Category: Driving

Out to lunch – 3 April 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Today Scamp and Shona met Isobel for a chat and a coffee. I stayed out of the way!

I met Scamp and Shona for lunch just after midday, at a new restaurant in Cumbersheugh, Bellissimo.
Scamp had Mussels for a starter and Seabass with Lemon sauce and mixed veg.
Shona had Italian Meatballs as a starter, with a main of Pollo Milanese.
My starter was Seasoned chicken strips in batter and my main was Penne Arrabiata.
All in all, a good meal although the food was slow in coming. We’d give it another shot, especially as our old faithful, Brodens is now gone.
We dropped Shona off at the Lidl store in the north of the town and then we drove home.

I took my Sony 24-105mm lens and the A7c out for a walk later in the afternoon. Gusty winds made photographing difficult, but not impossible. One of my favourite shots, a Horse Chestnut leaf just about to burst open, got PoD. It was another cold day and that gusty wind didn’t help.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go to Edinburgh, but there have been a lot of high wind warnings in place, so we’ll check the weather before we make any rash decisions tomorrow morning.

Dancin’ and School Ties – 2 April 2026

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Strange mixture.

Today started with a bit of shopping. Quite a large bit of shopping too, but it was all basic foodstuffs … boring. We had a cup of coffee when we got home and realised we had about 15min to get ready for our afternoon out in Glenburn for today’s Tea Dance.

After a frantic scrabble, we headed off to this Paisley offshoot and arrived just in time. It was the usual format of mainly ballroom dances in the first half and sequence dances in the second half. We usually leave about half an hour early to avoid the schools coming out and clogging up the roads with little darlings who are picked up by doting aunts, uncles, grans etc, because the poor things can’t walk long distances. It was different in my day. We had to walk to school and back again. It toughened you up etc, etc …
Anyway, the weans would be out and enjoying themselves when we left at the end of the dances.

The drive home was much swifter than it usually is. I’ve a plan for the fastest way to get to Glenburn and a different route for returning. It might seem daft, but it does work, for me at least.

I took a camera and lens out for a walk in St Mo’s when we got home and got a photo of a school tie hanging from a lamp post. I don’t know what the scribbles on the tie were, but just to be safe, I removed some of the writing.

We’re hoping to go to have coffee with Isobel and Shona tomorrow and maybe a quick lunch afterwards. If everything works out, of course. Storm ‘Dave’ looks as if it’s going to show up at the weekend. Let’s hope it’s not as violent as the weather fairies are predicting.

Dancin’ – 28 March 2026

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We drove to Brookfield for today’s lesson.

We drove through rain and hail to get to Brookfield for today’s lesson which was less than scintillating. To much recapping of dances we’d done before. Nothing at all that was new. I felt it was disappointing and a lot of treading water, meaning that for the second dance we’ve had, it was a bit underwhelming. I didn’t enjoy it.

I enjoyed the drive back home, even less. It seems that every time we drive to or from Brookfield, the route is slightly different. Different road layouts and longer queues. I gave up in the end and went via the Clyde Tunnel. At least you are driving between 30 and 40mph for most of the way and there are traffic lights to ensure that you get your chance to get on to the M8 at the end. Driving over the Kingston Bridge is a lottery. Some days the traffic flows slowly, but it does flow. Other days it’s just a car park with the occasional chance to move forward by a car’s length. I hate driving on a Saturday!

We did get back home in about an hour which is quite good for a Saturday when there’s football on. After that, I fell asleep on the couch, so don’t ask me who won, or even who were playing! I was just glad to be off the main road,

I went for a walk in the late afternoon and managed to get some photos of some Salmonberry flowers near the outfall at St Mo’s. I know I’ve photographed them before, but they are pretty little flowers and deserve a place in the sun, and there was sun today.

Dinner tonight was home made Fish & Chips. Two lovely big slices of haddock fried in batter with homemade chips. We watched the Japanese F1 GP while we had dinner. Not as exciting as the previous ones, but Suzuka is a scary looking race track. Today was the qualifying race, hopefully the race tomorrow will be just as exciting.

