Category: Driving

Everybody need a good punch sometimes – 15 October 2024

Posted on by Zogman

It was me who needed it. Scamp just needed elastic.

That meant a drive to The Fort. We could have taken a bus there, but it would have meant a good half a dozen changes and really, it would have been quicker walking. No, we drove, because that was one of our reasons for buying a car.

Before we drove away, however, I needed to stabilise the tyre pressures in the car. I thought I’d need to use the fancy new electronic pump at the garage, but as it happened, all that was needed was to release some pressure from two of the tyres. After that we were balanced again. It all started just before the car went in for service and before the new tyres were fitted, so I can’t even blame either party. It’s a pneumatic mystery.

We drove to The Fort. It was absolutely jumping! We’d both forgotten this is October week or “Tattie Week” as we used to call it. The holiday began during October in the 1930s when children were taken out of school to help with the potato harvest. The tradition continued until the 1980s when new farm machinery made handpicking obsolete. You see what you’re missing, all you youngsters! Anyway, although there were no tatties being picked at The Fort, there were hundreds of weans out with mums and dads, desperate to spend money.

Scamp was looking for elastic and after getting help from one bloke who was filling shelves in Hobbycraft, we solved the elastic problem. I was looking for a leather punch to put a new hole in my belt and managed to get one for a tenner. With our first boxes ticked, we fought our way through the mob to find two baby cards. One for the mum and dad, Jaki and Alan and another for Gran and Grandpa Jackie and Murdo. Now we were free to stravaig as far and wide as we could in this great shopping complex. Scamp went to find some fruit and I went browsing in Waterstones and found the latest Ian Rankin book. Rebus Goes To Jail or something like that. After that we drove home, still checking those tyre pressures, but they were fine.

I had hoped to go for a walk and take some photos in the late afternoon, but after attempting to fix a computer problem with Scamp I gave up the idea and went for a scrounge in the garden instead. That’s where today’s PoD came from. It’s another change of colour for Switch Ophelia the colour changing Hydrangea. Taken with the Sony A6500 and a Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 an excellent combination.

Today’s prompt was Guidebook and my sketch was a wee sarcastic jibe at the folk who still post sketches done in iPad and even AI generators. No actual sketching and certainly no ink used in a group that is only for ink sketchers. Some folk think they’re so clever, that nobody will notice. But we do!

Tomorrow Scamp is intending having coffee with Isobel. I might dust off my old Lamy fountain pens and do some even older fashioned ink sketching. The prompt is Grungy.

A cold start to the day – 14 October 2024

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A temperature of 3ºc in the morning is just a little cool. We decided to read in bed for a while before facing the day. At least it was a Positive three degrees! We should be thankful for small mercies.

Eventually we did drag ourselves out of bed and I started by collecting the odds and ends of things that needed to be taken to the skips once the world had defrosted. After that it was the inevitable Wordle and Spelling Bee that took up my time and soon it was lunch time.

We both had the same thing for lunch, it was the remains of the leftover chicken from Saturday. It had lasted well and although, maybe a bit dry, had plenty of flavour. Scamp has boiled the carcass and made the basis of some stock with it. After lunch I had a look at a couple of recipe books to find the makings of Butternut Squash soup. Probably using the leftover chicken stock. As it happened, it’s still leftover, but in the fridge now.

I’d gathered up a big barrel shaped collapsible container full of the chopped up buddleia and teasel bushes yesterday and today they went into the boot of the blue car along with a big plastic basin full of old phones with some odds and ends. The old blue zip-up bag went onto the back seat and that just left room for me and my camera bag.

The skips were busy today, it being Monday. They’re always busy, but on a Monday it’s busier than normal. Folk are cutting down and trimming trees and bushes as the flowers fade and the leaves start falling. The garden waste skips were the busiest today. I got all the bags and basins emptied and then went for a run up to Fannyside.

Fannyside is such a quiet space and if there is just a gentle breeze like there was today, it’s the most peaceful place on earth. Only the birds calling from the trees and the occasional plane making very little noise, but drawing white con trails across a blue sky. A great place to watch the world go by. I took a few photos, but only two made it to Flickr and of the pair, only one got PoD. It’s a wee Flowerpot Man Jackie gave us many years ago. He lives on a ledge in the downstairs toilet and holds one of the Christmas Cacti. His face always brings a smile to mine.

