Category: Driving

Off to Larky – 12 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

A trip to Larky to see Mr Simpson, the optician for my annual checkup.

I drove us over to Larky on a bright sunny morning. While I was in the optician’s reciting his mixed up alphabets, Scamp was shopping in the Coop, and recoiling at the prices she was expected to pay. This wasn’t Tesco price, apparently. Once my eyes had been deemed fit and fairly healthy, I walked along to meet her. I had been sensible enough to remember to put a pair of sunglasses in my pocket because dilated pupils and bright sun don’t work well together. We sat for a while in the car waiting for my eyes to return to normal, but eventually we decided that Scamp should drive home, since I couldn’t focus properly. A terrible thing for a photographer to admit to.

On the way home we stopped at the health centre for me to book my six monthly PSA test. With that done, my tasks were completed for the day and I could concentrate on photography in Scotland for the first time in a week … once I could see again.

It didn’t take too long for my eyes to return to normal, well, in total it took about three hours, but who’s counting because I could see again! I took the A7 out for a walk in St Mo’s just to unwind and to work out some of the aches from yesterday’s rail journeys. I thought it would be a shot of my favourite trio of ladybirds who would make PoD, but it was the little fly who won. The first fly I’ve photographed this year. I hope it’s impressed with the accolade!

A wee drink before another early night.

Tomorrow I’m off to Glasgow to meet my brother for a visit to the Hunterian Gallery and maybe the Museum.

Rain, Rain, Go Away – 5 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

It rained today. In fact it rained all day and it’s still raining.

We had Easter cards to write and then post, which was good, because we were going to Tesco anyway and could post them there. It was just a bit of light shopping, bread, a bag of rolls and a carton of milk. Oh yes, and two bottles of wine plus two cans of G&T. Like I said, light shopping. Just for a change, Scamp drove us there and back.

Back home and after lunch we started throwing things into bags. Counting in the socks and underwear then adding another one or two for luck. It looked like the rain was getting a bit lighter and there was just the chance of some sunshine too, but it was just a ruse by the weather fairies. The rain strengthened and the sunshine went to some other boys and girls. I’d thought of taking some indoor ‘flower’ shots, but risked it with a few shots of Scamp’s Helebores that sit by the back steps. Their full name is Heleborus Orientalis Lenten Rose. The ‘Lenten’ part is to signify that their flowering period roughly covers Lent.

Dinner was paella which I thought was nice and dry, but Scamp thought it was just too dry. We never can agree on food and cooking. However it tasted fine and used up some chicken thighs that had been languishing in the freezer for a long time.

In the evening I threw more things into a big red bag and I’ve just remembered I have to add the Gorilla Pod.

I think that’s us about done. Early rise tomorrow. Hope the rain has stopped by then!

Out on the moor – 4 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was off having lunch with Mags today. I was going to Fannyside Moor.

Scamp had a lunch booked with Mags at Wetherspoons. She had other things to do, (unspecified) and as you can only park for 3 hours anywhere in Cumbersheugh, I offered her a lift, with the added benefit that I’d pick her up once she was finished. I dropped her at the restaurant and drove off to the council tip to ditch some old garden things and a load of cardboard. After that, I was free.

I drove up to Fannyside Moor hoping for some decent light. I’d just parked when the light appeared and lit up the landscape down as far as the old ruined farm at Jawhill. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to get the camera out of the car before the light was gone. I took a walk along the road, but that light didn’t come back. I did get some photos of a couple of fence posts covered in lichen, then walked back to the car to photograph some sheep huddled together because it was a really cold west wind. Such a change from yesterday’s balmy weather with hardly a breath of wind. That photo eventually made PoD after a fair bit of editing and re-editing. Drove home after that and tea and toast for lunch. Nothing like Scamp’s lunch of Fish & Chips which she described as “mmmm lovely”. Some of us just have to make do with what we have.

I’d almost finished the re-editing of the sheep photo when my phone rang once and stopped, then the house phone (old tech, but reliable) rang. It was Scamp asking for a run home because she’d forgotten her bus pass. I didn’t mind at all because it gave me a reason to turn the computer off.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s late in the afternoon, but I took completely the wrong set of lenses. I don’t know what I was thinking. Unless I was thinking how good I was to get an “Explore” which is a First Prize from Flickr for the Horse Chestnut bud from the other day. That’s the second one this year.

I think that was about the end of our galavanting for the day. Dinner for me was Baked Potato and a portion of stew from the freezer. Scamp added to her lunch with a baked potato. We watched another episode of Death in Paradise, series 1 tonight and although we’d seen it before, it was better than the last series, series 10..

Tomorrow is going to be busy shopping, cards to post and arrangements to be made.

Dancin’, and more Dancin’ – 1 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Learning in the morning. Putting it to use in the evening.

