Category: Bread

“I don’t get hangovers yet” – 23 April 2017

Posted on by Zogman

This morning we went for a walk round the Barras.

I was going looking for a cheap Bluetooth 4.0 dongle – it’s a bit of computer hardware, in case you don’t know.  There used to be a multitude of wee computer shops selling legitimate and highly illegal hardware and software down the Barras.  Most Barras stuff was knocked off, one way or another and everybody knew that and accepted the risk that what you were buying was either unlikely to work once you got it home or a man in a black suit wearing a cap with a black and white chequered pattern would relieve you of it as soon as you stepped away from the stall.  No guarantees, no money back, but glorious bargains to be had.  Not today and by the looks of things not ever again.  The Barras was dead.  All the wee shops and some of the bigger ones were closed and firmly shuttered.  Worst of all, there was almost nobody about..  It looks like the end of an era, and also the end of my search for a cheap Bluetooth dongle.

We walked down to Glasgow Green and strolled through the trees just springing into leaf, about a month behind the ones we walked in last week in Astwick.  That’s what happens, they get the weather, we get the scenery.  It’s a fair exchange and I like the way it’s weighted.  We were just heading for the People’s Palace for my usual Sunday roll ’n’ sausage and Scamp’s tea ’n’ toast when three girls passed us and the following snippet of their conversation floated towards me  “… I don’t get hangovers yet. I suppose I will later …”.  I felt like telling her she had to be actually drinking alcohol first.  Merely talking about it won’t have the desired effect, nor will drinking lemonade or coke.  I almost shouted “Try Buckfast.  That should work.”  She was english, which explains everything.  Just one step away from being american.  (Yes, lower case ‘e’ and lower case ‘a’.)

Today’s sketch was from the Wintergarden of the People’s Palace.  Simpler and more accurate than previous ones IMO, maybe because I was sitting down enjoying my R ’n’ S while I completed it.  The trees were Celtic trees.  Green, White, Green, White, Green.  Must have been planted by a Sellic supporter!  But then, you don’t get many trees with Blue or Red leaves do you?  The mono shot of the old shop with the ‘ghost signs’ was not from the Barras, but from quite near there.

Back home to do a bit of joinery, completing the duckboard for the plants to stand on.  Actually enjoyed it and it looked reasonable when it was finished.  It could maybe do with a lick of paint or stain to finish it off, but the biggest part of the work is done now.  Helped Scamp with a bit of gentle gardening after that, but nothing creative, just labouring really.

Made some bread 50/50 white flour and dark wholegrain flour from Prince Chic’s own farm.  I imagine he planted it himself and then carefully tended it, talking to it daily before harvesting it with a scythe he’d sharpened himself then grinding it carefully in an authentic and architecturally sound windmill.  Lastly he’d transport the flour by horse and cart to Waitrose where we bought it.  He’s that kind of a guy.  The bread was good, thanks Chic.

Tomorrow is Monday so it’s Gems day.  I’ll be making a hasty exit.

Just Get Up Ya Lazy Sod – 3 March 2017

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I usually list my alarms on the iPhone by where we were when they were created, however, today’s alarm which was sandwiched between ‘Last Day Cruise 2011’ and ‘Dubrovnik’ and was called ‘Just Get Up Ya Lazy Sod’.  It was for 6.15am!

Today, Scamp was to go to the hospital to be assessed by the plastic surgeon for a further operation on the site of the mole.  Unfortunately, the hospital was in Greenock, just over 40 miles away and on the other side of Glasgow.  Google estimated the time to get there for 9am was from 1 hour to  1 hour 40 minutes.  At the worst estimate, that’s an average speed of 24mph,  which is quite slow for, in fact illegal for, a motorway, but realistic for the M80/M8 at any peak time.  So that explains the 6.15am alarm.  I’d intended leaving at 7am and as the temperature last night was forecast to be below zero for most of the night, I knew I’d have to get out early to get the car warmed up and the windscreen scraped.  Not like the lucky folk with their heated front screens 😉

As usual when I know I’ve an alarm set, I seem to sleep for two hours at a time before waking, then as the allotted time approaches I enter deep sleep, only to get a rude awakening with some awful chime from the phone.  That’s what it was like today.