Back home I was ready to start that Butternut Squash soup. This was a new recipe to me, from a Mary Berry book. One of the thousands she’s written. I did eventually get it made and although I thought it was a bit thin, Scamp disagreed. In the end I had two bowl of it and Scamp only had one, so it wasn’t that thin!

Today’s prompt asked for “Roam”. I couldn’t be bothered with another person walking up a hill with a rucksack on their back, so instead I rearranged the letters and turned it into “Roma” and sketched what might have been a grand building in Rome. Actually I drew the sketch yesterday and kept it on the back burner until today. Who’s to know?

The plan for tomorrow is to go to The Fort. Scamp is looking for elastic and I’m hoping to get a leather punch to make more holes in my belt. I must be losing more weight!

Cold but clear sky – 10 October 2024

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A clear, cold day 3.1ºc in the morning. Not a cloud in the sky when we woke. That was the incentive to get up and go!

Scamp filled the flask with boiling water and then filled a bag with some biscuits and crisps so we’d have something to eat when we arrived at Cramond. It’s a village in the north west of Edinburgh and sits on the River Almond where it meets the Firth of Forth. There’s very little to do there, except go for a walk. We chose not to walk out to Cramond Island, which is only an island when the tide is out. When the tide comes in, it returns to its island status. There’s even less to see on the island, but there are the remains of some WW2 gun emplacements and, of course, the submarine blocking concrete structures we always called the “Toblerone’s” because they looked just like those chocolate triangles.

We walked up the hill and went through the grounds of Cramond Kirk, a place I never knew existed. I didn’t take any photos. I’ve got this thing about cemeteries and churchyards. Instead we walked through the churchyard and out the other side to a big park with the ruins of a Roman fort laid out in the grass. We didn’t know then, but we do now that a building which looked like an office was actually a cafe and we could have had something to eat in it. Maybe next time. Instead we walked through some woods, down to the promenade.

We walked east along the promenade for a mile or two and then decided we should turn back. So far the breeze had been on our backs and I just knew it was going to feel colder when we were walking into it. Even with my gloves on, my pinkie fingers were freezing in the wind and I was glad to get back to the car for coffee, biscuits and a heat! I was also glad I’d decided to wear my big lined Berghaus jacket today.

Drove home and did some shopping on the way. The weather was still bright and cold. Scamp had bought some fancy timed lights that come on for six hours, then go off for eighteen. Battery operated, so not so delicate as solar powered lights. We put them up on the Rowan tree in the back garden and lit them about 6pm. I’m not sure I’m going to wait up until midnight to find out if they are working like they should!

I got a cryptic message from Alex tonight about 10pm. It just said “Look up in the East”. I did and once my eyes became accustomed to the light, there it was, a pink light in the sky, then it became two lights, side by side. The Aurora Borealis. I remember Fred saying that the best thing to do is photograph it with your phone camera because it’s more sensitive than the human eye. That’s what I did and this is what appeared.

PoD was a group of trees that I really like on the Cramond Promenade. I’d have liked the people to be nearer, but took what I got and we walked on. It was too cold to linger

The prompt today was “Nomadic” and I drew the sketch you see here of my idea of a nomad with his camel. I think the camel looks better than the nomad, even if it doesn’t seem to have any legs. It was probably on the Buckfast last night and that’s why it’s ‘legless’.

With that bad joke, I’ll leave you to go and look for your own aurora. Scamp’s intending to go to FitSteps tomorrow. I may do some more sketches.

 

What a grey day – 6 October 2024

Posted on by Zogman

One of those days that just never get properly started.

The only thing we did today that’s worth mention is to go looking for new lights for the rowan tree. So let’s start there.

We drove to Calder’s Garden Centre first, but after struggling through the congested aisles of the main shop the area where the lighting is displayed was now home to a half full size family of polar bears and other assorted Xmas junk and there was a cloying scent of cinnamon, the Christmas scent. Still on display among the menagerie were a few boxes of lights, but not the kind that Scamp was looking for. So we drove further onward.

Next stop was Torwood, another of Scamp’s favourite garden centres. They had a larger array of lights and thankfully no polar bears or cinnamon. However, although there were many boxes of the lights and they were the ones we were looking for, most of the boxes had previously been opened and rejected. We rejected them too. We drove home empty handed.

It fell to Mr Bezos to fulfil our need for lights. Ordered in the late afternoon and they will be delivered tomorrow or the next day. What would we do without Amazon.

Spoke to Jamie later and were glad that he had had a fairly relaxed day. I must admit I’m intrigued by the wild boar meat he bought and would like a report on it once it’s been cooked and consumed!

