Category: Bus

Dundee – 2 February 2026

Posted on by Zogman

We got a taxi from the house to the bus station at the town centre, then the Ember bus to Dundee. It’s a very civilised way to travel and for oldies like us, an economical one too. Once there we went for a coffee and something to eat before we got the bus that would take us to Ninewells Hospital. It was a round trip on the bus. The journey to the hospital was a long trip all round the houses and the one back was a much shorter one.

The meeting went well. The doctor was really nice and went over what was going to happen in detail. Then he got Scamp to sit facing him with her hands, palms down, on her knees. Then he got her to lift her hands to about shoulder height, palms down again. Then she was to turn her hands, palm up and then hands at shoulder height, palms facing and finally with middle fingers touching.

Next he had her touch index finger to thumb with both hands, slowly at first, then faster and faster. Next test was touch her index finger to her nose with her left hand, then with her right hand. She had to do it a few times. Then he asked her to touch her outstretched index finger to his, once or twice with one hand then the other. Finally he asked her to open her mouth and close it two or three times.

He took her to another room, I wasn’t invited, and got her to walk a straight line in a corridor, then back again. Finally he got her to do the same thing, but this time doing ‘toe, heel’ like you see the cops do on the old films, and that was about it.

He seemed really surprised to discover that she only had the tremor on one hand, he was expecting to see evidence of it in her ‘good’ hand, but there was none.

He told us that he thinks Scamp would be a good subject for the ‘MRI Guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Essential Tremor’, but she is unlikely to be put forward for Deep Brain Stimulation. He did say he may give her a course of Parkinson’s medication to see if that would reduce the effects of the tremor, but admitted it’s unlikely to work. It doesn’t look like she will get another appointment until the middle of next month at the earliest, but that would be a consultation with himself and the surgeon. She told him that we were hoping to go away for a couple of weeks in the summer and he said that wouldn’t be a problem.

All in all, we were happy with the meeting, although afterwards we remembered all the other questions we wanted answered, although he had covered most of them.

The day was horrible outside. By the time we were coming out of the bus from the hospital, it was cold, horizontal rain. We went into the V&A to be warm, and then walked back to get the bus home. We were both shattered by then. Maybe it would have been better to do an overnight in Dundee and come home refreshed next day, but I think Scamp just wanted to get back home.

Despite the weather, I did get a few photos taken. The best of them was a view through the archway under the V&A.

Tomorrow will probably be a day of working out what happened on Monday!

Over to Fife – 30 December 2025

Posted on by Zogman

We got the bus to the town centre and another bus to Dunfermline. We were off to Fife!

We woke to a fairly heavy frost. The poor wee bluetits were having a hard time getting through the ice on the bird bath. It didn’t seem as if there would be much bathing there today. We were running just a wee bit too late to catch the early bus to the Town Centre, but we waited and caught the next one. I wasn’t going to drive today, thank you very much! Another wait in Cumbersheugh bus station where the temperature was slightly higher than the 0ºc temperature outside in the stance. On other days I’d have said it was freezing, but that one degree or so of warmth inside the waiting room made all the difference. The bus arrived right on time and we were off to Dunfermline.

First stop was for a coffee in Nero. For the second time recently I had a decent cup of coffee. Coffee that tasted as strong as it should have. Not watery, not lacking crema. Just coffee as it should be. Two wee cakes to keep the wolves from the door and we were ready to go for a walk in Pittencrieff Park.

We walked over to the park, but alas the door to the glasshouses was locked and a sign saying essential maintenance was underway. For once, it did look as if there was work being done, so we continued round behind the rose beds and over the hill that would take us back in to the town.

I wanted some cloth to make a couple of bow ties. I knew there was a fabric shop on the Main Street and found it quite easily. The girl who served me was really helpful and almost talked me into buying a pattern for a man’s necktie, but since neither she nor I could work out what some of the terms were, I decided to shelf it until I had a better idea what it was going to look like. Instead, I got two pieces of fabric to make a couple of bow ties. That’s not to say that I’ve given up the idea of making a normal tie, it’s just that it’s on the back burner for now!

