Category: A Walk

A short post on a wet day – 12 February 2022

Posted on by Zogman

There wasn’t much to say about today. Certainly not much good anyway. It rained almost all day.

We were just getting ready to go out for a walk to the shops when the rain came thumping down. It showed no signs of stopping, but as we needed bread, I volunteered to go for it. By the time I’d walked the half mile to the shops and back I was soaked. Not soaked to the skin, thanks to my Bergy jacket and its Goretex lining, but sodden enough to know I wasn’t going out there again today unless there was a real need.

I had a Kilmarnock Pie for my lunch and Scamp had a chicken pie. I don’t know if the folk in Kilmarnock actually eat these pies, but it they do, I pity them. Gristly beef in an almost solid gravy in a mutton pie base with a flaky pastry top. The flaky pastry was good, the rest I should have flung in the bin. Scamp’s chicken pie was much better, apparently.

Late in the afternoon the sky did clear and by the time I got over to St Mo’s, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. Saw some signs of new growth in the woods with what looked like a sycamore seedling sprouting through the leaf litter. Tried breathing some life into it in Lightroom, but it didn’t quite make the cut. I’ll try again tomorrow if the light is behaving itself again. Tried for a photo of a coot in the pond, but then the swan family arrived and scared it away, but they provided today’s PoD.

Today’s prompt was Born To Run, much more in my comfort zone. Always one to shy away from attempting to draw a famous face, I decided a back view would be safer. Even so there were hurdles to be hurdled, rivers to cross and bridges to be burned. Did I get the shape and colour of the guitar right? Was his hair too frilly? Artist’s decision is final and my decision is, it’s near enough for me.

That was about it for today. Hoping for better weather earlier tomorrow so we can get out for a walk.

 

We went for a walk – 11 February 2022

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Today turned out a lot brighter than we expected, but cold at -3º when woke. There was no sense in wasting a dry and sunny day, so it was boots on and out!

Since it’s just a week to go until the op, Scamp had discarded her lenses and was wearing the dreaded glasses. She decided she’d like to go for a walk somewhere different. I suggested Mugdock and that’s where we went, by the long road, the wrong road. Well, it’s been a while since we last drove there and it was a nice, clear, cold day, so a bit of sight seeing just added to the outdoor experience. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Finally, we got there and got parked quite easily. We walked round the castle and the loch and then back to the car. That sounds like a poor walk, but we covered about 10,000 steps, so it was a fairly decent ramble across boardwalks, muddy paths, frozen paths. The loch was still frozen when we got to it with the mallards sitting on the ice wondering what was happening.

When we arrived back at the centre, we had a roll ’n’ egg for Scamp and a roll ’n’ sausage for me. To wash it down we had what they called a Flat White each, but as Scamp said, you were unlikely to overdose on caffein after drinking it. It was more like a Babyccino! It went in the bin and we went to look for seed compost in the nearby Calder’s garden centre. We couldn’t find any so we drove to Dobbies and got a bag of the stuff there. From there it was the long drag home.

Dinner tonight was Sweet Potato Soup and then Pizza. Watching yesterday’s Apprentice where Scamp’s least favourite competitor was sacked. I too was delighted.

PoD was a shot taken up the main avenue of the estate among the high pines.

The prompt for today was Moon River, so this may need some explanation.
Moon River left me very little wriggle room, apart from painting a moody shot of a moon reflected in a river, and I have no idea what a ‘Huckleberry Friend’ is. Almost a fortnight ago I showed the prompt to one of my wife’s friends who immediately said Breakfast at Tiffany’s and my wife agreed. The only Breakfast at Tiffany’s I’d heard of was a song by Deep Blue Something, but I guessed that wasn’t what the ladies were talking about. Sooooo, I kind of turned it on its head and sketched a breakfast of sorts in a little cafe called Tiff & Ann’s. That’s what you see here. I added the blue box because apparently that’s what Tiffany’s is famed for, that and eye watering prices. I never like to make things too easy to understand. A big thank you to Sheila and Margie without whom I’d have painted a moon and a river and Huckleberry Hound!!

