Category: Broadwood

Nothing but Blue Skies – 5 December 2022

Posted on by Zogman

One of those cold, bright December days when you just have to get out.

Admittedly, it took a nudge from Scamp to make me get up and put my boots on and even then, it was about half past one in the afternoon before I managed to set foot outside the door. By then it was far too late to drive to Drumpellier which had been our stated destination, but Scamp agreed that a walk round part of Broadwood Loch would be a fair substitute.

So with both of us suitably dressed for the winter weather, we walked round the boardwalk at Broadwood, which is where today’s PoD came from. Technical details later. From the boardwalk we walked over the dam and I saw a bloke photographing the seagulls on the outfall of the loch with what I think was a Canon with a serious looking lens. Probably at least 500mm. It certainly outgunned mine, but it was fitted on to a ‘plastiCanon’. Not a real camera at all IMO. I tried a shot of the gulls too, but as usual, the result failed to inspire me. I hope he was skilful enough to get a good result with inferior equipment.

We walked over to the exercise machines and then up past the ripped up ground that will soon be converted to a ‘Micky Ds’. Allegedly they’re hoping to have it up and running for Christmas. I can’t imagine that happening, but who knows. It just might. We were going to the hole in the wall machine at the BP garage for some read cash in case the man who is coming to service the boiler tomorrow hasn’t got a card machine. With ‘real’ money in our pockets we headed for home and found the heating had noticed our absence and warmed the house up for us, all by itself. Scamp, of course, complained that it was too warm!

Dinner tonight was going to be Arancini (deep fried rice balls) using the remainder of yesterday’s risotto. Scamp was in charge of the arancini production line. She shaped the rice into little balls just smaller than a tangerine, dipped them in seasoned flour, then coated them in egg. Finally dropping them gently into the bowl of breadcrumbs. I was making the tomato sauce to go with the rice balls and also at the end of the production line, rolling the arancini in the breadcrumbs then easing four at a time into the hot fat from a wire scoop and fishing them out again onto kitchen paper a few minutes later. It may sound complicated, but it worked really well and without argument on either side.

The proof of the Arancini was in the tasting and we both agreed that they tasted fine and were filling enough with the tomato sauce. Quite messy though and would be even more messy without a dishwasher.

As I said, the PoD was a shot of the boardwalk at Broadwood Loch. In fact it was a panorama built in Lightroom from five separate images. I liked the finished result. The light was really good this afternoon and that warm glow from the afternoon sun gave it a wintry feel.

According to the weather fairies, we may be experiencing another ‘wintry feel’ this week with the chance of the first snow of the winter. We’ll hope it’s not too serious an attempt from the white stuff.

I’m off to the doc’s tomorrow morning to see what he has to say about my leg. Also, the bloke is coming to service the boiler, also in the morning.

Runnin’ – 11 September 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Keeping up the theme of the last couple of days with the trailing apostrophe.

We weren’t actually doing any running ourselves, but today was the Cumbersheugh 10K and we were going to Broadwood Stadium to cheer on the runners.

It was a beautiful sunny morning and I didn’t mind foregoing my morning coffee for a walk down to Broadwood. We didn’t know when the 10K would start, but there were a lot of fit looking folk there already in a multitude of colours of lycra and all wearing running shoes that probably cost as much as one of my cameras. For the first time in my life I got to walk on the hallowed turf (well, astroturf actually ) of Broadwood Football Park. It was mobbed. We thought it was busy outside the stadium, but it was double or triple that inside, nearly all weans. But where there is a wean, there are usually at least two adults. Parents, Grannies, Granpas, Uncles etc. All cheering the weans on in the races. There were a variety of running styles being demonstrated, but thankfully none of under-teenagers was wearing tracksuits or lycra, that was reserved for the parents, grannies etc.

We watched the weans running races and getting their medals, but then there was almost an hour’s wait for the main event, the 10K. Thankfully, Scamp had brought a zip lock bag for us to fill with ripe brambles. The rain and the warm weather had meant that most of the brambles were just a bit too soft, but we managed to find enough to add to some of our apples to make a decent apple and bramble pie. Then we went for a walk round the exercise machines. We spoke to a woman who commended us on ‘foraging’, rather than just buying brambles in M&S. We agreed and finished our walk in time to find a good place for me to photograph the 10K.  The first man out the blocks was PoD.

