Category: Birds

Looong Day – 8 November 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was out in the morning to FitSteps and after that, coffee with June. I was rebuilding MacOS Ventura for the third time … or is it fourth?

I spent most of the morning destroying the Crucial SSD that used to run the iMac, and with it, all the operating system and the data. Then I started again from a completely clean disk and reinistalled Ventura, the operating system. When that was done, I plugged in a second SSD and used the built-in Migration Assistant from Ventura to copy the data from the second SSD to the Ventura SSD. I knew this would take a good three hours, because, not only does it copy the data, it also updates it to Ventura at the same time. Rather than sit watching numbers and letters flying across the screen, I went out for a walk in a cold St Mo’s. Spotted two Canada Geese probably overwintering or maybe just dropping in for a rest before travelling further south for the winter. PoD went to a bunch of Flag Lily seedheads I found behind St Mo’s school. They looked like alien creatures or deformed insects, but had lovely deep brown colours.

When I returned, so had Scamp. We had lunch and discussed the morning’s events. I think the ‘tronics stuff went completely over Scamp’s head, much like her dance instructions fly over mine, but it’s still good to discuss these things! The computer seems to have settled down and everything works this time, touch wood.

Then out of the blue I got a message from Ray. I don’t think I’ve had a conversation with him since last Christmas. It seems he has medical problems and is in an old peoples home in Douglas waiting for an op. I was shocked. He asked me for Val’s email address and after confirming with Val that he was happy to give it, I sent it to Ray.

We went to Crawford & Nancy’s for dinner at night. Lots of news exchanged by all of us. Crawford is waiting for a cataract op and has his pre-op next week. He was a lot quieter than his usual which has probably got something to do with the operation. I know I was a bit jittery about my first cataract op, but I did enjoy the month off work it gave me!
Good meal and lots to talk about. We left just before midnight and it was almost straight to bed.

Tomorrow we’ll probably be dancing!

 

Broadwood – 7 October 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Out to the docs to get my BP checked.

Just the last of the checks to confirm that my BP had stabilised. Not just one nurse, but two. The sister and a student nurse checked my BP an gave me the all clear. All done in a 15 minute visit and I don’t have to come back until my annual review.

On the way home, I drove up to Tesco and got milk and rolls, just the real essentials today, then back home for lunch and a debrief with Scamp before we booted up and went for a walk around Broadwood Loch.

The weather wasn’t warm, but neither was it cold. Just a hoodie today for both of us, no need for a raincoat. As usual and against the flow of walkers, but with the flow of joggers, we walked round the loch clockwise. Because it had rained during the night, we didn’t risk the forest section. I know it’s been been cleared and drained, but I didn’t fancy going all the way round it only to find out there was a great long section that would be up over our boots in mucky water. Safer to stick to the path. I got some long lens shots of a cormorant stretching its wings out to dry and thought that would make PoD, but it was the first shot I took today looking along the loch to Blackwood and then The Campsies in the far distance that got the accolade of PoD.

I attempted a recipe for Linguine with Smoked Salmon and Spinach, except we didn’t have any Linguine because Scamp doesn’t like it and we didn’t have any Spinach either. There was a requirement for double cream and we had none of that or a hundred other things, but we did have the smoked salmon. The inevitable result was that it tasted awful and went in the bin.
Note to self: Before you start, read the recipe and check the ingredients!

We had pizza for dinner and it was lovely.

Today’s prompt asked for a Passport. I’ve now seen a few variations on Pass the Port with a glass of wine being passed from hand to hand. I tried a version of the British passport, and now that I look at it, it isn’t all that bad. But what I settled on was a pastiche of a passport. A Scottish passport with a bottle of Buckfast, two crossed thistles and an advert for Greggs. I’m sure Alex would approve.

I’m off to the docs again tomorrow. Just getting my money’s worth from the NHS before all their money disappears.

 

Dancin’ – 26 September 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Another cold day. We seem to have skipped autumn and gone straight to winter!

A quick lunch and then we were driving over to Glenburn for today’s Tea Dance. Such a difference between Glenburn and Brookside. Last week Brookside had no heating of any sort. Today, the heating was on in Glenburn and had been for some time to make sure we were comfortable.

The usual programme of music and dances. I do find it’s a bit repetitive, but I also know that it’s that same repetition that embeds the moves in my brain. The waltz we started with was the Four Seasons and we do know it quite well, so after a few missteps I remembered most of it. Then the Cha-Cha and the Jive. That seems to be the fallback trilogy with occasional Quickstep, although that was missing today and a Foxtrot which we intended to try Kirsty’s steps, but either she or we had missed something, because it simply didn’t flow as it should have done.

