Category: Dancing

Morning came too quickly – 12 March 2022

Posted on by Zogman

I didn’t think I’d been to sleep when I woke at 7am.

I don’t know what woke me, but I wish it hadn’t. We didn’t need to go out until about 10:15am and I knew it would be difficult to get back to sleep, but I did.

Up, breakfasted, showered and dressed, we were ready for the drive to Bridge of Weir for the first dance class and a drive in torrential rain. It seemed to come in waves. Probably because we were heading west and that’s the direction the clouds were rolling in from, so it heavy rain then light rain then heavy again. Not the most pleasant drive, but the dance class, while taxing was interesting. Catching up with a waltz that I have no recollection of, but Scamp has. Then a Cha-Cha that was new for everyone and was also quite complicated. A few sequence dances added to the mix and leavened the lesson. There was a lot of surplus food available to be taken away free of charge and we did make good use of it.

More torrential rain on the way home, but the weather seemed to have kept folk from going out, because the roads were much quieter than they have been. That is, until we arrived at the Kingston Bridge where the usual traffic jams started. The secret seems to be to get into the outside lane before you reach the bridge and just keep plodding along. The outside lane almost always runs the quickest, although, perhaps ‘quickest’ is probably not the best description.

Back home and after lunch partly made from the goodies we’d picked up, Scamp went for a walk to the shops to get a chicken for tonight’s dinner. I stayed home and started on yesterday’s blog.

When she came home, not too heavily laden, I walked over to St Mo’s where I did take some frog photos, but where PoD turned out to be a bunch of crocuses growing wild.

A rum ’n’ coke for Scamp and a whisky for me while I finished off yesterday’s blog and started today’s after dinner is leading to an early(ish) night.

Tomorrow, after three busy days on the trot, we have no plans.

Dancing’ – 10 March 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Today we were back dancing in Paisley.

I expected them to, at least, have some bunting out and maybe even some Scottish flags to celebrate the return of Sheila. What did we get? We got told off for “just waltzing in at any time”. Admittedly it was said tongue in cheek, but where were the balloons and streamers?

In the morning we spoke to Hazy for a while and found out how painful it is to to have a pain reducing patch ripped off, removing some skin in the process. Apparently Neil will be able to walk again once he’s out of traction.

After speaking to Hazy, I reckoned I had enough time to go on a frog hunt in St Mo’s. It is usually about the first or second week in March they arrive for a few all night parties with a bit of hanky panky, leaving great rafts of spawn clogging up the shallows of the ponds. Today was one of those days, and the frogs and a few toads too were congregating happily splashing through the water and playing leapfrog, at least that’s what it looked like. I got a few photos of the celebrations, some of which will be posted on Frog Porn later tonight. One particularly smug looking individual made it to PoD.

I’d just enough time after getting the photos to get home for a quick bite to eat before we were off to Paisley to the first Tea Dance in ages. It was a fairly reduced affair with a lot of the regulars having called off due to a resurgence of Covid. That left a bit more room for us to stagger around making more mistakes than we were getting right. I think a lot more practise needs to be done before the next one. Having said that, we did get up for almost every dance we knew how to do and even some of the old hands were having difficulty getting their old feet to find the proper steps in the correct order. Next time we’ll be better.

We left early, and again found that the traffic was much lighter with that 30minute difference. Of course everything snarled as we neared the Kingston Bridge, but that’s just inevitable. It would have been much worse if we had waited until the end of the dance.

No plans really for tomorrow apart from, perhaps, a visit to Larky later.

 

A Day in the Toon – 4 February 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Today we drove in to Glasgow.  Just for a wander round the shops and maybe a spot of lunch.