What you never get to experience when you watch a group of runners on the TV is the breeze they create as they pass. I remember, years ago waiting for the peloton to pass in Ireland when the Tour de France started from there and being taken aback by the wind they generated as the body of riders displaced the air they were travelling through. It was the same today, although in a slightly smaller scale.

Once the pack had passed and the walkers tagged on behind, we walked over the dam and sat on a seat to watch for them returning, but they never did. Instead they came back by a totally different route. We couldn’t be bothered waiting and lunch was calling, so we walked back home. The closer we got to home, the heavier the clouds were looking. Scamp had washing hanging out, so we were on guard.

After lunch, Scamp made the Apple and Bramble Pie and just as she was finishing, she called through to me to take the washing in, because the rain was starting. It was a good call, because it wasn’t a passing shower, it just got heavier. The washing was safely gathered in by then and dessert was ready for the oven, as was the Fish Pie from M&S.

That fish pie was delicious, although I’m blaming it for a bit of heartburn tonight. The pie was also excellent with just enough sharpness and sugar in the apples and the lovely bramble juice too.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard about the visit from Yves and Simonne’s cousin.  We heard about Tennents Super Lager and the lack of serviettes.

On the phone question, I’ve decided to put it on the back burner for now.  Not literally, although sometimes I think that might be a possible solution.  It’s working.  It does what I need.  It’s sometimes cantakerous and does things its way, but then, so am I. It may not stay on that virtual back burner for long, but it’s there for now.

Tomorrow we have no plans.   We need a few days without plans.

 

More rain – 4 September 2022

Posted on by Zogman

We’re never happy. Either there isn’t enough rain or there’s too much. Today the moans were about too much.

Not real moans, but it would be good if it would rain all night and leave the days for us going for walks.

After lunch we did go for a walk. Down to Broadwood Loch, over the dam and round the exercise machines, which are gradually being swallowed up by the grass that surrounds them. On the walk we found some pretty purple and yellow flowers that looked a bit like potato flowers, but they seemed to produce bright red berries that the birds didn’t eat. That usually means they are poisonous and after a bit of research online it turned out that they were Woody Nightshade, also known as Bittersweet and were indeed poisonous. The flowers looked so good, they became PoD.

On the way back past Broadwood Stadium we chanced upon a different kind of berries. Lots of lovely fat, juicy brambles in easily accessed clumps beside the car park. We managed to pick just over 700g of berries which, added to my 550g from Friday gave us over a kilo of the black fruit which is now chilling in the freezer, ready for Scamp to boil it down with some apples to make juice that will in turn produce bramble jelly.

Speaking of apples, we had our first apple from our tree today. It was a bit tart, but perfectly edible and without any wasp bites of flaws. Lots more to come, but we were discussing today how best to support the poor tree, because it’s leaning over, pulled down by the weight of the apples. Perhaps Scamp’s right when she says we should reduce the amount of fruit we produce on it. It seems such a shame to remove fruit, but I suppose we have to consider the health of the tree too.

Dinner tonight was Chicken Escalopes.  Chicken breasts bashed flat with a rolling pin before being dipped in egg, then breadcrumbs and fried in the frying pan.  Really, really good.  Of course, Scamp made them.

Spoke to Jamie and thanked him for my fancy tea. He had been buying it online but it seems that there are shops, mainly in the south of England, but there is also one in Scotland. Good to hear from him that he’s beginning to settle into his new job.

We’re hoping to continue our search for a suitable birthday present tomorrow. Somewhere in Glasgow I’m led to believe.

Walking in the woods – 10 July 2022

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Another lovely day with wall to wall sunshine in the morning.

