Category: Driving

Dancin’ – 14 May 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Looking for windscreen wipers unsuccessfully this morning.

I was out fairly early and drove over to Halfords for a pair of much needed windscreen wipers. “Yes sir, we have that size in stock”. First problem was that their tablet that allows you to check the wipers if you know your reg number wasn’t working. That meant I had to work through all the wiper boxes only to find that one I needed was empty. “Ah, I think we have one in the back shop.” He didn’t. His boss appeared and looked at the empty rack and then tried raking through the boxes on either side of it to no avail. “We do have this stainless steel version. It’s blah blah blah …” I asked him what the price difference was and he said with a smile “It’s twice the price of the one you’re looking for, but it’s stainless steel.” I didn’t buy it, nor did I buy the other two blades they did have. Moral: Don’t buy from Halfords!

Drove home and had just enough time for a banana sandwich before driving to Glenburn for a very empty looking Tea Dance hoping it wouldn’t rain! Apparently, some of the regulars were on child minding duty and some were on holiday. A few folk did trickle in after the first dance was called and eventually the floor filled up. Stewart played his usual selection of merry melodies and Scamp and I managed to struggle through the sequence dances. We left a bit early to avoid the worst of the queues from schools finishing and also from office workers leaving early.

I had intended going out for a walk after we got home, but those scattered showers the weather fairies keep talking about were upon us again, so today’s PoD was a Rhododendron called “Golden Torch” from the garden, an old favourite.

Don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow. Maybe looking for windscreen wipers (not Stainless Steel ones!)

 

Out for a walk – 13 May 2026

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Today we picked up Shona and took her to Helix Park to see the Kelpies.

It was an awful day for a walk. Torrential rain with lightning, hailstones and sleet. All within about fifteen minutes. It did clear up, but only so the weather could get its breath back before the next deluge drifted in. We decided that would be a good time to grab a seat in the cafe and avoid the next shower. One Mac ’n’ Cheese for each of the ladies while I had a pretty tasteless large Sausage Roll.

Once our lunch was over and we were sure the worst of the weather was past, we went for a walk round the Kelpies. I think it was the first time they had met Shona and they seemed to approve of her visit. We had walked almost to the furthest north part of the park when the heavy rain drove us to shelter under the bridge that crosses an offshoot of the canal. Not the most comfortable place, noisy and with a cold wind blowing through it, but at least it was dry.

After a while the winds wound themselves down and lo and behold, the sun shone from a blue sky and the weather remained like that for most of the rest of the day. We walked over the canal outlet and down the other side of the canal to get a different view of the Kelpies. Once we’d seen everything that interested us we drove back to Cumbersheugh in the rain that had decided it wanted to splash us again. We dropped Shona off at her house and drove home. I completely forgot that I was going to treat the Blue car to a new set of windscreen wiper blades. That’s now been relegated to tomorrow morning.

PoD went to a clutch of cygnets with their mums and dads, out for a swim. All, that is, all except the couple who were sheltering on their mum’s back. You might not be able to see them from the photo, but I swear they are there. I also got a clear photo of a Grey Heron. Truly a birdwatcher’s day out.

Happy Birthday, Neil. I hope you had a good one!

Maybe we might just manage a trip to Glenburn tomorrow for a tea dance.

One of those days … – 12 May 2026

Posted on by Zogman

… when you feel your feet are spinning and you’re getting nowhere. That was today.

In the morning, I drove over to Larky to pick up my new computer glasses. They weren’t high tech ones, just much more comfortable for working on laptops and desktops without being too close or too far away. Goldilocks glasses, in other words. That was the morning dealt with.

Next was a quick lunch followed then a change of clothes into something more suitable, to drive over to the funeral parlour. We wanted to listen to what the the funeral arranger had to say. Neither Scamp nor I had much to add to the discussion, we were just there for Shona. When we came away an hour later we had a much better idea of what was going to happen.