Tomorrow looks like rain, in fact the weather is practising for it tonight. We may go out if we can manage to get a dry spell.

 

Going for the messages – 10 February 2022

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Scamp had considered going to a tea dance today, but then thought better not, just in case of picking up a nasty.

When Scamp makes a decision, she sticks to it. Nothing will changer her mind. So we definitely not going dancing today. It was probably the right choice, but she knew that it was the last chance for a dance for at least a fortnight, maybe more, depending on what the consultant said after the eye op. What she did say was that we needed a ‘few things’. The ‘things’ were mainly vegetables and I suggested we take a trip to Waitrose in Stirling for them. Veg are usually fresh. There is a good fish counter and also a meat counter. The fact that they seem to be the only place in the central belt where you can get Chocolate and Nut Cantuccini is merely accidental!

Weather was terrible again. Driving through the rain and spray from countless lorries and white vans, but we got to Waitrose and managed to get all the veg, plus some fish and some diced pork with a wee bonus of three bits of lamb’s liver which may do nicely for tomorrow’s lunch. Oh yes and two boxes of Cantuccini. One to use and one to squirrel away.

After a French Toast lunch, I went out into the cold to get some photos. The weather had cleared up after we got back and the sun was shining brightly. I got a few close-up shots with nice textures, rusty wire as you can see and attempted to capture some backlit sphagnum moss that was looking very fresh and green. The only down side was that my little ladybird had disappeared. Maybe the bright sun had convinced it that spring had arrived. I’m hoping so.

I went shopping for even more food after I was finished at St Mo’s and by the time I came back, Scamp was starting to make Sweet Potato Soup for dinner. It tasted a bit spicier than mine, it was fine. More in the pot for tomorrow.

I’m beginning to struggle with the music and film prompts from EDiF, but as Scamp says, it’s prompts like these that make you think.
Today’s prompt was Vienna. That word, is now synonymous with Ultravox for many people. Rather than draw the famous ‘girl and horse’ scene or the one where Midge sings his wee heart out at the start, I chose the fade out scene where they all walk off towards that big scary building in the distance. I think it’s the moody atmosphere and the restricted palette of purples and blues that I like. That’s Vienna for me, just don’t mention Joe Dolce!

No plans for tomorrow, but the weather looks bright and clear, although the temperature is due to go down to -4ºc tonight!

 

Coffee with a crowd – 9 February 2022

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Four of us meeting for coffee. When was the last time that happened?

Up and out fairly early to meet Val, Colin and John for coffee and a blether this morning, and there was a lot of blethering! I’d forgotten to tell John which of the town’s three Costas we were meeting in, but after that we got down to the business of comparing ailments, discussing our latest tech and telling tall stories. Two hours flew past before we knew it and it was time to say cheerio until the next meeting. Hopefully we’ll be able to coax Fred to join us next time.

After the coffee we all made our separate ways home. I dropped in at Tesco on the way to get some baby wipes to allow Scamp to swab her eyelids, apparently it has to be done twice a day for a week before the op. After lunch I watched the hail battering down and decided to wait a while before going out again. Later, I took a calculated risk thinking that I might manage to get a few photos at St Mo’s then get down to the shops and back before the next shower. I almost made it too. I just lingered too long getting photos of the pond looking very placid. Five minutes later I was being battered by hail. I did get to the shops, though and brought back the necessities for making tonight’s stir-fry dinner.

The photos weren’t too bad. I was using an old 10-20mm wide angle Nikon lens bolted onto an adapter which in turn was connected to the A6000. After reading about it last night I managed to get the combination to focus manually and was really pleased with the finished result. A worthwhile PoD.

