Category: A Walk

A Different Sort of Day – 22 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bAfter a downer of a week, weatherwise and otherwise, we woke today to … rain. Woke up at around 6.00am to rain battering against the window. Turned over and went back to sleep. Next thing I knew it was 9.00am and it was still raining. Oh well, I’d decided to go in to Glasgow for a wander and the weather app on my phone said it would be sunny by midday – fat chance says I. By the time I’d got myself organised and finished just one more chapter of Strange Loyalties by the late William McIlvanney, a very introspective novel with wonderful use of language, by the time I finally put it down, it was getting on for 11.30. Scamp had declined my offer of a run into town, so I went myself on the train. Got parked easily for a change at the station.

When I was walking up to the station, the rain had stopped and wonder of wonders, there was blue sky up there. At 12.10, sitting in the Glasgow train, the clouds parted and the sun shone. It stayed that way for the rest of the day. The weather app was right, well, ten minutes late, but we can forgive it that. In Glasgow I went up to JL, but they had no bargains – well, they hardly ever do. Had a play around with one of the Oly 4/3 DSLRs I’ve been watching coming down in price. Second hand of course. Unfortunately I handled the posh V2 version first, so the viewfinder wasn’t as clear in the second, more affordable, one. That said, it has come EVFs have come a long way since the Sony F707, or even the removable EVF of the Oly E-PL5. Sorry for all that technospeak, Jic, it’s over now, you can open your eyes again.

Lots of lovely light in Bucky Street and interesting people too. I have to thank the community policeman who noticed I’d dropped the viewfinder from the E-PL5 in my rush to get a shot. Thank you very much whoever you are, I never really got a chance to thank you properly. I know it’s unlikely you will ever read this, but I feel better now. I walked all the way down past St Enoch’s to the Clyde walkway and found even more photo opportunities.

Back up to the station, back home and a piece ‘n’ cheese for a late lunch before Scamp came home from a “Witches” meeting.

What a difference a bit of sun makes.

Sore Legs – 19 January 2016

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combo bIt was cold today, not as cold as it has been, and most of the snow has gone now, but it was not particularly comfortable. We went to the gym and had a swim afterwards. This was the most exercise I’ve done in a long time and I’m beginning to feel the effects in my legs tonight. The pool was lovely and warm, maybe too warm. I did a few lengths, but spent most of my time in the jacuzzi and the sauna.

After lunch I went for a walk round St Mo’s and grabbed a few shots with the Oly. I seem to get better results with this new E-PL5 than I do with the Nikon. Sometimes you need the instant response of the Nikon and the quality is better with it, but for day to day shooting and for pocketability (if that’s a word), the Oly wins hands down.

Not a lot done, but a much better day than yesterday. I even got today’s Medium sudoku finished (hopefully correctly!). So things must be getting better.

A cold and frosty morning – 17 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bWell, that’s the way it looked when we got up.  When I say ‘got up’, I really mean got out of bed, looked out the window and went back beneath the warm duvet again.  I’m not sure if it had snowed during the night, but the temperature was hovering around zero, so it might have.  Didn’t do much in the morning apart from clear up the kitchen a bit.

In the afternoon I struggled into my boots and gaiters to take a walk across to St Mo’s.  Lots of deer tracks, but no sign of the actual beasts themselves.  Spent some time watching the coots and ducks sliding across the frozen pond.  Managed to find a puddle hidden under a covering of snow on a layer of grass.  It was deep enough to reach up to my knees and cold enough to take my breath away.  That alone shortened my walk.  No tramping through the trees today, not with frozen tootsies.  Got a few photos of tracks in the snow, but nothing interesting.  There wasn’t really enough directional light to create the shadows you need when photographing snow.  Came home, dried off and stared at a glowing screen 1 for an hour or so.  I don’t suppose I will ever learn.

That about wraps it up for today.  We should have gone to salsa tonight, but the weather station said it would snow and the temperature was dropping from its high of 3ºc and we weren’t really all that bothered.  Hopefully we’ll go to class tomorrow.  Tomorrow is another day.

  1. “Maybe we spend too much time looking at glowing screens.” 22 December 2015 ↩

On the go all day – 15 January 2016

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combo bBusy day, that’s why this entry is a wee bit late.  Up early to get ready for Crawford and Nancy coming for dinner.  Between us we made the soup, the main course which was Scamp’s Chicken in Breadcrumbs Twice 1, made the pudding which was ginger cheesecake and all before lunch.  We went out to Costa Robroyston for lunch 2.  Fleeting snow showers while we were out, but it was icy underfoot.

