Category: A Walk

Off to Larky – 12 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

A trip to Larky to see Mr Simpson, the optician for my annual checkup.

I drove us over to Larky on a bright sunny morning. While I was in the optician’s reciting his mixed up alphabets, Scamp was shopping in the Coop, and recoiling at the prices she was expected to pay. This wasn’t Tesco price, apparently. Once my eyes had been deemed fit and fairly healthy, I walked along to meet her. I had been sensible enough to remember to put a pair of sunglasses in my pocket because dilated pupils and bright sun don’t work well together. We sat for a while in the car waiting for my eyes to return to normal, but eventually we decided that Scamp should drive home, since I couldn’t focus properly. A terrible thing for a photographer to admit to.

On the way home we stopped at the health centre for me to book my six monthly PSA test. With that done, my tasks were completed for the day and I could concentrate on photography in Scotland for the first time in a week … once I could see again.

It didn’t take too long for my eyes to return to normal, well, in total it took about three hours, but who’s counting because I could see again! I took the A7 out for a walk in St Mo’s just to unwind and to work out some of the aches from yesterday’s rail journeys. I thought it would be a shot of my favourite trio of ladybirds who would make PoD, but it was the little fly who won. The first fly I’ve photographed this year. I hope it’s impressed with the accolade!

A wee drink before another early night.

Tomorrow I’m off to Glasgow to meet my brother for a visit to the Hunterian Gallery and maybe the Museum.

It rained – 10 April 2023

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As predicted by the weather fairies, Monday morning was wet.

Instead of sitting at home, Jamie drove us to a garden centre fairly nearby. I really think this was a trial for Scamp because, while Jamie and Simonne were loading plants into the boot of the car, Scamp had to accept that live plants wouldn’t survive a five hour plus rail journey with two changes on what was going to be busy trains. We had lunch in a wee cafe at the garden centre and Scamp did get some seeds to take back. Not quite the same as live plants, but the consolation prize.

In the afternoon the clouds lifted, the skies cleared and the sun shone, so we all went for a walk. Much the same route as my walk yesterday, but much longer and covering different areas of the nearby countryside. With my ultra-wide angle lens on the A7 I got some quite excellent landscape shots and some pretty shots of daffodils in the churchyard of the church next door to the house. The landscape got PoD.

Unfortunately we were going home tomorrow, so after dinner we were packing bags and taking more last photos. Then Jamie came in to the living room and said “There’s a kestrel in the front garden.” My cameras were packed away, but I did manage to get two fairly decent shots of the young bird before it flew off on those narrow wings.

We watched the final episode of the strange South African film and were left wondering what to think about the even stranger ending. I won’t say any more, just in case you ever watch it.

Tomorrow we make the trek up north.

Family Lunch – 9 April 2023

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Lots of things going on today, because Neil and Hazy were joining us for Sunday lunch.

Jamie and Simonne were organising the food, of course after Simonne returned from church, and today it was going to be Roast Leg of Lamb for the carnivores and Seabass from Aldeburgh for Scamp, the solitary pescatarian.

I did my best to keep out of the way while this was going on and went for a walk along the fields behind the church. Since this was Easter Sunday, I decided to walk through the village cemetery and on to the path from there, lest I might be drawn into the church by an overenthusiastic clergyman. I walked down to, but didn’t cross, the bridge over the stream (English don’t have ‘burns’ they have ‘streams’). Instead, I turned right and walked along the edge of the field where corn was just starting to sprout. I did eventually come to another bridge across the stream and crossed over there. I walked on for a fair stretch, but decided that I’d better not walk too far and risk not being there when N&H arrived. This time I walked up past the church and out by the main gate. I’d been taking photos all the way along, trying to get a good view of the church, but it didn’t work because it was shielded by the trees that grow all round it. I got some photos of wild flowers as I walked back to the house.