Today’s prompt was Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White. I sort of knew it as a piece of music my dad used to have, played on trumpet by Eddie Calvert. I never even knew there were lyrics for it. I listened to both today, the Eddie Calvert version and the sung version and wondered why they added lyrics.
But today’s sketch didn’t come from either, it came from a suggestion from Scamp that I draw a couple of paint pots. That sounded like a good idea and that’s what you see here!
Doesn’t it irritate you when the colour that goes on the wall is nothing like the one on the paint chart or the paint tin? I think that’s what happened to this poor decorator.

A short dance practise tonight with Mambo Marina, Tina Tango and two variations on the Rumba. Meanwhile our two dance teachers are sunning themselves in the Caribbean! It’s just not fair.

No plans for tomorrow. High winds and snow predicted.

Another rainy day – 7 February 2022

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Just a miserable day with a smirr that never really became ‘real’ rain.

We spoke to Hazy in the morning and she sounded good. Neil was off school today with what was probably a virus, but certainly NOT COVID. She reminded us about a film that her sister-in-law is in on C4 tonight. We’d forgotten to add it to our recording schedule, but Scamp did that later. Good to hear that there is likely to be a sequel to Around the World … You can always rely on Hazy to know these things. We all agreed that David Tennant played his part really well.

Drove up to Tesco in the morning to get milk and Scamp’s meds. Got the milk and bread and rolls and bananas but drove home without the pills. Had a coffee to see if that would help then went back to Tesco and got the pills. The chemist is next to Tesco, you see. On that second drive up the hill to the shop, the rain had formed into a mist that just seemed to cling to the pine trees by the side of the road. In a way I was wishing I’d brought my camera to maybe get some etherial misty shots of the bare trees, but as soon as I was in the mist, I came out again. Very localised. By the time I was coming home it had all but cleared, but that was probably because the wind had changed direction and was causing it to thin. No point in getting the camera and going back. Anyway, I’d been up that road twice. I wasn’t going back to get a photo of some mist.

Roll ’n’ Banana for Scamp’s lunch. Roll ’n’ Corned Beef for mine. Tried reading my latest book, The Ugly Bus, but couldn’t settle. Kept waiting and hoping that the wind would rip a hole in the clouds and the sun would poke its head through. Then that is exactly what happened and I wasted no time in getting properly shod and dressed for a cold day and took some bread to feed the ducks.

Rather than feed the greedy swans, I scattered some bread as I was walking. A couple of crows scoffed a few slices and I also broadcast some of the bread among the trees beside the path to the shops. There, on a tree, I found a little painted plaque hanging with this message painted on it:
“Stay close to people who feel like SUNSHINE”.
I thought that was worth a photo and it’s now on Flickr. The swans DID grab most of the bread, but the good stuff went to the ducks, geese and coots. The swans got the ‘hard tack’.

PoD was a wee bit of whin bush, although you may call it ‘Gorse’. It looked fierce with its jaggy spines and its flower buds starting to show. Soon they’ll be yellow flowers.

Today’s prompt was Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. Not the most thought provoking track you’ve ever heard and difficult to work with as a prompt. My offering is the alarm clock that sits on my bedside table and has done for more years than I care to remember. I don’t use it as an alarm much now. I’ve got a phone that can do that if needed and a watch that can confirm the need to rise and shine, but the alarm still reminds me of the days when I had to get up at 7am to Go-Go to work. The yo-yo is a mere figment of my imagination, but it’s in the lyrics. It’s years since I touched a genuine Lumar.

That’s me seven days in. First quarter is complete!

Tomorrow, Scamp has an appointment to get her hair cut in the morning. I’ve an email and a letter to write and we may go looking for an eye clinic in the afternoon, just to make sure we know where we’re going next week. If we pass anywhere offering a decent lunch, that will be a bonus!

 

 

Snow, Rain and Wind – 6 February 2022

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Welcome to Scotland. Three seasons in one day. We don’t do Summer.

I blame it on being out too late last night, too late for ‘auld yins’ anyway. I also blame it on the little nightcap we shared last night, but for whatever reason, we slept like logs last night. Logs that didn’t want to wake up or get up this morning. We both took one look out the window at the horizontal snow and said “No, not this morning, thank you!”