I struggled with a sketch for today’s prompt, “Trek”. In fact, most of the prompts this year highlight to the author’s interest in walking and climbing. Ten of the thirty prompts have that theme. I changed it a bit and it became Star Trek and from that I drew today’s iconic badge.

I also had a hard time getting a photo. The day was so dull and wet, I thought I was going to miss out on a photo, but a walk around the garden in the late afternoon brought today’s PoD which is the Rozanne geranium.

I’m hoping to speak to the man in the garage tomorrow about some work needing done to the blue car.

 

 

 

Off to Spain – 5 October 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Now don’t get excited, we were just outside Paisley, but we were dancing Paso La Paz like Spaniards!

Well, Scamp was dancing it like a Spaniard, I was plodding along in her wake, more like a Spaniel than a Spaniard. It’s the fast and furious Spanish bullfighter’s dance that we started last week. It’s really too fast for me and my old dance shoes. They are struggling to keep up with Rumba One (in joke), far less do the heel stomps and the toe taps and the arm across the chest. I struggled with this last week and this week I think I was worse. Heaven knows how I’ll get on with the full strength Paso Doble the teachers are talking about!

The Paso La Paz was actually the last routine we did. The first one was the Queen of Hearts rumba which was our warm up. It too was a mystery until the second track when muscle memory took over and pushed me in the right direction. It’s been years since we originally learned this sequence dance and that’s my excuse for getting it wrong through most of the first track.

The second dance was the Viennese Waltz. It looks fairly easy when you’re watching it on Strictly, but don’t be fooled there are fast passages in this too. Natural Turns (clockwise) and Reverse Turns (anti-clockwise) plus Half Natural and Half Reverse. By the time we got to the end of the second track I couldn’t remember if I was coming or going.

Next was the Paso La Paz, but you’ve heard all about that already, so I won’t go into it again. We finished off with two tracks of a Midnight Jive which is a simple sequence dance that is extremely exhausting. I think Stewart just chose it out of badness!

We drove home and had a restful afternoon lunch. Couldn’t decide what we were going to have for dinner and eventually settled on a microwaveable curry from M&S washed down with half a bottle of Barossa Ink.

Later we watched tonight’s Strictly and wondered what Toyah Willcox was doing on this show, apart from a bit of self promotion. I don’t know how much she paid to be on the show, but it’s definitely not enough.

Today’s PoD was a branch of Berberis we passed on the way to the shops. Beautiful bright red and orange leaves.

Today’s prompt was Binoculars which is what I drew. These are a pair of Nikon binoculars I got for a song in John Lewis a couple of years ago. Light, bright and with a good magnification they are almost always in my case when we go on holiday.

Tomorrow we may go looking for tree lights to brighten up the Rowan tree in the back garden.

Service Charge – 4 October 2024

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We were both out early this morning.

Scamp had to catch the bus to get to FitSteps and I was driving to Glasgow at the same time to drop the blue car off for its annual service.

I left the car at the garage almost exactly at 10am and was told that it would be ready by 5pm. That’s seven hours for a three hour service! This appears to be normal practise for Macklin Motors, but not anywhere else I’ve ever used. When I asked the service technician why it would take that long, he said I should have been told that it was an “Open Booking” and would be worked on as soon as was possible, but there were two people off ill today. That sounded a bit familiar, because when I booked the same car in at the same garage a month ago for its MOT it did in fact take seven hours before I got to take it home and the reason was … there was only one MOT tester available that day. Sounds suspicious! I agreed and signed away my afternoon then went for a walk round the city. First port of call was Nero for a coffee and a chance to plan the rest of the day. Foolishly I took the option of their new blend Honduras and it was pretty awful. So a bad start to the day.

When I texted Scamp to tell her the news, she asked if I wanted her to come in to town, but I told her not to bother and that I’d phone the garage about two to see what progress had been made.

I walked down to St Enoch Square and got a couple of photos there, one of which became the PoD, but there was very little directional light and the milky white sky didn’t help. I know he looks as if he’s talking to his hand, but he’s posing with his new phone, I think. I took some more photos of new graffiti being sprayed on the wall of the Clyde Walkway and admired the vision of these guys being able to visualise their finished artwork. Haven’t seen any girl graffiti artists, but I’m sure there are some.