After the tea break, Stewart tried to teach the Butterfly Jive to us all. I can remember the first part of it, but after that it just gets too complicate too quickly for my poor feet to catch up. After two rounds of the Butterfly, Stewart walked back to his desk, saying “That was Fun!”. I heard nobody agreeing with him, in fact there seemed to silence across the hall. I used to think the most hateful dance was he Cha-Cha. All that nonsense about starting on the second beat was simply nonsense to me, but now I’ve come to terms with the dance. Maybe in a couple of years I’ll also come to terms with the Butterfly Jive DV. Perhaps not. I don’t know if I was extra crabbit today, but everything seemed to put my teeth on edge. Maybe it was the weather, which had started out wet, but by the time we were leaving, the sun was coming out.

Back home, that sun that was coming out, was hiding again, but I managed a walk down to Broadwood Loch and got some late afternoon photos of swans. I also spotted and photographed some Bitter Nightshade. I often wondered what those bright little berries on the boardwalk and why the birds didn’t eat them. It appears that some birds can eat the berries without injury, but most avoid them. The berries are also poisonous to humans. A photo of one of the swans preening got PoD.

No real plans for tomorrow. Scamp is hoping to go to FitSteps in the morning.

 

Busy – 20 September 2024

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Almost a duplicate of yesterday, but with Scamp being the busy one.

Scamp was out at FitSteps in the morning and I was rolling around under the downstairs wash hand basin squirting more silicone into the place where the leak was in the hope that it would stave off the drips, at least for a couple of days until we could get a plumber to fix it properly.

I was making my morning coffee when I saw a blackbird having a wash in the bird bath in the back garden. By the time I’d grabbed a camera with a long enough lens, the blackbird had been ousted by four young starlings who were squabbling as starlings do, all trying to get washed in the bird bath. Eventually the fighting became more restrained and the numbers dropped to two who were splashing away merrily. That was PoD taken care of, because soon it would be all hands on deck.

When Scamp returned with lunch, I was again rolling on the floor. The living room floor this time adding an extension to the round table that would turn it into an oval table. After lunch, work started on the starter and the dessert, both Scamp’s strongholds and nothing to do for me. Instead, I got the hoover out and gave the hall, kitchen and living room a good going over.

I did think of taking a walk in St Mo’s, but the weather had turned dull and misty and there really wasn’t the need for more after the starling photos. Instead, I processed the photos.

Crawford & Nancy were the first to arrive and almost immediately afterwards, June & Ian’s taxi appeared. A full house tonight. Lots of catching up to do with everyone. Dinner worked out well. The starter was Prawn Cocktail (no tomatoes for Nancy). Main was Chicken Tagine (no olives for Scamp). Dessert was Tiramisu for everyone.

We showed some photos of the holiday and the wedding. I’d spent most of the afternoon coercing the tablet into playing nice with Chrome and actually casting the images on the TV.. Thankfully it worked on the night.

The visitors eventually left just before midnight and, after loading the dishwasher and a gin each, we finally got to bed about an hour later.

We might need a morning’s worth of work to get everything back in place.

Dancin’ – 22 August 2024

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Bright sunny day that developed the look of rain, which never appeared until evening.

We were going dancing today at Glenburn, but before that, Scamp went shopping for bread and milk, so that after lunch we could get changed into dancing clothes and go.

We didn’t dance as much as we’d thought we would because we were sitting with a couple from Largs. The lady struck up a conversation with Scamp while we men sat around and chipped in the occasional comment, as men do.

We did manage a fairly lengthy quickstep without making it too obvious that we were repeating a lot. I attempted Fishtails, but need a lot more practise on the actual strategy of fishtails before I can confidently insert them into full dance. There are lots of little steps like that we know and just need the confidence to add them to our short routine. Practise, that’s what we need the most. Anyway, it passed an afternoon that otherwise we’d have used up sitting around the house.

Drove home and had an M&S curry for dinner. For the first time I was distinctly unimpressed with the Chicken Tikka which was just bland with nothing to commend it in my opinion.

We watched episode 1 of a series called Vienna Blood, set in 1906 Vienna. I drew comparison immediately with The Turkish Detective which even with occasional subtitles was a much better series. Scamp took issue with the close-ups of staring eyes. Maybe episode 1 was a good place to stop.