However, duty calls and there was a lot of work needing to be done today. A lot of blog, needed writing and sketches needing sketched and of course paintings needing colours splashed on them. So it was with a heavy heart that I dragged myself out of bed, just before 10am. Scamp did likewise. A couple of cups of coffee each put us in a better frame of mind and we were soon ready to face breakfast.

After we had fed ourselves we put on boots and coats and heavy jackets and went out to survey the wilderness. The snow had stopped, but the temperature hadn’t risen much above zero and that wind was cutting. Even with my woolly hat and my knockoff Buff, the wind was still finding ways through my armour. Once round the pond was good enough for Scamp, I’m made of sterner stuff and knew I needed some photos to fill the blog and put on Flickr. I NEEDED a PoD after yesterday’s poor carnations.

We walked once round the pond and then Scamp left for the warmth of the house. I went for a walk in the woods, but didn’t find much to photograph. On my way back I found the little weed that made PoD. I think it’s the dried remains of a Yellow Rattle plant. So called, apparently because the flowers are yellow and when the seed pods are ripe, the seeds rattle inside the hard thin skin of the pod. There you are, you learned something today. I didn’t make it up either, it came from Monty Don the gardener who swears by yellow rattle for keeping coarse grass under control.

After I came home, dumped the photos into the computer and satisfied myself that I did have a prospective PoD, I started on yesterday’s sketch which had the prompt Walking On Broken Glass. I’d already decided what my take on that prompt would be and although I overpainted it, it looked like what I had in my head for yesterday’s sketch.

The next thing to do was yesterday’s blog which I wrote and posted. Scamp had claimed the rights to today’s dinner which was to be curry. A special ‘dry’ curry baked in the oven. She busied away in the kitchen making it and there were some delicious smells coming from there soon after. While she was busy with that, I started making a pizza, a Quattro Stagioni (Four Seasons). Not a real one, unfortunately, but a painting. Today’s prompt was The Four Seasons. I could have done four paintings of St Mo’s if only the temperature had risen a bit above zero, but as I said at the start, we only had Three Seasons today. I was quite pleased with the painting when it was finished and I learned from my mistakes and didn’t overpaint this one.
In watercolour the important thing is to know when to stop.

Spoke to Jamie in the evening and for once neither of us had much to say.  Heard a bit about their plans and gave him  the latest updates on the cataract op.

In blog writing it’s also important to know when to stop and that’s what I’m going to do now. I’ve had a busy day and I’m going to have an early night. By the way, that curry was the best I’ve had for ages. Really unusual to have a curry without a sauce, but it worked perfectly. I take my hat off to you Scamp. Beautifully executed meal, and totally veggie too!

Tomorrow we have no plans.

A bit wet and a bit windy too – 5 February 2022

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There wasn’t much to say about today. We could have gone out, but we didn’t. It tried to snow, then it got fed up with that and it just turned to sleet, then rain, heavy rain. We didn’t even have a dance class to go to.

I went out in the afternoon for a walk round St Mo’s and came back with a few shots of rivers of rain running down the paths, Not very interesting. Oh, yes and it rained some more. Torrential soaking rain. My boots kept my feet dry, and my jacket took a beating, but kept my top dry. The walking trousers are great for keeping me warm, but no use for keeping the rain out. They just soak it up. Admittedly that’s not what they’re meant to do, they’re just to keep my legs warm, so I shouldn’t really complain. But I do!

When I looked at the photos I had, they weren’t really worth looking at. Instead today’s PoD was a photo of a couple of carnation flowers with the kitchen window and some raindrops providing the backdrop.

In the evening we drove to Hamilton for dinner with John and Marion. A cold starter of Salmon and Lemon Juice. Two of my least favourite flavours, but it was delicious. Main was Chicken & Chorizo with Pan Fried Cubed Potatoes and Green Beans. Also delicious. Of course Scamp didn’t eat the green beans, because they squeak, but she apologised to Marion. Pudding was Deconstructed Black Forest Gateau for Scamp and Pear & Apple Crumble with a Praline Topping for me. That had to be the best crumble I’ve ever eaten. Nuts, grains of some kind and home made crunchy caramel. Amazing.