It was another beautiful day with clear blue skies, although the wind was cold. I sat on an old wooden lichen covered seat at the gable of the house and in the lee of the wind. It was so quiet. Not in the sense of no sound, because there were rooks in the big conifers cawing away loudly and there were smaller birds calling from the bushes, there were bees and ladybirds and maybe a hoverfly or two, but there was almost no mechanical noise. A very few cars. No aircraft and no people making noise. Peaceful rather than quiet, perhaps.

I shot off a few more images of the garden, but my favourite, and PoD was a little Celandine growing out of a crack in the paving stones of the patio.

Neil and Hazy arrived right on time, as I’d expect from Neil. Jamie and Scamp gave them a conducted tour of the house and the garden then we had lunch. There was much discussion between Jamie and Simonne as to whether the lamb was overcooked or not. I thought it was just right. Any less and it would probably have been oily, and it wasn’t that, nor was it too dry. A ‘Goldilocks’ lamb. It was served with Hasselback Potatoes and Asparagus. Hazy had provided the dessert which was Gü puddings. Quite delicious. We also had wine recommended by Simonne’s uncle Yves, a Côtes du Rhône and very nice it was too.

All too soon it was time for the Epsom folk to hit the road again, but it was great having them and getting to talk face to face with everyone again. We must do it again some time soon.

We watched another two episodes of the strange South African film. Leaving the final episode for tomorrow.

It had been a long day and it looks like it may be wet tomorrow morning at least. Maybe a lazy day.

 

 

Happy Birthday to Me – 8 April 2023

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Out for a walk with the prospect of a posh dinner in the evening.

Jamie, Simonne and Vixen went to Run Free in the morning, but we stayed at home and lazed about.

After lunch, Jamie drove us all to Levington on the River Orwell for a walk. We walked from The Ship Inn down through the dried reed beds to the river. From there, Simonne suggested we walk west along the banks of the river. We walked for about a mile to Nacton Shores then turned north for a few hundred yards, then north east through woods until we reached a road. We followed the road back to the pub at Levington where we had a refreshing drink before being driven back to the house.

Back at the house it was time to get ready for dinner. We were booked at the Brewers in Rattlesden for 6pm. First thoughts were that it was just a noisy pub with ideas above its station. How wrong can you be?!

Starter:

Seatrout tartare for Scamp
Lobster risotto for Simonne
Lamb + black pudding for Jamie and me

Main:

Scallops for Scamp
Beef fillet with kale for Simonne and Jamie
Pork belly with black haggis for me

Dessert:

Treacle tart for me
Date pudding for all the rest

All washed down with a variety of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, from zero alcohol beer to a porn star martini.

On the drive home through the gloaming along the misted narrow lanes that populate this countryside, we passed a statuesque looking deer that watched us, fearlessly, not 50 metres away in a borderless field. Countless pheasants risked life and limb by darting out in front of the car, but Jamie saw us safely back to the house without turning a hair.

A rum and coke each finished off our day while we watched a strange South African series with far too much swearing (and not ‘good’ swearing either) and a dialog that switched constantly from Afrikaans (with subtitles) to English. If you’re looking for it, don’t. It’s called Unseen. Might have been better all in one language and using actors who can act.

Tomorrow the weather fairies say it’s going to rain.

Out on the moor – 4 April 2023

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Scamp was off having lunch with Mags today. I was going to Fannyside Moor.

Scamp had a lunch booked with Mags at Wetherspoons. She had other things to do, (unspecified) and as you can only park for 3 hours anywhere in Cumbersheugh, I offered her a lift, with the added benefit that I’d pick her up once she was finished. I dropped her at the restaurant and drove off to the council tip to ditch some old garden things and a load of cardboard. After that, I was free.

I drove up to Fannyside Moor hoping for some decent light. I’d just parked when the light appeared and lit up the landscape down as far as the old ruined farm at Jawhill. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to get the camera out of the car before the light was gone. I took a walk along the road, but that light didn’t come back. I did get some photos of a couple of fence posts covered in lichen, then walked back to the car to photograph some sheep huddled together because it was a really cold west wind. Such a change from yesterday’s balmy weather with hardly a breath of wind. That photo eventually made PoD after a fair bit of editing and re-editing. Drove home after that and tea and toast for lunch. Nothing like Scamp’s lunch of Fish & Chips which she described as “mmmm lovely”. Some of us just have to make do with what we have.