To allow everyone to talk about the decisions that were made, we went for a cup of tea in a local pub. That allowed us to breath more easily and to compare all our thoughts on the last hour. There is so much to discuss and so many questions. I’m sure we’ll have even more in the coming weeks. The funeral arranger had been very good and didn’t pressurise anyone into making a hasty decision, which was good.

After the discussion group broke up, two driving to Warrington, one going home and us returning to ‘the real world’ and heading to Tesco for The Messages!

Back home, it was my turn to make the dinner which was to be Cod and Prawns with Fennel and White Wine. It sounds very grand, but is a fairly easy dinner to make as long as you plan well ahead, which I rarely do.

PoD today was a flower by the wayside.

Now I’m intending to do two sketches (one for yesterday and one for today) and finish the blog. Wish me luck.

Panic Stations! – 9 May 2026

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The car was the problem today. Two tyres looking scuffed and a bit sad.

Shona was ready to go back to her house. She had ordered a taxi which was useful because I didn’t trust one of my badly worn front tyres. I drove to Kwik Fit one of the few garages open today in the town and booked the car in for a repair. Thankfully I got a slot at 12.30pm. That meant I had to tell Scamp to cancel today’s dance class which I’m sure was a big disappointment to her, but I felt I needed to get the tyre problem solved. If it had been a fifteen minute drive to the class it was doable, but a forty five minute drive was a different prospect.

Drove back to the house and struggled with Wordle to take my mind off the vehicle problems. Time dragged, but I made use of that time by photographing a heart-shaped moth hanging upside down on our front window, that became PoD. I guessed that might be my only free slot today, and I was right. Just after midday I drove the Blue car down to the garage and waited there for a diagnose of the problem. The near-side tyre, I already knew was a goner. The off-side one was slightly better, but not by much, so I agreed with the mechanic’s estimate of two front tyres and an alignment check. After an hour and a half the car was on the road after it got two new tyres and a pass on the alignment after some adjustments. It felt better to drive right away, but that might just have been relief that I had a car again that I was confident wouldn’t fall apart on me.

Came home for a late lunch and relaxed a bit. Then Scamp wanted to get dressed for our invitation to Moira’s birthday party and of course I went too. She did look great in her new dress and I totally forgot to tell her. What an idiot I am at times. It was a great afternoon and I took my camera to record some of the carry on that was happening. Sat talking to Moira’s husband, comparing album covers and books we were reading and watching the ladies (The Witches) dancing in the Silent Disco. I listened to the ‘music’, but I’m not a dancer as anyone will tell you. Lots of stories told. Lots more were manufactured on the day. I was glad I was driving and didn’t have the temptation to drink. Once glass of 0.0 % cider and absolutely delicious strawberry tarts followed by slices of pizza with a lot of blethering was the order of the day.

We finally said our thanks and drove home. I think the party might still be going on now, but it doesn’t matter, because we enjoyed ourselves. Thank you Moira and Jim.

We have no plans for tomorrow, but I’d like another strawberry tart!

Walking in Chatelherault – 8 May 2026

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Today I met Alex for a walk in Chatelherault.

I sat and talked with Alex and Carol, going over what had been happening in the last two weeks. I answered as many questions as I could and managed to get the timelines straightened out … I think.

After that we drove to Chatelherault, parked and went for the traditional coffee in the wee cafe. We walked down to the Duke’s Bridge and over the Avon Water then through the Cadzow Oaks, our usual wander, then Alex suggested we walk on to the Green Bridge. As far as I could remember, it was a fairly long road with a lot of climbs and steep slides down down the other sides, but it was a lovely day and we were just wandering and blethering. Then when I tried to find where we were, the iPhone couldn’t find us, neither could the GPS in the camera and we decided we’d just walk back. I think both of us were wishing we’d left the big warm jackets in the car.

Back at the cafe we had another coffee break and a moan about the state of the world then we walked back to the car and home.

