Category: Driving

Dancin’ – 26 October 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Off to Brookfield on a sunny morning in October wondering what the torturers oops, teachers would have in store for us today.

We didn’t have to wait long. The menu started with a Queen of Hearts Rumba we thought we knew, but obviously didn’t. After the second one we more or less had it.

Next was the October Waltz which was new to about half the class and nearly caused a fist fight between me and Scamp. As it happened, for one I was right. It was all about one back step which Scamp said I didn’t have to do, but on review later, I did have to do or I’d end up starting on the wrong foot. It was a simple wee dance with figures we already knew, just not in the order we were to do them in.

To cool things down, we did a Midnight Jive. Not my favourite by a long way, but at least we didn’t argue about the steps, because they are burned indelibly in to our brains.

The next dance was a Cha-Cha which deteriorated into a free-style Cha-Cha and one we stumbled through, or to be more correct, I stumbled through.

One more sequence dance and we were free to go. Can’t remember its name, but that’s no loss.

Drove home over the Kingston Bridge which allowed us to travel at 40mph all the way over. The easiest drive home from Brookfield we’ve ever had, I think.

The sunshine we’d had in the morning stayed with us well into the afternoon, but later everything dulled down and it felt like the sky was preparing for evening. PoD was a photo of a strawberry flower growing in the garden. I don’t believe it will ever produce fruit that will ripen, but the deep red flower held my interest.

Today’s sketch was Camera. I didn’t try anything fancy, like the camera obscura I was going to draw and instead just drew a fair representation of my A7iii with the kit lens that lives on it these days.
Half of the time I had one eye on the sketch and one eye on the progress of the dancers on Strictly, but, it being Halloween week, the antics of Craig Revel-Horwood and Anton Du Beke as two evil twin sisters really stole the limelight from the other two.

Up and out fairly early tomorrow because I’m booked for my combined Flu and Covid Jags. Oh what fun. At least I get an extra hour in bed because the clocks go back at 2am tomorrow. Scamp had her jags last week.

 

New Shoes – 25 October 2024

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Scamp was off to FitSteps in the morning which left me with the opportunity to finish my book, but as usual that didn’t happen.

Instead I doodled with some sketches and took a longer view of yesterday’s photos. It’s amazing the difference it makes to go on a photo walk with someone who’s seeing the views for the first time. Alex hadn’t been to Edinburg for about 30 years, he reckons, and a lot has changed in that time. Looking through his eyes, opened my eyes to subjects I’d ignored. We must try it again sometime.

After Scamp returned, we talked about where to go and what to do with the day. Her idea was to go back the dance shop and have another look for shoes for me. I wasn’t so keen, although there was one pair I didn’t dislike, let’s put it that way. It might have been something I said, or more likely something she said, but I made the decision to try those shoes again. We drove to Rutherglen by a different route that took longer than the one given by the satnav. I hate it when it gets it right. I tried on about five different shoes and settled, after some discussion with self, on a lovely soft pair of Black ’n’ Whites. Of course Scamp found a cheaper pair in the sales stock. So both of us came home with new shoes.

We went for a coffee and a cake in Tesco, just along the road from the dance shop which gave us a chance to discuss our purchases and to test for Buyers Remorse, but there was none to be found, so we’d done the right thing for once. Drove home by the satnav’s instructions, just to show that there were no hard feelings.

By the time we were getting home the light was failing and there was a mist beginning to reduce the visibility. I might have managed to get a photo, but I decided not to. Instead, I photographed my new shoes as a still life, almost in black and white.

The prompt for today was a fairly easy one, Scarecrow. This was almost a 15 minute sketch, because it just flowed out. Not all of them have been like that this year, in fact very few have been and I’ve read a load of comments about the lack of interesting prompts.

I had a glass of 0% Guinness tonight. Barry, on of the dancers we meet at socials recommended it to me and said it’s difficult to tell if it’s alcoholic Guinness or zero percent you’re drinking and I agree totally with him, even the creamy head is there. Worth a try.

We’re intending to go dancing tomorrow, but the new shoes will be staying in the box until their memory banks are fully charged and the data has been transferred.

Nearly New Shoes – 23 October 2024

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The weather is just dragging its heels this October. Grey skies seem to be the order of the day. However, it wasn’t really cold and we did what I suggested in yesterday’s blog and went out.

We drove to Rutherglen, to look for a pair of dance shoes for me, but there wasn’t a great selection to choose from and I eventually left the shop empty handed, so did Scamp, which surprised me!

After navigating by following my nose and the occasional glance at the moving map in the car, we did head for home, then decided we’d go local for lunch and drove to Craigend Nursery which also has a big cafe bolted on to it. It’s all glass on two sides and the noise of all the folk talking just rebounds round the room, but we did have a lunch that was a bit overpriced for what it was, just two paninis a tea and a coffee. Oh yes, and the ubiquitous side salad and crisps. Didn’t ask for them, but got them anyway.

