Category: A Walk

A bit of sunshine – 13 March 2020

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That’s what we all need sometimes, a bit of sunshine.

There was the odd sprinkle of rain too, but that’s ok. Spoke to Hazy in the morning to explain yesterday’s blog post in more detail. After the explanation and checking that all was well down her way, we got ready and drove out to Rouken Glen in the south of Glasgow. We’d been there a few months ago and said we’d come back. It was Scamp’s suggestion of a destination today and it was a good one. The last time we were there we were looking for the waterfall, but failed to find it. Today we seemed to be surrounded by waterfalls. High drops, low splashing waterfalls and one that seemed determined to soak us with spray. I’d taken the tripod in the car, but of course I didn’t take it with me because I didn’t think we’d see any of the waterfalls. Numpty!  One of the waterfall pics got PoD.

The other thing I saw was what I think was the nymphal shuck of a damselfly or maybe a sedge. Can’t be sure that’s what it was, but almost certain. It looks like something designed by H.R. Giger. It was paper thin and must have survived the gales and the torrential rain since last summer.

Lunch was in the Boathouse Cafe next to the boating pond. Roll ’n’ Pork Sausage for me and Scrambled Egg on Toast for Scamp. Coffee was better than the usual cafe coffee. Almost as good as my new Blue Box coffee, Hazy. Much lighter than my usual Perth blend, but nice for a change. Walked back through the park and drove home just before the start of the rush hour.

Paella for dinner tonight and it was a good one. Almost, but not quite, too dry. I probably won’t be able to make one like it for ages now.

I think we’ve both come to terms with the P&O situation now. Another email arrived this afternoon to the effect that we can cancel the cruise and have our deposit refunded. We are both in agreement that it would be the best course of action in the circumstances. My thoughts are that with so many places almost in lockdown, it would not be much of a holiday anyway, even if Boris hadn’t made his declaration. Also, if we had been allowed to go, we’d have been in a bus travelling south with 40 or so others wondering if that old lady’s irritating cough is actually Covid 19 or just a cold. Imagine getting all the way to Southampton and being told you can’t board because you are showing signs of a virus you didn’t have when you left the house. Maybe for once Boris has done us a favour.

We have no plans for tomorrow. It looks like rain in the morning, clear for an hour or so and then more rain at night. Never mind, we had a good day today. We can’t be greedy.

Cold, not Corona – 10 March 2020

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Woke with a stuffed up nose and clogged ears. Not the symptoms of Covid 19, just a common cold.  Still felt miserable.

I’d said I’d go with Scamp to see how Isobel was faring with her new knee, but decided it would be better to self-isolate to use the new term for ‘stay at home’. Scamp left early to have coffee with Shona before she went to see the invalid. I took some Haliborange tablets and searched for a ball and socket head I was sure I had somewhere for the new tripod, without success (it lets you turn the camera to almost any angle). When I got fed up with searching I sat and watched the rain showers thumping down then made a pot of soup for dinner tonight, so at least all my time wasn’t wasted.

Finally took some sketch paper upstairs to draw and while telling myself that it wouldn’t be there, I searched through some boxes in the chest of drawers and immediately proved myself wrong, because there was the ball and socket head! Things are never where you expect to find them. Forgot about the drawing and started trying out the new fitment on the tripod and it worked perfectly. It was about that time I started to feel better. I also started to watch the sky in the hopes that there would be some blue among the clouds. There was none, but the clouds were clearing above the Campsie and that’s usually a good sign. A couple of hours later I made the decision to go out. The sun was shining and the clouds had cleared. So had my head.

Got the tripod set up perfectly in an awkward wee gully at the outfall of water from the pond at St Mo’s. There was a fair volume of water coursing down and it looked a likely place for a moody slow shutter shot of moving water. I shot a few at different exposure times, but wasn’t really happy with any of them. I made a mental note to take a pair of secateurs with me next time because the barbs on the bramble stems were tearing into my ankles. Spoke to Susan G who was out walking her dogs and wondering what the hell I was doing prancing around a mucky burn.

Walked round the upper path and found a much better run of water. Just a little drainage ditch with water pouring round a boulder. Another tricky position for a ‘normal’ tripod, but easy peasy for the Benbo. It’s what that tripod is made for. By the time I’d shot my fill of oily looking water, I realised it had started raining. Walked back along the boardwalk and the heavens opened. That’s when I got today’s PoD. It’s a three shot hand-held HDR image, but you probably guessed that, so I won’t bore you with the details. Second place went to the oily water shot, taken with the camera on the new tripod. Brilliant piece of British engineering.