I’d almost finished the re-editing of the sheep photo when my phone rang once and stopped, then the house phone (old tech, but reliable) rang. It was Scamp asking for a run home because she’d forgotten her bus pass. I didn’t mind at all because it gave me a reason to turn the computer off.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s late in the afternoon, but I took completely the wrong set of lenses. I don’t know what I was thinking. Unless I was thinking how good I was to get an “Explore” which is a First Prize from Flickr for the Horse Chestnut bud from the other day. That’s the second one this year.

I think that was about the end of our galavanting for the day. Dinner for me was Baked Potato and a portion of stew from the freezer. Scamp added to her lunch with a baked potato. We watched another episode of Death in Paradise, series 1 tonight and although we’d seen it before, it was better than the last series, series 10..

Tomorrow is going to be busy shopping, cards to post and arrangements to be made.

Out for a walk – 3 April 2023

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We said it it was a good day, we’d go for a walk and we did.

I’d like to say that we were up early and out walking, but in reality it was nearer 11am before we got on the road. We drove to Chatelherault just outside Hamilton and left for a walk to the Green Bridge. It’s still a bridge, but as I’ve mentioned before in these pages, it’s not been green for a long time. We started off looking over the Duke’s Bridge to Cadzow Castle where some of the trees have been chopped down and the view of the castle is improved, even if there is only part of one wall remaining intact. There were actually people working on the site which was good to see, but I’ve no idea what they were doing. “Making it safe” was Scamp’s guess and that could be the case. We walked over the Duke’s Bridge that crosses the Avon water and then the climb started.

We took the easier route round the south side of the castle but the workmen had disappeared for their lunch. We headed left after the initial climb and walked past the ancient Cadzow Oaks which probably date from the 1400s. They are absolutely huge chunks of wood and could have been where Tolkien got the idea for Ents if he’d ever been to Scotland.

Further on, with blue sky above us, birds singing in the trees and the occasional fluffy cloud passing overhead it was an ideal day for a walk in the countryside. Newborn baby lambs in the field beside the path added to the picture, but oh, we’re not as fit as we used to be and after an hour and a bit of following the wandering path we were beginning to tire of the up hill and down dale route of the path. After we checked our progress on the phone and found that we weren’t even near the half way point, we decided to cut our losses and head back the way we had come. There wasn’t another path anyway! Next time we’ll walk the route in a clockwise direction, with options for alternative shortcuts back. Next time! There will be a next time.

But this time we still had to navigate the up hill and down dale switchback path. Although we had the benefit of being almost at the path’s highest point when we turned back, so we were heading downhill all the way to the Visitor Centre.

The information page on Chatelherault says the Oaks Café has “healthy snacks and tasty treats on the menu suit all culinary requirements.” I don’t think the person who wrote that had been in the Oaks Café. I asked for Peppermint tea for Scamp, but after having a look at the packets the server’s reply was a Larky “Nane!” So it was a latte then. My Americano was perfect, I have no complaints there, but I looked in vain for the “tasty treats” Instead there were anaemic sponge cakes with white icing, and various dull looking slabs of pastry. Maybe the “tasty treats” had all been sold or maybe there were “Nane”. At least the coffee was good.

We drove back home and Scamp went out to work in the garden in the sunshine. I dumped the photos on the computer and found that half of them were out of focus. Of the ones that were left, I chose a view of Cadzow Castle to be PoD.

It was a good day. We both really need to get up and go out earlier and more often to get back into shape, especially if dancing is going to be limited for the next month.

Tomorrow Scamp is booked for lunch with Mags and I’m at a loose end. I’ll find something to do, I’m sure

Gardening – 2 April 2023

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An hour in the garden for me. More for Scamp.

