Category: A Walk

Another energetic day – 21 July 2020

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Out early and away for a walk

Should we go out for a walk in the morning or the afternoon? You will notice that in Scamp’s question there is no third way where we don’t go for a walk, simply a choice between the morning or afternoon. I chose Morning. Not to get it over with quickly, no of course not. But the sun was shining now and it seemed a shame to leave it until the afternoon because for the past few days, the weather has deteriorated as the day progressed (and to get it over with!)

We drove down to Auchinstarry and parked in front of what used to be the He Bo House, but has now been reduced to the the B Ho. It’s not open at present and I wonder if it will ever reopen. It would be a shame if it didn’t, because we both liked it in the second stage of its existence. The first owners were not the most welcoming of people, but the ones who took it over and revamped it had made a good job of creating a warm and comfortable atmosphere. It would be a great shame to lose it now through no fault of theirs. They must fix the sign though. B Ho doesn’t work. He Bo House is much better. I’ll suggest it to them when they open their doors again.

We walked along the canal to Twechar, avoiding fishermen, cyclists (especially the one who was sitting on the only seat along the canal, talking to his watch) and joggers. Foolishly I’d taken my rain jacket expecting showers that never came and wore it round my waist like a nylon kilt for most of the walk. We turned at Twechar and started back along the old railway path. The last time we were there, the council we presume had dumped piles of topsoil near places where the path had eroded into the River Kelvin, leaving about a 1.5m drop into the water for the unwary. Today the piles had been used to fill in the eroded parts with wooden piles driven into the banking to help hold it in place. Finally, coarse grass had been planted, not seeded, but planted. Presumably the roots will also help keep the new soil in place. Let’s hope it works.

Back home for lunch then Scamp was off to get ‘the messages’ or enough of them to make tonight’s dinner which was to be a stir-fry. I got myself ready to go for a walk, hoping to get some photos. When she returned, I walked down to the Mosswater nature reserve hoping to get some photos of dragonflies. No dragonflies or damselflies to be seen, but loads of ladybirds and one of them kindly presented itself for a photo opportunity. Difficult to get a sharp shot with an annoying breeze making everything move at the wrong time.

Walked back home and really, really enjoyed Scamp’s stir-fry with Tiramisu for pudding. Not a bad day with over 18,000 steps for me and over 12,000 steps for Scamp.

Tomorrow looks wet, very wet. An 80% chance of rain all day, that kind of wet. We may stay in.

A day at the seaside – 20 July 2020

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We were up and out early because the sun was shining. No time for coffee today, we were going to the seaside.

Drove down the M77 to Troon and parked near the harbour at the parking place where the crashing waves blow in from Arran and Ailsa Craig. It was a fairly heavy and grey sea out there, but not as bad as we’ve seen it. Still, as first Ailsa Craig, then Arran disappeared into the rain clouds, we decided it might be a good idea to wait a while before venturing out for a walk.

Once that shower passed, we did go out walking. Up and over the Ballast Bank, built in the 1800s to protect the new port, and partly constructed from ballast from merchant ships and partly from the dredging operations at the new port. It’s always a lot breezier on the top with the prevailing wind coming straight off the sea. There’s a lower level path too, but it’s only really for one person at a time with very few passing places. On rough sea days it can be a bit wet and slippery. We chose the high road today.

Walked on along the esplanade and were both surprised at the number of folk stravaigin along the front. We walked on the sand about half way along the sand dunes and then turned and came back along the path. Climbing through the sand dunes we spotted a wee lizard sunning (?) itself on a patch of sand. I suppose it was quite sheltered there and would catch the occasional spot of sunshine.

Walked back to the car. Normally we’d have gone for a coffee at least and possibly a bite to eat, but we’re still not totally comfortable with eating out in these early days of freedom.

Drove back home through Dundonald then on to a busier than normal M77. Busier than a weekday, that is. But as Scamp had remembered earlier, today was ‘Glasgow Fair Monday’. It used to be a big local holiday, but even without the disruption caused by Covid-19, it’s hardly remarked upon these days.

A few choices for PoD, but I chose the one of the two boys with their surfboards, splashing in the waves. They must have been freezing, because this was not Surfin’ USA.

Two sketches going up on Instagram. One of Kilmuir Free Church, drawn from a Google Street View and one of my completed Monday Sudoku. If I get them posted, that will be us up to date.

No plans for tomorrow.

A walk in the park – 19 July 2020

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The park in question was Glasgow Green. Long time no see.