The PoD was a robin that stopped for a quick splash in the birdbath in the afternoon. Another swimmer I saw today was a snail, complete with shell in an old mushroom tub sunk in the raised bed, I’d originally poured some no alcohol beer into it to see if the smell would attract slugs to drown in it, but they appeared uninterested in pretend beer. This snail, however wasn’t drowning in the now rainwater tub, it was actually swimming. I’ve once seen a big black slug paddling in puddles with its ‘head’ above water, but this snail seemed to be floating in the water. Maybe the shell holds enough air to make it buoyant. I must investigate that.

Tomorrow we may be going east in search of some sun.

Chiffchaff – 4 August 2024

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That’s what I saw this morning, although it might have been a Willow Warbler.

It was when I had filled up the birdbath in the garden that I noticed some small birds using it for their morning shower. Sparrows, Dunnocks and this other smaller pale yellow bird with a dark streak of feathers across its eye. I knew I’d seen it last year about this time and was certain it was a Willow Warbler. I grabbed the first camera I saw and put the Tamron lens on it. By the time I got back to the kitchen window it had disappeared, but the other birds were still there, having a great time splashing in the water. I took a few shots of them, but kept one eye open for the new bird. It appeared working its way along the rail of the fence and behind the Rowan tree. I’m not usually the most patient person, but I waited until I had a clear view of it and then rattled off four or five shots, one of which became PoD. One in the bag before lunch! That’s not bad going.

After lunch I processed the pictures and indeed I had a fairly clear view of the new bird. It was clear enough and that meant I didn’t have to go for a walk today, which was good because it wasn’t the most inspiring day with a featureless white sky and no sign of the sun shining through. Instead I started cooking today’s dinner which was diced steak that had been lingering in the freezer for quite some time. Just for a change I made it in the Instant Pot using a version of a recipe I’d found online. After a dodgy start where the meat had to be eased off the bottom of the pot, I set it to ‘Slow Cooker’ mode. I set for two hours, with half a bottle of beer to give it something to absorb while it was cooking.

Meanwhile, Scamp was in the garden chopping up a yellow Candelabra Primula into three separate pieces and then potted the pieces up into three separate pots because it was definitely restricted in the original one. After that she walked down to the shops to get some things for tonight’s dinner.

As the afternoon progressed, it seemed to get darker and the clouds got heavier, but the rain held off until much later.

The Instant Pot chimed to tell me that it was finished cooking and I set it to ‘Keep Warm’, which it did until dinner time. The stew was served with potatoes and was very good indeed. Scamp’s dinner was Ratatouille with potatoes. Dessert was Tiramisu which was delightful. Not long after that the rain arrived, which is good, because we don’t need to water the garden!!

Spoke to Jamie and he seems to have his week planned out with a day’s holiday and two days working from home. Good to hear that his garden is doing well, even if his tomato plants seem to have picked up blight from somewhere.

It’s still raining here and tomorrow looks wet too. The bird has been ID’d by a birder on Flickr as a Chiffchaff. Thanks for that Andrew.

Preparation – 19 July 2024

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Today was preparation day for tomorrow’s drive to Dent in Cumbria.

Effectively this meant clearing a space in our rooms and then filling that space with clothes, shoes and lots of other stuff.

  • Packing
  • Dull day
  • Feeling down as usual before a trip
  • Walked over to St Mo’s to try to lose the Black Monkey
  • Checked out the tyres at Dicksons and they’re ok
  • The rest is just waiting!

PoD was a Black Headed Gull sitting on a concrete post.

Hopefully everything will go fine tomorrow.

 

Driving again – 16 July 2024

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After yesterday’s driving extravaganza the last thing I wanted to do was drive today.

So I got in the car about 10am and drove to Falkirk. To the Ironworks Business Park. Nobody was about, so I phoned the bloke I spoke to yesterday. He said I was at the right place and he’d be with me in 10 minutes. He was as good as his word and he apologised for not speaking properly but he’d been to the dentist and one side of his jaw wasn’t behaving properly. Know that feeling? I do too!

I was there to get some coffee and he took my order and gave me a large discount for having come all the way from Cumbersheugh. I even got a free bag to carry the coffee home. I’ve since tested the coffee and found it just as good as I thought it would be.

Drove home and had a piece ’n’ banana for my lunch and Scamp copied me! I was just making the sandwich when I saw a magpie sitting on a branch of the rowan tree in the back garden. Usually I chase them off, but this one looked a bit sad, so instead I grabbed my camera with the zoom lens and got half a dozen shots through the back window. It’s always good to have a few in the bag.