We hadn’t got to bed until about 1am yesterday and our ‘little nightcap’ worked well, so we didn’t wake until well past breakfast time. By the time I was stumbling out of bed it was getting nearer lunchtime than breakfast. We both avoided the news in the morning, not wanting to know the result of the Australian GP which we’d watch while having lunch at midday. Instead, we solved Wordle and Spelling Bee.

Scamp described the end of the F1 GP as “Carnage” and she was right. “Shambles” is another word to describe it. Two restarts after the race had been ‘red flagged’ which means that the cars had to return to the pit lane to allow the debris of two big crashes to be cleared up. It was a bit over cautious on the part of the race officials. It could all have been handled much better in our opinion under a ‘Safety Car’. In the end it was a carnage and a shambles that did nothing but take away from what could have been a good race. Questions will be asked of the officials before the next race in Baku in four weeks time. Could this be connected in any way with the fact that the dance class is also off for about four weeks? Just asking.

With lunch past and the entertainment finished for the day, Scamp was looking to the garden to see what she could cut down, chop up or repot. I was called out on the pretext that my opinion was needed on what to keep and what to chop. I was also asked what I was going to do about the raised bed. I muttered something about taking down the pea frame and sloped off to charge the power drill that I’d need to remove the rusted screws. Actually, once I’d removed the six rusted screws with the power screwdriver, the fate of the raised bed was resolved when part of the back wall of the bed came clean away with the pea frame. The whole thing needs to be taken apart before it comes apart of its own volition. But that was a task for another day. Instead I took the pea frame apart, retained the uprights to become apple tree supports and chucked everything else in the bin. Then went to prepare my dinner which would be slow cooked lamb shoulder shank, done in the Instant Pot. Then I gathered my lenses for today’s expedition to St Mo’s.

It was actually quite mild today, much warmer than yesterday and with no wind, that warmth was getting through.

PoD was an update on the Horse Chestnut bud from a week ago today.

Tomorrow if the weather is as predicted, reasonably sunny, we may go for a walk.

The last day in March – 31 March 2023

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And so March draws to a close with another dull, cold day.

Scamp went out to FitSteps in the morning and I didn’t do all that much. Come to think of it we didn’t do much in the afternoon either! After some discussion we opted to go to Tesco for our shopping. We could have gone to Waitrose in Stirling, but it seemed pointless to travel the extra distance for a slightly wider choice of groceries and since neither of us was all that bothered, we chose the closer to home option. You know it makes sense!

Back home we had a late lunch and then with Scamp settled on the sofa, I put my old Bergy jacket on and took the A7 with the 50mm macro out to see what I could find in St Mo’s. A little Salmonberry flower caught my eye and its image was promptly sucked into the camera and on to the SD card. I got some gritty looking lichen photos too and they got even more grungy in Lightroom. Both images are now on Flickr, but the Salmonberry flower got PoD.

We’d got a Charlie Bigham curry & rice from Tesco in the afternoon and that became tonight’s dinner. Spicy without being too hot, it was bolstered by some home made flatbreads which went well with it. We ate it while watching Series 1 – Episode 1 of Death in Paradise on iPlayer. Neither of us could remember watching this episode, but it was head and shoulders better than the drivel that’s being foisted on us these days in Series 10. Plus, the music is so much better in the original.

Another practise of the quickstep for tomorrow’s class and that was the day done, well, almost done, because the blog isn’t finished yet.

Tomorrow is Dancing Day. Class in the morning, back home for lunch and maybe dinner then out again to the monthly dance. Ok, that’s it done now. The blog is finished.

A day in the Toon – 30 March 2023

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Meeting my brother for a walk, some photos, a spot of lunch and a blether.

His choice was Glasgow and my choice was Glasgow too today. However, his idea was a walk round what we could call the City Centre, while I wanted to head out to the west in search of interesting architecture. We combined the two with a walk round the city centre photographing interesting architecture. First though we had the traditional coffee in Nero and caught up on what was happening in both families.

