Category: Boats

Today we were in Zadar – 18 June 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Zadar is one of our favourite places, although we often confuse it with Koper and that’s what happened today. We kept looking for places that were, in fact, in Koper – not Zadar.

Things we’ll remember:

  • The big white five masted sailing ship Windsurf (PoD).
  • The Sea Organ.
  • Punters dressed as Roman centurions for some reason.
  • Buildings in the town still with shell damage from the war.
  • Cats, both real and painted on walls.
  • The “Head Garden” of busts, so called by a tour guide.
  • Dinner in Kora La.
  • Watching a table of rowdies being told quietly to leave the premises.
  • Wondering if they were made to walk the plank.
  • Monkey towel animal. Not the scary monkeys we sometimes have.

An early rise … – 8 June 2023

Posted on by Zogman

… then off to the sun!

Writing a blog takes a lot of time and effort, but I like reading the blogs from past years and little things that caught my eye or imagination. With that in mind, these two weeks of blogs will be in a different format, but hopefully they will just as interesting.

  • Flew to Dubrovnik then got a coach to the ship
  • Had to have our passports stamped more times than was realistically necessary.
  • After that we were on the ship and could have that all important first Holiday Beer.
  • Most folk were away to Dubrovnik old town, so we had the salt water pool, the unheated salt water pool(!) all to ourselves.
  • Dressed for dinner later, as was expected.
  • Even so, much more relaxed than P&O
  • Finished the day at a party on the pool deck.
  • Scamp had a Pina Colada! I had a G&T.

PoD is a collage of views of Dubrovnik from our wander round the decks of Marella Explorer 2.

A day at sea tomorrow.

Out to lunch – 15 May 2023

Posted on by Zogman

We got the text just after 9am. Ben went to school!

That meant we were on track to take Ben’s mum, Shona to lunch. Picked her up just before midday and drove by the backroads to The Stables because it was such a lovely day. Shona was adamant that this was her treat. In fact this was her contribution to our Golden Wedding anniversary. When she told us that, how could we refuse. Scamp and Shona had a Fish Finger Sandwich each. Big chunks of fish in batter in a panini, with a cup of chips each. I had the meat eater’s version which was a slice of fillet steak cooked rare and also served on a panini and also with a cup of chips. Both lunch meals were delicious.

After lunch we went for a walk along the towpath of the Forth & Clyde canal which runs past the front of the restaurant. We walked for about a mile in the general direction of Glasgow before we turned back. Loads to see today. Butterflies all along the path, Peacock, Orange Tip and Cabbage Whites, mainly. Bluebells growing under the trees and a big Aquilegia growing wild in the hedgerow. Loads of people out on bikes making the most of an unexpectedly good day. There was even a canal boat chugging sedately heading for Glasgow, probably. It was the Yarrow Seagull and it got PoD with Scamp and Shona getting in on the photo too.

We dropped Shona off at her house and we drove home via Tesco. Back home, Scamp swithered, whether to cut the front grass or not. Eventually she decide she would and I was enlisted to lift the flower pots out of the way of the mower and replace them when she was finished.

Some of the roses needed a last trim before the flower buds appear and that was my job. I also pruned the Forsythia now that the flowers had gone over and before the leaves come fully out. My final job was to tie back the pink fluffy plant in the back garden. I can never remember its name. I know there are two of them, slightly different from each other but both are planted beside each other. The one I was working with today is really tall and although I’m sure it can stand up for itself, a bamboo stake and a couple of fairly loose cable ties wouldn’t do any harm to give it a little more support in today’s gusty breeze.

Today’s prompt asked for “Artwork you love”. Scamp and I both love the massive Kelpies. The 30m (100ft) high artwork was created by Scottish sculptor Andy Scott. They stand in Helix Park in Falkirk at the eastern end of the Forth & Clyde canal. They are made from steel and each one weighs over 300 tonnes. They were modelled on real Clydesdale horses Duke and Baron.

We’d ordered a pair of slipper shoes for Scamp at a fair discount last Friday. They were supposed to be delivered today, but the postcode was wrong. A mix up at the ordering stage. My fault for not checking properly. However when we got home the parcel was there waiting for us. One of the benefits of having the same postman all the time is that they get to know the names and addresses and don’t rely too much on postcodes.  And while I’m on the subject of shoes.  A big thank you to Scamp for sneakily getting my favourite black and white dance shoes soled and heeled for me.  I’ve been meaning to do it myself, I even bought Evostick glue to do it, but just never got round to doing it.  Sometimes you have to get the expert to do it properly, so thank you again, Scamp.