Halfway along the M80 I thought we’d made a terrible mistake.  We were driving into a blizzard.  It started out as sleet, then turned to snow for a while before fading away as if it had never been, and there was sunshine and a beautiful blue sky again.  Parked at Buchanan Galleries and had a quick look in JL where there wasn’t anything interesting for me, but there was a bargain for Scamp.  I’m not going to say that she went there knowing that bargain was available, but I think the visit to the shop was partly stage managed,

Walked down Bucky Street and got some photos on the way.  I’d taken the little A6000 with me today because I think walking around all day on Tuesday had caused the ache in my back.  So it was one small camera and one small lens. Actually the combination was very effective and netted me about 50 photos, most of them perfectly exposed and sharp.

Lunch was at The Cup, the place Alex and I had had lunch in.  It was much busier than Tuesday, but that’s to be expected on a Friday.  Food wasn’t quite as good and the coffee was terrible.  A bit weak and too sharp.  Maybe we were just unlucky or maybe Alex and I were lucky last Friday.  I used one of my Covid vouchers in Waterstones and got two Denise Mina books that had been on my wanted list.  I felt I got them for free, because I wasn’t using real money, just a voucher.  Tried a pair of Merrill trainers, but the fit just wasn’t right.  Girl in the shop seemed a bit put out that I didn’t just buy them without trying them on.  Sorry dear, auld guys don’t do that.

Drove home through more rain and sleet and when we got to the house another blizzard blew in.  What a day!  More snow and sleet due  for tomorrow.  However the teachers are off taking dance classes on a cruise ship for two weeks, so no early rises and no driving through that awful traffic on the way home.  We will miss the exercise though.

PoD went to a photo of Buchanan Street subway again.  If you’re reading this Alex, it was taken just after 1.15pm!  Just as you predicted.

Today’s prompt was Little Red Corvette which meant Prince, of course and again, not one of my favourite singers, however I had listened to the song a few times in the past and had a fair idea what he was singing about. Although a lot of the references meant nothing to an old Scots guy, I did work out what the Trojan horses and the jockeys references meant. Basically it was beautifully sung filth. I may listen to more of his music now with a different ear!

No plans for tomorrow apart from a lazy morning.

Driving through the wild wind – 29 January 2022

Posted on by Zogman

To go dancing!

It had been a wild night. Gale force winds and even stronger gusts. Unabashed, we got ready and drove to Bridge of Weir. Actually, apart from some buffeting on the M80, the drive was fairly incident free.

First dance today was Tina Tango which we both kinda knew. Kinda being the important word, but we blundered our way through, as did most of the class. Next was the new Rumba which now has the name Rumba Romantica. Some bits we’d been practising, some not. To be honest, we’d been practising the complicated stuff like the Alternative Sliding Doors (don’t ask) and the Circular Hip Twist which is as complicated as it sounds for the lady, but for the man is simply walking backwards. As always, these parts were adequately covered by the teachers, it was the links between them that caused most of the problems and also the fact that Jane had re-choreographed the Circular Hip Twist to make it ‘easier’, but it was almost impossible to practise on a carpet at home. We got through it all and learned more techniques than we’ll ever need to use.

We though that was us finished with the new stuff, but there was more in store. ‘Baby Waltz’ came next. It was a completely new waltz that I’ve filmed, watched and still have no clue about. Why, I ask myself, do I put myself through this every Saturday morning when I could be lying in bed reading a book? The answer is: Because it forces your brain to do something other that photography. Also because you learn stuff like how to maintain a ‘frame’ without twisting your neck or having your shoulders ache for the rest of the day. Thankfully a Midnight Jive or two brought today’s session to a close.
I can’t say I enjoy these dance classes, but I do learn things and some of it actually ‘sticks’.

We drove home along the M74 rather than crawl along the M8, although both these routes seemed to be eased by the majority of the Glasgow bound motorists choosing to go through the Clyde Tunnel, rather than go the normal route. Something to do with Batgirl which is turning Glasgow into a 1960’s Gotham City. We’ll never know. We took the road less travelled and went home via the M74/M73.

I took a walk over to the shops by way of St Mo’s looking for some decent light and finding it for once. PoD was a picture of a couple of yellow flowers on a Whin bush, or Gorse bush if you prefer, against a background of out of focus trees. Very arty and really quite good, I thought.

