Category: Driving

Mowgli – 7 June 2026

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On Sunday we all drove to Croy to get the train to Glasgow.

Arrived in town in a fairly busy train and went for a walk to see the damage to Union Corner that is still not completely cleared. Really high scaffolding and also barricades blocked the view of this memorable set of buildings.

We walked back to Mowgli which seemed to fit the bill for today. Great dinner with far too many and varied food options to share. Just as good as the last time Scamp and I had been there. Unfortunately nobody’s birthday today, so no Brownies with a dollop of ice cream and a candle on top!

In the last few days Scamp and I had been discussing how to get our old home movie films from DVDs into a more usable format. Jamie came to the rescue and showed us how to let the computer do the hard work. He spent most of the evening rebuilding the clumsy DVD disks into a format that could be sent to anyone who has One Drive. I’m still not completely clear on the details, but I understand the method. By the end of the night, we had four DVDs converted. Amazing.

We watched the Monaco GP between the technospeak and lost count of the number of penalties and broken cars in a few hours of mad driving.

PoD went to Queen Street Station’s new architectural ceiling.

Tomorrow Jamie and Simonne are intending to do an overnight with friends in Aylth, near Blairgowrie.

The Japanese Garden – 6 June 2026

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Jamie and Simonne arrived last night and today Jamie drove to the Japanese Garden outside Dollar.

The route his sat nav took wasn’t the one we would have chosen. Narrow single farm tracks that didn’t leave much room for driving and certainly wouldn’t accommodate two cars meeting. Thankfully we didn’t meet any other cars!

The weather wasn’t great, but there was almost no wind which gave me great reflections on the pond and it would have been perfect if I hadn’t forgotten to take a spare SD card! However, I managed to offload some of the older photos to create enough space to get some decent shots.

We had coffee and a scone each in a wobbly wee lean-to bench at the back of the booking hut. We walked up to the Fairy Houses that are still there and thankfully the sun was shining for a while. I think the visitors were impressed!

Drove home by a more sensible route and Jamie & Simonne got ready to drive over to see Andy and Cat and the children in the evening.

We stayed at home and watched the qualifying for the Monaco GP. A few bumps, but not as many as we suspected.

PoD was a trio of Rhododendron flowers from the Japanese Garden.

Families Gathering – 1 June 2026

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It was a wet day and a sad day, despite everything.

Drove up to the car wash at Tesco. The owner must have thought I was mad. Who in their right mind would want their car washed on a day when it was lashing with rain. I would.

A quick lunch of a banana sandwich, then we were in the machine. That’s what it felt like. We three drove over to The Village and picked up Isobel. Then we drove to Cairntoul Court and dropped Scamp off to find her place in the ‘Big Car’. The car arrived and we all drove over to Daldowie and were ushered in.

The celebrant gave his speech which, if you were hearing it for the first time, would probably have been uplifting, but not today. Once the curtains closed it was all over. Nothing left to do but head back to the pub where the meal would be served.

The food I had was delicious. For the second day in a week, I had a chunky, lovely gammon steak with chips. We sat and listened to Ian and Isobel telling stories of times gone by, but the different groups kept to themselves and didn’t mix very much. Probably a Scottish way of dealing with a situation like this. Gradually everyone made their ways home, individually and in groups.

Back home the ladies had a laugh with a few drinks, remembering things that had happened over the years. It’s the Scottish tradition again.

Jackie is off home tomorrow and we’ll start straightening everything out and getting ready for our own lives to begin again.

Paul wasn’t a bad boy. A bit wild at times and out of his depth. May he rest in peace.

Angelic Iris – 30 May 2026

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It was a dull day with the occasional showers.

We started clearing up the back bedroom under Scamp’s control. It’s amazing the number of things we ( that means I ) hold on to useless wee things that I hadn’t used in years, but that “Might come in useful some day”. I fought my corner well, but I had to agree that most of the things that went in the ’Skip bag’ were well past their usefulness.

The highlight of the day was a drive to The Cotton House in Longcroft. The food is usually good, but although Scamp’s Chicken Chow Mein was fine for her, my Kung Po Chicken was hotter than I expected. My fault, not there’s. I almost forgot the wee tubs of jelly beans that they serve when you are finished. I remember one of my pals just eating the whole tub of them once when we were there. I think I only got one. It’s those additional touches that make us go back there again and again. Overall a good meal. Just right for a Saturday afternoon.

We did a bit of chopping and pruning when we got back to the house and a fair amount of moving pots from front to back and vice versa. The occasional rain shower sent us looking for shelter, but we did get a lot done. Also, Scamp got a chance to try out her new water fountain in the garden.

I did manage to get an hour or so in the garden later in the afternoon and got a surprise, because the Yellow Iris flowers were in bloom. I grabbed a photo of one of them that looked quite like a little fairy. That was easily the PoD.

