Category: Alex

Stravaigin’ – 25 September 2024

Posted on by Zogman

“Wandering with no particular intent.” That’s what Alex and I were doing today, on a cold morning when the temperature was about 3ºc at 8am.

We met at the bus station and went for a coffee as usual and neither of us had a plan for the day. Sometimes that is good, sometimes not so good. It all depends on your frame of mind, I think. Scamp had driven me to the station and I just had enough time to buy my ticket before the train arrived.

Alex and I agreed we’d walk down to St Enoch’s to get some photos. Alex wanted to get a shot of the pigeons on the Teacher’s building. The building used to belong to the Teacher’s whisky company, but it’s changed hands many times since then. Today it seemed as if it was changing again, because a giant cherrypicker was parked outside it with the usual red and white barriers around what was going to be a building site. Alex was disappointed, to put it mildly.

I too was disappointed, because the photo I wanted was covered with half erected fun fair attractions. A Christmas fun fair already? It’s still September! Anyway, it didn’t look as if my photo was going to work either. That didn’t stop me taking a few photos and just blurring out the background with a wide open aperture on the lens.

From St Enoch’s is only a hop and a step and a jump to the Clyde Walkway where the graffiti artists show off their skills. Today we were really lucky because one of the artists was there insitu working on his latest piece, apparently entitled “I think I’ll go eat worms” (Don’t try this at home children). Watching him work made you think it was easy, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t. I counted at least 20 spray cans in a mix of colours, so, not only difficult to master, but also fairly expensive too.

From there we wandered along to St Andrew’s Church because Alex seems fascinated by it. Me, not so much. When I’d eventually prised him away from the buildings we walked up to George Square to have lunch, which was a roll with spicy chicken and a bottle of juice each. We usually have a pizza, but as we’re both on a diet of sorts, the lighter lunch seemed sensible.

By the time we’d finished, I was almost ready to head for home, because tonight was dance class, so we walked up to the bus station just in time for both of us to catch our buses home.

Dinner for Scamp and I was yesterday’s veggie chilli which was a wee bit hotter tonight. Then it was time to “put on our dancing shoes and dance away our blues”. It was a reprise of last week’s class since some folk hadn’t been at that class, and others were struggling with the moves. Actually, on reflection tonight, Scamp and I agreed that the floor is just too small for a Foxtrot which requires a fair amount of space. It also requires learners who don’t just stop dead on the dance floor and have a wee discussion as one pair did fairly often.

PoD today was a view looking out from the inside of the subway at St Enoch’s. Sometimes you have to think outside the box and sometimes you just have to look outside …

Tomorrow is probably a Tea Dance, and maybe a chance to dispose of some old junk.

What a day! – 15 August 2024

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It was raining, heavily when I left the house about 10.30 this morning.

First I got a message from Alex to say he had a wee problem. He had a found a wasp’s nest in the loft and the wasps were coming in to the bedroom. He had been stung quite and was going to phone ‘the experts’. I suggested he contact Environmental Health and let them fix the problem and he agreed. He was apologising that he wouldn’t be able to meet me for a photo walk today! That would be the least of his problems.

I was taking the blue car in to Macklin Motors in Glasgow were it was booked for an MOT. I was driving down the M80 with headlights and wipers on full, the rain was so heavy. I dropped the car off at the garage just around 11am and was told it would be ready around 4pm. Not wanting to hang around for five hours, I walked back to the bus station. By the time I got there I was soaked from head to toe. Luckily I got an X37 almost right away. In the bus, I took off my, no longer waterproof, jacket which, although soaking had protected me from the worst of the rain. Purely by luck the bus took an alternative route to avoid massive roadworks in Condorrat and Mollinsburn which have been going on for almost a year, and by a quirk of fate dropped me within easy walking distance of the house.

Back home the rain had lessened and I could change into dry clothes. Scamp wasn’t far behind me and after lunch we settled down to wait for a message from the garage to say whether the blue car had passed or was needing money spent on it. That phone call never came, so around 3.30pm I took one bus to the town centre and another from there to Glasgow, saving a good half hour from the X3’s journey time.

By now the rain was gone and it was all blue skies and white clouds. So still not having heard from the garage I wandered down Buchanan Street and took a few photos of the entrance to the subway. A great subject for humans and reflections. I got a PoD which is the view looking down Buchanan Street, with the the reflections of people and buildings in and by the glass and marble entrance to the subway station.