Watched a weird documentary about Andy Worhol who was actually born Worhola. Who knew? Hard do follow, but filled in a few explanations for bits I never knew. Watched through the lens of a glass of wine (or two), a bottle of beer and a glass of whisky, it made perfect sense. But then, most things do.

More wind and probably rain predicted for tomorrow. An anniversary of sorts, the important one, but not the official one. Celebrations necessary, none the less.

 

Dancin’ – 27 January 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Out photographing in the morning sun, dancing in the afternoon and fish ’n’ chips for dinner. Does life get any better than this?

I knew that most of the afternoon would be taken up with driving and dancing, neither of which I mind, but it was a lovely clear day and probably the only good day we’ve had for at least a week. The only way out of this and out in the fresh air was to go early, and that’s what I did.

I only had an hour or so out in the wilds of St Mo’s, but the light was good and bits and pieces of colour are appearing now. Green shoots are appearing, maybe a bit early, but the trees are preparing next years greenery already. However, it wasn’t the greenery or the trees that made PoD it was an alien looking landscape that was moss fruiting bodies in the morning light.

Back home, a quick lunch and we were off to Paisley, Sunny Paisley today. Still the same convoluted traffic system with a multitude of traffic lights. But we got there, a little later than anticipated, but we got seats too, although we didn’t sit on them much. I think the longest I was sitting was when the tea was served and when they played two line dances (if you can call ‘Waltz across Texas’ a dance. It’s more a walk around the floor with a grumpy face) back to back. The rest of the time we were on the floor for a waltz, every sequence dance, tango, salsa. Basically, you name it, we danced it. Some better than others, some for less than a minute before we admitted we didn’t know what we were meant to be doing.

We’d agreed that we would leave half an hour early today to try to avoid the worst of the traffic going through Paisley town centre. It worked. That half hour early must have cut at least an hour off the drive home.

I went for a walk to the shops when we got back, well, it is Thursday and traditions must be upheld. I didn’t take a camera with me because I was sure I’d enough in the bag from the morning walk, and so it turned out. It was a pity in a way, because there was a glorious sunset, all reds and golds.  Came home to the smell of home made Fish ‘n’ Chips.  Definitely the best fish and chips I’ve had for months.  Scamp’s expertise again.

Tomorrow doesn’t look anywhere like as good as today with wind, and rain forecast. If we manage to get out for a walk we’ll be lucky. Have a good flight home, Jamie.

 

 

Dull and cold – 26 January 2022

Posted on by Zogman

With a bit of a breeze starting up later.

Out shopping in the morning. Just a normal Tesco run with Scamp using one of our vouchers and splitting the proceeds between us and the charity box. I think that’s fair. It’s what we said we’d do back when we started the Covid survey and she sticks quite well to that promise. Me, I don’t always remember, in fact I don’t Often remember. Must just do it one of these days. Soon. This month even.

Scamp bought a plain loaf as part of our purchases and as I had a square sausage in the freezer, my lunch was sorted. I can’t remember what Scamp had, I was concentrating all my culinary skills trying to make sure the sausage was cooked through but not burnt to a crisp. I’d eaten most of it as I was walking in to the living room. Just the crusts left when I sat down. That’s a measure of how good it was. Not good for you, but lovely and flavoursome. I must stop using ‘Tasty’ as my go-to word for things that I like eating!

Dinner tonight was going to be Chicken Curry the easy way. One of the great things about having a daily blog is reading what we did a year ago. It’s open to everyone, it sits at the bottom of the right hand column, at least on a ‘puter it is anyway. Today’s recipe came from two years ago on the 21st January 2020 when the world was young! I’m not going to go through the whole recipe, it’s there on the 21/1/2020 page of the blog. It’s the simplest and best tasting (see, I’m not using that ’T’ word) chicken curry I’ve made. There’s almost nothing in it apart from chicken, spices and tomatoes. I made the best flatbread ever to go with it too. The secret is in the prep, believe me.