Tomorrow we’re expecting Jackie to arrive for a few days. I imagine it will be a talking shop, but will give the sisters a chance to go over recent events.

I may go for a walk, and I think I may be chef for the day.

Driving and Rain – 29 May 2026

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The Driving part was taking Shona home and the Rain was constant (and welcome) throughout the day.

We drove Shona home and then we headed east to Klondyke Garden Centre to get a pot to give the Acer a bit more space to expand into. It started out life with us as a small plant and has now started to grow as the years have gone by. In fact, it has grown so much it needs a bigger and more interesting pot than it has had for a while.

Klondyke is our go-to place to find new plants and accessories. Also, its cafe has improved greatly. Today’s offering was Mac ’n’ Cheese for Scamp and Gammon Steak and Two Eggs for me. It’s a long time since I’ve had such a good gammon steak. I hope we can go back some time soon. The only downside is the drive home. A 4pm drive through 40mph roadworks isn’t my idea of a day out. I don’t know what they are doing to the M80, but it’s not funny and not fun. So, the solution is clear Mr/Ms M8. Get your finger out and get it finished. We want decent roads.

We had driven through the rain to get to Klondyke and we were driving back home in the same weather, all as predicted by the weather fairies. Thankfully, as we reached Cumbersheugh, the rain abated slightly and we had a chance to shop in Tesco in the dry. Not totally dry, of course, but better than we’d had for the rest of the run.

A decent cup of coffee when we got home made it all worthwhile and we had a long discussion of what May had brought us. It wasn’t an inspiring month, but it did have a few highlights. Overall, I think we’ll be glad to see the back of it.

PoD today went to a grab shot from the garden centre. It took me a while to realise that what I was looking at was a Sedum. A pretty little collection of flowers.

We have no dance class tomorrow and hence, no great plans for the day!

Squeaky Clean – 26 May 2026

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Nothing to do with Peter Murrell, but everything to do with carpet cleaning.

Today we were going to actually use the carpet cleaner we bought about five months ago and never really got round to using. It really is a clever piece of kit that washes the carpet and sucks up the muck into a big box, conveniently transparent so you can marvel at the amount of dirty water coming out of a carpet. Today was a good day to do it, because the temperature was high, around 24ºc which would help to dry out the carpet properly. Only half the living room done today. Hopefully we’ll get round to the other half tomorrow.

Scamp started on cutting the front grass and it did look a lot better once she was finished. Once she was finished she brought out her folding seat and sat in the sun.Me? I drove over to Fannyside to see what I could find in the way of insect life.

At first glance there was very little going on, but I kept feeling that I was being watched and sure enough, on the edge of the Scots Pines were three wild looking sheep, the ones I’ve called “The Girls”. Their horns had grown since the last time I’d seen them and they did look fierce. Thankfully there was a sturdy wire fence between them and me. They stood watching for a while before they decided it just a bloke with a big black tube. “Nothing to see here. Move along”.

I was told that it would be a good idea to bring back some ice cream to go with dinner. M&S were completely empty of ice cream, but luckily Iceland had plenty. Dinner was mixed Pasta with Spinach and Tuna. The ice cream went down well after that.

We watched the first episode of Master Chef the Professionals with its usual numpties and experts and everything in between.

PoD went to “The Girls” as expected.

I think we’re going to be carpet cleaning tomorrow – hoping to finish the living room.

A scorcher! – 25 May 2026

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In the global stakes they don’t stand a chance, but today’s temperatures of 24ºc are impressive for Scotland.

We had a lazy start to the day, but we really must get some work done to the house. I thInk I need to sand down the back door and repaint it. The window sills also need a fresh coat of paint, front and back. The cupboard at the front of the house could do with a lick of paint too. I think that will be a good start. The carpets need to be cleaned and that seems to be where Scamp thinks we should start … hopefully tomorrow.

We watched a fairly interesting Canadian GP with a lot of mechanical failures catching drivers out. I almost felt sorry for George Russell. After his car ground to a halt at the side of the road, he threw his headrest away in disgust and that earned him an extra penalty! Not St George’s day. This new F1 rule book is catching a lot of drivers out and causing no end of misery for the ‘Old Team’. Good to see!

After the race was done, Scamp and I went for a walk down to the shops to get some essentials for lunch and for dinner later. That was when I began to feel the effect of the 24ºc and wondered how Hazy was surviving “Dahn Sarf”. Hope it wasn’t too hot for you.

After lunch and before dinner, we drove to the Town Centre for a sequence dance class. I can’t for the life of me remember its name, but we knew it well enough to dance the whole routine without listening to the teacher. That didn’t mean that we just ignored her, and we actually learned some of the finer details like the hold we should be using. Good work, Kirsty.

Back home there was just enough light to capture a bunch of Aquilegia flowers backlit by the sun. That made an easy PoD.