Then I made my way up the hill to Macklin Motors, only to be told it would be nearer 5pm before the tester was finished, so I took my seat along with a couple of others in the same predicament. More than an hour and two games of Sudoku later, I got the call. The car passed but the advisory note told me they thought it needed 3 new tyres and would I like to arrange a day to have them fitted? I said I’d hold off on that for now. If it took them six hours to do a two hour MOT, how long would it take to fit three tyres?

But the joys of motoring weren’t over yet. It took me about twenty minutes to clear Glasgow and get on to the M8/M80 and the road home. How can people drive in Glasgow at rush hour? It’s absolute madness.

Finally got home and parked and found that Scamp had made Carrot & Lentil Curry with Pitta Bread. Absolutely the best food for such a stressful day! She is a gem!

I got a message from Alex tonight to say that Environmental Health are coming to visit him tomorrow. He said he’s been stung between fifteen and twenty times, but managed to kill two wasps!! He sent a picture of his swollen hand that you don’t want to see, believe me!

Tomorrow we may take the car out for a spin.

A bit of culture – 9 July 2024

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Today I met Alex in Glasgow and we went for a walk in the sunshine.  Later we came back in the teeming rain. That’s Scotland.

Yesterday the weather was beautiful and today it was the same in the morning, but after we got off the bus to go to the Burrell Collection, we could feel the first spits of rain. By the time we got in and went for lunch the rain was getting heavy.

Today was a return visit to the Burrell. We’d seen most of the exhibits before, but there were lots of surprises too, like a tiny ceramic perfume bottle from circa 500BC and a Renoir bust of the man with the broken nose which had a tiny little signature in the inside of the hollow casting. It’s the little things you go back to see again and again.

My intention today was to take people pictures. One of the great things about this tele lens is the way it can separate a person from the background and I was playing with that a lot. The other thing that I tried was isolating people in the long corridors that almost always have a focal point at their far end. The weather might have been terrible, but we were inside and dry and we both had a great day.

Back home on the bus I listened to a podcast about Ramesses The Great. What a lad he was if all the stories were true. The average lifespan of Egyptians then was about 30 years. He lived until he was 80! The world was just as ill divided then, it seems.

Watched the Professionals doing Bakeoff and Scamp and I were agreed that the best pair won.

PoD was called Twa Dugs. Taken on the steps of the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. I think there may be more to come from today’s shoot, though.

Things I’ll remember from today:

  • Lunch today in a mobbed cafe are in the Burrell (New Yorker).
  • Seeing that 500BC perfume bottle
  • The Twa Dugs
  • Girl in Nero chattering away nonstop to us
  • Maybe, just maybe seeing Charles Hamilton

We may be going shopping for essentials tomorrow.

Stirling in the rain – 20 March 2024

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Met Alex today to go for a wander through Stirling.

Picked Alex up at the train station and we drove through the rain to Stirling and parked at the multi-storey carpark in the town. Alex had had a haircut in the morning. Number 2 on top and a Number 1/2 on the back. Very brave when it’s only the middle of March, but who am I to say. Then he left his hat in the car. Not so clever, so first stop was M&S for a cheap bunnet. Then it was coffee time in Nero and plans were laid.

We walked up King Street in the rain and then on to Baker Street and Broad Street with its canons still guarding the road to the castle. On the way we found a flowering cherry tree that had dropped some of its flower on the metal metal seating in a park, and that’s where today’s PoD came from.

We got as far as Mar’s Wark, a townhouse from the 1500s and decided the rain was on for the day and started to head back down the hill. About halfway down the rain lessened and by the time we were down in the shopping precinct, it had stopped. Too late to go back and anyway, plans had been altered to give us a place to go for lunch.

We drove out along the St Andrews road to Coffee Bothy and had lunch. I knew, when I saw the amount of mayonnaise on my Cajun Chicken sandwich that I was going to suffer for it later, and I did. I didn’t even enjoy the food today which is really strange.

We drove back through much lighter traffic than I thought we’d have, and manage to get Alex back in time for his 4:37 train home. We agreed that we hadn’t seen the best of Stirling today and vowed to come back on a DRY day. It was really annoying driving back into the makings of a good sunset, after such a disappointing day, weather-wise.