It used to be a decent garden centre too, but some of the plant labels were so old, neither of us could read the prices. Maybe that was just as well when we did read some of them. Scamp was shocked at the price for tiny wee Christmas Roses.

Just for fun, we drove home from Craigend by a quite circuitous route to see if we could find where the dance teacher’s new house was. I was amazed at the number of houses that were in a tiny little space that used to be a travellers camp, maybe still is. It gave me a chance to drive round roads I used to cycle on.

Dancing tonight was the amalgamation of parts one and two of the foxtrot we seem to have been learning for months. It wasn’t a great improvement from the last time we learned it. We seemed to spend three quarters of the allotted time re-learning part one, which we now knew, more by muscle memory than anything else. The remaining fifteen minutes were spent on part two and then on joining them together. Only four couples on the floor tonight and they were getting in each other’s way. Just imagine what it would be like if all six couples turned up one night. Carnage, that’s what.

Next week we are going to be treated to Paso La Paz which is fast, fiery and Spanish! That should be fun!

Today’s PoD was taken this morning before we went out and is of the Schoolgirl rose, now fully out and spreading its petals everywhere. Still a beautiful flower.

Today’s prompt was “Rust”. To my mind Rust should be red, orange or brown. If I’d drawing with a black pen, that makes life difficult. What I ended up by doing was changing the prompt to “Rusty”, sketched a whisky glass with a rusty nail and what looks suspiciously like whisky in it. Maybe there is a little spot of Drambuie in there too to make it a Rusty Nail! It’s simple if you just apply some lateral thinking.
Tomorrow’s prompt is Expedition. I’ll need to get my thinking cap on.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet Alex at the bus station to get a bus to Edinburgh to see the sights of the exotic Far East!

 

Rain, Sun and a gentle Wind – 22 October 2024

Posted on by Zogman

So, a decent amount of Autumn weather, but it’s sad when the highlight of the day is going to Tesco for ‘The Messages’.
That’s what we did. We drove to Tesco in the afternoon and got the messages. Just a Monday shop on a Tuesday. Nothing fancy apart from four ice lollies and a bottle of wine.

I was determined to get a PoD and it turned out to be one of a few photos from the garden. A pink Astrantia trio looking good and brightening up the border.

Although we had a dull day, it was good to see some folk had a much better one. Hazy and Neil posted the first photos of their new car.  A nice bright red.  Hope it’s a good one and you get lots of use from it.

The prompt for today was ‘Camp’ and although someone in the house suggested I should draw a man with a limp wrist, and in fact some people drew that as a subject, I kept it PC and drew a well worn tent, with a coupe of patches, looking sodden in a rain soaked field. Another sketch that was good fun to draw.

Dinner tonight was an old faithful, Tuna Pasta. We both agreed it was lovely. The ice lollies, not so much.

Tomorrow we might go out somewhere, maybe for lunch, with just the chance that I can get some photos, that weren’t taken in the garden or St Mo’s.

Silence – 21 October 2024

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When I woke this morning it was to silence.

The wind that had been driving the rain and battering the windows was gone. Off to Scandinavia the weather fairies say. I don’t care where it went, I’m just glad to get a bit of peace and quiet in the morning when I wake.

We watched the US GP after we rose. A fairly exciting one this time and a fast track too. I wonder what it’s like sitting at the start line staring up at that great hill in front of you. Verstappen showed his skill by keeping Norris in his place. I think the road is clear for him now.

We didn’t have much else to do in the morning, just the usual Wordle and Spelling Bee with a cup of coffee, watching the clock because Scamp was off to get her Covid and Flu jags in the afternoon. I drove her to her appointed place, Muirhead and dropped her off at the clinic then parked the car at the Co-op as agreed. Then I went shopping at the butchers in the village. I was looking for mince and stew, but it’s such a temptation in that shop, I knew I’d buy some other stuff too. I got the mince and stew, then added beef olives, a nice meaty spare rib, a salmon fillet for Scamp and a bag of Tattie Scones. Expensive, yes, but it’s good fish and meat, that’s why I go back.

By the time I got back to the car, Scamp had returned and we drove home by the back road, hoping for some photos of the Campsies, but the parking place was occupied by one of the folk who keep their horses there, and it was feeding time, so I didn’t stop.

Back home I got dressed for the weather (Still wet and windy) and walked round St Mo’s. Got a couple of decent shots in the low afternoon sun. PoD went to the low level shot of leaves in the woods.

I had a bit of a sore stomach when I got back and my dinner as a result was tea and toast. Better to keep it simple and not aggravate anything. Scamp had a mash-up of yesterday’s leftover mash and haggis, formed into little black and white burger shapes and dry fried in the frying pan. For once I wasn’t interested. Maybe I will be tomorrow when hopefully my stomach will be back to normal.