I gave myself an hour in St Mo’s and that’s when I found out just how cold it was. Even wrapped up in my Bergy it was cold. PoD was four cygnets swanning around in the pond. They didn’t seem to mind the cold, but then they’ve got all that down to keep them warm.

Short practise tonight just to make sure we can make a decent fist of the new Rumba routine in its entirety because we’re hopefully going to the first tea dance for ages, tomorrow in Paisley.

The weather fairies say tomorrow is going to be a good day, so I’m intending going for a walk round St Mo’s in the morning to get some photos in the sunshine. Hope you’re getting some sunshine in NYC Jamie. Looks cold though, we’ve got nowhere near negative numbers here. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

An early rise and a Munky – 22 January 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Up and out to go dancing again.

Drove through one of those mornings of strange light, with bright clear skies on one side and dark, heavy clouds on the other. Two Worlds we called it and that’s what it felt like driving out to Brookfield.

We were first to arrive, so we sat in the car and wondered what Stewart and Jane had in store for us today. The answer came soon enough when they pulled up and we all filed into the hall. First one was an easy Mambo Marina. Just a little bit of fluff to get us on our feet, then it was back into the Rumba which Jane had changed again, much to Scamp’s chagrin, she’d changed the part that she, Scamp, had struggled with and finally solved. Jane thought her new version was easier for most people, but quietly Scamp muttered that she didn’t think so. It didn’t matter to me. I couldn’t quite remember the first version and I certainly couldn’t do the new version. I thought I was doing well to remember the Mambo Marina!

We struggled our way through the Rumba and then finished off the class with a couple of fairly simple sequence dances. ‘Simple’ as in most of the class could do them, but not all at the right time. It was good to try the Vogue Waltz again. We’d first learned it at the Perth dance last year and it had been a bit of a favourite for both of us. Scamp because she thought it was elegant and me because I didn’t make too many mistakes.

We headed home through a bit brighter landscape with most of the black clouds gone, but as we neared Cumbersheugh it just grew darker and darker and I realised I wouldn’t be taking many outside photos today, if any.

I had initiated one of those awkward ‘chat’ sessions yesterday with someone called Martin at WEX, the company I’d bought the Sony A7iii from. Sometimes when I switched off the camera, I could feel the shutter closing then re-opening. I’d never had this happed on any other cameras I’ve had (and I’ve had a few). He said he’d look into the problem for me, but I thought it was just a brush off. However I got an email from him before we went out this morning, explaining that he’d consulted with Sony and it was actually a sensor cleaning procedure that happens occasionally. I’d mulled this over during the day and couldn’t quite understand why the shutter in the camera would have anything to do with sensor cleaning. So today I went to see if anyone on the InterWeb could verify his findings. It was only after I’d rephrased the question a couple of times that I got what might be the answer. It’s not sensor cleaning, it’s a procedure called sensor mapping or pixel mapping. I won’t annoy Jamie by going into the details, but apparently it’s an automatic procedure in a few Sony cameras, mine included. So it looks like ‘Martin’ might have been on the right track, but got diverted onto a different path!

I spent what was left of the afternoon playing catch-up with yesterday’s blog because the lighting was just so poor as to make outside photography a pointless exercise, then I remembered the Munky The munky had featured in a few tabletop shots in the past, then the big guy sort of lost his head, literally. The other day when I was dusting a bookcase (yes, Scamp has trained me to do simple housework), I found a box with lots of minifig accessories. Amongst which was the lost Munky head. I thought a little tabletop jungle shot might be appropriate to celebrate. So, here I present today’s PoD which is Munky restored to his previous glory, along with Mini Munky.

Tomorrow we have no plans and the weather doesn’t look much better than today.

Up early again! – 11 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Hopefully for the last time this for a while.

