Category: Driving

Stirling in the rain – 20 March 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Met Alex today to go for a wander through Stirling.

Picked Alex up at the train station and we drove through the rain to Stirling and parked at the multi-storey carpark in the town. Alex had had a haircut in the morning. Number 2 on top and a Number 1/2 on the back. Very brave when it’s only the middle of March, but who am I to say. Then he left his hat in the car. Not so clever, so first stop was M&S for a cheap bunnet. Then it was coffee time in Nero and plans were laid.

We walked up King Street in the rain and then on to Baker Street and Broad Street with its canons still guarding the road to the castle. On the way we found a flowering cherry tree that had dropped some of its flower on the metal metal seating in a park, and that’s where today’s PoD came from.

We got as far as Mar’s Wark, a townhouse from the 1500s and decided the rain was on for the day and started to head back down the hill. About halfway down the rain lessened and by the time we were down in the shopping precinct, it had stopped. Too late to go back and anyway, plans had been altered to give us a place to go for lunch.

We drove out along the St Andrews road to Coffee Bothy and had lunch. I knew, when I saw the amount of mayonnaise on my Cajun Chicken sandwich that I was going to suffer for it later, and I did. I didn’t even enjoy the food today which is really strange.

We drove back through much lighter traffic than I thought we’d have, and manage to get Alex back in time for his 4:37 train home. We agreed that we hadn’t seen the best of Stirling today and vowed to come back on a DRY day. It was really annoying driving back into the makings of a good sunset, after such a disappointing day, weather-wise.

Later Scamp and I drove up to the British Legion for our midweek dance class. Only two of us tonight, which meant there was nowhere to hide. It wasn’t my best dance class. I made countless mistakes, despite Kirsty and Scamp trying their hardest to ease me in to it. It just wasn’t working for me.

Hoping to go to a tea dance tomorrow. You can’t say I’m not a glutton for punishment!

Admiring my handiwork – 19 March 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Surprisingly, no aches and pains, no pulled muscles either from yesterday’s tentative return to home decorating.

In fact, we drove up to the local B&Q to see if they had the paint we’re intending to use in the front bedroom. They didn’t have it in stock. It wasn’t a great surprise, they never have what you need in this store. Scamp agreed and said that you don’t see crowds of people shopping for anything in this store. It’s usually joiners and builders we see in this B&Q. I’m guessing they get a good trade discount, paid for through the full price the general public have to fork out. I’m amazed it’s still in business.

So, it was in and out again as quick as possible today and then on to Tesco for the weekly shop. No problem with the general public there. Tuesdays are usually busy and the shelves are usually full. We avoid Mondays when the bakery department seem to take the day off en masse.

Back home and after lunch I had a quick discussion with my brother on WhatsApp about where we’d go this week. I put up a good case for Stirling which has architecture and the occasional grand church which he likes and what can be gorgeous view along the carse to the Lomond hills which suits me.

With that settled I went out for a walk in St Mo’s, but I could just have returned home after a five minutes walk because I found today’s PoD not a hundred metres from our front door. Just a wee daisy that had made its home in a crack in the pavement next to an inspection plug for the wireless cable. A shot in the bag is always a great thing.

Wandered round St Mo’s anyway since the photowalk is not just about taking photos, but also about keeping moving, getting some exercise and increasing my daily step count.

When I got home, I was just going through today’s 17 photos when Scamp started cheering. I thought we’d won the lottery before I remembered we had just torn up Saturday’s failed chance to become a millionaire. No, it was the early arrival of Laura & (Big)Ross’s baby girl and John & Marion’s first grandchild. Three weeks early. Good luck to them all.

Dinner tonight was Paella a family favourite that I hadn’t made for months, and it showed. A bit soggy, but apart from that it was fine. It filled a space as we say.

Tomorrow Alex and I are off to terrorise Stirling. Scamp has nothing planned apart from cleaning and ironing.

Foxtrotting – 16 March 2024

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We drove over to Brookfield hoping for a new start in the ballroom dance class, but were pleasantly surprised by the appearance of an old friend or two.

The dance that was chosen to get us on our feet and started was Mambo Marina. A very old favourite that we learned a long, long while ago. It was buried deep in my memory and the first dance was a bit of a struggle, but after the second track most of the wrinkles were ironed out and it flowed like it should … almost.