Today’s prompt was Rhinoceros. Not the easiest thing to draw, but I was quite pleased with the first attempt, not so happy with the second, but in try Goldilocks style, the third one was just right. Sketched in ink with a fountain pen and then given a quick wash with clean water to bleed the ink into the dark areas. You don’t realise just how prehistoric these animals look until you start working with the details.

We have no plans for tomorrow … yet.

Dancin’ – 19 October 2024

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But only dancin’ in the morning.

Tonight there was a dance in Brookfield in the evening, but we were restricting ourselves to only dancing in the class in the morning.

We started with a couple of waltzes, a White City Waltz and the Four Season Waltz. Both fairly easy, but still with some rough corners to rub off. Next was a Quickstep which I struggled with until Scamp explained that it wasn’t as difficult as I was making it. As usual I was getting myself in a knot. One of my problems is that I am the photographer. When there is a new sequence dance to learn or a ballroom or latin dance, in fact, any dance with a demo, I’m the one who films it and then the two of us can share it. The downside of this helpful bit of tech is that I don’t really watch the dance as it’s being done, I’m too busy getting a decent film made of it. That means when we “couple up” I have no idea what comes first, what foot I’m on and which direction I’m going. Well, that’s my excuse anyway. Eventually I did come to grips with most of the first part of the dance. Strangely, the quickstep is one of the dances we both like and one of the dances we’d like to become better at, but it never works out for some reason.
Anyway, after a while we started on some more sequence dances to finish off the class and the pressure eased considerably.

Drove home via the Kingston Bridge and traffic while not being in danger of breaking the speed limit of 50mph, was moving quite steadily for a change and we made good time. Drove to Tesco for bread and milk and then stopped for jam doughnuts at M&S. Awful jam doughnuts. I’ve a good mind to take them down to the shop and ask them to eat one, just to see how disgusting they were.

Back home I got PoD which is Schoolgirl flowering outside the front window. Taken through the window, the quality is surprisingly good. I wanted a shot of it and of my giant sunflower which is growing in the raised bed and is well over 2m tall with one flower that for some cantankerous reason points away from the garden! I thought it would be a good idea to photograph them before the first named storm of the season, Ashley blunders in. I hate strong winds.

Watched Strictly in the evening and tried to spot the dummy who would be leaving tomorrow. Dinner came from Golden Bowl, because nobody wanted to cook.

Today’s prompt for Inktober was ‘Ridge’. I don’t suppose this is technically a ridge, but it is a fair representation of Ben Bodach on Skye with the smaller Ben Cailleach in the background. The names sound authentic, but a Bodach is an old man in Gaelic and a Cailleach is an old woman. Who’s going to tell?

Tomorrow Storm Ashley visits us. It may be hang on to your hats time.

Dancin’ again – 17 October 2024

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After the recent changes to the Tea Dance schedule, we were back on track (allegedly) until next year. I’ll believe it when I see it.

We were off to Glenburn today for the first Tea Dance in a while. It started with a waltz as usual and also, as usual, I couldn’t put a foot right. Eventually I had to admit that I’d lost the waltz completely. Cha-Cha was better and I managed to keep everything working in the proper sequence if not the proper time. Lots of sequence dances in between the ballroom and latin dances and although it was a mixed bag, I think we both enjoyed it. We were sitting with David and Carol again and the conversation was as lively as usual.

After the tea break we started the second half with a waltz … again. I feared the worst, but Scamp suggested we try Kirsty’s Waltz Nioli and it almost worked for the first track, so we stayed up for the second track too and lo and behold it did work. Once through the whole dance and then on to the second round. I’ve a feeling it was muscle memory that was dragging me around, although Scamp’s whispered prompts helped too. I was really pleased with Nioli!

Drove home through heavier traffic than I’d anticipated, but would have got home earlier if I hadn’t gone via Tesco. I got a microwaveable Chicken Biriani for dinner, not noticing that it was a meal for one. Instructions were a bit ropey. They said to pierce the film in a few places and cook for 3min 30sec. Stir halfway through. How can you stir the curry if the film hasn’t been removed? Tell us that Tesco!
We agreed that the curry biriani was actually very good and we’d get it again, but then we’d buy two, one each! We completed the dinner with a baked potato each.

I hadn’t had time to take a photo in the morning and by the time we got home, the light was fading, so it was an inside shot today of a cutting Scamp had taken from a Honeysuckle. It’s sitting in a rectangular glass vase. I’m not sure it will actually take root, but I’m hopeful it will. It got PoD.

The prompt for today was Journal. I think my sketch of a hand writing in a book is reasonably good, sketched with a Lamy Safari fountain pen and a Pentel Sakura brush pen. It fits the prompt without having to twist things around as I usually do.

Tomorrow we’re booked for lunch with June & Ian.

 

Everybody need a good punch sometimes – 15 October 2024

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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.