Drove to Brookfield in the morning and we started with Charnwood Cha Cha then the Foxtrot and finishing with the Quickstep that we’d been practising all week … except, they weren’t interested in what we’d been practising, they only wanted to add in extra steps. We just ignored the new steps and concentrated on trying to get the ‘basic’ quickstep danced properly in a ballroom situation. There were, of course, a collection of sequence dances to leaven the more demanding ballroom dances.

We drove home through a much quieter motorway than last week and were back home in a little over forty minutes.

We talked about whether we’d go to the evening dance or not. I wasn’t keen. Driving the M8 twice on the same day didn’t appeal to me, and sometimes the evening dances are a bit dull, but it’s not only about me, and although Scamp said she didn’t think we should go, I knew she was only doing it for me. So, eventually I convinced her we agreed to go. And we had a great time. We joined Peter & Gillian, Barry & Cath, plus Cath’s sister. We danced most to the dances. I wasn’t perfect, but then I never am, so nothing new there. We laughed with the crowd at the table which you can’t avoid doing with Barry and Peter. The main thing was we enjoyed the company, the music and the dances.

The hall will be closed from tomorrow for a week at least, probably more because the floor needs repaired and re-varnished. Then the teachers are off working on a cruise ship for two and a bit weeks. So this would be the last dance until May! How quickly the year goes round.

Drove home along a very quiet M8 and we both had a little nightcap before turning on Sunday morning. So this is another catch-up. PoD was a LensBaby shot of Forsythia in the garden, because it was a bit too cool in my opinion.

Later on Sunday we intend to watch the Australian GP and do very little else.

Coffee with John – 28 March 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was out for coffee with Isobel. I went over to John’s for coffee too.

Scamp was intending to meet Isobel for coffee at their usual haunt that is the Costa near TJ Hughes. Isobel caused confusion by phoning me to ask where Scamp was. When I told her, she should be at Costa by then. That’s when I got worried. Was the car giving trouble? Had she broken down somewhere? I phoned her and she replied that she was in Costa as agreed, but couldn’t see Isobel. Another call to Isobel cleared things up. She was at the other Costa (we’ve got two Costas in the Antonine Centre! Lucky us) at the other end of the centre. Long story short, they met up at the Costa near Tesco. Phew!

When she returned I had a quick cup of coffee and a cold meat sandwich then headed off to see John and hand over two parcels for Marion. We had a coffee and discussed the way the world was going wrong and how we’d have put it right if they’d only asked. It had been raining when I left the house and the clouds were getting lower. In Hamilton the skies were noticeable lighter and the clouds higher, plus it wasn’t raining. You see, that’s what happens when you live in South Lanarkshire. You pay a bit more council tax, but you get better weather. As if to prove this hypothesis, when I was driving home later, the rain started again just as I was leaving the boundaries of Hamilton. It continued to rain for the rest of the day and may be raining now. I rest my case Your Honour!

My camera hadn’t been out of the bag all day, but I still needed a photo for PoD. I turned to flowers, as I usually do in such times, and today’s PoD is a bunch of yellow Alstroemeria with some Sweet William and a bunch of Stocks as supporting actors. All shot on the tabletop with the A7iii + LensBaby Sweet 50 lens to blur out the edges.

Scamp’s turn to make dinner and it was a chicken stir-fry and although it was a bit dry it’s taste made up for that.

No plans for tomorrow. We’ll see what happens, but it might involve a Quickstep practise.

 

Off to the east – 27 March 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Not the Far East, just following the Forth.

It was a lovely day. In fact it was just as the weather fairies had predicted, bright, clear and cold. Just 0.2ºc above zero when Scamp was making the breakfast.

We decided we wouldn’t waste any time, we just drove over to Aberdour in Fife. The last time we’d been there was in January last year and it had been bright, clear and cold then too. After a bit of indecision Scamp remembered the street we needed to go down that would take us to the Silver Sands that Aberdour is famous for. I remembered the big, almost empty car park that those in the know use. We parked there and walked down to the sandy beach.

Scamp had been intending to walk the shore path to Burntisland, but instead we found ourselves following our noses and discovered not one, but two lighthouses, what looked like a gun emplacement from WW1 or WW2 we weren’t sure. The other thing we found was a memorial to Wee Alfy. Not much more information, except a plaque with “In Loving Memory of Wee Alfy 1986-2004” and an engraved picture of a leaping fish. It was on a sturdy table that looked as if it had been used for a barbecue and was built on a concrete and steel frame.