After prepping the car, we had a quick breakfast and were off, just after 7am.  Cutting a long story short, we entered the quagmire of traffic of the M80 / M8 intersection.  From there to the Kingston Bridge it was nose to tail and constantly changing to the lane that was moving fastest.  Luckily all those Monday and Wednesday nights stood me in good stead and I found the fastest lane through.  After the Kingston, it was good going for a while, until we reached Greenock, in fact. The scenery was beautiful all the way down the estuary, with pockets of fog and mist creating perfect photo opportunities.  Unfortunately, you can’t use ‘Photo Opportunity’ as a reason for stopping on the hard shoulder of a motorway.  Personally, I can’t understand why.

Almost at the hospital, we hit the ‘Road Closed – Follow Diversion’ sign.  For once, I followed the diversion with Scamp acting as a navigator who was becoming more and more concerned that we seemed to be going in the wrong direction, then seeing where it was leading us and confirming that we were, indeed, heading in the right direction.  Parked at the hospital with 10minutes to spare from the Google worst estimate.  Impressive, Mr G!

In and out of the consultant’s office within about 30 minutes, then it was the simpler route back to Glasgow, but the good light and the good photo opportunities were gone by now, of course.  Parked up on what will always be St James St. in Glasgow and went for a coffee in JL with Scamp before leaving her to meet up with ’The Witches’.  After doing some window shopping, I drove back home to a cold, dreich, Cumbersheugh.  I had thought I’d manage to get my bike out, but it was the cold east wind that put an end to that idea, so I did a bit of painting instead.  I also made some bread dough and retained enough to make a pizza.

Went for a late afternoon walk around St Mo’s, but there was nothing of interest to photograph.

Scamp arrived back about 7.30pm after having had a ‘Day in the Toon’.  It’s almost 11pm now and it’s been a long day, so I’m heading for the Land of Nod.

Good Night!

No Dough – 20 February 2017

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was at the physio this morning. I started a wee watercolour of the hills at the back, because the light was wonderful with wee floating cloud shadows drifting across them. It turned out better than I anticipated.

I’d taken a frozen chunk of dough out of the freezer last night and left it to defrost and rise overnight.  It did defrost, but it didn’t rise.  I tried to encourage the yeast to start working again by warming the loaf tin in some warm water, but it resisted my attentions. I eventually turned on the heating and put the embryonic bread on the radiator to warm up.

By then, Scamp had returned with her ankle strapped up and we had lunch before she went out to get Gems.  I was swithering whether to go out on my bike, go to the gym or go for a walk.  I’d a pain in my back and any of these would help.  However, as the sun was still shining, I decided that the gym was out, and as there was a gusty wind, maybe cycling would be a bit difficult.  So, by a process of elimination, a walk was the winner.  I was looking for somewhere that would produce a photo and also a sketch.  I finally settled on the railway again, because it’s near the hills and I quite fancied a photo of those cloud shapes on the land.

I got the photo, but saw nothing that encouraged the sketchbook out of my bag, then I saw the old house that I’d sketched before and that became my SoD (Sketch of the Day).  It’s a strange house, with dormer windows, extensions and an old, old wall round it.  There’s ivy too clinging to the gable end.  The sketch is quite representative, but I think the chimney is a bit out of scale.

Salsa tonight was hard work.  Hard work remembering the moves and hard work keeping going for a full hour after three weeks of lazing around.  Still very enjoyable and although we only stayed for an hour tonight, we may go for two hours on Wednesday, all being well.  Surprisingly, all the moves had names tonight!

No real plans for tomorrow, but we’re probably going food shopping.  Oh what fun.

The bread?  Oh, it rose perfectly, then it stuck to the loaf tin and just wouldn’t come out.  I should have realised it had its own plans for the day when it took so long to rise.

Third Time Lucky – 03 February 2017

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3 Feb2

We were driving down to Chaguaramas, on the north western tip of the island, for a stroll on the boardwalk, but when we got on to the highway, Jaime discovered that he’d forgotten to take his pills, so we turned at the first available place and headed back.  On the way we stopped to get some fresh fruit from a stall at the side of the road.  At the house Jaime and Madeleine went in to drop off the fruit.  Then it was back to the highway again.  It was then that Jaime discovered that he’d dropped off the fruit, but forgotten to take his pills, so it was back round the loop for a second time, and this time he did remember to take his pills and we headed back on to the highway for the third time that day.

