of yesterday’s leftover mash and haggis, formed into little black and white burger shapes and dry fried in the frying pan. For once I wasn’t interested. Maybe I will be tomorrow when hopefully my stomach will be back to normal.

Today’s prompt was Rhinoceros. Not the easiest thing to draw, but I was quite pleased with the first attempt, not so happy with the second, but in try Goldilocks style, the third one was just right. Sketched in ink with a fountain pen and then given a quick wash with clean water to bleed the ink into the dark areas. You don’t realise just how prehistoric these animals look until you start working with the details.

We have no plans for tomorrow … yet.