Tomorrow, unbelievably we’re hoping to go out for lunch again with Crawford & Nancy.

 

On a Boat – 10 May 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Or maybe it was a ship, I’m not sure.

Waited half an hour for a bus that didn’t come. Apparently the previous one hadn’t come either. Thankfully Scamp gave me a lift to the train station and I got in to Glasgow almost on time to meet Alex. Today we were heading for the Riverside Museum out in the west end, but first coffee and a quick catch-up.

According to the First Bus app, we could catch the 100 bus at George Square and it would take us right to the museum. It didn’t, because it didn’t come either. We walked back to the bus station and got the 77 which did arrive on time and a helpful driver told us were to get off and also the quickest way to get from Partick to the museum. We followed his directions and found the strange looking museum building. Inside was disappointing. Racks of cars reaching up about five storeys with no chance to see inside them and not even a viewing gallery to get a better view. Also, everything was dusty and just manky looking. Interesting building, but not very practical. Thankfully the window wall that faces the Clyde made a brilliant mirror and we used it to our advantage. That’s where the PoD came from. The great cloud and its reflection looked like a gigantic bird. Even the red crane in the background looked good.

We walked round the big sailing ship, The Glenlee, that’s permanently moored next to the museum and is free to enter. I couldn’t imagine sailing on a three masted ship like that. Equally scary was reading the captain’s log. Written in 1919, it was testament to the abilities and courage of the sailors of the time.

As we left the museum, I thought “I won’t come back until they find a better way to display the contents.” Too much crammed in to a small space. There were two high points. Lunch, which was great and that window wall. Almost everything else need spruced up and some of the items removed to storage.

We walked back to Dumbarton Road and got the bus back to the bus station. Said cheerio and went to catch our buses home. Good company, some good photos taken and the lunch was worth paying for. The final problem was that the bus I was waiting for disappeared from the display with no explanation. Three different buses from three different companies and none of them arrived! As Alex’s wife said, “You could walk from the City Centre to Partick”. We could have and probably should have!

Today’s prompt asked for Cutlery.
A knife a fork and a spoon, what could be difficult in that? Metal, that’s the answer, shiny metal objects are incredibly difficult to draw. Knives aren’t too bad, but forks and especially spoons are the very devil to render. There is a whole book waiting to be written on rendering shiny metal objects, but it can be summed up in one word.
DON’T!

Tomorrow we may go dancing!

Down The Green – 7 May 2023

Posted on by Zogman

It was a dry but cloudy morning and we were up and out early.

Scamp suggested we go down Glasgow Green for a walk. Why not, I thought. It’s been ages since we’d gone a walk down The Green on a Sunday morning and this one looked promising. No boots needed today because the sky was clearing and I was sure it was going to stay dry. It did.

The car park at the old Templeton’s building was busy, but there were spaces, not many, but we only needed one! Parked and walked down to the McLennan arch at the west end of the Green. We walked back along the banks of the Clyde, but not before I got some shots of the Albert bridge reflected in the almost still waters of the Clyde. I also got a caught a couple of squirrels climbing trees. Further on the old boathouse is now re-opened as a community hub and there were quite a few folk taking advantage of the brightening weather to prepare boats for rowing practise on the river. We walked on to the suspension bridge and watched the rowers going through their paces. That’s where I got the PoD which is a view from the suspension bridge, looking down towards the city.

We walked on as far as the bridge over to Richmond Park and then headed back to the car along the way we’d come. Lots more folk out today, some pushing prams, some running some cycling and some like us, just out for a morning walk.

There had been roadworks on the way through the east end to get to the park, so I decided to go back via the motorway. Little did I realise that there were even more roadworks in that direction. At first we thought they were removing the stupid cycle lane that nobody ever cycles on and we cheered. Then we realised they were removing the wee line on bumps that marked the width of the cycle only to replace them with a wider concrete kerb and still nobody will cycle in the lane. It will look good on the council’s propaganda, but that’s all. I really should just have gone back the way we’d come it would have been quicker. Hindsight is the only 20-20 vision.