Soup, bread and a baked potato for dinner as we listened to the news that Italy was now basically cut off from the rest of the world for at least two weeks. So strange to see the Colosseum in Rome with about four people standing beside it. Similarly St Mark’s Square in Venice virtually deserted. Strange days.

No plans for tomorrow. Hoping I’ve not passed the cold on to anyone else. If I get the all clear from Scamp, we’ll maybe go dancing at the British Legion, our new venue for Wednesday night classes.

A day in the Toon – 6 March 2020

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Scamp suggested it and I agreed. A day in Glasgow. No driving, no dancing, just a day in the Toon. Sounds good to me too.

Walked over to Condorrat and got the eXpress bus to Glasgow. Coffee in Nero first then a walk through JL. Visited the ‘toy shop’ on the top floor, just to see if there were any bargains on show, but of course, there weren’t. Didn’t really expect any, but I’m not in the market for bargains anyway, so I wasn’t really bothered.

The new Aaronovitch book (with luminous cover!) from Waterstones and the prospect of a pair of Wranglers in TJ Hughes took us along Argyle Street. The book was bought, but the jeans weren’t. Mainly due to the lack of ability in TJ’s staff to assess the size of the queue and stop changing tags on stock and man (should that be ‘person’) the tills instead. Nope, Job Demarcation demands that I stay at the job I was given and not deviate from said job until sanctioned by a more senior member of staff Or in other words “I was only obeying orders”. Left the jeans back on the shelf and walked out. How do these stores survive? Especially when others like JL are sinking?

In Paesano, a Number 3 pizza (anchovy, olive, capers, mozzarella, sugo and EVOO) for me and a Number 1 pizza (Sugo, rocket, No garlic, No cheese) for Scamp with two glasses of house red saved the day and brought a little bit of Italian sunshine to Glasgow.

Walked back to the bus station via Cass Art for black watercolour paint and a cheap sketch pad then caught another eXpress bus back to Condorrat. Walked home with smiles on our faces. It was a good day.

PoD was some folk heading up Bucky Street for the bus home after ‘Making Glasgow’!

Scamp made Chicken Goujons for supper, washed down with another glass of red wine.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to be fed at Cotton House, with the prospect of a walk afterwards.

Last Dance in The Weavers – 4 March 2020

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Thankfully the last dance in that pokey little room, but we beat the corners.

First we got a phone call from Isobel to say that she was indeed getting out today. Although she’d get transport from the ward to the car, she would need a wheelchair to get from the car to the house, because the hospital wouldn’t load us a chair. Absolute nonsense, but totally in keeping with expected NLC policy. Scamp was not to be fazed by this problem and phoned one of the Gems singers and an hour later we had a wheelchair in the back of the Juke. You don’t realise just how much room a folded up wheelchair takes up in a car. I see the problem now Hazy.

By the time we’d worked out how to transport Scamp, Isobel, me and the wheelchair from the hospital to Cumbersheugh, Isobel had phoned to say she’d been told she was going to get hospital transport. Because she had more than one step up to her door and also she only had one handrail, she needed an ambulance person to get her safely into the house. One problem solved, but now we had to return the wheelchair and also return our life to what sometimes amounts to “Normal”. We went to lunch.

Lunch was in Craigend Nursery which used to be a decent sized plant nursery with a small tearoom bolted on. Now it’s very large tearoom with a nursery bolted on almost as an afterthought. Lunch was a beef burger and chips and salad and a dollop of ‘coleslaw’ that looked like a dog had been sick on my slate (no plates, just slates. Retro chic). Scamp had a very greasy looking Mac ’n’ Cheese. I don’t think we’ll be rushing back there.

Drove back and Scamp went to offload the wheelchair while I went to visit the ducks in St Mo’s. I also walked to the shops to try to get lemongrass for tonight’s dinner. Met an old friend of ours from salsa. Haven’t seen her for years, five years at least, according to her. How time flies. Didn’t get the lemongrass, but I did get today’s PoD which looks as if it’s been taken with flash, but it was just low afternoon light. A lucky shot.