We walked back to the path that would take us to Burntisland. It was a decent path we were on with a plenty of climbs and then slopes down the other side. Well used too by walkers, joggers and cyclists. Everyone out to make the best of this spring day that was warming up nicely. Well, the path would have taken us to Burntisland if we’d had the time, but after walking for about an hour we stopped for a seat and made the decision to go back, because our destination wasn’t getting any nearer. The path was just as interesting on the way back. We were getting hungry by then and waited in the queue to get a table for lunch at the cafe. Scamp had Tuna & Cheese sandwiches and I had a burger. A bacon and cheese burger. It was truly the worst burger I’ve ever had. The meat itself had been reheated a few times before it came to me. The bacon had been fried to within an inch of its life and the cheese. I hate to think to the torture that had been inflicted on that oily orange slab of bubbling something. Take heed, if you are ever in the Sands Cafe, do yourself a favour. Eat one of your shoes rather than risk the burger. Your stomach will thank you for it. The slice of tomato was the best bit and the chips were excellent. We walked back to the car and realised why it might be worth the £2 to park on the lower car park. That is one long, steep and twisty bit of road.

We drove home via Tesco for milk and bread. Then Scamp wanted to do some deadheading that progressed into pruning and then there were plans to be made for the new peony rose we bought. Later, when the gardening work had been completed we used some of the straw that came with a Golden Anniversary rose to stuff a bird feeder and hung it on the tree in the garden. It was Scamp’s idea after I saw a blackbird with a beak full of twigs and leaves, presumably for nest building. Let’s hope some of the birds can use some of that straw.

PoD turned out to be a landscape shot taken on our walk to Burntisland.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to have coffee with Isobel and as it’s forecast for rain, I may stay home and do that painting I’ve been dreaming about.

 

Happy Birthday Scamp – 24 March 2023

Posted on by Zogman

A busy day, but a great one.

Today was Scamp’s birthday, a big birthday. It started with breakfast in bed as befitted the Birthday Girl. Then it was time to get dressed and face the day.

There were cards to open and parcels to unpack. I became doorman and brought in the parcels that delivery men asked me to sign for, lots of them. Most amazing being an enormous bouquet of flowers. I do believe the birthday girl was overwhelmed by it all. There was paper and cardboard boxes everywhere. Eventually everything calmed down and we went out to lunch.

It wasn’t a posh lunch, just a normal(ish) Friday afternoon outing to The Cotton House, or go-to Chinese/Thai restaurant a couple of miles down the road. Typically, we had our usual choices from the menu. Scamp had Thai Spring Rolls, followed by Chicken Chow Mein. I had Chicken Noodle Soup and Salt & Chilli Chicken with Noodles. No tea or coffee, just the bill, please. Food was just as lovely as usual.

Instead of driving home, we travelled on to Torwood Garden Centre to get some solar powered lights for the garden. Scamp had said a few weeks ago that she’d like garden lights as a birthday present, so today she got to choose them. We also got a new watering can and a peony rose for me.

Since we were only halfway to the Kelpies, it seemed like a good idea to just drive there so Scamp could tell them all about her birthday so far. We took a rather strange route to get there, but in the end we found Helix Park where the Kelpies live. As usual, I took loads of photos and one of them got PoD. It was a lovely day with blue skies, but later as we were just deciding to go to the cafe for a coffee, there was a sharp shower of rain. After coffee and more photos, we said cheerio to Baron and Duke and drove back home, just managing to avoid the worst of the rush hour.

There was a card on the mat when we got home to say that a parcel was waiting for Scamp at the Post Office. I checked the time it closed and I had just enough time to go there and collect the parcel. Of course it was another birthday parcel.

Later in the evening we had a three way Zoom call from Hazel, Jamie and Neil. Simonne had been in hospital to get her tonsils removed and Jamie was waiting to see if she would get out tonight or not. It was a good call, even if Simonne was absent. Lots of stuff talked about and plans were made for later in the year. Hey, but you know all this. We used up almost our whole hour of air time. Thank you all for organising that.

Tonight (or should I say yesterday night, since you’ll know this was a catch-up) we had an early night. Too much excitement and planning for two bears of little brain.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to dance in the morning and relax for the rest of the day.

 

Dancin’ – 23 March 2023

Posted on by Zogman

We went dancin’ today.

Drove through torrential rain to get to the wee hall in the south of Paisley.

There was a good mix of music, as usual and dancing started as usual, with a Waltz. Actually we did quite well with it. I don’t know why, perhaps it was because we were relaxed and weren’t out to prove anything. Of course I made mistakes, but not too many. We danced a few sequence dances, it took me a while to get to grips with a couple of the less common ones, but Scamp was there whispering the next steps. We danced a Social Foxtrot a Cha-Cha a Line Dance and a couple of Quicksteps. We also managed to dance the quickstep for almost a full track.

As usual, we left fairly early, just after 3pm and it was an easy run home, taking the longer but easier M74 option. So nice to always be moving from entering the M77 to leaving the M73.

