Category: clouds

Reflections on a wet day – 25 October 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Two days being terrorised by 70mph winds and torrential rain. Have they gone now or are they waiting to ambush us tomorrow?

Yesterday I was hardly past the door. Threatening messages from the Met Office every ten minutes on my phone with warnings of rain of biblical proportions. Yes, there was a lot of rain and there was a lot of noise from the wind too, but come on folks, get a grip!

Today, I thought I’d risk the waterlogged St Mo’s to get a couple of photos late in the afternoon, after a day of 70 mph gusts and torrential rain. Then, when I dug out my camera at an interesting subject, I discovered I didn’t have an SD card in the camera. I was considering heading home, then remembered I could get a decent image from my iPhone. That’s what I did. I took half a dozen photos in the park and then headed for home. From now on, I’m going to carry an SD card, even a small capacity one, in my pocket for an emergency like this from now on! When I got home I was quite pleasantly surprised by the quality my little iPhone produced and I didn’t even take my camera out of my pocket.

The greatest problem I had was the conversion of the photos from HEIC to JPG. After reading a few instructions online, I worked out how to do the conversion without too much trouble.

Although the main thrust of Storm Boelo is gone, that doesn’t mean we are in the clear. There will be more storms waiting in the wings, so we really DO need to heed the weather fairies, but whether the Met Office will be on my Christmas list, I’ll have to wait and see.

Spoke to Jamie in the evening and heard about him having to let some of the water from his water butts go, because he reckons he has enough for now. I can understand why!

We have no real plans for tomorrow, but will keep a weather eye on the clouds.

Another warm day – 30 July 2026

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Scamp was taking Shona to have a tooth removed. Rather her than me

I took some time to myself and read a few more chapters of my latest book, The Midnight Train by Matt Haig. Strange book, but I’m only about a quarter way through it. I want to find out where it goes, but am not in a hurry.

When Scamp returned she started a conversation with Jackie and not wishing to earwig, I put on my rain jacket and put three new windscreen wipers on the blue car. What a difference that made. Wish I’d dine it weeks an ago. With that done, I drove up to my favourite photography spot to get some wild sky photos. It was quite cool up on the moors, but I did get a few photos I liked.

I drove home and after I’d been brought up to speed with Jackie’s comings and goings and Murdo’s possible need for a new cataract op Scamp made dinner. Salmon, Potatoes and Corn on the Cob. Very nice, I really enjoyed the salmon slice, Scamp.

Tomorrow I’m booked for my annual checkup and as usual, I’m not really looking forward to it. At least it’s going to be in my usual place and not in the main surgery.

We are hoping the wildfire down near Dunwich burns out soon, or the wind changes direction.

PoD went to a landscape that brightened up my day.

Oh yes, and Shona did get her tooth out without too much trouble.

 

At The Fort – 26 November 2024

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We drove to The Fort today. Our main aim can’t be divulged yet, but it was partly successful.

Scamp messaged Hazy in the morning to see how here mouth was. The reply was that she “slept ok. Her face was a bit swollen, but not too sore.” We were both glad to hear that.

We drove home via Tesco to get some veg for dinner and a carton of milk. Such an exciting day. Then it was home for lunch. First I was reminded that we need the boiler serviced, so I phoned the local heating engineers and got an appointment for the middle of December. Another thing  to tick off the ToDo list.

After lunch Scamp was intending to phone Jackie, so I put my boots on and went over to St Mo’s on a cold but sunny day to get some photos with the 16-35mm lens on the A7iii. One of them became PoD. I liked the colour of the light and the low viewpoint that had me crawling along the boardwalk. I thought the council plan to cut channels into the reedbeds and the marshy areas was going to be a disaster, but after a couple of years they have become a haven for ducks and the occasional swan. Also they are sheltered from the wind and create great reflections. For once I say “well done” to the council.

By the time I got back, the telephone conversation had finished and it was time to chop up the veg to make Butternut Squash Soup which would be the main course of tonight’s dinner. Scamp made custard that went so well with the apple tart of a couple of days ago.

We watched the final of The Great British Bakeoff. I got the winner totally wrong, but I think Scamp backed the right horse.

A quick practise of the new Quickstep that we’re hoping to unveil on Thursday at a tea dance. Still a few rough edges to remove, but effectively it’s there.

We may go shopping tomorrow and hopefully there will be enough for a quorum at the British Legion for the last waltz of the year!

Bert’s gone – 25 November 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Bert was still bumbling around this morning, but by afternoon we’d seen the last of him. Off to colder climes.

Just the usual Monday morning. Solved Wordle, but only by the skin of my teeth and then found the Pangram. Not so successful with Angry Birds. Scamp also waltzed through Wordle and the Pangram, then Gummy Drop. My what children we are behind our adult masks.