Neither of us could really commit ourselves to lunch, so we went looking for a yearly wall calendar for Scamp and a book for me, but we could find neither of these objects, so we headed home and arrived at the bus station in Dunfermline just in time to catch the Glasgow Express. Even better, the X3 was due in five minutes back in Cumbersheugh and we hopped on.

Back home, dinner was a plate of Minestrone soup courtesy of John next door. They have both been good at feeding us soup lately. Maybe we’re looking too thin and they’re trying to feed us up? I really don’t think we need it.

PoD was a photo of Pittencrieff House looking splendid in the sunshine. I almost included a couple of photos taken with an Olympus E-PL5, an ancient camera from around 2012 vintage. A lovely wee camera. It still works!

Tomorrow is the last day of 2025 and the weather looks even colder. It’s -3.7ºc just now!

Out on the town – 23 December 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Just me and a camera. Scamp wasn’t invited. This was a man’s Christmas Shopping expedition.

Actually, it was a bit early for Christmas shopping, if I’m truthful. Usually I try to get all my prezzies organised and bought by the end of play on the 24th, and today was only the 23rd. But, let’s not quibble about a day, I was in shopping mode.

First I dropped in at the Apple shop, trying to find out why I couldn’t get the same controls on my iMac that I have on my MBP. It was while I was explaining the problem with a Genius that I realised my mistake. It wasn’t an Apple problem, it was a Lightroom one. Apple and Adobe are two different companies and I was trying to cure an Adobe problem by talking to an Apple person. He did offer a solution which went part way to become the answer, but emphasised that he was speaking as an Apple authority, not an Adobe rep. I thanked him and left before I made any more foolish mistakes.

I walked back down Buchanan Street going over and over what he said and taking a few photos too. PoD went to the Balloon Man who stands at the corner of Buchanan Street and Gordon Street, twisting and turning balloons into squeaky shapes that balloons aren’t really meant to be twisted into. It’s only when you examine his twists and turns, you realise what he’s doing and the shape suddenly changes from a saggy balloon into a Mickey Mouse or a Bow and Arrow. The best thing about him is that he never speaks to the adults, only the kids. They love him and listen intently to his stories. Clever guy!

I wandered further down Buchanan Street, but the light was getting poor, so I headed back up and made the daft decision to get the subway out to Byres Road to buy another box of Pastéis de Nata for Scamp and me to share. Well, I had lots of time, and could afford to be daft. I was standing right outside the entrance to the underground, so went in and I got a return ticket. About twenty minutes later, I emerged from the same entrance with my yellow box of little pies. On the way I picked up the last of my Christmas Presents and headed for the bus. I loaded my phone with some new music and relaxed into the music, gazing at the darkening sky as the bus took me home.

Back home, Scamp suggested I use up a couple of egg yolks to make Pasta Carbonara. It’s ages since I last made it and I think I made a good fist of it, although I must admit it wasn’t my best, but practise will help there.

We watched a couple of Christmas University Challenge programs. One fairly up to date, presented by Amol Rajan and another a bit older, chaired by Jeremy Paxman. Two totally different approaches to the same quiz.

We got some photos from Jamie and Simonne from Trinidad. It looks lovely, even if Jamie was bitten a fair bit by midges!

That was about it for the day. Dinner was good. Pastéis de Nata were good. What’s not to like

Hopefully tomorrow will consist of wrapping prezzies and tidying. Wrapping can be fun, but tidying? Maybe not so much!

The Number 71 to Kingston – 23 May 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Another day of sunny skies with a few clouds.

  • We walked up the hill to catch the No 71 bus to Kingston.
  • After a fairly circuitous journey through Surbiton because of roadworks, we reached Kingston.
  • We walked around the town for a while trying to see where there were changes from the last time we’d been.
  • Food came from a stall in the square. Lightly spiced chicken on a sub roll.
  • Got the No 71 back to the usual stop and walked the rest of the way.
  • Neil’s mum and dad arrived in the early evening for dinner. That seems to be a tradition.
  • Dinner was a variety of fish with chips. Scamp had haddock and I had cod.
  • It was good to see Canute & Delia again.
  • Quite a busy day, but a well filled one

No plans for tomorrow.