No real plans for tomorrow. If we can avoid the rain we may go for a walk.

An early start – 25 March 2026

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We had a lot to fit in today and we stared with Tesco.

Out shopping fairly early in the morning is a great way to start the day. There were few shoppers around and the queues at the tills were easily managed. Maybe it was because, from the outside, it looked as if Tesco was closed. Red barriers everywhere and a less than obvious entrance to the shop. That’s not the way to encourage folk to come to your shop. If you keep making it look as if it’s closed, it soon will be … for good!

Scamp wasn’t to be put off by a few red barriers, she just marched in, grabbed a trolley and started to fill it with today’s essentials. It took far less time than it usually does and soon we were back home again.

We had some things to do in the afternoon, so with no further ado, we got in the car and typed in the post code of the address we were heading for and then the sat nav produced a selection of possible places. Unfortunately none of them were in Scotland and in fact one was in America. I had filled the Blue Car’s tank just last week, but I didn’t think we’d have enough to drive to the US. Two tries later and we were on the right road to Hamilton in Scotland.

About three hours later we were on our way back home again, having found the three places we needed to visit.

Tonight we watched another episode of Masterchef. It’s beginning to wane for me now. I think I’m full of cheffy talk and don’t want to hear another jus, roux, confit, and sous-vide. I just want Mince ’n’ Tatties, pleeeese!

Today’s PoD was a bunch of red roses. Simple and clear.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to take a camera (or two) and meet Alex in Glasgow for a wander.

Fannyside – 22 March 2026

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I went out this morning to see if anyone had reasonably priced petrol.

Only one set of pumps had anything less than144.9p and it was a pump that I’d never used before with very few cars at it, so I stuck toe the tried and tested Tesco one at an extortionate 144.9p. How to these companies get away with selling the fuel they’ve had in their tanks for weeks at such a markup?

Anyway, I bit the bullet, filled the tank and drove over to Fannyside on the road to Slamannan and I drove at 50mph, just to make sure I got the best value for my money.

When I left home, the weather was cool with a gentle breeze, but by the time I got to Fannyside it was blowing a Hoolie and the temperature had dropped significantly. Still, I’d come to get some photos looking across the wild land and I knew I’d get some good landscapes. As it happened, it wasn’t the landscape that grabbed my attention, it was an old gnarled bush covered in bright yellow lichen. I got a few shots of the bush and also some decent landscapes and cloudscapes. Fannyside rarely lets you down. There is always something interesting to record and I’d forgotten all about the price of the petrol that took me there.

With some decent photos in the bag, I drove home to a lovely smell of stew in the kitchen. Dinner was going to be Stew with carrots, potatoes and cauliflower. Scamp had made it, not me. I can make stew, but not to the same level as Scamp’s. She had a stew made from barley and lentils and the same veg as I had.

We spoke to Jamie in the evening and gave him the full version of our trip to speak to Scamp’s consultant during the week. We also confirmed our dates for the next visit to Scotland and heard about their discussion with Andrew.

Watched a tedious Death in Paradise and then half an ancient Simon & Garfunkel concert that brightened the day and had us both singing along. We’re halfway through the concert and hopefully will see the rest tomorrow.

PoD was that yellow lichen.

No great plans for tomorrow, but we are hoping to get a bit of dancing practise.

Dancin’ & Traffic again – 21 March 2026

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This morning we drove to Brookfield for the usual Saturday dance class.

The traffic was a bit busier than normal, but we made good time on the way and weren’t the last ones to arrive.

It was a morning for remembering old, almost forgotten routines. First the Catherine Waltz. A fairly easy and gentle waltz routine with no need for either of the teachers to make it more ‘interesting’ or more difficult.

Next it was a quickstep, not a named one, but a do-it-yourself one where you just dance, keeping mainly to time and fitting in the occasional additional routine in where you can.

Next was the Vogue Waltz which is bit more complicated than the Catherine Waltz, but still easily doable, as we demonstrated. That is what Tea Dances are good at. It’s the repetition that hammers the routines into your brain and makes sure you will remember them.

