Category: Driving

Dancin’ – 16 April 2026

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Back to Glenburn this afternoon to get some exercise, dancing.

Before that, I went for a walk in St Mo’s just in case I wouldn’t have time to grab any photos before we left for Glenburn and I was quite happy with my little collection of flowers and plants. A fair amount of sun to make things bright and cheerful. I even managed to get my PoD which is a Horse Chestnut candelabra just opening up to expose the flower buds.

I had been allowed 45 minutes to get to St Mo’s, grab my photos and get back in time for a quick lunch and an even quicker change before we made our way over to the outskirts of Paisley. I made it just in time with a few seconds before the cutoff time.

The hall was only about half full when we got to Glenburn, but gradually the cars arrived and the hall ended up almost as busy as it usually is. The usual mix of Ballroom, Jive and Latin in the first half, then in the second half it was almost all sequence. Since the schools were still on holiday, it was safe for us to take advantage and dance for almost all the available time. If we’re running a bit late and the schools are open, our journey home takes much longer with parents ferrying their little darlings home.

Dinner was from M&S and was Scottish salmon all butter en croute. It was remarkably good. I think we may have it again some time

We watched an illuminating episode of Grayson Perry interviewing folk about their adventures with AI in America. It really did make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. What are these folk thinking about? Do they live in a different universe from us? One woman claimed she had married her AI ‘boy friend’. The more I hear about AI, the less I want to hear.

Note to self: Thursday Prezzy was a box of grapes, which were deemed to be great!

We watched the final of The Apprentice and agreed that the best woman won. There were no men in the final!

Tomorrow I may be meeting Charlie McKillop for a beer or two and a catch up. Steven may be there too.

Meeting Isobel – 14 April 2026

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Scamp and I met Isobel for coffee in the morning and it was a lovely morning.

Blue skies and fluffy white clouds. What’s not to like. I had a cup of coffee with the ladies and listened to the stories Isobel was telling. I’d forgotten that she is well travelled in South America and further afield before she and her husband settled down in Scotland. She must have been a bit of an adventurer when she was younger.

Eventually she had teased enough information from us both and was ready to go back home, so we bundled her walker into the back seat of the wee Blue car and squeezed Scamp in beside it. Then we drove over to The Village and left her to make her own way up to her house. She wouldn’t hear of either of us helping her, she is so adamant that she can manage for herself, and I actually believe she can.

We drove home via M&S to get something for our lunch and we challenged ourselves in Wordle. I thought it was a goner when I realised there wasn’t a vowel in the grid! I suppose that’s not really true because there was a ‘Y’ in it and that sometimes takes the place of a vowel. Still, it was a strange grid that eventually formed although it was a common enough word that appeared.

After Wordle and its extras, and after lunch I was toying with the idea of going for a walk in St Mo’s, but then Scamp told me it was raining. I didn’t want to get the 24-105mm lens wet so I gave in eventually and took a few shots from the open back door. I also took the inside shot you can see here. It’s a couple of dried cut flowers in an old vase I like from the cupboard. That was the PoD sorted.

We watched a film Scamp had recorded about the dangers of allowing AI to control what’s happening in hospitals. Although it was based on situations in the US, it could possibly get a toe hold here too. Very thought provoking.

Tomorrow I may get my hair cut. It’s not quite a ‘Pure Affro’ yet, but it’s heading in that direction. While my locks are being shorn, Scamp ma be looking for a new pair of sandals. Then, if there’s enough time, she might buy herself a pair of dance shoes.

Garden Flowers and shopping – 13 April 2026

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Too many showers to risk going out anywhere  to take photos.

Instead we drove to Stirling to do some shopping. On the way there, we passed a few warning signs of imminent road closures beginning today. No reason given, but I’m sure it would be “Essential Maintenance”, it always is. Three months of this on the M80 was what we were told we’d have to look forward to. Oh what fun.

When we turned off to go into Stirling town we had to suffer more roadworks. Thankfully we were, going IN to Stirling. The queue on the other side of the road coming out of the town was much, much longer. I think we’ll try to avoid Stirling for a few months.

We got parked in Waitrose car park quite easily for a change and we filled our trolley nearly to overflowing, but not quite. As usual we bought lots more stuff than we really need, but it’s a comfortable place to “go for the messages in”. Our small Tesco doesn’t have a great selection and if we go to the big Tesco at the town centre it’s always mobbed. Anyway, we got what we wanted and drove home by avoiding the Three Way Traffic Signals and instead drove through the outskirts of Stirling, heading roughly north and then joined the southbound carriageway of the M80 and got home in half the time. Wild weather again with heavy rain. It didn’t feel like April at all.

The rain was on and off most of the rest of the day. I did manage to get a few shots when the sun was shining and my favourite was a deep purple Hellebore called Viv Mirabella. It has been flowering all through the winter and into spring without showing any signs of stopping any time soon.

Not much to say about the rest of the day. We went to Stirling. We went for the messages. It rained. There, that about sums up Monday for us.

Dancin’ – 11 April 2026

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Today we drove to Brookfield after I’d spent about £1,000 on half a tank of petrol!

Well, it certainly felt like £1,000 when I was half filling the tank. However, we were passing through the Straits of Glasgow where your speed is limited to 40mph for quite a few miles. We managed to avoid most of the potholes and all of the mines. The 40mph restriction kept the fuel usage fairly low, but I wouldn’t want to drive like that all the way every day.

Again, we weren’t the last folk to arrive at Brookfield, although we were among those who were given the evil eye by the Teachers.

The order of dance was:

House of Bamboo – A 1958 song by Andy Williams. Just a bit of fun.

Britannia Waltz – A waltz made up by the teachers that I haven’t mastered yet.

Tango Sereda – A tango, obviously, that we’ve both almost managed to get working for us.

Quickstep – A quickstep that I don’t think I’ll ever master. It seems to change every week!

Blue Angel Rumba – I’m getting there, but it requires pushes and shoves by Scamp to remind me of the steps.

Sally Ann Cha-Cha – A silly wee dance where the leaders get a chance to shout “O!” at the end of each sequence with the option to high-five anyone nearby.

An energetic morning for all concerned.

As usual there were new roadworks on the way home with neither workmen or vehicles to be seen. Talked a good game but no work being done. Time wasters, all.

I did take a walk in St Mo’s in the late afternoon after Wordle et al had been conquered.

Scamp made dinner tonight, a prawn risotto. Long time since I’ve had it and it was a nice surprise.

Something is still wrong with the SSL in Namecheap. I’ll need to find out what tomorrow. More time wasted.

Off to bed now. No real plans for tomorrow.

Out to lunch – 3 April 2026

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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.