I dropped Scamp off and then drove to Tesco to try to get grapefruit for Scamp and get petrol for the blue car. I didn’t get the grapefruit and I was driving out of Tesco when I realised that I hadn’t got the petrol. Parking is getting tight again in our street and it was good to park the car and then get my camera and go for a walk. I walked round St Mo’s and took some boring shots of a fence post with nails hammered into it. Then I crossed the road and found out that M&S didn’t have grapefruit either. Luckily Aldi did and I got two then walked back home in the gathering gloom. That’s where I saw the daffodils. They made such a bright spot in a, now, dull day. It wasn’t until I started processing them that I noticed the amount of grit and dust on them. That’s what you get when you try to grow flowers beside a busy road.

We may go for lunch tomorrow.

Out on the town – 22 March 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was out on the town with the rest of the witches. Ladies only!

Scamp went in to Glasgow on the bus. I offered to give her a run in, but she was determined to go alone. I stayed home until I was sure that she was on the bus, then I grabbed my camera bag and headed off to …

This section of the blog has been redacted due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter. Friends and family will understand why this decision has been taken. It may be released at a future date.

So, since that didn’t work I had to try again somewhere else, so I drove to …

This section of the blog has been redacted due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter. Friends and family will understand why this decision has been taken. It may be released at a future date.

With that done, I could return home although I did have to make one more stop at …

This section of the blog has been redacted due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter. Friends and family will understand why this decision has been taken. It may be released at a future date.

Finally I got parked, and just outside the house for the first time this week. Had a quick coffee and a roll ’n’ cheese for a belated lunch then over to St Mo’s where I just missed the best of the good light, which I needed for a planned Cladonia photo. Instead I found a couple of sprigs of heather which filled the bill and the frame quite well. They became PoD.

Dinner for one tonight was mince ’n’ tatties, and since Scamp was off on a ‘jolly’ with the witches, I managed to make myself without any mistakes or burnt pots. When Scamp came home I checked that I had indeed followed the proper procedure and was rewarded with a backhanded compliment “It’s mince. You can’t go wrong with mince.”. I could. I’m sure I could go very wrong with mince, but I didn’t today and the mince ’n’ tatties was scoffed while Scamp told me about her day.

Glad she had a good day with good friends who look after each other.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go dancin’.

Colzium – 21 March 2023

Posted on by Zogman

It was much better day than yesterday, a day to go for a walk.

Scamp suggested we walk around Colzium. I thought that was a good choice. It’s a circular path or to be more correct it’s a collection of intersecting circular paths that allow you to take as long or as short a walk as you see fit, or that you feel fit enough to walk!

The first problem was that the road we usually take was closed today so we had to weave our way through the traffic calming single lanes through Croy, but it did us to Colzium Estate.

Just for a change we didn’t aim for the big car park with the pot holes that are ‘going to be repaired’. The question is “When?”. Instead we parked in among the trees in a much smaller car park, but one without pot holes.

We set off up the hill and met a couple coming the other way. They warned us that if we were heading for the cafe, we were out of luck. A waitress had spilled hot soup down her leg, so they had closed the cafe for the day while the ambulance people dealt with the casualty. We had both been intending going to the cafe on our way back, but we were going to be disappointed. Instead we plodded on and up the long curving driveway that used to bring the posh folk to the Big House. We followed the road round the back of the estate and on to the path through the woodland and out at the bridge over the Colzium burn which was on the way to being a raging torrent today. A few photos later we started down the other side and I saw an opportunity in a view over a mossy dry-stane dyke to the farmlands over to the east. Nice framing from an old beech tree and I had the makings of a PoD. We followed the route of the burn down to the road then back to the car. A decent 2.5mile walk on a warm spring day. Not to be sniffed at.

We drove home by the old road that climbs through a narrow gorge in woodland then follows a burn to Dullatur. From there it’s a boring drive through half a dozen roundabouts to Tesco and the makings of lunch. Scrambled egg for Scamp and Cheese for me, served on a well fired roll.

I did think of taking a walk round St Mo’s, but instead inspected my photos and decided I had enough for a PoD which turned out to be that mossy dry-stane dyke. Besides, I knew that a parcel had been winging its way from Darn Sarf and would arrive between 3 and 4pm. Scamp was settled to do some ironing, so I got to the door when the DPD bloke knocked and the parcel was disappeared, as if by magic.

Jackie sent us a link to an MP4 file with all the photos of Wee Jaki’s wedding. Some lovely photos there. Thank you Jackie. Scamp has the file now too.

Dinner tonight was Pasta Amatriciana (bacon, tomatoes, shallot, spring onion and a pinch of chilli flakes). Afterwards we watched a quite entertaining Celebrity Bake Off. Don’t know what they will do when Matt Lucas leaves.

That was about it for today. Scamp is intending going to Glasgow tomorrow for a Witches Day. I’m intending painting, if I can get my backside in gear.