Category: A Walk

We went shopping – 13 June 2020

Posted on by Zogman

We even travelled further than the statutory five miles, but don’t broadcast that.

It was a dull old morning with milk white skies the glowered over us. The hills were shrouded in the stuff, so the only thing to do was go out, and that’s what we did. But first the coffee machine had to be warmed up to dispense some Sumatran joy! A sudoku had to be started and some mind bending puzzles had to be completed on a new tablet. A big tablet with thousands of colours and big icons that deafened the eyes with their brightness. Scamp was getting used to her new toy. Me? I was wondering if I should get myself a new tablet too. My ‘new’ tablet is six years old now, stuffed to the gunwales with games and rubbish. I still use it because it has a lovely screen, but it’s getting slow, you can’t update the OS and, well, Scamp’s got a new tablet and it’s better than mine. Couldn’t quite square the ‘want’ with the ‘need’, so it ended up in abeyance … for now.

After coffee and puzzles, came lunch which was scrambled egg with smoked salmon on toast. Another cup of coffee for me and a white tea for Scamp then the decision – where to go. We settled on Kilsyth for a bottle of Hortus Gin from Lidl, some veg, some chicken breasts, pastries to go with another coffee, milk, chocolate raisins and beer, but mainly Hortus Gin! Scamp had wanted to go to the Kilsyth fish shop, but Lidl managed to supply enough fish to satisfy her. Dinner was discussed, but we settled on eating out of the freezer. Chicken Tikka curry with a starter of cauliflower pakora and fish pakora. Never made fish pakora before, but it turned out to be quite simple.

Before the dinner could be begun, there were photos to be taken. Walked over to St Mo’s then followed the path behind the school and found a great mound of Flag Irises growing there (I checked and Irises is the plural of Iris, just so you know). Managed to get a few shots of bees bums as they plundered the flowers, but the almost symmetrical yellow bloom got PoD.

Back home, dinner went well. I made the starter and Scamp did the main. Shared the washing up. The gin was just as good as I remembered it and just about the same price too. I commend it to you. Sketch today was “A Tree, A Branch or A Leaf”. I was late getting round to starting it and it ended up being a trio of of bramble leaves in autumn regalia. At least I think that’s what it will be. It’s still drying as I write this and won’t be posted until tomorrow, hopefully. In the intervening twelve hours or so the situation may change. Like the very wet watercolour, it’s a bit fluid!

Tomorrow we have no plans, but if it’s dry it may be a walk or it may be cycling. At present it’s still a mystery!

The Fish Supper – 6 June 2020

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Isn’t it funny that sometimes the most basic of food, like a fish supper from a chip shop is the best thing in the whole wide world?

I suppose it’s the old folk’s version of a McDonald’s. It’s comfort food. In these days of reduced choice when we are all having to cook our own food, it’s the basic food we crave. It’s the food that takes us back to our childhood. For me it was a treat on a Saturday night to have a fish supper. Preferably bought at the chip shop and eaten on the hoof on the way home. Just brilliant. Later it was pizza that caught our eyes, but a fish supper is hard to beat. Must have lashings of vinegar and salt and then, if you’re feeling flush, a couple of pickled onions. Or for the really adventurous, a jar of mussels. Unfortunately the latter are now off the menu for me. Such a pity

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The day started earlier when we woke around 9am leaving me a decadent hour in bed to read part of the first chapter of Spook Street by Mick Herron book four in a six part series/serial. Finally dragged myself out of bed and out of Millennium London about 10.30am for coffee and Sudoku in that order.

Scamp wanted to go for a walk today and the day seemed very promising with blue sky and white clouds. Just the occasional sprinkle of rain to hold us in check. Finally we went out to Condorrat to find out when the chip shop opened and if we needed to phone an order first. It turned out that there was no desperate need to phone an order, so with that knowledge, we headed for Broadwood and the ‘exercise path’. In other words, the walk past the exercise machines. It was indeed a beautiful day and no sign of the rain that had been threatening. Took a few photos on the way, but didn’t really rate any of them.

Back home, I got changed into cycling gear and took the Dewdrop out for a test run. It behaved very well. I think there’s a slight issue with the front disk break, it may not be seated perfectly, but it’s nothing to worry about. The virtually new wheel is perfect.

Came home and the sun was still shining, so opened a can of Guinness and sat with Scamp in the garden discussing what needed to be done now that the first flush of flowers is over. Planning over a glass of stout is the best way to do it. Actually putting it into practice is probably another story … for another day.