Scamp’s suggestion for today was a walk round Broadwood with the extension through the woods. It suited me too because it meant I didn’t have to drive. Just for the sake of it, we went anticlockwise as opposed to our usual clockwise walk. I didn’t think there would be much to photograph and I was right. We did see a pair of crested grebes on Broadwood Loch, but they were too far away. I think it was just the feeling of being out with shorts and tee shirt in the sunshine that made the walk interesting. Also, for me, not lugging a camera and a couple of lenses, just one small camera with one lens made the walk more enjoyable. An as yet unnamed butterfly followed us on our Sunday morning walk through the woods at Broadwood, stopping occasionally, but never long enough for me to get close. Finally, I thought I knew where it had landed, but then couldn’t see the insect. Purely by accident I triggered the shutter button and took a photo of a butterfly I couldn’t see! Almost perfect camouflage. That photo of the butterfly became PoD.

Back home for lunch and then I volunteered to walk down to the shops to get some salad veg for dinner and a carton of milk. No wee man to offer me a Mivvi today, but after I got home I thought I should really have bought a packet of them just to stick in the freezer.

While I was out, Scamp was hacking into the blackcurrant bush and doing a great job of cutting it back while opening it out to remove all the criss cross of branches in the centre of it, Those are the ones that limit the light getting in to the bush.

I was on dinner duty today and it was quiche. It’s a while since I’ve made quiche and I had to stick to Scamp and Jackie’s quantities and techniques to get the pastry made and then the filling added. Two quiches as it happened, one with broccoli, smoked salmon and tomatoes. One with cheese and tomatoes. We ate half of each and have the other half ready for tomorrow.

After dinner we sat out in the sun for a short while before deciding to water the garden. It really needed the water with the temperature reaching 25ºc which is positively tropical for Scotland. Later when Jamie phoned, we found that they could beat us with a 31ºc, but that’s becoming the norm for those in the Deep South. Who knows what the temperature was in London.

We watched an almost interesting Austrian GP with a commentator nearly bursting a blood vessel trying to make it sound like the earth shattering race it simply wasn’t. Nice try, pal. Hope the blood pressure is back to normal now.

Now here’s a strange thing. I just checked and the title of the blog one year ago in the 10th of July 2021 was … “Walking in the woods”. Maybe I’m becoming predictable. Hope not!

Tomorrow we may go out for a drive. Not been out driving for ages.

Windy Willie – 6 July 2022

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Windy Willie was out and about today, gusting around the houses and making the trees sway. Thankfully he’s now away to annoy some other people, but he was a nuisance for a while for photographers trying to capture images of insects on flowers.

Unbelievably, despite the occasionally torrential rain we’ve had recently, the back garden was suffering a drought. Because of the wind, using the hose wasn’t practical, so Scamp and I were carting full watering cans around the garden to refresh the poor plants. I think the potatoes were the worst and that wasn’t obvious until we emptied on of the ‘tattie bags’ and found the soil was bone dry right down to the bottom. The bag produced enough potatoes for dinner tonight, but a lot of them were the size of buttons. That’s what gave us the idea to just water the whole garden.

After lunch I thought it was time I shifted my backside from the couch and went for a walk. Unusually, Scamp agreed to come with me. I know that she doesn’t really enjoy a walk round St Mo’s, so I suggested we walk down to Broadwood and walk over the dam and up past the exercise machines. That got her approval. Out of the wind, it was quite pleasant with temperature in the mid teens. In the wind it was a different story. On the final leg of the walk, Scamp suggested she would go home and I could do a circuit of St Mo’s. That sounded like a good idea. The best of both worlds.

My first circuit didn’t raise any interesting insects or, indeed anything. On the second round, there was more insect life on the hogweed and cow parsley. That’s where today’s PoD came from. It’s just a wee hover fly, but it was in focus and it was sharp, mainly because I was sheltered by a few trees which stopped the flower heads from bouncing around. Also, I was using the kit lens, not a dedicated macro lens, which meant I wasn’t going as close as I’d have liked and this helped the sharpness of the photo. It wasn’t the most productive day with 34 photos taken and 28 of those rejected for various reasons.

Dinner tonight for Scamp was Omelette with Cabbage and New Potatoes, for me it was Wild Boar Burger with Cabbage and New Potatoes. The potatoes were really very good. I only wish I’d earthed them up earlier and, of course, taken more care with the watering.