Next was the Foxtrot, the old foxtrot we’d learned yonks ago. At first, like the MM it was a bit of a blur, but gradually with help from Scamp the figures fitted together and even the Continuous Hover Cross which was my nemesis in dances gone by was recovered from muscle memory and we went through with hardly a mistake by track three or five!

The Mayfair Quickstep was next. Two tracks to dust off the cobwebs of this well known and oft dance sequence and we were almost two thirds of the way through the class. Jive was next on the agenda and it was a refresher course on figures we’d already dances and which were fairly fresh in our memories as they were similar to some of the jive routines from many years ago.

To finish off, we were invited to dance any Waltz. We started on the Spring Waltz, but fumbled our way through it before we changed to Kirsty’s Waltz Nioli. It’s shorter and simpler and we did manage to finish it and then restart it again.

That was it for the ballroom class. Drove back home feeling that we’d accomplished something today.

After lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s and just as I left the house, the rain started. I was concentrating on getting some photos of the Larch Pineapples I saw the other day. I found them and although the light was a bit low, so was the wind and that allowed me to get some sharper photos. One of them made PoD.

Dinner came courtesy of Golden Bowl and it was delicious. Lovely and fresh for both of us. Mine being a Special Chow Mein and Scamp’s was her usual Chicken Chop Suey and Fried Rice. Amazingly it was still light and about 5.15 when I went to collect the food.

That was about it for today apart from trying to send some photos to Alex and them bouncing back to me. Similar to my previous Google problem, but not the same. I’ll worry about it tomorrow … or the next day.

No plans for tomorrow apart from worrying about things that cannot be fixed.

Flying Home – 11 March 2024

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It always comes to this.

Today we had breakfast and then it was time to drag those cases out, but not before we had a last wee dose of Vitamin D. Then we lugged the cases over to the pickup stall in the hotel where a lovely lady from Jet2 checked them and checked that we were who we said we were and with the minimum of fuss the cases were gone to be loaded on to the plane at the airport. The next time we’d see them would be in a cool Glasgow. Would that all companies were as helpful as this.

About fifteen minutes later our coach arrived at the door and we were taken on a mystery tour around, what seemed to be, all the hotels in Caleta de Fuste. From there, through the roadworks, to the airport where we could legally bypass check-in and advance to Security where I did remember to remove my belt before passing through the terrifying scanning archway with no alarms sounding. Scamp had to be scanned twice. Each time she triggered the flashing lights and the beeps. When she set off the alarms the second time, the security man shrugged his shoulders and waved her through!

From there it was an easy walk to the gate and we boarded ahead of time. Four hours later we arrived to a rather cool Glasgow. The flight was only slightly longer than the wait for the baggage carousel to fire up, but for once our cases were in the first lot to arrive.

Drove home after making a wrong turn exiting the airport and arrived home safely, crossing the Kingston Bridge without stopping. A most unusual occurrence. Back home just about 8pm.

PoD was the standard view from an aircraft window looking down on Puerto del Carmen on Lanzarote.

An early bed tonight and tomorrow will be unpacking day.

The alarm rang out – 4 March 2024

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I suppose it was a charming little tune, but it didn’t raise a smile from either of us. We rose, dressed and trundled the bags to the car, then drove through an almost deserted Glasgow to the airport. We dumped our cases and went off to find some breakfast in Frankie and Benny’s.

We sat and read, solved Wordle, bought overpriced sweets and watched the athletes who had been competing in the athletics in Glasgow saying their goodbyes to their colleagues before taking their seats in the lounge. Then they too sat and watched, willing the gate to be confirmed before heading home, some with smiles, some despondent and some just aching from their efforts. Our gate showed up at the specified time and we were off in a metal tube in the sky for four and a bit hours before we landed in a new world. One where the temperature would be in double figures, we hoped.

Instead of waiting for a bus from the airport, we took a taxi to the hotel and then had to wait in a queue while the overstressed staff booked us in. Ah, but it was worth the wait in Glasgow airport, and the four hour flight, and the booking-in scramble. It was worth it for the first view from the balcony of our room on the 5th floor and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore just beyond our hotel grounds. This is what we did it for.