Back home it was just past midday and the sun was shining (occasionally) . Scamp was delighted and for the first time this year she got the folding seat out and the Pimms and sat in the garden for an hour or so. While she was reading in the garden, I was drawing. Today’s prompt was A Chair or An Armchair. I’d already chosen what I was going to draw. It was a wood and leather chair I saw in the Burrell Collection in Glasgow recently. It was one of a pair and was extremely comfortable. It was also quite low, which made it difficult to get out of! It reminded me of a Gerrit Rietveld chair I made a copy of many, many years ago. I had a photograph of it and that’s what I drew it from, then splashed some paint on it. In the end I was quite pleased with the result.

Dinner was a beautiful fillet of Sea Bream perfectly cooked by Scamp so that the skin was crispy. Served with Jersey Royal potatoes and broccoli. Gone in minutes!

Spoke to Jamie later and heard his tale of woe. The cost for the new roof of the house has increased, Simonne’s car needs an expensive engine part and their boiler is dead and needs to be replaced. They won’t have heating for three months We were without heating for three days at the start of the year and we knew how hard that was. However they have an elegant solution to the problems of getting shower. If I could remember all the details I’d explain it to you! They can still smile though, so it’s not all bad news.

Tomorrow we might go shopping. It looks like it will be wet.

More driving, fewer photos – 26 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was off today for lunch with the Witches. I was messing about with computers again.

She got picked up by Jeanette just before midday. That left me with a few hours to myself. Never a good thing. Usually I fritter those hours away doing ‘something on the computer’.

I have a 2TB (1TB=1000GB) external drive that was intended to hold just photos, but over the years, I’ve dumped other stuff in it too. I’ve a few 1TB external drives that could be cleared out to make room for the ’non-photos’ on the bigger drive. That would give me enough space to allow me to expand the photos on the 2TB to the most up to date version of Lightroom. It’s a lot of work, but it will be worth it in the long run. Today was the dummy run to see just how much ‘non-photo’ data was clogging the drive. I struggled with it for a while, but eventually decided I was wasting a good photography day, plus I’d another plan in my head.

Originally I’d thought I might go for a run to Milarrochy Bay on Loch Lomond, to photograph the famous tree that stands in the water, but the weather wasn’t looking great for that. Instead, I thought I’d go looking for Busy Lizzies to replace the ones that the frost got to a couple of nights ago and I drove over to Dobbies in Milngavie, but there were no Busy Lizzies, to be found, not even Lazy Lizzies. So I drove back almost to find somewhere photogenic.

My best guess for a decent spot was at The Stables which is a pub/restaurant on the banks of the Forth & Clyde canal. Parked at the restaurant and went for a walk west along the towpath and grabbed a few photos and watched the double decker Airbus A380 flying serenely overhead before banking into final to Glasgow Airport. I didn’t take any photos of it. Sometimes it’s better just to watch.
I wasn’t totally satisfied with the shots I had and walked east to see if there was any more interesting views. Bumped into a couple about our age on what looked like brand new Raleigh eBikes. The bloke was at pains to say that they weren’t total electric powered bikes, you had to pedal too, but the battery kicks in then and helps you. I could see how that would be a great benefit if you were climbing hills, but they were cycling on a flat tow path. Not much of a challenge. However, I wished them well on their travels and they did offer to pose for a photo, but I passed on that.

When I walked back to get the car, I saw my PoD. The Gipsy Princess was docked on the far side of the canal and it made my photo of the day. As I was taking the shot, I thought “GIPSY Princess? Is that PC?” Maybe not, but I’m not exactly PC either.

On the way home I stopped at Calders garden centre. It used to have a host of plants, but today it was looking a bit tired, even if the shop and the teashop were doing a roaring trade. No Busy Lizzies here either. I drove home.

It was a venison burger with potatoes and broccoli for dinner. Although she had already had lunch in the middle of the day, Scamp helped me to scoff the remainder of the veg.

One thing that annoys me about the Blue car is the overspeed warning beeps it screams when it feels justified in complaining that you are going too fast, even when the road signs don’t warrant it. In the two and a half years I’ve had the car, it’s been one of the biggest annoyances in it. Today I found out how to silence it. It’s not easy to find, but it is there, hidden under two layers of menu in the Settings part of the display. Silence is golden!

Tomorrow I’m intending to meet up with Alex to visit the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. Rain is predicted.