Scamp and Marion discussed Laura and Ross’s upcoming wedding almost all night, plus we got our official invitation to the event in May. It was a really good night that we both enjoyed. Nice to meet up with folk again, face to face.

It was late when we got home, so a G ’n’ T for both of us as a nightcap ensured that this would be a catch-up blog, as you’ve probably guessed and we hoped that tomorrow (ie today) would be better weather wise.

Inconsiderate Shopping – 3 February 2022

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Some days are filled with fun and some days are filled with shopping.

We were out fairly early and drove to Morrison’s at Falkirk. I thought we were going to our usual Morrison’s at The Fort, but Scamp had remembered the roadworks on the road for months. I’d no intention of sitting in a queue for ages just to get some messages, so I accepted her suggestion.

Morrison’s, like so many supermarkets these days was totally reorganising its shelving. Apparently it’s to encourage shoppers to find things by accident while still searching for what the entered the store to find. I really wish they wouldn’t do it. I didn’t find any wonderful surprises on the shelves and neither Scamp nor I could find things we came for. Just saying! Even worse, we got through the checkout about five past two and the cafe closed at two. No tub of chips for Scamp and no roll ’n’ sausage for me. According to their website the cafe closes at 6pm. I feel a letter of complaint is appropriate. I haven’t written one in ages. They might send me a roll ’n’ sausage and a tub of chips for Scamp (without prejudice.)

We drove home and lunch for both of us was a tub of yogurt. After that I went for a walk in St Mo’s, but first thing this morning I’d sneaked out into the garden and grabbed a shot of two little snowdrops and also a newly sprouted crocus. The crocus, still wearing what looked like its wrapping paper, won PoD. I didn’t get much in St Mo’s and nothing that beat the crocus.

The prompt for today was Born To Be Wild. How many of us in the heady days of the late 60s watched Easy Rider or listened to the Steppenwolf track and decided a motorbike on the open highway was for us.
How many of us were so disappointed when the Honda C 90, or in my case the CZ125, didn’t quite cut the mustard that those two Harleys did. Riding the plains in America is a lifetime away from slipping and sliding through the diesel slicked roundabouts of Motherwell in the rain.
Still, there was fun to be had on those bikes too, as long as you could Get Your Motor Runnin’.

We may go out tomorrow (if we can borrow a coat to wear). Maybe a walk round Glasgow for a spot of lunch, but only if it’s not snowing or icy, because that is the forecast.

 

 

The first day of a new month – 1 February 2022

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Always an exciting time!

It’s also a day when a lot of catalog management is required. I won’t go into the details, because that’s not what you’re here for, is it? No, I guessed not. What you want to hear is what we did today. Ok, here goes.

Scamp was first out. She was meeting Isobel for coffee in Costa and I wasn’t going to meet her. I was second out and I was driving to Glasgow to meet my brother. The wind had plagued us all last night again and it was still with us in the morning. I don’t know where all this wind is coming from. Somebody somewhere who controls the weather, I’m guessing it’s Putin, needs to seriously look at their food intake, because that’s what gives me wind. Anyway, parked in Buchanan Galleries carpark and walked round to meet Alex.

First things first, we had coffee in Nero to give us time to set the plan for the day. This was Alex’s choice of photo walk, so he got to choose where we’d go. His choice was to walk up Sauchiehall Street which has always been called Sausage Roll Street by Scamp and me. So off we went on our travels up Sausage Roll Street. We saw closed shopfronts, pigeons that crapped on us, Chinese dragons celebrating Chinese New Year. Kung hei fat choy to all the poor participants in the dancing dragons who got blown about mercilessly by the gales driving down the street.
We climbed the footbridge over the M8 and got some spectacular shots of Charing Cross. Photo is on Flickr.