Tonight we were dancing for the final time in The Weavers. I won’t be sad to leave that horrible room with its strange angles. What we did do was produce a decent foxtrot and another ‘work in progress’ quickstep. After a long explanation of how to dance in any shape of room, we even managed to remove the corners of the room and turn them into gentle curves, just by altering stride length and not dancing in entirely straight lines. It worked!

G&Ts tonight to remove the rough edges of an awkward day. Much like The Dukes of Hazzard song “Staightenin’ the curves Flattenin’ the hills …”. Exactly like tonight’s dancing.

Tomorrow more dancing in the afternoon hopefully. In a proper room this time.

Hey look. Not dancing today! – 3 March 2020

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A day to relax, perhaps.

I’d intended to do some painting today while Scamp was out having coffee with Annette. What I did instead was pot up some chilli plants that had been lingering on the kitchen window sill. While was in this horticultural mood, I also split up a succulent that’s been aching to be repotted for years. When I looked at what it had been growing in, it seemed to be almost all gravel. There was a tiny wee ring of compost on the surface, but the rest was just pure grit and old dead roots. Although it looked a bit tired, it had been producing quite a few ‘babies’. I managed to dislodge five little suckers which have now been repotted in a mixture of compost, grit and sharp sand. I’m sure it have a fair bit more nutrient than they have been used to. I’m hoping they have enough, but not too much.

Scamp returned at lunchtime and after that she went out to buy dinner which turned out to be a Chinese stir-fry using noodles rather than her usual favourite rice. I enjoyed it, but I think Tesco were being a bit mean with their mixture which would have benefitted with some ginger to gee it up a bit. Other than that, the noodles made a pleasant change from rice. I think it will be my turn to cook tomorrow, so I have to think up something interesting. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut. I have something in mind, it just depends on whether it ends up on the plate!

While Scamp was out shopping I grabbed my camera bag and went for a walk in St Mo’s. That’s where I found the little seedling growing in a tree. It seemed quite settled in its elevated position just about head height. I think it may be an ash and it’s growing in a sycamore tree. An interesting cross fertilisation.

Scamp’s aunt, Isobel is currently in hospital after having a new knee fitted. She phoned today to say that she wasn’t getting out today as she expected, but might get be allowed home tomorrow. We’d already agreed that if she was kept later than today, we’d be ’hospital transport’. So, tomorrow is partly put on hold until we get a phone call. Hoping to dance at night for the last time in a that tiny awkward room in Condorrat. Next week we’re supposed to be moving to the British Legion in Cumbersheugh which will definitely be a big improvement, we’re told

Freedom! – 1 March 2020

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Sketching is fun and so is painting, but when you have to do it every day and also dance to someone else’s tune, it becomes work.

Today was the first day of March and that meant the inaccurately named 28 Drawings Later and Every Day in February were finished for me. It was fun for most of the time, but when it starts to resemble work, I have to draw a line (no pun intended). I’m quite happy to do the odd sketch as the notion takes me, but I’m also happy to let it lapse for a few days. All being well, I’ll probably take up the cudgels again in May for EDiM.

It seems the news people are having a field day with all the Coronavirus stuff. They’ve found a perfect way to take up hours of screen time giving us updates and filling our screens with stats and visual representations of how bad this virus thingy is. Most folk don’t really care all that much. Until it actually affects them, it’s just another blah blah blah that takes up too much time and deflects the serious news to the last five minutes of the program. The gigantic map behind the presenter with whole countries splashed in RED don’t really tell the whole story. Yes, there’s a case of the virus in Scotland, but because of that, the whole of Scotland is painted red. Someone somewhere has read and applied “How to Lie With Statistics”, a brilliant book written by Darrell Huff and as valid today as it was when it was first published in 1954.

So, today, after lunch I went for a walk in a soggy St Mo’s. Got today’s PoD which is a dried up looking hummock of moss growing on a branch of a dead tree. It’s amazing what interests photogs with a decent camera and a macro lens. Apart from startling a couple of deer, that was the only interesting thing that crossed my path today. A dull windy day which eventually turned to sleety rain, but not until much later.

Curry from the Spice Tailor range for dinner. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad one. Didn’t read the instructions properly for this one and left the chilli in for a bit longer than necessary, but it was fine, just spicy enough.