I got another message from Scamp saying she was now free to come in to Glasgow for lunch. That sounded a good idea. I met her in the bus station about an hour later and we went to an Italian place we’d looked at last Friday. Just as we were heading there I got the call from the garage to say the car was ready. The time was almost exactly 2pm. For once they were right on time. I said I’d be along to pick up the car as soon as possible.

The food in the restaurant was good, but my Spaghetti a la Polpette wasn’t very hot and the meatballs had the feel of ‘Ping’ (microwaved) about them. Scamp said her Risotto was fine. So we decided to give them another chance. A bit like Macklin Motors!

On the way back to the garage I got a new book by Chris Brookmyre. I’d heard about it in the Great Scottish Book Club and it sounded interesting. The book is The Cracked Mirror. It should have been £18, but I had a tenner in my Waterstones card, so I got it for £8! I’m almost finished a Peter May book Lockdown which started so well, but has descended into farce in the final 150 pages.

I got another surprise when I went to pick up the car. There were two advisories. Thankfully nothing needing done immediately, but just another expense that will need to be looked at early in the new year. I’m talking about New Year already and it’s not even Halloween yet!


Prompt for today was Exotic and my sketch was of a Bird of Paradise flower which fitted the bill perfectly.

Tomorrow we are expecting to be dancing Paso la Paz, It’s all about stamping our little feet and wiping the blood from our shoes. If you don’t understand, re-read the blog from 28th September.

We went shopping – 3 October 2024

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Today we went for the messages, in Waitrose in Stirling.

We drove to Waitrose in Stirling for the run and to get some messages. Not a lot said Scamp. About an hour later we returned to the car with three bags full (a bit like Baa Baa Black Sheep!). We’d intended to go into Stirling for a coffee, but instead Scamp wanted to go home, so that’s what we did.

Scamp is very organised and today as we unpacked the bags in the kitchen, she built three piles of messages. One pile for those that were going into the cupboard upstairs. Another pile for those that were going into the fridge and a final pile for the items that were going into the freezer. You see what I mean? Organised.
I have to admit, it did make storing a lot easier. One day I’ll be organised like Scamp. Ha Ha, No Chance!

Later in what was now mid afternoon I took the A7 out for a walk with me and took just over thirty photos. I only meant to take about twenty, but I’m guessing my finger kept finding the shutter button on the camera and because I was using Silent Shutter Mode, I didn’t hear myself taking photos as I was walking. It wasn’t until I got home and downloaded the photos that I found the dozen or so blurred photos of leaves, the path I was walking on and some beautiful concentric circles. I have no idea where I got that last one. PoD was an actual shot that I knowingly took. It’s a view through the trees and along the boardwalk at St Mo’s. The light shining through the trees is real, not faked for once.

Today’s prompt for Inktober was ‘Boots’ and I drew my old comfortable walking boots. A fair amount of folk are still pretending to sketch, but are really using AI of one kind or another to produce a sketch. I tried it myself today and created a much better version of the Discovery space shuttle than I could ever draw and if I hadn’t known it was created in Photoshop using AI, I’d have thought it was drawn.

Today we had a Charlie Bigham Lasagne for dinner. It was lovely!

As promised, I had a rummage around the computer folders and found the last two sketches. One of a rocket ship and one of a pair of boots. I hope you can tell which is which.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to drop off the blue car for its annual service in Glasgow while Scamp will have to get the bus to FitSteps.

New Tyres – 2 October 2024

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Scamp was out this morning for coffee with Shona. I was left at home.

Another beautiful looking day. Bright sun, but not all that much warmth was getting through. While the coffee drinkers were out, I posted today’s sketch, whose prompt asked for Discover and if you read yesterday’s blog you’ll know that with a ‘Y’ tacked on to the end, Discover became Discovery which was the name of one of the first Space Shuttle orbiters. I seem to remember seeing a plane with a retired Space Shuttle riding piggyback on it flying around Glasgow. It was while I was at Jordanhill and it caused a great stir. Anyway, The Space Shuttle was posted today and I started sketch 3 for Inktober, since I had some peace. The prompt asked for Boots and I gave it a sketch of my solid leather walking boots. Like most of the sketches, it’s not perfect, but looks like a pair of boots. It’s good being able to keep one step ahead of the required sketches. Here is the first sketch. I’m going to rummage through the computer to find today’s!