The hotel is in the process of getting a major upgrade. The dining room especially is airier and brighter than it was before, five years ago. Lots of ’Suits’ wandering around, presumably checking the progress of the upgrade.
The room too has had a facelift. New furniture and a bit wide screen tv on the wall. Annoyingly it turn on as soon as you put in your power key. You can of course turn it off, but sometimes it decides for itself that you need to see and hear more of what it has to offer.

We walked along the esplanade past the slightly posher Elba Carlotta and then the very posh Sheraton and the end. On the other side of the esplanade, looking out to sea is the wee cafe on the island, reached by a bridge. We left that for another day.

Entertainment tonight was our favourite saxophone player, Tina. Then we just had to celebrate with a fairly inebriated Salsa, got a cheer and went to bed to sleep it off. It was the jet lag, not the Jameson’s Whiskey or the Rum ’n’ Coke that was at fault!

Tomorrow we may walk into town.

 

Dancin’ – 2 March 2024

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Today we drove to Brookfield for the first dance class in a while.

Last week I was under the weather and we cancelled. Two weeks ago we did go to the class, but I was not feeling well. That has been the extent of our dance classes this year. Today was better, just better, that’s all.

Class started with the LA Swing sequence dance. It’s a sort of Charleston thing, but nothing to do with Los Angeles. The ‘LA’ part stands for Lace Agate and it’s an exhausting piece of nonsense. I don’t mind telling you, I was knackered after two tracks of that.

Next was a more sedate Spring Waltz which started life as the Christmas Waltz, then the Winter Waltz and now the Spring Waltz. “Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent” as the voiceover for Dragnet used to say. After a tricky bit of cheating with the Back Corté being noted and corrected by Jane, it all started to flow. I actually got to like its elegance.

Another sequence dance, the Melody Foxtrot gave us a chance to relax, because we knew this one fairly well and were in the minority for that, because it seemed to be lost on some of the other dancers. It’s nice to shine at something.

Next was Jive. One of Jane’s favourites and she was adding in new patterns to this exhausting dance. Nothing difficult, just moves with fancy names. We got through them fairly easily.

The class finished with Scamp’s favourite ’Shivers’ by Ed Sheeran. Actually it was only three quarters of the track because Jane ‘accidentally’ pulled the plug on the tape machine and that put an early end to that. Scamp my never forgive her.

We drove home along a busy M8 much busier than the traffic we’d had going to Brookfield in the morning. I took the Kingston Bridge route for a change and I think that was a mistake, but we weren’t going anywhere in a hurry, luckily.

Dinner tonight was a stir-fry from M&S and it was OK, just OK. As Scamp would say, “it filled a space.”

PoD was a Christmas present from Hazy. It’s the top of a beetroot, growing in plain unadulterated water. It’s sitting in a perspex container on the window sill. It’s been growing for a couple of weeks now and I’m thinking of planting it outside in the greenhouse.
This is the third successful ‘plant’. The first two were a garlic clove and a cutting from a spring onion. Great idea Hazy.

Watched the first F1 GP of the year. It was interesting, but it was the usual suspects who were leading from the start. I think it’s time for something new.

No great plans for tomorrow. Maybe some tidying up now that the sketching and painting are over for a month or so.

The first day of Spring – 1 March 2024

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Meteorological spring that is, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. A cold wind put paid to any thoughts of warm spring days.

We drove up to Tesco for messages, but they didn’t have the whisky I was looking for at a price I was willing to pay. I can wait. It will come down to a reasonable price soon.

One high point of the day was our Friday lunch in Brodens. Fish & Chips for two and a glass of Merlot for Scamp and a pint of Guinness for me. All the elements of the lunch were perfect, as usual.

I was tempted not to take a camera out later in the afternoon, but I went anyway. However I might as well have stayed home in the warm house for all the interest there was over in St Mo’s. My PoD was a branch of four catkins bolstering my belief that this is Spring, despite the cold and the wind.