Boris still bumbles on despite having almost no support from his colleagues. He’s a bit like the visitor who doesn’t know when to leave the party and has to be ushered out the door. Maybe he needs the money!

Tomorrow Scamp is out in the morning to the dentist, hoping to get the long running saga of the broken tooth finally sorted.

Posted today – 24 April 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Hopefully this blog will be posted the same day it was written. That will make it the first since April 13th. Here goes!

I spent most of the morning and some the afternoon writing the last few blog posts, posting them and also posting photos on Flickr. I always start off with good intentions on days when we’re on holiday, but I never quite manage to stick to those intentions. After all, I’m on holiday and blog writing, which can sometimes be good fun to do, can also be a terrible drag. Anyway, the backlog is gone for now.

After lunch we went for a walk round Broadwood stadium, the long way round. Over to the boardwalk and over that wibbly, wobbly way to dry land. Who in their right mind makes a boardwalk from plastic. Halfway along the boardwalk it feels like it’s ready to tip you into the loch it crosses. Typical NLC cost cutting. Some day it’s just going to collapse and then an investigation will begin and ‘Lessons will be learned’. After that they will replace it with another cheapo plastic boardwalk until the same thing happens again.
Well, we survived the boardwalk today, but it’s in a far worse state than it was in the last time we crossed it. We walked on over the dam then up past the exercise machines stopping on the dam to take a photo of a herring gull at the outfall from the loch. I never knew there were herrings in Broadwood Loch. We also got a good laugh at a Crested Grebe with its bad hair do. Unfortunately, the Sony 55-210mm lens wasn’t in a focusing mood today, so I don’t have a record of it.

We were sorted for dinner, so didn’t need to stop at the shops on the way home and I reckoned I had at least one decent shot from the birdwatching at the dam, so I didn’t need a walk over to St Mo’s.

Scamp watered the back garden using a watering can. I preferred to use the hose and watered the front garden. It will be so much easier if we get an outside tap fitted, but the tap adaptor worked for today. Also, as Carlyn, next door had watered our plants while we were away down south, I watered her’s today.

Dinner was steak for me and salmon for Scamp with a side of salad in the style of Simonne, but really nothing like as good as hers. I must practise that culinary skill.

Spoke to Jamie and heard about his plans for the coming week, jetting off to the US again to cause more mayhem by pouring oil on troubled waters. Good luck with pleasing all of the people all of the time, Jamie.

PoD was the herring-less gull.

Tomorrow I may plant my sort-of cow parsley, some in pots and some in the ground. I also need to get my hair cut soon as May is approaching fast. At least my kilt fits, I tried it on yesterday.

One out, one in – 15 March 2022

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DPD were working overtime today.

My Sony A7ii was being collected this morning to go to MPB in Brighton. Later in the day I was expecting a box of coffee and tea from The Bean Shop in Perth. One out, one in.

The DPD man came to collect my camera right on time and off it went with a sticker on it that had the same number as the sticker that’s fixed with a magnet to the fridge door. One down. Not long after I got the message to say that my driver would deliver my parcel just after midday. Sure enough, the bloke knocked the door and photographed me lifting the parcel from the mat. I will drink tea and coffee today!

That left the rest of the day free. It’s a while since we’ve been out for a walk together. Scamp sometimes walks down to the shops herself and I often walk round St Mo’s myself. I suggested to her that maybe we should both go out together today. Just a walk round Broadwood Loch. She agreed and we walked down towards the loch, but she wasn’t interested in doing the round trip, so we chose the shorter version, over the plastic boardwalk and down round the new water management drainage ditch (first time we’ve been round that) and then round the exercise machines before stopping at the shops for oranges and milk. I did think of going for a circuit of St Mo’s pond, but decided just to go home as I’d a few shots that looked interesting.

Dinner tonight was Creamy Chicken, Mushrooms and Rice. Another Scamp favourite. She thought it needed salt and pepper. I agreed on the salt. It was actually fine without it, but the salt just gave it a bit more taste.