We were off again to drive to the dance class in Bridge or Weir or near there anyway in heavy rain. Halfway to Glasgow we saw the sign: “Accident after Junction 15”. Oh dear, just two weeks before Christmas so, everyone would be heading into town and someone makes a bad decision that causes everyone behind to slow down and eventually stop. Hopefully nobody got hurt, just a bit of bruised pride and a few hundred quids worth of damage that insurance would take care of … for a fee. A fee that would show itself on next year’s car insurance. As it turned out, with a bit of judicious lane changing we still made it to class with about five minutes to spare. We saw no sign of an accident after Junction 15, so there probably had been a bump but the walking wounded had been escorted off the road and what we had to deal with was the aftermath clogging the road.

Today started with a Saunter Together. A simple wander around the floor where we made more mistakes than we’ve made for ages. I put it down to both our heads being full of what had been happening during the week and also of what was to come. Next was the Rumba. There had been quite call-offs today, and Jane said she thought it wasn’t so much the weather that was putting folk off, it was the Rumba. She might be right. It’s not that it’s totally unknown to us, we can do more than half of it without thinking, it’s the bit after that with its complicated Circular Hip Twists and Alternative Sliding Doors. Where do they get these names from? The final bit that seemed to floor everybody but us is really an old salsa move called Sombrero Doble and we can do that no problem. We finished up with the bit of fun that’s called the Christmas Pudding Rock with its ear worm track: I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas. Then it was back to the racetrack for the run home.

We made good time until we were well past the usual blockade of cars queueing for the Braehead exit or poaching, driving slowly in lane two then trying to squeeze into the real exit lane. We even managed to pass blockade two where the world and his wife decide at the last minute to cross two busy lanes to get on to the M74 exit. It was just after that when all three remaining lanes came to a standstill. The annoying CITRAC signs were flashing their 40mph warnings. I think we were lucky if we were doing the 4mph from there for the five miles to reach our turn off onto the M80. All of this was in drizzle, rain and waves of manky water being splashed up by cars on the opposite carriageway. Thankfully the weather improved after we left the M8 and we managed a normal run home from there.

I still hadn’t really taken any photos with the new lens, but finally I got to use it for an indoor shot of some of Scamp’s Alstromeria flowers and it was one of them that made PoD, although it wasn’t actually taken with the 55-210mm tele lens, but with the macro instead. The daylight at 2pm was so poor we had the house lights on.

At about 6pm we got ready and left for Larky for dinner Crawford & Nancy’s, via Tesco to pick up a bunch of flowers and a bottle of Prosecco for Nancy. She should have been getting a different Christmas prezzy, but NEXT didn’t manage to deliver it on Friday when it was supposed to arrive. I blame Covid and failing that, Boris.

Dinner was lavish as usual. It’s nice to have dinner that neither of us has made, just for a change. We sat and got the benefit of their log burner and were entertained by their black labrador rolling around on the rug fighting with a dog chew. He really is the lankiest labrador I’ve ever seen. Eventually we left just before midnight and drove along an almost deserted motorway for a change. It’s a delight to drive at night sometimes.

Tomorrow I’m hoping for a lie-in after three hectic days of early rises. That and some sunshine, or am I asking for too much there?

Dancin’ Class – 4 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

“Hooray!” Said Scamp.

This morning we drove through sleet and rain all the way over to Brookfield for the Saturday morning dance class. We got a rousing reception from Stewart and Jane. Maybe that was partly because there were only a few of us dancers there, five couples in total, not counting the teachers. We started with a couple of sequence dance tracks to get us warmed up, then it was into the Christmas Pudding Rock. I was glad of yesterday’s teaching session from Scamp and even with that it took me a few dances to get into the swing of it.

Next was the Rumba. What we’d started calling the Lockdown Rumba, but this was a more polished version of that dance and it had also been lengthened too with some tricky steps, mainly aimed at the ladies, thankfully. We made not a bad fist of it all in all, but with lots of phone videos to fall back on, I’m sure an hour of so’s practise at home will help us put it all together for next week. We finished off with another sequence dance and we were done for today. It’s not often I say this about dance class, but I did enjoy today.