Alex also wanted to get a shot of the sun shining through the glass of Buchanan Street subway entrance. He’d worked out on his app the best time would be between 1pm and 1.15pm, cloud base permitting. With that in mind we hurried down Sausage Roll Street again stopping for some shots of The Beresford, Glasgow’s Art Deco 1930s building. It’s very impressive now with a fresh coat of paint. Photo on Flickr.

We just managed to get to the subway as the light was fading but I think we did capture it quite well. Only time will tell when we get a chance to compare and contrast the photos each of us took.

Lunch was in The Cup which is a lovely wee restaurant Scamp and I have passed many times in the past and never went in. Today Alex and I had an interesting lunch. He had Pea & Ham (from a chicken?) soup with an Applewood Smoked Cheddar & Chive Scone. I had Toasted Sourdough with Scrambled Eggs, Smoked Salmon and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes. Quite posh but it was worth it because the flavour of it just made it worthwhile.

Time was wearing on and we had other things to see:

  • A new Mural where the Badminton Players had been. I think I preferred the originals.
  • The gargoyles on the Old Fruit Market.
  • A couple of churches

Then it really was time to go home. Alex got the bus although I offered him a lift. I drove home.

Back home we compared notes on the day.  Both different and both similar talking to people from our separate families. Lunch was chicken with rice and ‘rats’ (ratatouille)

The 1st of Feb marks the start of 28 Drawings Later or Every Day in February. Both are sketching challenges in Facebook. My first day is done and here it is.  The prompt was “Green Door”.  I chose to base my sketch mainly on the lyrics.  PoD was the shot of Buchanan Street subway.

It was a good day in town.  For the most part the weather was kind to us, much kinder than it has been recently.  Tomorrow we’re off to visit Margie, hopefully.

A quieter day – 31 January 2022

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Last night was a blustery one. Didn’t know if it was wind or thunder, but it was loud.

Woke to a calm clear sort of day. Sun was shining when we got up and it stayed with us all day. Scamp was out with her sister for coffee in the morning and I was scouring the InterWeb for somewhere, anywhere that had interlinked fire alarms. Many were advertising them, but few had them in stock. I almost had two places on my shortlist One place at least gave a delivery date of 21st March, but wanted your money now. I think not. Sounds like their financial status is questionable. The other one had a good Trustpilot score, but seemed too good to be true. Even Amazon seemed to be hard put to supply any time soon. What government imposes a law on folk that they must abide by, then turns round and says it won’t be enforced. Really? Do they really think we believe them.

Scamp’s return put an end to my investigations for today. However, I’d also made some practical use of my time and made a Sage and Olive loaf from one of my Baked In kits. It was a heavy looking dough, but it started rising quite well. After lunch I grabbed my camera and went to make the most of the fading sunshine in St Mo’s. That’s where the PoD came from. It’s proof that we had sunshine today, producing some shadows on the ground and with the boardwalk shining nicely too.

I got a few more, and almost got a nice little family group of Mallards to be the foreground interest, except I tramped on too many fallen branches getting to the water’s edge and they flew off in fright. I still took the photo, but the one in my head will maybe make it to Flickr another day. It was a really calm looking pond today. Hardly a ripple after yesterday’s hurricane force winds.

The bread turned out fine and is still to be cut. Dinner was tortellini. Not the best I’ve ever tasted, but it filled a space as we often say. I think the trouble with us both is that we are filling too much and not leaving enough spaces!

Boris apologised today for being bad after the long awaited Sue Gray report was published. He thinks that’s him off the hook. I don’t think he realises just how deep that hook is in, nor does he realise that most hooks have barbs to stop them coming out again.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet Alex in Glasgow in the morning. Later, Scamp is off to have coffee with Isobel and I’ll get pelters for missing her again. The last time I was supposed to meet Isobel, I stayed in instead to play with a new camera. This time my excuse is photography again! Weather looks cold again tomorrow.