Today at Scamp’s suggestion, we went for a walk along Glasgow Green. Simply ages since we’ve been down there, but today we did. We walked along to the McLennan arch. I can never remember whether it’s McLellan or McLennan. It’s definitely McLennan because I’ve just checked on Google so you don’t have to. Anyway, before I lose the thread, we walked along to the McLennan arch and from there along beside the river to the suspension bridge where eager joggers were running along it making it bounce. Always a source of amusement as long as you weren’t trying to take a photo with a slow shutter speed. I wasn’t, so it was funny.

Back home it was lunch time, then Scamp was off into the garden, weeding and pruning and generally plant bothering. I was struggling with Friday’s Sudoku. Friday’s!? I must be slipping. Eventually I gave up and wandered down to the shops via the wildflower area behind St Mo’s. Not a lot of insect life there today. A few butterflies and a ladybird that was determined to avoid the big man with the glass tube on a box. Couldn’t blame the poor thing. Imagine if you were being pursued by a giant carrying a glass tube and constantly poking it near you. That’s the stuff of nightmares. Or is that just me?
Anyway, I got the stuff I needed for pasta with meatballs. I’d made the actual meatballs earlier, a mix of pork mince and bacon which actually worked well.

Back home it was time to start making the sauce which was a basic marinara sauce same as I’d made last week. After cooking away for 40 minutes or so it was reduced enough and the meatballs were cooked. It tasted ok, but really needed something more to make it sing. Maybe a few more herbs or some spice to brighten it up. Maybe next time. Scamp has salmon with potatoes and a spoonful of my sauce. She wasn’t impressed with her salmon either. Maybe it was just us. Maybe it was just a bad day.

Pudding was “a sort of Eton Mess”. It didn’t sound all that impressive, but it tasted brilliant. Scamp as usual talking down her culinary expertise. Simple and tasty too.

Big test next. Will Scamp like the Sunday Coffee? I needn’t have worried. It got a definite thumbs up. Especial mention for the creamy foamed milk. She even bragged about it when we talked to JIC later. Found out that he doesn’t have to cool the boiler in his upmarket coffee machine because it has two boilers. One for steam and one for coffee. That explains it. Mine does the job for me and produces great espressos and has the ability to make creamy foamed milk too. You just as Scamp and she’ll tell you.

Apart from the walk in The Green today there wasn’t a lot going on, although I got a PoD which was the second shot I took and achieved about 15,000 steps and eight active hours. Didn’t do a sketch, will cover that tomorrow, hopefully. We may go out.

A Craw – 18 July 2020

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Burds. Always a good photo opportunity.

I was making my morning coffee today when a big craw flew down to have a peck at a couple of dodgy apples I’d sliced up and put out in the back garden. Stuck a 45-200mm zoom on the camera and snapped a few shots through the kitchen window. Half a dozen shots in the bag and it was only about half past ten. That’s good going for a Saturday morning.

After that, the action slowed a bit. Sat and did yesterday’s Sudoku (still not finished). Ordered a couple of UV filters from Amazon. Browsed the news and before I knew it, midday had arrived and it was lunch time. After lunch and another cup of coffee, Scamp suggested a walk. We walked down past Broadwood Stadium, on to the Auchinstarry road then onward to the Mosswater Nature Reserve. Scamp wasn’t impressed with it. Nothing to see and a bit too enclosed. I’d agree that as a ‘nature reserve’ there’s nothing very interesting to look at, but you have to remember this is an annex of NLC, which is not the most innovative or forward thinking of councils at the best of times. Here was a piece of low lying marsh land they couldn’t build on, couldn’t sell, so what better to do than make a couple of paths through it, cut the hedges once every ten year and call it a Nature Reserve.

We crossed the road to another piece of marsh ground with a path round the wettest part. It wasn’t so overgrown and apparently was marginally more interesting. Be that as it may, it was a bright sunny day with occasional threats of rain, we were outside without any crowds and we didn’t have to wear a face mask, so it wasn’t all bad.

Walked back and about fifteen minutes later our Tesco order arrived 45 minutes early. Well, it’s Saturday and the bloke was probably anxious to finish his shift ahead of time and get home.

Dinner was Italian themed. Scamp made Bruschetta as a starter and I used up yesterday’s marinara sauce to make Spaghetti with Tuna. After an argument about whether Scamp had asked for pasta or spaghetti we had a couple of glasses of wine and I promptly fell asleep on the couch. Woke a couple of hours later and sketched today’s offering which is my W&N field painting box, although it’s never been used to paint a field, or even been opened in a field. Still it made an interesting pencil sketch. PoD went to the picture of the crow from the morning.

