Category: A Walk

Early Rise – 16 June 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Today Jamie and Simonne were up early and so were we.

They were heading back down south and we waved them off. It was great having them for the few days, but hopefully we’ll see them again soon.

We drove over to The Fort later in the morning. I was hoping to exchange a pair of jeans for another pair that I might manage to get my legs into. Unfortunately the one size I wanted wasn’t in the rack, so I had to hand them back and get another pair online. I did get a book I was looking for in Waterstones with a birthday voucher from Jamie and Simonne. Thanks folks. It sometimes takes me a while to decide on books!

We had a coffee and a panini and we drove home. I did get the jeans exchanged online after a bit of faffing around but I’ll need to wait now to get them. Why does everything have to be difficult and take more time than is actually necessary.

The sun seemed to give up today and went in to hiding. I’d intended to take some photos, but instead I just walked down to The Shops to get a jug of milk.

Scamp had defrosted the freezer while I was out sourcing the milk and was refilling the freezer. In among the food was a partly thawed bag with a jam donut in it dated for January 2026. I let it thaw out and ate it. Surprisingly, it was perfectly fresh!

Tonight it was Fish Fingers, Egg and Spaghetti for dinner, made by Scamp. Tomorrow it will be my turn.

PoD was a bit of a cheat, a shot of a Shield Bug I took yesterday!

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet Alex for a walk, a few photos and a blether. Maybe manage to squeeze in a pizza too.

The wanderers return – 15 June 2026

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Jamie and Simonne returned from their mountain climbing today.

In the morning we drove down to M&S. We’d usually just walk to the shops, but today we had quite a lot of food to bring back, so taking the car seemed to be the sensible thing to do.

Jamie had predicted that they would arrive back to ours by about 3pm. As usual, he was almost exactly correct, unloading the car at five minutes past three! You can always rely on him to get an accurate time check!

Back home and after lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s. There wasn’t much of interest today, but I did manage to capture a nicely ball shaped Queen Anne’s Lace or Wild Carrot and that made PoD.

Dinner was all about soup and pizzas. Tomato soup and three different varieties of pizza. One large, thick rectangular one, one really hot and spicy one and an oval, thin one. Pizzas to suit everyone and almost all of them consumed while we talked at the dining table.

We talked for a while in the evening, exchanging ideas for the rest of the summer and hearing more about the walks the pair had done on Arran and the people, good and bad, they had met. Eventually it was time for the youngsters to head off to bed, and it wasn’t much later for us to do the same.

I think we’ll have an early rise tomorrow.

 

A warmer day – 14 June 2026

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A dry and a warm day. I didn’t do very much but Scamp was busy in the garden for most of the morning.

Later, she heard from a neighbour that Aldi was selling trays of Dahlias at a knock-down price, so off we trotted to the shops and came home with a bag of cocktails, a bottle of beer and the dahlias. The flowers looked good and they are now happily ensconced in the garden. I just hope the slugs don’t manage to sniff them out.

After lunch I went for a walk. While Scamp took advantage of the gentle warm breeze to hang out some washing, knowing that it was extremely unlikely to rain.

In St Mo’s, a single dragonfly was circling the pond. I think it was one of the Four-Spotted Chasers that I saw earlier in the week. Just in case it flew away, I grabbed a couple of shots, for the record. Apart from that, there wasn’t much to see, but it was good to get out in the warm, without a raincoat.

On the way home from my walk, I managed to get a couple of shots of a Wild Geranium, just coming in to flower and that made PoD.

Dinner tonight was Tomato Soup, Tuna steak with potatoes and Cavolo Nero Kale, and some of Jamie’s Rhubarb stewed at home. A lovely dinner.

Watched the Spanish GP saw Hamilton win his first race for Ferrari. I’m still not clear on what was happening to Antonelli on track, when he had to retire his car. Maybe he’d been bad, and that was his punishment.

No plans for tomorrow.

Training – 13 June 2026

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Today we went for a run to Stirling.

Drove to the station and left the car there. Then got a train to Stirling. At the station I bumped into a former pupil. I don’t know who was more embarrassed, her or me!. Thankfully she was going in the opposite direction to us.

An easy journey to Stirling, but the first time in ages we were only going for the run. No shopping in Waitrose, no driving through multiple roadworks, just a day out. We stopped at a coffee shop for refreshments before we walked into the centre of the town.

When we arrived in the centre of Stirling a military band was marching and playing in the town. We were just too late to see them, but you couldn’t miss the sound of the band and later the bagpipes. It was good of them to put on a show just for Scamp and me.