So tomorrow we’re intending getting the carpet cleaner out and do a ‘Scrub a dub dub’ on the living room carpet!

Off to Brookfield for a dance class – 23May2026

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This may possibly be the last dance class for a whole month. The teachers are off on two different cruises. I won’t say I am disappointed, but I’m not.

We got a great surprise when we headed over to Brookfield and were allowed to travel faster than 40mph. The 40mph ban had been lifted and we were driving at normal motorway speeds. Even better, the roads were only partly full. We usually watch for one of the big ‘out of town’ parking areas to whizz past on the left, only half full. Today it was almost totally full. Finally we reached Brookfield, about fifteen minutes quicker than usual. That’s the difference the 40mph ban makes.

Today was a high energy dance class. It started with the Electric Slide which only about fifty percent of of the class seemed comfortable with. I was just lost – thinking it was The House of Bamboo with different music. Then we were into the ‘meat’ of today’s class with “Celia’s American Smooth Waltz”. Every time I start this dance, I think I’ve got it sorted in my head, then it falls to pieces. Today if took me a couple of rounds of the floor before I managed to join all the units together correctly.

A couple of sequence dances came next to give us a bit of relaxation, then it was time for another of Stewart and Jane’s less complicated dances and we finally ended up with another exhausting sequence dance that left most of the senior dancers gasping for breath.

We walked out of the hall into sunshine. It was such a beautiful day. We drove home in very light traffic for a Saturday. We even had enough time to go to M&S for some messages.

After lunch, Scamp wanted to work in the garden and I wanted to go out to St Mo’s in the hope of finding a damselfly ,,, and there it was, a Common Blue damselfly. It was very agitated and kept flying away. Eventually it settled down and I got a clear, if distant, view of the insect. The first damselfly this year for me! That became the PoD.

Tomorrow I have no plans.

A day in Paisley – 20 May 2026

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I had suggested a walk round the Abbey in Paisley and Alex agreed.

Scamp gave me a lift to the station and I caught the train to Glasgow and met Alex at the bus station as usual. After we had our morning coffee we decided that the weather wasn’t looking great, but there was just the chance that it would improve in an hour or so, and it did, for once.

We got the train to Paisley and walked to the Abbey. We wandered around the building for a while, but there was a meeting of some group in the building and we both prefer empty spaces, without people wandering into shot, so we left them to it and headed for some lunch.

As usual we went to a wee cafe we’ve used many times before. The food is ok and fairly cheap, so it suits our purpose. From there we walked to the waterfalls on the White Cart Water, with the impressive Anchor Mill building in the background. The six-storey, red brick Anchor Mill was built in 1886 and was home to the largest thread manufacturer in the world, J. & P. Coats Ltd.

After we’d taken all the shots we wanted, just over sixty in my case and closer to seventy by Alex, we headed back to the station and caught the train back to Glasgow.

Getting into and out of Central Station in Glasgow is a bit of a mammoth operation since the fire earlier in the year. One entrance and one exit in the station that’s operating otherwise normally makes for a lot of congestion, but we should really be impressed by the amount of work that’s been put into getting this busy station operating at all!

We walked back up the hill to the bus station and went our separate ways. We’ve agreed the next venue will be in two weeks.

Meanwhile, Scamp had been cleaning and tidying some of the flowers and plants in the back garden and generally just getting everything ready for summer which, hopefully is just around the corner.

PoD went to the Anchor Mill with its surrounding waterfalls.

Tomorrow we have an almost empty day. I’m sure something will fill the space.

Three days that were a blur – 18 May 2026

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On Friday we drove to Perth in the early afternoon to park the car for a few days while we sauntered off to do some serious dancing. Three days dancing, in the oldest, creakiest hotel in Perth. We’d been there before many times, and knew what it was like, but we chose to ignore the surroundings and just dance.

Saturday was a repeat of Friday with more dancing, but with the addition of posh dresses for the ladies and Evening Suits for the men in the evening. Still the same madness with the addition of a ‘new’ dance to learn and practise. Towards the end of Saturday it began to feel like “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” A 1969 film about a disparate group of individuals desperate to win a Depression-era dance marathon. The only differences between it and us was that there was no prize and we could leave whenever we wanted and go to bed.

Sunday morning was my least favourite, the one hour dance class, where everyone is enthusiastic to begin with, but, as the hour ticks away, people drift away and say their goodbyes. It’s a bit sad.

We drove home through some really heavy rain showers, but arrived in a dry Cumbersheugh after three long days.

Today was a day of rest after a fashion, but we also had a consultation with a solicitor to finalise some details of legal issues. I think we were both happy with the end result.

Back home I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got a couple of decent photos. My favourite, and PoD, was a pair of delicate looking Aquilegia plants resting against a wall. The previous three days worth of PoDs are available for perusal in the usual place.

Tomorrow I’m hoping we will have a real rest day!