Drove home through traffic that was just a little worse than our usual return journey. Weather was poor again, but I think the Christmas ‘run to the shops at the weekend’ has begun in earnest now. However with a bit of judicious lane changing we managed to get back in about an hour.

After lunch, the light was disappearing fast, if it had appeared at all. I gave up any hope of getting an outside photo today, then Scamp commented that there was a lovely break in the clouds, over to the west. I knew I didn’t have time to kit up and go looking for that light, so I had a look out the back bedroom window and that’s where today’s PoD came from. It’s a four frame panorama of the Campsie Fells bathed in the light from the ‘golden hour’. It only lasted about fifteen minutes and it was gone, but the photos recorded it.

Dinner was Sweet Potato, Chilli Flakes and Lime soup. It was a bit thin, but tasted fine, if a little spicy. More in the pot for tomorrow. Scamp had made Sultana Cake yesterday and pudding was that cake with custard. Just a Saturday night dinner.

Watched an interesting Dubai GP. Lots of thrills and spills. Driving like it should be without too much politics.

I think the iMac has just finished backing up to an external SSD drive. I’ll be interested to see how fast it boots from that.

We have no plans for tomorrow but I hope it’s a bit warmer than today when the temperature rose to a magnificent 5ºc.

Feeding the Jucks – 3 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Feeding the jucks with the wrong food, apparently.

It was a lazy start to the day. Not really cold, dull and cloudy with the occasional burst of sunshine. Not enough sunshine and not really warm enough to encourage me to leave the comfort of the house though. It wasn’t until after lunch that I took that step. Scamp wasn’t really interested in going for a walk, and I didn’t blame her.

The temperature was cooling down when I finally took the steps that led me outside. Toting both cameras again. A6000 with the macro lens and A7m2 with the standard lens for a change. I also had a loaf of green speckled bread under my arm to feed the ever hungry ducks and swans. That was my first task, to feed those hungry beaks.

A great way to start a food fight is to chuck a slice of bread into St Mo’s pond. Gulls, ducks, swans, coots and geese all diving in as if they’d never been fed for weeks. More like minutes, actually. With all the bread gone and the big daddy swan hissing his discontent at me, I emptied all the crumbs from the paper and went on my way.

I met a bloke who told me I shouldn’t really be feeding the birds with bread, because it’s not good for them. He wasn’t quite as confrontational as that, nor was he as blunt, but I got his message. I asked him what I should be giving them and he replied, sweetcorn. Apparently the enjoy sweetcorn and it’s good for them. Easily digested, he said. Then we discussed the age of the swans and how they live in different ponds, the same way we go visiting relatives and friends in other parts of the country. He did seem to know a fair bit about them and was happy to share his knowledge without making a nuisance of himself.

While I was walking round the pond thinking about what he’d said, I spotted some Canada geese in one of the quieter and deeper parts of the pond. Canada geese sometimes overwinter at the pond, but get a hard time from the resident two swans who are forever hustling them about. I took a few photos with the 6000 and the birds didn’t immediately fly away. In fact they swam a bit closer. I took some more shots with the A7 and the sun came out, lighting the trees on the far side of the pond. Potential PoD in the bag.

I was heading for the rough ground behind the pond hoping for a similar shot to yesterday’s with the low sun giving some warm light. I was much too early, probably an hour too early. I did get an interesting shot with decent light of a single cow parsley stem holding water drops in its claw-like seed heads. Another possible PoD.

After processing at home it was the geese that won the day, but the cow parsley shot is in Flickr for your perusal. Not a bad day’s photography, and a bit of information on feeding the swans stored away.

Dinner tonight was Chicken Biriyani. Spicy hot and not really a great taste. Apparently it can do some damage to your liver too. Don’t think we’ll be eating enough of it to do that much damage.

Tomorrow we may be going to dance class. To that end, Scamp and I had a quick practise of the Christmas Pudding Rock. Just a made up Christmas sequence dance. A bit of fun. Other than that, not much planned.