With the updates done we headed off down Buchanan Street to get some photos of the subway entrance on Buchanan Street itself. It has a lovely green glass cover over the entrance, although you don’t really see the green tinge unless the sun is shining like it was today. From there we ignored all the retail opportunities on either side and Alex took some shots of the other, completely different, entrance to St Enoch’s subway station. It’s a futuristic domed glass cover, not at all like Buchanan Street’s green glass box.

Two in the bag for Alex. Next we walked east along Argyle Street which used to be a fashionable street for clothes, but is now a bit down at heel with more and more shops with closed signs on the windows and doors. A sign of the times perhaps. We were looking for cranes. Big, gigantic tower cranes. They were right at the end of Argyle Street. I could see what I wanted to photograph, but if I stood on one side, signs and traffic lights were obstructing my view and if I stood on the other side it was the old sandstone buildings that were in my way. The only way to solve it was to wait until the green man appeared and stand halfway across the road. Bingo, three shots taken before the lights changed! Of course, we both took a lot more than that, but they were only fillers. The ones from the middle of the road were the money shots.

We walked round and had a cursory glance at Merchant City Cameras which will forever be Quiggs. It’s not been the same since Mr Quigg’s son sold the shop. I think the present owners are struggling to keep it afloat. Not surprising as it’s only enthusiasts who are buying cameras when mobile phones do such a good job of capturing the moment.

We walked back to Miller Street to Paesano. The real reason Alex wanted to come to Glasgow. Best pizzas in town. Only bettered occasionally by the West End shop of the same name. We must try that one the next time we’re out west.

Next target was the GOMA in Queen Street. That’s where today’s PoD came from. I just liked the relaxed way that bloke was sitting there.

Our final jaunt was down the Clyde Walkway to admire the graffiti. I also grabbed some shots of the mirror glass frontage of the Archdiocese of Glasgow building which stands next to the much older St Andrew’s Cathedral.

From there it was the long plod up to Buchanan Street bus station, a quick hug and then off home on our respective buses.

Back home Scamp had retained the last of the Just Soup and that became dinner. We had a first run through of the new Quickstep routine and, as Scamp had told me, it wasn’t nearly as fearsome as I’d imagined. Another practise tomorrow if all goes well and we should be fit for Saturday.

No great plans for tomorrow, although Scamp fancies going to her FitSteps class. Having just completed over 16,500 steps today, I’ll pass on that class.

Wet – 29 March 2023

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The morning was a washout.

It rained all morning and I was beginning to think that it would be another indoor picture. So, I chopped up a leek, some carrots and a wee turnip and made some Just Soup. By the time I’d got the pot boiling, the rain began to lessen but by now it was well into the afternoon. Scamp was happy to stay at home, so I turned down the gas on the pot and let it simmer.

Then I took my A7 with the standard lens and the weird Lensbaby and walked over to St Mo’s. It was a wet walk. Everywhere had turned into a bog, but I was heading into the trees to get more blossom photos before the flowers all dropped. I got a few photos and was quite happy with them. I’ve still not worked out exactly where the point of focus is with this strange lens. Every time I think I’ve got it set, it produces a different distortion effect. Instructions are scant on the InterWeb, so I’m left to my own devices. An hour or so later I returned and the sky was looking better and better.

Dinner was soup. It was just a basic soup with the chicken that was left over from the weekend chopped into it. Actually it worked out fine and made a good dinner and Scamp agreed.

Scamp had been trying to do a backup of her laptop, but the Macrium app kept displaying and error message. Also, the external drive was showing an error. It took a while for me to remember how to check a drive in Windows 10. Eventually I remembered to go into the root and then use CHKDSK with the ‘f’ letter for Fix. It did fix it, but the app still gave the error message. I must get to the bottom of this, but not tonight.

PoD turned out to be a branch of cherry blossom flowers taken with the Lensbaby Sweet 35 (not Sweet 50 as it says on Flickr).

Tomorrow I’m intending to meet Alex for a photo walk in Glasgow and maybe have a pizza in Paesano. Tomorrow night Scamp and I are intending practising the first half of the new Quickstep!