Got changed and walked over to Condorrat again, this time with cash in our pockets. This must be the first time I’ve used cash in over a month! The fish supper surpassed my expectations. You may think this is just hyperbole, but believe me, food cooked for you outside your own house is a luxury these days.

A close-up picture of a lupin made PoD and I accidentally, on purpose forgot to do the required sketch. I’ll play catch-up tomorrow.

Tomorrow is not to be as good as today, but we’ll take what we get and say ‘thank you’.

Domain disaster averted – 5 June 2020

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You’re lucky to be reading this!

It all started with an email this morning telling me that my domain name (the bit that starts ‘dhcampbell’) had expired and if I didn’t do something about it, i.e. pay them money, I’d lose the website. Well, that was a nice thing to read on a Saturday morning. I checked the address the email had come from and it was genuine, so I tried to contact my domain name provider, but couldn’t find an email address for them on their site. I did find a ‘chat’ box, but that timed out after a few minutes. After waiting for 20mins on the phone to them, I gave up on that too. Long story short, I eventually found that I could log a return call from them and did that. Had lunch and then Scamp and I went out for a walk. A very quiet walk on my part. Came home and checked for a reply, but there were none. Then I found a message to the effect that the message that started it all off was not about my domain at all, it was about a site they’d held for me “as a goodwill gesture”! It would have possibly have been an good idea to tell me that some time in the last year. I got the phone call from the help line exactly on time and the person on the other end confirmed what it said on the message. A message that had only been posted at 3.08pm today. I think I now know why. I’m guessing their switchboard was jammed with irate callers wanting to know what the hell they were doing. I may be looking for another domain name provider soon.

Our walk in the afternoon was round St Mo’s pond and then Scamp told me she was going to go to the butchers to get me a steak for dinner and I was to walk round the pond again and get some photos. There was nothing really worth photographing today, but I went anyway. It was only on the way home I found today’s PoD when a bee landed on the Marguerite flower I was photographing and made it much more interesting.

Scamp potted up her new rose today and it does look very elegant. Beautiful big pink flowers and what a perfume. I think she likes it!

Steak was very nice. Just on the over side of medium rare. Juicy and just what I needed to calm down.

Quick sketch today of two garlic bulbs. Couldn’t find anything I wanted to draw, so I reverted to another list. An old EDiM list this time. Looks much better than the 2020 list, although it was written at a time ago when we were free, there were shops, great metal birds flew in the sky and every year we were allowed to go on holiday. Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it.

Tomorrow looks a bit warmer and calmer than today. It was a bit breezy!

A fair bit cooler – 3 June 2020

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It was a bit of a culture shock the 10º drop in temperature, but it made a pleasant change … sort of!

Watched a social distanced Cheltenham Science Festival which was compéred by a friend of ours Jamie G. It was about colour and the various presenters produced a great show with limited resources. Impressed

Spoke to Hazy later in the morning and caught up with a few things like gardens and temperatures. For once, we were warmer than down south, well, we had been warmer before today.

After the phone went down I set to work putting the bathroom back to the way it had been before Monday. That took a bit longer than I anticipated because most of the tubes of silicone I was going to use as adhesive to stick the plastic boards back on were either going off, or had been used before and were solid. I found one more expensive tube that had been part used, but was still liquid inside and that got the job done. It sometimes pays to use the full price materials rather than B&Q own brand. With the bathroom sorted, I had to do the same thing with the cupboard in the back bedroom. The boxed-in part of the cupboard had been ripped out when I was trying in vain to find an isolator to turn the water off to the toilet on Monday. That’s why I was replacing the panels in the toilet. This was easier. I just drilled a few holes in the plywood and screwed it in place with wood screws. Oh, the benefit of having a power drill with screwdriver bits. Pity the batteries are so bog awful.

After lunch we went out for a walk round St Mo’s. We went round once and then Scamp went home for coffee and cake, while I did another circuit to get a PoD which turned out to be the spider you see here.

Yesterday I did do a sketch. It was a quick pen sketch of my well worn Palomino Blackwing soft pencil. A Christmas present from Hazy and Neil-D. Great sketching pencil, probably the best ones I’ve ever used. I still have nine left, but will keep using this one until it’s right down to a nub. I’ve got a pencil extender ready for that eventuality, but it’s actually quite comfortable using a small pencil. Try it sometime.
Today’s sketch was a pencil sketch of my baseball hat. Bought about this time last year to take on holiday. I don’t think it will be going far this year.