Out on the town – 12 March 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Just Alex and I, out for a photo walk.

We met at the Buchanan Bus Station as normal and went for a coffee in Nero. We must have sat talking about last week for over an hour. Certainly long enough for Alex’s coffee to get cold, but he didn’t want another one. Once I’d unburdened myself and answered his questions, we walked down a sunny Buchanan Street and zig-zagged down to Argyle Street where Alex wanted to get a new set of strings for his guitar.

On the way I got a photo of two old (ish) ladies, one-finger typing into their phones. I know I should be careful with the ‘Old’ word, I’m in the male category of that age group now too! Anyway, when I got home I was pleased to see the photos had turned out well and one of them became PoD. Photographing strangers is a photo technique I’ve learned from Alex. It can be a really interesting way to use a camera … as long as you don’t get caught.

Getting back to the Photo Walk, we walked back along Argyle Street and crossed over to head for Paesano, the only pizza shop Alex would go to. Pizzas were lovely as usual and another hour had passed in catching up chat. I suggested we have a day away in Dundee some time and get some photos of the V&A. Alex agreed that it might be good in the warmer weather, when the days were longer. I’m not sure he’s completely sold on the idea.

When we’d been talking in Nero, Alex had mentioned he fancied a walk up Sauchiehall Street, just to see how the renovations were going. However, we’d gone down Buchanan Street instead. He said it was probably muscle memory, because we ofter walk down that hill to go to St Enoch’s. Whatever the reason, we went for that walk up Sauchiehall Street then. I wanted to look for a book I’d seen advertised on the ‘net, but wasn’t due to hit the shelves until tomorrow. While Alex went for a wander round the books, I found the book I was looking for “Paperboy”. Out a day early. I used the book token Scamp had given me back in January to buy it. Thank you Scamp.

Another coffee and a long blether later we were ready to hit the road back to the bus station when Alex noticed that the time was fast approaching 5pm.

We said our goodbyes and went to our buses. I just got on mine and almost got to my seat when the bus reversed out of the stance. Perfect timing.

That was a good day. PoD was the shot of the two ladies struggling with the technological challenge of mobile phones.

Tomorrow we are meeting the Celebrant to finalise the remaining details for next week. Hopefully the meeting will go well.

 

Off on our travels – 25 February 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Today we were heading north east.

Travelling fairly light. Just the minimum amount with an A6500 and two lenses: 10-18mm f4 and 18-50mm f2.8 plus a laptop.

Taxi to the Town Centre and then the Ember Bus to Dundee.

First stop was Waterstones for a coffee and a scone each. It’s a bit of a tradition going to this old fashioned book shop. Braithwaite’s was our next destination, but it was closed on Tuesdays, so no coffee beans today. From there we got a bit lost, then found we’d been within 100m of the hotel we were looking for.

After dumping our stuff (Scamp was even lighter loaded than me) we walked down to the V&A, only to find that it too was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but we had a walk round the building on a cold and windy day, but with a clear blue sky. I took some photos of The Discovery ship framed by the odd angles of the V&A. Then we walked back to the hotel to get ready for dinner tonight at the Dundee Rep restaurant.

Starters:
Scamp – Black pudding bon bon with pea puree, pancetta crisps & salad
Me – Arancini with light rice filling and a dressing I can’t remember, but was lovely.

Mains:
Scamp – Lentil & vegetable cottage pie with broccoli & carrots
Me – Korean pork collar with braised rice & broccoli, topped with spring onion and sesame seeds.

Desserts:
Both of us – Limoncello tiramisu. We both agreed this was disappointing. Not enough lemon flavour and too much heavy cream. Foodies!!

After that we managed to stagger up to the hotel. Scamp had a Rum and Coke and I had a whisky with water.

Went to bed, ready for tomorrow!

Almost 50 photos taken. PoD was a man walking under the V&A.

Tomorrow we are hoping to head east.

Another broken bus – 15 December 2024

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Usually the blog is written from my perspective, but the majority of today’s is written about Scamp and the Witches visit to Manchester.