Heard the news from Nick the Chick that we have to wear face masks in shops and on public transport until the beginning of April. A bit disappointing, but that’s just the way her head works. Belts & Braces are her style and you have to believe she’s doing it for the good of our health, rather than to look good to the great unwashed as some other politicians do.

We had a quick practise at the new waltz and I think I can tentatively say that I can complete the first section without too many mistakes. I’m not sure I’ll be able to say that again tomorrow, but maybe the dancing gods will look down and smile at my attempts.

PoD turned out to be a shot I took with the A6000 from the boardwalk. Actually, it’s gone through a fair number of changes since it landed on Lightroom this afternoon. A lot of changes, but for the better.

It’s my turn to go for coffee tomorrow. Meeting John and Val at Costa in the morning. The rest of the day is our own.

 

Round the pond

Posted on by Zogman

And into the bog.

It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and light fluffy clouds. The only problem was we had no destination in mind to view this wonderful day from. After a lot of procrastination we finally settled on Broadwood Loch with the added extension of the walk through the woods. So, booted up, we set off into the morning.

I’m not that keen on the walk round Broadwood. Apart from the resident swans and the cormorants there’s not much of interest to see there, but the extension into the woodland does sometimes spring a few surprises, like the occasional deer which seem to view humans as a necessary part of the landscape and nothing to get fussed about. There were no deer today though. What we did find was a fir tree with Christmas baubles hanging from its branches. We had no idea why someone would provide this entertainment for people visiting the woodland, but it created a photo opportunity.

Further into the woods, we came to the part that’s usually flooded and that was the state of it today. I went first as Genghis Pathfinder trying to find the best way through the mud and murky water. I picked the wrong route and sank ankle deep in the mud, backtracked and discovered the water was only half as deep. As I led Scamp through the water which barely covered the rubber soles of her boots, a bloke coming the opposite way decided that it would be safer to go back the way he had come than to risk his new trainers getting dirty or wet. Actually both of us got through with dry feet. More a testament to the construction of our footwear than to my navigation skills.

We were past the worst of the wetland and walked on round the remainder of the loch and then past the exercise machines to the shops. Curry for dinner and ice cream for afters was the reason for the visit and we headed for home feeling so much better for the walk.

After lunch I decided I needed more photos to bolster my small collection from the morning’s walk. I brushed off most of the mud from my jeans and put my boots back on then carrying the 105mm macro lens on my Sony A7, I walked over to St Mo’s. I missed a deer on the other side of the road, deep in the woods, but got a few shots of Cladonia lichen in a nice little bit of afternoon light in the boggy area near the motorway slip road. Quite happy with the afternoon’s haul, I headed back over St Mo’s park and found that some kind soul had planted some crocuses into the grass. Nice little splash of blue/purple and those were the last shots today, but they didn’t quite make the cut.

M&S curry for dinner. Chicken for me and Veg for Scamp with ice cream to follow. I actually sat and read for a while tonight after the photos were posted on Flickr. The book was The Second Cut by Louise Welsh . Good story, but better read as the sequel to The Cutting Room which I read 20 years ago! TWENTY YEARS AGO!! PoD was one of the Cladonia pictures. The Christmas tree in Broadwood is on Flickr too.

We have no plans for tomorrow, but the weather looks good.

 

Happy Anniversary to us – 30 January 2022

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Not the legal one, but the one we celebrate.

The other anniversary, next month is just the day we made it legal. This one is more important. If it hadn’t happened, the second one wouldn’t have happened either.

Because this was a special day we lay in bed and read for longer than was absolutely necessary. Then because the weather fairies were warning of heavy rain and strong winds later, we chose to go for a walk in the morning. The destination was Broadwood Loch and we walked round then over to the exercise machines and home via M&S for a steak for me and some oranges for Scamp. Back home for lunch and to check out today’s only picture. Actually it was three pictures of the same fencepost with its little garden on top. Never only take one picture of something interesting, just in case something happens, it’s out of focus, it’s a little bit shaken or and elephant charges past and blocks the view of the subject. Two or even better, three shots will usually suffice.