I parcelled up a USB stick for Jackie and Jaki, then scribbled a note to each and it was a scribble. My handwriting really is so bad that I can’t read it myself at times. Printing I can do no problem, but joined up writing just evades me. By then, Bert was was calming down, gathering his bits and pieces a lumbering off to annoy some Norwegian folk instead of us. That begs the question; Where do these weather systems go after they’ve annoyed us for a couple of days? Is there a home somewhere for forgotten winds? Maybe there is somewhere where they can be wound up again and sent off to annoy more folk in other countries. Anyway, it was lunch time. Sad wee cold meat sandwich for me and a banana on toast for Scamp. Not exactly haute cuisine, but it filled a wee space.

Suitably refreshed, I drove up to Tesco to post the parcels and to get some odds and ends for dinner tonight. Just as I was leaving I bumped into Fred who had a couple of books for me. I’d been carrying some books for him in the boot of the car for a couple of weeks, but, of course, I’d emptied the boot last week. I’ll put the bag of books back in the car tomorrow in the hopes I bump into Fred again soon.

PoD was a grab shot. As I was driving home I could see an interesting sunset forming over Broadwood Loch and just managed to get a few photos of it on my phone.

Just as I got into the house I got a message from Hazy to say that the dentists had removed her bothersome tooth, but they are not allowed to give her the old tooth. How are children these days going to put their extracted teeth under the pillow if the NHS are determined to rob them of those teeth they’ve had for years. I suspect a plan by the dentists to put all those stolen teeth under their own pillows and claim all the shiny pennies for themselves. It was a clever plan, but I’m on the case now!

A calm has descended over Cumbersheugh, now that Bert has gone. I hope he finds somewhere nice to land in Norway.

Tomorrow we may be going shopping. Possibly looking for wool in The Fort.

 

That was a hot one – 14 August 2024

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We’d intended getting the train to Edinburgh today, but waking late put the skids under that plan.

Instead of Edinburgh, we went shopping in Tesco. I’d a pile of books to give to Fred, because I often meet him in Tesco, but today, when I was prepared, Fred wasn’t there. Still, we did get a few things we needed and I got a Ginsters, half of which would provide my lunch.

After lunch Scamp was pruning bits off the big rowan tree at the back of the garden. She was complaining that the branches were hanging down over the pedestrian path. Then she mentioned that a bush that separates our next door neighbour from us was also becoming a bit of a nuisance and should be trimmed. I said I’d do that one and used a block of Imperial Leather soap to lubricate my old trusty panel saw and had the offending trunks and branches cut down in no time. Then we stripped the branches from the big trunks and heavier branches and piled them into one of our expanding nylon bins before chopping up the trunks and heavy branches. I volunteered to take them over to the council skips and empty the bin there. This must be pruning time, because the enormous skips were full of tree branches.

One of the reasons I volunteered was to give me a chance to get some landscape photos up at Fannyside Moor, and that’s where I headed once the chopped up tree and bush branches had been disposed of. It really was a lovely day. Blue skies and fluffy clouds with just enough of a gentle breeze to keep me cool. I did get a few landscapes and also some macro shots too, although I didn’t have a true macro lens with me.

After I came home I wasn’t feeling too good. Too much sun without a hat to provide some shade and probably not enough water as well. Scamp is always telling me I don’t drink enough water and she’s probably right. A rest outside, reading WITH a hat on let the worst of it disappear.

Scamp was making a fish curry for dinner using a Spice Tailor mix or one of its offshoots and while it wasn’t all that spicy, it had good flavour and the fish was delicious in it.

Last night we watched the first Mastermind of the new season and tonight we watched the first University Challenge. Both great standbys and so much better than Eastenders or River City. One is depressing and the other is just a packet of fairytales.

PoD turned out to be thistles entangled in barbed wire with a nice sky.

Tomorrow I’m intending taking the car in to Glasgow for its MOT, meeting Alex and hopefully bringing the car back home tomorrow night. That’s the outline plan anyway.

 

Heading North – 30 August 2023

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Both of us heading north, just not together

Scamp was going to Pitlochry with the rest of the witches on the bus and I was driving to Perth to get coffee, tea, lunch and Coltsfoot Rock. The only place I know I can get the rock is in a wee herbalist shop in Perth.

It was a fairly pleasant run up until I reached the roadworks. The works have been advertised for sometime, but were describes as being at Broxden. I assumed they were at Broxden roundabout. Not so, they were for a long stretch of the road before the roundabout and in actual fact, the roundabout was clear of any an all works. It was a 30mph speed limit on the single carriage way through the roadworks and the person in front, whoever they were was holding exactly to the speed limit. I’m guessing they were running on cruise control. It didn’t bother me because I wasn’t in a rush.