When we got to Chaguaramas we parked and took a walk heading east along the boardwalk.  The boards themselves are not made of wood, but of plastic coated MDF.  A strange choice for a walkway open to the ocean because it soaks up water, expands and breaks apart, but I suppose costs must be cut somewhere.  The area around the boardwalk seemed to be in a state of flux and it wasn’t clear if the area had been developed then fallen into disrepair or if it was still being constructed.  I would venture to say it was the former.  When we stopped to admire a Tamarind tree two Indian blokes came over and spoke to us.  It turned out they were putting in a quote to renovate the boardwalk area and this confirmed my suspicion that maintenance is the problem here.  As we were heading back to the car, one of he security men came over and talked to us and almost his first question was “What do you think about Theresa May?”  I have to say that most of the people we’ve met here have been very friendly and interested in these Scottish visitors.

The short beach at Chaguaramas is well used mainly by coloured bodies.  I think we were the only white faces to be seen.  It’s quite an industrial looking area, but the water was clean.  Apparently the beach is man-made.  Nobody seemed to mind that and lots of folk were out enjoying the water.  All except one wee toddler who wasn’t enjoying being washed in a cold foot bath outside the toilet block.

When we left there we went to the Cruise Inn where the other three had the strongest sangria I’ve ever tasted and I had a Heineken ‘Green Tea’.  We were going to have lunch there, but Scamp suggested we go back next Sunday for dinner and that seemed to satisfy everyone.

On the way home we stopped to buy some Hops Bread which is like a soft roll with a light crust on top.  It’s got a very yeasty smell and tastes lovely.  I’m intending to try making some when we get home.

IMG_3698After lunch which was the recycled remains of yesterday’s curry with a slice of reheated shepherd’s pie for me I started on today’s sketch.  What you see is the second one as I wasn’t happy with the result of the first one.  I’m not terribly happy with this one either.  It’s a bit squint and not all that interesting, but it will have to do.  It’s a sketch and it’s done in time.

Madeleine and Jaime were busy all evening trying to cut through the red tape that ties up all passport applications for Venezuela.   I wish them luck in their quest.

Bow Tie – 14 January 2017

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Firstly, you will have noticed that there is no photo of the bow tie.  That’s because it’s not quite finished yet.  It’s a prototype, made from a pillowslip, not something you’d expect to wear to a posh do, but essential as a practise piece.  I learned a lot from making it and I made it exactly as if it was made from the finest silk.  I stuck closely to the instructions and followed every step.  I made mistakes along the way, but hopefully I have learned from them.  Tomorrow I hope to iron (yes, along the way I’ve also learned how to iron) the prototype and finish off the sewing.  I might even try to tie it.  Every day’s a school day.

After the sewing session, we drove to Vecchia Bologna for lunch.  The place was mobbed, Scamp said it was the end of an Itison voucher offer.  We had to wait a little longer than usual for the food, but when it came, it was as good as ever.  Neither of us wanted or particularly needed anything in Stirling, so we just drove home and I went out for a walk through the ice and snow to St Mo’s.  Managed to surprise two deer, but the quality was so poor, they didn’t get published.  I did, however like the shots from the Oly 5 with the 9mm lens and that’s what you see above.

Tonight, I made some scones and have bread proving as I write this hoping to get it baked later.  Baking scones, baking bread, sewing and ironing.  Don’t tell me I’m not in touch with my feminine side!

As a bit of serendipity, you should read what I wrote last year on the 14th of January.  There should be a link to ‘A Year Ago Today’ at the bottom of the right hand column.  Navigate to the 14th from there.  Amazing synchronicity!

 

Walking through the Gloaming – 15 December 2016

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I’ve started a bad habit of allowing the blog to get away from me.  These last couple of days have seen me in the morning playing catch-up to get the blog posted, yesterday’s blog that is.  Today I’m finishing today’s blog today.