After lunch, we did some extra shopping, tidied up the living room, hoovered (or Dyson’d to be more exact), cleared and set the table and in the midst of that I even managed a short walk, a very short walk. I had forgotten my boots and normal street shoes are no match for sheet ice. Discretion was the better part of valour and I retraced my steps, but not before I got this shot of Mr Grey’s cousin out on a limb.  One or two shots and then he decided that it was time to leave.  I was quite impressed with the quality of the shots from the Tamron lens today.  It’s easy to see how the acutance is masked by the heavy noise when the ISO is up in the five figure bracket.

The visitors arrived about 7.30pm and we did have an entertaining night as usual.  Unfortunately, our young neighbours were also having an entertaining night and the music finally finished about 2.00am.  I hope it’s a one off.

  1. She didn’t make it twice, it’s just it’s marinated in breadcrumbs with lemon, garlic, parsley and stuff, then coated in breadcrumbs again for cooking. It’s got a fancy Italian name too. ↩
  2. We must be almost on first name terms with the folk that work there. ↩

Starman – 11 January 2016

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combo bIt’s not often I do this, but today I feel I need to mention the passing of David Bowie. I didn’t like everything he did, some of it was just too avant-garde. Like the French composer Pierre Boulez who died last week, Bowie could be just a little left field. However, I will forever remember being a nineteen year old three chord wonder, well maybe four chord, playing and singing Space Oddity with Crawfy, Joanne and Jeff at Ayr youth hostel. I couldn’t do the chord changes as quickly as Bowie and I couldn’t do half of his chords anyway. When it got to the part where the rocket takes off, you were supposed to play some weird feedback stuff, but we all just shouted “Space Craft Liftoff Music”, because that’s what it said in the sheet music. I still have that sheet music somewhere. Pity we don’t have Bowie too. Somebody on the radio said that he was the rock star you didn’t think would ever die. I kind of understand that.

The big white ball that we sometimes see in the sky in summer was almost visible today. The sky was definitely lighter the clouds were a little higher and there was just the hint of shadows on the ground. With this in mind, I thought instead of going for a swim today, I’d walk in the sun. I should have known. When I got to Auchinstarry the first spits of rain were hitting the windscreen. I sat out the first two showers and then decided that as some old farmer lady on the telly last night said “We have waterproof skin”. I would add, “… and Goretex jackets”. So I walked along the railway and took some photos in the rain. The sky was still lighter than it’s been and the rain was light on the way out, so there was some colour around. Hoping for better days soon. Oh, by the way, the top photo is not pine tree on a hillside, it’s moss on an old fencepost.

A little bit of colour – 10 January 2015

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combo bThere wasn’t much light today and it was raining. It was one of those days when you just wanted to roll over and pull up the duvet. I rolled over and pulled up the duvet.

After lunch, I was determined to find some colour in this drab landscape. The rain had turned to snow, well, sleet really, but that didn’t put me off. I’d found a long lost pair of snow gaiters and intended trying them out. To be honest, there wasn’t much snow lying, but the gaiters would keep some of the mud off my jeans. Or so I hoped. Actually, they worked quite well and I’m glad I found them.

Mr Grey was available for a couple of shots before he got fed up posing and flew off. Other than that and the ubiquitous swans, there wasn’t much moving at St Mo’s today. Can’t say I blame them. I got a few shots of some water dripping from dried up weeds (how do the weeds stay dry in this weather?) before I stuck the Oly back in the camera bag and headed for home. If you look closely, there is some colour in the shots, just not a lot.

A little splash of sunshine – 6 January 2016

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combo bAlthough the day started with the usual dull, dull, dull, by midday it was beginning to brighten up a bit. Since Scamp had burned out the shredder yesterday, ripping up almost half a ream of out of date receipts, we had to consign the old shredder to the council tip and then go buy a new one. One out, one in. A good rule to start the new year with.