It was good not to have to think about sketches and painting. But there’s a lot more to it than just the drawing. There’s the time it takes to get the sketch scanned, cleaned up and then there’s writing the story that I always like to add. After that I post the sketch to Flickr then Facebook and finally add it to EDiF and/or 28DL. It’s not just about painting pretty pictures. I may do it all again in May, all being well.

I’ve just been told that the dance class is on tomorrow. Don’t know what the ‘menu’ is yet, but it seems we have more than enough couples for a qourum.

 

Watch for the tumbleweed – 27 February 2024

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This morning we were out to visit Our Man In Falkirk.

Andrew was looking very relaxed today. No fancy shirt, but he was just as sharp as usual. He talked us through the last half year and made his predictions for the next year. He explained that the new software they are using was designed in New Zealand of all places and that it was made in the same place as the hobbits live. You have to listen carefully to his stories because he is quite adept at slipping in the occasional joke like that just to see if you are listening. We were. Apparently our previous company were using version 1 of the software, but we have the most up to date version. We both like the way he speaks. He doesn’t water things down, nor does he talk down to you. A very clever man who inspires confidence. Just watch for the jokes. He’s even a photographer who used to do his own developing and printing!

Scamp and I went for a walk when the interview was over, after being warned by him that there were a lot of good opportunities for Street Photography near Asda. That said with a nod and a wink. As we were walking up to what used to be the main street. I noticed a few worthies who fell into the category he was describing, but I did’t take any photos, just in case.

Scamp went to Bonmarche looking for bargains in the clothes. I went to Waterstones to get a couple of books. We both came away empty handed. Maybe I’ll get the books on Thursday when I’m hoping to meet Alex.

Scamp and I were amazed how far Falkirk had slid down the slippery slope. What was a busy Main Street, was now a ghost town. It’s incredible the difference in about five years. I think M&S was the first to go and from there it’s been closure after closure. I’m guessing Waterstones won’t be long before it pulls the plug on Falkirk too.

We drove home via Torwood, but there was almost no room in the carpark and we assumed the cafe would be the same. We drove home and stopped for supplies in Tesco instead.

I went for a walk after lunch and drove to Fannyside which is a great place for skies and cloudscapes. It didn’t let me down today. Two lovely landscapes with impressive cloudscapes, one mono and one in colour. Mono won PoD.

Dinner was Baked Potato and Beans. Not amazing, but yesterday’s lunch was so good, it would be difficult to beat it.

Today’s prompt was Peach
I probably should have tried painting this soft fruit in pastels, but Old Dogs and New Tricks led me back to watercolour. So here is my interpretation of Peach. I must practise more with those expensive chalky sticks. I’ll dig them out some day and make a different kind of mess.

Tomorrow Scamp is going for lunch at Moira’s house. I’ve things to do at home.

Ah! That’s more like it – 24 February 2024

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Feeling almost normal again. I’m keeping it at that. I’m not ready yet to say I feel human again!

A lazy morning today sitting in the sunshine in the living room. It had been freezing during the night and was still quite cool outside. We talked about what we wanted to do and where to go. Scamp suggested that Glasgow wasn’t really a good idea at weekends and I agreed. Her second suggestion was Chatelherault for a ‘gentle’ walk. That fitted the bill for me, so we gathered together all the things we needed for a walk and drove over to a rather busy carpark near the “Big House”. The house was the hunting lodge of the Duke of Hamilton, but is now a busy and expensive (so I’m told) wedding venue. Since a ‘gentle’ walk was to be the order of the day I suggested walking down past the steel cut out figures of William Wallace, Robert Owen and David Livingstone. Usually a good photo opportunity, if the sun is playing nice, but it wasn’t today.

The path splits after them. One route takes you to the Old Avon Bridge and is quite scenic, but you have a long slog back up the hill again. The other route takes you through the woods, high above the Avon Water and back to the car park again with the option of stopping at the cafe. We chose the second option.

There were a family in front of us who were with a man in a motorised wheelchair. He seemed to be making heavy weather of the first climb up through a muddy path. By the time we caught up with them he was stuck fast between two exposed tree roots. Couldn’t go forward and couldn’t go back. We offered to help them, but the woman who I reckon was the his daughter said thanks but they’d manage. They seemed to thing that if they got past the tree roots everything would be fine from there. The wheelchair looked really new, but if he kept trying forward and reverse he was going to flatten his battery. Eventually the woman said “NO! WE’RE GOING BACK!” I thought at that point the boss had spoken. In retrospect, it was the correct decision.