We wandered round the shops and Scamp got one bargain and I got another. Unfortunately the jeans I’d picked had drainpipe trousers and were far too tight on me. They will go back tomorrow, hopefully and I’ll get the proper jeans for me.

Lunch was a panini and a coffee in Nero, followed by a walk through the mall in the town. I nearly bought a book but held back because I’m already reading one and have two others on the side. Stirling seemed a dull and dowdy today. The weather didn’t help with constant drizzle, but it wasn’t all about the weather. So many closed shops don’t give a good look to a town.

Got the train back to the station and picked up the car, then drove home. We watched a less than exciting Spanish GP. Maybe it will liven up when the race proper runs tomorrow.

Spotted today’s PoD on a nettle and thought it was some new caterpillar, but it turned out to be Nettle Rust Fungus. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.

I actually enjoyed viewing Stirling from a different direction. Good to see some of the ‘old’ shops like the bike shops on the main street are still there and flourishing.

No plans for tomorrow.

Not quite such a wet day – 12 June 2026

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Driving round central Scotland looking for trainers unsuccessfully.

I got the message from Henry’s Coffee Company that a bag of coffee was ready to uplift. Drove to Falkirk, only to find that the shop was closed. A phone call sorted things out and the coffee would be delivered to our door today. That’s what makes Henry’s such a great company to work with.

We retraced our steps and drove to Go Outdoors next, looking for trainers. Not much luck. I saw one pair that were reasonably priced, but only one pair. We might go in to Glasgow tomorrow to see what Tiso has to offer. It all depends on whether Scotland win tonight. If they don’t, batten down the hatches and stay safe for a week or so.

Drove back home by the twisty backroads of Coatbridge and found the big orange parcel waiting for us in the usual place. Sent a thank-you message to the person who brought the coffee.

In the late afternoon I buckled up and went for a walk over to The Shops in and out of the rain all the time. Came home with another bag, sweeties this time. We watched a short episode of Hannah Fry explaining the benefits and pitfalls of AI. Quite interesting, and totally believable.

It had been a slightly better day than yesterday. A bit less rain and although there were a few times when the wind got bit high, at least the rain was lighter.

Hoping for a better weekend tomorrow. Also hoping that Scotland don’t do anything stupid.

Lunch – 10 June 2026

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Our visitors were off the mark quite early this morning. Thankfully they didn’t interrupt our beauty sleep!

A lazy start to a day that didn’t quite know what to do with itself. One minute it was pelting down with rain and the next the sun was splitting the trees.

Scamp drove over to Shona’s house and brought her over to ours. We were booked for lunch in the afternoon. At a new restaurant, at least, it was new to us. The food was OK, just ok, as far as I was concerned. The starter was Rosemary Focaccia allegedly with side plates of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil), nor Balsamic. However the Pesto, Nduja and Sugo Dips saved the day. Neither of us could find any EVOO, just dry bread.
The mains were much better. Risotto with king prawns, cherry tomatoes and roasted red peppers was great, according to Scamp and Shona quickly cleared a large plate of Spaghetti alla Carbonara. My Penne all ‘Amatriciana wasn’t just spicy, it was on fire!
Scamp and I had three flavours of ice cream and Shona had Sicilian Bombolini which looked interesting. Like an upmarket Italian churros.
All in all it wasn’t at all bad. Food service was slow and some of the drinks were a bit overpriced. Alcoholic drinks vastly overpriced. Would I go back. Probably, but in a few weeks, when they iron out some of the problems.

When we got back home, Scamp and Shona had great fun watching the videos Jamie had created earlier in the week.

I went out to leave them to it and walked over St Mo’s in the rain. I discovered that a ‘bunnet’ is a great thing for keeping the rain off you. PoD went to a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee on a Marsh Cinquefoil.

No plans for tomorrow because the walkers will be on Arran. We may go looking for trainers for me.

The gardener’s nightmare – 9 June 2026

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Today was one of those days when you just have to knuckle down and get things done.

Scamp was out for coffee with Isobel and was intending to bring some messages back with her.

Yesterday I made a list of things to do today. Today I added to that list. The only thing to do then was to get started.

The first thing to do was some tidying up of May. I’d a lot of loose ends that needed clearing up. Nothing difficult, but a whole lot of little things that I wanted to sort out. The blog was one of them.

The blog was only half finished but it didn’t take too long to roughly fix it. Next job was to get all the independent units of it into the correct order. I knew the problems it would bring if all the dates were in the wrong places. Best to get it sorted while it was still clear in my head. After that I had some tomatoes and veg to chop up to be made into soup for freezing later.