Drove in to the Record Factory for Salsa tonight, but the music was so dire we left earlier than we’d intended. It wasn’t just us, either. Almost all of the ‘old school’ were complaining too. It seems that a lot of Jamie G’s ‘Advanced Class’ have now gone over to The Opposition, Sergio & Patricia. I can’t say I blame them. The move from the STUC building out to the West End hasn’t endeared Shannon to a lot of people and the fact that Jamie seems to be away from class more than he’s there is bound to affect the continuity of teaching. At least they now cancel his advanced classes when he’s not going to be there. That is a move in the right direction.

Spoke to JIC tonight and found out all about his short trip to Boston. Poor soul hardly got to see round the city at all. All work and no play by the sound of it. Never mind JIC, you have a week to enjoy the peace between studying, working from home and looking after Vixen!

Tomorrow is a Gems day, but we also need to cram in some dance. Hoping we make a better show of things tomorrow night.

Getting your ducks in a line – 27 February 2020

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There was snow lying this morning when we woke. Snow in February, that’s normal isn’t it? Does that mean Global Warming’s been cancelled?

Only time will tell if the proposed Global Warming has indeed been cancelled. For my part I think the snow was an oversight. It was fairly quickly removed from all gardens and some active person was actually removing it from the Campsie Fells by the time we were going out. We drove to Drumpellier and found that the snow that had been removed from Cumbersheugh had been dumped there. I presume it was Coatbridge that had paid for the snow to increase its scenic value and it had been inadvertently delivered to Cumbernauld. We walked round the loch. It was very pretty with a clear blue sky, but a cold wind and I did get today’s PoD there. It’s a Tufted duck and it was only one of the hundreds pestering the swans that are the usual stormtroopers when there’s food to be had. It made a refreshing change. Cup of coffee in the visitor centre which had an area cordoned off with serious looking red tape and heavy duty polythene that obscured our view of what was behind it. I firmly believe this is the Coatbridge way of quarantining suspected Coronavirus victims. Scary thought!
By the time we got back home all the snow had gone and half of the snow on the hills had also disappeared. Probably the work of an NLC operative with a big barrow and a few black bags. Cumbersheugh doesn’t get to keep anything. NLC just takes it away to Coatbridge or Motherwell!

After lunch I made some dough for a second attempt at Salt & Pepper bread and set it to rise while I went for a walk. I got a few more photos, but not until I’d reset the time and date on the camera. None of the other settings had been reset, only the time and date! Strange. Despite getting more photos, it was a shot of Tufty that remained the PoD.

I made some soup when I got back and also cooked some mince under Scamp’s instructions. Then I fired the bread after I’d sprayed it with water and put some pepper and sea salt on top. It rose well and tastes quite good. I had mince ’n’ tatties with beetroot. Scamp had salmon with tatties. Soup was fine. It was bean soup, to which the response is always “I don’t want to know what it was, I want to know what it is now!” Proof that the old jokes aren’t always the best.

Today’s prompt was “Duck”. This is my take on that topic. It’s a mallard I photographed last year in Cumbersheugh. And, before someone asks, NO I wasn’t tempted to draw and paint a Donald Duck instead!

We have no plans for tomorrow.

A walk by the Water – 25 February 2020

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The Water in question was the Luggie Water.

Couldn’t decide what to do today, so, as it was a fairly bright morning, I took the Juke out to Cumbernauld railway station carpark (free parking) and went for a walk along the Luggie. I’d hoped the water would be racing down to give me a chance to try out some slow shutter speed shots, but although it was fairly murky, it wasn’t as high as I’d hoped. However I got some shots of steadily flowing water that I immediately knew wouldn’t be PoD material, but I took them anyway. The PoD award went to a picture of snowdrops beside the water with the sun shining through them. Very Picture Skew (picturesque).

What you don’t see in the photo, although the eagle eyed among you might just be able to make it out is a thin white line on the right side about a quarter of the way down. That’s the antenna of an insect that was hiding behind one of the flowers I cropped out. It just goes to prove that the unnaturally mild winter this year, in spite of all the floods, is having its effect on nature. These insects shouldn’t be hatching until about April at the earliest. Strange days.

Scamp made Carrot & Lentil Curry for dinner tonight. I couldn’t tell you the last time we had that. It was delicious. Some flat bread was my contribution to the meal, but I also made a first attempt at Salt & Pepper bread. Too much salt on the crust and not enough pepper, we agreed. Pudding was pancakes (Shrove Tuesday) with some of our own stewed apples defrosted from the freezer and ice cream. All in all a good dinner.