Not a lot of work done this morning.  Scamp was hard at work buying Tesco again and cooking all day for the Witches Christmas Party while I farted about.  There, that’s the honest truth, well, almost the truth.  I did get my 2017 calendar sorted out, so that’s one thing done.

I went for more ‘messages’ – you remember what messages are, don’t you – after lunch and took Scamp’s advice to carry ONE camera with me.  I chose the E-M5 with a short zoom lens and no EVF (Electronic View Finder).  Very pocketable.   I walked the short walk round the railway walk, across the tree plantation and back along the canal while the light changed from blue to a glorious orange gloaming.  Some beautiful lighting on the hills, but the short lens was struggling to make anything of it.  By comparison, the short focal length lens made the skies look good.

Since Tesco was now closed for restocking, after Scamp had bought everything it had, I went to Kilsyth to Lidl to get some odds and ends there and in B&M (my new favourite shop).  Bought far more than I intended to, so Scamp’s enthusiasm must be catching.  When I got home and after dinner, I started on my part of tomorrows banquet.  Now, at 10.30pm I’ve done my bit too.  The pudding is setting in the fridge and the bread is proving in the kitchen.  Some more work to be done tomorrow, but less frantic I hope.

I’m intending giving the WCP a body swerve tomorrow.  I’m booked for coffee and a chat with Fred and Val tomorrow midday and after that, well as Del Boy said, “The world’s my lobster”.

Bread, Windoze10 and a short walk – 20 August 2015

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There you are, my day summed up in a short sentence, although some would argue that it isn’t a sentence as it doesn’t have a verb in it, but that’s just being pedantic.

DSC_3395- blog--232I got up early, just after 7.00, made breakfast and, after reading my emails, decided to make some bread. Usually I make the stuff in the mixer, but this morning I decided to go back to the plain old hand method and it worked out quite nicely too. I don’t know why I decided to manhandle some flour, yeast, water, salt and butter. It couldn’t be because of ‘Bakeoff’ last night could it? Heaven forbid that’s why it came into my mind. Bakeoff would be a good programme if it wasn’t for those awful women ‘comedians’ or Mary Berry (Good Cop) or grumpy Paul Hollywood (Bad Cop). Most of the contestants could go too. “Ooh, this is the first time I’ve made this”. Get a life dear. If this is the first time you’ve made this when you knew it was coming up, you’re thicker than you look, and that would be DSC_3409- blog--232-1difficult. NO! It was a conscious decision on my part (you are still with me, aren’t you?) to bake a loaf today. Mine and nobody else’s. Bread making is a long process with little bits of effort and a lot of waiting around for the yeast to do its stuff, so to fill in the time I started to install Windows 10 on my old netbook. According to Val it was easy to upgrade the slow, curmudgeonly old HP relic to run like greased lightning on the newest Mickysoft OS. He lied. It took over three hours to get the thing downloaded and installed. I was so tired of waiting for the installation to actually get to the final screen, I almost set it to ‘automatic’ install. That would have been a big mistake. Now I see why so many people are having problems with this spyware OS. I went for the detailed install. Did you know that there are three whole pages where you give Mickysoft the right to check every time you touch a key on the DSC_3399- blog--232keyboard, every time you click the Start button.  You give them permission to sell your email address to their commercial customers.  You give them the right to look into your files too. Almost nothing is sacred. You even allow them to watch you when you go to the toilet. No, I made that bit up, but you do have to tell them you want to go, ask for permission, sign out and sign back in again. After all that was done, the new desktop was revealed. It’s much like the old Windows 7 desktop and in that, it is a great improvement over the Windows 8 style tiles, but it’s no longer Windows, it’s now truly Windoze. It’s as slow as treacle. The netbook was slow before, now a blackboard and chalk would be quicker. Luckily, I’ve got a month in which to play test the slug and then I can revert it to Windows 7 again. Possibly the best OS there has been for a PC, although Win XP is almost as good. Thank goodness for a Mac. The Windows computers are ok for taking with me on holiday as file repositories, but they aren’t for everyday use. The bread, by the way turned out fine.

Went for a walk later in the day to St Mo’s and got a few foties. Nothing startling, but they look ok.