Parked at the multi-storey where we park when we’re going to the dance weekends and took too heavy bags of books to the Oxfam shop. Next stop was the coffee shop for beans and tea, then over to Nero for lunch which was a roll ’n’ sausage and a cup of decent coffee. Final task was to get the Coltsfoot rock and thankfully the shop had plenty. With that done, I managed to sneak in to the 1 hour parking category and happily paid my £1.49! At the coffee shop I’d made enquiries of the best way to drive to Kinnoull Hill which I thought I might just conquer in the afternoon.

I found the road up the hill using the directions one of the girls in the shop had given me and parked in a convenient parking place. It was a steep climb and I then realised that my troubled cycling the other day hadn’t been an isolated incident. This hill just got steeper and steeper and soon I had to stop to take a breath. That gave me a chance to check how far I’d walked and how much further I had to go. The answer was depressing. Surely I must be further on than that? But no. The OS map on my phone confirmed what Mr Google said and I’d a long way to climb yet. I thought I could remember driving along what turned out to be a private road with Scamp and both of us walking through some woods to the viewpoint. This was nothing like that path. Eventually I gave up and walked back in the direction of the car. I did find some brambles though. Nice big black fruit that’s now taking up 100g worth of space in the freezer. Back at the car I followed my nose and found my way back through Perth town onto the notorious A9 and after driving through two torrential showers, arrived back home. Conquer Kinnoull Hill in an afternoon? Who was I kidding!

I stopped in Condorrat for 500g of mince and 500g of stew. I vacuum packed the stew and half of the mince to put in the freezer. The remaining mince I turned into a bolognese sauce an ate half of it with spaghetti for dinner.

Not long after that I got the call to say that Scamp and Co were leaving Stirling and I drove up through the rain to pick them up.

It seemed that there wasn’t much to see in Pitlochry, however they had a posh lunch and enjoyed the walk around the town, window shopping. My lunch was basic, but was what I was looking for and I’d ticked off all my boxes apart from climbing Kinnoull Hill. Ill leave that for another day when I’m fitter, or more likely when I find that road we drove up the last time!

No real plans for tomorrow. The wee car is feeling a bit thirsty, so I might put some petrol in its tank.

Out in the country – 12 July 2023

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Scamp went out this morning to meet Annette.

Her parting shot as she left the house was “I’ve got my key”, but she hadn’t. She phoned to say she’d left her key in the house. I said not to worry because I’d be at home for a while because I was entering into what felt like a long text conversation with someone in America trying to solve the saga of Google’s need for SPF which stands for Sender Policy Framework, but you probably knew that already, didn’t you. As it happened, my connection got reset and I didn’t really have the time or energy to restart it. Instead I phoned Scamp to say I’d drive up to the restaurant and hand her the key. I was going that way anyway because I’d had my fill with computer techy stuff for the day. I’d already struggled with the rather overbearing IONOS for half an hour and got nowhere at the end of it. The previous domain manager,1&1, was so much easier to work with.

It was another lovely morning, but as I was leaving to drop off Scamp’s key, there was a definite dampness in the air. By the time I got to the restaurant it was raining and by the time I has driving away it was pelting down. I was heading for Fannyside Moor. My quiet place. It was still raining when I got to the parking space beside the Scots Pines but I didn’t mind sitting in the car for a while until the rain blew away. It didn’t take long and the sun was coming out drying out the road. I walked along the road for a stretch looking for a chrysalis I’d seen the last time I’d been there, but it was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps the moth or butterfly inside had performed its transformation and flown away. I hoped it had.
The breeze was driving the clouds around the sky. That’s why this area is so interesting, the colours and shadows on the land change constantly and there are very few buildings to get in the way. I saw a tiny little ladybird, probably about 4mm diameter, but wrong lens, too slow to spot it and didn’t get the shot. I watched the swallows or swifts (I’m not a bird spotter, so I can’t tell the difference) flying low over the ground. Traditionally a sign that bad weather is on the cards. I headed home before I got caught in another downpour.

Scamp had just returned when I got home and we compared our day. Then I decided I’d pot up some strawberries from an old broken hanging basket that wasn’t hanging anymore. I managed to get four of them planted in the top of the terracotta strawberry planter. The last one is now in the raised bed which I think is full.

PoD was a landscape shot looking south over Fannyside Moor.

No plans for tomorrow.

Some said how alarming – 23 April 2023

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… and some said how funny. An alarm call at 3pm. Just testing, they said.

There wasn’t much to say about today. It was a usual Sunday. We walked down to the shops and got the makings of lunch, milk and a bag of donuts. Donuts because it was Sunday if you need a reason.