Tomorrow we may be going for a walk down the Green on Scamp’s suggestion. Sounds like a plan!

Tweaking – 17 July 2020

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Not so much tweaking as returning the DL to factory settings and starting again.

It took me ages to work out exactly how to return the DL to the default state. In fact it was only when I watched a YouTube video I discovered the correct key presses and dial twists to do and the order they had to be done in to achieve this. Finally it was in out-of-the-box state and ready to be tweaked. Actually, I decided that out of the box was a producing a decent espresso and a very nice cappuccino. After that I re-read the instructions, always a last resort, but sometimes necessary. It was there I discovered how to cool the overheating boiler. Amazing the things you find out when you read the instructions.

Shona was coming to lunch today and Scamp volunteered to go and meet her at the shops. Shona’s first time at the new shops and I think she was impressed. I was finishing off the swearing at the DL when they arrived. I was also finishing off cleaning up the mess in the kitchen. Possibly the cause of the earlier swearing.

Shona kept us up to date on how things were progressing with Ben’s move to Secondary School. Heavens, it seems like no time since he was a fairly tiny little baby in Andrew’s arms. Hard to believe that was over eleven years ago! After a while I left the two women to their women’s talk and went clear up the painting room so that I could actually find room to paint in it. I almost succeeded, but that’s about as far as I usually get.

Later in the afternoon, Scamp took Shona home and I settled down to make my first real cappuccino according to the DL recipe I found on the ‘net’, but a recipe from DL that wasn’t included with the coffee maker! It tasted fine. I was quite proud of myself as I cooled the boiler without any further help. Barista? Me? Not yet, but I’m on my way to being one! After that, I went for a walk in St Mo’s in the rain and grabbed PoD which is a hover fly in flight. I was impressed. Loads of teenagers hanging around the wooded part of the path again. Not causing bother, just nowhere to go, nothing to do apart from being noisy. Was I the same when I was that age? I don’t remember being that noisy, but it’s different when you’re there, not looking down from the heights of fifty odd years.

Dinner tonight was Italian Chicken from one of Neil-D’s recipes and it worked well. Best thing about it was that I had plenty Pesto and Marinara Sauce left over to be used in the next few days.

I struggled for a sketch/painting and settled for Scamp’s sunflowers as a subject. Not big or brash enough, but worth working on. Maybe something to do tomorrow, because the weather looks wet!

Off to buy a suitable rose pot – 15 July 2020

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A new rose needed a new pot.

Drove to Calders. Their selection didn’t meet with our approval, but we did get a big bag of compost to fill the pot when we did find a suitable one. Drove round the corner to B&Q, but they had even less. Gave up and came home for lunch.

After lunch we drove to Torwood in Larbert and found the same pot as Gertrude is in. The last one in the shop. We took it. Scamp found a twirly round lighty up thing. That’s the best description I can give. It’s a solar powered garden ornament shaped like sort of spiral. The spiral gives it a gentle spring effect. Lots of lights in it, just warm white lights this time, not multicoloured. So you see, “a twirly round lighty up thing” was a fairly accurate description. She also got a bar of Fry’s chocolate and I got a bag of Edinburgh Rock, for going.

Back home Scamp got busy mixing up compost and getting the rose settled in its pot, while I potted up about ten chilli plants which were rapidly outgrowing their little pots. That took most of the afternoon. I’d been feeling a bit down today, so Scamp offered to make dinner and chased me out to go for a walk in St Mo’s to lose the wee black monkey on my shoulder. It partly worked, but I didn’t get any photos. Nothing inspired me to take the camera out of the bag. Lots of teenagers hanging around the park. I suppose Scamp’s right when she says there’s nothing for them around here and they can’t travel in to Glasgow because nobody wants to travel on public transport these days.

Dinner was Pea & Prawn Risotto and it was brilliant. Ages since we’ve had it and it has to be one of Scamp’s signature dishes.

PoD was a close up of one of the jalapeño flowers.

Tomorrow we may drive in to Glasgow to see if it has wakened up from its long sleep yet.

Zooming over to Falkirk – 14 July 2020

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Not literally, but virtually.

We had a Zoom meeting today with Andrew, the man from Falkirk. All seems to be well and we don’t need to make any changes at the moment, but he advised us that he’ll be getting in touch to make some amendments to things before the New Year.