When Scamp returned, I missed lunch and drove down to Jim Dickson’s to get four new tyres on the blue car. It seemed a shame to wait in the ‘office’ of the garage, so I handed in my keys and went for a walk round The Village. Isobel had told us that a voluntary group was cleaning up the village cemetery and I went to have a look. Thankfully they hadn’t cut all the grass or scrubbed away the moss on the old headstones, but still put their stamp on it, so folk would know that work had been done. From there I walked round the rest of the village and found my way back at the garage to be told that they were almost finished and would I like to settle up? It was exactly what I’d been told yesterday and I was happy to pay for the work done. It’s good to support local business.

Back home with four shiny new tyres, I was ready for a filled roll with cold meat. Then I had time for a quick walk round St Mo’s and got today’s PoD on the way home. A low viewpoint shot of the path to St Mo’s with a bit of warm late afternoon sunshine coming through the trees.

Dinner was paella and it wasn’t my best. It ended up a bit claggy and soggy. My excuse is that it’s ages since the last time I made it.

Just finished dinner and it was time to get ready for Kirsty’s dance class. Again not our best. We are both agreed that the floor is simply too small for four couples to dance in. Also when she’s demonstrating, Kirsty is dancing almost round in a circle, so it’s difficult to visualise how that dance would look on a ballroom floor where it would be danced in a straight line. Both of us lost our tempers during tonight’s class. We must do some prep before next week’s class.

We have no plans for tomorrow, but shopping has been mentioned.

A busy day – 1 October 2024

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Lots done today, but lots more still to do.

Today was the first day of October and that usually means a lot of work. When you add in a hundred odd beginner sketchers trying to post their pictures in Inktober 2024 that starts today too, it becomes a bit hectic.

After I’d read the first few comments and fixed some Inktober problems, then had time to look at the sketches it was time to drive up to Jim Dickson’s garage to get someone to have a look at the blue car’s tyres and give me a price for them. I agreed the price and was told the tyres would be with me tomorrow (Wednesday). I’d already dropped Scamp off at the town centre where she was going to have coffee with Isobel. That left me some time on my own. I used that time to post my first Inktober 2024 sketch and to tidy up some of the problems that had cropped up with people lost as to how to post etc.

I got a message that Scamp was ready to come home and picked her up at the town centre where she won a prize by getting a bag of rolls and also well fired ones to boot. That was lunch sorted.

I like to be ahead of the game with Inktober and knew I had a busy month ahead, so I started investigating the possible solutions for day 2. I couldn’t decide what to do with the prompt, which was ‘Discover’, but if I added a ‘y’ to the end and made it Discovery, that was the name of one of the first Space Shuttle orbiters that NASA built. All I had to do was to find a decent photo of it on Google and fifteen minutes later I had a rough sketch completed and day 2 was in the bag.

The sun was still shining but the temperature was low, so I wrapped up well and went for a walk in St Mo’s. Just walking past our row of houses I saw it. Three sparrows sat evenly spaced on the fence of the corner house. The second of two shots was the PoD. I still went for a walk and got some more shots that looked great in the viewfinder, but were poor once I’d enlarged them on the computer. The sparrows were the definite winners.

Dinner was a ‘what have we got in the fridge’ stirfry. Scamp is the past master at making this and sails through it without any problems, while I always forget one ingredient or another and have to search the shelf while the veg is burning. Oh to be organised!

Fairly early up and out tomorrow. Scamp may be meeting Shona for coffee and I’m hoping to drop the car off for its ’new boots’.

The end of September – 30 September 2024

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Well, this shouldn’t take too long.

In the morning I drove down to the Village to see if Jim Dickson’s garage was open to get a booking for a couple of tyres. Because this is September Weekend, a Scottish holiday I wasn’t really expecting it to be open and it wasn’t. The garage was shuttered and shut.

I was just reaching the garage when my phone jingled into life. It was Hazy testing a WhatsApp multi-person call, the multi-persons being Scamp and me. I was confused at first, then I realised what was going on and told Hazy I’d catch up with her when I got home. I caught the tail end of the call when I got home. Incredible house prices down south. The asking price for the house next door to Hazy and Neil is £700,000 for a three bedroom bungalow! Crazy money.

I went out later, once the call was finished, to put some air in the tyres because they were a bit low. Hopefully I’ll get to speak to Jim tomorrow to get the front tyres replaced.

Later in the afternoon I put on my new wet weather jacket, because the rain was coming and going, and got a few photos over in St Mo’s. Spiders were the topic today, and one of them got PoD.

I believe that’s about all I can say about today. Hoping the weather fairies have got it right with their predictions of a few dry days to take us up to the weekend.

If I remember to switch it on, Inktober 2024 will light up the Interweb at midnight.