Dropped Alex off at his house and got an easy run home to ours. Scamp, meantime had talked Shona into staying at our house tonight, just to have some company at this busy time. Still lots going on.

It was a Golden Bowl for dinner. The two ladies seemed happy with their food, but I thought mine was a bit dull and the meat was tasteless. Maybe it was a new chef. We would give it another try.

We watched “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” after dinner. I think it must have been a Christmas film we had recorded. Scamp and I both knew most of the punchlines, but Shona, being of a different generation thought it was a great laugh.

PoD went to a Beech Nut I’d picked up on the Duke’s Bridge. I also managed to splash some paint on a watercolour page to keep me up to date in EDiM.

Hoping to drive to Brookfield tomorrow for the first dance class in ages.

In Larky for the day – 7 May 2026

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I was driving over to Larky today to get my eyes tested.

It’s an annual eye test and the results from it were fairly satisfactory. A little bit of change in my eyes, but nothing I needed to worry about. I’ve been going to Euan for years now and to his father before him. It’s a family business and that’s one of the reasons we keep going back.

After I came out into the sunlight, I wished I’d brought my sunglasses. It’s the one thing I always forget when I go for an eye test. Luckily Scamp was on hand to drive us up to Crawford and Nancy’s for coffee and cake. Imogen was there too, but was happier to go and watch cartoons on tv than to stay and listen to the adults droning on. We sat and discussed C&N’s recent cruise, and Yes, I envied them. They had intended to go to Cyprus and had almost finalised the cruise when Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu decided to mess things up. Luckily Crawford managed to get a change of destination … just in case!

After catching up we drove back to Cumbersheugh for what turned out to be dinner. The first Paella I’ve made for a long time. Maybe the first one this year! It actually tasted a whole lot better than I thought it would and there were no left-overs once we were finished

PoD was a grab shot of a collection of Pansies that had self-seeded from last year’s flowers. A lot of them had been chewed by something small and with sharp teeth, probably a hungry insect.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet Alex for a blether and maybe a spot of lunch.

A busy day – 6May 2026

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A sad day too

Scamp was out at the dentist in the morning for her six month checkup then after a quick lunch we drove over to Falkirk for the funeral of a friend and workmate who had passed away recently. She met a couple of work colleagues after the service, but didn’t stay for the tea afterwards. Instead we drove home and dropped another of her colleagues off near her home. When we got home, there was a box of flowers on our doorstep from my brother. What a thoughtful thing to do on a day like today.

The sun had been shining all day and it didn’t let us down in the late afternoon. I went for a walk with a couple of lenses in my new bag. Just a walk over to St Mo’s, not expecting much. Then I spotted a wee fly sitting on top of a wild iris spike, and after three or four shots I had a potential PoD.

I walked over the hill and through the trees on a path that would take me to the new(ish) retail park. Brought back a few things including an enormous slab pizza. I had my doubts about it at a knock-down price, but it was actually a lovely soft dinner. I’d buy one again.

Back home I sketched a fairly representative single decker bus, the prompt being “A means of public transportation.” A nice easy sketch, especially if there is no paint involved. That is planned for next week!

Tomorrow I’m off to see the optician for my annual checkup. Well, if Scamp can survive the dentist’s probing, surely I can manage to find time for the optician.

Covid Jag – 5 May 2026

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Drove over to Muirhead to get my Covid booster.

I wasn’t looking forward to it, but in the end it was quite painless.

While I was in Muirhead I thought I might drop in to Collins the butcher in the town and came home with a big bag of meat, fish and a bag of potato scones, plus a Cornish Pastie which halved would make a decent lunch with enough left over to cover tomorrow, hopefully.

After lunch, Scamp started to cut the back grass. It was getting a bit like a jungle and you never knew what might be lurking in the long grass, so all the grass got a short back and sides. While Scamp was religiously cleaning the mower, I plugged the strimmer into the power box and began cutting carefully around the crocuses that hadn’t flowered this year. That should give them time to wilt away naturally and improve the quality of the bulbs underground. A few folk scratched their heads and wondered what I was doing, but I think it will work. We will wait and see.