While we were in Virtual Space, there was a knock at the door and a mysterious parcel was left on the step. It wasn’t a mystery to me, I knew what was in it. After the meeting, Scamp asked who was at the door and I pointed to the tall cardboard box sitting in the hall. She knew immediately what it was. The Gertrude Jekyll rose had arrived in a similar one. After “oohing” and “ahhing” she opened the box and allowed the rose to see daylight after being cooped up for a couple of days. Then she took it outside and gave it a drink. Tomorrow we will go and find a suitable container to plant it in. It will also need a fair amount of compost to fill it up. This rose is Comte de Chambord.

In the afternoon Scamp went to visit Isobel with her birthday present, which was the other Coreopsis plant we got last Thursday. While she was out I started clearing up the painting room, then got sidetracked into a WhatsApp text conversation about painting with Fred. A few sarcastic comments from both of us confirmed that it’s time we went for a coffee some time soon, all of us, that is. I don’t think we’ll be going for a beer any time soon. The thought of taking the bus into Glasgow, or even the train doesn’t entice me at all. Maybe in a few months if the situation improves it might be possible. The other option is for someone to volunteer to be nominated tee-totaler for the day. That’s not all that practical either. Maybe coffee with the Auld Guys will do for now.

After our correspondence I went for a walk down to the shops because we needed milk, Scamp wanted oranges and I wanted apples. Hoped to get a PoD on the way. I finally got one on the way back. It’s a Dead Nettle, so called because the leaves don’t sting. In fact I was reading an article online that said if you chew up a dead nettle leaf and spread it on an insect bite, it takes the sting out of it. Not sure I fancy that, but it might be worth trying some time.

Did a wee pen sketch of a mug and a spoon for Sketch of the Day. I was quite pleased with it. Did it with a 0.4mm rollerball.  Very slippery to sketch with, but the line remains 0.4mm because unlike felt tip fineliners, rollerballs don’t wear down. Or at least, not as much.

Scamp got an email from the Beechgrove Garden telling her that a question she’d asked about pests on the blackcurrant bush had been answered in a video.  She even got a name check by one of the presenters.  She’s famous now!!

No real plans for tomorrow other than compost and a plant pot for The Comte!

The wrong day for a walk round a pond – 10 July 2020

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We drove to Coatbridge to go for a walk. So did half of central Scotland.

In the morning Scamp drove to Tesco to get a couple of cards. I stayed home and footered. Footering is a great occupation. Basically it’s time-wasting on an Olympic scale. Today’s footering involved making an ear protector for a mask, any mask. The mask the girl next door, Lucy, made is a bit skimpy on elastic, so it tugs at my ears when I wear it. I thought I could use one of Hazy’s ideas and make a mask extender and ear protector all in one. It involved sewing up a strip of cloth, then stitching and cutting a button hole and lastly sewing on a button. After a lot of huffing and puffing, a fair bit of swearing and surprisingly, not stabbing myself with the needle I had a working prototype. It works, it’s not elegant, but it does show that may head does indeed “button up the back.” That will only mean anything to the higher echelons of UK inhabitants, i.e. those from Scotland.

Scamp drove us through one of those “passing showers” to Drumpellier park today so we could walk round the pond. When we were struggling to find a space to park the Micra we decided that the park was full. Full to overflowing might have been a more apt description. We could have found a space, but then we’d have needed to find a space in the crowd to go for a walk. You know how it was before Lockdown when you funnel into a queue to get a space on an escalator? That’s what it would have been like finding a space in the slow moving queue of people walking round the pond. I’ve never seen it so busy. Drove home again.

We were going to have a pizza for dinner tonight, so I made up some dough and set it to prove. Scamp wanted to post a card, so we got ourselves organised and started to walk over to Condorrat. Then she decided to move her car from the top of the road down to nearer the house and I was given the duty of posting the card. Found a happy crowd of folk at what was The Masonic in Condorrat drinking beer outside, legally, for the first time in months. Walked back through St Mo’s and caught a couple of Soldier Beetles in flagrante. I think that’s the default position for soldier beetles, hence their nickname Bonking Beetles. That became PoD.

Ok admission time. I admit I was a bit down last night and decided to stop the Lockdown Library. For whatever reason, it’s been reinstated as part of my daily routine again, for a while at least. Today’s offering as well as yesterday’s (yes, I did one yesterday) is up on Instagram.