Yesterday the witches had a fairly faultless run down to Manchester and by all reports were impressed with the Trafford centre. Today they were heading back to Manchester from their overnight stay in Chorley or nearby there to go to the Christmas Markets. Around 3pm I got the message that they were leaving Manchester and would phone at Gretna.

I got a message to tell me they were leaving Gretna with an ETA of 7.20pm at Hamilton bus station where I’d agreed to pick them up. Two minutes later I got the message that the extremely high winds had blown the windscreen wiper off the bus and they’d need to get someone to fix it or get a replacement bus. Long story short, two hours late, I picked up the four and dropped them off at Jeanette’s house and we drove home.

I’d made a fairly large pot of Minestrone soup for a late lunch and it was used for dinner while the sorry tale unravelled. I’m not saying Scamp is a jinx, although she did, but this is the second bus journey that has come to grief with a broken bus she has been on!

My own day had been a case of taking some odds and ends to the skips in the afternoon. The winds hadn’t been as wild then, so I carried on to Fannyside and got some photos of “The Girls”, the hardy sheep that don’t seem to notice the wind and the rain as long as there’s food in their basket. Went for a walk along to a farm, got some photos of Cladonia lichen that grows well there, apparently a sign of clean air. On the way back I saw a fast flying bird land on a telegraph pole and grabbed a few photos of it. When I came home I found that it was a Kestrel. Unmistakeable with the narrow wings and the chestnut coloured back.

PoD was that picture of “The Girls”, looking as if they were posing for a photo.

Hoping to have a less stressful day tomorrow.

 

 

A photo walk in Glasgow – 20 November 2024

Posted on by Zogman

On a cold day we decided to stay in Glasgow city today.

Met Alex at the bus station as usual, and as usual, we went for a coffee to discuss exactly where we’d go. On the way down Buchanan Street we noticed water bubbling out of the subway. It flowed down the street, guided on its way by piles of sandbags that channeled it down into an open sewer near West George Street. No idea where exactly it was coming from or whether it would be on its way into the Clyde, further down the street.

Coffee in Nero and then a walk down Buchanan Street took us to ‘The Shows’ in St Enoch Square. Not much we hadn’t seen before, so after a cursory look around we continued on to the Clyde Walkway.

Again, there were graffiti artists hard at work on their murals using ladders and countless paint canisters. We watched them for a while, both of us trying different angles and viewpoints to get that elusive perfect composition. I was nearly there with a couple of shots, but nothing that would be posted to Flickr just yet.

When we walked back through St Enoch Square I found my PoD which was a bloke gazing out of a bay window with an advert for a Thai Massage parlour below him. I’m not saying it told a story, I wouldn’t dare!

Lunch was in Paesano as usual, a quiet Paesano for a change. Usually around midday it’s full to bursting, but not today. Maybe because it’s midweek or maybe folk are being more careful with their spending as we near Christmas. We both enjoyed our lunch. Alex time to pay.

Light was beginning to fade a little when we walked around George Square but we managed a few more shots before we headed up to the bus station, only to find that there were barricades preventing us from getting near the bus station. After checking with one of the many council workers milling around we found it was because a ‘suspicious package’ had been found and there would be no buses running for quite some time.

We turned tail and walked down Buchanan Street, Alex to Central Station and me to Queen Street. A phone call to Scamp got me a lift home from Croy. Thanks again, Scamp!
Alex did the same and got a lift home from his station with Carol.

Just after 10pm there was an announcement that 3 men were ‘helping police with their enquiries’ and a controlled explosion had taken place, but no dangerous materials had been found. Wild place Glasgow on a Wednesday night.

No dancing tonight as the teacher has a heavy cold and doesn’t want to pass it on to us gentle souls.

Hopefully going to the Town Centre tomorrow for some relaxing shopping.

Off to the Far East – 24 October 2024

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It was a fairly early rise for me, well, for us. I was meeting Alex at 11am in Glasgow to catch a bus to Edinburgh. £16 return to take the train and £0 to take the bus. A no brainer … or so we thought.