Went to Robroyston to check out the variety of shredders available. Available was the key word in the last sentence. Argos had the cheapest price for the one she wanted but, as with so many stores these days, they didn’t have any in stock. It appears that the only way some stores can survive the cheap prices of online shops is to advertise cheap deals on their website and expect you to buy online and then pick up at the shop. The shop then doesn’t need a great warehouse in-house so to speak, but to have a warehouse near at hand from which they can quickly have the goods delivered. Curry’s did have the physical shredder in stock and in the shop, so although it was more expensive, we bought it there.

While Scamp was shredding away happily this afternoon, I grabbed a chance to walk in the sunshine in St Mo’s. Got a few snaps of Mr Grey before I got too close and he flew off to his favourite hiding place among the bulrushes. Not long after that, the light levels started to fall off and we were back to four figure ISO values, but I did walk in the sunshine for a short while.

“Ur ye dancin’?” – 3 January 2016

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combo bScamp had an upset night with sickness and diarrhoea. We’re not sure exactly what caused it, but the new Indian restaurant is a prime suspect. Strangely, I wasn’t affected at all and we shared the food, as we always do. It’s a strange one indeed and will need further investigation, maybe even a return visit with a packet of Diocalm with us. Once she was up, Scamp was as right as rain again, but sensibly didn’t want to travel far from the house, so I took myself off for a solo walk along to Dumbreck Marshes to see what the new year had brought in the way of photo opportunities. Not a lot was the answer and with the ISO up in four figures at least, grain was going to be a problem again. Oh, I wish we had one day of sunshine, just one.

Scamp declared herself fit enough to go dancin’ and we set off for The Garage around 4.30. Place was nicely busy. Not too crowded and not looking abandoned either. I’d expected it to be a bit emptier than it was with all the events and venues that Shannon was punting recently on FB. Had an enjoyable couple of hours of energetic salsa and realised how much exercise we’d been missing in the last two weeks. It’s amazing how you get lazy with the short days. Hoping to get out in daylight tomorrow – bank holiday, so no salsa class, but may go to the gym for a swim at least. I’m expecting all the New Year Resolutions will be crowding out the gym for the first two weeks in January. After that, things will get back to normal.

The days are getting longer aren’t they?

It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day – 1 January 2016

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combo bA late start after a late night yesterday.  Typical of New Year’s Day.

Kippers for lunch that kept reminding me of their presence all day after that, despite a couple of cups of peppermint tea.

Went for a walk round St Mo’s with Scamp. Tried to feed the ducks, but it was the gulls and the swans that got most of it. I’m not sure Scamp enjoyed the walk, but she didn’t complain too much.

After the walk, I made Carrot and Cardamom soup from my new Nigel Slater book, thanks Hazy and ND’A. Then made bread for dinner tonight. Both of them were very tasty. Steak for dinner with brussels, cauliflower and roast potatoes. For Scamp’s dinner, substitute salmon for the steak. Coffee afterwards was the Christmas coffee blend Jic and Sim brought me. Very nice, better in my opinion than the Guatemalan, although I will of course have to compare them again in the next few days. Thanks to you two too. So, it was a family New Year’s meal, with everyone represented. Just as it should be.

Another year over – 31 December 2015

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combo bJust another one of the many grey days we’ve had recently. Didn’t want to stay in though, so we took the train to Glasgow. Not looking for anything in particular and everything in general. Ended up walking down Bucky Street, along Argyle Street, coffee in Nero at St Enoch’s and back up Bucky street for the train home. I tell a lie, we nipped in to Waterstones where I got the last ever Terry Pratchett book, a book of Soup recipes (I kid you not) and Scamp, because she was so taken with some of the recipes in the Nigel Slater book Hazy and ND’A gave me for Christmas, got herself another Nigel Slater book! More food books – you can never have enough cook books. By the way, Hazy, your calendar is printed and as we were passing a Ryman, I got the A4 envelopes to post it in. It will be despatched as soon as the post office recovers from New Year.

While we were at Nero’s, I took the opportunity to photograph the futuristic subway entrances there. I must say I really am impressed with the use of steel and glass in the construction. Also impressive is the way Glasgow Council had managed to bung up the drains in front of one of them to create a little shallow pond that reflects their shape perfectly. Artistic but not so practical. Well done again GC.

So, here we are again watching crap TV in the hopes that there will be something worthwhile to pass the time until “The Bells”. It’s unlikely, as it’s never been good before, but there’s a first time for everything.

Until next year, Good Night All.