Next was the Charnwood Cha-Cha. Another easily remembered routine with a few tricky changes in it, but nothing to worry about.

To finish we danced two sequence dances: Midnight Jive and Square Tango.

It was quite a dull lesson, more a refresher than anything else. We knew a lot of the dances because we’re often at the Tea Dances and have the steps embedded in our memory. Scamp thinks the reason of the teachers hammering in old favourites is because the “class week out” to Calpé in a few weeks and the teachers want us to put on a good show. I think they are just lazy and can’t be bothered writing new dances!

The drive home was almost as bad as last week. Trying to squeeze three lanes of traffic into two lanes. Any primary school child will tell you Three into two won’t go! Or they would have if they were in my school. Barely three quarters of an hour to get to Brookfield, almost an hour and a half to get back home. Roll on May when the roadworks will (allegedly) be completed.

PoD today went to Prunus incisa ‘Mikinori. A large shrub with pink buds that turn to white flowers, later.

No plans for tomorrow as yet.

The man who worked in the garden – 20 March 2026

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Today I was that man.

In the morning Scamp was out at FitSteps. I stayed at home because I’d promised to fix the upstairs front windows that screeched when you opened them. Some lithium grease and a shot or two of WD 40 sorted that and now they open easily, or at least better than they did.

It was in the afternoon that we started work on the front garden. Scamp did most of the work. She directed operations and told me the names of the plants and flowers she was working with. I was the labourer. I did some riddling of the coarse earth that came from last year’s potato bags and shovelled it into tubs that needed more of a covering. Scamp pruned the stragglers in the Berberis pots. We both inspected the plants that were beginning to show their heads and Scamp watered some plants. She actually watered plants because they needed the moisture. Last week we were complaining about the amount of water that was falling from the sky. Today the earth was dry(ish). How things change in a week.

For some reason I wasn’t all that bothered with taking photos, but about 5pm we were both feeling that it might be a good idea to walk over to Condorrat to get a couple of fish suppers. That way, nobody had to cook. I actually walked over without a jacket. That gives you some idea how warm it was. While I was out, I took some photos of the gorse bushes which are a lovely warm colour. Sharp thorns, but bright yellow flowers.

We watched the final of Landscape Artist 2026 and were disappointed that the Scottish person didn’t win. Why must the English always win?

Tomorrow I expect we’ll be going dancing. I’m not looking forward to the long drive home, though.

 

 

 

Chatelherault – 19 March 2026

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Out early, well … early for me on a bright Thursday morning. I was going to meet my brother for a short photo walk. I’d been warned that I had to be back in Cumbersheugh by 3pm or I’d turn into a pumpkin. I’ve been a pumpkin before and I didn’t want to repeat the experience.

I met Alex at his house and we drove over to Chatelherault and went for out usual coffee. It gives us a chance to catch up on what the other has been doing in the last week or two. The rainy weather we’d both been through recently meant that neither of us had been doing much photography, and for me at least, it was mostly indoors photography which sometimes gives me the chance to try something new, but can also be a drag. Today we agreed on a walk over the Duke’s Brig.

We’d hardly started when we both spotted a robin sitting on a fence post next to the path we were following. It was a cheeky wee bird that kept hopping along the fence as we followed it. I got a few decent shots of it and one in particular with the robin against a sparkly bokeh background became the PoD. I’ll admit that it was close run thing with a grab shot I got of two Corgies getting their photos taken, but the robin won.

We walked over the bridge and on to the Cadzow Oaks. Some eejits had started a fire at the base of the 500+ years old trees, but someone with sense had put out the fire before it could take hold. I sometimes wonder at the mentality of these people.

I was being careful and made sure I had enough time to drop Alex off at his house and leave myself enough time to get back home by 3pm, but not before we had another coffee (for me) and a juice (for Alex). We agreed that we’d try to get out again next week.