Later Scamp and I drove up to the British Legion for our midweek dance class. Only two of us tonight, which meant there was nowhere to hide. It wasn’t my best dance class. I made countless mistakes, despite Kirsty and Scamp trying their hardest to ease me in to it. It just wasn’t working for me.

Hoping to go to a tea dance tomorrow. You can’t say I’m not a glutton for punishment!

Another busy day – 8 February 2024

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Where are all these busy days coming from? The week seems to be full of them.

Scamp was out this morning to have coffee and a blether with Isobel. I had things to do. First thing was to get a birthday card for my brother and post it. Fairly easy walk to Condorrat. Got the card, wrote it in the post office and posted it. Hope he likes it.

It was a raw, cold day with a freezing east wind. Never a good direction. I had a walk in St Mo’s and took some photos. I was tempted to try my camera on the ice trick, but I felt the ice was just a tad too thin and settled instead for a hand held shot with the camera barely touching the ice. The only problem was that I couldn’t see in the screen if my target box was on the subject I wanted to photograph. One of those rare occasions when I longed for my old Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark ii it had a fully articulating screen which would have solved my problem. Still I did get one of the shots I wanted and with a bit of work in Lightroom it became PoD.

I walked down to the shops and bought some messages for tonight’s dinner and some flowers we didn’t desperately need, but which brightened the house. The walk back was colder than the walk through the park and I was glad to get home to a comfortably warm house.

After lunch and after finding out what Isobel was on about today, I started task three which is still under wraps, but it was a blast from the past and took up most, if not all of the daylight hours. It’s five years since I’ve done anything like it. It involves a lot of lateral thinking, that’s all I’m saying.

Dinner was paella and I thought it was pretty good, although Scamp, the food critic said it wasn’t my best work.

Today’s prompt was “Fawn”. When I saw it I wondered if I could get away with a washed out pale brown swatch on a page of the sketch book. However, I settled on a sketch of a young deer. A real deer, not a Bambi look-alike. I went out this morning looking for one, but they were all otherwise engaged. Maybe, in retrospect, the town centre was the wrong place to look. I was quite pleased with the final ink sketch. It also met with Scamp’s approval.

The day just seemed to get eaten up today. All my rambles accounted for around 8500 steps. Not amazing, but at least I’ve been keeping fit this week with mountain climbing, dancing and now walking in a bitter breeze from the east.

Tomorrow there’s snow in the forecast. Hopefully they’ve got it wrong, but I’m not counting on it.

Mountain climbing and lunch with Shona – 6 February 2024

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Today we were taking Shona out to lunch.

Scamp and I had planned to take Shona to Cafe Bothy. It’s actually called Coffee Bothy now, but we prefer the original name. It’s a great wee restaurant in a place called Blairlogie in Clackmannanshire. Isobel was the first one who found it, being guided by her granddaughter and Isobel introduced us to it. Shona had never heard of it, which isn’t surprising as it’s in the middle of nowhere on a farm off a single track road. Shona had Fish ’n’ Chips, Scamp had Mac ’n’ Cheese and I had Mince ’n’ Tatties. All with the apostrophe correctly place before and after the n you’ll notice! That was the main course. We all opted for cakes rather than pudding afterwards and it was Strawberry Tart for Shona, Cream Doughnut for Scamp and a Gypsy Cream for me with coffees to follow of course.

Fed and watered, Scamp suggested we drive to Dollar park for a walk. Unfortunately we couldn’t find it and instead we drove up and up and up a steep single-track road to a car park for Castle Campbell instead. From there we walked up and up and up, then down the other side. We had walked up the hill many years ago, but we’d forgotten just how steep the climb is. The two ladies gave up, when it looked like we’d have to wade across a ford, but I was determined to get a photo on such a beautiful day. As it happened, I didn’t need to ford the burn because there was a bridge tucked away out of sight from the road. I did manage to get up to the top, and got the photo I was hoping for, but I was really knackered after it. The castle wasn’t open. It doesn’t open until April. We may go back then and if we can get parked again, we might take our time and go visit the castle properly.

I walked back down the hill from the castle then over the bridge and up the hill on the other side wondering all the time what kind of vehicle the custodians must have if they travel that road every day to open up. Whatever it is it most certainly isn’t a wee blue car! The drive home was scenic, but I didn’t see anything that was any better than a castle among the trees with a rushing burn beside it. Very ‘Outlander’.