We said Good Luck and walked on. It was heavy going for a while climbing up through puddles, burns and mud, then the path firmed up and dried up too. We carried on and a couple coming from the opposite direction told us it was pretty muddy the way we were going. We thanked them, and noticed that they were wearing ordinary town shoes. Just near the end of the path we discovered what they were talking about. The path dropped away in a steep slope that was almost pure mud. The centre 400mm or so was fairly dry and navigable. How the bloke would have kept control of the wheelchair in that I hate to think. Anyway, the worst was behind us.

We got to the cafe and Scamp grabbed a table while I stood in a queue for 20 mins or more but got two scones with jam and clotted cream and two coffees. The last two scones at that. Paid for them and for a pot of marmalade I’d picked up we enjoyed our lunch.
Note to self: The coffee in the Cafe is excellent. This is not Costa coffee!! It’s safe to drink.

Drove home and parked, then walked down to the shops to get a couple of small pizzas for dinner.

PoD was a view looking up the hill at The Big House as Alex calls it with a heavy sky behind it. Partly processed in Lightroom, partly in ON1. I’ve decided it has its uses.

Today’s prompt was Ruby.
I thought a Ruby ring was the easiest and simplest thing to draw. Simplest, yes. Easiest? Nothing to do with reflections and refractions is ever going to be easy, but this is my answer anyway.

Felt so much better after that walk in the woods. They say that walking in pine woods is good for the respiration. Perhaps it is. Perhaps I was just happy to be outside in the air again.

No plans for tomorrow, but maybe Sea Bass for dinner!

No fillings yet … – 19 February 2024

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Just before 9am Scamp booked an emergency appointment for this afternoon to let the dentist assess the problem with her old broken molar.

Ten minutes later she got a phone call to ask if she could come in at 11am instead. Even better. That was us up and getting the day started. I drove her up to Condorrat and then went for a walk in St Mo’s. I’d hardly walked down to the pond when the heavens opened and I went back to the car. I waited out the rain and then risked another walk, but Scamp beat me to it and told me she was ready to come home.

The dentist didn’t want to extract the tooth, but suggested a silver cap instead. She had the option to pay more and get a white cap, but since the tooth is right at the back of her mouth, nobody is ever going to see it anyway. She hasn’t made a firm commitment to the silver cap yet, but the dentist had put a synthetic cover over the tooth and Scamp is happy with it.

Instead of driving straight home, we went to B&Q to get some paint testers to see what would be best for the bedroom and the downstairs hall. We decided last week that we’d repaint both areas. We came home with a cream, a pink and a yellow and neither of us like any of them. Not quite back to stage one, we did find a big tub of what is probably Magnolia. The ultimate no-nonsense, slap it on anywhere, inoffensive paint everyone uses at one time or another. It has been ear marked for the bedroom.

Back home via Tesco for bread and blueberries and stuff for lunch. Then I went out for a walk in the wintry wind. It wasn’t really all that cold as long as you kept walking, but stand too long in that cold south westerly wind and you felt it. No frogs today, or if they were there, they were hiding. However there were bird feeders in the fairy dell now. Home made ones created from pine cones stuffed with lard and coated in bird seed. It looks like this is an ongoing project.

I spooked two deer in the woods, but they had seen me long before I saw them and all I was was their white tails bouncing away into the bushes. PoD turned out to be an old worn fencepost with barbed wire wrapped round it. Just enough interest to find a place in Flickr.

Today’s prompt was Straw. I edited it to Straw Man.
I saw a few straw figures in farmers fields across the country. Some were rude, some were political, but all were funny and they were all made from straw and silage that was rolled up in black plastic. When I saw today’s prompt I wondered what it would look like if the wrapping was removed and the Straw Men could stand there naked as nature intended. They would certainly be impressive and slightly scary figures. I think there would be more than a touch of The Wicker Man about them.

That’s about it. I’m heading for bed early tonight with a couple of paracetamol to give me a night’s sleep. I do believe I have the cold. Scamp should sleep better tonight after a stressful day.