Tomorrow we may go out somewhere for a drive. More rain forecast. If I have time I’ll take the bike out for that trial run.

Went to see a man about a wheel – 1 June 2020

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Before I went to see a man about a wheel, I had a look at the upstairs toilet. It’s been a bit flaky for a while now with the overflow running into the toilet. Usually it stops after a few minutes, but this morning it just kept running. Not dribbling either, but running fast. As soon as water was coming in, it was going out again. Couldn’t find a stopcock in the toilet area, so had to turn off the water at the rising main. Long story short, the plumber is coming tomorrow, hopefully in the morning.

Phoned the bike shop to see what the progress report was on the bike wheel. Basically there was no progress because he couldn’t find the wheel. I said I’d drive over and help him look for it. His workspace is incredible. There must be well over a hundred wheels in this tiny little room, all waiting to be repaired, plus another fifty or so rims and well over a hundred hubs. He’s a great bike mechanic, but he is so disorganised, it’s a wonder he gets anything done at all and this coming from me, a master of chaos. I found my bike wheel right away and after some discussion he said he would start it as soon as he’d finished the one he was working on. Then we had a discussion about what was wrong with the world in general and teenagers in particular. He said he’d give me a ring when the wheel was ready.

When I walked down the lane to my car I saw today’s PoD. I had brought my camera of course, for just this eventuality. As it happened, the depth of field wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, but I actually like the hills slightly out of focus. It gives more prominence to the foreground which is the interesting part.

Back home Scamp was admiring the new rose she’d bought.  It arrived earlier in a big cardboard box about a metre high and about 30cm square at the base.  It really is an impressive rose and I’ve forgotten its name already.  Now the search begins for a suitable pot to put it in.  She was tired of sunbathing which she’d been doing all afternoon I think, and wanted to go for a walk. I’d been driving in a hot car for an hour or so and I too fancied a walk. We walked to St Mo’s and went round the pond once. As usual, too many people in too small a space. About a dozen teenagers sitting swearing and drinking at the start of the forest. I wondered what Big Al would have to say about that.

Tonight I was free to sketch anything I fancied. What I chose was my dad’s Bahco shifting spanner. A lovely big heavy piece of kit made of Vanadium Steel. It made a good model with curves, straight lines and lots of texture. This was Lockdown Library No 50.  The half century!

At 9.15 my phone rang. Big Al had finished the wheel and it would be ready to pick up in the morning. I think the man must sleep in that workshop.

Hopefully the plumber will come tomorrow morning and I’ll be free to go and collect my rebuilt wheel, then we may drive down to speak to Isobel.  However, the weather doesn’t look that clever tomorrow with rain forecast and a significant drop in temperature.

Up early again for the last day in May – 31 May 2020

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That didn’t mean that we were doing much more than getting up, but it was a start.

We finally chose to go for a walk after Scamp had spoken to her wee sister and told her she’s been talking to her big sister yesterday. Also after I’d hung out most of the washing. It was much cooler and much breezier than yesterday with the wind coming from the east. We walked round St Mo’s and then paused for fifteen to twenty minutes watching half a dozen dragonflies, not damselflies, big dragonflies clattering about the wee pond. Some were obviously females, busy egg laying and some were males chasing off the competition, but they all combined to show off their aerial skills as they flew round and between the various obstructions in their path, which included us. Utterly fascinating and perfect for taking you out of yourself and the problems of this new world we are living in.

Back home and time for a Sunday lunch of eggs, black pudding, beef-ham, sausage and tattie scones, all fried. It’s ok to eat healthy six days of the week but on the seventh you can fry your food.

We knew the good weather wasn’t going to last, so Scamp made the most of it. She slapped on the Factor 50 and took herself and her book out into the garden to soak up some rays. I adjourned to the ‘Painting Room’ to sketch today’s drawing which was ‘A Phone’. My choice was an old black bakelite rotary dial phone. They have so much more soul than the black glass slabs we use for everything from sending messages to photographing everything and occasionally even speaking to people. The old black bakelite phones were used for speaking to people and nothing else. I got the basic shape drawn and photographed, then put some black watercolour on it to give some tonal gradation. Happy with the result, I went out for a walk with the ‘big dog’ to see if the dragons had calmed down.