We dropped Shona off at her house with time to spare before Ben came home from school. Driving into the sun was strenuous, not that I’m complaining because the sun was shining, far from it. But I decided I needed to clean the glass in the car inside and out. When I got the Juke I got a big bag of useless spray bottles as part of the ‘deal’. I used the Bug Remover spray and the Seagull Crap remover too, but I remembered as I was driving home, peering through a grey windscreen that there was Glass Cleaner in the bag. I found it when we got home and cleaned all the windows inside and out. I also cleaned the wing mirrors. Hopefully that should make driving less of a bind.

The prompt for today was “Plum”. Being a generous person I added a couple more plums to the singular fruit that was requested and just to be sure they were fresh, I ate half of one. That’s what you see here. Believe that and you’re softer than these plums look!!

Alex had to cancel our photo walk this week because he was needed at home. Hopefully we’ll get out next week. This week was tight anyway. Just one of these weeks when everything piles up.

Tomorrow we may be going dancing in Motherwell. Scamp has been talking about it for weeks and we really need to go there to see how good it is and if it’s an alternative to Glenburn.

A day at Kelvingrove – 24 January 2024

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It was another windy night last night. Maybe just marginally less disruptive than Monday into Tuesday, but now Jocelyn has joined Isha and good riddance to both of them.

Today I was meeting Alex in Glasgow and we were going to get the bus to Kelvingrove to take some photos and have some lunch. First I checked in with him to make sure he was good to go after last night’s wind. Of course he was, but it’s always good to check and not just assume all is well in the centre of North Lanarkshire. For once the bus was on time and I was away into Glasgow with Kevin Bridges in my ear, telling me some stories. I’m a fairly slow reader and I suppose I must he a slow listener too. I generally only listen to the Audible track when I’m on the bus by myself. That way I can concentrate on the story.

We met at the bus station and went for a coffee. Allegedly Nero’s dishwasher was broken, so they were using disposable cups. I wouldn’t mind that, but they put their usual amount of coffee into a big paper cup and then topped it up with way too much hot water. I go to Nero to get good strong coffee that tastes of coffee. If I wanted weak watery coffee I could go to Costa.

I struggled through the gallon cup of dirty water and then we headed off to the West End. The posh end of Glasgow, or at least it thinks it is. Noting that the scaffolding and plywood panels were still in place where they’d been for about six months now, we entered this otherwise beautiful building. I was delighted to see that the portrait of Ann Pavlova was back in its rightful place. Such an energetic looking portrait of the dancer.

We went up to the gallery to get some photos of the gigantic pipe organ an some of The Heads. Over 50 different grimacing and laughing heads hanging as an installation by Sophie Cave. One of them became the PoD after a fair bit of work to get it looking the way I wanted.

Lunch was next in the conservatory. We both had the same thing. Scottish Beef Burger on a bun with chips.

Another walk round the main ground floor and then we were off outside because the light on Glasgow Uni tower was really worth a few shots. I just missed a shot of a squirrel running in front of a burger van. Not the source of our burgers, though. I did get a shot of its fluffy tail (the squirrel’s, not the burger’s, you understand) sticking out from under the skirt of the van.

Waited ages for the bus back to the bus station and then we parted our ways and I listened to more of Kevin swearing through more stories.

I’d messaged Scamp on the way home that I wouldn’t need any dinner tonight and instead had a plate of soup. The last plate from the big pot. Watched Landscape Artist and correctly predicted two of the three finalists, but didn’t pick the winner.

A great day with my brother. Had a long discussion with him about the merits and demerits of the new lens, but finally decided to keep it. I was delighted with my 86 photos and only 9 of them rejected. That’s a good percentage. More will fall on the cutting room floor before the week is out, I’m sure.

I think we may go dancing at the tea dance tomorrow if the weather is kind to us.

Glasgow in the rain – 28 December 2023

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Based on Annie Lennox songs, it wasn’t so much “September in the rain”, more like “Here comes the rain again”!

I took the bus in to Glasgow this morning to meet Alex and to get some shots of the lights in George Square and maybe St Enoch’s Square. I did think of driving in, but Scamp might need the car and besides, I’d still got half of Kevin Bridges monologue to listen to, so I would be entertained on the way.