Another early rise – 22 November 2022

Posted on by Zogman

This early rise was because I’d an appointment with the doc.

A misty morning and a bit cold for a drive up to Kenilworth for a consultation with a doctor. The sister, at my annual checkup a week ago, recommended that I take my leg with me to show it to the doc. I’ve had sores appearing and disappeared on my right leg for almost a year. The last meds they gave me seemed to cure the affliction, only for it to return a month or so later. Phoning for an appointment only results in the receptionists telling you to take a photo of the problem and sending it in to the surgery so everyone can have a good laugh at it. However if the request is properly phrased to a form like: “The sister recommended that I make an appointment …” That get a fast track to actually speak to someone face to face.
That’s what got me to the surgery at just before 9am. The doc had a long look at the sores and gave me a stronger prescription and booked me for a further consultation in two weeks time. Let’s hope it’s not so strong that it melts my leg. That would be a problem.

Drove home and had a slightly late breakfast after I’d dropped my prescription off at the chemist. Scamp and I worked on our Wordle workout and then went on to Spelling Bee. Surprisingly I got a 4 for Wordle and found the hidden seven letter word in Spelling Bee. What DID we do for entertainment before Wordle and SB?
With our brains suitably exercised, we drove up to Tesco for “The Messages”. Lots of them. I was beginning to think we’d need a bigger trolley!
Then it was time to stick a posh cotton bud up the nose and down the throat, then package the whole thing up and seal it in its posting bag which Scamp had offered to take to Condorrat to post. Then the awful, boring, badly written survey form had to be filled in. Tedious is the only printable word I can use to describe it, but it’s done and sent.

While Scamp took the evidence to the post box, I gathered up all the odds and ends we’d collected in the past couple of months and took them to the skip. That left me a decent amount of time to drive up to Fannyside to get some decent landscape photos. As I passed Fannyside Loch, I could hardly believe the reflections. I had to stop and get a photo … or five. I asked a lady who was just about to leave the clubhouse if I could park there for a couple of minutes. She said that I could, but she was just about to lock up. No time to use a tripod, then, but I was pretty sure the A7 would handle it easily. The colours and the reflections took only 1/125th of a second to record, but I knew they were fine without spending time checking. I thanked the lady and showed her the photo, then I drove over to the parking place I usually use and watched as the mist rolled down the valley, flowing like water around the trees and then round the old ruined farmhouse that sits on a wee hill.

By the time I left, the sun was almost setting and I met a couple of photogs. Not Scottish, possibly Polish photographing the loch from behind the fence. I had had a much better view uncluttered by chain link. I told them where I had been and suggested they might like to try a few shots from there. They agreed. The girl was building a portfolio to get her into college and her boyfriend was there to carry the gear, I think! They headed off to find the mist and I drove home to download the photos and start dinner.

For the first time in ages I ran through 71 photos and didn’t even reject one! My favourite, and PoD was one of the first shots I took of the loch.

Tomorrow I’m intending to meet Alex and take some photos around Glasgow. Not such an early rise, I hope.

Off to see the big horses – 14 November 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Today we were heading to Falkirk to get a pair of trainers.

We went to Falkirk today, looking for a pair of dance trainers for Scamp. She only spent about fifteen minutes in the shop because they didn’t have her size, but at least she got to see them and find out if they were what she was looking for. Afterwards we went to Morrisons, basically to see if they had the Neapolitan ice cream wafers, but they didn’t. They did have bread and milk and chocolate button ice cream cones, so we didn’t come home empty handed. We had lunch there, but the place looked like a tip. Food left all over a table and on the floor beneath. One cleaner came to wipe down the table and take away some of the rubbish, but despite her calling on the tannoy for help, nobody came. I don’t think I’d go back to Morrisons cafe. If that is the state of the tables in the cafe, what is the kitchen like?

Afterwards we drove down to the Kelpies and they were looking really grand in the afternoon light. They always bring a smile to our faces. I got a few shots of the beasts from a slightly different angle that avoids the pylons and the power lines. Light was really lovely with just a hint of haze beginning to gather in the distant hollows. One of those photos made PoD. I watched a group of folk flying a drone and posing for photos with it. Photos you couldn’t take any other way. I hope the shots turned out. I’d like to play with a drone, but I doubt if I’d be happy with the quality of photos it would produce.

I think today was the last day of sunshine for a while. Tomorrow looks wet and it remains changeable for the remainder of the week.