After lunch I was doodling on the computer trying out a new toy Adobe had added to Lightroom and not told anyone. It was very clever. I’m sure you’re not at all interested, so I won’t waste your time. However, at 2.59 precisely according to my computer the most awful racket started. Of course, it was our early warning that the world is going to end or the SNP have spent half a million pounds on a waste paper basket, or something equally unlikely. The testing of the system. Thank goodness it only lasted for ten seconds. Total waste of money and time.

Later I went out looking for a pedestal to box in the pipes behind the wash hand basin in the downstairs toilet. I thought I might get one in B&Q, but couldn’t see any. I asked the assistant at the bathroom section and she searched the B&Q website, but there were none available online. I could have got one in Screwfix, but they close at 4pm on a Sunday and what time was it on my phone when I looked? That’s right, 4pm! I might try them tomorrow.

I left the search until tomorrow and headed out for some peace and quiet up at Fannyside. Beautiful light on the road across the moor and I managed to grab a few photos of the new line of windmills on a ridge one by Airdrie. PoD went to favourite view of mine between two stands of Scots Pines, looking over to the Campsies in the distance with a beautiful cloudscape overhead. It’s nice to just see it rather than fake it.

Dinner tonight was Jersey Royal potatoes and Broccoli with a Tuna steak for Scamp and Lamb burgers for me. Pudding was Meringue with Whipped Cream, Raspberries and Blueberries. Looked good and tasted even better.

Spoke to Jamie later and it seems that they have had a gardening week just like us. Nothing to report on both ends of the conversation, which is good.

Watched another two episodes of Magpie Murders. Confusing and enthralling at the same time. Thank you Alex for that.

I don’t think we have any plans for tomorrow at this time.

 

Homeward Bound – 23 February 2023

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Took some photos of “Our Tree”, the big palm tree outside our balcony after breakfast.

Dragged our suitcases down to reception, got our ‘All Inclusive’ bands cut off and waited for our taxi which arrived early.

Quiet drive back to the airport. Different driver, no talk of Cuba or Salsa clubs. We were going home. Silence sometimes is golden!

PoD was a photo taken from the aircraft window of Mount Teide poking its nose through the clouds.

Collected our luggage at the other end and drove home. What more can you say about the end of a holiday.

A dull day – 14 February 2023

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Not a lot to say about today other than I got my hair cut at last.

I had intended to cut my hair myself with help from Scamp for the bits I can’t reach or see, but things got in the way and instead I earmarked today for the great shearing.

Scamp was staying in to meet up with Annette, so I drove to the station and left the car there and got the train in. So much easier and less stressful than driving in to Glasgow when the schools are on February holiday. Unfortunately, the train was full of Grans and Granpas with loads of weans, trying to keep them amused for the three extra days they’re on holiday – the weans that is, not the grandparents. They’re on duty every day, it seems. Glad we’re not in that subset of humanity. Also, and even more unfortunately, I’d left my earbuds at home. Noisy weans and no ear defenders is no fun for anyone.

For once there was a queue for the barbers, but I didn’t need to wait long before the Big Grumpy Guy invited me to take a seat. He’s cut my hair the last twice I’ve been in The Nile Barber’s. The last twice he’s been fine, the first time he just grumped all the time. His style is a bit rough and ready, but he’s quick and very little chat, which suits me.

With that done I walked up to JL to get some stuff for Scamp and while I was there I had a spot of lunch in the cafe. Lovely chunk of sourdough bread stuffed with tomatoes, peppers, roast broccoli and pickled cucumber. Strange mixture but it tasted fine. That and a cup of coffee that tasted of coffee, which is a bonus.

Took a walk down Buchanan Street and was heading for HMV to see if they had cheap cordless earbuds or an adapter for the S22+ and got sidetracked walked back along towards Waterstones before I remembered I didn’t have a voucher for another ‘real’ book. Decided to cut my losses and come home.

As the train slowed into Croy I could see I could see the layer effect of mist on the Campsie Fells, but by the time I got to my favourite place to photograph it the mist was receding but the sky had added a new dimension to the scene. You lose some, you win some. Actually that’s a lie. The mist was receding, but the sky was featureless, so I pasted in one of my own and that looked more like the view I’d seen from the train.

Came home to Mac ’n’ Cheese ’n’ Bacon. Delicious, especially with a blob of Fruity Brown Sauce! Thank you Scamp.

Today’s prompt was The Green Card. We don’t have Green Cards in the UK, at least not yet. So I thought I’d try an alternative solution, as I usually do.  Three playing cards, all aces (it’s an unwritten compositional rule that you should always have an odd number of objects. It just works) then I invented the Green Card, the Ace of Shamrocks. A lucky card. The Ace of Shamrocks trumps all. Why not? I wasn’t going to attempt to sketch Gérard Depardieu or Andie MacDowell and as I’ve never watched the film, I couldn’t select a scene from it. This is more fun. I like inventing things.

Tomorrow we’re both going to be busy all day with lots of little things to remember.