Thankfully they had calmed down and I did get a handful of decent shots, but only after rejecting a bucket load of junk. Today’s PoD was one of the best. It’s a Four Spotted Chaser and it was resting after a strenuous morning.

Got back just in time for dinner to be served. It was Neil-D’s lovely summer style rice and chicken with a variety of veg and condiments. Avocado as starter and Churros as a dessert. A nice bottle of Malbec to wash it down and then a seat outside to watch the sun go down. That’s what the last day of metrological spring is made for.

I watered the back garden afterwards while Scamp fed the front garden plants with some seaweed fertiliser. Coffee to finish off, with a drop of alcohol to take the edge off it.

Not a bad day, all in all. Hopefully we’ll manage one more day of this early heat before the rain comes in the middle of the week. May go and see a man about a bike wheel tomorrow.

The early bird get the photo – 30 May 2020

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Out at around 7.30am because Scamp wanted a photo of her trio of azaleas and I had worked out that 7.30am would be as near as damnit the right time. It was … nearly. Took the photo and went back to bed.

Shock, Horror! No breakfast in bed today. Up before 8.30 and breakfast in the living room. Next, we’ll be having breakfast at the table, or is that a step too far?

After breakfast we went for a walk. What’s become our ‘new normal’ walk. Down around the football stadium and back up the hill. It’s a good mile or so and is not too busy. Apart from joggers, I think we only passed three people today. If we’d crossed the dam we’d have been dodging the socially un-distancing hordes. It was a pleasant day with a slight breeze. Enough to cool you without feeling cold. When we passed the shops the queues were extraordinary. It was a Saturday and it was warm and there were no other kinds of shops open yet, so I suppose it was just the desire to buy something … anything! We didn’t feel the need, so we didn’t join them at this point.

Back home for coffee and a plan for the day. Scamp wanted walk over and visit her sister after lunch. That would give me time to get today’s sketch of a geranium completed with a bit of luck. Luck was on my side for once and, although not as satisfying as yesterday’s painting, todays was ‘adequate’. That’s all, just adequate. I had just finished it and was sitting in the garden with a pair of bluetooth headphones on so I didn’t need to listen to ‘Brain of Britain’ next door proving that empty barrels do indeed make the most noise, when Scamp phoned to ask if she should get a chicken for dinner. Apparently the queues from this morning had decreased significantly. I agreed that it would be good and walked down to the shops to meet her. We just had a basket this time, so bought more or less what we needed and no more.

Still a very pleasant day and much more comfortable than yesterday. I didn’t think the azaleas would cut it as PoD so went out to find some beasties. Scamp went out to sunbathe. She has this enviable ability to tune out distractions when she’s reading because ‘BoB’ was still droning on to anyone who would listen and also to anyone who wouldn’t.

Managed to get a clean shot of a Common Blue damselfly. Isn’t it a terrible shame calling anything ‘Common’. We humans are so superior in their outlook aren’t we. Well humans in general are, but not me. I’m generous to a fault. I wouldn’t call anything or anyone ‘Common’.

Dinner was brilliant. Roast chicken with roast vegetables and potatoes baked in the oven, followed by real fruit cocktail, not your common tinned stuff!

Tomorrow, weather wise, we are expecting more of the same, but after that there may be rain!! Oh No! But the gardens need the rain.

Another hot one – 28 May 2020

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Out for a walk, but only to the shops today.

Walked down to the shops to get tonight’s dinner and ended up with a fair bit more than that. That’s the problem with having to take a trolley (no baskets). There’s a tendency to lift more than you really need, and that’s what we did. Went to get a curry for dinner and came home with three bags full of stuff and a bunch of flowers. Wore our new facemasks in the shop. First thoughts are that the elastic is too tight and my mask is a bit small. Maybe I’ve just got a big head!

Listened with interest to Nick the Chick’s declaration about what phase 1 of the release from lockdown will mean. I like her delivery. It seems sensible, professional and calculated. Still don’t like her, but despite her small stature and big heels, she is head and shoulders above Bumbling Boris. Some nice little snipes from her about Dominic Cummings too. Nothing that could be seen as libel or slander, but quite pointed none the less.

Spent the afternoon trying to copy Lucy’s mask. I think I made a fair go of it, but I’m still not sure how to easily join the outside skin to the inside like she did. It’s definitely not as neat as her professional looking stitchery. May try a slightly different shape tomorrow.