I’d been worrying about the front tyres on my car, so I drove down to Jim Dickson’s garage in the village where ‘Young’ Jim pronounced them good for a few hundred miles yet. That set my mind at rest.

Back home I took the A6500 and the 70-180mm and went for a walk in the sunshine to St Mo’s. I got a few shots of insects and plants, but nothing outstanding. It was quite a muggy afternoon with hardly a breath of wind.

Dinner was pasta and tomato sauce with a whole bunch of basil leaves that I’ve been growing on the window sill. It was quite delicious, even if say so myself.

It’s just passed 9.30pm as I’m writing this and there is a lovely sunset building. After such an overcast, close afternoon it’s good to see a bit of sunshine.

No plans for tomorrow, but I might make a start on some stew.

The Fox and the Blackbird – 30 June 2024

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The latest bout of Buyers Remorse came about as a result of a Fox on the 3rd of June this year and came to an end with a Blackbird this morning.

I watched a fox watching me while I was out at Fannyside taking photos on the 3rd of this month. I took a few photos, but knew it would have been better to have had a longer lens at hand. That started a month long search for such a lens at a price I was willing to pay. I found one about a fortnight ago and swithered for a week and a half about purchasing it. I finally bought the lens yesterday but the first shots I took with it were lacklustre at best. This morning while waiting for my coffee to cool, I watched a blackbird having its morning splash in the birdbath. I grabbed my camera with the new lens and took a few shots with it. A quick chimp 1 I knew the lens was a ‘keeper.’ The fox started it and the blackbird finished it. The Fox and Blackbird would make a good name for a pub, and probably has!

Before lunch we went shopping for food and came back from Tesco with three big bags full, just like Baa Baa Black Sheep if you can think back that far!

After lunch and after listening to Laura Kuenssberg admonishing Sunak for his criticism of the opposition. It felt like she was going to give him a verbal warning before ordering him out of the studio. Must be nice to have the power to kick out the Prime Minister!

Next task for Scamp was more pruning of the roses and finding the name of a little red flower that came from Jamie’s garden (no the ones in the picture, those are Geums) and had appeared in the back garden. It was a Common Rock Rose!
While she was doing her tidying up, I was potting up some basil plants I’d grown from seed. A horticultural afternoon.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard about their invitation to a neighbours’ barbecue. Our weather has been a bit dull to attempt a barbecue any time soon.

PoD was the bathing blackbird, of course.

No real plans for tomorrow.

 

  1. (Chimp – Photographer’s speak for checking the photo on the back screen of the camera, usually constantly!) ↩

Another day, another lunch – 7 June 2024

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This time we were meeting June and Ian at Nonna’s Kitchen in Dullatur Golf Course.

After a wee problem with the lifts, all four of us sat down to lunch. I ordered Lentil Soup with Pancetta Scamp had Mussels, June and Ian had Arancini. A bit of a wait, but all fine, except that mine had a whole pot of pepper in it. A longer wait, about 25 mins this time, brought us Mains which were Pasta Al Forno for June, Ian and me and Pan Fried Seabass Fillet with Asparagus and Red Onion with Pea Puree and Candied Pancetta. The Pasta may have been a mistake because it was pretty tasteless except for the Italian sausage. I ate less than half of mine. My American coffee was lovely, but Scamp said her latte was more. Baby chino than latte. Would I go back? Probably, but with better choices this time. Great views over the golf course if that’s your thing, but with the room less than half full the noise level from folk just chatting was overpowering. Some soft furnishings needed to dampen down the sound. You may remember the location from a wedding party almost ten years ago now, Jamie!

After getting June and Ian safely down to ground level in the lift, we parted company. They were waiting for a taxi and we were driving down to Lidl to get a bottle of Hortus Gin and some strawberries. Then it was back up the road in a surprise torrent of rain.

The rain soon disappeared and I went out for a walk. Took far more photos in St Mo’s than I did all day in Glasgow yesterday! That was mainly caused by having the camera on ‘motorwind’ mode, 25 shots at a time, to try to capture bees on the brambles again. They didn’t make PoD. That went to a family of ducks out for a paddle with mum. Eight mallard ducklings and mother duck. Daddy must have gone A – Hunting!

That was about it for Friday. We’re intending to go dancing tomorrow. Quite a small class, so there won’t be anywhere to hide!