Drove back to Cumbersheugh and picked up Scamp and we drove over to Coatbridge for a meeting with her specialist who took us through Scamp’s recent meeting with the Dundee team and checked her for changes to her Essential Tremor. There had been some changes, but only slight.

Tomorrow, Scamp is hoping to go to FitSteps as usual on a Friday. Me? I may tidy up my room, but only maybe!

A walk in the park – 18 March 2026

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A long lie in after yesterday’s late night drive.

A relaxing morning was called for to recover from yesterday’s drive home from Larky. It was a lovely morning. Blue skies and light cloud. It seemed a shame not to get out in it, even if was still a bit wet underfoot. Scamp was tidying up, but also searching for signs of new growth in the pots and troughs around the back garden. For my part I got a spade and a garden fork and turned over the soil and old veg in the compost bin. The quality of compost in the bin was surprisingly good for once.
We both lifted old leeks from a couple of pots too. After they had been washed, Scamp shared them with John and Carly next door. Both of them had fed us with soup over the winter and this would hopefully be a suitable ’Thank You’.

After a light lunch Scamp suggested we go for a walk round Drumpellier Loch. I thought it was a great idea. In fact it was such a warm afternoon, for the first time in ages I walked round the woodland without my big orange Rab jacket and it really did feel like spring. On the way back to the car, we wandered round the Peace Garden in the park where Scamp wanted to see the flowers. I didn’t think there would be anything to see this early in the year, but she proved me wrong. Lots of wee pockets of flowers all around the garden. We found a monument to peach in the Peace Garden and that made PoD.
We even managed to have an ice cream cone each with raspberry on it. Real raspberry like we used to get from the ice cream van!

Back home, I unloaded the photos I’d taken, but Scamp wasn’t finished yet. She found lots more tubs to investigate and hauled a pail full of weeds out as she was going with her wee hooked digger tool.

I made dinner tonight and it was Pasta Carbonara. It’s ages since I made it, but this one was almost perfect. Maybe I could have added more cheese, but only a little amount.

We watched the first episode of AI Confidential on BBC2. I’m not sure what to make of it. Bits were surreal, but also the true story behind it made me think again. I think I’ll watch episode 2 if I get a chance. It’s thought provoking. Also it made a change from Masterchef which is becoming boring for me now. Scamp would probably disagree!

Tomorrow I’m intending to meet Alex for a short walk in Chatelherault in the morning, but I need to be back to take Scamp to see her consultant later in the afternoon.

 

A belated blog post – 17 March 2026

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A wet day and a late night.

Scamp had Calendula to drop off at Isobel’s in the morning, so we drove down to the village, and handed them over. Stopped off at M&S on the way home looking for some fruit, but as usual there were none to be seen. Why is it that the smaller Tesco and M&S outlets hardly ever carry a full stock of the fruit and veg, while the larger shops have a glut of them and are selling them off as yellow ticket, almost out of date, items? Surely it’s not beyond the wit of the providers to provide! We drove home without the fruit and veg we’d stopped for.

In the afternoon, and after lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s while Scamp stayed at home. A bunch of mushrooms at the side of the path through the trees caught my eye and in a short dry spell, I managed to get a few shots them for a PoD. Back home I did a bit of research and the outcome was that they were likely to be related to the Ink Cap family. So said Google and who was I to argue.

We were off in the evening for dinner with Crawford and Nancy in Larky. The rain had returned as a constant drizzle that is more annoying than full force rain. The wipers never really settle down to be intermittent of on full in that kind of weather, but we arrived in Larky at about our predicted time

A lovely dinner and a good blether with discussions of holidays, cruises and aches and pains. We’re off that age now when these things are important! We left just before midnight and were cruising along nicely when we saw that our exit from the motorway was closed, presumably for roadworks. Not to worry, we’d the sat nav on and we’d just pick it up at the next exit, except, it too was closed. After a lot of missed exits and more road closures, Scamp finally found a route through the east end of Glasgow and we emerged onto the M73 and back home just before 1am. Cup of tea and off to bed. Glad that drive was over.

Tomorrow, we’ll have a long lie in.