Scamp didn’t get the trainers in the shop, but she did order them from Amazon tonight, for delivery tomorrow.

No plans for tomorrow, although I’m hoping for a dry hour some time in the daylight hours. Just a little window to take some photos. Scamp is off for coffee with Annette.

Flying home – 11 August 2022

Posted on by Zogman

There isn’t much you can say about going home, other than that it’s usually very carefully orchestrated by P&O and Jet2. Usually

We left our bags outside the cabin last night and knew they’d be picked up and taken away by midnight. The next time we’d see them would be when we took them off the carousel at Glasgow Airport. We were ushered into one of the restaurants after breakfast and waited there until our buses were ready to take us to the airport. Then the rain came. Torrential rain. The staff wouldn’t allow us to go to the coaches because it was raining! Why couldn’t they just bring the buses to the bottom of the gangway and allow us to leave? No, they couldn’t do that. Were they frightened someone might slip and be injured and they’d be sued? Possibly. Eventually they had to let us go.

We passed through security quickly this time because I’d organised all my camera gear and electronic gadgets plus my laptop into easily manageable chunks and it all passed muster. Then we were through and almost immediately we were given the gate number.

Fairly pleasant flight home until one baby at the front of the plane started screaming its head off. I don’t know if the mother was deaf or just didn’t care, but I kept thinking about the scene in Airplane where all the passenger queue up to slap the hysterical woman. It wasn’t the wean that we’d be queueing up to slap, but the mother.

Finally we landed in Glasgow and the next calamity occurred. The person who drives the ‘airbridge’ couldn’t get it aligned correctly with the door and was attempting a second run at it, but then the airbridge broke down and wouldn’t reverse. Eventually they solved the problem by bringing in a set of steps manually. I think everyone was happy to get off that plane. It must be the first time we’ve arrived in Glasgow and our cases were in the reclaim carousel before us!

Driving home the traffic was terrible on both the M8 and the M74. I opted for the M8 which was the wrong decision. It took us an hour to get over the Kingston Bridge because some poor soul had broken down just past the bridge on the part of the motorway that has two lanes now instead of four. That meant only one lane in four was in use. We did get home, but it felt that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

As soon as we got the bags and cases in, we did our tests. I was negative, but Scamp was positive as she’d expected. At least we were home.

PoD was two street cleaners sweeping up Valletta’s streets this morning.

Tomorrow will be another day.

Šibenik – 9 August 2022

Posted on by Zogman

We’ve been pronouncing it ‘Sibenik’, but the folk who live there pronounce it ‘Shibenik’. I’d assume they’ve got it right.

Looking out from our balcony at just after 9am, we were looking out over a bay to wooded hills echoing with the constant scratchy sound of a million cicadas. A couple of hours later we were walking along the seafront of Šibenik town, after being ferried from the ship’s anchorage over to the a little township in a tender and then on to one of a host of local buses out along country roads and dropped in a car park near the ferry terminal for Šibenik. We just followed our noses, admiring the expensive looking seagoing yachts, until we reached the old town and found a road taking us up and away from the sea. There was a castle right at the top of the hill, but we’d no intention of climbing up to it. A walk through the narrow streets that opened out into open squares with roads leading in different directions would do for today. Maybe a spot of lunch too.

It was very hot and we found a wee outdoor cafe where we had a beer and then decided we could manage some lunch too. I had a beef burger and Scamp had a chicken wrap, both with chips. Then I had another beer. Service was pretty slow, but we weren’t in a rush to go anywhere.

From there we walked back to the car park to get the bus that took us to the jetty and the tender back to the ship. On the way we passed a municipal building with a walkway over another path. Under the walkway a cat was snoozing in the shade. I grabbed a couple of shots, then thought I’d get a better angle from the other side. I thought I might have spooked it, but it just lazily opened one eye and then dismissively went back to sleep.

Big queue for the bus, but then four buses came at the same time. Same big queue for the tender, but there were cups of cold water ready for us on the jetty, so time passed quite quickly.

Dinner in The Glasshouse tonight and although the steak I had was lovely, the menu was limited for vegetarians and also for those with shellfish allergies. I think, too that we’d eaten more than we should have at lunch and didn’t really do the meal justice.

Tomorrow is going to be packing day. It’s a sea day and our last full day on the ship.