Lunch was calling and although my two slice of bacon and an egg was minimal for me, it needed to be after yesterday’s over eating and drinking. Watched the new replacement politics show for Andrew Marr. Not a patch on the great man. Sophie Raworth is trying hard, but she’s just not as incisive as the great man. Today she was interviewing Liz Truss. My heavens, that woman just sounds like a Tory. That same hectoring voice and a stare that would put a basilisk to shame.

Satisfied that the photo had worked, we settled down to do today’s Wordle. It appears that my spellchecker hasn’t heard of it yet. It’s an addictive word game where you only get six tries to find a five letter word. It’s a bit like the old Mastermind peg game, but alphabetical. I’m sure you’ve tried it, Hazy. Jamie, maybe not so much. Scamp likens it to the crossword puzzles my dad used to do many year ago. If you haven’t hear of it, Google it. It’s not Angry Birds or Candy Crush, it’s not going to steal away hours of your life and leave you wondering what happened to today.

I had thought about going over to St Mo’s to augment my three shots, but there was no need. I was satisfied with the quality and composition of my finished article. Besides it was time to get the dinner ready. My steak was just excellent. Maybe slightly overcooked, but it hadn’t lost any flavour by that. Scamp’s fish looked lovely too, but it was trout or salmon and I’m not a great fan. Our accompaniment was baked potato and cabbage.

As we were cooking dinner that wind started rising and the rain was driving through. I for one was glad we weren’t going out later. Jamie too was commenting that he was lucky for once and had timed his return from the US to perfection, just missing their snow-bomb. He seemed to enjoy the visit and the pizzas, although a pizza topped with mashed potato and bacon didn’t appeal to me.

Tomorrow looks like a repeat of today.  More rain, more wind.  That’s Scotland!  Scamp may be going for coffee with June.  I’ve two letters to write.  Hopefully I’ll get at least one done.

It’s raining again – 3 January 2022

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I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but hopefully there are better days ahead.

It might be that it’s just this dull time after the sparkle of Christmas and the fireworks of New Year (yes, there were fireworks still, despite Omicron). Now that we’ve exited the weekend and are back to what my dad used to call “Auld Claes and Purrich”. You’ve probably heard me talk about it before, but it really sums this month up. It’s all over for another year. This week the decorations come down, the tree is packed away and the Christmas cards are put into the recycling bin. It’s back to normal life.

With that gloom out of the way, what were we going to do with today? First thing was to cut some kale to add to the leftover yesterday’s soup. Put a little iron in your diet. It won’t do you any harm and it might just do you some good.

Next we changed the jolly Snowman tablecloth for a clean and lighter coloured one. That meant the computer could go back on the table and I could get some things ironed out that needed fixing. I did eventually get round to it, but it took a little (a lot) more time than I’d anticipated. It always does. By that time it was lunch time and the soup was ready.

After lunch I went out looking for some photo paper, but Tesco had none, in fact neither of the two Tescos had any photo paper. I got some heavyweight high quality paper that might do at a pinch, but I’m not sure it’s quite photo paper standard. We’ll see. I also bought another pair of cheap true wireless headphones. Skullcandy this time. My original TWH are losing their pairing ability and music jumping through my head from one side to the other is ok for Pink Floyd, but not for more gentle sounds and really, really distracting when you’re listening to YouTube videos. The sound from the Skullcandys is usually good, but these were cheap and so is the sound. Oh well, at least the music doesn’t jump through my head. While I was out I dropped by Broadwood Loch looking for a suitable PoD, but I’d left it a bit late and the sun was setting. A bunch of young gulls gave me a chance to use the long zoom lens on the A6000. Not brilliant, but with a bit of work, it looked not bad.

Back home I struggled further with the Lightroom Catalog Problem and got things working. All it needed was a night’s sleep last night and all the knots that were tying up the problem fell away and the problem was solved.

Dinner was three different types and colours of pasta shapes with a Carbonara sauce. Followed by the remains of yesterday’s apple pie served with custard. Perfect end to any meal.

No plans for tomorrow. The weather fairies say the North wind will blow and we may have snow and what will the robin do then, poor thing? Probably the same as us, have dinner and try to keep warm. The temp just now has just gone sub-zero and I’m off to bed. G’night.