Scamp returned just after I was checking that all my tasks had been completed properly. By then it was time for lunch.

Jamie and Simonne got back about 4.30 and although the black clouds were gathering, I thought I could get a few shots before the rains came. It didn’t quite work, because I got caught in a rain shower. Nothing very heavy, but then I heard the rumbling of thunder and thought walking through the trees wasn’t the smartest place, but sometimes I’m not all that smart and anyway I was as far from home as I intended to be, so I walked back through the park, just in case.

PoD went to the gardener’s nightmare, Buttercups. Scamp does not like them and I can see why, but they stood out well from the background and I liked them.

Dinner tonight was Chicken and Peas, but it wasn’t as good as it usually is. Maybe I did something wrong, but there is very little you can do wrong with it. Scamp made Syllabub and it was just as good as it always is.

Jamie and Simonne are intending to go off on a walking holiday. I hope they get good weather.

Alyth, Dragons and Dancin’ – 8 June 2026

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Jamie and Simonne went off this morning to meet up with their friends in Alyth we went dancing in Kirsty’s class at night.

After Jamie and Simonne left, we drove to Tesco and did our usual Monday shop. There were quite a few heavy showers throughout the day, but we managed a walk over to St Mo’s. That’s where I saw the first Dragonfly of the year, a Four-Spotted Chaser. Four-Spotted because of the four spots on the wings of the insect. That made PoD.

In the evening we went to Kirsty’s dance class. That’s where we learned the Dalshannon Swing, a fairly simple, but fast dance the lady herself had devised.
We also learned the correct way to dance Rumba One, finding out that we’d been doing the ‘Fencing’ part completely wrong. Other than that, I think Scamp sat all evening working through old movies that now run on new technology. Now, I wonder where that DVD camera went. Maybe I could get it going again and that would mean I could …….. On second thoughts, probably better not!

Tomorrow we await the return of the walkers.

Lacewing – 4 June 2026

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A day of torrential showers then sunshine!

I was supposed to meet Alex for a photowalk in the morning, but he phoned to say he wasn’t feeling well and was calling off.

Scamp was out this morning for coffee with Shona. That left me all on my lonesome.

I used the time to weed out the losers in my May photos and to backup those that were left. Then I created a new folder for the new July photos. That left me half an hour to complete today’s puzzles.

Just as I was finishing, I got a call from Colin, an old friend to ask about timings for tomorrow’s trip to Falkirk for Val’s funeral. Once we were settled and just hanging up, Scamp returned and the rest of the morning was spent talking about how things were going in Darley Road.

After lunch I think I was getting under Scamp’s feet and she told me it would be a good idea for me to go for a walk. I agreed and did my usual circuit of the pond, then a walk across the football park. I got a few photos of bees of a variety of colours and sizes when a very light insect flew past. I immediately identified it as a Blue Lacewing. They used to be quite common, but I hadn’t seem one for a couple of years. They are good for keeping the aphids down on plants. They are such delicate insects, it looks like a gust of wind will blow them away. The Blue Lacewing got PoD.

We’re expecting Jamie and Simonne to arrive tomorrow, all being well. That must be why everything in the house is being polished tonight!!

A walk through the trees – 2 June 2026

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Another day of mixed weather, but glad to see that a couple of other folk were out risking the rain.

Up fairly early to see Scamp’s sister off on her journey north. It had been good to see her for a few days, but we knew she was ready to go back home.

Just before she left, I found an old DVD drive that held a lot of memories for us all. Scamp was sure she had seen the disk in a cover fairly recently, but I wasn’t so sure. The ladies had a good half hour remembering where and when the different images came from. Scamp and I spent another two or three hours remembering those days now, well past. My next task now is to record the DVD on to another disk to send up to the north of Scotland soon. That will be a challenge.

Another find today was an old Sony F707 camera with one intact card. It took me a long time to find a charger that would fit the camera, but eventually I did find one and it’s still charging right beside me. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a card reader that would work with the camera. I might go in to Glasgow this week and see if I can find one in Jessops, failing that, it will be a case of checking Mr Bezos’s archive.

In the afternoon I went for a walk over to St Mo’s and managed to get a grab shot of two ladies walking down the avenue of trees, probably heading for the local shops. The lighting was just right with a little bit of warmth to give highlights and shadows from the sun shining through the branches. Just a perfect shot for me. Pod achieved!

Dinner tonight was Jersey Royal potatoes, carrots and bacon for me. Scamp had the vegetables only as she doesn’t eat meat. It was quite, quite delicious. Scamp did the cooking of course!

No plans for tomorrow, although Scamp has a dentist appointment to look forward to!