Scamp’s cold seems to be getting better at last. So we practised a bit of quickstep tonight to try to fit all the figures together into the full sequence. With the help of a couple of videos we took yesterday, things are improving. We may go to Kirsty’s class tomorrow night and we may even go to a Tea Dance in Falkirk in the afternoon. Scamp’s out in the morning with Isobel for coffee too, so it’s going to be a busy day.

Today’s SoD topic was ‘Farm’. I chose Easter Cadder Farm near Kirkintilloch as my subject, specifically a couple of cattle we met there some time ago. The farm is still there, but Beast 590454 may or may not be.
Yesterday’s topic was ‘Mandala’ and my attempt was abysmal. In an attempt to clear it out of my head I sketched a different version of it last night after I’d posted the blog. I completed it this morning and although it’s not perfect, it’s a lot better than yesterday’s. I’ll even let you see it!

So, tomorrow has the potential to be a busy day so I’m hoping to get the ‘Pink’ sketch done early. That’s the plan.

Woke to Sunshine! – 23 February 2020

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How nice to see a bit of sunshine again after all the rain and wind.

It was cold but bright and I really enjoyed my morning coffee sitting on the sofa in the sun. You could actually feel the warmth of the sun. Of course it did rain to, but not enough to speak of, so I won’t speak of it.

After lunch and after watching Andrew Marr doing battle with Nicola Sturgeon who put up a valiant fight I have to admit, I went out for a walk. Fell on my backside taking lots of photos of cladonia variants, but I only took five of the little yellow crocus growing in the front garden. One of the many Scamp has planted there. It was the little yellow crocus that got PoD and I didn’t even fall on my backside taking it!

Even managed to plant some Chestnuts in pots in the wee greenhouse .  Hopefully they will be more successful than last year’s no-show, but there’s no guarantee of that with wild seeds!

Swordfish steak for Scamp’s dinner with potatoes and cabbage. For me, exchange Rump steak for Swordfish. Just a relaxing day after yesterday’s dance extravaganza. The sunshine lasted all day with the occasional rain shower to remind us that it’s still winter. Apparently we will be reminded even more strongly later tonight or early tomorrow morning when snow showers are forecast across the central belt. May have to change my plans as I’m hoping to meet the Auld Guys for coffee tomorrow. Let’s hope not.

Spoke to Jamie and heard about his forthcoming surprise trip to Boston. It’s a work trip, but it’s still a trip to the US. More power to his elbow, he certainly works for it.

SoD prompt was ‘Gate’ and I struggled with this one. It’s a gate we passed on the banks of Loch Leven in Fife. Such skill splitting the bar and then producing the curves. I’m not sure I’ve done it justice, but it’s as good as I can make it.

As I’ve said, I should be meeting the Auld Guys tomorrow for coffee and adult conversation. Maybe even a bit of book swapping. It all depends on the weather.

Zog meets a Frog – 21 February 2020

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A whole day without a phone call from the doctor! What’s wrong, have I offended someone?

It was another horrible day. Wind and rain in varying amounts and intensities. Didn’t do much and didn’t go very far. What we did do was practise the Foxtrot and the Waltz ‘figures’ just in case we want to dance them tomorrow. Actually I’d gone for a walk in the afternoon and found a piece of open ground in the middle of the trees and there I had a short solo practise of the figures in the Foxtrot, because that’s the dance we know the least about. I must have looked what my mum would have called ‘a proper chookie’ (a fool) if anyone had caught a glimpse of me dancing through the trees!

It was when I was coming back from my outdoor dance class that I saw two frogs in an amorous embrace attempting to get out of a fast flowing burn that had appeared overnight. The lady frog was trying to climb up a crumbling banking without much success, so I lifted them both out of the burn and placed them on the grass, took their photo and then put them down in a more gently sloping sandbank to allow them the opportunity to continue on to dry land or reenter the stream. I thought as I was walking away that it must be the first time I’ve handled a frog since I was a wee boy. One of the photos I took was sharp enough to become PoD. Zog meets a Frog.

Today’s topic was ‘Olive’. I tried all sorts of still life setups with black olives and also the green variety. None of them appealed to me, then I thought of the most famous Olive of all, Ms Oyl. I also wanted a fairly easy drawing after yesterday’s complicated crown.

Tomorrow’s task is ‘Rain’. I think I might be able to construct something around that theme, considering we’ve hardly had one dry day since Christmas. Only other plans for tomorrow are to go out for lunch somewhere if we don’t get blown or washed away.