We met at Buchanan bus station and walked down to our usual starting point at Cafe Nero near the Royal Concert Hall. A cup of coffee each and we planned our day. It was all all covered by the square mile of Glasgow city centre. We’d been here before and there was no point in heading out of town on such a dull, wet day. Best to stay central and be able to nip into a shop if it got too wet.

First stop was Princes Square just in time to shelter us from the first deluge. A few shots of the escalators, still done up in their Christmas regalia and a walk round the painting gallery and by the time we walked out the rain was gone and the sky was back to grey again. I had thought of sheltering in the Apple shop which would have been nearer, but I could just hear Alex’s cries of “How much?!”

St Enoch’s was a bit of a let down. Not enough stalls, not enough fairground rides and because of that, not enough folk to become models for us. It was time for lunch and as usual that would be in Paesano.

Paesano, is the pizza shop for folk who like pizza. It was rammed, as I knew it would be, but there is almost always a table for two. For four or six or eight, you’ll have to wait, but two can usually be squeezed in. Alex is settling in to the rhythm of the place and has his two favourites. Either a number 3 (with anchovies, olives and capers) or a number 5 (cooked ham and mushrooms) both with tomato sugo but no cheese. I’d also go with a number 3 or a number 5 (but with sugo and cheese), but I’d add a number 7 (with Fennel sausage). In reality I’d have any of them, bur realistically, not all at the same time! When we left, the queue was out the door and along the street. We must have just hit the sweet spot!

George Square as getting busy when we walked up to it and we did get a few shots. Mostly we both seemed to be concentrating on the roundabout with the traditionally painted horses on spiral poles and the stalls selling vastly overpriced sparkly fairies for hanging on the tree. No use to Alex as his tree had come down yesterday to prevent his grandson, Olly, from doing any more damage to it. I did find more interesting material in the Chair-O-Planes, especially the close-ups of the uncomfortable looking shiny chrome seats reflecting the coloured lights.

By late afternoon, the light was failing and for a ‘golden hour’ there was enough light to shoot by, but not enough to dilute the colours. After that hour, it became too dark and we resorted to taking photos of the reflections of the decorations in the puddles of rain water outside the fenced off square. My PoD was one of those reflections. It looked good on the big 21” screen, but on the laptop it looked a bit dull and disappointing. It still held its place of PoD.

We walked back to the bus station and said our goodbyes, agreeing to meet again next year. Which hopefully will be in two weeks or so!Another hour of Mr Bridges life story carried me home, again in the rain.

I didn’t really need any dinner, but Scamp’s “Just Soup” was too much to resist. We watched the first semi-final of Celebrity University Challenge later in the evening while Scamp watched Antique’s Roadshow while processed some of the 200 odd photos I’d take today.

Tomorrow looks like a bright sunny day for a change. A glimmer of light in the darkness. Let’s hope it works out that way.

Chatelherault – 19 December 2023

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Out on a photo walk with Alex.

I was due to pick Alex up at his house around 11am, but after getting up at about 4.30am to take some paracetamol to numb the pain from toothache, I wasn’t sure I’d be meeting him any time today. However, when the 8.30am alarm chimed out its merry tune there was no sign of toothache.

The early rise and the alarm were because we’d booked the man from Hannah and Howie to come and service the boiler. He was supposed to arrive between 9am and 1pm, and I was glad we’d set the alarm for 8.30, when he knocked on the door at 9.05. It only took him half an hour to do the service and report that nothing needed replaced this time, but maybe we’d need a gasket replaced at the next service, which should be in a year’s time. One thing done.

Scamp asked me to take her up to Tesco to get more messages, so I dropped her off and drove on to Motherwell, had a chat with Carol and Alex and I drove over to Chatelherault on the outskirts of Hamilton. While we were sitting in the car talking, an unusual bird swooped down not far from us. At first I thought it was a Shrike, but Alex though it might be a Jay, and when we got a good look at it, that’s what it was. Not very common this far north, but I think Hazy gets them in her garden.

It was a wild day with sunny skies one minute and torrential rain the next. We walked down past the Three Hard Men, the statues of David Livingston, William Wallace and Robert Owen cut from steel plate. I got a few shots, but wasn’t really struck on any of them. Alex, of course, got a cracker of a shot!