Went for a walk in St Mo’s while Scamp soaked up the sun in the garden. She was well protected with factor 50, I know, I’m the one who has to rub it in to her back and today I dried my hands by rubbing the remainder into my face. Got some photos of a bright green spider. After some research I discovered it was a Cucumber Green Spider and fairly common. I’ve never seen one here before. Only one damselfly and it was far too skittish to get a decent shot of.

Sat in the garden after dinner which was actually quite good. For once I’d say it needed a bit of salt, but Scamp didn’t! Sat with a glass or red and took in some rays. Then went to do today’s sketch which is poor, very poor. The task was to sketch A Water Tap. I chose the plastic tap on the wash hand basin in the downstairs toilet, because I was fed up with drawing metal. The only good thing about drawing in a toilet is there is a place to sit!

Tomorrow! Tomorrow we will be allowed a tiny smidgin of our freedom back. We may go out for a run somewhere!

Yet another beautiful day – 27 May 2020

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Another day when it was criminal to lie in bed.

So out we went again. Just a short walk this time and fairly local. Didn’t drive 30 miles just to check our eyesight as the ridiculous Dominic Cummings claimed he did. Does he really think we believe him? Does he really think our collective heads button up the back? I’m sure he’s right that Boris’s head does. Just a wee walk then. Got my first damselfly shots of this year and just as I was congratulating myself on the capture, I watched a blur of red as a damselfly appeared from stage left, grabbed a moth or maybe a fly that was sunning itself on a horse tail and scoffed it for its lunch. Amazing! It was all over in a couple of seconds.

Back home well in time for our own lunch (not a moth sandwich), then waited around the house for the Asda driver to discharge his load of groceries. With all the stuff safely stashed away, Scamp went out plastered in factor 50 to read in the sun and I took the ‘big dog’ out to see what we could see. And what we saw was one deer that saw me first and wasn’t ready for its close-up, so it made a sharp exit. Saw some tadpoles that have just the hint of frog legs appearing and also spotted Mr Grey studiously stalking something at the edge of the reed beds. Got a couple of grab shots of a pale coloured damselfly among the gorse bushes, but nothing really sharp.

Spent some time when I got back sketching out the shape of the panels of Lucy’s mask. Used Inkscape which is a free, open source vector graphics package that now runs cleanly on a Mac. Much more sophisticated than it used to be in its previous incarnation. Still more clunky than Corel, but it’s free and it works. A useful tool for the arsenal.

Today’s PoD is mating damselflies. Pretty standard, but the colours look more saturated than usual. That’s probably due to the strong sunshine they were taken in. Sketch of the day was ‘Keys’ and was just another attempt at rendering metal in ink and watercolour. Not nearly as good as yesterday’s, but still a worthwhile practise piece.

Tomorrow if the weather is good we may go out walking again. If it’s not I’m going to attempt a Lucy Mask.

Another day, another walk – 26 May 2020

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Today I thought it was Sunday all day long. No reason why, except for Cabin Fever.

Phoned the bike shop in the morning (once I’d established that it was Tuesday and not Sunday) and got a promise the bike wheel would be finished by the end of the week. I sincerely hope that Big Al was not suffering from the same day-dislodgement that had overcome me.

After lunch we went for a walk more or less the same one as yesterday but in a slightly different direction. By the time we got home the sun was warming the place up nicely and we took the chairs out to the garden Scamp with a Pimms and me with a beer. Read for a while then got a surprise.

The girl next door, Lucy gave us a couple of facemasks she had made for us. We both thought that was very kind of her. They were much simpler than my pattern and much more effective I’d think. Curved to fit the face. She said she’d been making them for her gran and grandpa and thought we might appreciate one each too. Like I said we thought that was good of her, but then I thought, does that make us the old people next door? Scamp said “Yes, probably”. Doesn’t matter I liked the thought and because she’s just finished a fashion design course in London, the stitching was so much better than mine!

Dinner was Sea Bass with Potatoes, Broccoli and Cauliflower. Delicious! Scamp was chef tonight.

PoD went to a photo I took earlier in the day of a winged aphid on a rosebud. Scamp appreciated the detail in the picture, but wants rid of the beasties before they damage her roses.

Today’s topic was ‘A Pasta Dish’. I think by this time the setters were becoming tired with the whole EDiM thing and just throwing words and phrases at the list. This is my response to the prompt. There is a dish and there are two pieces of pasta, but really it’s a vehicle to practise drawing cutlery.

Tomorrow we are booked for an ASDA delivery in the afternoon, so any walks will have to be in the morning.