We did meet up in the bus station and got seats in the bus without any problem. I thought the bus would only stop at the bus station in Edinburgh, but as it turned out you could press the button to request a stop anywhere. We got off at Haymarket and walked up to Ladyfield and walked through the ‘canyon’, where Alex got his first taste of the architecture that had appeared in the last twenty odd years. We spent a fair amount of time investigation photographic opportunities.

After I managed to drag him away, we went and had coffee in the wee Nero that Scamp and I use regularly. Next was a walk up to the Grassmarket where a lot of green and white flags were waving. There was also a lot of singing and banging of drums signifying a football crowd. As it turned out, it wasn’t Celtic, but a team of football supporters from Cyprus, Omonia Nicosia who were making all the noise. A good natured crowd.

We walked up the steep West Bow and marvelled at the amount of people happy to wait in a queue on the street to gain entry to the Harry Potter Museum. We weren’t all that interested in Harry, but we took a few photos of the crowds. It was there that I got today’s PoD. I spotted two girls on a high walkway above West Bow taking photos of the crowd. That was an easy PoD.

We continued on up to the Royal Mile and St Giles which Alex wanted to see. I had never been in St Giles and it was a well lit building, but surprisingly, noting great to photograph. We left there and waked down the long Playfair steps and finally got somewhere to eat in the National Gallery of Scotland’s restaurant. Maybe I’m getting more critical of eating places, but I wasn’t that impressed with it and maybe a bit overpriced. Foodies!

We decided we’d done a fair bit of Edinburgh, so we found the bus station and got on a bus to take us to Glasgow. The journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh took about an hour. The journey back to Glasgow took just over two hours. I think there might have been problems on the motorway because the road was jammed solid with traffic just crawling. When we did eventually get to Glasgow it was another 40 minutes to get home.

In retrospect, maybe it would have been better to pay the price of the train tickets, rather than sit in a bus that was crawling along the motorway. That would have been £16 well spent.

Prompt for the day was Expedition and it turned into a childish sketch of an expedition of aliens preparing to take off to Earth from a distant planet. A poor prompt deserves a poor sketch.

We have no plans for tomorrow, other than not going to Edinburgh on the bus.

Connections Connecting – 24 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

There wasn’t much to say about today other than it all went smoothly … for once.

Breakfast in the hotel and then with our bags already packed we signed out and walked down the hill to catch a bus. And that’s where I saw The Beast. It’s a Ryker Trike with either a 600cc or 900cc engine and the meanest looking accessories you’re likely to see anywhere. I saw it first on Monday when we were climbing the hill to the hotel, but I wanted a few more shots of it today when I knew we had time in hand. Time in hand, yes. Money in hand for a 900cc trike? I think not. With prices starting at £10,000 plus delivery, it’s a bit out of my league, but it is a smart looking piece of kit. We walked on.

Found the place the Ember buses call home and waited for our bus to arrive. It didn’t take long and after the driver had done his visual check to make sure there were no fivers stuck in the seats, he allowed us on. Now we knew the routine. Scamp went first and scanned her phone then her card. I just needed to scan my card and a few minutes later we were on our way. Another comfortable journey and were dropped at Cumbersheugh bus stance where an X3 filled the space the Ember 3 had just vacated. That got us home and the sun was still shining.

Scamp walked down to the shops to get dinner which was a strange concoction of Hasselback Potatoes with rosemary, Masala spiced chicken breast and Peas, Courgettes and Leeks. All cooked in the oven except the greens which were done in the microwave. I don’t think I liked the veg, but I can’t say why. Scamp said it was ‘alright’ but her chicken was tough. Maybe we’ll get back to auld claes and purrich tomorrow and we’ll feel better for it.

We did go dancing tonight in Kirsty’s class, but it was all a bit of a shambles. Too many folk who hadn’t practised since last week’s class (and I include myself in that group), trying to dance on a floor that was far too small. It was a disaster waiting to happen that turned, instead, into a shambles. I must try to put this Tango together before next week and that will mean practising.

PoD was The Beast. Just a dream for me, but for some lucky individual, a bike to turn heads!

That was it for the end of the belated birthday present. A really good three days away in a place we haven’t been to in a long while.

Tomorrow I’m out in the morning to go to Larky to get my eyes tested.