We walked further on to the old Avon Bridge where we saw a Kingfisher about a year ago, but the Avon Water was in spate, or probably more likely just running off a spate, but far too fast flowing for the kingfisher to show today. As we turned to climb the hill that would take us back to the Big House, we felt the first spits of rain. We’d both been watching the clouds rolling in and as there was no shelter, we just had to plod our weary way back through the rain. We got passed by about a dozen cyclists who must have been as wet as us, if not wetter. It was lovely and warm in the cafe though and we got a table without any problem.

I had just been given a tray with our two coffees and two scones when the woman at the till said the system had gone down. She took a note of our order and said she’d let us know when the system was back in business again. After our coffee and scone lunch, we sat and talked a while. People were being served again at the counter and it looked like the rain had stopped and the sun was shining again, so went back and paid for our lunch. The woman seemed surprised that I’d bothered to come back, but maybe it’s just auld guys like me who do that. Anyway, she gave me a wink and gave me a discount for being honest!

Alex suggested a walk to the Cadzow Oaks, the ancient oak trees that surround some earthworks. The oaks have been dated to the mid 15th Century. That kind of ancient. Some of the oldest living trees in Scotland. The earthworks are a mystery. Nobody seems to know their significance, and there is no clue to who built them. The oaks always make me think of the Ents that Tolkien wrote about. We both got a few photos of them, quite a few! One Ent photo made PoD. Then the rain threatened again and we walked back over the Duke’s Bridge to the car. I drove Alex home and we planned another outing between Christmas and New Year, probably to Glasgow if the weather behaves.

Scamp had been busy while I was away. There was mince cooking on the stove and a lovely smell of baked cakes from the oven. They were Dundee Cakes with a lovely mixture of fruit in them, as well as a measure of Black Bottle whisky. I’ve only had one, because although the paracetamol had done its job, I didn’t want to risk another early morning second dose.

Tomorrow, coincidentally, I’ve a dentist’s appointment to repair a broken filling, so I’ll maybe ask the lady dentist if she’ll have a look at my dodgy molar. Scamp is booked for lunch tomorrow at Calders. Hopefully I’ll be able to speak properly when she gets home, if my jag has worn off by then!

No fillings today mum – 6 November 2023

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But a filling is needed in December. Appointment has been made and prepaid. Only myself to blame. I shouldn’t go poking my fingers into my mouth. Other than that, I got off lightly. The dentist kindly lied and told me the rest of my teeth and gums were fine and to keep up my ‘oral regime’. What oral regime is that? Brush your teeth on the morning you go to see the dentist? That’s my regime!

I found a tick today. Again, only myself to blame. Forgetting that the ticks are still active. It’s only when the sub zero temperatures come that they stop biting for a while. I think it got me when I was climbing a hill yesterday to photograph the panorama. Scamp did the surgical removal very cleanly, because I couldn’t quite reach round to do it myself. Thank you Scamp. I promise I’ll be more careful in future.

Scamp had been making noises about a new pair of dance shoes, so we drove to Rutherglen after lunch, and we came home with two pair of ladies dance shoes. We stopped in at Tesco in Rutherglen and got another packet of Bran Flakes because they were deemed to be the correct ones. On the way home we stopped at B&Q to get a tube of contact adhesive to fix my black & white dance shoes. Because the heel is coming adrift. I suppose I could have bought myself a new pair while we were in the shop, but I like the black & whites and it’s a fairly easy repair, if such a thing exists!

I had already grabbed a shot that I was sure would make PoD. It’s a plant pot with a Christmas Cactus growing in it. I think it was Jackie who bought us it years ago and originally it had a spider plant in it, but the Christmas Cactus looks better in it now that it’s spreading out a bit.

Monday is usually pasta night, but just for a change we had Tortellini which needed to be used up this week. To bulk it up, Scamp suggested frying some mushrooms and some baby tomatoes. That’s what we did and they did go we’ll together. Must remember that for the future.

It looks like I may be going out for lunch with Alex this week. Not sure when, yet, but I’ve got a retinopathy appointment this week too and I bet that will be the day he wants to go. If I get drops in my eyes as usual, I won’t be able to see for a couple of hours. Maybe that will improve my photos!!

No plans for tomorrow, other than shoe repairs.