No plans for tomorrow, and yes, the pizza was lovely. Pizza Napolitana on on half and Pizza Napolitana without olives on the other half.

Out for a run

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Up and out early today and off with a flask, some coffee and some biscuits. A day in the country.

Set off in sunshine and drove up to Perth, well actually we bypassed Perth and continued on in the general direction of Dundee until the satnav found our turnoff to Glendoick Garden Centre. Fairly large and bewildering labyrinth of interconnected buildings and a large area of plants. We were quite impressed with the range and quality of the plants. Only the roses looked like the runts of the litter. Some with no buds left to open, some with what looked like a bad case of mildew on the leaves. Maybe the good ones had been snapped up already, maybe they hadn’t received all their stock yet. The rest of the plants looked fine and Scamp picked a couple of Coreopsis plants, one for herself and one for a friend. I got a cheap bag of nearly out of date Earl Grey tea and also an equally old bag of coffee beans which surprisingly came from The Bean Shop.

We were looking for somewhere to sit and have a cup of coffee and a bite to eat, just a parking place really as we’d brought a flask and some biscuits ’n’ cheese. Found a parking place using the satnav and followed its directions up what turned out to be a narrow private road with speed bumps (and I mean ‘bumps’) every 10 metres! Eventually reached the top and there was the parking place. Just what I’d asked for. A parking place. No view, just a place to park. We had our coffee and biscuits and I guessed that if we continued along the road it would take us to Perth, and it did, on a real public road with no speed bumps.

After driving through Perth we started heading home and noted the heavy looking black clouds. One lot to the north and one lot to the west. We were heading south west and I didn’t think we were going to outrun both lots, because they seemed to he dropping a fair amount of rain in their wake. Sure enough about ten miles out of Perth the rain started and continued on and off for most of the journey.

We did arrive home dry, but after about an hour the rain reached us. I waited it out and went for a walk in St Mo’s. Nothing much moving, certainly nothing worth photographing apart from Mr Grey preening himself in a tree.

Today’s PoD is of a Tortoiseshell butterfly on some buddleia bushes we saw at Glendoick.

There is no Sketch of the Day. Lockdown has now been lifted and yesterday’s Lockdown Library No 86 will be the last. When you stop enjoying something that’s supposed to be fun, it’s time to call a halt.

Tomorrow we may drive somewhere local and go for a walk if he weather permits.

halves two of day A – 8 July 2020

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In other words, just the same as yesterday, except the other way round. The morning was bright and shiny today and got progressively duller and wetter as time went on.

Spoke to Hazy in the morning and caught up on all things around and about Epsom. Glad to hear that they, like us are getting out again, even if it is only a run in the car. Later, after morning coffee and a first go at today’s ‘Fiendish’ Sudoku, we revised our plans for the day. We’d initially though about driving somewhere scenic and going for a walk, but the weather was already deteriorating and the sun had disappeared. We decided to have lunch and see if there was an improvement in the situation.

Scamp had been bitten on our walk yesterday and it looked to me like a cleg bite. She’d taken Piriton last night and again this morning. She’d also applied some Anthisan antihistamine and the combination seemed to work. After lunch she took the same medicine before we went out for a walk round Broadwood. Bumped into Glenda Begg  halfway round. She is a Special Needs teacher at the new Academy and had just finished her volunteer shift supervising kids at Broadwood Stadium which is the local ‘Hub’ where school age kids can go during the summer holidays. She was telling us that today there were three volunteers to 130 weans (I refuse to use the children-and-young-people ‘word’ that the Scottish Government use for ‘weans’). That’s a 40:1 ratio. NLC are happy because they don’t have to pay anyone and can brag about how they are making provision for under 18s.

Walked back past the shops and bought the makings for tonight’s dinner. I was ‘chef’. It turned out quite well. Baked Haddock and Cabbage Risotto. Dead easy because the oven does all the hard work.

PoD was a close up of a Honeysuckle flower we saw on our walk. Sketch was a pencil sketch of a beer can (unopened)!

Watched two excellent short videos today, Fatbaws and Larchview. Both are parts of the Scenes for Survival series from BBC Scotland. Google them, they are excellent and there’s a lot more where they came from. Really short, around 20 minutes long and some are a lot shorter. So far they all seem to be monologues. Those with little time for reading could always play them in their new car on the way to work! 😉

The weather for tomorrow seems to be much like today was, i.e. better early than late. We may go for that longer walk if we get the chance.