After the strimmer and the mower were deemed clean enough to be put away, I went for a walk over St Mo’s. I was toting a 70-180mm Tamron lens with a backup of my 24-105mm Sony lens. Both were used. Not a lot to see, but PoD was a bunch of Marsh Marigolds pushing their heads through a field of Water Horsetails.

I’ve started working on my sketches of EDiM (Every Day in May) and actually enjoying it. I may strip down the old computer and start painting for a change. It’s a long time since I did any painting.

Dinner tonight was Cabbage with Potatoes and Bacon. The veg was fine, but the bacon was a bit strange tasting. I’m not sure I like it.

Tomorrow we’re intending going to the funeral of one of Scamp’s old friends from work.

May the Fourth be with you – 4 May 2026

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We went shopping.

We needed a fair bit of shopping, because, like Old Mother Hubbard, our cupboard was looking rather bare. A quick visit to Tesco and a few quid changing hands soon put a stop to the potential starvation.

It was a pleasantly warm day, with plenty of sunshine so I took the opportunity to go out for a walk in St Mo’s and grab some photos. I’d been using my trusty Sony A7iii for a while, but today I gave it a rest and took the A7c with me instead.

It looked at first sight as if there was very little to photograph, then a few wee Wolf Spiders popped out of the breaks in the boardwalk and I thought I’d get a few shots of these arachnids. I’d forgotten just how quick these hunting spiders were, except when the females are carrying their egg sacks on their backs. The egg sacks slow them down enough to grab a few shots, but the ones I saw today were mainly males which don’t carry the eggs. However, I did manage to get a few shots. I wondered what any passers by would make of me crawling on all fours taking photos!

With a few shots in the bag I walked back home for a quick lunch and a chance to check my photos. As usual, there were more shots going into the bin than were kept.

Scamp and I drove over to Shona’s house to see how the task of emptying Paul’s house was going. Margaret and Caroline had begun to work on the downstairs rooms but had time to sort through the hundreds of photos dating back to June’s marriage to Tommy. I took some phone photos and hopefully I’ll manage to clean them up and enlarge some of the better ones. Just over an hour later we were heading home for a light dinner and a chance to watch Gardeners’ World.

Tomorrow I’ve an appointment at the clinic in Muirhead to get my summer Covid jag. Oh what fun.

Rainy Day – 2 May 2026

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Off the leash today.

Scamp was off with the rest of the ‘Witches’, exploring the sights of Liverpool. She was due back home in the early evening, so I had a chance to get some photos and maybe even read for a while.

I finally got the first of my EDiM sketches completed to my satisfaction and after a bit of jiggery pokery, found out how I’d put them online two years ago. It wasn’t nearly as complicated as I thought it would be, mainly because the Facebook app I was using did all the hard work for me. One done and another to go.

It was one of those days when the weather didn’t seem to know what to do with itself. Rain one minute and beautiful sunshine the next. I did get a few photos in the garden, but they were quite poor.

Later in the day, I got the message to say that Scamp and the rest of the girls were on their way home. They were intending to travel up to Glasgow, but given that the city is an absolute mess now with different roadworks every week, we eventually settled on changing the destination to Hamilton for ease of parking.

A bit of frantic tidying up of my room was needed and I also managed to grab a bite to eat when I had time. Then the sun chose that time to shine again, so I took the chance to improve my earlier photos with a group of dandelion seed heads grabbed in St Mo’s with just enough time left over to drive down the M8 to Hamilton Bus Station, pay for parking and wait for the ladies.

They were all quite organised and we drove back to Cumbersheugh with partly told tales from all the ‘Witches’. How many of them were true, I wouldn’t know.

After the ladies had been returned to their doting husbands Scamp and I shared a Large Fish Supper and a wee glass of gin or whisky.

We have no real plans for tomorrow.